Christmas HA HAs

Everyone is affected by global warming

Refugee Disaster off Australian Christmas Island...50 Feared Dead

Refugee Boat smashed in storm near Australian Christmas Island
A boat carrying dozens of asylum seekers including children smashed into  rocks  in the violent seas off Australia's Christmas Island on Wednesday and all passengers were feared dead, according to the Australian authorities. Video footage showed the boat rammed onto the rocks, splintering and sinking while passengers including children were crying out for help. 41 people have been rescued by the Australian authorities but some 30 were still missing after the boat was destroyed. The exact number of casualties is not confirmed yet. Most of the asylum seekers were from Iran and Iraq. Local residents awakened by the screaming of boat passengers who were crying for help,  rushed to rescue drowning people but were unable to help them.

What's Next For 'John Edwards'

Following Elizabeth Edwards funeral over the weekend , her estranged husband , John Edwards , is quietly devising a plan on how to prudently return to public life.

"John is a political animal , there can be no doubt about that ," a former friend of the politician says. "He knows that he self-destructed  [with the cheating scandal]  but believes  that with the right plan , and the power  of time , he'll be able to win back the hearts of the public.

Sources say that John's plan is to lay low for the next several months . John was last seen leaving his late wife's funeral on December 11, with his two children , Emma Claire . 12 ,and Jack, 10 , who are both now living  with their father . Over the next year John will focus on being a full-time dad raising them both without a mother .

However , don't expect John to disappear from  public view for long .

"John is very ambitions  and that's something you just can't turn off . If he can prove  that he is a loving father and is willing to spend his time , money  and fame helping out great causes  , that could help  clean up his  tarnished image ," an insider said .

What kind of causes  you ask ? "Expect him to work hard for disadvantaged children who have lost a parent  or volunteer for a   cancer charity ," the source reveals . John wants to do something good.

Let's take a look : I have a difficult time picturing John Edwards winning any office ...even  dog-catcher  . The good will just isn't there  and I don't see it returning  anytime soon . Still , I will never say never . Look how many people  we're seen disgraced  in the public eye do a   'mea  culpa'  and turn it around .

Americans can be a mean group of people , but we are a forgiving group . So here's a few pointers : Raise  your kids with love ; never forget your blessings  for the time you spent with Elizabeth ; don't hide  , let the public see and hear from you , and don't  ever , ever  marry your babys' mama . 

Flying High...Pilot Poses as Doctor Until His Story Crashes

MILWAUKEE - He seemed like Superman, able to guide jumbo jets through perilous skies and tiny tubes through blocked arteries. As a cardiologist and United Airlines captain, William Hamman taught doctors and pilots ways to keep hearts and planes from crashing.
He shared millions in grants, had university and hospital posts, and bragged of work for prestigious medical groups. An Associated Press story featured him leading a teamwork training session at an American College of Cardiology convention last spring.
But it turns out Hamman isn't a cardiologist or even a doctor. The AP found he had no medical residency, fellowship, doctoral degree or the 15 years of clinical experience he claimed. He attended medical school for a few years but withdrew and didn't graduate.

His pilot qualifications do not appear to be in question — he holds the highest type of license a pilot can have, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said. However, United grounded him in August after his medical and doctoral degrees evaporated like contrails of the jets he flew. He resigned in June as an educator and researcher at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., after a credentials check revealed discrepancies, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Doctors who worked with the 58-year-old pilot are stunned, not just at the ruse and how long it lasted, but also because many of them valued his work and were sad to see it end. "I was shocked to hear the news," said Dr. W. Douglas Weaver, who was president of the cardiology group when it gave Hamman a training contract for up to $250,000 plus travel a few years ago. "He was totally dedicated to what he was doing, and there is a real need for team-based education in medicine," said Weaver, a pilot himself from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Even after learning of Hamman's deception, the American Medical Association was going to let him lead a seminar that had been in the works, altering his biography and switching his title from "Dr." to "Captain" on course materials. It was cancelled after top officials found out. Now, groups that Hamman worked for are red-faced that they hadn't checked out the tall, sandy-haired man who impressed many with his commanding manner and simple insights like not taking your eyes off a patient while talking with other team members about what to do.

Doctors who attended Hamman's sessions don't have to worry — the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education will not revoke any education credits they earned.

Hamman did not return several phone calls and emails seeking comment. David Nacht, an employment lawyer in Ann Arbor, Mich., acknowledged that his client did not have the medical and doctoral degrees he had claimed from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the 1980s. There is no indication Hamman ever treated a patient, though his teamwork training had him videotaping in emergency rooms and other settings where patients were being treated.

Hamman does have an associate's degree in general aviation flight technology and a bachelor of science degree from Purdue University. He also has "type ratings" to fly half a dozen very large commercial planes, according to the FAA. United would not discuss his job history, citing employee confidentiality. But the company confirmed that he is not currently authorized to fly. Hamman lives in Michigan and is based in Chicago.
In 2004, he joined Western Michigan University, a Kalamazoo school with a big aviation program in nearby Battle Creek, as co-director of its Center of Excellence for Simulation Research. In 2005, the centre got a $2.8 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to expand simulation training into medical settings. Matching funds from other groups brought the total to $4.2 million.
Soon Hamman was videotaping heart attack treatment drills and deconstructing what doctors did right and wrong. He spoke at Northwestern University and for the AMA and the American College of Emergency Physicians. In 2009, he joined Beaumont Hospital.
Dr. Sameer Mehta, a Miami cardiologist who runs an annual conference for heart specialists, had Hamman lead sessions in 2009 and earlier this year. He seemed to understand the jobs of the EMS, emergency room and cardiac catheterization lab staffs and how they needed to work together, Mehta said. "He was able to simulate exactly what we were doing," and to offer suggestions from aviation to help, Mehta said.

Hamman's ambition may have done him in. In checking a grant proposal he wanted to submit in late spring, the Beaumont staff discovered the lack of an M.D. degree, said spokeswoman Colette Stimmell. Hamman resigned June 15.
In hindsight, the careful wording in some of Hamman's comments is apparent. "I couldn't handle a full-time cardiology practice" with the demands of being a pilot, he told at least two reporters. Less clear is what, beyond basic principles of teamwork, his training really offered.
"In a sense, he didn't talk about anything medical," said Dr. Stephen Mester, a Florida cardiologist who took one of Hamman's sessions at the cardiology conference in Atlanta last spring. "I did not find it worthwhile, but I believe it could be worthwhile for programs just getting started."

After fessing up, Hamman asked the AMA and the cardiology group to let him continue, saying, "the work is the work." They decided that a lie is a lie.

Goodbye Voyager...Heading Off Into Intersteller Space After 33 Years

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached the outer edge of the solar system where wind from the Sun is no longer blowing outward, but sideways, the US space agency said. The spacecraft was launched in 1977 and has since snapped images of Earth and other planets in the solar system and provided NASA with crucial information as it makes its long journey into outer space.
NASA researchers think Voyager 1 will leave the solar system and enter interstellar space, or the area in between the end of the Sun's influence and the next star system, in about four years. For now, Voyager 1 is 17.4 billion kilometers (10.8 billion miles) from the Sun in "an area where the velocity of the hot ionized gas, or plasma, emanating directly outward from the sun has slowed to zero," the space agency said.
"Scientists suspect the solar wind has been turned sideways by the pressure from the interstellar wind in the region between stars."
NASA noticed that the solar wind's outward speed had slowed to zero back in June, but wanted to look at readings from Voyager 1 over the next four months to be sure.
The data was presented late Monday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, California. "When I realized that we were getting solid zeroes, I was amazed," said Rob Decker, a Voyager  senior scientist at Johns Hopkins University. "Here was Voyager, a spacecraft that has been a workhorse for 33 years, showing us something completely new again."
NASA described the finding as "a major milestone in Voyager 1's passage through the heliosheath, the turbulent outer shell of the sun's sphere of influence, and the spacecraft's upcoming departure from our solar system."
Safe journey Voyager. Thankyou for your long service to mankind. May you continue to send us new and enlightening data as you explore the great beyond.

Choco-Mint Fudge Brownies

An excellent Christmas gift

When wrapped and tied with a ribbon, these fudgey brownies--with their cheerful layer of mint frosting--look like a pretty, edible package.

Ingredients:
BROWNIES:
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
MINT FROSTING:
1/4 cup softened butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
Green food coloring
CHOCOLATE TOPPING:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
Heat the oven to 350º and grease a 9-inch square baking pan. For the brownies, place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir, and microwave for 1 minute more. Stir until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. Stir in the chocolate and the vanilla extract. Finally, stir in the flour and salt until thoroughly combined. Pour into the prepared pan, then bake for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for at least 1 hour.
To make the mint frosting: cream the butter and confectioners' sugar. Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until it is smooth and spreadable. Beat in the peppermint extract and tint to the desired shade with green food coloring. Frost the cooled brownies, cover, and chill for 1 hour.
To make the chocolate topping: pour the chips into a microwave-safe bowl, add the butter, and microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until the chocolate melts. Stir until smooth. Pour the chocolate over the brownies and smooth it with a knife. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until the coating hardens.
Bring the brownies to room temperature, then cut into 16 to 32 pieces. Layer them on a piece of cellophane (place waxed paper between the layers to prevent sticking), wrap up the brownie package, and tie with a red ribbon. Makes 16 to 32 brownies.

Mint Chocolate Bark

Peppermint extract and chocolate chips -- both white and semisweet -- give this melt-in-your-mouth candy a familiar after-dinner-mint flavor. Makes about 2 dozen pieces. A  great Christmas  gift  and the kids can help make it.

Ingredients:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring
Instructions:
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper; set it aside. Melt the semisweet chips in a heatproof bowl set atop a pot of simmering water over medium-high heat. Stir continuously until smooth. Pour the chocolate onto the cookie sheet and spread it to about a 1/4-inch thickness with the back of a spoon.
Using the same method, melt the white chocolate chips with the oil. Stir continuously until smooth. Add the peppermint extract and food coloring; stir well. Pour the mixture over the chocolate layer and spread to about a 1/8-inch thickness with the back of a spoon. Draw the tip of a butter knife through the layers to create swirls. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Remove the bark from the pan. Peel off the waxed paper. Set the bark on a cutting board and cut it into 2 dozen bars with a sharp knife. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.