Welcome to ...

The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Thursday, April 2, 2009

Telstar


The Tornados

Huge planet discovered

Huge planet discovered in old images

A planet seven times more massive than Jupiter is found in images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in the '90s.

Huge planet discovered in old images

Vick's new job after prison

Ex-NFL star's surprising new job after prison

Michael Vick's lawyer says Vick has a job lined up once he gets out of prison — and it's not playing football.

New Job

Signs emerge that recession could be near bottom

Signs emerge that recession could be near bottom

New data along with a Wall Street rally are giving hope that the gloomy economic climate could be turning around.

Signs emerge that recession could be near bottom

Also worth reading:

Protocol be damned

Michelle Obama's meeting with Queen Elizabeth II began with a handshake and ended in a hug.

The first lady arrived Wednesday with President Obama. After separate meetings on the eve of the G-20 summit, the couple attended an evening reception for world leaders hosted by the queen.

Mrs. Obama clearly made an impression with the 82-year-old monarch — so much that the smiling queen strayed slightly from protocol and briefly wrapped her arm around the first lady in a rare public show of affection.

It was the first time Mrs. Obama had met the queen. The first lady also wrapped her arm around the monarch's shoulder and back.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said he could not remember the last time the queen had displayed such public affection with a first lady or dignitary.

"It was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection," he said. "We don't issue instructions on not touching the queen."

Health News

I told you it was the jokes

This explains why I have all kinds of females hanging around me all the time:

Humor Wins Women Over

Saturday Night


The Bay City Rollers

Hey, so it's not Saturday night, yet. I can dream can't, I?!

Man cries after failed robbery attempt

Pathetic, truly pathetic ...

Police say a 19-year-old who tried to rob a liquor store sat down and cried after 76-year-old owner locked him in the store.

Full Story

Elderly man caught with huge marijuana haul

A stoner's wet dream ...

Nigeria's anti-narcotics agency confiscated 6.5 tons of marijuana Tuesday from the home of a man who claimed to be 114 years old.

Full Story

6.5 tons ... How many 'dime' bags it that anyway?

Man asleep in cargo hold flies NY to Boston

A luggage handler flew from New York to Boston after falling asleep in the cargo hold of a JetBlue airliner.

Full Story

Police in cotton swab killer mix-up

German police are struggling to explain why they chased a phantom serial killer for 16 years after confusion over an innocent woman's DNA samples.

Full Story

Chicks can do math

Italian researchers have found that 3-day-old chickens can do basic arithmetic.

Full Story

Domino's Forced to "Bailout" Franchise Owners After Gaffe

Domino's Pizza is out thousands ... of free pizzas, that is, after someone discovered an online promotion the company scrapped, but failed to deactivate.

Full Story

Woman locks herself inside car and calls 911

No, this isn't a joke ...

A frantic Florida woman called 911 yesterday to say the electrical system wasn't working in her car and that she was locked inside.

Full Story

Spotless Minds

A new therapy wipes away fearful memories in rats and humans without using drugs – and might eventually help patients with post-traumatic stress disorder, say researchers.

A cure for deafness?

Human auditory neurons and hair cells have been grown from stem cells for the first time, which could yield new treatments for hearing loss.

The five ages of the brain: Gestation

A human embryo at 7 weeks gestation (Image: Ralph Hutchings / Visuals Unlimited / Getty)

Part 1 in a special feature looks at how a good prenatal environment is needed to make the best out of the growing brain.

Gestation

Big Pharma Caught

An elaborate "sting" operation has confirmed fears that US companies may be rubber-stamping risky clinical trials without proper scrutiny.

Natural mechanism for medieval warming discovered

And no, it was not Lush Dimbulb blowing hot air, either. Or at least it is not thought to be (yet).

The climatic conditions that caused the "Medieval Warm Period" cannot explain modern temperature increases, researchers say.

Natural mechanism for medieval warming discovered

And I Quote

I think of you as a goon.
You’re too smart to believe what you say.


~ David Letterman, to Bill O'Reilly

I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you Dave ... the "too smart" thing that is.
O'Really's as thick as a brick - only dumber.

Less popular than Toe-Jam

The White House says Prick Cheney is the second most popular member of the "repugican cabal," behind only talk-show host Lush Dimbulb.

Considering Dimbulb is less popular than toe-jam, that's saying something!

The reality that is Dimbulb


Jabba the Rush

The Most Beautiful Waves...Ever

Check out these Clark Little Wave photos via TreeHugger:
Image 1 of 22
sunset wave clark little photo
Clark Little is a photographer with a gift for capturing the ocean at its most beautiful. When you take a look at his images, it's hard to imagine that the ocean is filling up with pollution and being emptied of its wildlife. As you click through these incredible photos, you'll remember just why it's worth fighting to save our oceans.

March 24th marks the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, so with that in mind, as you click through these incredible photos, you'll remember just why it's worth fighting to save our oceans.

Photo by Clark Little

Is Your Shampoo Creating Superbugs?

Person shampoo photo

Photo credit: oaii

The overuse of antibiotics isn't the only cause of drug-resistant bacteria. Pollution from compounds in myriad household products could also be fostering antibiotic resistance, according to new research by U.K. scientists at the universities of Birmingham and Warwick.

The study delved into the question of whether pollution from sewage sludge, animal disinfectants, and fabric softeners could be linked to the rise in drug resistance in bacteria. Another issue the scientists tabled was the effect that sewage sludge and animal slurry—tonnes of which farmers apply to their crops every year—has on humans once it enters the soil and water supply.

Article continues @ TreeHugger: Is Your Shampoo Creating Superbugs?

Underground Economy Cushions Job Losses

... and is making tax dodging a game that is not exclusively played by the uber-wealthy any longer.

Carlos Cruz has a strategy for surviving the worst global recession in 60 years: pay less in taxes and pass the savings along to customers.

“I’m declaring half as much as I used to,” said Cruz, 29, who runs a painting business in Madrid. “Prices have fallen by 30 percent and customers will choose you for a difference of as little as 50 euros ($67.70),” said Cruz, an Ecuadorian who has lived in Spain since 2001.

The production of goods and services that are lawful, though not declared, may grow the most as a proportion of total output since 2000, according to Friedrich Schneider, a professor at Austria’s Johannes Kepler University of Linz.

The shift, measured by tax analysts and economists using surveys, money-supply data and anecdotal evidence, is caused by businesses going off the books to cut costs and workers taking informal jobs to survive rising unemployment. It offers a buffer against the ravages of the crisis and may help explain why the slowdown hasn’t prompted more social unrest.

Full Story

Man coughs up 30-year-old nail

Prax Sanchez of Colorado coughed up a nail that was stuck in his nose for three decades.
It came out after he underwent a medical MRI.
Of course, you know, MRIs are essentially giant magnets which is why you have to remove any metal objects before entering the machine.

From KKTV:
 Images Nail+In+Nose2 "When I went to lay down on the MRI machine, I had a real pain on my right side under my eye," said Sanchez...



It was over an inch long. Doctors say it could have been up his nose for 30 years.

"Once it's in the nasal cavity like that, a little membrane forms around it and it becomes a foreign object."

Vick to Pay Falcons at least $6.5mill

Michael Vick has agreed to pay the Atlanta Falcons at least $6.5 million as part of his bankruptcy case, moving closer to cutting ties with a team that doesn’t want him back.

The settlement was reached ahead of Vick’s bankruptcy hearing in Virginia on Thursday. The suspended quarterback arrived in his home state Monday afternoon and was being held at Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk, Va.

The Falcons are trying to trade Vick, who is still barred from the NFL as he serves out a nearly two-year sentence for operating a gruesome dogfighting ring. If no deal is reached, Atlanta will likely cut its former star before the start of training camp.

Read the rest here.

Oh, and if any NFL team has any sand about them, Vick will never play football again!

Cop who detained NFL player at hospital quits

Cop who detained NFL player at hospital quits

The Dallas police officer who threatened Ryan Moats with jail instead of allowing him inside a hospital to see a dying relative resigns.

Cop who detained NFL player at hospital quits

Obama gives Queen of England unusual gift

Obama gives Queen of England unusual gift

The Obamas exchange gifts with Queen Elizabeth II on a day when the president's driver is asked to move his bulletproof car.

Obama gives Queen of England unusual gift

University's blunder welcomes rejected students

University's blunder welcomes rejected students

UCSD sends a warm "congratulations" email to 29,000 students who didn't actually get in.

University's blunder welcomes rejected students

Science News

In Science News:

Birdsong Radio

This is cool!
Have a listen and check it out.

Live Dawn Chorus Birdsong Stream

The Sea's Green Glow

Sea worms use bioluminescence to attract mates, defend themselves.

'Guiding Light' canceled after 72 years

'Guiding Light' cancelled after 72 years

CBS pulls the plug on a long-running soap opera that first aired in 1937 on the radio.

'Guiding Light' canceled after 72 years

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Manila, Manila, Philippines
Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
Aberystwth, Wales, United Kingdom
Krakow, Malopolskie, Poland
Kiev, Kyyvs'ka Oblast, Ukraine
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Roubaix, Nord-Pas-De-Calais, France
Saint Catherines, Ontario, Canada
Chaville, Ile-De-France, France
Crofton, British Columbia, Canada
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Lima, Lima, Peru
Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico
London, England, United Kingdom
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Remscheid, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Beijing, Beijing, China
Sandviken, Gavleborgs Lan, Sweden
Portsmouth, England, United Kingdom

as well as Brazil and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Today you need to move forward with purpose -- even if you don't know what that purpose is.

You got it!