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posty

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  4. Posted

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29044611/

     

    LOS ANGELES - Katrina Darrell didn’t make a lot of friends when she auditioned for “American Idol” in a bikini, but Playboy sure took notice.

     

    According to the recently ousted chanteuse, known on the show as Bikini Girl, the men’s magazine is one of the many places that has expressed an interest in the booted reality hopeful following her “Idol” departure on Wednesday’s episode.

     

    “[i’ve had] a lot of different offers, like Vegas promotion offers. Of course Playboy has called,” Darrell told Access Hollywood’s Tony Potts on Thursday afternoon.

    Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

     

    And it appears the brunette beauty, who hit the Access set in a strapless, corseted black dress, ankle boots and hot pink nails, has opened a discussion with the bunny brand.

     

    “I wouldn’t say no, but at the same time I don’t want to stunt my career by jumping into that too soon and be labeled once again, as ‘just a body.’ But I don’t knock it,” she said.

     

    Darrell, who found early favor with judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson despite an audition altercation with new judge Kara DioGuardi, said accepting any offer from Playboy would be all about “timing.”

     

    Whether she would actually ditch the bikini for a Playboy shoot, though, is up in the air.

     

    “I don’t know. I would have to think about that,” she said. “My dad would probably kill me.”

     

    As “Idol” fans know, Katrina was axed from the show during Hollywood week after failing to impress the judges in a group audition. During the show, Katrina was shown heading to bed while her fellow group members stayed up practicing.

     

    Katrina told Tony that what fans saw on TV wasn’t exactly the way things went down.

     

    “I did rehearse a lot more than they showed. I had auditioned all day, then at midnight they gave me a new song to learn and then I had to be up and ready to perform at 7, so I stayed up ‘til 4:30 and then I started getting delirious,” she explained. “Then the girls were being catty, and it was impossible to work with them — one’s taking off and having cigarette breaks, the other one is a minor, has her parent looking over me the whole time and then the other one said, ‘ I’m the best singer and I should sing the beginning,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m so tired, I can’t do this.’ You know, I’m not in a girl group, I’m a solo artist.”

     

    Katrina’s "Idol" appearance was marked by more than just girl fights and her bikini-clad audition. She also made waves for her crush on show host, Ryan Seacrest, whom she kissed on numerous occasions.

     

    “He seemed timid, scared. He was like, I wanna kiss back, but I can’t,” Katrina said of their smooch. “[Ryan’s] bottom lip pouted out [when I kissed him].”

     

    And, according to Katrina, who is single, she has an interest in the spiky-haired blonde.

     

    “Yes, he’s hot, for sure,” she said.

  5. Posted

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/06/rom...ulus/index.html

     

    (CNN) -- These are extraordinary times, and like a lot of Republicans I believe that a well-crafted stimulus plan is needed to put people back to work. But the Obama spending bill would stimulate the government, not the economy.

     

    We're on an economic tightrope. The package that passed the House is a huge increase in the amount of government borrowing. And we've borrowed so much already that if we add too much more debt, or spend foolishly, we could invite an even bigger crisis.

     

    We could precipitate a worldwide crisis of confidence in America, leading to a run on the dollar or hyperinflation that wipes out family savings and devastates the middle class.

     

    It's still early in the administration of President Obama. Like everyone who loves this country, I want him to adopt the correct course and then to succeed. He still has a chance to step in and insist on spending discipline among the members of his own party.

     

    It's his job to set priorities. I hope for America's sake that he knows that a chief executive can't vote "present." He has to say yes to some things and no to a lot of others.

     

    As someone who spent a career in the private sector, I'd like to see a stimulus package that respects the productivity and genius of the American people. And experience shows us what it should look like.

     

    First, there are two ways you can put money into the economy, by spending more or by taxing less. But if it's stimulus you want, taxing less works best. That's why permanent tax cuts should be the centerpiece of the economic stimulus. VideoWatch Romney make argument for tax cuts »

     

    Second, any new spending must be strictly limited to projects that are essential. How do we define essential? Well, a good rule is that the projects we fund in a stimulus should be legitimate government priorities that would have been carried out in the future anyway, and are simply being moved up to create those jobs now.

     

    As we take out nonessential projects, we should focus on funding the real needs of government that will have immediate impact. And what better place to begin than repairing and replacing military equipment that was damaged or destroyed in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan?

     

    Third, sending out rebate checks to citizens and businesses is not a tax cut. The media bought this line so far, but they've got it wrong. Checks in the mail are refunds, not tax cuts. We tried rebate checks in 2008 and they did virtually nothing to jump-start the economy. Disposable income went up, but consumption hardly moved.

     

    Businesses aren't stupid. They're not going to invest in equipment and new hires for a one-time, short-term blip. What's needed are permanent rate cuts on individuals and businesses.

     

    Fourth, if we're going to tax less and spend more to get the economy moving, then we have to make another commitment as well. As soon as this economy recovers, we have to regain control over the federal budget, and above all, over entitlement spending for programs such as Social Security and Medicare. This is more important than most people are willing to admit.

     

    There is a real danger that with trillions of additional borrowing -- from the budget deficit and from the stimulus -- world investors will begin to fear that our dollars won't be worth much in the future. It is essential that we demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the value of the dollar. That means showing the world that we will put a stop to runaway spending and borrowing.

     

    Fifth, we must begin to recover from the enormous losses in the capital investment pool. And the surest, most obvious way to get that done is to send a clear signal that there will be no tax increases on investment and capital gains. The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts should be extended permanently, or at least temporarily.

     

    And finally, let's exercise restraint in the size of the stimulus package. Last year, with the economy already faltering, I proposed a stimulus of $233 billion. The Washington Post said: "Romney's plan is way too big." So what critique will the media have for the size of the Obama package?

     

    In the final analysis, we know that only the private sector -- entrepreneurs and businesses large and small -- can create the millions of jobs our country needs. The invisible hand of the market always moves faster and better than the heavy hand of government.

  7. Posted

    So, watching a bit of it the other day.

    And the last game...last play, they are quite a few yards away.

    And they bring in the extra QB...and just then, the supposed Genius Ed Henry starts saying "they are going to pass deep" "COVER DEEP!".

    You freakin think? There is barely any time left on the clock and they need a score. Did he think they were going to run the freaking FB dive?

     

    If John Madden would have said this, this would have been praised as intelligent and insightful into what goes through a coaches mind...

  9. Posted

    http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=114...&spid=24698

     

    WASHINGTON -- February 5, 2009: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) told nationally syndicated talk host Bill Press this morning that the recent flips of liberal Talk stations in several markets were a "disservice to the public."

     

    Stabenow said that, in the day of the Fairness Doctrine, "you had to have balance," and continued, "I think something that requires that in a market with owners that have multiple stations that they have got to have balance -- there has to be some community interest -- balance, you know, standard that says both sides have to be heard."

     

    Stabenow told Press that the airwaves are "dominated by one view" that "overwhelms people's opinions -- and, unfortunately, incorrectly," and said that "right-wing conservative talk hosts" are "trying to make people angry and saying all kinds of things that aren't true and so on."

     

    When Press asked if it is time to bring back the Fairness Doctrine, Stabenow responded, "I think it's absolutely time to pass a standard." To Press' inquiry as to whether she will push for hearings in the Seante "to bring these owners in and hold them accountable," Stabenow replied, "I have already had some discussions with colleagues, and, you know, I feel like that's going to happen. Yep."

     

    So why isn't she complaining about ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC instead of just targeting right-win radio?

  11. Posted

    To all that say this man is not a hero.....You are funny. You sit behind a computer all day and contribute nothing in terms of what this man did. Very easy to feel small compared to him. This man lands a broken plane, and not only saves all on board, but prevents the plane from crashing into a heavily populated area. Imagine if the plane had crashed in the city and all had died on board and many more on the ground? What would we be saying? "Those poor people, they never had a chance!". But they did have a chance, because of him.

     

    Being calm and not choking under pressure and doing a job in landing a plane safely, albeit in a terrible situation, does not make someone a hero...

     

    The people on United 93 that attacked the hijackers and risked everything, they are heroes...

     

    Policemen, firemen, soldiers are heroes as they put their lives on the line to help others...

     

    Where did Sully put his life on the line? He was in the same situation and he wanted to live as well and when things weren't working well, he found the best possible situation for survival and to save everyone on board... That isn't a hero, that is thinking quickly and reacting quickly and not choking under pressure... Remember, I am not dissing him, I just don't think he is a hero for doing what he did...

     

    And if he is in fact a hero, why isn't the co-pilot being called a hero? He probably helped out as well, where is his accolades?

  12. Posted

    http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=767070

     

    As he tells it, Randall Hinton is paid $93,803 a year to do nothing.

     

    He spends much of his workday at the State Insurance Fund donning headphones, listening to rock 'n' roll, blues or classical tunes and his superiors are cool with that.

     

    His work agenda involves placing his feet up on his desk, staring out his office window and counting cars on the New York State Thruway. He arrives at 7:30 a.m., leaves at 3:30 p.m., sees no one and talks to no one.

     

    He never does any work. It's been this way for Hinton for most of this decade.

     

    "I just sit here," said Hinton, 55, of Niskayuna, a 27-year state employee who has held several high-level posts at various agencies.

     

    At 6 feet 4 inches and 265 pounds he is an imposing figure who will begin to tear up when he discusses his situation. A member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine, he said he is being discriminated against because of his national origin and retaliated against for having sued the state.

     

    Since February 2002, Hinton has been director of investigations for the Insurance Fund, but he said he has never been allowed to investigate anything. Instead, he builds up pension credits, year after year, but is unproductive at work because his superiors are blackballing him, he and his former boss say.

     

    Hinton contends he is without portfolio as retaliation for suing Gov. George Pataki's administration 10 years ago, alleging discrimination then, too. That was after getting stuck in a storeroom for two years for refusing to leave his post at the Department of Environmental Conservation heading investigations to make room for a Republican appointee, he said.

     

    In a January 2002 settlement in his suit against then-DEC Commissioner John Cahill (who later became Pataki's top deputy) and then-Assistant DEC Commissioner James W. Tuffey (now Albany's police chief) he was guaranteed state employment as a director of investigations.

     

    "We didn't offer to settle, they did," said Tuffey. "They said just transfer him." Tuffey said the friction between Hinton and DEC officials developed because he wanted to go to the police academy to become a sworn DEC officer, but had not taken the civil service tests required.

     

    Court papers show the stipulation promised Hinton his post at the Insurance Fund, controlled by Pataki's appointees under multi-year terms that continue years into the future. They gave him a job and an office but told his boss not to let Hinton handle anything of substance, according to Hinton and his former manager.

     

    On Monday, Hinton filed a complaint with the Division of Human Rights claiming discrimination stemming from the retaliation of his original claim against the DEC.

     

    Hinton said he's treated as a second-class employee with fewer resources than even the lowliest Insurance Fund worker. "I have no Internet access, no printer, no laptop, no car. Every day it's a struggle for me to bring in something I haven't read or listened to. I can tell you how many white cars pass on the Thruway . . . I can't take it anymore."

     

    His former boss at the Insurance Fund, Edward Obertubbesing, backed up Hinton's story. He said Hinton is being victimized by GOP superiors who don't want him doing much.

     

    "I think it is because he had the gall to sue Gov. Pataki and he had a high-profile job in a Democratic administration," said Obertubbesing, now an Insurance Fund lawyer. "Quite honestly, it bothered me. Here's someone who could bring value to the organization and he's not being given that opportunity."

     

    Obertubbesing, a Democrat, said several Pataki administration staffers got posts at the Insurance Fund as Pataki was leaving office in 2006. Among them is Obertubbesing's current boss, Greg Allen, who is paid almost $176,000 as chief counsel. The fund employs 2,650 people. It exists to provide workers' compensation and disability policies as an insurer of last resort to 190,000 employers statewide.

     

    Obertubbesing said top brass at the fund specifically told him to not give Hinton any important duties and such directives were a key reason he got out of managing.

     

    Initially, Hinton was assigned to supervise a few customer service representatives taking injury reports. Hinton complained the task was not a duty for the director of investigations. The unit he ran was later regrouped under customer service and Hinton was given just one duty — approving one person's time sheet every two weeks, he and his former manager said.

     

    "He has nothing to do and has had nothing to do for the last two and a half years and what he had to do before that was relatively insignificant," said Obertubbesing. "It's an unfortunate situation." He said when Hinton arrived from DEC: "I was told a guy is coming to your office, fit him in, but he can't do this and can't do that. It was pretty apparent from Day 1 that they didn't want him to do anything."

     

    He said Hinton thought things would improve when Eliot Spitzer became governor, but the Democratic administrations of Spitzer and Gov. David Paterson have not broken the pattern set by the Pataki holdovers still at the helm of the Insurance Fund.

     

    Hinton points to Christopher Barclay, the deputy director who is now secretary, and Executive Director David Wehner as being responsible for his situation. Barclay and Wehner, Pataki appointees, have multi-year terms. They did not return calls for comment, but spokesman Bob Lawson said the fund's managers tried to give Hinton more responsibilities recently after he complained to Wehner.

     

    The offer extended involved overseeing private detective agencies hired by the fund — reviewing bid proposals, investigative reports done by the consultants and methods used. "He rejected those additional responsibilities," Lawson said. He defined Hinton's work duties as being a supervisor of the unit Hinton said was disbanded three years ago. Lawson said he is supposed to alert others about complicated or serious injury reports. He could not say how busy the assignment is but said he is unaware of any problems with Hinton's performance.

     

    Hinton said he dismissed the recent offer because he did not want to do contract quality assurance and work for a contract administrator who was in a entry-level management post.

     

    He said he also communicated with Paterson's aides, including appointments secretary Francine James and new Insurance Fund deputy director Thomas Gleason about his lack of work, but was ignored. Copies of e-mails to those officials support the assertion.

     

    A Paterson spokesman did not comment on the matter.

     

    Privately, some of Hinton's former colleagues describe Hinton as obsessed with becoming a cop and sometimes peculiar in his investigative techniques, for instance setting up in cars to conduct surveillances of co-workers.

     

    Hinton said he has handled hundreds of investigations in the past and is trained as a watchdog to weed out theft, abuse and waste in government and has been assigned to check out colleagues sometimes. His resume includes jobs as a deputy inspector general, director of internal audits and investigations at the Department of Civil Service and director of investigations at the DEC. He said he had attempted to become an environmental conservation officer, able to carry a gun, which would allow him to retire to his tribe as a law enforcer.

     

    Hinton wants to be director of investigations for real — investigating insurance fraud — for the Insurance Fund. He said that responsibility was given to a GOP appointee, a white male, who is paid $140,800 a year, according to state records. Or, he said, he would be a good director of internal controls, a newly established job also given to a white male in October. The Insurance Fund is paying the newcomer $82,363.

     

    Whenever he has sought advancement or transfers, he said, he has been stymied since his brush with the Pataki administration.

     

    "This is not about me," he said, asserting that he is trying to make a name for Native Americans in public service. "I'm ashamed of my situation. I'm embarrassed. Nobody cares. They don't care about Indians."

     

    He said he has essentially done very little work since about 1999 but has a competitive civil service position so that he is protected should layoffs occur and cannot be fired without due process, unlike the political appointees occupying posts he seeks.

     

    He said he decided to take action when he got an e-mail in November from his manager that said the Insurance Fund wanted to recognize "the significant contributions and considerable role of Native Americans" and that Paterson had proclaimed Native American Month.

     

    He responded by e-mail, copying several Paterson appointees, that his agency does not appreciate diversity, that he has been denied work and stripped of his dignity.

     

    "I want my dignity back," Hinton said in an interview before returning to his corner office in the back of the Insurance Fund's district office along I-90 East.

     

    "I don't know how I could get through the day without my iPod," Hinton said.

  13. Posted

    http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/02/guitar-hero-rec.html

     

    Ladies and gentlemen, welcome your new ruler. Danny Johnson, 14, of Grapevine, Tex., set a new world record in Guitar Hero III yesterday by earning an astonishing 973,954 points playing DragonForce's "Through the Fire and Flames" at a Guinness World Records event in Manhattan. Wow. This kid can shred, on a video-game accessory. Johnson played so hard he actually broke one of the buttons on his fake guitar. (As The New York Times helpfully explains: "Players rack up points by hitting buttons on a plastic guitar controller in time to the music." They so do!)

     

    Personally, I find watching YouTube clips of Guitar Hero and Rock Band experts in action almost as fun as actually playing those games myself, so I'm glad that Johnson has posted dozens of videos of himself mastering "Through the Fire and Flames" on his YouTube channel. The most recent one is below, though he doesn't seem to have posted video of his record-setting run yet.

     

    << video

     

    Pretty impressive, right? Three cheers for Danny Johnson! And here's hoping he doesn't fall into the dangerous spiral that befell Stan and Kyle when they won a similar contest on South Park that one time. (Link contains some offensive language, 'cause it's South Park and they can't resist undermining their legit LOLs with grade-school slurs.)

  14. Posted

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/...r.html?ITO=1490

     

    In a desperate act of love to try to save her dying father, a 13-year-old girl has attempted suicide so he could receive her liver.

     

    Chen Jin took more than 200 sleeping pills and was also severely burned by an electric blanket after leaving a note imploring her mother to give her liver to her cancer-stricken father.

     

    Hospital officials in Shanghai said she was passing in and out of consciousness after her suicide attempt and it was touch and go whether she would survive.

     

    It was not until her story appeared in several Chinese newspapers that her father found out about Chen's attempt to help him.

     

    The family have been struggling to pay the father's hospital bills and a public website has been set up in the hope that donations will come in to help them.

     

    The Shanghai Daily newspaper reported that Chen had found a medical report in her mother's purse last month stating that her father was dying of liver cancer and had only three months to live.

     

    'Mum, I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you any longer,' she wrote in her goodbye note.

     

    'Please give my liver to dad and save him after my death.'

     

    After swallowing handfuls of sleeping pills she was burned by the electric blanket she was lying on and even if she survives doctors said she would need extensive surgery for the burns.

     

    She was discovered by Chen's 43-year-old mother, Cui Lan, who has recently been laid-off from a factory, who at first found the doors of the house jammed from the inside.

     

    When she eventually broke in, Cui found her unconscious daughter, the suicide note and two empty pill bottles.

     

    'She loves her dad more than herself,' Chen's tearful mother said.

     

    The girl was rushed to the same hospital where her father is being treated.

     

    1.5 million people in China need organ transplants each year - but only 10,000 can find donors.

  15. Posted

    TO me a hero is someone who puts their life in danger to help others. Firefighters, Cops, Soldiers all are often called hero's when they go above and beyond and I agree with that.

     

    Now this guy is great, he did a hell of a job, and I applaud him for not wanting the spotlight.

     

    However, to me he is not a hero. He did what any pilot would do. He didn't really have a choice. The fact that he succeeded does not make him a hero.

     

    [/thread]

  17. Posted

    He did his job. He's clutch. Not really a hero.

     

    It's not as if he put his own life in danger to save others. It's not as if he attempted to land the plan whereas other pilots would have bailed out. He did what any pilot would do. Tried not to die.

     

    That said, he doesn't seem to be whoring himself out so I'll give him the thumbs up. :doublethumbsup:

     

    This I agree with... He was clutch under pressure and didn't fold...

     

    Plus it is awesome that he is very modest and not looking to be in the limelight...

  19. Posted

    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years...05091doll1.html

     

    FEBRUARY 5--Meet George Bartusek. The Florida man, 51, was arrested yesterday after he was spotted fondling and making out with a pair of blow-up dolls in a supermarket parking lot. Shoppers called cops when they spotted Bartusek getting busy in the front seat of his 1998 Lincoln Town Car outside a Publix in Cape Coral. Bartusek, charged with breach of peace, is pictured below in a Lee County Sheriff's Office mug shot. One of the blow-up dolls involved in the public clinch is pictured at right. On the positive side, Bartusek was fully dressed while grinding with the plasticized pair.

  21. Posted

    here's our bored:

     

    http://www.thedanzone.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=91

    register, take a look at some of the threads to see how it's setup and get a better feel for the league. It's really fairly simple once we get rolling, and we'll provide links to help sort through your team's former players. Then you can go ahead and roll the dice for draft order when you are ready. Posty mentioned he was looking at the marlins, but I asked him if he'd take the rays so you could have them. But we'd love to have you on board. :wall:

     

    He can have the Marlins...

     

    The Rays are a definite, but they are one of the final choices...

  23. Posted

    http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9...;show_article=1

     

    WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans tried to push back against the ballooning size of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan Wednesday, even as he warned that the financial crisis will turn into "a catastrophe" if the bill isn't passed quickly.

     

    Obama summoned centrist senators to the White House Wednesday afternoon to discuss a plan to cut more than $50 billion in spending from the measure, which breached the $900 billion barrier in the Senate on Tuesday and appears headed higher.

     

    Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, as well as Ben Nelson, D-Neb., have tentatively agreed to cutting more than $50 billion from the bill, a Nelson spokesman said, though details weren't yet available.

     

    Their effort is central to building at least some bipartisan support for the bill, which has come under increasing attack for too much spending unrelated to jolting the economy right away.

     

    Obama indicated he's amenable to changes.

     

    "No plan is perfect, and we should work to make it stronger," Obama said at the White House Wednesday. "Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential. Let's show people all over our country who are looking for leadership in this difficult time that we are equal to the task."

     

    The cost of the plan expanded past $900 billion after the Senate on Tuesday added money for medical research and tax breaks for car purchases. An effort to add $25 billion more for infrastructure projects—which narrowly failed to advance—is likely to be revived.

     

    The cost could go higher Wednesday if a tax break for homebuyers is made more generous.

     

    Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., is pressing for a tax credit of up to $15,000 for everyone who buys a home this year, at a cost of about $20 billion. The pending measure would award a $7,500 tax credit only to first-time homebuyers.

     

    Taken together, the developments prompted a scolding from the Senate's top Republican.

     

    "At some point, we're going to have to learn to say no," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "If we're going to help the economy, we need to get a hold of this bill. And making it bigger isn't the answer."

     

    The president rejected some criticisms of the plan: that tax cuts alone would solve the problem, or that longer-term goals such as energy independence and health care reform should wait until afterward.

     

    In remarks at the White House, Obama argued that recalcitrant lawmakers need to get behind his approach, saying the American people embraced his ideas when they elected him president in November.

     

    But Republicans have focused the debate on questionable spending in the bill, pushing down its popularity with complaints about items such as money to combat sexually transmitted diseases, fix problems with the Census and combat the flu.

     

    Some Democrats are griping as well. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., a big critic of the measure, told a Nashville radio station that he "got some quiet encouragement from the Obama folks for what I'm doing.... They know its a messy bill and they wanted a clean bill."

     

    Obama has sought each day to ratchet up the pressure on lawmakers, bringing different supportive groups to the White House, scheduling a series of TV interviews, even traveling to a charter school to tout one portion of the bill.

     

    "A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future," Obama said in his prepared remarks.

  24. Posted

    http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_con...age_falls_to_37

     

    Support for the economic recovery plan working its way through Congress has fallen again this week. For the first time, a plurality of voters nationwide oppose the $800-billion-plus plan.

     

    The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 37% favor the legislation, 43% are opposed, and 20% are not sure.

     

    Two weeks ago, 45% supported the plan. Last week, 42% supported it.

     

    Opposition has grown from 34% two weeks ago to 39% last week and 43% today.

     

    Sixty-four percent (64%) of Democrats still support the plan. That figure is down from 74% a week ago. Just 13% of Republicans and 27% of those not affiliated with either major party agree.

     

    Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans oppose the plan along with 50% of unaffiliated voters and 16% of Democrats.

     

    Related survey data shows that half the nation’s voters say the plan that finally emerges from Congress may end up doing more harm than good.

     

    (Want a free daily e-mail update? Sign up now. If it's in the news, it's in our polls).

     

    Despite the declining support, 78% say it is at least somewhat likely that the economic recovery package proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats will become law during Obama's first 100 days in office. That figure includes 36% who say passage is Very Likely. That latter figure is down significantly from a week ago when 52% said passage of the legislation was Very Likely.

     

    A stimulus plan that includes only tax cuts is now more popular than the economic recovery plan being considered in Congress. Forty-five percent (45%) favor a tax-cut only plan while 34% are opposed. Those figures reflect a modest increase in support over the past week. Candidate Obama campaigned heavily on a promise to cut taxes for 95% of all Americans, and voters strongly believe that tax cuts are good for the economy. Most Americans believe that a dollar of tax cuts is better for the economy than a dollar of government spending.

     

    A stimulus plan with tax cuts only is supported by 64% of Republicans, 31% of Democrats and 46% of unaffiliated voters. It is opposed by 17% of Republicans, 46% of Democrats and 35% of unaffiliated voters. Obama initially proposed $350 billion for tax cuts in the recovery plan, but the congressional Democratic leadership lowered this to $275 billion to make way for more spending.

     

    Going to the other extreme, 72% of voters oppose a stimulus plan that includes only new government spending without any tax cuts.

     

    Forty-six percent (46%) of voters remain concerned that the government will do too much in reacting to the nation’s economic problems. Forty-one percent (41%) are concerned that the government will do too little.

     

    The House of Representatives passed an $819-billion version of the plan last week with all but 11 Democrats voting in favor of it and all Republicans voting against. Democrats argue the plan is full of essential stimulus measures for the economy; Republicans say it has far too much new spending in it. The Senate is now expected to pass a different version of the bill, raising its price tag as high as $900 billion. If so, a conference with representatives from the Senate and the House will be needed to resolve the differences.

     

    The president has indicated that he will be more aggressive in promoting the plan through the media. A recent analysis by Scott Rasmussen noted that Obama himself is key to passage of the legislation. The president enjoys high job approval ratings overall and is especially popular among those who are undecided about the current legislation.

     

    These latest survey results are very similar to a recent Gallup survey which found that only 38% now support the recovery plan. The Gallup survey found that another 37% wanted major changes made to the legislation, and 17% said that it should be rejected entirely.

  25. Posted

    The 38KKKs

     

    http://www.nbcnewyork.com/around_town/the_...ld-Record-.html

     

    We were already fairly impressed last April, when we heard (via ABC) that one Sheyla Hershey traveled to Houston for a boob job. And not just any boob job: An enhancement bound for the record books. Because after eight surgeries and a full gallon of silicone, the petite model/actress was a staggering 34 FFF.

     

    Still, Hershey wanted more! And she was determined to get it. When her boyfriend begged her to stop, she broke up with him (note to men: You have to support our dreams, no matter how deluded and life-threatening silly they might seem!).

     

    But Hershey was forced to settle with her FFF mosquito bites because "the state of Texas has limits on the amount of silicone that can be injected into breast implants," noted ABC. Reading this, we found ourselves impressed by Texas, because we didn't think it was the kind of state to impose limits on such things, what with the Dallas Cowboys cherleaders and the state priding itself on everything being bigger there and whatnot.

     

    But, as Hershey discovered through diligent research, they have no such restraint in Brazil! And so now, after a ninth surgery, she's the proud owner of both a 38KKK bust (according to Britain's Daily Star) and the world record for largest breasts. We wonder if Guinness has a category for worst back pain.

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