December 31, 2005

Three Katrina evacuees found dead in apparent murder-suicide in Texas apartment.  More Katrina News.  posted 8:51am by jholmes

President Bush signed a temporary Patriot Act renewal today.  The renewal lasts until February 3rd.

"Suffice it to say, our law enforcement community needs this," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. "He's not satisfied with a one-month extension. But we've got to get that in place and we've got to work with them to get it permanently re-extended."   posted 8:47am by jholmes

Eminem protégé Obie Trice was shot on a Detroit Freeway early Saturday.  posted 8:44am by jholmes

Contaminated dog food has now killed 23 dogs and made dozens more sick.  I need to find some of this food for the coyotes in the neighborhood.  posted 8:42am by jholmes

Those people with hybrid cars should see more tax breaks in 2006.  posted 8:40am by jholmes

December 30, 2005

Kobe Bryant has been suspended for two games for flagrant foul to Mike Miller's throat.  Kobe will lose almost $300,000 in salary during the suspension.  More sports in BumpSports.  posted 1:22pm by jholmes

The New Orleans Saints have a deal in place to return to Louisiana next year and play in the Superdome and Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.  posted 9:08am by jholmes

Men's College Basketball Power 16 Teams.  posted 1:52am by jholmes

Celebrity Lows of 2005.  posted 1:48am by jholmes

A massive landslide in Yemen killed 30 people and injured dozens more yesterday.  posted 1:29am by jholmes

A teen from Florida ran away this past weekend......to Iraq.  posted 1:26am by jholmes

Two men have been charged with releasing an alligator in a Los Angeles park.  posted 1:23am by jholmes

Alex Tew needed money for college.  He got creative and invented a webpage with a simple idea that has put over $1 million dollars in his bank account.  Check out MillionDollarHomePage.com  posted 1:19am by jholmes

December 29, 2005

A New York babysitter has been charged with child endangerment after a two year old toddler he kept was found to be drunk.  posted 11:35am by jholmes

Wikipedia Article of the Day:  Cab Calloway

Spray Down the Shoes: Bowling is becoming a popular high school varsity sport.  posted 1:46am by jholmes

Experts are saying that British ladybugs are in danger.  posted 1:13am by jholmes

Former fiancé Chris Klein says he will not be buying Katie Holmes a baby or wedding gift.

Marriot hotels has lost data on over 200,000 customers.  Might want to check your credit report if you have stayed with the hotel chain in the past few years.  posted 12:26am by jholmes

Delta pilots have accepted a 14% pay cut in order to help the bankrupt airline and to avoid a devastating strike.  posted 12:23am by jholmes

Humor:  During another one of his outbursts during his trial, Saddam claimed that the U.S. is a bunch of amateurs when it comes to torture.

"For days on end, they attempted to torture, torment and otherwise abuse me," an indignant Saddam told the court. "And I was like, dude, is that all you got?"

"Toppling my government, that was the easy part," Saddam told the court. "But as for maintaining the high standards of torture that the Iraqi people grew accustomed to under my regime? Clearly, there was no plan or strategy for doing that."

Iraqis are a proud people," he said. "They are used to having torture that is the envy of the Middle East."   posted 12:12am by jholmes

December 28, 2005

A leap second will be added to clocks right before the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve.

The Paris Observatory said an extra second would be added to clocks worldwide at the stroke of midnight on 31 December.

Leap seconds are required every so often to keep our clocks in sync with solar time used by astronomers.  posted 2:35am by jholmes

Wikipedia Article of the Day: Joel Osteen

Duncan Donuts' famed TV ad pitchman has died.  Michael Vale was 83 years-old.  posted 1:58am by jholmes

Former MLB all-star Jeff Reardon has been arrested for robbing a jewelry store in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. 

"He said it was the medication that made him do it and that he was sorry," O'Neill said.

He said Reardon had a 20-year-old son who died of a drug overdose in February 2004, which has been "very difficult for him and his family," and has been on medication for depression. Reardon, who is married and has two other children, also underwent a heart angioplasty last week and has been taking medication for that condition.   posted 1:52am by jholmes

Another mass grave has been found in Iraq that dates back to Saddam Hussein and his reign of terror.  posted 1:45am by jholmes

Israel warplanes have launched attacks on terrorist training grounds in Lebanon, after the Israeli city of Kiryat Sihmona was attacked by rockets fired from Beirut.  posted 1:40am by jholmes

December 27, 2005

King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe were neck and neck for the top film over the holiday weekend.  Kong brought in $31 million while Narnia brought in $30 million dollars.  posted 12:41am by jholmes

NFL prospect and University of Memphis senior DeAngelo Williams ran for 233 yards on 30 carries, to lead the Tigers over Akron, in the Motor City Bowl last night.  It was the 34th game out of 42, in his career, that Williams has rushed for over  100 yards.  The feat sets an NCAA record.  Williams also finishes his career with the most all-purpose yards in NCAA history.

Williams ran for 233 yards on 30 carries and finished his career with 6,021 yards rushing -- trailing only Ron Dayne, Ricky Williams and Tony Dorsett in Division I-A history -- and an NCAA-record 7,568 all-purpose yards.   posted 12:25am by jholmes

The Texas Rangers have given Kevin Millwood a 4 year deal worth $48 million dollars.  The Rangers seem to never learn about overpaying for players. They are still paying part of the salary of Alex Rodriguez, who now plays for the Yankees.  More sports at BumpSports.com  posted 12:18am by jholmes

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the tsunami in Asia that swept away and killed more than 200,000 people.  posted 12:16am by jholmes

The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the last 50 years.  posted 12:11am by jholmes

December 23-26, 2005

Sorry or no updates the past few days. I was in Tennessee and I could not get to update the site and all with the connection I had.  I hope everyone had  a Merry Christmas.  I unexpectedly got a Xbox 360.  I should probably Ebay it for twice the value, but I will hold onto it and am very grateful for such a nice gift.  I hope everyone is having a safe Holiday Season and I should be back with all the news and updates later tonight or in the morning.  posted 11:43pm by jholmes

December 22, 2005

The 18-year-old son of Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy has been found dead in a Tampa apartment. 

James Dungy's girlfriend found him when she returned to the Campus Lodge Apartments in Lutz, Fla., the sheriff's office said in a news release on its Web site. Police responded at 1:32 a.m. Thursday and performed CPR on Dungy before he was taken to University Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

James stood 6-foot-7 and was sometimes mistaken for one of his father's players, The Indianapolis Star reported on its Web site. James and his younger brother, Eric, sometimes watched Colts games from the sideline, but they had to earn it by doing well in school.   posted 8:42am by jholmes

A South African mugger was killed by tigers, after fleeing from cops, and jumping a fence at the zoo.  He scaled the wrong fence though, because he ended up in the tiger habitat.  The tigers took care of the arrest and had a hearty early Christmas meal.  posted 1:11am by jholmes

A New Mexico woman has had a restraining order issued against David Letterman.  It seems pretty frivolous. 

Lawyers for David Letterman want a judge to quash a restraining order granted to a Santa Fe woman who contends the CBS late-night host used code words to show he wanted to marry her and train her as his co-host.

A state judge granted a temporary restraining order to Colleen Nestler, who alleged in a request filed last Thursday that Letterman has forced her to go bankrupt and caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994.  posted 12:56am by jholmes

An amazing 70% of Iraqi's voted in the parliamentary elections last week in Iraq. 

The report suggests that a greater percentage of Iraqis hit the polls last week than did Americans during their 2004 presidential election.

In Iraq, more than 10.7 million votes were cast by about 69.9 percent of eligible voters, the commission reported. By comparison, 64 percent (or 126 million) of Americans eligible to vote reported casting ballots in 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau says.   posted 12:53am by jholmes

The cloning crisis in South Korea has gone from bad to worse, while Iran is boasting that it will produce its first cloned sheep in February.

U.S. Senators have reached a deal to extend the Patriot Act for six more months.  posted 12:38am by jholmes

December 21, 2005

NCAA declares USC Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart ineligible, but quickly changes course and reinstates him. 

USC declared Leinart ineligible this month after the spot -- a "SportsCenter is next" promo that was taped after the Trojans' Dec. 3 victory over UCLA -- aired on ESPN. The Trojans reported the violation to the NCAA and petitioned for Leinart's reinstatement.

According to the NCAA's Kent Barrett, Leinart's actions were "unintentional and inadvertent. This was the type of thing where it was obvious the student-athlete was not attempting to become an endorser of a network."   posted 11:24am by jholmes

Saddam makes wild claim that he has been beaten while held in detention by American soldiers. 

"Yes, I have been beaten, everywhere on my body. The marks are still there," Saddam told the court after sitting quietly listening to testimony. "And I'm not complaining about the Americans because I can poke their eyes with my own hands."

Earlier, Saddam sat quietly as a witness testified that his regime killed and tortured people by administering electric shocks and ripping off their skin after pouring molten plastic on it.

Blood poured from head wounds and skin was pale from electric shocks, he testified. Security officials would drip melted plastic hoses on detainees, only to pull it off after it cooled, tearing skin off with it, he said.   posted 957am by jholmes

Elton John tied the knot with his long time partner today in Windsor, England.  posted 7:53am by jholmes

After a two week break, the trial of Saddam Hussein has resumed again, in a Baghdad court.  posted 1:30am by jholmes

Land of Natural Disaster: Louisiana hit by small earthquake now.  posted 1:18am by jholmes

Super-church pastor Joel Osteen's wife was asked to leave an airline flight after failing to comply with a flight attendant's orders.  Osteen is the pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas with a congregation of over 30,000 people.

Gwen Stefani and husband Gavin Rossdale are expecting their first child.  posted 12:32am by jholmes

Country rock duo legends Brooks & Dunn are going to open for the Rolling Stones in Omaha, Nebraska, on January 29th.  posted 12:27am by jholmes

Kobe "Against Her Will" Bryant scored a personal and NBA season high 62 points last night, in three quarters, against the Dallas Mavericks. Kobe had outscored the Mavericks 62-61 after the first three quarters.    Box Score.  posted 12:13am by jholmes

Why is Kobe wearing full length tights this year under his shorts?

December 20, 2005

Breaking News:  Johnny Damon has bolted the Red Sox to join their hate archrivals, the New York Yankees, for 4 years - $52 millions dollars.  posted 8:21pm by jholmes

Britney Spears is suing US Weekly for libel regarding a story about an alleged sex tape.  posted 9:05am by jholmes

Mr. Pitt is supposedly not too pleased with Angelina's girlfriend talking about the sex the two still have. 

"There has never been an ending to her (Angelina) and I. I think there never will be. It's been ongoing for the past decade. I think we will continue to have a deep relationship. It really does go beyond just the sex. She's always had lovers that she relies on. If she can ring you up and you can meet up then she can take care of her sexual needs. Whenever she calls me up I always visit her. "It's not always the case that we have sex. Sometimes we go to her property in Cambodia and explore the jungle. It's more of a deeper friendship. She's the person that I'll always care about and always help and always be there for her."   posted 1:08am by jholmes

Actress Kirsten Dunst is becoming Kirsten Drunkst by her own admission.  posted 12:59am by jholmes

Wikipedia Article of the Day:  Noah Webster of dictionary fame

Today in 1903 New Orleans was transferred by the French to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase.  posted 12:42am by jholmes

The Iranian president has outlawed all Western music in Iran.  Western music was originally outlawed there in 1979 after the rebellion.  Western music refers to music from the Western hemisphere, not the music of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, but either way no Gene or Roy can be played in Iran now.  posted 12:39am by jholmes

Dell Computers is recalling over 35,000 laptop batteries that pose a fire risk.  posted 12:23am by jholmes

Early returns show the Shiite's leading in the Iraqi Parliamentary elections.  posted 12:20am by jholmes

December 19, 2005

UCLA political study shows that the liberal media bias is a reality that actually exists.

Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS' "Evening News," The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal.

Five news outlets — "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," ABC's "Good Morning America," CNN's "NewsNight With Aaron Brown," Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and the Drudge Report — were in a statistical dead heat in the race for the most centrist news outlet.  Of the print media, USA Today was the most centrist.

Another finding that contradicted conventional wisdom was that the Drudge Report was slightly left of center.

"One thing people should keep in mind is that our data for the Drudge Report was based almost entirely on the articles that the Drudge Report lists on other Web sites," said Groseclose.  "Very little was based on the stories that Matt Drudge himself wrote. The fact that the Drudge Report appears left of center is merely a reflection of the overall bias of the media."   posted 2:07am by jholmes

The power of the pre-nup in Hollywood.

Simpson and soon-to-be-ex-husband Nick Lachey didn't have a prenup — he actually had more earning power than she did when they got married three years ago — so Simpson could have to part with half of the $30 million she earned last year. That's a lot of Chicken of the Sea.

Some Crazier Ones:

• Limiting the wife's weight to 120 pounds or she must relinquish $100,000 of her separate property.

• Allowing a spouse to perform random drug tests, with financial penalties for positive results.

• Requiring a husband to pay $10,000 each time he is rude to his wife's parents.

• No mother-in-law sleepovers.

• Only one football game per Sunday.

• Mandatory sexual positions. 
  posted 1:48am by jholmes

Time magazine has named Bill and Melinda Gates along with rocker Bono as its "Persons of the Year" for 2005.  posted 1:35am by jholmes

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a mild stroke Sunday afternoon but is already making a quick recovery.  posted 1:33am by jholmes

A British newspapers interview with the mad demented man known as Saddam Hussein.

Saddam hoped to emerge unnoticed in nearby bushes — before staging a Steve McQueen-type great escape riding a motorcycle.

But he added: “I believe I was betrayed. I have been set up.”

Spineless French leader Chirac was dubbed “Le Worm” in the run-up to the Iraq war after failing to back allied forces invading Iraq.

Chirac’s cowardice has earned him the eternal gratitude of the Butcher of Baghdad. Saddam boasted from jail: “Chirac has been a longtime friend of mine.”

Bizarrely, his legal team address Saddam as “Mr President” — despite the fact he tortured, gassed and butchered an estimated 300,000 of his own people during a 24-year reign of terror.

A British plastic surgeon has been teaching Iraqi medics how to reconstruct ears — to help restore more than 1,300 lost in acts of punishment by Saddam’s regime.

It is estimated around 350 ears were removed in Basra and more than 1,000 in Baghdad, as punishment for people who defected from, or refused military service.   posted 12:41am by jholmes

Perfection No More:  The San Diego Chargers beat the Indianapolis Colts yesterday to prevent them from having an undefeated season.  It has only been done one other time in modern NFL history.  posted 12:21am by jholmes

December 18, 2005

Former all-star Nomar Garciaparra has agreed to a one year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  More sports news at BumpSports.com  posted 9:08am by jholmes

Great L.A. Times article about Scientology and its intense over the top catering to Tom Cruise.  More Craziness of Tom.  posted 12:54am by jholmes

Howard Stern officially has done his last free radio show.  Stern takes his filthy morning talk show to paid radio provider Sirius on January 9th.  posted 12:32am by jholmes

Sarah Jessica Parker is returning to the movies and stars in the new film The Family Stone.  posted 12:29am by jholmes

A Chicago bar is serving up a $950 cocktail drink.

The Ruby Red is a tangy mix of vodka, champagne, cognac, pomegranate liqueur and orange juice.

And it comes complete with a one-carat, grade-A ruby.   posted 12:26am by jholmes

Today in 1865 slavery was abolished by the thirteenth amendment.  posted 12:22am by jholmes

December 17, 2005

Never trust the French.  Especially after winning their race seven straight times.  Lance Armstrong says he is the victim of a French witch hunt.  Well if the French hunt like they fight then Lance has nothing to worry about. 

America's seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has reportedly claimed that allegations made about him taking drugs was part of a witch hunt orchestrated by the French.

"The Tour is angry because its history has been eclipsed by an American winning it seven times."

"The organizers can sleep easy: they will not have to look Armstrong in the eyes," he said.   posted 11:11am by jholmes

Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush is going to turn pro according to a published report.  posted 11:01am by jholmes

President Bush is furious over the eavesdropping leak and says Congressmen have been briefed and told about it over two dozen times.  He says he will continue to do what it takes to monitor the bad guys.  I tend to agree with him.  There is no telling how many plots have been foiled by this measure.  posted 10:30am by jholmes

King Kong is bombing at the box office.  The $300 million dollar, three hour epic is not bringing in nearly the crowds the studio thought it would.  posted 1:10am by jholmes

Wanna Be Brit: Friday, Jessica Simpson filed for divorce from husband Nick Lachey.  Somebody better check the General Lee.  I am betting she is in there with one of those Duke boys.

Simpson cited irreconcilable differences in a divorce petition filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.   posted 1:01am by jholmes

Ashlee Simpson collapsed after a show in Tokyo last night and has been hospitalized.  posted 12:56am by jholmes

Even the United Nations is calling the elections in Iraq this week a success.  posted 12:44am by jholmes

December 16, 2005

Read anything good of late?  If so, then send me a review of it to Bumpshack@gmail.com and I will post it with the other book reviews in BumpReviews.  posted 10:13am by jholmes

Disgruntled University of Tennessee fan is auctioning off his football fan loyalty for next football season on Ebay.  Bidding is already up over $1200.00.  posted 9:58am by jholmes

Michael Jackson is four days away from defaulting on a $270 million dollar loan.  The default could be the beginning of the end of Jackson financially.   

On the 20th, Fortress will have the ability to foreclose on the loans and take possession of Jackson's half-interest in the $1 billion Sony/ATV Music Publishing company, as well as the entire MiJac Music Publishing company

Fortress also holds an $18 million lien on the Neverland Valley Ranch.

Sources there tell me that the biweekly payroll, due last Thursday, was missed entirely. As of yesterday, the 100 or so employees at the Los Olivos, Calif., ranch were seven days past due on their two-week paychecks and a week into the next one.

Also, there are real fears now for the animals in Jackson's home zoo. Last week, the ranch was down to almost no food for the animals. At the last minute, sources say, a delivery was made, but it won't last long.   posted 9:51am by jholmes

The Senate has blocked an extension of sixteen expiring provisions of the Patriot Act.  If the provisions are not extended by the end of the year then they will expire.  posted 9:47am by jholmes

Four Minnesota Vikings have been charged in the 'Sex Boat' scandal.  posted 12:38am by jholmes

The White House has agreed to Senator John McCain's torture ban bill.  posted 12:34am by jholmes

South Korean University says it will step up investigations into whether a leading scientist there faked stem cell work to get the desired results.

A U.S. cloning and stem-cell expert who had lent his name and prestige to Hwang's work, Dr. Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, earlier this week alleged there may have been fabrications and asked to have his name taken off a study he co-authored with Hwang.

On Thursday, Roh Sung-il, a hospital administrator and specialist in fertility studies who worked directly with Hwang, said his colleague had admitted there were fabrications in the second study on tailor-made human stem cells.   posted 12:32am by jholmes

Morgan Freeman says he  black history month is 'ridiculous' and that it is time to stop being divisive and celebrating black history just during February.  There is a lot of truth in what Mr. Freeman is saying.

Freeman notes there is no "white history month," and says the only way to get rid of racism is to "stop talking about it."

The actor says he believes the labels "black" and "white" are an obstacle to beating racism.

"I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man," Freeman says.   posted 12:23am by jholmes

The Iraqi elections were a booming success yesterday with as many as 11 million of the 15 million eligible voters voting.  That turnout rate sure beats voter turnout in the States. 

Millions of Iraqis, from tribal sheiks to entire families with children in tow, turned out Thursday to choose a parliament in a mostly peaceful election — among the freest ever in the Arab world.   posted 12:19am by jholmes

A new study says that over 11 million U.S. adults can't read English.  I believe there is 11 million people here in Los Angeles alone.  posted 12:15am by jholmes

December 15, 2005

I had an official entry for Bumpshack and the history of Bumpshack on Wikipedia Encyclopedia but it looks like it might get deleted by their editors due to 'vanity' according to them.  I guess they really have no clue about the Shack now do they?

Huge Turnout:  There was such a huge voter turnout in Iraq that polling hours were extended to accommodate everyone who was standing in line to vote in the historic free parliament elections. 

The heavy participation by the Sunnis, who had shunned balloting last January, bolstered U.S. hopes of calming the insurgency enough to begin withdrawing its troops next year.

Because of the large turnout, the Iraqi election commission extended voting for one hour, as long lines were reported at some sites, said commission official Munthur Abdelamir. Some preliminary returns were expected late Thursday, and the Iraqi election commission said Thursday the results of parliamentary election will be announced within two weeks.

But violence was light overall and did not appear to discourage Iraqis, some of whom turned out wrapped in their country’s flag on a bright, sunny day, and afterward displayed a purple ink-stained index finger — a mark to guard against multiple voting.   posted 8:39am by jholmes

Wikipedia article of the day: Hollywood Bowl

Check BumpBook Reviews to see what the readers of Bumpshack have read and recommend.  posted 1:37am by jholmes

Quizno's sandwich stores are up for sale.  The chain can be yours for $2 billion dollars.  posted 12:25am by jholmes

Bush takes responsibility for faulty intelligence and decision to go to war in Iraq.  posted 12:21am by jholmes

A German teenage girl is suing her mother for giving away her pets.  posted 12:15am by jholmes

Boxing promoter Don King calls president Bush a 'revolutionary.'

"I love George Walker Bush because I think he's a revolutionary. He's a president that comes in with conclusiveness. What they're doing in tomorrow in Iraq is a demonstration of that for the vote for democracy. The fundamental process of democracy is freedom of speech, law and order, being able to have freedom, working with people and working and governing yourselves. George Bush is that......

In fact, I want to support him more now because it seems like everybody is punching him. You know what I mean? But he's fighting back, and he's throwing great combinations. And I think he's the guy that is really a revolutionary president.  posted 12:10am by jholmes

Iraqi's are going to the polls today to elect the first parliament since the ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein.  Over 10 million Iraqi's are expected to vote.  posted 12:07am by jholmes

December 14, 2005

Elections in Iraq in the upcoming days will change the face of Iraqi politics and send a message to the world that the new Iraq is stable and ready to get down to business.  posted 2:28am by jholmes

The president of the Red Cross is resigning due to friction with her board of governors.  posted 2:24am by jholmes

There seems to be a link between taking vitamin D and having healthier lungs.  posted 2:20am by jholmes

Crazy Iranian:  The new president of Iran is saying that the holocaust is a myth and never took place.  posted 2:18am by jholmes

The Broker by John Grisham

John Grisham seems to never slow down or bore.  I simply could not put The Broker down.  It is now in paper back and a great, quick, fun read.  It is Grisham at his best.

The story involves around Joel Backman, a Washington power broker lobbyist, who is serving twenty years in prison, when an outgoing President unexpectedly grants him a full pardon. 

The CIA director is the one who campaigned for the pardon of Joel Backman.  He did this so Backman would be killed by any of many countries that are mad at him. The furious countries are mad over a  software program he never delivered to those countries before he went to prison that gave access to the most powerful spy satellite ever created.

The CIA plants Backman in Italy and that is where the story unfolds.  Backman starts to get suspicious as to why he was not given his passport back upon his pardon and why he is being so closely watched.

As always with a John Grisham novel there are many key characters, twists, plots, and excitement that keeps his readers coming back for more each time.   Most of this novel takes place in Italy and gives a nice history lesson for those of us who have been there and others who have dreamed of what it would be like to live in Italy.

Review by J. Holmes