Online story: "Regulators on Tuesday approved a temporary price hike of 3 cents for a first-class stamp, bringing the charge to 49 cents a letter in an effort to help the Postal Service recover from severe mail decreases brought on after the 2008 economic downturn." -- A 6.5% increase.... on Christmas Eve... Bah humbug! How come "the Regulators" weren't home with their families? You know, when Judas 00-bama took office, 1st Class postage was 42 cents for the first ounce.. this makes the postage rates to have an increase of 11.4% since he's taken office. Nice jobs if you can get one.

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You know.. the sad thing about such a postage increase is that it won't even help what is wrong with the US Postal Service... in fact, it will accelerate, well at least exacerbate, the decline... FedEx and UPS would be looking at way to cut internal expenses.... first... before telling customers to use some other form of mailing service.

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Online headline/story: "D'Antoni Apologizes For Suggesting Lakers Fans Find Another Team To Root For * If they're discouraged, then find another team to root for," D'Antoni said in an agitated tone after the Lakers' 117-90 loss Monday to the Phoenix Suns at U.S. Airways Center. "We're not going to give up. Are you kidding me? Discouraged? That's not even fair to these guys." * " We have a team that needs to overachieve, we have a lot of injuries and we're in a tough state right now" * We need everybody to be pulling with us. It's going to take a whole village to get this done. I just said it wrong. It came out wrong because I was agitated. I apologize and we'll move on. We need everybody to be behind these guys. They're going to play as hard as they can play." -- "It's going to take a whole village"? Hmmm, sounds like D'Antoni thinks 'the Hillary game plan" is what his team needs... it's not working... perhaps the Lakers, and their fans , should try praying for help. Ooops, that's probably against the NBA regulations...

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L-E story: "BAD AXE, MICH. — Michigan State University says its agricultural extension service is planning 11 workshops this winter about how to use irrigation to improve crop yields." -- Hmmm, this oughta be interesting, but the Ag Extension service probably won't address the #1 problem farmers have... the EPA book of regulations.

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L-E story: "VICKBSURG, MISS. — Mayor George Flaggs Jr. has named a committee to finding the technology to make Vicksburg city government more efficient for less cost. * Flaggs says one example is the fire department's preparing to install new software in its ambulances. The new medical software will enable paramedics to send patient information to a hospital while en route." -- Excuse me... but how will such a dumb move save money? First, it sounds more like a "hardware issue", not a "software issue", and about the only thing that will be accomplished is to expose patient info to hackers and the world.

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While you're contemplating New Year's Resolutions, how about including praying mainstream media will tire of Miley Cybutt, Bluster Biebum, Katy Spare-me, and La-ti-da GetGone.

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Soapbox moment: What ever happened to TV soap ads.. we used to be inundated with Lifebouy, Irish Spring, Ivory, Johnson&Johnson, Dial and Dove, but it seems only Dove still advertises on TV. with FDS (Feminine Deodorant Spray) started a downfall of personal values.... ads focusing on personal hygiene/cleanliness have just disappeared in favor of ads that embarrass young an old alike.. ED solutions, such as Viagra/Cialis, Trojan anti-STD/ Pregnancy solutions, instant pregnancy pee-pee sticks, and yours and mine's favorite ????? pleasure aid like KY slippery juice. and those god-awful old age issue ads concerning incontinence are bad enough on networks and programs marketed to the 34-49 year old markets, but what's even worse it that the most distasteful of these ads are mainstays on entertainment shows and networks that are geared at the preteen-high school markets.

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Moving on - You know, if minimum wage protestors put as much interest and energy of protesting such into the jobs they do have, they'd probably leave the minimum wage range far behind. I've encouraged my daughters to make themselves 'valuable' in any job/endeavor they undertake.

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From the 'what were they thinking' department - WTVM9 TV news story: " McDonald's told its employees: don't eat fast food! * The advice was posted on an employee website Health Encyclopedia. ( The entry describes most fast food as high in fat and sodium that can lead to obesity." -- Needless to say, the website has been 'taken down' for repairs....

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Another WTVM9 TV story: "A group of community leaders in Georgia announced their opposition Monday to President Obama's nominations for the U.S. District Court's northern district of Georgia. * "Some of those nominees have views and impulses that are out of step with citizens of the northern district of Georgia, and it's for this reason that we're asking President Obama to withdraw this slate and to restart with process that's open, transparent and inclusive," said Charles Johnson with Advocate for Action. * "Justice cannot be found in some secret deals and negotiation that shut the people out," said Rep. John Lewis (D)" -- You know, when people protest the loudest about how justice cannot be served without diversity, it's probably because those protesting don't won't justice at all. Instead, they want some one they "think" will be more interested in putting their thumb on their side of the scales. They 'think' that blind justice is not fair enough for "them".

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Another WTVM9 TV headline/story: "Do you know which country sends the most letters to Santa? * The United States came in third, with a little more than 1.1 million American kids sending letters to the North Pole." -- Hmmm 1.4 million letters to Santa... guess the rest sent their "holiday" wish lists to Judas 00-bama instead... BTW... France and Canada were #1 & #2.

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Online story: "Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, said they are ending their marriage, more than five years after she stood by his side as the embattled Democrat resigned from office over a prostitution scandal. * Known as the "Sheriff of Wall Street" during his tenure as New York's attorney general, Spitzer was elected governor in a landslide victory in 2006. But he saw his political career derailed after just a year in office after he was exposed as a client in a prostitution ring. * The image of Silda Wall Spitzer standing, stone-faced, at her husband's side as the governor informed the public of his resignation would later inspire the hit TV show "The Good Wife." -- Hmmm, and I though all along that Hillary was that inspiration, but then again, the producers must have wanted "a Good Wife" to be the role model for the show.

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Online headline: "Obama gifts little girl with presidential autograph" -- Hmmm, wonder if we'll see this taken as a 'donation' on his tax forms.

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McClatchy headline: "US condemns Christmas attacks that kill 37 in Iraq" -- Oooops, my bad... thought McClatchy was going overboard on reporting on a "Black Friday" incident at an overseas Walmart.

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Today begins "Kwanzaa", a modern US created event vs a world-wide traditional observance. Now is the time to use "Happy Holidays" if you're PC or just not certain what to say to whomever.

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After his last known killing in 1978, and after 35 years of undeserved freedom & life, it's time to bury the memory and body of Carlton Gary.

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You know, whether you agree/support Edward Snowden's release of NSA documents, Snowden did help Judas 00-bama keep one campaign promise... to be the most transparent administration ever.. his has even surpassed the Nixon colostomy given by the mainstream media.

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L-E story: " A sweeping law in Georgia that aims to reduce the number of juvenile offenders in custody and save taxpayer money is set to take effect with the new year. * Under the new law, only the most serious young offenders would be kept in custody, while others convicted of more minor offenses will diverted into community-based programs. In addition to cutting costs, the law is meant to reduce the rate at which young offenders return to jail. * Judges also won’t be able to commit young offenders unless there are four prior convictions, and one must be a felony. * To critics who say that means a young offender could commit dozens of misdemeanors without being locked up, Teske counters by pointing out another key element of the law reinvests the savings from not locking up as many children into community-based treatment programs for those who are not considered a danger to themselves or the community." -- "Judges...won't be able to commit young offenders unless there are four prior convictions, and one must be a felony."? Huh? Wanta bet that the "community-based treatments" will actually be returning them back to public school systems that have no disciplinary capabilities, and gives the "juvenile offenders" (PC for "juvenile delinquents) full access to more students to bully, and unless these "juvenile offenders" commit felonious assault, the cycle will keep going on to, as Buzz Lightyear was apt to say, "infinity and beyond"! Why not just lock the parents of juvenile offenders up together? I do believe society would benefit better if parents & Junelie offenders would have the opportunity to open better communication lines, and a week or two of forced togetherness will work better that just entrusting the same parents to monitor their kids as it was when the troubles started.

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A local car dealer is advertising a 2010 Pontiac G6 at $11,993.00 in today's L-E. Think about that.. it's a 4 model year used vehicle of a defunct line of cars. I remember back in the 60's when a brand new Cadillac or Lincoln could be purchased for $6,000.00 +/- and a used 4-model-year one was available for $2,500.00 or less. Cars really do express how values of things have become warped, yet Judas 00-bama and the fed Tsars insist inflation is minimal.

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Why is it that professional coaches think one or two new draft picks will change the fortune of a pro team? Isn't coaching a matter of getting the most out of people who were draft picks themselves?