Zach Galifianakis didn't want his 87-year-old friend to be homeless, so he got her an apartment and has paid her rent ever since. He also brought her to the Monday night LA premiere of "The Hangover: Part III."
Is anyone else surprised by the figure of 10 percent ... 10 percent of residents of Oklahoma City and the surrounding areas have someplace underground to escape to in the path of a tornado like the one that devastated Moore on Monday?
I was watching a local TV reporter and he gave that figure, albeit anecdotally, and I was stunned.
When we spoke with KTAR's Connie Weber on Monday, she mentioned that the soil in the area makes it difficult to build a basement (Connie grew up in Kansas and worked in Oklahoma City). That's understandable.
And digging a basement anywhere is an added expense.
But when you live in an area where the annual average number of tornado touchdowns is more than 50, shouldn't EVERYONE have access to a basement? Especially schoolchildren.
We have fire codes that dictate how many people can occupy a structure and how many ways a person can get out of a public building.
Why is there no mandatory underground shelter law in a place like Moore, Okla.?
Before you start to quote the tax dollars it will take or private investment required to build such shelters, think about this: Cost estimates for the damage in and around the tornado-ravaged area are around $1 billion.
Who do you think picks up the tab for that?
We all do.
And when it comes to keeping kids safe, all schools should have the best.
If your child went to school on the top floor of a high rise, would you be OK with the fact that there were no staircases in the event of a fire?
When I was a kid attending Brighton Elementary School in my sleepy southern Illinois hometown, once a year we would conduct a tornado drill and once every three years we'd get a tornado scare.
The drill consisted of a piercingly persistent bell, a single file line from the classroom, and an orderly aligning of little bodies along a sturdy school wall. You know the routine: Knees to the floor, head between your knees, fingers interlocked behind the head, and wait for that cursed bell to end. The entire process always seemed safer to me than standing on the roof, let's say, but hardly safe. It seemed then to be thirty years behind progress and that was thirty years ago.
So imagine my surprise to learn that the school in Oklahoma City that was struck by an F4 Monday utilizes the same archaic method for keeping kids safe. After all, this is Oklahoma. Residents aren't exactly unfamiliar with tornadoes. Spending money on new gym equipment or a gunman to patrol the campus I would think should rank behind establishing a safe room for tornado protection.
I understand the clay of Oklahoma makes digging basements difficult, but is a reinforced structure designed for multiple purposes but used when needed as a tornado hub out of the question?
It costs money, yes I know, but in April of 2013 Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed four bills into law intended to keep Oklahoma school children safe from a mad gunman.
School shootings, as horrific as they are, remain an incredibly rare event, where tornadoes rip through Oklahoma on an average of 55 twisters per year. I get it. Funding for schools is difficult to come by, but shouldn't we first focus funding to be used against recurring threats to the safety of our school children?
It is estimated that a homeowner who desires to build a safe room or storm shelter would spend $10,000 on such a project. That may be too pricey for the average homeowner considering the rarity of being hit by a tornado. But, even though larger and more costly, I would think every Oklahoma community might justify the cost for their schools.
The best response to Abercrombie and Fitch CEO award goes to Greg Karber. This teenager from LA heard Abercrombie's chief exec say only cool, thin teenagers should wear his clothes. Now, when Kirstie Alley heard this, she got mad and made a stink, which only made her look silly and bitter.
Karber instead organized a social media campaign to encourage teens to round up old Abercrombie clothes they may have bought "by mistake" and donate them to a local homeless shelter. He made the cool kids comment look silly and petty and clothed some homeless at the same time.
Well done, kid.
Daddy-daughter and baseball
Did you see the great father daughter reunion at the Florida baseball game? These videos get to me EVERY time. This father was the "catcher" at a Tampa Bay Rays game and the daughter throws the first pitch. He stands up and takes his mask off. My favorite part is how she is walking toward the mound, thinking that's what she is expected to do, and when she sees her dad's face she breaks into a sprint. It's a great reminder to be grateful for all soldier homecomings as we head into next weekend's Memorial Day holiday.
The president said Thursday morning at a Rose Garden ceremony that he has complete confidence in his AG. But if this week has been a nightmare for Obama, you have to believe Eric Holder is having a bad dream of his own.
Holder has never been a favorite of Republicans on Capitol Hill, but that is never a huge surprise. Republicans always look sideways at Democratic attorneys general, especially those who are personal friends of the president who appoints them. But after the details on the Fast and Furious gun-running debacle came to light, Holder was an official target of some on both sides of the aisle.
The week of May 13th has not been kind to Holder either. First, the IRS controversy involving special scrutiny given to conservative tea party groups, and then the questions about the phone records being seized from the Associated Press. Holder was grilled about the issues on Capitol HIll on Wednesday and, much like his answer on Fast and Furious, basically said he had removed himself from the AP operation. That works sometimes, but not forever.
Thursday, a CNN report said that the Justice Department failed to oversee two terrorists or suspected terrorists in the witness-protection program, and that these two, with new government-provided IDs and passports, may be out of the country, How much did he know or not know about that?
There are mistakes and there is lack of oversight. This looks like both.
There's something interesting going on down at the State Capitol.
And it has to do with the state budget.
And the governor is on the right, or shall I say "correct" side of it. And so is the president of the United States.
I know, not possible, right?
Here it is.
The governor thinks that expanding Medicaid (allowing more Arizonans access to AHCCCs, our version of the Medicaid plan) is good for the economy because it makes us eligible for $1.6 billion every year as part of Obamacare.
There are already 1.3 million Arizonans on our state Medicaid/AHCCCS rolls anyway. That's a lot of working poor, both adults and children. But Arizona does a particularly good job at Medicaid -- it might be one of Arizona's best-kept secrets.
But here's the thing. We know Jan Brewer doesn't like Obamacare. We know she doesn't like Obama! But she looked at the numbers and decided that expanding Medicaid was best for the state. She can't run for governor again, so she's not pandering to an electorate. In fact, she is bucking her own party for what she thinks is right for the state. Are we really to believe she has some other motivation?
Let's hope common sense prevails at the legislature and she gets this done.
• 1:45p.m.: Governor Brewer agrees with President Obama on something and that "something" could save Arizona $1.3 million.
• 2:45p.m.: You know how the Abercrombie & Fitch CEO says he only wants skinny people wearing his clothes? Well guess what so-called "celebrity" has a problem with that? HINT - they're not skinny.
