Sarah Palin resigns as Governor of Alaska

News Link: Palin Resigns

Deja Vu all over again

Shades of Anna Nicole, another three ring circus is coming to town. All the players in the future Michael Jackson paternity spat are lining up in the wings, waiting for the funeral to blow over. You know it's got to be coming, don't you. Jackson once said he fathered those first two children with then wife Debby Rowe. Dear Debby now says "Never happened". Deb claims she had the children strictly for Michael's sake. Custody was never an issue. All of a sudden she has a custody lawyer. There's also the mystery momma of child number three. She is out there somewhere. Then there's the unknown dads, the anonymous sperm donors. Don't be surprised if one or more of them shows up. There is, after all, a nice trust fund at stake.

Update - July 3 Debby Rowe files for custody. Guess they're not going to wait for the funeral. Imagine that...

Taking another look at prescription drugs

News Link: The FDA on Percocet and Vicodin

No more gold in them thar' hills

California goes broke. State begins to issue IOU's.

News Link: California IOU's

Pitchman passes away

TV salesman Billy Mays [Orange-Glo / Oxy-Clean] found dead at home after freak accident in airplane.

News Link: Billy Mays

Add one more to the homeless roles

Judge orders Madoff homes to be sold.

News Link: $7 million penthouse up for grabs

Farrah Fawcett - Michael Jackson

At the Pearly Gates

Link: Farrah Fawcett
Link: Michael Jackson

Hunger Strikes

21 days ago, actress Mia Farrow embarked on a hunger strike to bring attention to the dire situation in Darfur. Now if you are someone who has not reached a certain age, you may be saying "Who is Mia Farrow?" Then again, if you are not up on current events, you may be saying "Who or what is Darfur?" If you really need to know the answer to either of those questions, we suggest you do a search. This is after all the internet age. What we really wonder about is hunger strikes in general. Why do people think starving themselves will solve a problem? [other than weight gain, but never mind] Why, when an individual goes on a hunger strike, for what they see as a just cause, do we say "Sure, good luck, go ahead", then watch them stretch it out till their body rebels? Yet when a convicted killer on death row does the same thing, we force-feed him through tubes to keep him alive. Just wondering, like I said...

News Link: Mia Farrow ends hunger strike

Boogie on down

Someone once said Tis music that separates man from beast. Well... not so fast, Jackson. Those pesky scientists are at it again, trying to prove we're not as unique as we think we are. At the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, they've been keeping an eye on a couple of parrots that seem to be able to keep a beat, and start dancing when the music comes on. Seems the same brain circuitry that allows us to learn to talk, also tells us to tap our toes when we hear the rhythm. Can you say "Polly want a cracker?"

News Link: Boogie Birdie

Congratulations, you own General Motors

Yes you, Joe Average, Mr Taxpayer, GM could be all yours. That's the gist of a restructuring plan now on the table. By the end of next month, GM's share of the Bailout Fund will hit $20 billion. In the proposed debt for equity swap, the debt gets reduced for a chunk of the business. We, in effect, you and me, under the guidance of our guys in DC, get to own the company. Good deal, right? Unless they go bankrupt after that... There is, after all, that old story about the Mustang Ranch, where the IRS seized a brothel in Nevada for back taxes, then couldn't turn a profit by running it.

News Link: US to take majority GM stake

PS - The Mustang Ranch story is a bit of an urban legend. While it's true the government did own it for a while, they never really got to run it. It's also just as true though, that the IRS had 'planned' to run it, but the judge presiding over the case wouldn't release the business license to the appointed trustee.