endlesschatter

Normally I wouldn’t post a chainmail, but this is pretty true…

I definitely agree with this solution and it could happen if enough people get behind it.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

A friend sent this along to me. I can’t think of a reason to disagree.

I am sending this to virtually everybody on my e-mail list and that includes conservatives, liberals, and everybody in between. Even though we disagree on a number of issues, I count all of you as friends. My friend and neighbor wants to promote a “Congressional Reform Act of 2010″.. It would contain eight provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights..

I know many of you will say, “this is impossible”. Let me remind you, Congress has the lowest approval of any entity in Government, now is the time when Americans will join together to reform Congress – the entity that represents us.

We need to get a Senator to introduce this bill in the US Senate and a Representative to introduce a similar bill in the US House. These people will become American heros

Thanks,

A Fellow American

***********************************

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below.

A. Two Six year Senate terms
B. Six Two year House terms
C. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

2. No Tenure / No Pension:

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, server your term(s), then go home and back to work.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work..

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen

made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work..

If you agree with the above, pass it on to all in your address list. If not, just delete.

July 5th, 2010 | Tags: Government and Politics, politics | Category: Entertainment, Government and Politics, Open | Leave a comment

Teddy Pendergrass – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Theodore DeReese “Teddy” Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade.

Born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass in Kingstree, South Carolina, he was the son of Jesse Pendergrass and Ida Geraldine Epps. During Teddy’s early childhood, his father left the Pendergrass family and was not an integral part of their lives. In 1962, Jesse was murdered, leaving Theodore fatherless.

Pendergrass’ career began when he was a drummer for The Cadillacs, which soon merged with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Melvin invited Pendergrass to become the lead singer after he jumped from the rear of a stage and started singing his heart out. Months later the group signed with Gamble and Huff on the then-CBS subsidiary Philadelphia International Records in 1972. The Blue Notes had hits such as “I Miss You”, “Bad Luck”, “Wake Up Everybody”, the two million seller “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”, and many more. Following personality conflicts between Melvin and Pendergrass, Pendergrass launched a solo career and released hit singles like “The More I Get the More I Want,” “Close the Door,” “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” “Turn Off the Lights” and others.

On March 18, 1982, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia on Lincoln Drive, Pendergrass was involved in an automobile accident. The brakes failed on his 1981 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, causing the car to hit a guard rail, cross into the opposite traffic lane, and hit two trees. Pendergrass and his passenger, Tenika Watson, a transsexual nightclub performer with whom Pendergrass was casually acquainted, were trapped in the wreckage for 45 minutes. While Watson walked away from the accident with minor injuries, Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Pendergrass had several children with different women back home in Philadelphia. In 1987, he married a former dancer of his named Karen. The couple amicably divorced in Pendergrass’ later years and Karen stayed as Teddy’s caregiver. Teddy then married a woman named Joan.

In 2009, Pendergrass underwent surgery for colon cancer and had difficulty recovering from that disease from which he eventually died on January 13, 2010, at age 59, while hospitalized at Bryn Mawr Hospital in suburban Philadelphia. He is survived by his son, Teddy Pendergrass II, and two daughters.

January 21st, 2010 | Tags: death, Entertainment | Category: Entertainment | Leave a comment

This week’s cover: Patrick Swayze, 1952-2009 | EW.com

Though he was nominated for three golden Globes over the course of his 30-year career, Patrick Swayze measured his success by lives touched, not money made or awards won. “No matter what opinion Hollywood has of you,” Swayze once told Entertainment Weekly, “the fans never forget you if you never forget them.”

On September 14, at the age of 57, Swayze died after an extraordinarily brave and dignified 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Swayze had initially responded well to treatment, and spent four months working 12-hour days on the A&E undercover drama The Beast while undergoing chemotherapy. He refused to take medication that might hinder what would become his final onscreen performance – even though the pain became intense. After he passed away, tributes have poured in from friends and colleagues. “Patrick was a rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace,” recalled his Dirty Dancing costar Jennifer Grey.

The first hints of Swayze’s stardom emerged in his 1987 breakout film, Dirty Dancing. After that film’s success, Swayze was offered everything from a cologne deal to a record contract. But he was determined not to be pigeonholed as a gyrating boy toy. He sought cover in action films that let him run in what he called “crazy Swayze adrenaline-junkie mode.” The movies that he chose appealed to the side of him that was a self-proclaimed “searcher.” To Swayze, Road House showcased the beauty of martial arts via a bouncer with a philosophy degree from New York University.

September 18th, 2009 | Tags: death, Entertainment, Movies, Open | Category: Entertainment, Open | Leave a comment

I like how the people here are trying to change what the word “nightly” means.

Branson considers outlawing nightly rentals in neighborhoods | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader

Branson considers outlawing nightly rentals in neighborhoods

Concern voiced by Branson residents that their neighborhoods are home to short-term rental housing for vacationers has prompted the Branson Board of Aldermen to consider prohibiting the practice.

A bill outlawing short-term rentals in residential districts received its first reading at the board’s meeting Tuesday.

The bill defines a nightly rental as a building with sleeping areas in four or fewer rooms that provides accommodations for fewer than 28 days, according to a news release.

I think this is most likely a thinly veiled attempt by the hotel industry in the area to try and get people to pay their outrageous rates and poor service instead of a group of people getting together and renting a house for a week or two and enjoying their vacation.
I wonder if this proposal will include timeshares… hmmmm

July 31st, 2009 | Tags: idiots, liars club, politics | Category: Entertainment, Open | Leave a comment

Former world champion boxer Vernon Forrest killed in Atlanta shooting – ESPN

Vernon Forrest Shot And Killed

Former two-division world champion Vernon Forrest was shot and killed Saturday night during an attempted robbery, police said Sunday. Fulton County medical examiner Michele Stauffenberg confirmed the case was a homicide and that the autopsy showed Forrest died from “multiple gunshot wounds involving the torso and thigh.” Sgt. Lisa Keyes said a police report on the shooting was not immediately available.

WSB Radio in Atlanta first reported the shooting, citing a police spokesman. Forrest, who was 38, lived in Atlanta and was an Augusta, Ga., native.  Lt. Keith Meadows told the radio station that Forrest was shot seven or eight times — at least once in the head — as he chased at least two men who had tried to steal his Jaguar as he put air in its tires at an Atlanta gas station. Forrest had a gun and confronted the men, who fatally wounded him with two semi-automatic weapons, according to police.

David Livingston/Getty ImagesVernon Forrest, a recent WBC junior middleweight champion, was killed Saturday as he chased at least two men who had tried to steal his car, police said. “At this point we have a general description of at least two black males driving a red Monte Carlo,” Meadows said, according to the report.

Keyes said that there are no official suspects at this time.

Promoter Gary Shaw, who had two stints as Forrest’s promoter, said, “It’s 100 percent confirmed. He’s dead. I will say this about him — he was a decent human being. His work with kids, I think people knew how much he cared for kids, underprivileged and mentally challenged people. He was a real decent human being outside the ropes.”

Charles Watson, the boxer’s manager, said police and witnesses told him that Forrest had stopped at a gas station to put air in his car tire when a man approached asking for money. “Somehow, Vernon had his wallet out and the guy snatched his wallet and started running,” Watson said. “Vernon pursued after him. The guy turned the corner and Vernon didn’t see him. He turned around to go back to the car. That’s when he started firing.”

Watson said that Forrest’s 11-year-old godson was with him but had gone into the convenience store and did not witness the shooting.  “What can you say? Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest all leaving us within 30 days? I think it’s a little much for our sport to handle,” Shaw said, referring to the recent high-profile deaths of two other boxing stars. “The violence, the guns have to go. Violence belongs inside the ropes. Not outside them. It’s just senseless. Maybe boxing ought to dedicate itself to keeping the violence inside the ropes and try to send that message out to the world.”

Gatti, a former two-time champion who retired in 2007, was found dead July 11 at a Brazilian resort. Gatti’s wife, Amanda Rodrigues, is being held as the prime suspect. Arguello, another former champion, was found dead on July 1 at his home in Managua, Nicaragua, in an apparent suicide. He was elected mayor of Nicaragua’s capital last year.

July 26th, 2009 | Tags: death, Entertainment, fights | Category: Entertainment, Open | Leave a comment

Arturo Gatti Found Dead At Age 37

SAO PAULO — Former boxing champion Arturo Gatti, one of the most exciting fighters of his generation, was found dead in a hotel room in the posh seaside resort of Porto de Galihnas early Saturday.

Police investigator Edilson Alves told The Associated Press that the body of the former junior welterweight champ was discovered in his hotel room at the tourist resort, where Gatti had arrived on Friday with his Brazilian wife Amanda and 1-year-old son.

Alves said police were investigating and it was unclear how the 37-year-old Canadian died. Foul play is suspected in the death, the CBC reported.

“It is still too early to say anything concrete, although it is all very strange,” Alves said.

A spokeswoman for the state public safety department said Gatti’s wife and son were unhurt. The women declined to give a name in keeping with department policy.

“There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor,” she said.

Brazilian boxer and four-time world champion Acelino “Popo” Freitas told the G1 Web site of Brazil’s largest television network Globo that he was a close friend of Gatti and his wife, and that he “knew they were having some sort of problem and were about to separate, but I didn’t know they were in Brazil.”

Francisco Assis, a local police investigator, told G1 that Gatti could have died up to eight hours before his body was found early Saturday.

Gatti (40-9, 31 KOs), nicknamed “Thunder”, was best known for his all-action style, which was epitomized in his classic trilogy with Micky Ward in 2002 and 2003.

July 22nd, 2009 | Tags: death, Entertainment, fights | Category: Entertainment, Open | Leave a comment

Billy Mays – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Darrell “Billy” Mays, Jr. (July 20, 1958 – June 28, 2009) was a television direct-response advertisement salesperson most notable for promoting OxiClean, Orange Glo, and other cleaning, home-based, and maintenance products. His distinctive beard and loud sales pitches made him a recognized television presence in the USA.

Mays was born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, and began his career as salesman on the Atlantic City boardwalk. He traveled across the United States for 12 years, selling various items before he was hired to sell OxiClean and other products on the Home Shopping Network. His success as a TV pitchman led him to found Mays Promotions, Inc. On April 15, 2009, the Discovery Channel began airing Pitchmen, a documentary series that featured Mays. On the morning of June 28, 2009, Mays was found dead in his home by his wife.

At a Pittsburgh home show in 1993, Mays struck up a friendship with rival salesman Max Appel, founder of Orange Glo International, a Denver-based manufacturer of cleaning products. He was then hired by the company to promote their line of cleaners, OxiClean, Orange Clean, Orange Glo, and Kaboom on the Home Shopping Network in St. Petersburg, Florida. Customer response to Mays’ sales pitches was enthusiastic, with a sharp increase in sales after his first day on the network, although some reviews were poor. He was very well known for shouting in an abrasive manner during infomercials. For example, Washington Post staff writer Frank Ahrens called him “a full-volume pitchman, amped up like a candidate for a tranquilizer-gun takedown.”

Mays was the CEO and founder of Mays Promotions, Inc., based at his home in Odessa, Florida. His services as a pitchman became highly sought-after, and he appeared in commercials for many diverse “as seen on TV” products such as Mighty Putty. Mays claimed to be an avid user of the products he promoted. In December 2008, Mays began appearing in ads for ESPN’s online service, ESPN360. These ads were a slight departure for Mays as they were designed to be parodies of his and other infomercial cliches with Mays appearing to be doing a parody of himself. He also made a live appearance during the 2008 Champs Sports Bowl promoting ESPN’s and ABC’s January 1, 2009 bowl games.

In February 2009, Mays publicly challenged Vince Offer to a “pitch-off” between their respective products, the Zorbeez and the Shamwow. Popular Mechanics compared the absorbency of two towel products and declared Shamwow the clear winner. On April 15, 2009, the Discovery Channel began airing Pitchmen, a documentary series that features Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their jobs in direct response marketing. Mays and Sullivan appeared together on the June 23, 2009 episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.

Mays was found unresponsive by his wife in his Tampa, Florida, home on the morning of June 28, 2009. A person known as “Ma’am” called 911 to report that he was unresponsive. He was then pronounced dead at 7:45 am, appearing to have died sometime overnight. The Associated Press reported that there were no indications that the house had been broken into, and that police did not suspect foul play.

On June 29, after an initial autopsy on Mays’ body, Dr. Vernard Adams, the Hillsborough County, Florida medical examiner, stated that Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease and that heart disease was the likely cause of his death. However, a final determination as to the cause of death would not be made until toxicology and tissue tests were complete.

June 29th, 2009 | Tags: actors, death, Entertainment | Category: Entertainment | Leave a comment

Autopsy Planned After Pop Legend Michael Jackson’s Sudden Death – Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment – FOXNews.com

Authorities scheduled an autopsy for Friday in the death of pop music icon Michael Jackson in an attempt to clear up the mystery surrounding his death, including whether prescription drugs played a role.

Jackson, whose fame spanned from his childhood with the legendary Jackson 5 to a superstar solo career that earned him the nickname ‘King of Pop,’ died Thursday afternoon at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 50.

The autopsy was planned for 11 a.m. EDT, though results were not likely to be final until toxicology tests could be completed, a process that could take several days and sometimes weeks.

However, if a cause can be determined by the autopsy, they will announce the results, said Los Angeles County Coroner Investigator Jerry McKibben.

Police said they were investigating, standard procedure in high-profile cases.

There has been speculation that drugs may have played a role in the death of the icon, with TMZ citing sources who claim he was given a “heavy dose of morphine” before his death. Other reports claim that Jackson received a shot of Demerol — a similar narcotic— shortly before his death.

June 25th, 2009 | Tags: actors, death, Entertainment | Category: Entertainment, Open | Leave a comment

Marilyn Chambers, Porn Star And Former Model, Dies At 56

Marilyn Chambers, Porn Star And Former Model, Dies At 56

JOHN ROGERS | April 13, 2009 07:06 PM EST | AP

LOS ANGELES — Marilyn Chambers, the pretty Ivory Snow girl who helped bring hard-core adult films into the mainstream consciousness when she starred in the explicit 1972 movie “Behind the Green Door,” has died at 56.

The cause of death was not immediately known. A family friend, Peggy McGinn, said Chambers’ 17-year-old daughter found the actress’ body Sunday night at her home in the Los Angeles suburb of Canyon Country. Chambers was pronounced dead at the scene, the county coroner’s office said Monday.

Chambers and fellow actresses Linda Lovelace and Georgina Spelvin shot to fame at a time in the early 1970s when both American social mores and the quality of hard-core sex films were changing.

For the first time, films like “Behind the Green Door” and “Deep Throat” (also released in 1972 and starring Lovelace) had decent acting and legitimate if fairly thin plots. As the audiences for them grew to include couples, they also began to take on higher production values and to be seen in places other than sleazy theaters.

But “Behind the Green Door” brought something more in Chambers, an attractive young woman who had begun her career as a legitimate actress and model.

While the film was still in theaters, the public learned that its star was the same young blonde smiling and holding a freshly diapered baby on boxes of Ivory Snow laundry soap (which the company touted as “99 and 44/100 percent pure”). The manufacturer quickly replaced her, but it was later discovered that she also had a small role in the 1970 Barbra Streisand film “The Owl and the Pussycat.”

“She was the first crossover adult star. She was the Ivory Snow girl and when she decided to make an adult movie that was big news,” Steven Hirsch, co-CEO of adult filmmaker Vivid Entertainment Group, told The Associated Press on Monday.

“It was the first adult movie that was more than just a bunch of sex scenes,” Hirsch said of her breakthrough film. “She was an actress and she brought that ability to the set of ‘Behind the Green Door.’ That’s part of what made that movie so successful.”

In an online chat with AdultDVDtalk.com in 2000, Chambers attempted to explain what caused her to take such a radically different career path after “The Owl and the Pussycat” and her modeling work.

“Back then in my naive brain I was thinking that something like ‘Behind the Green Door’ had never been done before and the way our sexual revolution was traveling I really thought it was going to be a stepping stone which would further my acting career,” she said.

She learned afterward, she said, that wasn’t the case.

“There will always be a stigma on people who do adult films,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that that’s the way society has made it.”

She followed “Green Door” with the hard-core films “Resurrection of Eve,” in 1973 and “Inside Marilyn Chambers” in 1975.

Then she announced in 1976 that she was giving up adult films to pursue other interests. She starred in the 1977 horror movie “Rabid” and put together a song-and-dance show that played Las Vegas and elsewhere.

She returned to adult films in 1980 in “Insatiable” and through the rest of her career went back and forth between explicit movies and R-rated ones.

“She was a pioneer, and an amazingly secure woman. I admired her for being at the forefront of an industry that was so taboo when she started,” said Jenna Jameson, currently one of the industry’s biggest stars.

Hirsch noted that one of the most striking things about Chambers’ career was its longevity in a business where stars quickly fade. She still has a photo gallery on the Web site Adult Video News and the Internet Movie Database credits her as recently completing a film called, “Porndogs: The Adventures of Sadie” with Ron Jeremy.

Although Chambers was quick to point out in 2000 that she had done more R-rated films that X-rated ones, she made no apologies for the latter.

“I have to say that the adult films have been a total pleasure,” she said. “They were like getting paid to live out my greatest fantasies. The rest of the stuff … sometimes got to be a real grind.”

Chambers, born Marilyn Ann Briggs, on April 22, 1952, grew up in Westport, Conn. She got her start in adult films after answering an ad placed in a San Francisco newspaper by pioneering adult filmmakers Jim and Artie Mitchell.

Married and divorced three times, she is survived by her daughter, McKenna Marie Taylor; her brother, Bill Briggs; and her sister, Jann Smith.

April 16th, 2009 | Tags: death, Entertainment, Movies, people | Category: Entertainment | Leave a comment