CPR Promotional Check-Up - Sep 17, 2013

The Weather:

The sun finally came out in Boulder, CO, yesterday (though it also rained some more), after nearly a week of record-setting rainfall that caused devastating floods throughout town and the surrounding region. So far, at least six people have been killed, and now, 12-hundred are still unaccounted for.
About 15-hundred homes were completely destroyed, with another 18-thousand damaged, and 11,700 people have been evacuated.
Thirty bridges were destroyed. Nearly 24-hundred square miles have been affected. Fifteen counties have received presidential disaster declarations, and over 21-hundred residents and five hundred pets have been rescued by air.
Watch water's devastating power. (Maiman)

Money Talks:

Forbes magazine is out with its list of the richest people in America... and BILL GATES tops the list for the 20th year in a row, even though most of his money is not coming from Microsoft any more. The rest of the top-20 include a bunch of software guys, investors and members of the WalMart family and Mars candy family:
20. Mark Zucherberg, $19 billion (Facebook)
19. George Soros, $20 billion (investments)
18. Carl Icahn, $20.3 billion (investments)
15-17. Forrest Mars, Jr; Jacqueline Mars and John Mars $20.5 billion EACH (Mars Candy Company)
13-14. Larry Page & Sergey Brin, $24.9 billion (Google)
12. Jeff Bezos, $27.2 billion (Amazon)
11. Sheldon Adelson, $28.5 billion (Sands Casino)
10. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, $31 billion (Bloomberg News)
6-9. Members of the Walton family: Christy, Jim, Alice and S Robson Walton, $31-35.4 billion EACH (WalMart)
4. Charles & David Koch, $36 billion (Koch Industries, second-largest privately held company in the US)
3. Larry Ellison, $41 billion (Oracle)
2. Warren Buffett, $58.5 billion (Private fund management)
1. Bill Gates, $72 billion (Microsoft)
FYI: The figures from Forbes show that the Waltons of Wal-Mart are now collectively worth $145 billion, a gain of more than $40 billion since last year. Wal-Mart continues to fight against unions and living wage proposals.
For those with a conscience, the total net worth of the 400 wealthiest Americans is $2.02 trillion, which is over twice what it was a decade ago. Most American families can't say that. (Maiman)

Chic Sh*t:

You know how every celebrity from BEYONCE to ONE DIRECTION to LADY GAGA has her own perfume? Well, geeks like to smell like their favorite superhero alien life forms, too.
Geek Fragrances Currently on the Market: (Source: SetToStunning.com)
“Star Trek:” has four different fragrances:
--“Tiberius”
--“Sulu”
--“Red Shirt”
--And, for women, “Pon Farr.”
--o--
“The Avengers” has fragrances like:
--“Mischief” for the villain Loki
--“Patriot Cologne” for Captain America
--“Mark-7” for Iron Man
--“Worthy” for Thor
--“Smash” for The Hulk.
--There’s also a “Black Widow” perfume for the ladies.

Odds to Win "Dancing With The Stars: All Stars" Season 17 (Bovada Sportsbook):
--Actress VALERIE HARPER, Comedian BILL ENGVALL and BILL NYE the Science Guy, 50/1 (longshots)
--Reality TV star JACK OSBOURNE, 25/1
--Former NFL star KEYSHAWN JOHNSON and "Pretty Little Liars" star BRANT DAUGHERTY, 10/1
--"Jersey Shore" star NICOLE "SNOOKI" POLIZZI, 8/1
--"King of Queens" star LEAH REMINI, 7/1
--"Glee" star AMBER RILEY (who plays Mercedes) and "Saved by the Bell" star ELIZABETH BERKLEY, 11/2
--Singer/dancer/actress CHRISTINA MILIAN, 13/4
--"High School Musical" and Broadway star CORBIN BLEU, 5/2 (favorite)

Grace notes from Vinny Marino:

BRITNEY SPEARS has a big announcement to make today. TMZ says she'll be somewhere in the middle of the Mojave desert around 4 am (Pacific) to reveal something live on ABC's "Good Morning America." 1,350 fans were bussed out to the location, and they all had to be between 5 and 6-feet tall. Brit will be arriving in a helicopter. Word is she'll perform her new single, "Work Bitch," and reveal plans for a Las Vegas concert residency at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. Britney will supposedly do 48 shows a year on a two-year contract. She'll be paid $310-thousand dollars per show. Do the math and that's just about $15-million bucks a year. Tickets sales per show will be around $508,514-dollars, which means Britney is getting 60-percent of the gate. The concerts will begin in December.
FYI: Britney's little stunt this morning will cost more than $100-thousand dollars. That includes 28 buses to get all the folks of the correct height out there for $27,176-dollars. The tents cost $42-hundred bucks, and the craft services bill is more than $5-thousand dollars. There will be 21-hundred bottles of water, coffee for all, 918 Gatorades and 567 Red Bulls. (Marino)