Here they are!

The final chance for Wandering Fame. Select the winners of these 10 college football bowl games and your reputation in the sporting world will be as accurate as the BCS itself. (Not really.) And shall we dare to make the National “Championship” Game the tie breaker? Sure, why not! Then the suspense can be almost as exciting as the game itself, if not more. (Remember, folks, these are college “students” who, although they have been on the practice field, haven’t played a game in over a month. Also, once they arrive in the city of the game, they get fat on fancy dinners and hoopla, so that come game time, they look often like high school freshman on the field for the first time. So, have at it. Just get your entries in by 6:45PM EST Monday, when the first game begins. (Note to Mumsee- Boise State already played in the Hawai’i Bowl and lost to Oregon State.)

#10 Oregon vs. Texas (VALERO ALAMO BOWL)

#24 Duke vs. #21 Texas A&M (Chick-fil-A BOWL)

#19 Wisconsin vs. #9 South Carolina- (CAPITAL ONE BOWL)

Iowa vs. #16 LSU- (OUTBACK BOWL)

#5 Stanford vs. #4 Michigan State- (ROSE BOWL)

#15 UCF vs. #6 Baylor- (TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL)

#11 Oklahoma vs. #3   Alabama- (ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL)

#13 Oklahoma State vs. #8   Missouri- (AT&T COTTON BOWL)

#12  Clemson vs. #7 Ohio State- (DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL)

#1 Florida State vs. #2 Auburn- (VIZIO BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP) Pick winner and score.

It’s Saturday, so time for…

Rants! 😦

and

Raves! 🙂

Good dogs!!!

From NBCNews

“Child welfare officials have taken custody of a newborn girl who was found abandoned in a plastic grocery bag by passing dogs in Cypress, Texas.

The infant was in good condition at Texas Children’s Hospital but was lucky to be alive, doctors and law enforcement officials said.”

“”If it had not have been for the resident that came out to walk her dogs, that child may have laid there all night (and) possibly would have died,” said Harris County sheriff’s Sgt. Gordon Trott told NBC station KPRC of Houston.

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Good humans!!!

From MSN

“Video: A daring sailor braved frigid Russian waters to go after a pooch in a precarious situation. Check out the amazing ice floe rescue.”

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Floyd Corkins, the man responsible for shooting Family Research Council security guard Leo Johnson has pleaded guilty to multiple charges. Corkins plead guilty to one federal count of crossing state lines with  guns and ammunition, one count of intent to kill while  armed, and one count of committing an act of terrorism with the intent to kill.

Were it not for Mr. Johnson’s heroism, this could have been much worse. In fact, the shooter has confirmed he had far worse in mind.

From ABC/WJLA

“A man accused of shooting a security guard inside the downtown Washington  headquarters of a conservative Christian lobbying group pleaded guilty Wednesday  in connection with the shooting.”

“Prosecutors say Corkins, who had been volunteering at a center for gay,  lesbian and transgender people, was carrying ammunition and Chick-fil-A  sandwiches in his bag. Chick-fil-A was making headlines at the time because of  its president’s stated opposition to gay marriage.

Corkins intended to smear the sandwiches in the faces of his victims to make  a statement about gay rights opponents, he acknowledged during a hearing  Wednesday.”

The piece goes on to mention comments from FRC Pres. Tony Perkins about the shooters motivation, and the possible role of the Southern Poverty Law Center. I’ve said for years that the SPLC is what they say they’re against, a hate group. Democrat funded, founded, and backed, they are the shocktroops used against anyone who dares disagree with their ideals. Conservative organizations have long been in the SPLC’s crosshairs. The Obama admin and the FBI both allow this group to hold undue influence in policy making. It’s not just a coincidence that many of these SPLC labeled “hate groups” are also the same groups fighting the Obama admin agenda on many different fronts. While they still list some actual hate groups like Neo Nazi’s and skinheads, and of course the Klan, they’ve evolved into being little more than a liberal advocacy group with a partisan agenda against conservative causes. Perkins elaborates further on this in an email, with more info that ABC didn’t get to, in the link below.

From LifeNews

“Today’s hearing also revealed that in the interview with the FBI right after the shooting, the shooter admitted his guilt, which was captured on video. Corkins said he intended to “kill as many as possible and smear the Chick-Fil-A sandwiches in victims’ faces, and kill the guard.” The prosecutor said they reviewed the family computer and found that he identified his targets on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s web site.”

““The day after Floyd Corkins came into the FRC headquarter and opened fire wounding one of our team members, I stated that while Corkins was responsible for the shooting, he had been given a license to perpetrate this act of violence by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center which has systematically and recklessly labeled every organization with which they disagree as a ‘hate group,’” he said.”

“Perkins added, “The Southern Poverty Law Center can no longer say that it is not a source for those bent on committing acts of violence. Only by ending its hate labeling practices will the SPLC send a message that it no longer wishes to be a source for those who would commit acts of violence that are only designed to intimidate and silence Christians and others who support natural marriage and traditional morality.””

Anyone unfamiliar with the history, tactics, and backers of the SPLC can learn more about them at this piece from last year. Hate is big business.

From AmericanThinker

“Last  week’s shooting  at the headquarters of the Family Research Council (FRC) has placed the Southern  Poverty Law Center (SPLC) back into the news.  The SPLC recently had placed  the FRC on its list of hate groups because the SPLC claims that in its  opposition to gay marriage, the FRC defames gays and  lesbians.

It  should be noted that the not-for-profit SPLC ostensibly began its mission to  help those who had been victimized by civil rights violations by filing suits on  their behalf.  In recent years, the SPLC greatly expanded its  definition of civil rights and hate groups to the point where any organization  that opposes the left’s favored causes risks being labeled a hate group by the  SPLC.  It has also moved away from suing on behalf of the aggrieved to  raising awareness of the presence of “hate groups.”  Most of all, for the  last 35 years, it has become a real fundraising dynamo.”

What’s interesting out there today?

Open Thread, so what have ya’ got?

Here’s a few to start off.

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I’m sure you’ve heard the Unemployment Rate has risen. Here’s more details, and an age group breakdown, which is not pretty.

From ZeroHedge

“How Today’s “Strong” Jobs Report Led To 115,000 Job Losses”

“While it is enticing to fall for the same old trick of reading the “quantitative”, or headline, jobs data, driven entirely by the Establishment Survey, which as the BLS itself showed today, is nothing but mere noise based on seasonal adjustments and population estimates which is revised at least once a year based on new and improved exit assumptions, below we show the actual unvarnished truth contained in today’s jobs reports.

Recall that in our pre-NFP post we pointed out something critical: “an even more disturbing trend is the conversion of America into a gerontocratic worker society, where the bulk of jobs are handed out to those 55 and over, which puts all young workers, not to mention college graduates, at a major disadvantage relative to far more experienced older workers.” And sure enough, a quick update of the jobs by age-group change in January based on Household Survey data, the same data that showed that the unemployment rate actually rose from 7.8% to 7.9% (to give Bernanke more runway for QEternity as we predicted in December) shows that in the past month, 115,000 jobs were…. lost?”

Not to mention the large number that magically disappeared from the rolls of “The Counted”. Again. Or still.

From CNSNews

“The  number of Americans not in the labor force grew by 169,000 in January,  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest jobs report.

BLS  labels people who are unemployed and no longer  looking for work as “not  in the labor force,” including people who have  retired on schedule,  taken early retirement, or simply given up looking  for work. There were 89 million of them last month.”

At least they didn’t say “Unexpectedly” like most MSM outlet’s are prone to do.

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Here’s a good story. And say what you will about the man, but it shows class that he did this quietly. I can’t help but think his opponent would have made a big deal out of such a gesture, since it always seems to be about him and the photo op, and little else.

From TheHill

“Mitt Romney’s campaign donated nearly $90,000 to the Red Cross in the weeks  after the Republican presidential nominee’s electoral defeat, filings with the  Federal Election Commission showed Sunday.

The donation was made on Nov. 30, weeks after Election Day, and  not publicized by the campaign.”

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And more details in the Menendez scandal.

From TheMiamiHerald

“Sen. Bob Menendez used his influence to advocate for a Dominican Republic business deal that helped a longtime friend and donor whose South Florida office was raided by federal agents this week.

Menendez questioned Obama administration officials at a July hearing about what it was doing to help U.S. businesses that he felt were being unfairly treated by the government of the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries.

One company Menendez was apparently referring to: ICSSI, acquired the year before by Dr. Salomon Melgen, a Palm Beach County eye doctor and friend. The firm was seeking to enforce a contract it had won to X-ray Dominican Republic port cargo, that could be worth $500 million to $1 billion over two decades.”

So rather than being a voice for the voters that put him in office, he decided to advocate for his friend/pimp.

And in an unusual turn of events, Harry Reid has nothing to say. That’s a first. C’mon Harry, you are what passes for Dem Senate leadership, so how about you actually lead for a change and get to the bottom of this.

From TheHill

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) fended off questions about Sen.  Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) at a press conference about immigration reform.

The first question out of the gate was from CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, who  asked Reid when he learned that Menendez had  reimbursed a political donor nearly $60,000 for two trips he took on the  donor’s private plane.

Reid defended the Menendez as a “friend” and “outstanding senator” but declined  to discuss any details he may have had with the New Jersey lawmaker about media  reports of allegations that he had sex with prostitutes in the Dominican  Republic.”

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