Comfortably Contentious...from Paris

(for those of you who are not hard core news junkies...)
Our story continues.

I have to credit the call about a monster. It was a turning point.
If I had to describe it, I'd say the DailyBrisk editor and I are "comfortably contentious". A reluctant original post became a pleasant obsession. A name misspelled, cascaded into an anonymous persona. I think there was a pointed, sharp email from Paris to Bill: "If you're serious about this, you'll upgrade the title--how about

B-R-I-S-K --Bill Roberts IS Knowledgeable?

"I like that idea, however, I'm really busy. I'll get to it soon," Bill promised.

Suddenly, it showed up. Just as suddenly, there was discomfort. "I don't know if Paris will fit in", I confessed. "It's feels more serious, and more formal than I expected."

"Ah, come on!" Bill lectured bluntly.

Then, there was the call... about monsters...(to be continued)

For My Hard Core News Junkies...From Paris

(For all of my hardcore news junkies, this post is for you) Remember the panic about H1N1? If you're in the health care industry, this past autumn ushered in just shy-of-panic planning. Emergency plans and contingency plans were broadcast-blared throughout the health department. State and local governments carefully doled out the H1N1 vaccine, and demanded plans from health care institutions, to accommodate an 'outbreak' of H1N1. The vaccine was in desperately limited supply. Flu clinics witnessed lines snaking around building; anxious recipients waiting to receive the vaccine. Only seriously compromised hopeful vaccine recipients were rewarded with the magic injection. Most waited, and left without.

What a difference a few weeks render. A friend of mine owns an immunization company. The Federal Government heavily supervised the dissemination of the H1N1, so her company did not receive any of the vaccine until last week. Last week? The health department dumped 13,000 doses on her. Just one teeny tiny little problem. The panic is over. No one is interested. She has no place to store it, and she can't give these vaccines away. She expects to destroy about 12,000 doses of the H1N1, as they are set to expire in April. When the Government casually chats about "waste and abuse", don't you think that wasting 12,000 doses of vaccine is in fact wasteful?

Ps For those of you who aren't hard core news junkies, you're story is coming up...

Man Arrested After Weapons, Map of U.S. Military Facility Seized From N.J. Motel Room. A Terrorist?

Authorities in central New Jersey seized a cache of weapons and ammunition including rifles, a grenade launcher and a night vision scope from the motel room of a Virginia man arrested early Monday by officers responding to a report of a suspicious person, MyFoxDC.com reported.

Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest said Lloyd R. Woodson, 43, of Reston, Va., also had maps of a U.S. military facility and a town in another state.

Forrest said Woodson was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a semiautomatic Bushmaster rifle concealed under his green, military-style jacket when officers encountered him at a Quick Chek store in Branchburg shortly before 4 a.m. Monday.

Interesting

DAVOS MYSTERY: World Economic Forum's Security Chief Found Dead After 'Suicide'...
On eve of big meeting...

Worth watching

France steps closer to face veil ban Muslim women should not be allowed to wear face-covering veils in public facilities, a French parliament report says.

News of the weird

Man robs store with hypodermic needle

Delaware State Police are searching for a suspect who held-up a sub shop with a hypodermic needle.

Police say on Saturday evening, a man entered Casapulla's sandwich shop, located in the Lighthouse Plaza, north of Rehoboth, where he confronted the store's employee with a hypodermic needle in his hand. The suspect told the employee that he had "AIDS" and would stick the employee with the infected needle if he did not comply.

According to police, the suspect, who also claimed to have another weapon, obtained an undisclosed amount of money from the store before fleeing on foot.

No one was injured during the robbery.

Brown to take Leno's 10 questions on Thursday

Bet one of the questions WILL NOT BE: Are you a Leno or Coco fan?

Following in the steps of President Obama, new Republican superstar Scott Brown is scheduled to appear on The Jay Leno Show Thursday for a brief interview via satellite. Recently launched into the spotlight after winning Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts, Brown will answer 10 quick questions from Leno during a skit.

Read it at Associated Press

The IRS is staying busy

IRS Hits Arizona Cardinals' Pro Bowl Safety With $2.2m Tax Bill

Forbes, IRS Hits Cardinals' Antrel Rolle With $2.2 Million Bill; Football Safety Sues After Audit Nixes His Big Charitable and Business Deductions, by William P. Barrett:

The IRS says Arizona Cardinals safety Antrel Rolle understated his taxable income by more than 50% during his first two years in pro football, sending him a $2.2 million bill for back taxes, interest and penalties.

Torn Picasso loses half its value

Does this mean we will no longer admit clumsy people to museums?

On Friday, a woman at the Metropolitan Museum of Art fell into Picasso’s “The Actor,” leaving a six-inch gash along its lower-right hand corner. Oops! Now, an art appraiser tells the New York Post that the tear has likely reduced the one-time $130 million painting’s value in half. "When an artwork comes up in auction, that's the first thing people want to know—were there any repaints or restorations,” the appraiser said. Picasso painted “The Actor” in 1904-1905, when he was only 23.

Read it at The New York Post

Not #1 of the news channel, on all of Cable. Wow.

For the first time since the 2008 Election, Fox News was #1 on all of cable last week.

FNC topped USA Network (the usual #1) in prime time, with FNC averaging 3,213,000 viewers last week and USA averaging 3,194,000. No other network came close. In cable news competition, CNN ranked 22nd (980,000) and MSNBC was 25th (761,000).

Biggest book in the world?

Overwhelming reason to buy an eReader -- size

Imagine putting this bad boy on your bedside table? This is the behemoth of books. You’d need a truck to get it home and you have to get up to turn the pages and walk them from one side of the book to the other. A couple of my cars have been smaller than this book.

(Imagine the shipping costs if you bought it on the Internet?)

Apple Tablet News

NYT: The Apple Tablet's Got 3G and iPhone Apps Still Work

The Paper of Record, the NYT, is backing up the rumors that the Apple tablet'll have a 10-inch screen, 3G and iPhone app compatibility

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: he called the Mass Election (sort of) last Feb.

Obama In Free Fall. “On every issue — more bailouts, more stimuli, more deficits, higher taxes, statist health care, cap and trade, diplomatic apologetics, the shunning of natural gas, oil, and nuclear in favor of ‘millions of green jobs’ subsidized by billions in federal ’stimulus’ — the Obama position polls 5-15 points below 50 percent. . . . Obama showed the country his vision of where he wanted us to go; he had both houses of Congress, a toady media, and enormous personal popularity — and he is getting nowhere. Why? Because most Americans are vehemently opposed to taking their country in the direction that Obama, Pelosi, and Reid would prefer. . . . Since Obama is both inexperienced and apparently a stubborn ideologue, I think all we will be left with when the novelty wears off is rhetoric and euphemism.”

In about three days O will take a stand

30 Asian Students Beaten at South Philadelphia High School.

From Paris written in August of 09. Don’t think we got 160 million vaccinated.

Mass H1N1 vaccination program could cost $18 billion
British doctors question safety, balk at taking shot

Richard Moore
Investigative Reporter

The United States government is set to undertake the most extensive vaccination program in American history this fall as it prepares to inoculate at least 160 million Americans against the swine flu, at a cost of as much as $18 billion in a worst-case scenario.
Inoculating half the population - the Obama administration's current goal - could still cost taxpayers about $9 billion.