witola.com

Grant Storms, the former pastor who has led charges against the annual Southern Decadence festival in the French Quarter, has been arrested in Lafreniere Park by the Jefferson Parish sheriff's department on obscenity charges.

On the afternoon of Feb. 25, a mother unloading her children from a car to take them to a nearby playground alerted authorities to a man in a Ford Windstar van parked near the playground. The man, she told sheriffs' deputies, was masturbating. Storms told officers on the scene he wasn't masturbating, but instead attempting to urinate in a bottle in the van. This afternoon, he admitted concocting that story — "I was ashamed" — but did not admit to masturbating. "I'm confessing to having my hand in my pants," Storms said. "That's all I'm going to say," adding the truth "will come out in court."

Speaking in the parking lot of a motel on the I-10 Service Road in Metairie, where he had been staying since his arrest, Storms struggled for composure, at times breaking down in tears as he described the effect his arrest had on his wife and four children, the youngest of whom are nine and six years old. "I'll have to tell them, 'Daddy has a problem,'" he said, weeping.

Storms wanted to clear the record on one issue in particular: that he was parked in the vicinity of the Lafreniere playspot to watch children. "I am not a pedophile," he said. "I am not a child molester."

This is the same guy that filmed lewd acts at Southern Decadence in an effort to get cops to just shut it down completely.

The recent marriage of Katy Perry and Russell Brand got me thinking... no pre-nup is a wonderful way to start a marriage, but in this day and age of fair weather marriages of people in the limelight, that could be costly! When two high profile and wealthy people do wed, it seems a more practical and smart move to see the business side that it is also a "merger", not just a marriage.

When a marriage goes sour, the process of divorce becomes increasingly more complicated when the couple's net worth is in the stratosphere. The absence of an official prenuptial agreement, differences in international law and the circumstances surrounding of the breakup can result in large sums being paid out in the divorce settlement.

Although most settlements don't get finalized until well after the divorce takes place, there was speculation that the divorce between Tiger Woods and his wife could cost the world's No. 1 golfer up to $300 million , among the costliest in history. Other breakups that could enter the top rankings include Mel Gibson and Robyn Gibson, whose split has the potential to be the most expensive in Hollywood history, with speculation it could hit $500 million.

Read on to hear the movers and shakers who don't even make the headlines...

This is so sad and insane at the same time! I really would like to see this one day, but now...

Doctors in Sichuan, China, found an eel up a 59-year-old man's rectum and the creature had eaten his bowels! The unnamed chef in China was passed out drunk and his friends played a prank on him which went horribly wrong.

WTF kind of sick "friends" are those?! What happened to the classic prank of just drawing dicks on the faces of passed out drinking buddies or posing them in precarious scenarios and taking photos? Crazy, crazy world today...

Please say this not so! She has had such a well publicized comeback, it would truly be heartbreaking if she relapsed. But it does happen...

Well it's been a year here already. This started out as a idea to help me learn more about WordPress and manipulating the code for clients and other sites. I am happy with this creative outlet via word, picture or video.

So far looking at my Google stats I've had over 6,488 visitors and 40,385 page views. Pretty cool for a very low key site.

It has been great to share with family and friends my rants, ideas, experiences, etc. I will continue, thanks for stopping by!

How many people do you think are in the sky at any given moment? In the video link below you will see air traffic around the world for 24 hours, taken from a satellite. You won't believe this! The yellow dots are airplanes in the sky during a 24 hour period. Click on the image to view the video or the link at the bottom of the post.

Stay with the picture. You will see the light of the day moving from the east to the west, as the Earth spins on it's axis. Also you will see the aircraft flow of traffic leaving the North American continent and traveling at night to arrive in the UK in the morning.

Then you will see the flow changing, leaving the UK in the morning and flying to the American continent in daylight. It is a 24 hour observation of all of the large aircraft flights in the world, condensed down to about 2 minutes. From space we look like a bee hive of activity.

You could tell it was summer time in the north by the sun's foot print over the planet. You could see that it didn't quite set in the extreme north and it didn't quite rise in the extreme south.

I have never seen this before. We are taught about the earth's tilt and how it causes summer and winter and have had to imagine just what is going on. With this 24 hour observation of aircraft travel on the earth's surface we get to see the daylight pattern move as well.

Remember watch the day to night..... Day is over in Australia when it starts.

WorldAirTraffic0-24h

A friend of mine wrote this article and I thought I would pass this on with his permission. Feel free to follow him as well on Twitter: @HDSolarguy.

Depending on state laws where you live, you may even be able to get extra money back at the end of the year if you produce more power than you use. Imagine that... a power check instead of a power bill. California just passed such a law but is still deciding how to calculate the rates on this extra power; we may not get paid the full rate for it, time will tell.

And this, dear friends, is why solar is still not more widely deployed in these United States. Not because it is too expensive (you can currently produce solar power for about one-third to one-half of what your power company charges).

The problem is that the net metering laws are different in all 50 states and in many of them, you do not get paid full price for your "extra" electricity, even though the power company re-sells it to the business community, usually at a higher price than you would pay as a homeowner.

In fact, there are still five states in which net metering is actually illegal! Missouri recently passed a net metering law in which the utility must pay you no more than $.03 per kWh even though they sell it for over twice that much.

This creates a number of problems for the future of solar energy but there is a simple solution and you may hear more about it this Spring. It's called "National Net Metering" legislation and it would set a common standard for buying and selling solar power -- for everyone, no matter where you live.

The bad news is that it will probably not be discussed alone but in concert with many other even more "controversial" bills dealing with climate change, carbon reduction and cap-and-trade.

But to really understand how important net metering is, just imagine what our economy would be like if the internet were still a one-way pipe into your home... with only a handful of service-providers and the rest of us forced to play the role of consumers (only).

Net metering (and solar power) transform the power line to your house into a two-way pipe and change you from an energy consumer into a part-time energy producer.

As such, net metering is more than just a way to own your own power source (with about a 5-year payback). It also provides a gateway for anyone to participate in the global economy, buying and selling power (which has actual cash value as measured by your electric meter), but produced cleanly and profitably: it is as revolutionary as Napster -- but not for music, for electricity!

P.S. - You can check on the status of Net Metering in any state at http://www.dsireusa.org/

P.P.S - Google just created a subsidiary called "Google Energy" and has applied to FERC for permission to buy and sell power. See http://bit.ly/8qIK5a

A friend sent this to me and I found myself laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of political correctness over the holidays. Kinda takes the fun out of just having a nice time with good intentions.

Company Memo

FROM:    Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO:        All Employees
DATE:    October 1, 2009
RE:        Gala Christmas Party

I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23^rd, starting at noon in the private function room at the Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks!  We'll have a small band playing traditional carols...feel free to sing along.  And don't be surprised if our CEO shows up dressed as Santa Claus! A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00 PM.  Exchanges of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over $10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets.  This gathering is only for employees!
Our CEO will make a special announcement at that time!
Merry Christmas to you and your family,
Patty

Company Memo
FROM:     Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO:         All Employees
DATE:     October 2, 2009
RE:         Gala Holiday Party
In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees.  We recognize that Hanukkah is an important holiday, which often coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year.  However, from now on, we're calling it our "Holiday Party."  The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians and to those still celebrating Reconciliation Day.  There will be no Christmas tree and no Christmas carols will be sung.  We will have other types of music for your enjoyment.
Happy now?
Happy Holidays to you and your family,
Patty

Company Memo

FROM:   Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO:       All Employees
DATE:    October 3, 2009
RE:        Holiday Party

Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous requesting a non-drinking table, you didn't sign your name..  I'm happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that reads, "AA Only", you wouldn't be anonymous anymore.  How am I supposed to handle this?  Somebody?
And sorry, but forget about the gift exchange, no gifts are allowed since the union members feel that $10.00 is too much money and the executives believe $10.00 is a little chintzy.

REMEMBER: NO GIFTS EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.

Company Memo

FROM:    Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
To:        All Employees
DATE:    October 4, 2009
RE:        Generic Holiday Party
What a diverse group we are!  I had no idea that December 20^th begins the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours. There goes the party!  Seriously, we can appreciate how a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate our Muslim employees' beliefs.  Perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal until the end of the party or else package everything for you to take it home in little foil doggy baggy.  Will that work?
Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest from the dessert buffet, and pregnant women will get the table closest to the restrooms.
Gays are allowed to sit with each other.

Lesbians do not have to sit with Gay men; each group will have their own table.
Yes, there will be flower arrangement for the Gay men's table.
To the person asking permission to cross dress, the Grill House asks that no cross-dressing be allowed, apparently because of concerns about confusion in the restrooms. Sorry.
We will have booster seats for short people. Low-fat food will be available for those on a diet.
I am sorry to report that we cannot control the amount of salt used in the food.  The Grill House suggests that people with high blood pressure taste a bite first. There will be fresh "low sugar" fruits as dessert for diabetics, but the restaurant cannot supply "no sugar" desserts. Sorry!

Did I miss anything?!?!?
Patty

Company Memo

FROM:    Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO:        All F*%^ing Employees
DATE:    October  5, 2009
RE:        The F*%^ing Holiday Party
I've had it with you vegetarian pricks!!!  We're going to keep this party at the Grill House whether you like it or not, so you can sit quietly at the table furthest from the "grill of death," as you so quaintly put it, and you'll get your f*%^ing salad bar, including organic tomatoes.  But you know, tomatoes have feelings, too.  They scream when you slice them.  I've heard them scream.  I'm hearing them scream right NOW!
The rest of you f*%^ing wierdos can kiss my *ss.  I hope you all have a rotten holiday! Drive drunk and die,

The B*tch from H*ll!!!

Company Memo

FROM:   Joan Bishop, Acting Human Resources Director
DATE:   October 6, 2009
RE:       Patty Lewis and Holiday Party
I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing Patty Lewis a speedy recovery and I'll continue to forward your cards to her.
In the meantime, management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and give everyone the afternoon of the 23^rd off with full pay.
Happy Holidays!
Joan