Much to my dismay, I am rapidly approaching my fifty-fourth birthday. I have to admit it does not bring me much comfort to know that I am nearing the winter of my life even though I am certain there is life after death. I can sum up my consternation in the words of a country and western song I heard recently that made me smile at myself. The songwriter, I apologize is unknown to me but he sings, “Everybody wanna go to heaven, nobody wanna go now.”
If I examine if it is just my apprehension about growing older and coming to terms with the awareness of truths, like our cat does not sit on my lap more frequently than other family members because he likes me more, but rather he sits on me because I am softer than everyone else … then is my chagrin just a state of mind or does the truth of the state of my body cause my thoughts to turn to the worst with regard to age?
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Category : advice
When will the hatred and violence end?
Oakland Police arrested two people tonight and dispersed a crowd of about 100 people at a downtown Oakland demonstration over the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a BART police officer.
The demonstration, which began around 6 p.m., was about half the size of Wednesday’s, which turned violent as protesters wreaked havoc on downtown. Read the rest of this entry »
Category : gossip, news
The consumer staples sector was the worst performing on Wall Street yesterday after a profit warning from Wal-Mart heightened concerns that the year-long recession could hurt even those groups previously regarded as relatively immune.
Shares in the world’s biggest retailer were among the few to enjoy a double-digit increase last year, up 18 per cent as investors hoped the group could continue to find strong growth from costconscious consumers eking out cheaper alternatives. Read the rest of this entry »
Category : economy, personal finance
Winter is in full force. As the days get shorter and the nights get colder, even the best of us can get a little down. The “winter blues” are characterized by the mild depression, lack of motivation, and low energy that many people experience during this cold season. Luckily, there’s a lot you can do to both prevent the blues from coming on and get yourself back to normal if they’re already here.
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Category : advice, gossip
President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air channels won’t be ready.
In a letter to key lawmakers Thursday, Obama transition team co-chair John Podesta said the digital transition needs to be delayed largely because the Commerce Department has run out of money for coupons to subsidize digital TV converter boxes for consumers. People who don’t have cable or satellite service or a new TV with a digital tuner will need the converter boxes to keep their older analog sets working.
Obama officials are also concerned that the government is not doing enough to help Americans — particularly those in rural, poor or minority communities — prepare for and navigate the transition.
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Category : electronics, entertainment
Banks really, really, really want your money. And that’s good news for savers in an otherwise dismal interest-rate environment.
Overall, average yields for certificates of deposit and savings accounts haven’t dropped nearly as much as other interest rates, particularly the federal funds rate, which the Federal Reserve slashed from 2% in October to 0.25% in December.
By contrast, the average rate on a one-year certificate dropped a little more than half a percentage point, to 1.92%, in the same period, according to Bankrate.com. Savers who shop around a bit can find several banks offering rates over 3% on both one-year CDs and on high-yield savings accounts. Read the rest of this entry »
Category : money, personal finance
Lindsay Lohan is supposedly still on the wagon, but that hasn’t stopped her from uncorking a mighty fine whine.
“You know what’s hard?” the underemployed, drama-addicted starlet, 22, bellyaches in the February issue of Interview (the chat was conducted by Lauren Hutton). “I want to give back. I want to do all the things that will make me feel fulfilled. But whenever I do those things, people think it’s a press stunt or something.”
Lohan, who reportedly rang in the new year by publicly brawling with squeeze Samantha Ronson, blames the paparazzi for making her life difficult, insisting that “there’s really no way of hiding from that,” even though actual do-gooders such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are able to disappear — with six kids in tow — for extended periods of time.
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Category : entertainment, gossip
An Illinois legislative committee Thursday unanimously recommended impeaching embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich amid corruption allegations.
Blagojevich was arrested last month after federal prosecutors alleged, among other things, that he tried to sell the Senate seat President-elect Barack Obama vacated.
The issue will now be taken up by the full Illinois state House of Representatives.
“Today is the day that we begin to give back democracy to the people of the state of Illinois,” Democratic Rep. Jack Franks said as he cast his “aye” vote.
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Category : Uncategorized
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday with an impassioned endorsement of PCs and a sneak peek at the company’s future Windows 7 operating system.
As expected, Ballmer announced that Microsoft is releasing a beta version of Windows 7, which will be available for download beginning Friday. The news suggests the world’s largest software maker may be giving up efforts to rehabilitate its often-maligned Vista operating system, which was released worldwide in January 2007. Read the rest of this entry »
Category : coputers, electronics
A good friend of mine recently reminded me of some advice I’d given her back in college. She was about to sleep with a new boyfriend for the first time and had been fretting about some body part. Apparently I shrugged and told her, “Please — boys are just happy to have a naked girl in the same room as them.”
I was kind of surprised and impressed when she told me I’d actually said these words. Over the years I have had pre-sex panic attacks over (in no particular order): my eyebrows, nasally voice, bad breath, body hair, belly roll(s), teeth, table manners, inner thighs… basically if I had it, I wasted valuable lady hours worrying about it. Read the rest of this entry »
Category : dating, relationships
