Walmart's $8 million gift for hurricane relief is not that much

 $7.74

At a press conference this afternoon, President George H. W. Bush singled out the Walton Family for their generosity to Katrina relief efforts:

I don’t think anyone would mind if I singled out the chairman and CEO of Wal-Mart, Lee Scott, who is right here. He told us that they gave the Bush-Clinton fund a total of $23 million…$15 million from the company and then $8 million more from the Walton family, the marvelous philanthropists that they are.

Let’s put that in perspective. The Walton family’s net worth is $90 billion. So $8 million dollars represents .009 percent of their total.

The average family’s net worth is $86,100. If an average family contributed at the same rate as the Waltons, they’d donate $7.74.

There are thousands of families all around country that are being far more generous to Katrina victims than the Waltons. Few of them will be personally thanked by a former President.

Here’s the link

via J-Walk blog

Great scenes in rock & roll history

 February, 1959
The Day The Marshmallow Died -- a plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Peeper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 January, 1957
Elvis Peepsley appears from the waist up on The Ed Sullivan Show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Scenes in Rock & Roll History

via The Presurfer

He ain't no Dale Earnhardt

But he’s got more bulls than I do to try this.

Man bowls over machine

 Machine no match for top professional bowler

8/30/2005

By Lucas Wiseman
USBC Communications

In the world of chess in 1997, a machine defeated the world's best human player. On Tuesday, one of the best bowlers in the world demolished his mechanical counterpart.

Defending Masters champion and one of the top professional bowlers in the world Danny Wiseman of Baltimore defeated "Harry" the ball-thrower in a race to five strikes at the United States Bowling Congress Research and Testing Facility on Tuesday.

While "Harry" was far from perfect, Wiseman was right on target, striking on his first five shots. "Harry" only managed one strike in five attempts.

"From what I was told, that thing was dialed in yesterday and was ready for me," Wiseman said. "I'm assuming because the environment changed with the lanes sitting all night that when they turned it on something wasn't right. I've seen it strike at will before, but I was fortunate because I wasn't even loose but was close enough to strike."

 

Read more here.

 

via The Raw Feed

Keypod - Miniature car key safe

 When people go swimming or surfing, they're faced with figuring out what to do with their car keys. I suppose everyone has a way of dealing with it, though it may be more difficult if you do nude surfing at nude beaches.

The "Keypod" is being marketed to surfers, and other "extreme sports" afficionados. It's a miniature safe that hangs from your car, most likely underneath the car where it's least visible. It can also hold money, credit cards, or a cell phone.

From Strange New Products via Land-o-links

Another gas guage

Thanks Opie

Rough Rider

via Growabrain

Foamy the Squirrel LIVE from New Orleans

NSFW (Not Safe For Work)  Click here for Foamy’s Special Report.

via Bifurcated Rivets

Sign of the times

LOL = Laugh Out Loud
OMG = Oh My Gog
WTF = What The F#*k

via J-Walk blog

Landmarks of New Orleans

What’s happened to them in the wake of Hurricane Katrina? 

•  The French Quarter: This historic district is full of wrought-iron balconies and ornate colonial architecture, but was also a playground for adults who could roam the streets with cocktails in tow and listen to jazz and, during Mardi Gras, grab for beads and go wild. The area escaped much of the flooding.
•  Bourbon Street: A hedonistic strip in the Quarter bursting with bars like Pat O'Brien's, Molly's on the Market, and Jean Laffite's Blacksmith Shop. The latter, a piano bar, was supposedly the in-town headquarters of pirate Jean Laffite, who owned more than 10 vessels and raided American, British and Spanish ships in the early 1800s. Located in the French Quarter, the area escaped flooding but remains closed.
•  Cafe du Monde: Established in 1862, this coffee shop on Decatur Street in the French Quarter was best known for its cafe au lait, made with hearty New Orleans-style coffee, blended with chicory, and beignets -- crispy, square doughnuts. Still standing.
•  U.S. Mint building: The building housed Confederate soldiers during the Civil War and produced money for the federal government until 1909. It later became home to jazz and Mardi Gras exhibits and the streetcar immortalized in Tennessee Williams' play "A Streetcar Named Desire." The mint is still standing. The fate of the streetcar is unknown.
•  St. Louis Cathedral: Located in Jackson Square and consecrated in 1794, it was said to be the oldest continuously active cathedral in the country. Still standing.

Find out more here.

via J-Walk Blog

The "Love Boat" heading to New Orleans?

Updated: 2:00 p.m. ET Sept. 3, 2005

Federal officials are chartering three of Carnival Cruise Lines' ships for six months, part of a plan to provide shelter for as many as 7,000 people displaced by devastating Hurricane Katrina.

The three ships — the Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday — will be pulled from regular use starting Monday.

Ecstasy, normally ported at Galveston for four-and five-day cruises, and Sensation, normally in New Orleans for similar trips, will both be pulled Monday and are scheduled to dock and house Katrina refugees in Galveston, Texas.

Just what these people want to see… more water.

Here’s the story from MSNBC.

via J-Walk blog

Nutty Flashing Squirrel

You know you want to see the Flashing Squirrel

via The Presurfer

Not from Hurricane Katrina

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Oh

Think this Goatse might have been Photoshopped just a bit?

Funny nonetheless. 

Daddy, watch this!

Thanks Ronie

I sold my car for gas money

Tastes like chicken - and you can buy it on eBay

 You are bidding on a deep fried jumbo shrimp that has a very unique shape that looks exactly like female genitalia. AKA Vagina.

You've seen jumbo shrimp before, and most of you have seen female genitalia before, but I know none of you have seen Female Genitalia Jumbo Shrimp before.

You will be the life of the party when you whip out your Female Genitalia Jumbo Shrimp. All of your friends will envy you. GUARANTEED*!

SNATCH THIS ONE UP! DON'T LET ANOTHER ONE SLIP THROUGH YOUR FINGERS!!!

Current Bid is $1.00

Check it out.

via 4 all fun

What did people use before toilet paper was invented?

Answer:   You should thank your lucky stars you live in the twentieth century, bucko. Let me tell you about ... corncobs. You may not believe this, but it was once common practice in rural America to leave a corncob hanging from a string in the outhouse for purposes of personal hygiene. The string, I gather, was to permit the cob to be reused. For those who were punctilious in these matters, or else blessed with an abundance of corncobs, a box of disposable cobs might be provided instead. In coastal regions, the cob might be replaced by a mussel shell.

Read the complete answer at The Straight Dope.

via New Links