The Daily Page

President Bush Funds Planned Parenthood with Over $2 Billion

klamb1 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:55:29 +0000

Photo via Webshots

President George W. Bush has always presented himself as a conservative “pro-lifer,” but has collectively allowed $2.2 billion dollars worth of funding for Planned Parenthood. According to Jim Sedlak, an expert on Planned Parenthood for the American Life League, Bush and his representatives “gave no legitimate excuse for not cutting off the money.” Sedlak and other ardent pro-lifers were hopeful that Bush would cease all funding for Planned Parenthood when he was elected, but that never came to be. In fact, Sedlak says, “Planned Parenthood has gotten more and more [federal] money every year – a slightly greater increase than under President Clinton.”

Poll Shows that Gay Men Prefer Prince Harry to Prince William

klamb1 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:23:36 +0000

Photo via webshots

A new poll showed that single gay men would prefer to date Prince Harry over Prince William. More than one third expressed an interest in a romance with Prince Harry, while Prince William only garnered 23 percent of the vote. A third of the men said that they would not date either! View This Poll

My Apologies

klamb1 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:52:03 +0000

My apologies for not living up to the name of my own blog, “The Daily Page.” The entries have been sporadic, at best, and certainly not “daily.” I promise that I will stay on top of my blog and post something (i.e. ANYTHING) every day for you, my loyal fan base (all 2 of you!)

Google Unveils ‘Drunk E-mail’ Protector

klamb1 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:50:41 +0000

Photo by Image Source/Getty Images

Most of us are guilty of the occasional “drunk dial,” but now Google has introduced a way to prevent “drunk e-mails!”

The new feature is called Mail Goggles, and it is designed to prevent you from sending potentially embarrassing drunken e-mails by requiring you to answer math problems. You can set the difficulty level for the math problems, but unfortunately, if a user gets the problem wrong, it will allow him or her to answer it multiple times in order to get it right.

You can read about one writer’s personal experience with Mail Goggles at time.com.

OMG! “The Hills” Rivals Made Up on Tuesday Night

klamb1 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:30:26 +0000

Photo via webshots

According to a report from IMDB.com, “The Hills” stars Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag have finally reconciled after accidentally crossing paths at L.A. restaurant Stk on Tuesday night. Producers of the entertainment news show “Extra” are taking credit for finally bringing them back together, but I have to wonder if the producers of “The Hills” were really behind the reconciliation? The show is already so scripted as it is, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was all orchestrated by them.View This Poll

Metrolink Engineer was Texting 22 Seconds Before Crash

klamb1 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:57:44 +0000

Reposted from:

www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/01/train-engineer-texted-22-seconds-la-crash/

Engineer sent texts before train crash

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A Metrolink engineer sent a cell phone text message 22 seconds before his commuter train crashed head-on into a freight train last month, killing 25 people, federal investigators said Wednesday.

Cell phone records of engineer Robert Sanchez, who was among the dead, show he sent a message after receiving one about a minute and 20 seconds before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a press release.

Investigators are looking into why Sanchez ran through a red signal and collided with a Union Pacific train Sept. 12 in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. It was the nation’s deadliest rail crash since 1993.

Sanchez sent his last text message at 4:22:01 p.m. According to the freight train’s onboard recorder, the accident occurred at 4:22:23 p.m.

Records obtained from Sanchez’s cell phone provider also showed that he sent 24 text messages and received 21 messages over a two-hour period during his morning shift. During his afternoon shift, he received seven and sent five messages.

NTSB investigators were continuing to correlate times from Sanchez’s cell phone, the train recorders and data from the railroad signal system.

“I am pleased with the progress of this major investigation to date,” acting NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said in a statement. “We are continuing to pursue many avenues of inquiry to find what caused this accident and what can be done to prevent such a tragedy in the future.”

NTSB spokesman Terry Williams declined to release information about who was exchanging text messages with Sanchez.

In the days after the crash, several teenage train enthusiasts told a reporter Sanchez sent them a text message just before the collision. Federal investigators spurred by the media reports interviewed two 14-year-old boys, who they said cooperated in the investigation and provided their cell phone data.

The collision, which also injured more than 130 people, occurred on a horseshoe-shaped section of track in the community of Chatsworth. Investigators say the two trains were in sight of each other only for a few seconds before the crash. The freight engineer was able to apply brakes but brakes were never applied on the Metrolink train

Matt Damon’s Worst Nightmare

klamb1 — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:31:16 +0000

I guess that this was inevitable after word spread about Matt Damon comparing Sarah Palin’s potential Presidency to a “really bad Disney movie.”

Collegehumor.com created a “trailer” based on his comments, and the results are hilarious!

Warning: Extremely funny footage!

My Modeling Debut is Now Online!

klamb1 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:04:48 +0000

Personal photo of make-up/lashes

I had my first modeling “gig” in May of this year, and now it’s online! While I was working for my previous employer, American International Industries, I was approached to be their “model” in a couple of How-To videos for their Ardell and Andrea eyelash brands. Needless to say, I agreed and it was a great experience! We filmed two videos: one for strip lashes and one for individual (extension) lashes. You can view both of them at greatlookinglashes.com

Me on the set - May 2008

Dog Retrieves Severed Child’s Foot

klamb1 — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:49:49 +0000

Photo via stock.xchng

A family dog from Russellville, Alabama, recently retrieved more than its owners ever bargained for. It brought home a severed child’s foot, and a desperate search for the child that it once belonged to is under way. Searchers have been unable to locate any other remains of the child and police maintain that there have been no reports of killed, maimed or missing children in the rural Alabama town.

According to the CNN article, investigators do not have any indication that the child is alive. Searchers will be returning to the same woods in hopes that a decomposing scent will be strong enough for cadaver-sniffing dogs to pick up on. In the meantime, the foot will be subjected to forensic testing to determine the race and gender of the victim.

EPA Won’t Limit Toxic Chemical in Drinking Water

klamb1 — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:27:33 +0000

Reposted from:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1843426,00.html

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided there’s no need to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has fouled public water supplies around the country.

EPA reached the conclusion in a draft regulatory document not yet made public but reviewed Monday by The Associated Press.

The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at high levels that some scientists say could interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses.

The EPA document says that mandating a clean-up level for perchlorate would not result in a “meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public-water systems.”

The conclusion, which caps years of dispute over the issue, was denounced by Democrats and environmentalists who accused EPA of caving to pressure from the Pentagon.

“This is a widespread contamination problem, and to see the Bush EPA just walk away is shocking,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate’s environment committee.

Lenny Siegel, director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight in Mountain View, Calif., added: “This is an unconscionable decision not based upon science or law but on concern that a more stringent standard could cost the government significantly.”

The Defense Department used perchlorate for decades in testing missiles and rockets, and most perchlorate contamination is the result of defense and aerospace activities, congressional investigators said last year.

The Pentagon could face liability if EPA set a national drinking water standard that forced water agencies around the country to undertake costly clean-up efforts. Defense officials have spent years questioning EPA’s conclusions about the risks posed by perchlorate.

The Pentagon objected strongly Monday to the suggestion that it sought to influence EPA’s decision.

“We have not intervened in any way in EPA’s determination not to regulate perchlorate. If you read their determination, that’s based on criteria in the Safe Drinking Water Act,” Paul Yaroschak, Pentagon deputy director for emerging contaminants, said in an interview.

Yaroschak said the Pentagon has been working for years to clean up perchlorate at its facilities. He also contended that the Pentagon wasn’t the source of as much perchlorate contamination as once believed, noting that it also comes from fireworks, road flares and fertilizer.

Benjamin Grumbles, EPA’s assistant administrator for water, said in a statement that “science, not the politics of fear in an election year, will drive our final decision.”

“We know perchlorate in drinking water presents some degree of risk, and we’re committed to working with states and scientists to ensure public health is protected and meaningful opportunities for reducing risk are fully considered,” Grumbles said.

Grumbles said the EPA expected to seek comment and take final action before the end of the year. The draft document was first reported Monday by the Washington Post.

Perchlorate is particularly widespread in California and the Southwest, where it’s been found in groundwater and in the Colorado River, a drinking-water source for 20 million people. It’s also been found in lettuce and other foods.

In absence of federal action, states have acted on their own. In 2007, California adopted a drinking water standard of 6 parts per billion. Massachusetts has set a drinking water standard of 2 parts per billion.