It's NOT up to us.

Here's an idea: Why not let the future first family decide on what dog they want?

Ok, I'll go out on a limb with this...this is the start of a trend in the media. We will now see stories on polls regarding Americans' preference for whatever the first family does. I saw recently where Barack will have his mother-in-law stay at the White House. I'm waiting for the "approval" poll on whether Americans like that or not. We will probably see polls on if Americans approved of the inauguration.

AP Poll: Americans prefer a mutt for Obamas

• By LISA TOLIN, Associated Press Writer Lisa Tolin, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 14, 3:18 am ET

WASHINGTON – Mr. President-elect, the votes are in: American pet owners prefer a mutt in the White House.

By more than a 2-1 margin, pet owners say the Obamas should choose a mutt for their first dog over a purebred, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll released Wednesday. People who don't have pets mostly don't care either way.

"Let's get philosophical about it: We're kind of a country of mutts," said Steve Minor, 54, of Knightdale, N.C. "I think he'd set an example if he got a dog from a shelter that needed a home."

Obama said over the weekend that the family is choosing between two breeds: a Labradoodle (a cross between a poodle and a Labrador) and a Portuguese water dog, the kind owned by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

A study was needed for this?

I can't believe someone actually got paid to do this study. Isn't this pretty much common knowledge by now?

Many teens display risky behavior on MySpace: study
By Julie Steenhuysen Julie Steenhuysen – Tue Jan 6, 1:23 am ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) – More than half of teenagers mention risky behaviors such as sex and drugs on their MySpace accounts, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They said many young people who use social networking sites such as News Corp's MySpace do not realize how public they are and may be opening themselves to risks, but the sites may also offer a new way to identify and help troubled teens.

"We found the majority of teenagers who have a MySpace account are displaying risky behaviors in a public way that is accessible to a general audience," said Dr. Dimitri Christakis of Seattle Children's Research Institute, whose studies appear in the journal Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.

In one of two studies, Christakis and Dr. Megan Moreno of the University of Wisconsin analyzed 500 randomly chosen MySpace profiles of 18-year-olds in 2007. Overall, 54 percent of the publicly available accounts they checked contained information about high-risk behaviors: 41 percent mentioned substance abuse, 24 percent sexual behavior and 14 percent violence.
Christakis said many teens are unaware of how public and permanent Internet information can be, while parents often do not know what their kids are up to.

"No one says, "Whoa! Why are you putting that up there?'" Christakis said.

In a second study, the researchers identified 190 individuals aged 18 to 20 whose MySpace accounts displayed multiple risky behaviors. Half were sent a message from "Dr. Meg" from Dr. Moreno's MySpace profile.

The message warned about the risks of disclosing personal details online and offered a link to a site with information about testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

Winners of the Week

Winner of the Week: Frank Strukel, D.D.S.
This past Monday, my Dad, Frank Strukel, passed away at the age of 77 of a heart attack. Dad is pictured here with his little girl, Bonnie, who is also my dog. Dad loved Bonnie. Dad grew up poor in Warren, Ohio. His parents were rough on him and Dad didn't have many of the things that other kids had. That surely wasn't the case for the way Dad treated me. He was a loving father who did everything he could to make me and my brother happy and comforted.

Dad graduated from Hiram College and then from the Ohio State University College of Dentistry. After he graduated, Dad practiced dentistry in Dallas, Texas and then came home to start his own practice in Massillon, Ohio. He practiced dentristry for 50 years. Not too long after he started, one of his patients introduced a young lady named Mary Nemeth to my Dad. The two dated and fell in love. They celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2008 on April 20th.

I will post more about my Dad in the next few days.

My other Winner of the Week is Donna Mumford.
Donna was Dad's home health care aide the last two years. Dad had diabetes and lost his ability to walk almost five years ago. Donna was an angel to Dad. She treated Dad with so much care. She helped keep him mentally active and often made him laugh. She made the last two years of his life pleasant. Dad was dealing with much more pain than he would ever let us know.

Winner of the Week

With the Loser of the Week already decided, the Winner of the Week is now crowned.

Fellow former pro wrestling fans like Cliff and myself are applauding this.

California Representative Henry Waxman, according to the Associated Press on Friday, requested that John Walters, director of the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy, "examine the systemic deficiencies in the testing policies and practices of professional wrestling."

Waxman, chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has led a congressional investigation into steroid use in professional wrestling for more than a year, spurred in part by the murder-suicide deaths of wrestler Chris Benoit and his family in Georgia in June 2007.

Waxman is leaving the oversight committee to become chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and his letter offered a final look at the findings that focused on top pro wresting bodies World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action.

"Since the committee began its investigation last year, both the WWE and the TNA have made efforts to improve their steroid testing programs," Waxman wrote. "But these efforts suffer from a lack of independence and transparency. As a result of these weaknesses, the organizations appear unable to effectively prevent the use of steroids and other illegal drugs by professional wrestlers."

Waxman wrote that one former wrestler who agreed to talk to the committee on condition of anonymity said that, in the wrestling business, "steroids are like white socks and tape, they're just part of your gear."

"Over three million children and teenagers watch professional wrestling each week," Waxman's letter said. "The apparently widespread use of steroids in professional wrestling sends the wrong message to youth."

****Anyone who has seen the likes of current stars like Batista knows that 'roids are out of control.

Why is this constantly in the news?

Ok, I'm trying to figure this out. I've seen this story come up, naturally, every time, the world's oldest person (at that moment) dies. But why? Obviously, someone is keeping track. I don't know why but sometimes I think there's some kind of odd national pride thing going here because of the fact that this country has the oldest person again. It just feels odd to know that the only way that these people will make the news is when someone dies.

World's oldest person dies at the age of 115
LISBON (AFP) – The world's oldest living person, Portuguese national Maria de Jesus, died Friday at the age of 115, the Lusa news agency reported.

Born September 10, 1893, Maria de Jesus became the world's oldest living person after the death of American Edna Parker on November 26, also aged 115.

A family member told the Lusa news agency that de Jesus died "just after 10:00 am (GMT) while en route to hospital.

De Jesus was born in a poor area in Urquiera, close to Ourem in central Portugal. She started working in agriculture at the age of 12 and never went to school, remaining unable to write and read for her entire life.

After marrying, she moved to the town of Corujo with her husband where she brought up her six children.

De Jesus never "fell ill, nor took any medication," her daughter Maria Madalena told Lusa.

After the death of Maria de Jesus, American Gertrude Baines, born April 6, 1894, becomes the world's oldest person, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

The Los Angeles-based organisation keeps a database of people worldwide who are more than 110 years old.

A look back at 2008

There were so many great performances in the media. Several other places have done their Best and Worst lists of 2008. A couple performances really stood out for me.

In no particular order, Beyonce's moves in her song "Single Ladies" are incredible. I read somewhere that the video that was done for this song is done in like three takes. Here is a live version. What a talent! I can't think of any other music video that has sparked this much attention or imitation on YouTube recently.


I'm a big fan of documentaries. Man on Wire is an intriguing story about a man who did a high wire walk between the World Trade Center towers. Great movie.


The Dark Knight, of course, was another great 2008 movie. Iron Man was another very good superhero movie. I also liked The Hulk despite the not so good reviews because it was a much better movie than Ang Lee's.

Great news story!

I saw this online tonight and had to post it. What other words or phrases do you think should be added?

Lake Superior State's 2009 list of banished words
Associated Press - December 30, 2008 2:04 PM ET
Lake Superior State University's 2009 list of banished words:
green
carbon footprint or carbon offsetting
maverick
first dude
bailout
Wall Street/Main Street
monkey
3 (Emoticon for 'heart' used in text messages and e-mail.)
icon or iconic
game changer
staycation
desperate search
not so much
winner of 5 nominations
it's that time of year again

***Here are my personal ones that I would like to add:
reflection
engage in diaglogue
And this has to be done away with..............the word "random." I am tired of hearing someone say "he's (or she's) so random." What exactly does that mean?