Cornelius Osborne may not seem like baby-sitting material.

He was convicted of raping two women. A succession of felonies, from robbery to failing to register as a sex offender, repeatedly sent him to prison, state records show.

But over more than two years, the state paid Osborne nearly $5,000 to baby-sit two children, before his latest conviction — for dealing drugs — put him back behind bars.
Osborne, of Chicago, wasn't the only sex offender paid by taxpayers to baby-sit, according to a Tribune investigation that found cases of convicted rapists, molesters and other violent felons given access to children over the past decade. The money comes from a $750 million-a-year program that subsidizes child care for more than 150,000 impoverished Illinois families.

The state Department of Human Services poorly vetted baby sitters for years — and when a 2009 law forced better checks, it took nearly 18 months to start them, the newspaper's investigation of the Child Care Assistance Program found.

Singer Ari Gold and his boyfriend were told to move to the back of the bus for holding hands, he said Sunday on Facebook.

A response to teen pregnancy that shames young women ignores the fact that socioeconomic factors may have a bigger impact on their success as parents than does age.

Over the weekend, this fake sign made its way around the Twitterverse. It's an old online hoax that has found new legs as it gets passed around with the hashtag #seriouslymcdonalds. Chalk up another PR foible for the fast-food empire.

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Claiming that McDonald's is charging African-American customers an extra $1.50 as an "insurance measure due in part to a recent string of robberies," the image first appeared on the Internet's notorious 4chan bulletin board last June. But for reasons unknown, the pic appears to be stirring controversy once again.

The hue and cry came swiftly and from almost every corner of the web. Black women, white women, Asian and Latino women all blasted evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa for his controversial article that claimed black women were scientifically less attractive than women of other races.

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Petitions were circulated. Anger was fomented. Even white guys in his field came out of the woodwork denouncing his flawed science. And soon Kanazawa's article, "Why Are African-American Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?" was pulled from the 'Psychology Today' website where it was originally published, and he was fired from his blogging gig there and booted from his teaching job at the London School of Economics.

When I wrote “Barry & the boys” almost ten years ago I had no idea that the story of America’s most famous drug smuggler would shortly have relevance to the biggest event of the still-young 21^st Century, the 9/11 attack.

But it did. And it still does.

OK, not the noodles themselves. Not the stretchy, slurpy stuff that -- instant and otherwise, topped with everything from prawns to potato chips -- comforts millions around the world, around the clock. It's not racist in substance but in context -- if you go back far enough.

Steven Heller is a respected name in graphic design. He's written, co-authored and edited more than 100 books on the topic. But a recent post from his 'Daily Heller' blog on the Print magazine website, Heller shows that he's not the most adept when it comes to race issues.

The Printmag.com post, which has already generated a minor @!$%# storm, is titled 'A Curious Similarity,' in which Heller describes the cramped conditions of flying in a commercial airplane with the interior design of a slave ship. He even provides visual evidence to illustrate his point.

Authentic journalism is a public good, democracy requires it

An Ohio woman has spoken out after her 14-year-old daughter was punished by her school for not immediately notifying school officials when she saw two classmates having sex during a class trip.

According to the Associated Press, Saundra Roundtree said that her daughter, a student at Ohio's Dayton View Academy, changed seats with a boy who wanted to sit next to a girl during a bus trip in April. Shortly thereafter, the girl witnessed the pair having sex.

Now San Francisco, the first city in the country to ban plastic bags, is about to take another step forward: Preventing the Yellow Pages from giving books to people who might not want them.

In Mexico City, the world's richest man has just opened a new museum to showcase his extensive European and Mexican art collection. Telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim calls the museum a gift to his country.

The glimmering, modern building is already being hailed as a new landmark in Mexico's capital, but it is also being criticized as the pet project of a man who knows more about business than art.

Slim's new Soumaya Museum is a windowless, metallic, six-story structure shaped like a surrealist hourglass. Local critics have compared the building, which was designed by Slim's son-in-law, to Frank Gehry's Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.

When I ask young people what makes them apprehensive about marriage, most cite the possibility of failure. The fact, at least drawing from my interaction with young adults, is that although they look forward to marriage, they are not really sure about what to look for in a marriage partner.

In fact, few look beyond the giddy love they feel for their girlfriend or boyfriend.

A 7-year-old Wichita, Kan., boy on a zoo outing was mauled on the head and neck by a leopard after the first-grader climbed a railing separating the cage from the public, according to local news reports. The boy was hospitalized in fair condition.

The central issue in our political life is not being discussed. At stake is the moral basis of American democracy. The individual issues are all too real: assaults on unions, public employees, women's rights, immigrants, the environment, health care, voting rights, food safety, pensions, prenatal care, science, public broadcasting and on and on.

Budget deficits are a ruse, as we've seen in Wisconsin, where the Governor turned a surplus into a deficit by providing corporate tax breaks, and then used the deficit as a ploy to break the unions, not just in Wisconsin, but seeking to be the first domino in a nationwide conservative movement

Asked what most viewers and observers of Fox News would be surprised to learn about the controversial cable channel, a former insider from the world of Rupert Murdoch was quick with a response: "I don't think people would believe it's as concocted as it is; that stuff is just made up."

Shedding some light on a sexual identity that is often shrugged off and misunderstood as a "phase," a "gateway," "homosexuality lite" or "college."

The woman who said something to the effect that behind every successful man there is a woman of substance got it right. But she of course could have added a rider, to the effect that beneath every male shipwreck sits a huge iceberg.

The "red family system" preaches early marriage and traditional gender roles -- a model no longer suited to our post-industrial economy. No wonder "red families" are falling apart.

I just wanted to let you know that not all Americans are sick @!$%#s like Terry Jones, Pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida—a few of us are actually decent people who honor the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights.

In fact, I respect you over Christians because you’ve never tried to recruit me nor have you told me I’m going to burn in hell because I’m an Atheist! Christians can learn a lot from you about respecting others right to worship as they please or not to worship at all.

Not all Americans are sick @!$%#s like the loonies that don’t want you to build your Center two blocks from ground zero. I don’t care where you build your Center so long as it doesn’t affect my getting a parking space in front of my home or create traffic jams.

I wouldn’t blame you if you beat the @!$%# out of the Christians who are giving you a hard time! I might even join you but I know this will never happen because you are a peaceful people, unlike Christians who look for any and every opportunity to unleash the violence they learned from their Bibles.

Anyway, just wanted to ask you not to judge all of us by all of the sick @!$%#s who are giving you a hard time.

Oh! By the way! If the republicans get a majority in the Senate and/or House, the right Christian nuts might see this as a sign from God to burn down all your Mosques and centers.

True Story.

John Stossel, libertarian activist and journalist, interviewed right wing radical Fox News entertainer Glenn Beck, and asked him why he became a Mormon.

Yesterday, protesters from both camps braved the rain and cooler temperatures to march and picket in front of the proposed site for the Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan that has drawn nationwide focus.

This short video reveals their true issue. They don't care as much about the mosque as they do about their president, and their perception that he is a Muslim. The cries of "Impeach Obama! Impeach Obama!" reveal their real bigotry, upset — and target.

"I didn't yeild when they murdered my father or when they burned a cross in my family's front yard. I'm surely not going to yield now."--Shirley Sherrod

The final play of the opera singer was "Hamlet," the Shakespearean meditation on murder and ghosts and madness, at the Washington National Opera in the early summer. His own slaying, a few days later in or near Fort Dupont Park, apparently played out to an audience of one, that of his killer. His funeral, in Prince George's County, drew more than 1,000 mourners, who wept for the loss of his Pavarotti-size persona, his booming laugh, his oh-so-sweet tenor.

1) An overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens will never lose their jobs to "illegal aliens."

2) In those minority instances when they do, undocumented immigrants certainly aren't at fault. The flight of desperately poor workers to the United States is a phenomenon created through international plunder by the same profiteers who rip off nonunion labor -- teenagers, women, racial minorities, and unorganized males -- within our own home communities. They're all victims of unchecked corporate greed.

Most of the couples I work with are referred by clinicians who find the man to be "too resistant" for therapy to continue. Typically, when the guys come in, they're either defensively resentful, angry, or just emotionally shut down. Often they start right off by proclaiming that they're frustrated as hell with therapy. As we talk, it becomes clear that, initially, they practiced the communication techniques they were taught and took to heart the insights they learned about relationships and family of origin. Yet, for reasons they can't explain, they couldn't bring themselves to make the long-term effort to use their new skills or apply their consulting-room insights on a routine basis at home. Of course, this failure to follow through makes their wives even more disappointed in them: "It was one thing when I thought he couldn't do it; now I know he just won't!" noted one angry spouse.

Not long ago I was offered work as a quality-control expert with an American company in China I'd never heard of. No experience necessary—which was good, because I had none. I'd be paid $1,000 for a week, put up in a fancy hotel, and wined and dined in Dongying, an industrial city in Shandong province I'd also never heard of. The only requirements were a fair complexion and a suit.

A new study suggests that how well you lie as a child is a strong indicator of how successful you'll be as an adult.

Louis Stark, a former slave, owned property in Western Canada in the 1860s, a time when most other African Americans legally were someone's property. Canadian historians believe, however, that race may have caught up with the pioneer the day he was found dead at the bottom of a cliff.

Pickens: This is a sad accident that happened but this is, you know, an unusual case but there've been others like this so I think way too much is being made of the... of the oil that's being... that's coming out there in the Gulf. All of that will get cleaned up and we'll be back... we'll be back to normal, the world hasn't changed because of this blowout.

There are some ads that just stick with you. One that I've never forgotten was a 30 second commercial that began with a terrified blond woman wearing tight jeans, sky high heels and a bustier (it was the early 90s) and running down an alley as a chain saw wielding maniac chased her.

After discovering an unlocked door, she flung it open and: SURPRISE! All her friends were waiting with a birthday cake. And the guy she had been so desperately fleeing? Well, he followed in after her, pulled off his mask, and grinningly cut the cake with his chainsaw. As the screen faded to a Guess Jeans logo, a sultry voice informed the viewer that these jeans were wearable in any situation.

The first thing you see when you arrive in this minuscule town is a defunct curio store where people once bought souvenirs of their visit to President George W. Bush's adopted hometown.

The other stores, including the Yellow Rose, above, closed after Mr. Bush left office. He only occasionally returns to his ranch. Only one of the five shops that used to sell memorabilia to Bush admirers remains open — The Red Bull, down the street. Popular items include magnets and coasters that say "The Western White House." Phony dollar bills with Mr. Bush's face on them also sell well. But the biggest demand has been for bumper stickers with Mr. Bush's likeness and the caption "Do You Miss Me Yet?"

Some 7,000 copies of an Australian cookbook are being reprinted after readers discovered a recipe calling for "freshly ground black people." Books already on the shelves will not be recalled.

We women are smart enough to know that a wedding ring won't make us happy any more than a white dress will make us a virgin.

Women are carpet-bombed with the idea that marriage is their happy ending from their first viewing of Cinderella to the last potboiler Rom Com they saw starring Sarah Jessica Jennifer Kate Meg Julia Whatsherhair. Marriage is also ever-present in the news, whether it's gay marriage, the divorce rate or sex scandals involving politicians and golfers.

As a teenager, Frank Meeink was one of the most well-known skinhead gang members in the country. He had his own public access talk show, called The Reich, he appeared on Nightline and other media outlets as a spokesman for neo-Nazi topics, and he regularly recruited members of his South Philadelphia neighborhood to join his skinhead gang.

At 18, Meeink spent several years in prison for kidnapping one man and beating another man senseless for several hours. While in prison, Meeink says, he was exposed to people from a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds and started reevaluating his own racist beliefs. His transformation solidified, he tells Dave Davies, after the Oklahoma City bombing, when he saw the iconic photo of a firefighter cradling a lifeless girl in his arms.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A homeless high school senior from South L.A. is on his way to West Point thanks to some incredible help from complete strangers. Tyki Nelworth explained to Eyewitness News how he is inspiring such an overwhelming support.

George Washington Preparatory High School senior Tyki Nelworth is savoring the generosity of strangers. The 18-year-old has been accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point, but up until Thursday, he didn't know how he would get there or how he would pay the deposit.

"Initially, I had to make a $2,000 deposit to West Point to enter and I was kind of uncertain on how I was going to get that together," said Tyki. "That's a lot of money."

When the school's alumni association heard the stand-out student needed help, former students paid the deposit, his plane ticket, his prom tickets and tuxedo rental.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are about 250 million television sets in the U.S. and we can guess that the majority of them are turned on a lot of the time. All in all, this is not bad (heck, we enjoy a good movie as much as anyone else) but there are some occasions when you just need to do everyone a favor and turn the TV off. A certain portion of television content is just plain questionable and about as healthy as second-hand smoke.

Enter the TV-B-Gone, a small television remote that hangs on your keychain and turns off virtually any television with the press of button.

City-owned maintenance vehicles were parked over one African-American graveyard. A gas station was constructed over the other. Together, the two long-neglected black cemeteries represent a lost chapter of Alexandria's history, one that's only now being written. But confronting the unsavory behavior from the past has not been easy, and it's created some dissention among the living.

"It's a sad and shameful story," said Ferdinand Day, one of the city's preeminent civil-rights leaders. "And it shows a kind of Jim Crow attitude that prevailed in this city for many years."

Bruce E. Levine: There are times when human beings can become so broken that truths of how they are being victimized do not set them free. This is certainly the case for many victims of parental and spousal abuse. They are not helped by people explaining to them that they are being battered, exploited, uncared about and disrespected. They know it already and somebody pointing it out is not helpful.

So, it seems to me that it is also possible that human beings can become so broken by the abuse of the corporate elite that they also are no longer set free by truth.

For job seekers without a four-year degree, breaking the $25-an-hour barrier can be a challenge. But with more technical certification and associate's degree programs than ever, many well-paying career options are accessible in a broad range of industries.
The following is a list of lucrative careers for those without a four-year degree, presented with median annual salary data from PayScale.com. That figure is then broken down to an hourly rate by dividing by 2080, the typical number of working hours in a year, according to PayScale.

No government, government entity, individual, or group, including religious doctrines has the right to determine how an individual should live his or her life; as long as, the individual's actions are in accordance with the Law of Fairness and the Laws of Nature. No individual, group , government or government entity has the right or authority to impose their will through the use of deception, threat of deception, threat of force, fraud, coercion, threat of initiated force or initiated force on any individual or their offspring who has reached the age of reasoning.*

It's takes a sense of entitlement to kill someone, more so to self-consciously prepare to kill someone. Some serving in the U.S. military seeing themselves on a holy mission from a Christian God are up to the task, a little too enthusiastically for Americans who want their country officially secular and substantively humanistic.

It doesn't make sense. I'm a black woman married to a white man with two biracial daughters, living in a town known for its diversity and open-mindedness. I see myself as accepting, always wanting the best for everyone, respecting people of all kinds. So why does the topic of immigration enrage me so?

When the radio and TV pundits call for immigration reform, laud pro-immigration marches or anti-immigration rallies, I scream, "Why so much fuss about them? No one has ever cared so much about us! They come here and they think they're better than black people anyway." I whine like a forgotten stepchild and storm out of the room. Not about illegal immigration, but the topic as a whole triggers a black hole of anger, free-floating and unspecified, that scares me because I don't understand it. Afraid I'll get sucked into the vacuous hole, I push the topic from my mind, but one day my neighbor catches me off guard, forcing me to confront my immigration rage.

U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder is facing controversy for comments about Black fathers he made during a recent speech.

Holder delivered a speech to an audience of 400 at Roosevelt, NY's Memorial Presbyterian Church, in which he sought to remind Black fathers that their involvement in families was vital to offsetting poverty and crime within Black communities.

"Too many men in the Black community have created children and left them to be raised by caring mothers. These women do a wonderful job, but we ask too much of them and too little of our men," said Holder, the nation's first Black attorney general. "It should simply be unacceptable for a man to have a child and then not play an integral part in the raising and nurturing of the child."

Holder's comments, and the controversy they created, recall those of Bill Cosby earlier this decade. Cosby drew the ire of many African-Americans and sparked national debate in 2004 when he addressed an NAACP gathering criticizing some Black men for not living up to their parental responsibilities.

Big Brothers Big Sisters and leaders of several prominent Black fraternities met in Atlanta last week to develop a nationwide plan that will prompt more Black men to become Big Brothers, BlackAmericaWeb.com reported.

The African-American Mentoring summit is part of an innovative joint venture between Big Brothers Big Sisters and Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi. According to the report, Phi Beta Sigma is also expected to participate in the partnership.

Wow. This is unusual. Ed Schultz does something you rarely see, criticize someone from his own network. Ed brings in Markos Moulitsas to respond to Chris Matthews insult of the netroots yesterday where he said we're not real Democrats and back-seat bitchers. John offered to debate Matthews yesterday. I wonder if we'll hear anything else from him on this now that Schultz had Moulitsas on. If Matthews wants to lob insults, I'd like to see him try to debate those he was insulting to their faces. I'm not holding my breath though. Good on Ed for giving Markos a chance to respond.

Washington lawyers may tend to dress alike, but they're not all the same when dealing with problems. Here are 30 of the very best. Hang on to the list—when you really need a lawyer, you might want one of these.

By Ralph Richardson

While I was organizing and agonizing over this very important list of Top 25 African- American films of all time, I used some parameters to guide me. First, what is an African- American movie? It has to be:

a movie about the black experience;

and/or a movie that is written, produced and/or directed by black people;

and/or it has to be a movie with a black person in the lead role.

Secondly, what criteria would I use to select and rate each film? The barometers I used were cultural influence, internet polling, and box office revenue, spiced up with a dash of my own personal bias.

NAVAL AIR FACILITY ATSUGI, Japan — It all started four years ago with a Tickle Me Elmo doll.

Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan Grant figured he'd do his part to support the Toys for Tots drive at Whidbey Island, Wash., and he tossed the doll into his shopping cart.

Then he eyed a few more toys, thinking he could help more children.

"If you give one toy to one kid in an orphanage, that can change that child's world," said Grant, now working for Commander Fleet Air, Western Pacific. "But if you can give hundreds of toys, that can have a really dramatic effect."

Grant, 29, ended up filling his cart and spending $300 on orphans and needy children he would never know, but whom he knew would be grateful to have brand new toys for the holiday season.

The pattern hit Prince George's County prosecutor C.T. Wilson with the subtlety of a blast from a 12-gauge shotgun: The young men he was sending to prison were victims before they were criminals.

Sitting in his office in Upper Marlboro, Wilson read five pre-sentencing reports in about a month, and all said the defendants had been abandoned or neglected by their parents and tossed into the foster care system or group homes.

Many had been emotionally abused or beaten. Some had been preyed on sexually. Some had been raped.

Just like me, Wilson thought.

Record Group 105.2 of the Virginia Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands records lists marriage certificates from 1861 to 1869 in Gloucester County.

HBO presented the 10th annual International Latino Film Festival, which opened at the School of Visual Arts Theater on 23rd Street. The opening night film was "La Mission" starring Benjamin Bratt.

These are actual comments made on students' report cards by teachers in the New York City public school system. All teachers were reprimanded (but boy, are these funny!)

1. Since my last report, your child has reached rock bottom and has started to dig.

2. I would not allow this student to breed.

3. Your child has delusions of adequacy.

4. Your son is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.

5. Your son sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.

6. The student has a full six-pack' but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together.

7. This child has been working with glue too much.

8. When your daughter's IQ reaches 50, she should sell.

9. The gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming.

10. If this student were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered twice a week.

11. It's impossible to believe the sperm that created this child beat out 1,000,000 others.

12. The wheel is turning but the hamster is definitely dead.

Family Program - Unity in Diversity: Liberia's 162nd Independence Anniversary

Saturday, July 25, 2009
11:30 AM - 8:00 PM
Location: Embassy of the Republic of Liberia

Celebrate Liberia's 162nd Independence Day with a cultural extravaganza for the whole family!

This is NOT a pushover test.. There are 20 questions. Average score is 12.

Check your paper & pencil answers with the ones at the bottom. This one will be difficult for the younger set. Have fun, but no peeking!

When you forward this to your friends/family, put your score in the subject line & let them know your score. Don't forget to forward it to me, as well. Good luck youngsters.

1. What builds strong bodies 12 ways?

A.Flintstones vitamins
B. The Buttmaster
C. Spaghetti
D. Wonder Bread
E. Orange Juice
F. Milk
G. Cod Liver Oil

2. Before he was Muhammed Ali, he w as...

A. Sugar Ray Robinson
B. Roy Orbison
C. Gene Autry
D. Rudolph Valentino
E. Fabian
F. Mickey Mantle
G. Cassius Clay

3. Pogo, the comic strip character said, 'We have met the enemy and...

A. It's you
B. He is us
C. It's the Grinch
D. He wasn't home
E. He's really me an
F. We quit
G. He surrendered

4. Good night David.

A. Good night Chet
B. Sleep well
C. Good night Irene
D. Good night Gracie
E. See you later alligator
F. Until tomorrow
G. Good night Steve

5. You'll wonder where the yellow went...

A. When you use Tide
B. When you lose your crayons
C. When you clean your tub
D. If you paint the room blue
E. If you buy a soft water tank
F. When you use Lady Clairol
G. When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent

6. Before he was the Skipper's Little Buddy, Bob Denver was Dobie's
Friend...

A. Stuart Whitman
B. Randolph Scott
C. Steve Reeves
D. Maynard G Krebbs
E. Corky B. Dork
F. Dave the Whale
G. Zippy Zoo

7. Liar, liar.

A. You're a liar
B. Your nose is growing
C. Pants on fire
D. Join the choir
E. Jump up higher
F. On the wire
G. I'm telling Mom

8. Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Superman fights a never ending battle for
Truth, justice and...

A. Wheaties
B. Lois Lane
C. TV ratings
D. World peace
E. Red tights
F. The American way
G. News headlines

9. Hey kids! What time is it?

A. It's time for Yogi Bear
B. It's time to do your homework
C. It's Howdy Doody Time
D. It's Time for Romper Room
E. It's bedtime
F. The Mighty Mouse Hour
G. Scoopy Doo Time

10. Lions and tigers and bears...

A. Yikes
B. Oh no
C. Gee whiz
D. I'm scared
E. Oh my
F. Help! Help!
G. Let's run

11. Bob Dylan advised us never to trust anyone...

A. Over 40
B. Wearing a uniform
C. Carrying a briefcase
D. Over 30
E. You don't know
F. Who says,'Trust me'
G. Who eats tofu

12. NFL quarterback who appeared in a television commercial wearing women's
Stockings...

A. Troy Aikman
B. Kenny Stabler
C. Joe Namath
D. Roger Stauback
E. Joe Montana
F. Steve Young
G. John Elway

13. Brylcream.

A. Smear it on
B. You'll smell great
C. Tame that cowlick
D. Grease ball heaven
E. It's a dream
F. We're your team
G. A little dab'll do ya

14. I found my thrill...

A. In Blueberry muffins
B. With my man, Bill
C. Down at the mill
D. Over the windowsill
E. With thyme and dill
F. Too late to enjoy
G. On Blueberry Hill

15. Before Robin Williams, Peter Pan was played by...

A. Clark Gable
B. Mary Martin
C. Doris Day
D. Errol Flynn
E. Sally Fields
F. Jim Carey
G. Jay Leno

16. Name the Beatles...

A. John, Steve, George, Ringo
B. John, Paul, George, Roscoe
C. John, Paul, Stacey, Ringo
D. Jay, Paul, George, Ringo
E. Lewis, Peter, George, Ringo F. Jason, Betty, Skipper, Hazel ....
G. John, Paul, George, Ringo

17. I wonder, wonder, who..

A. Who ate the leftovers?
B. Who did the laundry?
C. Was it you?
D. Who wrote the book of love?
E. Who I am?
F. Passed the test?
G. Knocked on the door?

18. I'm strong to the finish...

A. Cause I eats my broccoli
B. Cause I eats me spinach
C. Cause I lift weights
D. Cause I'm the hero
E. And don't you forget it
F. Cause Olive Oyl loves me
G. To outlast Bruto

19. When it's least expected, you're elected, you're the star today...

A. Smile, you're on Candid Camera
B. Smile, you're on Star Search
C. Smile, you won the lottery
D. Smile, we're watching you
E. Smile, the world sees you
F. Smile, you're a hit
G. Smile, you're on TV

20. What do M & M's do?

A. Make your tummy happy
B. Melt in your mouth, not in your pocket
C. Make you fat
D. Melt your heart
E. Make you popular
F. Melt in your mouth, not in your hand
G. Come in colors

Below are the right answers:
1. D - Wonder Bread
2. G - Cassius Clay
3. B - He Is Us
4. A - Good night, Chet
5. G - When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent
6. D - Maynard G.. Krebbs
7. C - Pants On Fire
8. F - The American Way
9. C - It's Howdy Doody Time
10. E - Oh My
11. D - Over 30
12. C - Joe Namath
13. G - A little dab'll do ya
14. G - On Blueberry Hill
15. B - Mary Martin
16. G - John, Paul, George, Ringo
17. D - Who wrote the book of Love
18. B - Cause I eats me spinach
19. A - Smile, you're on Candid Camera
20. F - Melt In Your Mouth Not In Your Hand

I received this test in an email. I hope you have as much fun with it as I did.

EMPOWERED 2 PROSPER YOUNG-ADULT LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE would not exist without quality workshops, presentations, and entertainment venues. We are currently accepting workshop proposals for E2P '09 which will take place October 23 – 25, 2009 at the Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD.

We are seeking out workshops for the student development forum on topics expanding into ...

Entrepreneurship
Leadership
Skill Building
Etiquette and Appearance
Resume Writing
Issues in Diversity and Social Justice
Issues Affecting Youth
Health
Wealth and Financial Management
Politics

AND FOR PARENTS

Scholarship and Financial Aid Process
Helicopter Parents
College Preparation
Issues Affecting African American Parents
College 101 (4 Year, 2-Year, Private, Public, HBCU)
Preparing Your Child for College
Supporting Your Child in College
Campus Living
Campus Involvement
Career Choice
Time Management
The Empty Nest Syndrome

Comedian Dave Chappelle had a fondness for the word "@!$%#." He used it liberally in his comedy bits, even extending the racial slur to non-black people. It became a catch all handle for any and everyone. It was just an expression for him and it was one that got laughs.

42-year-old Frank Lombard of Durham, North Carolina has been arrested for allegedly offering his adopted 5-year-old son up for sex over the internet.

The United States is one of few democratic nations that place on individuals the entire burden of registering to vote on individual citizens. Today, one-quarter to one-third of all eligible Americans remain unregistered — and thus are unable to cast ballots that will count. Even Americans who are registered risk being blocked from casting a ballot because of problems with our voter registration system — unprocessed registrations, inaccurate purges of names from the voter rolls, and other administrative and human errors. The registration system is as much a problem for the dedicated civil servants who administer our elections as it is for voters. It is costly, inefficient, and insufficiently accurate.

Now, after a decade of controversy over election and voting problems, the United States is again considering poised to reforms to voter registration.

http://www.spokanecops.org/McGruff.htm

The primary purpose of the McGruff Safe House program is to identify homes to serve as a safe refuge for children who are frightened, injured, lost, in danger, crime victims, or in an emergency situation.

Who Should Apply?

Persons having children in elementary school
Young married adults without children
Parents of high school age youth
Older persons
Area businesses
Anyone who resides in the elementary school attendance area

How To Become A McGruff House

Step 1. Complete the McGruff Safe House Application
Step 2. Pass the law enforcement background check.
Step 3. A site visit will be made with a C.P.T.E.D. (Crime
Prevention Through Environmental Design)
evaluation and a photo will be taken for the file.
Step 4. A pre-numbered McGruff Safe House sign will be
assigned to you.

Membership is reviewed and renewed annually. Contact your area C.O.P.S. Substation or call 835-4572.

www.potomaclegalaid.org 1-866-534-5243 / 703-532-2525 / 540-374-9101

A bankruptcy is a court proceeding in which you request the court to excuse you from your duty to repay your creditors. Bankruptcy allows you to discharge most of your debt, and to keep some of your property. Two types of bankruptcy apply to individuals and married couples who are not in business: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.

Many Active Duty Service Members live in communities where no military child care is available or where there are long waiting lists for child care on the installation.

To meet their needs, the Department of Defense (DoD) has asked the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) to partner with state and local Child Care Resource & Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) to refer military families to nationally accredited civilian child care programs and help additional civilian child care programs in selected communities become accredited.

www.naccrra.org/military

1-800-424-2246 Child Care Aware

Madelyn Service imagines life is easier for other teenagers.

Most American teens get to grow up in one place and make old friends. But for Service, it is different.

The 15-year-old has already moved six times with her Navy family and now attends high school in western Japan.

Each move means losing friends and rebuilding her life, sometimes halfway around the world.

"I find it harder each time," said Service, who is a student at Sasebo Naval Base. "It's harder for me to fit in here."

Thousands of military teens are stationed overseas with their families and face the same situation. They struggle to find a place for themselves while far from their home country and isolated within the highly structured and mobile culture of the U.S. military.

Do you have hundreds of friends on Facebook?

Well here is a good twist on Web 2.0 social-marketing.

Facebook and Burger King are teaming up to give you a free Whopper...as long as you "sacrifice" 10 friends to get it.

At the colossal Sparrows Point steelworks on the outer shores of Baltimore harbor, founded in 1887, black men long fed the sweltering ovens and furnaces while white men ran the finishing mills that produced gleaming coils of steel, tin, nails, wire and pipe. Three generations of my father's family labored on Sparrows Point and I grew up in a nearby white working class community that owed much of its post-war prosperity to Bethlehem Steel.

Over the past four years, as I've researched a social history of the works, I've wrestled with issues of race-and with my own ambivalence about my white working class roots.

The people that I was raised among were extraordinarily generous, unpretentious and hard-working, and I greatly admire those qualities. But many were also, no getting around it, racist. Not lynching racist, not burning crosses on the lawn racist, not even, in many cases, personally racist.

Donate Your Used Items
Give what you don't need to those who need it most.

So I'm using my bbq this weekend... so I thought I'll clean it up..

I have know there are bees coming from under the cover so I thought I'd kill them, thought I'll suffocate/smoke them out. I thought I was pretty smart hehehe designed to be easily manoevered under the cover of darkness...so then I release the weapon of buzz destruction..

OMFG! the sound from under the cover was incredible!!! You could hear it 3m away easy...

Then I ran like the clappers....

Coming back few mins later to see the death toll...Was at least 20mm deep mass grave.

I continued to remove the cover and to light the bbq to give it a clean when I noticed some fatty looking substance on the top of the side shelf thing.... Bit weird.. I clean it before I put it away for winter and no way was there fat there so I begun to wonder......

NO..... it can't be could it?

I slowly removed the rest of the cover only to find the HQ.

AND ON ANOTHER NOTE

We think the queen flew away.... either that or a small child has wings and has been living in the hive coz that thing was huge!

2009 is the birth bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln — and this man, his first vice president.

a) Andrew Johnson

b) Schuyler Colfax

c) Hannibal Hamlin

d) Henry Wilson

WASHINGTON — Murray Katz, 82, a retired senior federal patent-appeals examiner, has made a transition that lies ahead for millions of Americans.

"When I was growing up, I didn't see women who were in their 60s and 70s as women," he said recently. "Now, it's amazing. The men I know are all looking at 80-year-old women. They're our friends. We listen to them. We dance with them. We have sex with them when we can. It's beyond comprehension."

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu .. If people want a crche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem.

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.
Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?
Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet.

I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their A--, doing drugs, while I work. . . .
Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

Something has to change in this country -- and soon!!!!!!!

I guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out'.

A former Library of Congress personnel executive and his cousin have been charged with using information from employee records to finance a personal shopping binge, authorities announced Wednesday.
William Sinclair and Labiska Gibbs are facing up to 20 years and 37 years in prison, respectively, on charges that they accessed library personnel files and applied for lines of credit.

Gibbs, 35, was indicted Tuesday. Sinclair, 27, was charged by information — an indication that he has worked out a deal with prosecutors. Court papers also state that Sinclair is talking with prosecutors.

According to court documents, Sinclair was one of the few library employees who had access to the library's payroll system.

At this time of year there are festive decorations throughout the land — in homes, schools, businesses, shopping malls, and government buildings. But, this Saturday, Dec. 13, just 12 days before Christmas, there will be a different kind of decorating taking place marking a much different tribute.

Known as "Wreaths Across America," these decorations are for the tens of thousands who made the ultimate sacrifice so that this nation can remain "the land of the free." Wreaths will be placed on the graves of fallen military veterans in cemeteries and at monuments from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico.

The hymen is the stuff of legend and lore in many cultures, the treasured prize a woman gives her husband on their wedding night.

To the extent this still holds true, you just have to read the steady stream of stories about women who are undergoing surgery to have their hymens "restored."

Most recently, the topic turned up in the international headlines. A few weeks ago, a French appeals court in the northern city of Douai ruled that virginity could not be considered an "essential quality" for a valid marriage.

The Obamas will soon undergo a historic transition in January as the nation's First Family of color enters the White House. Also making the transition will be Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama's mother. President-elect Obama has attributed the success of his campaign, in part, to Robinson's support, especially as a child care provider.

A roundtable of grandmothers — Dianne Tolson, Sajida Nomani and Betty Noel-Cushenberry — share advice for Robinson and discuss the special role of grandparents.

1. Just concentrate on your Grand babies. Nothing else matters.

2. Do not interfere with the "Core Family." Support the mother and the father, equally.

3. "Grand Mothering" is not "Babysitting." The difference is "Jurisdiction." (This means that there is no "appeal" from Nana's rulings.)

4. The weekends are YOURS! For You! I became a docent at the Smithsonian; learned to swim; I attended Church each Sunday with the granddaughters in tow. On Sunday afternoons, I would read the NY Times, have dinner on my own time, not necessarily with the family.

5a. Know when it is time "to leave." Recognize when "your work is done. Keep/Retain your own home so you can "GO HOME."

1. Post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. tag your article as meta; 8 things and Uncheck ALL OF NEWSVINE.
5. At the end of your blog, you need to post it here... http://8things.newsvine.com/

~~~~~

1. I'm a person of integrity and I live by my own rules without apology.

2. I'm an activist and live to help others.

3. I enjoy conversing with open-minded people.

4. My hobbies are reading (I'll read nearly anything and it doesn't have to be well written because I'm not a reader snob), writing, traveling, and dining on anything that pleases my taste buds.

5. I live for my next beer, glasses of sherry and rum. I like wine especially the cheap kind that I buy from Trader Joe's, but my favorite is dry wine from Greece.

6. I'm proud of me and I like and love me. I enjoy life and am a person of substance.

7. I don't have time for people who don't like an adventure.

8. I celebrate being an Unitarian.

By the title of this column, I am very sure that most people will readily understand the underlying theme even before I begin, ...

But have you ever considered what each side says about themselves? Take for example those who call themselves "pro choice." They call themselves pro choice because they want you to believe that they have the woman's best interests at heart. But the truth is that to believe in this kind of choice, you must also believe that every murderer, thief, rapist and child molester has a right to act upon their choices and that victims are just out of luck.

With this said, it is time to consider those who call themselves "pro-life." In keeping with political correctness, it is fashionable these days to keep things positive in nature. Yet, they did not get in the battle because they were "for" life, but because they were against abortion. Thus, it would be more honest to call them anti-abortion, or anti-death, than pro life, regardless of the political climate....

Looking at this another way, doesn't the Bible teach us that it is wrong to judge another while we have a beam in our own eye? Are not we told to cast out the beam from our eye so that we can see clearly to cast the mote from our brother's?

New buildings are being constructed without water fountains, and existing buildings are decommissioning older fountains.

Sarah Palin look-alike contest at Vegas strip club

Charles is a volunteer from Boulder, CO who won a raffle to meet Barack at the rally in Denver on 10/26/08. I really believe you'll enjoy this one.

The name "horse chestnut" comes from the ancient practice of feeding chestnuts to horses that suffer from breathing problems and coughs.

Children might collect horse chestnuts to create original art projects, but the nut has many other uses. It is an old home remedy for arthritis, gout, hemorrhoids, disturbed blood flow, and nervous cramps.

NEW YORK—A New York woman gave birth to sextuplets earlier this month, but the family has been keeping the birth a secret as the six babies fought for their life at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. Their councilman Tony Avella is working hard on a donation drive for much needed supplies.

In the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, designed by John Russell Pope, most of the museum's world-class collections are beautifully displayed. The building has been quietly and expertly modernized over the past decade. All photographs by Jennifer Molay

Just above the Seventh Street entrance to the National Gallery of Art's West Building is one of the city's greatest rooms. It's a space that mixes beauty with power, history with the present.

Here are seven paintings by Titian, one of the foremost artists of the Italian Renaissance. A portrait of Vincenzo Cappello, a Venetian admiral, dominates the room. The painting exudes might: Cappello's armor is shiny, his rich red cloak soaks up light, his baton declares authority. A warrior's helmet is perched on a ledge behind him.

PERFORMED AT THE GRENDADIER CLUB DETROIT,MICHIGAN (Erma Watts,instructor)choreographer, Detroit finest (Crystal Smith) narrator (DARLENE STEWARD

It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in for a long flight to Norway to be with her husband when the airline representative informed her that she wouldn't be able to check her luggage without paying a 100 surcharge:

Mary had no money. ... -I was completely desperate ...

As tears streamed down her face, she heard a "gentle and friendly voice" behind her saying, "That's okay, I'll pay for her."
Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.

-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?

Who was the man?

Barack Obama.

Ever wonder what kind of voter you are?

The election season is full of spin, bold attack ads and misconstrued statements, but Project Vote Smart has the goal of cutting through the hype and getting to the candidates' true positions. The only problem is that only four of 11 local candidates answered their questions.
The Montana-based research organization sends candidates from all over the country a "Political Courage Test." This questionnaire asks candidates to put a check mark next to questions they agree with. Some of the topics are economic policies, gay marriage and education. Since the questions are typically yes or no, unclear answers are impossible. Answers can also be explained at the end of each section.