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••can ye pass the acid test?•• ye who enter here be afraid, but do what ye must -- to defeat your fear ye must defy it. time bomb tick tock? nervous tic talk? war on war?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ushering in the largest decrease in auto fuel consumption since the 1970s, President Barack Obama and automobile manufacturers Friday announced a deal that will save drivers money at the pump and dramatically cut heat-trapping gases coming from tailpipes.
The agreement pledges to double overall fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, bringing major under-the-hood changes for the nation's automobiles starting in model year 2017. Cars and trucks on the road today average 27 miles per gallon.
"This agreement on fuel standards represents the single most important step we have taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Obama said, sharing the stage with top executives of the major auto makers.... [more]
"a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis"?!
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former President George W. Bush says his apparent lack of reaction to the first news of the September 11 2001 attacks was a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis.
In a rare interview with the National Geographic Channel, Bush reflects on what was going through his mind at the most dramatic moment of his presidency when he was informed that a second passenger jet had hit New York's World Trade Center.
Bush was visiting a Florida classroom and the incident, which was caught on TV film, and has often been used by critics to ridicule his apparently blank face.
"My first reaction was anger. Who the hell would do that to America? Then I immediately focused on the children, and the contrast between the attack and the innocence of children," Bush says in an excerpt of the interview shown to television writers on Thursday.
Bush said he could see the news media at the back of the classroom getting the news on their own cellphones "and it was like watching a silent movie."
Bush said he quickly realized that a lot of people beyond the classroom would be watching for his reaction.
"So I made the decision not to jump up immediately and leave the classroom. I didn't want to rattle the kids. I wanted to project a sense of calm," he said of his decision to remain seated and silent.
"I had been in enough crises to know that the first thing a leader has to do is to project calm," he added. [more]
we're not economic illiterates. we just have to use numbers they'll buy. let's try picking them out of a new hat....
House Speaker John Boehner's debt-limit plan was dealt a potentially debilitating setback Tuesday when the Congressional Budget Office reported on the eve of the House vote that the measure would save only about $840 billion over the next decade -- far less than the $1.2 trillion advertised. [more]
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Percentage of total US household income earned by income group
3.1% less than $20,000 19.04% of all households
8.1% $20,000 to $37,500 19.45% of all households
13.8% $37,500 to $60,000 19.44% of all households
22.3% $60,000 to $95,000 20.00% of all households
40.8% $95,000 to $250,000 20.15% of all households
11.9% $250,000 or more 1.92% of all households
...a video circulating the Internet showed a special needs child in a north Mississippi district being punched in the face.
And in Yazoo County a couple of years ago, a girl carried a gun onto the school bus because she said she had been the victim of bullying, one of the instances lawmakers used to illustrate the need for a stricter law.
Bullying doesn't apply only to students, either: Moss Point's high school principal was recently fired in part for alleged bullying of a subordinate.
In response to the rising problem, Mississippi last year passed a new, tougher anti-bullying law. The law requires that all districts have a policy and procedure prohibiting bullying under any conditions. Teachers and coaches, under the law, are required to report any suspected bullying to administrators.
It includes off-campus incidents such as school-bus and cyber bullying.
The onus is on principals to investigate each case.... [more]
Mississippi Goddam
(1963) Nina Simone
The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam
And I mean every word of it
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Can't you see it
Can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn't been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day's gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here
I don't belong there
I've even stopped believing in prayer
Don't tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I've been there so I know
They keep on saying "Go slow!"
But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Washing the windows
"do it slow"
Picking the cotton
"do it slow"
You're just plain rotten
"do it slow"
You're too damn lazy
"do it slow"
The thinking's crazy
"do it slow"
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don't know
I don't know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
I made you thought I was kiddin' didn't we
Picket lines
School boycotts
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
for my sister my brother my people and me
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on saying "Go slow!"
"Go slow!"
But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Desegregation
"do it slow"
Mass participation
"do it slow"
Reunification
"do it slow"
Do things gradually
"do it slow"
But bring more tragedy
"do it slow"
Why don't you see it
Why don't you feel it
I don't know
I don't know
You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
That's it for now! see ya' later
& from wikipedia
If you stop and look at the ages, it's downright creepy. Amy Winehouse, who was found dead on Saturday at her London home, is the latest musician to enter rock music's infamous "27 Club."
Named for the group of influential artists who all died at age 27, there seems to be a pattern at hand: An incredible amount of musical talent, a definite self-destructive flair and possible drug or alcohol addiction.
Winehouse died at 27 years, 311 days. In the order of their death, here are some of the more famous members of "The 27 Club":
Robert Johnson (27 years, 100 days): The mystical bluesman recorded just 29 songs but influenced a generation of rockers. Much of Johnson's life was indeed mythical, but it's suspected that he died of strychnine poisoning on Aug. 16, 1938, in Greenwood, Miss.
Brian Jones (27 years, 125 days): The Rolling Stones guitarist drowned in a swimming pool on July 3, 1969, in Hartfield, Sussex, England. The coroner's report stated it was "death by misadventure."
Jimi Hendrix (27 years, 295 days): On Sept. 18, 1970, the pioneering rock guitarist died in Kensington, Greater London, England. Hendrix asphyxiated on vomit after combining sleeping pills with wine.
Janis Joplin (27 years, 258 days): Known as the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll as well as the Queen of Psychedelic Soul, the bluesy rock vocalist died on Oct. 4, 1970, in Los Angeles. The official cause of death was an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.
Jim Morrison (27 years, 207 days): The charismatic lead singer of The Doors died on July 3, 1971, in Paris. His cause of death was listed as "heart failure," but no autopsy was ever performed.
Kurt Cobain (27 years, 44 days): The founding member, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Nirvana was found dead on April 5, 1994, in Seattle. His death was ruled a suicide.
Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson. September 3, 1970. Barbiturate overdose, possible suicide. Leader, singer and primary composer of Canned Heat.& a lot more. it really is weird.
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. March 8, 1973. Gastrointestinal hemorrhage associated with alcoholism. Founding member, keyboardist and singer of the Grateful Dead.
Self Guided Tour Maps All the maps below are designed to be printed and brought to Morris Arboretum. Click on the version that you would like to download in pdf format and print.
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- 07.20.11
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Debt limit crisis: what's happening today?- 07.12.11
Ron Paul says he's all in for the presidency, won't run again for Congress- 07.11.11
Is Sarah Palin sending mixed messages in her Newsweek article?
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