Welcome! "What's Happenin'?" is a casual community diary (a daily series, 8:30 AM Eastern on weekdays, 10 AM on weekends and holidays) where you can hang out, talk about what is going on with you, listen to music, talk about the news and the goings on here and everywhere.
Maybe you have seen some news stories that you think are not receiving enough attention and you'd like to post links to them. Maybe you'd like to just chat among friends about your life, your health, your family or social circle, your pets, etc. You can also post links to your own writings here on dkos or elsewhere. Perhaps you want to share some pictures or music or links to other things. This is your kind of place to talk about what's happening.
Just about anything goes, but attacks and pie fights are not welcome here. If that is what you want, find another place to do it. This is a community diary and a friendly, peaceful, supportive place for people to interact. This diary series is produced by the TeamDFH group but anyone who wants to join in peaceful interaction is welcome.
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Good Morning! Happy Chinese New Year!
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Drop in any time of day or night to say hello. |
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A Few Quotes for This Morning
Monday is a lame way to spend 1/7 of your life. ~Author Unknown
The number one sign you have nothing to do at work: The 4th Division of Paperclips has overrun the Pushpin Infantry and General White-Out has called for a new skirmish. ~Fred Barling, "Humorscope"
Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties. ~Doug Larson
We pretend to work because they pretend to pay us. ~Author Unknown
A Mission Statement is a dense slab of words that a large organization produces when it needs to establish that its workers are not just sitting around downloading Internet porn. ~Dave Barry
Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else. ~James Matthew Barrie
Law of the Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire. ~Author Unknown
The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning, and does not stop until you get into the office. ~Robert Frost
A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer. ~Dean Acheson
Today's Parenting Tip: Treat a difficult child the way you would your boss at work. Praise his achievements, ignore his tantrums and resist the urge to sit him down and explain to him how his brain is not yet fully developed. ~Robert Brault
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News
An interesting proposal regarding Syria...
Arab League Floats Ambitious New Peace Plan for Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria — Faced with the failure of its observer mission to curb the violence here as the stark features of a civil war emerge, the Arab League on Sunday unexpectedly floated an ambitious peace proposal that would require President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to a deputy and start negotiations with his opponents within two weeks.
The proposal, which appeared to be modeled on the agreement recently signed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, also calls for a government of national unity to be formed within two months, followed by presidential and parliamentary elections.
“We ask that the Syrian regime leave and hand over power,” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar’s foreign minister, said in Cairo, according to Reuters. “We are with the Syrian people, with their will and with their aspirations.”
The EPA is getting sued...
Coalition to sue EPA over ash pond rules delay
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A coalition of 11 environmental and public health groups from seven states has announced plans to sue the government over the delay in finalizing rules to make coal ash ponds safer.
The coalition is at odds with the Environmental Protection Agency over the EPA's failure to implement the rules created after a pond collapse in 2008 in Harriman, Tenn., sent a billion gallons of toxic sludge into the Emory River.
The rules would label coal ash hazardous or non-hazardous waste and establish structural-safety requirements for ash ponds, which hold waste from coal-fired power plants. The coalition — represented by the environmental law firm Earthjustice — notified the EPA on Wednesday that it plans to sue.
As if it hasn't gone on long enough...
GOP contest could be lengthy fight
Newt Gingrich's come-from-behind win in South Carolina on Saturday has roiled the Republican presidential race in a way not seen in a generation and created the possibility of a nomination contest that could stretch for months, perhaps even all the way to the convention in Tampa next summer.
Coupled with changes in the primary calendar and GOP rules this year, no candidate is likely to be able to do the math — that is, claim the number of convention delegates needed to be nominated — until spring. But in next week's Florida primary, both Gingrich and one-time front-runner Mitt Romney will be trying to claim the momentum.
A victory by the former Massachusetts governor would help him recover his footing, especially if it signals he has defused one nagging controversy with Tuesday's promised release of his tax returns. A victory for Gingrich would demonstrate that his unconventional campaign can build on his success in a smaller state to mount a campaign in a huge and diverse one.
It's not the food the schools are feeding the kids...
Why Junk Food at School Isn't Making Kids Fat
Junk food in middle school does not lead to weight gain in children.
A study followed nearly 20,000 students from kindergarten through the eighth grade in 1,000 public and private schools. The researchers examined the children's weight and found that in the eighth grade, 35.5 percent of kids in schools with junk food were overweight while 34.8 percent of those in schools without it were overweight -- a statistically insignificant increase.
In other words, kids with access to junk food at school were no heavier than those without.
This is just a sad damn story...
Evicted 101-year-old Detroit woman can't go home
DETROIT (AP) — The federal government now says a 101-year-old Detroit woman it promised could move back into her foreclosed home four months ago can't return because the building's unsanitary and unsafe.
Texana Hollis was evicted Sept. 12 and her belongings placed outside after her 65-year-old son failed to pay property taxes linked to a reverse mortgage and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development foreclosed on the home.
Two days later, the department said she could return. But now, HUD said it won't let Hollis move back in because of the house's condition. She had lived there about 60 years.
Thought I'd leave ya with a laugh!
Periodic Table of Dangerous Elements: 2012 Election Edition