If you are a parent struggling to keep up with your infant child's ever changing interests, you may have to step up your birthday planning game.  A mother named  L'erin Dobra has recently thrown her 2 year old toddler a birthday party.  This wouldn't normally be news because Brendan Spaar sees this sort of thing every day on his Facebook feed.  What made this birthday party unique was the superhero that her son, Grayson, chose to embrace.  

Most children would want a Star Wars, Marvel, or Batman themed party.  Not Grayson.  Which superhero does he idolize?  Bart Simpson?  Not exactly.  Grayson's favorite super hero is none other than the New Orleans corporation fighting attorney Morris Bart.  Little Grayson must love how Bart protects the citizens of New Orleans against slip and fall attacks, evil truck drivers, and the evil Workman's Comp.  He's faster than a speeding ambulance and able to settle cases with a single pen.  There's no wonder why Grayson idolizes the hero that New Orleans deserves.  

Grayson's party was complete with a photo cake of Bart's face, a t-shirt and a life sized cardboard cutout of Morris Bart, supplied by the attorney himself.  This just shows that the advertising that Morris Bart is using is highly effective.  This will surely make the highlight reel at Grayson's high school graduation.

Source:  http://www.eonline.com/news/681841/this-is-definitely-the-most-unique-birthday-party-theme-for-a-2-year-old-you-ll-ever-see

Have you ever been driving on your way to someplace and gotten stuck behind a slow moving garbage truck? Not only does it smell terrible but it ties up traffic while making multiple stops. Now Brendan Spaar warns that you might want to think twice before trying to pass one in Georgia. As of July 2, 2015, you could get a ticket or possibly arrested under the newly passed HB 206.

 It’s not unusual to see people trying to pass the slow or stopped truck. Sanitation workers are in danger from vehicles trying to pass them as they empty the trash cans or step off the truck. They are focused on doing their jobs so drivers are responsible for being alert to avoid them. Distracted drivers or those in a hurry could become involved in an accident so the new law gives instruction as to the proper procedure that drivers must follow.

If you want to pass a garbage truck, you must move a full lane over. On a multi lane road this is the best option to safely get around and on your way. If it's impossible to do that, then you have to drop down to ten miles under the speed limit while passing.

The new law hasn’t received much publicity and drivers may be caught by surprise if they get stopped after passing a garbage truck. It’s unknown if any tickets have been issued since the law just went into effect but for someone with a less than perfect driving record, it could be a real problem if they’re stopped.

So when you’re driving down the road remember to be aware of school buses, emergency vehicles and now garbage trucks. Failing to pass them correctly could result in you being pulled over and fined or worse

Here are some other traffic laws that you might want to remember as well.

• You can be pulled over for going the speed limit.
  
  Last year, Georgia passed the “Slowpoke Law,” which requires that drivers in the left lane on a Georgia highway, interstate or expressway must move over if a faster car approaches them. Slow drivers cannot linger in the left lane, even if doing the speed limit.
  
  
• It’s illegal to use the center lane to merge into traffic.
  
  The center lane cannot be legally used for any purposes besides making a left turn. Drivers should not enter the center lane before they are 300 feet from the location where they will turn left, per Georgia law.
  
  
• You can legally drive without wearing shoes. But you cannot wear headphones.
  
  Many Georgia drivers believe the law forbids driving without shoes on. That’s not true..It is, however, illegal to drive with headphones in both of your ears. You can wear in one ear, but not in both ears,
  
  
• A bicycle classifies as a vehicle.
  
  Many people don’t realize that a bicycle is considered a vehicle under the Georgia law, and the law requires that bicyclists follow the same laws other drivers do. This includes stopping at red lights and riding on the correct side of the road.
  
  
• It’s also illegal for drivers under the age of 18 to use a cell phone at all.
  
  

As of July 1, 2010, Georgia outlawed cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) by all drivers under the age of 18.

Finally, one of the most important laws to remember is the Georgia Distracted Driver Law. If a Georgia driver violates a traffic law while engaged in a distracting behavior, they can be charged with distracted driving in addition to any other traffic violation..

Georgia law defines distracted driving as any activity that distracts a driver from the safe operation of a vehicle. Among other things, this includes:

• Eating or drinking
• Adjusting the radio/cd player
• Talking to passengers
• Grooming
• Reading a map or using a navigation system
• Watching a video

The fine folks over at FOX News are up to their old tricks again.  It seems that they will say anything they want without vetting stories.  It reminds Brendan Spaar of the old game of telephone.  If you heard someone say that they heard some news from someone who read it on a blog somewhere then it is as good as fact.  This time, it was Fox News host Anna Kooiman who fell for the fake online article.  In a segment about war veterans being denied access to the WWII memorial, she mentioned that Obama was paying for a Muslim memorial called the  International Museum of Muslim Cultures out of his own pocket.  Wasn't the "Obama is a Muslim" debate settled back in 2009?  The website that this story was published on is known for such stories as “Jesus Christ boycotts Hobby Lobby,” and “Police barge into kindergarten classroom and taser multiple children ‘for the check of it.’”  That means the site is more transparent with their agenda than the people over at FOX.

Source:  http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/fox-news-mistakenly-airs-parody-of-obama-offering-to-personally-fund-muslim-museum-233837793.html

Let's face facts.  Carl Sciortino is a liberal.  His parents may not be proud of this but Brendan Spaar applauds the man for coming out of the political closet and running for office.  Sciortino is running for Congress in Massachusetts’s 5th Congressional District and has recently put out a viral campaign ad in which he "comes out" to his tea party Republican dad.  You see, Sciortino comes from a long line of Republicans.  His mother has been converted to a Democrat but his father is getting to be even more conservative in his old age.  While pop may come across as angry and disappointed in the ad, he says that he fully supports his son's run for the House of Representatives.

Source:  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/19/inside-carl-sciortino-s-viral-campaign-ad.html

Stop me if you've heard this one.  A judge walks into a comedy club to tell some jokes.  No seroiusly.  Vincent Sicari, who is a part time municipal judge in South Hackensack, New Jersey, also spends time on the comedy circuit.  Brendan Spaar bets that this guy has some stories to tell from the arrested people that come before his bench on their court date.  Apparently there were complaints and the New Jersey Supreme Court got involved.  In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that "he has demeaned certain people based on national origin and religion, has revealed his political leanings, and has declared his dislike for and intolerance of children."  In other words, Sicari is guilty of being a comedian.  The court found that while there were no reports of Sicari acting inappropriately in court, the judicial code of conduct requires him to adhear to a higher standard.  That must mean that comedians are seen as lower stock.  Apparently no one told Sicari not to quit his day job so he has tendered his resignation.  There is probably more money in comedy than part time judging anyway.

Source: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/joking_judge_vince_sicari_must_cut_the_comedy_to_stay_on_bench_nj_supreme_court.html

The Democrats in the US Senate are about fed up with Republican David Vitter's anti-Obama antics.  The lucky-to-be-here Senator is once again introducing legislation aimed at destroying Obamacare.  Brendan Spaar wonders why Republican'ts are not giving Obamacare a chance.  If Vitter continues to stall the Senate with his bill, Democrats are prepared to introduce a bill that would deny healthcare benefits to congress officials that have been implicated in prostitution scandals.  Vitter was famously involved in such a scandal a few years ago and managed to keep his place in congress.  Will Vitter back down?

Source:  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/13/1238647/-Remember-David-Vitter-s-hookers-Senate-Dems-do

Mr. Gaffe has done it again.  John Kerry has made what may be the worst gaffe of his political carrer by "thinking outloud" and offering an unvetted solution to the crisis in Syria.  Kerry suggested that if Assad turns over his chemical weapons, of which the Syrian leader claims not to have, the Americans would not attack his country.  Russian President Vladimer Putin welcomed this idea and agreed to take control of the weapons from Syria.  Brendan Spaar sees a problem with this.  For one, Russia is seen as an ally to Syria and has a lukewarm at best relationship with the United States.  Will lawmakers think twice before allowing Putin to babysit Assad?

There has been much divide in Congress over whether or not they should give President Obama the authority to go to war with Syria.  Very few congressional leaders have agreed that this is the right thing to do because their constituants are very vocally against action in the middle eastern country.  Currently, the Senate is broken down in the following way:  23 in favor, 17 opposed, 10 leaning no and 50 undecided.  Those undecided votes could change when Obama adresses the nation on Tuesday night.  Brendan Spaar will be watching the address from his Forsyth County home and will report if any news breaks.

This has got to be the weirdest story that Brendan Spaar has heard all week.  Russian police raided an art gallery this week and seized a painting of President Vladimir Putin wearing a pink-and-white slip.  Some believe this seizure was part of the cleanup that is underway before Russia hosts the G20 summit in St. Petersburg.  The city's deputy mayor calls this painting, which features Putin  fondeling the hair of a busty Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is wearing only a bra and panties, pornography and insists that it needed to be removed.  The gallery owner was not arrested or charged for displaying the painting but there is a local law that levies fines of up to $15,000 for promotion of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism among minors.  This painting could fall under that law.





Source:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/08/27/russia-putin-paintings-seized/2710995/

By now it is rather clear that the NSA spied on Americans and lied to Congress about doing so.  There are new claims that some analysts ignored restrictions put in place to prevent them from spying on citizens.  Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has said that she is "reviewing each of these incidents in detail."  Mike Rogers, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee is also reviewing the allegations.  What shocks Brendan Spaar is that in a few cases, NSA officials or contractors used agency surveillance tools or data to spy on people in which they had romantic interests.  One thing is for sure, our elected officials will not hold the NSA accountable for any wrongdoing.

Source:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-23/nsa-analysts-intentionally-abused-spying-powers-multiple-times.html