University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere wouldn’t say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, as to whether the university’s general counsel is being forced out over the Bellotti mess.  Melinda Grier has been reassigned to teach at the las school at her present salary of almost $185,000 a year, but she won’t be re-hired in 2011.  She has worked in the U of O administration since 1977.  She was responsible for giving the university legal advice, and presumedly failed in that regard when Mike Bellotti was allowed to move from coach to Athletic Director with a verbal contract only.  The situation led to a 2.3 million dollar payout to Bellotti when he left to join ESPN television.

It’s no sci-fi movie.  There is a killer fungus that’s been identified and studied at Duke University.  All 21 cases  broke out in the Northwest.  The fungus is called ‘cryptococcus gattii’, and 6 out of those 21 cases ended in death.  Researchers say the new fungus attacks otherwise healthy people, as opposed to most fungi which attack those with weak immune systems.  The disease has also attacked dozens of Northwest dogs and cats.  Health care professionals have been notified to be on the alert.

Yes, it’s that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.
Here is the glorious winner:

1. When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And now, the honorable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef’s claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

(more…)

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

“Welcome to heaven,” says St. Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.”

“No problem, just let me in,” says the man.

(more…)

Years ago when I sometimes used unsavory language, I often used the expression “Bull S***.” As I grew up a bit and discovered it was not necessary to use such crude language, that expression became “BS.”

What did I really mean when I used those expressions? I meant that something was ridiculous, or idiotic or a half truth or just stupid. It covered any number of negative formats. The dictionary defines it as: nonsense; especially: foolish insolent talk.

I have decided that I no longer will use either of those expressions in the future. When I have a need to express such feelings, I will use the word “Pelosi.” Let me use it in a sentence. “That’s just a bunch of Pelosi..” I encourage you to do the same. It is such a nasty sounding word, it really packs a punch, we are no longer being vulgar, and it clearly expresses our feelings. If enough of us use it, perhaps the word could be entered into the dictionary. When on a ranch watch your step and don’t step in Pelosi. It will get on the bottom of your boot and won’t go away until next election.

What a fitting and descriptive legacy for the Speaker of the House!

P.S. Betcha when this new word reaches D.C., the PELOSI WILL HIT THE FAN!

The FISHERMAN

A fisherman was stopped by a game warden in Alabama recently with two ice
chests full of fish. He was leavin’ a cove well-known for its fishing.

The game warden asked the man, ‘Do you have a license to catch those fish?’
‘Naw, sir’, replied the fisherman. ‘I ain’t got none of them there licenses..,
these here are my pet fish.’

‘Pet fish?’ said the Warden.

The family of Erin McLyman is inviting the public to line the streets in Eugene tomorrow, Thursday, March 25th, for her funeral procession.  McLyman was killed in a mortar attack on her base in Balad, Iraq, on March 13th.  The procession leaves West Lawn Cemetary on South Danebo at about 12:30 tomorrow afternoon, and proceeds to West 18th, from there to Polk, ending up at the Eugene Faith Center on West 13th.  She graduated from Eugene’s Sheldon High School.  The governor has ordered flags flown at half-staff tomorrow to honor Spc McLyman.

Oregon fourth district Congressman Peter Defazio threatened to vote ‘no’ on Obamacare over the weekend over the issue of low Medicare reimbursements to Oregon doctors.  A ‘fix’ was in the earlier House bill, but was taken out of the one passed over the weekend due to its cost.  Including it would have ballooned the cost of the bill past defecit-neutral territory.  But Defazio said in a release today that he was assured by Obama Administration officials that higher Medicare reimbursements for Oregon and 16 other states would begin immediately while the issue is studied for two years.

You’re still peeing green

You went home with a girl and woke up with “Oh Danny Boy”

You held a girls hair while she puked, then made out with her

You lost your voice saying “I love you man” 4000 times

Your corned beef smells like cabbage

You woke in prison wearing your “Kiss me I’m Irish” pin on your ass

When the guy said “Do you want some Irish in you?” you didn’t realize he meant sexually

You went out in jeans and a tee shirt came home in kilt and a thong

You were so drunk you thought you cheated on your boyfriend…with your boyfriend

You conference called 4 ex girlfriends with one drunk dial

You woke up proud to be Italian

You’re convinced St. Patrick is the patron Saint of holding someone’s hair while they puke in a urinal

[audio:http://www.kfiream.com/countrystore.mp3]

Okay, so watching the grass grow is normally one of those phrases associated with boredom. (more…)

ECS is well known among geeks for their motherboards and other hardware that goes inside a computer. (more…)

I came across this article over at Psychology Today that gives some great tips on improving your learning experience. (more…)

Oregon Fish and Wildlife is holding several “Free Fishing Weekend” events around the state on June 6th & 7th. (more…)

Wetsuits are usually plain…black…boring. Well, one designer isn’t too happy about that and has set out to change the face of the scene by adding some texture.

Diddo has applied various textures to wetsuits using “custom inks and unique printing techniques” to create something new. Although I’ve never surfed, wake boarded or done any such activity that requires a wet suit, I do have to say these are quite exciting. There are examples of suits bearing very fitting textures—a whale shark’s skin and the muscles of the human body. As well as more unique and humorous—rusting metal and a simulated shark attack!

How much megapixel goodness does your camera have? 8 megapixel? 12 megapixel? What if your camera was 13 GIGApixel?!?

Okay, okay, so this is isn’t really a gigapixel camera, but a stitch of 2045 photos that are 12 megapixel images. Still very cool, however. Head on over to HARLEM-13-GIGAPIXELS.COM and check this out. The 2045 images are stitched together to create one seamless image of Harlem, taken from the rooftop of a building on the corner of 7th Avenue and 110th Street in New York City.

Be sure to hit the “Switch to HD View” for an even better demonstration than Flash can pull off. That does require a plugin from Microsoft to be installed, but I promise it is worth it. The HD View plugin makes panning through the image butter smooth.