For previous “a rose a day” roses, go here.

~Eowyn

darn cute..

Starbucks: Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage ‘Is Core to Who We Are and What We Value’

(CNSNews.com) – Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee shop chain, added its name to the list of major corporations that have endorsed a gay marriage bill in Washington State, saying the legislation shares the company’s values at its core. The decision was criticized by many conservative, pro-family organizations.

Leading traditional marriage organizations, for instance, are accusing the Seattle-based company of “meddling” in the debate, after Starbucks joined Google, Microsoft, and Nike in support of the legalization of same-sex marriage that is currently gathering momentum in the state legislature.

Kalen Holmes, executive vice president for Partner Resources, released a statement on Jan. 24 entitled, “Starbucks Supports Marriage Equality,” to all of the company’s U.S. employees. Starbucks employs 149,000 people internationally.

“Starbucks is proud to join other leading Northwest employers in support of Washington State legislation recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples,” Holmes said. “Starbucks strives to create a company culture that puts our partners first, and our company has a lengthy history of leading and supporting policies that promote equality and inclusion.”

Full CNS article here.

 

There are plenty of other expensive coffee places around if you feel so inclined.  We have one around here called “Bigby’s,” without a single goddess or other New Age icon in sight. Consumers still have power – use it!

sage

by Mark Polege

You go, Colonel West!

We could use about 300 more like him in the House.

-Dave 

Deffy places a ring on his dead bride

OddityCentral:  In this tragic love story from Thailand, a man decided to  go ahead with the wedding he and his girlfriend had planned, even though she sadly died in a car crash, just day before the big event.

29-year old Sarinya Kamsook and her 28-year-old boyfriend, Chadil Deffy, were to be married this year. A wedding is considered the most special event of a woman’s life and it was no different for Sarinya. She was eagerly counting the days to the moment when she would finally say ‘I do’, along with the love of her life, but fate had other plans for the young couple. Merely days before the wedding, Sarinya was involved in a car crash, leaving her severely injured. She still could have been saved with timely medical attention. However, the doctors made her wait for 6 hours due to an overcrowded ICU instead of transferring her to another hospital. During this time, she succumbed to her injuries and passed away.

Deffy and Sarinya had been together for 10 years, before they finally decided to settle down. They had postponed the wedding several times, due to busy schedules and the fact that Deffy wanted to complete his education before he got married. However, after Sarinya’s untimely death, he couldn’t let her go without fulfilling her deepest desire. So, he decided to marry her anyway. On the 4^th of January, in Buddhist ceremony, Deffy married the corpse of his girlfriend. During the ceremony, he expressed his devotion and deep love for Sarinya. Several friends and relatives attended the wedding, and it was even aired on national television in Thailand. The story, along with pictures from the wedding have now become an internet sensation, sparking several debates.

Click here to see more pictures and a video.

This creeps me out… 

Along with that, how can it be legally possible to marry someone when they can’t say, “I do”?

DCG

We are told that the U.S. rate of inflation for the month of December 2011 was a low 2.96%, and that the average for the year of 2011 was 3.16%.

But if your wallet seems a little lighter after a trip to the grocery store or gas station, you’re not imagining things. It’s just that — Surprise! — our government does not include food and energy prices when calculating the rate of inflation.

The inflation rate is calculated based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and is based upon a 1982 Base of 100. A Consumer Price Index of 158 indicates 58% inflation since 1982, the commonly quoted inflation rate of 3% is actually the change in the Consumer Price Index from a year earlier.

To measure the cost of living for consumers and come up with the Consumer Price Index, the Bureau of Labor Statistics prices everything consumers spend money on — haircuts, plane tickets, medical care, clothes, etc.. Then all of the expenditures are categorized and weighted based on the amount that the average consumer spends on those categories. The percentage change from month to month is the rate of inflation, and it’s usually expressed as an annualized number.

But the BLS discards two categories — food and energy — when calculating the core inflation rate because, it is argued, the prices of food and energy are easily affected by the capricious nature of weather and political winds.

That, of course, makes the official inflation rate quite deceptive because the plain truth is that a big chunk of our pay checks actually goes toward food and gas. And, it turns out those prices have skyrocketed under Obama.

How did this news have snuck by us for TWO whole months?

The United States military has long borne a sacred obligation: to treat its fallen members and their families with utmost levels of dignity and honor.

But, thanks to three whistle blowers, it was uncovered that workers at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary routinely cremated and dumped in a landfill body parts of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dover is the main port of entry for America’s war dead.

This went on reportedly for FIVE years, between 2003 and 2008. The landfill dumping was concealed from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner. The company running the King George County landfill in Virginia was not even informed what was being thrown away.

First reported by the Associated Press early last December, subsequent reports provided more and worse details.

Dashiell Bennett reports for The Atlantic Wire, Dec. 8, 2011, that officials at Dover Air Force Base finally put a number when they admitted that they dumped the partial, cremated remains of at least 274 American soldiers into a Virginia landfill. Those officials previously had refused to estimate how many soldiers’ remains had been disposed of in that disrespectful manner, saying that “it would require a massive effort and time to recall records and research individually.” After pressure brought by The Washington Post, Congressman Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.) and some other members of Congress, the military mortuary finally released the count from its own electronic records.

But the truth may be even worse because the first official record of the disgraceful practice came in 2004 and the mortuary’s electronic database only goes back to 2003. The widow of an Army sergeant killed in Iraq says that she was told by a mortuary official that remains had been taken to landfills since at least 1996.

Officially, between 2004 and 2008, 976 fragments and body parts belonging to the 274 soldiers were “cremated, incinerated and taken to the landfill” in addition to 1,752 other fragments that were too damaged to be identified. No attempt was made to notify the families of the identified soldiers, because relatives had previously indicated they did not want to know if more parts were discovered. Even after the news of the scandal broke and records re-examined, Air Force officials say there are no plans to alert the soldiers’ families.

Among the most egregious instances was when the family of one marine asked to see his dead body one more time – so staff at Dover hacked his arm bone off. The heat from a bomb attack in Afghanistan had caused the soldier’s arm to fuse at 90 degrees to his body so he was unable to fit into his uniform or his casket. But instead of speaking to his family to see what was for the best, staff went ahead and trimmed it anyway.

The practice was ended in 2008, and unclaimed and unidentified remains of soldiers that are too small for normal burial are now cremated and buried at sea.

The scandal at Dover Air Force base began after complaints by three whistleblowers – civilians who worked as embalmers or technicians – who sparked an 18-month investigation by the Air Force Inspector General. A separate probe was carried out by the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative agency which looks into claims by whistleblowers.

The Washington Post reports that the landfill disposals were never formally authorized under military policies or regulations. They also were not disclosed to senior Pentagon officials who conducted a high-level review of cremation policies at the Dover mortuary in 2008, records show.

Senior Air Force leaders said there was no intent to deceive. “Absolutely not,” said Lt. Gen. Darrell D. Jones, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for personnel.

Three officials have been disciplined at Dover – but none have lost their jobs.

H/t our beloved Joseph.

~Eowyn

~LTG

STUDENT WHO OBTAINED 0% ON AN EXAM

I would have given him 100%!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q1. In which battle did Napoleon die?
* his last battle

Q2. Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?
* at the bottom of the page

Q3. River Ravi flows in which state?
* liquid

Q4. What is the main reason for divorce?
* marriage

Q5. What is the main reason for failure?
* exams

Q6. What can you never eat for breakfast?
Lunch *& dinner

Q7. What looks like half an apple?
* The other half

Q8. If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?
* It will simply become wet.

Q9. How can a man go eight days without sleeping?
* No problem, he sleeps at night.

Q10. How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
* You will never find an elephant that has only one hand.

Q11. If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four
apples and three oranges in other hand, what would you have?
* Very large hands

Q12. If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it
take four men to build it?
* No time at all, as the wall is already built

Q13. How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
*Any way you want, concrete floors are very hard to crack.
~Steve~             H/T    Joseph’s friend Tom o.