Dog-gone

Now that’s what we call a good tail – er – I mean tale.

it’s no surprise that Pusuke — a fluffy, tan Shiba mix — made headlines nationwide in that country when the pooch -– the world’s oldest dog, according to Guinness World Records -– died this week at the age of 26 years and 8 months, after falling ill and refusing to eat…The dog’s owner told reporters that Pusuke’s condition took a sudden turn for the worse early this week. The dog did not eat breakfast, a first, and died quietly, surrounded by Shinohara and her family.

"I was with Pusuke for 26 years, and I felt as if he was my child. I thank him for living so long with me," said, Shinohara, 42, a housewife.

It’s also no surprise that Pusuke -– who lasted a human equivalent of well over 100 years -– lived in the nation with one of the world’s oldest populations…

So, apparently, if you want your dog to live a long time, you need to uproot yourself and move to Japan, where they obviously have a miracle-life dog food.  I do not know what they use in the production of their food, but I would like a couple tons of it please.

Last December, Pusuke made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest living dog, breaking the previous record of 21 years and 3 months, according to the Daily Yomiuri newspaper

I’m just saying, there is something to said for man’s best friend for sticking it out that long.  I hope they allowed the little guy to pass on those amazing genes and continue the genetic advancement of dogs everywhere.

 

But, for the Japanese, the true story of “Man’s Loyal Companion” is still held by Hachiko, who waited for his master every day at the train station until his, the dog’s, death…9 years after the death of his master.

V-Tech shooting

The slaying of a Virginia Tech policeman and death of his apparent assailant Thursday — and an ensuing campus-wide manhunt and storm of international news coverage — caused havoc across the New River Valley.

Thursday’s mayhem began about 12:30 p.m. when Crouse, a 39-year-old Christiansburg resident who’d been a Tech officer for four years, made what university officials described as a routine traffic stop in the Cassell Coliseum parking lot. In the midst of the stop, Crouse was shot to death in front of witnesses…the shooter was not the person stopped, but was a man who approached while the stop was taking place. Questions remain about where the shooter came from and why Crouse was shot.

I think at 12:30pm yesterday, I was studying for an exam and wishing my life was easier. 

Witnesses saw Crouse’s shooter flee on foot toward the Cage, a university parking lot down Washington Street from the Coliseum…Officers soon found a second body there…That person is believed to be Crouse’s killer.  Authorities had not released the identity of the second body Thursday night…state police confirmed that the man found dead in the Cage lot was seen in video from Crouse’s patrol car with the weapon that is believed to have been used in Crouse’s killing.

Crouse, a U.S. Army veteran, was a member of the Virginia Tech Police Emergency Response Team and served in the patrol division, according to a university news release. He received an award in 2008 for his commitment to the department’s Driving Under the Influence efforts, the university release said. He is survived by his wife, five children and stepchildren, and his mother and brother.

 

Prayers go out to his family and friends, and to all the people in the surrounding area of V-Tech.

A lack of Security

As a heads-up for anyone who still comes to this blog on a regular basis.  If you have a Facebook account, you should know the following:

FB changed & failed to let us know about it AGAIN.

FaceBook has automatically set your browsing security to a the non-secure setting!

Go onto your facebook and check your URL address (the top box on your screen).  If you see "http" intsead of "https" you DO NOT have a secure session and you can be HACKED.

 

How to fix this idiocy:

Go to Account Settings –> Account Security –> click Change.  Check the secure browsing box, and click Save.  Check your URL after this and check to make sure it works. 

 

As a point of practice, I recommend anyone who reads this and uses facebook to, from now on, always check the URL when they login to fb.  If the URL says https then you’re good to do your fb thing.  However, if it’s http, then repeat the above instructions, log off and try again.

Pass this on; blog about it; make it your fb status; start a chain of annoyance.  That’s why we have the freedom of the internet; to protest stupidity that puts us all at digital risk.

Japan

I don’t know how many people have been following the tragedy in Japan this week or how diligently.  I know that, with work and school, I’ve only been able to keep a cursory eye on the news as it comes down the wire.

 

But, I do want to give a shout out to the Japanese, whether actually in Japan or elsewhere, and their seemingly endless spirit in all this difficultly.  Foxnews has got a good collection of reports on the search and rescue work going on over there now.  Also the radiation scare, which apparently isn’t as bad as the media is making it out to be, but is escalating and could become bad.

 

There are a few websites setting up support and fund raisers for the Japanese people.

 

Rundown of Japanese Tragedy:

March 11 – 0546 GMT: Earthquake at a scale of 9.0 causes a tsunami along Japanese eastern shores.

March 12 – Japanese Government begins the mobilizing of their “search and rescue” plan.  US, UK, Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand begin sending out troops to aid in search and rescue.  A Fukushima nuclear plant suffers an explosion, but reactor is announced as secure.

Total death toll:  approx. 1,300

March 13 – More issues at nuclear plant as operations containing reactor give difficulty.  Government doubles its search and rescue efforts as Prime Minister calls for the Japanese people to “keep strong and carry on”

March 14 – Another explosion occurs at the Fukushima nuclear plan.  Japan’s allies work to aid in staffing hospitals in worst-hit areas.

March 15 – High levels of radiation escape the Fukushima plant after another explosion.  People in the area are advised to stay indoors until problem is contained.  US aids to extinguish fires at plant.

Total death toll: approx. 12,000+ (feared)

 

Prayers need to go out to the Fukushima 50, employees at the plant that will be staying onsite to do their best to prevent further meltdowns in the remaining reactors.

Woohoo!

Leverage has been renewed for a fourth season!

 

Okay, yes season three has not been the best of shakes, but when you get this much eye candy on the screen, it’s not all about the plot, is it?  Let’s be honest now.

 

Also, I am not a big Lost fan (I simply just can’t get that invested in something that requires so much, well, investment.  I can watch the occasional season but not for prolonged periods of time.  I do everything via Hulu, for pete’s sake!).  However, I did watch the finale with my brother and was thoroughly impressed and confused and delighted.

Mostly, though, I thought this was pretty cool of the creative writers to do.

 

Disclaimer: Don’t own/belong to Leverage, Lost, TNT, or ABC.  Thank you and good night.

 

P.S. I have not forgotten about the tattoos; school is keeping me busy until dark, when lighting isn’t very good for pictures.  Never fear, the weekend is fast approaching!

This could very well cause a stink.

This just in (about three days ago) that Kellogg is calling back four of its major cereal brands; Froot Loops, Honey Smacks, Apple Jacks, and Corn Pops.

We might ask why, aside from the obvious being that chemical filled food like this is as dangerous as an atomic bomb going off on our kitchen table.  Kellogg had an answer, one that many parents did not appreciate at all…

Kellogg Co. is voluntarily recalling about 28 million boxes of Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks cereals, saying a "waxy" smell and flavor coming from the package liners could make people sick, the company said Friday.     – Huffington Post

28 million boxes…wow…I got to say that’s a lot of contaminated food.

Kellogg Co. voluntarily recalled certain packages of Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks cereals Friday due to a strange waxy-like taste and odor coming from the liner of the package.    – Wallet Pop

Wait, so you’re telling me that the pungent smell that has been coming from these cereals (especially when burped back up by the young) is not the smell we should worry about but it’s the new, waxy smell we should fear?  A waxy smell that is secreting from the lining of the cereal boxes themselves?

I’ll just…not eat cereal…avoid both the foodage and the poisonous lining.

 

Let’s first acknowledge that one of these cereals they pulled off the shelves comes wrapped in the infamous astronaut silver wrappings that looks like it’s trying to contain some sort of biological weapon (generally called Corn Pops, in this case).

However, I don’t recall every vomiting after smelling and eating these cereals…

According to Kellogg’s, the recall of their cereals is due to, "Consumers should not eat the recalled products because they do not meet quality standards." The reason that the recall is taking place is due to an odd smell and flavor that could cause nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea     – Associated Content 

Nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea…hmmm…  Well, one of these I know has happened to me a lot after eating any of the four aforementioned cereals but I always assumed that was because I was secretly being fed some sort of chemical compound that gave me superpowers.

Go Voight. Didn’t know he had it in him

Never thought I would find an old guy like this hot, but when a man speaks the truth ya gotta love him.

You will be the first American president that lied to the Jewish people, and the American people as well, when you said that you would defend Israel, the only Democratic state in the Middle East, against all their enemies. You have done just the opposite.   -Jon Voight “Washington Post”

Tell it like it is, Jon.  Then go and reaffirm your Catholic roots or something and I will be your biggest fan.

Read full (albeit short) letter from Jon Voight here.

 

Hat Tip: Washington Post

Ice, ice, baby?

Who da thunk we would have a holiday, a national one at that, for Iced Tea.  But, apparently we can have national holidays for pretty much everything in life.

 

Anyway, go out and drink some ice tea in honor of our British/Southern roots.  Because we all like to think we’re Betty Davis from Little Foxes. 

Or, at least learn to make your own.  I am a fan of sweet sun brewed tea.  It feels organic and it’s like drinking the sun on the rocks.

I must admit that I do like Chai now and then.  I prefer it homemade, but Starbucks does in a pinch.  (I would put a link but the Starbucks website takes a million hours to open). 

Whiskey slush looks interesting too!

 

Hat tip: Allrecipes.com & Holidayinsights.com

What’s *your* password?

“The suspect, who used the pseudonym "Hacker Croll", had no specialist training, Adeline Champagnat, head of the French central office against online fraud, told Reuters news agency.”

-BBC News

Apparently, those “secure questions” all those websites have us fill out are not as secure as we would like to believe…

“The Twitter accounts of President-elect Barack Obama, CNN anchor Rick Sanchez, Britney Spears, Fox News and 29 others were hacked Monday according to the microblog site, leading to false and inappropriate messages being posted on their accounts.”

-CNN

Yet another reason political members of any government should be carefully watched in their use of technology; if only for their own safety – if not for their countries. 

“The hackers found a way to take over the online tools used by Twitter’s support team to post the false updates or tweets, Twitter said in a blog posting.”

-Foxnews

See, you can’t always trust things to be “trustworthy” on the internet.  When you don’t use something for over three months, people do yourself a favor and close the account; erase as much as you can of your activities with that website or online activity.  Obama, no offence meant to the man, would have been wise to close his Twitter if he hasn’t used it in over a whole year.  I’m already making plans to close my Twitter because I’ve only used it maybe twice in the entire time I’ve had it and it’s a waste of my time – plus I keep forgetting my password.

 

You can find more detailed reports of the hacker story at CNN and Foxnews, but remember because its outside of American jurisdiction, you’re not going to hear a copious amount on the incident.

A New Generation of Slayers?

Why this is suddenly coming out now is beyond me, but I think it’s interesting how a band of schoolchildren took it upon themselves to slay a vampire.

 

“Hundreds of children aged from four to 14, some of them armed with knives and sharpened sticks, were patrolling inside the historic graveyard.”

Back in 1954, apparently, the European press took it upon themselves to make another attack on Americans and their taste for the dark and dangerous.  The kids seemed to handling it well, armed with their various vampire-slaying weapons.  It seems to me that the only people who couldn’t – or wouldn’t – handle it were the “adults.”

Of course, after learning about this insulting and discriminating attack on a person’s personal appearance, I should not be surprised that European parents want their children to live Stepford lives.