Saint Rose of Lima - MTM

Radical idea - women have their own lives. Nothing to do with men. Discuss.

In recent months the name Mary Tyler Moore has been bandied about with unexpected regularity bordering on reckless abandon. This is not just because she recently made her first TV appearance in many moons on pal Betty White's show "Hot in Cleveland" or because she proved at last month's televised fete for White's 90th birthday that she can still rock a white pantsuit or even because she is receiving this year's Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award on Sunday.

Instead, Moore's name keeps coming up because 42 years after she helped create the single-gal comedy genre, a slew of female-centric shows hit the networks, raising hopes that a new version of the classic and still-resonant "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" would emerge. (It hasn't.)

By midseason, critics were blatantly holding up the new to the old. "No Mary Richards" was how several chose to characterize the fictionalized version of comedian Chelsea Handler in her new show, "Are You There, Chelsea?" Well, no, obviously not, since Mary was a well-dressed, carefully coiffed professional woman trying to balance a career and a meaningful personal life and Chelsea's show is centered on a bartender/drunken skank.

If anyone involved hopes Moore herself is watching, I'm here to tell you that's she's not. "Oh, I don't watch any of them," she said recently from her office in New York. "Why would I? That story has been done, and I think we did it pretty well. I don't need to watch another version."

Perhaps to see the new gals break a few taboos?

"Taboos?" she asks with a laugh, "there aren't any taboos anymore."

It's difficult to argue with her when "2 Broke Girls'" Max (Kat Dennings), the character who may come closest to Mary Richards (she is hard-working, talented and yet insecure), insists on saying "vagina" so often one assumes there is a special bell that rings in the writers room every time she does. And who wants to argue with Mary Tyler Moore, who at 75 has broken more ground than Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso?

She may have been surprised with the Life Achievement Award — when SAG President Ken Howard called, she says, "I thought he was going to ask if I would present something to someone" — but it's difficult to imagine anyone else was. Between "The Dick Van Dyke Show's" Laura Petrie and Mary Richards, Moore helped create two of televisions most influential and indelible roles — there's a statue depicting the famous Mary hat toss in downtown Minneapolis. How many other television characters have their own statue?

[LATimes.com]

Another Fallen Idol

Megadowner on so many levels. You have faith in a few things? These guys are crocked doing this show? I have to give them high marks for being functional alcoholics. Maybe this is okay, but maybe not. What about people who were FANS of this show, reading this now. How do THEY feel? Duped? Or maybe they are thinking "damn I knew they were high."

Plus what if this affected the actual game? A bad call? Wrong letter turned? TV shows are edited pretty heavily, are there OUTTAKES from this period? There must be a few gems, even if they are in black and white, like this photo.

Ultimate downer is Pat Sajak hanging out with Vanna White. Why would she be with this talkshow looking douche? And not only with him on the air, where she is getting paid, but drinking with the guy and having a good time? Holy crap.

Can we buy a vowel ... err a shot of vodka?

Longtime Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak says he used to host the popular game show drunk. "When I first started and was much younger and could tolerate those things," Sajak tells Dan Le Batard of "Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable." "We had a different show then."

The 65-year-old, who has hosted Wheel of Fortune since 1981, says he and right-hand woman Vanna White used to go to a local Mexican restaurant in Burbank during their two-and-a-half hour dinner breaks. That break gave the duo more than enough time to knock a couple margaritas back before the night tapings. "Vanna and I would go across and have two or three or six and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet. They're really great tapes to get a hold of," Sajak said. "I had a great time. I have no idea if the shows were any good, but no one said anything, so I guess I did OK."

[tvguide.com]

Send In This Clown

Is there a better businessman in the world? Runs a Foundation and donates nothing to it? But it still has money in it from wrestling? Trump appeared in a WWE skit and got paid, and that's all the money in the thing, and he figured out how to give his SON a donation. How does he appear in public? He's listened to? More than me! If you walked up to the average American they would say what the hell is Daily Downers? They have no clue. But D. Trump? The DONALD! Come on. Hanging on his every word.

Has Trump had a bad time of it over the last few years? Is it possible he really isn't worth $7 billion? It's hard to put a dollar value on a man like Trump. If I were Donald Trump I would put every dime into building a fortress skyscraper in Manhattan to ride out the zombie attack in style. Or at least do something with my hair.

In a way that's too easy, making fun of Trump's hair, but fuck it, I'm doing it. The totality of Trump, the hair, the effortless blend of ignorance and arrogance - AS A COUNTRY WE LOST when he dropped out of the race for President. If he had a rubber nose he's be the perfect clown. He doesn't even need the rest of the makeup with the hair doing that. Please Lord let him do a third party run and draft Palin. Note to self - Call Vince McMahon.

Confirming that Donald Trump is the world’s most miserly billionaire, the latest tax return filed by the real estate developer’s private foundation shows that he again failed to donate a penny to his eponymous charitable group.

The 65-year-old businessman--who recently reported his net worth as $7 billion--is president of The Donald J. Trump Foundation, which filed its 2010 return with the Internal Revenue Service three months ago. The return shows that, for the second straight year, Trump donated nothing to his foundation, which was formed in 1987.

In large part, the Trump charity has been funded in recent years by $5 million in donations from World Wrestling Entertainment. The foundation received the seven figures in return for Trump’s involvement in a couple of WWE story lines, which included promotion of a pay-per-view WrestleMania event.

IRS records show that, over the past five years, Trump--who describes himself as an "ardent philanthropist"--has donated just $675,000 to his foundation. As TSG has previously reported, this level of philanthropy is dwarfed by Trump’s billionaire peers like Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates, George Soros, and the Koch brothers.

When compared to Bloomberg--another New York City billionaire with a household name--Trump’s stinginess is staggering. In 2010, Bloomberg (pictured below) donated more than $350 million to his foundation, which during the year made donations totaling about $105 million. At year’s end, the Bloomberg foundation had assets of $2.734 billion. Trump’s foundation had $2.255 million (largely thanks to Vince McMahon).

The Trump Foundation’s 2010 return shows that the group made 53 donations totaling $1.037 million. Contributions ranged from $110,650 (American Heart Association) to $300 (National Multiple Sclerosis Society).

The charity’s third-largest donation--$100,000--went to the Eric Trump Foundation, which is run by the billionaire’s 28-year-old son Eric. Other contributions went to foundations affiliated with Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher ($10,000); Larry King ($2500); NASCAR ($2500); the New York Jets ($10,000); and the late Princess Grace of Monaco ($5000).

[thesmokinggun.com]

What's Worse? You Decide!

Next up in our "What's Worse?" series. Guy has pneumonia, comes home and gets a $44 million bill from the hospital. But at least he got cured, right? They made a clerical error, it's not their fault the guy almost dropped dead. Plus what is an "almost asthma attack?" Is it news if I'm almost scared? Maybe it is. What if he got home and just got a regular bill, and nobody ever heard about it? At least this guy had his moment of fame? Isn't that what this is all about? Who gives a shit about pneumonia or whatever.

What if the pneumonia got really bad and he got home and got a really big bill for thousands of dollars, and the bill was real? Would that have been worse than getting totally cured, getting the scary letter, and really owing $300? I would say so. It's all about perspective man. Either way, in the grand scheme of things, this is a downer, but now we all know it could have been worse, and no one would have known.

A Bronx man says he nearly had an asthma attack after opening his mail to find a $44 million medical bill from a local hospital.

Unemployed doorman Alexis Rodriguez, 28, received the astronomical bill after receiving successful treatment for pneumonia at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital last week, The New York Daily News reports.

"I almost had an asthma attack," said Rodriguez, who apparently is not the only patient to receive an outsized bill. The firm responsible for the botched billing, PHY Services, was reportedly inundated with complaints and has since apologized.

"If you are calling with respect the billing statement for services provided at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, please disregard the statement," said a recording for concerned callers, "you will be receiving a new statement shortly."

PHY is blaming the mistake on a "system error" that resulted in the bill's invoice number being mistakenly placed in the "amount due" field.

As for Rodriguez, he owes no more than $300 for outpatient services.

[ABC News]

Yo Ho Ho

Usually I comment more, but this stands on its own. This is the society we are trapped in, an epic bummer where even a sea captain, ostensibly A MAN OF AUTHORITY, is trolling along with his own soup and crackers while all around him women and children drown? This goes beyond William F. Burroughs. The hippos WERE BOILED IN THEIR TANKS my good friend. Just awful beyond belief. We could make tea of it and sell it for pennies on the dollar. I CAN'T EVEN MAKE UP ANYTHING THIS BAD. God save us all.

Coast Guard: Listen, Schettino. There are people trapped on board. Now, you go with your lifeboat. Under the bow of the ship, on the right side, there is a ladder. You climb on that ladder and go on board the ship. Go on board the ship and get back to me and tell me how many people are there. Is that clear. I am recording this conversation, Captain Schettino.

(Captain tries to speak but Coast Guard can't hear him clearly. Voices in the Coast Guard room.)

Coast Guard: Speak up! (captain tries to speak) Captain, put your hand over the microphone and speak in a louder voice!

Captain: At this moment the ship is listing.

Coast Guard: There are people who are coming down the ladder on the bow. Go back in the opposite direction, get back on the ship, and tell me how many people there are and what they have on board. Tell me if there are children, women and what type of help they need. And you tell me the number of each of these categories. Is that clear?

Listen Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Dammit, go back on board!

(Noise can be heard in the background. Apparently other Coast Guard officers are shouting to each other in the same room about "the ship, the ship")

Captain: Please ...

Coast Guard: There is no 'please' about it. Get back on board. Assure me you are going back on board!

Captain: I'm in a lifeboat, I am under here. I am not going anywhere. I am here.

Coast Guard: What are you doing, captain?

Captain: I am here to coordinate the rescue...

Coast Guard (interrupting): What are you coordinating there! Get on board! Coordinate the rescue from on board! Are you refusing?

Captain: No, I am not refusing.

Coast Guard: Are you refusing to go aboard, captain? Tell me the reason why you are not going back on board.

Captain: (inaudible)... there is a another lifeboat...

Coast Guard (interrupting, yelling): You get back on board! That is an order! There is nothing else for you to consider. You have sounded the "Abandon Ship." Now I am giving the orders. Get back on board. Is that clear? Don't you hear me?

Captain: I am going aboard.

Coast Guard: Go! Call me immediately when you are on board. My rescue people are in front of the bow.

Captain: Where is your rescue craft?

Coast Guard: My rescue craft is at the bow. Go! There are already bodies, Schettino. Go!

Captain: How many bodies are there?

Coast Guard: I don't know! ... Christ, you should be the one telling me that!

Captain: Do you realize that it is dark and we can't see anything?

Coast Guard: So, what do you want to do, to go home, Schettino?! It's dark and you want to go home? Go to the bow of the ship where the ladder is and tell me what needs to be done, how many people there are, and what they need! Now!

Captain: My second in command is here with me.

Coast Guard: Then both of you go! Both of you! What is the name of your second in command?

Captain: His name is Dmitri (static)"

Coast Guard: What is the rest of his name? (static) You and your second in command get on board now! Is that clear?

Captain: Look, chief, I want to go aboard but the other lifeboat here has stopped and is drifting. I have called ...

Coast Guard (interrupting): You have been telling me this for an hour! Now, go aboard! Get on board, and tell me immediately how many people there are!

Captain: OK, chief.

Coast Guard: Go! Immediately!

[Reuters]

Killing Yourself To Live

I have had some bad jobs, but this takes the cake. If I was unhappy I don't know if I can imagine a scenario where I would climb up on the roof and threaten to jump off. You would either have to jump off or come down and get fired. That's how things work in America.

I wonder how the Xbox aficionados would feel about this? Actually they have no idea. If it's not on their GameBoy console they don't know. GameBoy is a really good name, because if you are using one it describes you. You are a BOY and not a MAN. Men get out and do things. BOYS play video games. Case closed. You're welcome.

Dozens of workers assembling Xbox video game consoles climbed to a factory dormitory roof, and some threatened to jump to their deaths, in a dispute over job transfers that was defused but highlights growing labor unrest as China's economy slows.

The dispute was set off after contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group announced it would close the assembly line for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 models at its plant in the central city of Wuhan and transfer the workers to other jobs, workers and Foxconn said Thursday.

Workers reached by telephone said Foxconn initially offered severance pay for those who wanted to leave rather than be transferred, but then reneged, angering the workers; Foxconn, in a statement, disputed that account, saying only transfers were offered, not severance.

The workers climbed to the top of the six-story dormitory on Jan. 3 and threatened to jump before Wuhan city officials persuaded them to desist and return to work, according to the workers and accounts online. The workers gave varying estimates of the numbers involved in the strike, from 80 to 200, and photos posted online showed dozens of people crowding the roof of the boxy concrete building.

"Actually none of them were going to jump. They were there for the compensation. But the government and the company officials were just as afraid, because if even one of them jumped, the consequences would be hard to imagine," said Wang Jungang, an equipment engineer in the Xbox production line, who left the plant earlier this month.

[Associated Press]

To The Victor Goes The Spoils

I can't condone this at all, so don't take it the wrong way. Desecrating a corpse is bad. But this is interesting to me, because if you're going to KILL someone, where does it lie on the scale of injustice to PISS on them afterwards? It's definitely adding insult to injury, but if you're going to kill someone I don't know exactly how much relevance the act of pissing has.

I would say I would rather be PISSED ON than KILLED, so that's one thing for sure right there. If you pissed on me first and THEN killed me I think that would be worse than killing me and then pissing on me. Getting pissed on first would really be the worst of both worlds.

I wonder if this will be considered if it gets to court? If it does I would like to read the transcript and see what they come up with. Maybe they will just go with condemning and not dissecting it, but I would say you have to consider these questions if you are going to arrive at real justice on a philosophical level here.

The Marine Corps took a first, formal step on Friday toward possible charges against four troops who, in a video widely circulated on television and the Internet, appear to be urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters.

The Corps named a lead investigating officer whose job would include deciding what charges, if any, would be brought against the four men - all of whom have been identified, a Corps official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

None of the suspects have been detained, the official said. At least two are still part of the same unit involved in the video - the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, based out of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, a second official told Reuters.<

[Reuters]

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

I've had friends tell me they were going to go bungee jumping and I always ask them why? Life isn't filled with enough hazards? I remember being a kid and doing stupid things with my friends and my dad would say "if your friends told you to jump off a building would you do it?" And I would say "no of course not." I guess I should have answered, "if I had a bungee cord wrapped around my ankles, of course I would jump off a building if they told me to. What fun!"

This has to be the fifth time I've read something like this. I'm announcing the first Daily Downers contest here...what is dumber than bungee jumping? And don't say skydiving. That's too easy. Personally other than skydiving I am stuck for an answer.

An Australian tourist bungee jumping in Africa plunged 365 feet (111 meters) into a river when her cord snapped, but she managed to swim to safety with a broken collarbone and her legs tied together.

"I felt like I'd been slapped all over," the 22-year-old from Perth said.

Video taken of the jump shows the cord snapping and Langworthy smacking into the river before the current pulled her into rapids.

"You get sucked under and then you pop up so it's very disorienting — I didn't know which was up or down," she said.

She said the trailing cord repeatedly snagged, so she "had to swim down and yank the bungee cord out of whatever it was caught on to make it to the surface."

Langworthy swam through the rapids to reach the Zimbabwe bank.

[Assoicated Press]

200,000,000 Can't Be Wrong

First off, if 200 million people ADMITTED using drugs, the actual number must be MUCH higher. If this assumes two billion people on Earth today, I think the real number is closer to a billion people using drugs.

Second off, figure out how many people are full of shit. That doubles the number right there. Then there are those in denial. Add 200 million. Then add in just mistakes. People that are taking pills they think are aspirin and they are actually getting loaded. Add 100 million. Then the random factor. That makes up the rest. Remember, when somebody gets caught doing something wrong, it's not the FIRST time they've done something wrong, it's like the TENTH time they've done it, and it's JUST NOW they are getting caught. Plus the highlight below, if you include steroids and other good shit as drugs, the number expands.

Realistically I would say more than half the world is on drugs. If half the world is using drugs isn't it time the rest of the world got on the program, or just left the rest of us alone? At least admit that if it's a WAR on drugs, the people who are against drugs are the biggest losers of all time. Even bigger losers than Napoleon, who at least got to die in bed, albeit in exile.

Roughly 200 million people worldwide use illicit drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine and opioids each year, according to a new study. The figure represents about one in 20 people between the ages of 15 and 64.

Using a review of published studies, Australian researchers estimated that as many as 203 million people use marijuana, 56 million people use amphetamines including meth, 21 million people use cocaine and 21 million people use opioids like heroin. The use of all four drug classes was highest in developed countries.

"Intelligent policy responses to drug problems need better data for the prevalence of different types of illicit drug use and the harms that their use causes globally," reads the report, published today in The Lancet. "This need is especially urgent in high-income countries with substantial rates of illicit drug use and in low-income and middle-income countries close to illicit drug production areas."

The 200 million number does not include people who use ecstasy, hallucinogenic drugs, inhalants, benzodiazepines or anabolic steroids - just one reason it's likely a vast underestimate of illicit drug use, according to lead author Louisa Degenhardt of the Sydney-based National Drug and Alcohol Research Center.

"Drug use is often hidden, particularly when people fear the consequences of being discovered for using drugs, such as being imprisoned," Degenhardt said in a press conference.

Up to 39 million people are considered "problematic" or dependent drug users and up to 21 million people inject drugs, according to the report.

"It's likely that injectable drug users have increased," said Degenhardt, adding that the practice "is a major direct cause of HIV, hepatitis C and to some extent hepatitis B transmission globally." Cocaine, amphetamine and heroin can be injected either alone or in combination.

Illicit drugs can have dangerous health effects, including overdosing, accidental injury caused by intoxication, dependence and long-term organ damage. While they may not cause immediate death, they're thought to shave 13 million years of the life spans of users worldwide, according to the report. A 2000 report by the World Health Organization attributed roughly 241,000 deaths to illicit drug use - double the number from 1990.

[abcnews.com]

Faith Is A Good Thing

This Bachmann kook came to my attention awhile ago. Here's one quote.

"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out under another, then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."

Of course swine flu happened when Gerald Ford was President. You wonder if that would make a difference in her unearthing this remarkable coincidence.

Then she said...

"Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn't even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas."

Carbon dioxide is toxic, even fatal, in higher concentrations. I offered to lock her in a closet and fill it up with carbon dioxide to test her idea that it is "harmless" but she did not respond to my email.

In short, we've seen a lot of idiots run for President, and a few of them have gotten elected, but Bachmann was really in a class by herself from a pure "idiocy" standpoint. My favorite part of this is where she says her faith in God and the nation as a whole remain "unshakable." The fact that God and American voters have rejected her so quickly firms up this writer's faith as well.

Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann has suspended her campaign for the White House.

"I have decided to stand aside," she told a room of supporters and reporters in Iowa. Bachmann said she leaves the race knowing the campaign was run "with integrity." She said now, the country needs to "stand united behind the person our party chooses to be the standard bearer."

Bachmann stressed that her faith in God and the nation remain "unshakable."

After a dismal, sixth place finish in Tuesday night's caucuses, the Minnesota congresswoman canceled a campaign trip to South Carolina and scheduled Wednesday's news conference.

[msnbc.com]

Latest Polls Reflect Common Delusions In Spades

These statistics are fascinating for the vanity they reflect. I personally will do well but the rest of the country will continue to fall apart. That really says a lot about human nature. You could say that this is how humanity finds the strength to go on, by believing in YOURSELF. But isn't it ridiculous to believe in yourself if you think everything around you is falling apart? And of course if you have more money you are more optimistic? Earth shattering news there. If you're older you know better, and this is baked into these stats as well.

Overall the downer here is the pointlessness of measuring these attitudes. Since people are right about the country's bleak prospects what difference does it make what anybody thinks? You can delude yourself into thinking you will be the lottery winner when this year's stock market slide, earthquake, or tsunami is over with. You and your optimism will stand tall amid the rubble.

Economic challenges aren't holding back personal optimism: Despite the still-deep downturn, Americans overwhelmingly express positive views about what 2012 holds for them personally. But views of the country's future are less bright - and the world's prospects, even less so.

Three-quarters of adults in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll hold a favorable view of what the new year has in store for them. Many fewer, albeit more than half, 55 percent, have an optimistic view of the country's year ahead. And for the world in general, it's just 49 percent.

In terms of personal outlooks, money's a big factor, but it isn't everything. Better-off Americans hold the most favorable views of their own prospects in 2012 - 86 percent positive. But it's a respectable 72 percent among people with household incomes less than $50,000 a year, and even 61 percent among the least well-off, those with household incomes less than $15,000 a year.

Similarly, while a positive personal outlook peaks at 83 percent among people who hold full-time jobs, it also includes 72 percent of those temporarily out of work and 66 percent of people in part-time jobs. If optimism in those groups turns out to anticipate a recovering job market, it'd be a critical change in the nation's most persistent problem.

Personal optimism to some extent also is informed by youth; it peaks at 83 percent for Americans under age 40, compared with 70 percent among those 40 or older.

[Associated Press]