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.


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

A work or school drama is carrying over into your free time, and this is growing into a problem.
The fact is, people are demanding too much of you right now.
It's time to be clear about what you can (and cannot) do for them.
This applies to both your personal and business lives, but it's much more relevant to work or school right now.
Shocking, thoughtless remarks will come from a surprising source; don't take them personally, though.

Ah. The drama.

Bridge to the future

Future idea floated for aging bridge

Architects have a vision for the old span once a new S.F.-Oakland Bay Bridge is in place.

Record-breaking road

Record-breaking road trip across U.S.

The Taylors drive 9,505 miles across 48 states, averaging 67.9 miles a gallon.

Why Do repugicans Want Illegal Immigrants To Get Jobs Instead Of Americans

To make the current health care reform proposals work there must be some form of an employer mandate to provide health insurance. If there is not one, companies would have a strong incentive to drop coverage knowing the government will help their employees get insurance.

The easiest, best, and simplest way to create an employer mandate is to charge companies a flat fee if they don't offer health insurance. The fee could be some percent of payroll or a set fine multiplied by the number of employees at the firm.

Buffett praises U.S. efforts

Warren Buffett praised the U.S. government Tuesday for its efforts to heal the economy, but the influential investor said he expects a slow recovery as consumers remain wary of spending.

Full Story

President Carter: Rep. Wilson comments 'based on racism'

Former President Jimmy Carter is flanked by his wife Rosalynn as he speaks during "Conversations at the Carter Center" Tuesday.

Full Story

Hawaiian Monk Seal Too Friendly?

He's a seal pup who might just believe he's a puppy.

Hawaiian Monk Seal Too Friendly?

Soul Finger


The Bar-Kays

Rare Grasshopper

Boy discovers rare grasshopper

Daniel Tate thought he had spotted a pretty pink flower — until it began to hop around.

Liars and Fools

Liars and Fools

And I Quote

New York now leads the world's great cities in the number of people around whom you shouldn't make a sudden move.

~ David Letterman

Wilson rebuked

Wilson rebuked over 'You lie!' outburst

Colleagues vote to formally rebuke Joe Wilson.

Lawsuit says Hulk Hogan was overcharged $1 million for Rip-Off attorneys' fees

Hulk Hogan's legal bills have now piled so high that he has hired attorneys to sue his attorneys.

Hogan, who was sued after his son's highly publicized 2007 car crash in downtown Clearwater, began shoveling out so much cash to a law firm that even he couldn't afford it, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court.

The wrestling icon and television star was paying Zuckerman Spaeder's lawyers as much as $550 an hour, as much as $300,000 at a time. He shelled out more than $1.5 million, just to that firm.

But earlier this year, the lawsuit states, he learned something new: His insurance company had tried to provide him a better-qualified attorney for free.

It means, according to the lawsuit, that Hogan — whose real name is Terry Bollea — spent more than $1 million in unnecessary fees for a team of defense attorneys that did not produce a single deposition, for a civil case that has still not gone to trial.

Zuckerman Spaeder denied the lawsuit's claims in a statement released through its press agent: "We are proud of the work our lawyers performed for Terry Bollea and for his son, Nick Bollea. The charges being made by Terry Bollea are simply baseless."

The problems began in August 2007, when Nick Bollea crashed his Toyota Supra into a palm tree during a street race in downtown Clearwater. His friend and passenger John Graziano suffered catastrophic injuries, and was in the hospital until last week.

Nick Bollea eventually pleaded no contest to reckless driving and served 166 days in the Pinellas County Jail.

Lawyers have cropped up everywhere in this saga: Lawyers in Nick Bollea's criminal case, lawyers in a civil case filed on behalf of Graziano, lawyers in a murder-for-hire case against Graziano's father, lawyers in Terry and Linda Bollea's divorce case and now, lawyers suing other lawyers.

The latest dispute started with a negligence lawsuit filed in March 2008 for Graziano, naming Terry and Nick Bollea, and a family friend, as defendants. The lawsuit is designed to provide money for Graziano's long-term care.

As is common in auto negligence cases, Terry Bollea's insurance company was required to offer him a defense attorney. And Progressive Insurance tried to do so, selecting Bryan Reynolds, a board-certified civil trial lawyer.

But Zuckerman Spaeder never told him that, according to the lawsuit. Instead, it sat on the information about Reynolds and maneuvered to keep its own local attorneys, Lee Fugate and Morris "Sandy" Weinberg, on the case, according to the lawsuit. Neither is board-certified, and the lawsuit claims they had little expertise in the type of law they would be practicing in this case.

The legal malpractice lawsuit also claims that Bollea was charged at attorneys' rates for work that actually was performed by paralegals.

In addition to working on the civil case, Zuckerman Spaeder had a role in the criminal case, along with an outside attorney, Kevin Hayslett, who is not a defendant in the lawsuit.

Surveillance video of insurgents in Afghanistan blowing themselves up while planting a bomb

Iedbomb
Surveillance video of insurgents in Afghanistan accidentally blowing themselves up while planting a bomb. What an explosion!

Young Couple Says NO to a Mortgaged Life

From Treehugger:

dirt-house.jpg
image via vela creations

Amidst the Chihuahuan Desert, Abe and Josie built a home out of dirt, designed a wind turbine from scrap parts, and raised their newborn without diapers and other conveniences. When their first hand sculpted house went up for sale a couple of years ago in Far West Texas, I was one of many people interested in the real estate deal of a lifetime. But like others who have met this young couple and heard their story, I was inspired to start from scratch, rather than to take out a mortgage, even for their one of a kind, self powered, adobe oasis in the desert. Their website, Vela Creations, is an online, off-grid, informational handbook based on their experience and continued success in the alterlife.

Read further for more of their story and look for an in depth interview with Abe and Josie in the coming weeks.

Abe and Josie have the smarts to survive well in the big city, but they have chosen a different life, a remote life, off grid, debt free, and on their own terms and timeline. What is refreshing about this couple is that they are not rebelling against modern times. On the contrary, they are embracing it, and are in a sense early adopters of a lifestyle that was not possible until very recently. That is because their off grid, pay as you go lives are dependent on emerging technologies such as affordable DIY energy harvesting, satellite internet, and other modern advances. While off grid systems can be a costly investment, Abe and Josie have found the lo-fi, affordable route, proving that there is no reason to wait for off grid technology to improve or become more affordable. Anyone can do this now. It is a simple choice to opt out of an enslaving, over priced, city life.

chispito-layout.gif

Abe and Josie, without tens of thousands of dollars to spend on state of the art solar arrays and other expensive off grid requirements, designed their own wind turbine out of a treadmill motor and PVC piping, capturing free energy at virtually no cost. They also built a battery bank out of discarded, but still good batteries, from golf courses, and stitched together solar panels from broken and dumpstered solar panel fragments. Their wind turbine, which they named the Chispito, has been a big hit on the internet. The schematics are shared online for free, and hundred of people of have chosen to build them.

When I first visited Abe and Josie, they were doing laundry, by hand, in a wash tub. Two years ago, I thought that this was unusual, and even a bit regressive. But after living off grid myself for the last couple of years, I know that this is by far the most appealing option, as a front loading washing machine is not only expensive, but also requires an enormous amount of energy, especially for an off grid setup.

Abe and Josie recently moved to a new location to build their 2nd hand sculpted house. They are keeping a detailed blog as they go. They are also developing their latest and best creation, a new baby human named Leo, who doesn't require diapers.

An interview with these young pioneers is coming soon! In the meantime, check out their very informative site, velacreations.com.

Further Reading:

Cob House Built For Less Than $3,000

How To: Build Your Own 1000 Watt Wind Turbine

200909151557

It's all so complex it's simple

Complex emotions may have emerged from basic physical sensations like cold or disgust.

Icy stares and dirty minds: Hitch-hiking emotions

All things Saturn

Marathon Saturn storm is longest in solar system

Saturn's eight-month-long thunderstorm has become the planet's longest-running lightning display.

Saturn's moon Titan has a foggy bottom

The sighting of methane fog in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan shows Earth is not the only solar-system body with a 'hydrological' cycle.

Better World

Better world: Take Friday off… forever

The four-day week could boost employment, save energy and make us happier.

Better world: Generate a feed-in frenzy

Paying people who generate green energy and feed it back to the grid is the best way to boost uptake of renewable energy.

Better world: End the pillaging of the high seas

We must put a stop to the free-for-all out on the oceans to have any chance of saving their riches from the ravages of climate change

Methane mining could trigger killer gas cloud

Congolese people carry buckets of water on the bank of Lake Kivu in Goma. The lake contains a vast reservoir of dissolved methane (Image: Jose Cendon/AFP/Getty)A rush to extract methane from the depths of Africa's Lake Kivu could trigger a huge upwelling of suffocating gas, potentially affecting over 2 million people.

Methane mining could trigger killer gas cloud

The Big Picture

From BBC-Science:
Click to reveal

And I Quote

It's the 8th anniversary of 9/11, and Americans today stopped doing whatever they were doing to sit there, reflect, do nothing, say nothing, just like Bush did eight years ago when he got the news.

~ Bill Maher

Beck's 9/12 Bomb

So Glenn Beck's hate rally produced about 60,000 fuckheads to march on Washington.
Sounds like a lot?
Well, on Saturday, Sept. 5, Alabama and Va Tech sold out Atlanta's Georgia Dome to the tune of 71, 500 fans.
So this outpouring of Beck's special brand of douchebaggery produced less interest on a national scale than a college football game played in Georgia.

~ Mark in Morehead City, NC

*****

Mark has a good head on his shoulders.

Science News

After three years of mystery surrounding the deaths of millions of bees — colony collapse disorder — some scientists now suspect it's being caused by a virus.

Dimbulb Spews

10,000th post

Well, we made it to 10K.
Let's all have a party.

Man honored for 50 years of service at McDonald's

From the "Some people never got a life" Department:

A 68-year-old man who still works at the first McDonald's restaurant in Missouri has been honored for 50 years of service.

Full Story

Interview and Autograph on the Block

A 1966 magazine signed by John Lennon containing his remark that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus is being auctioned by a New Hampshire company.

Autographed John Lennon Interview Is Being Auctioned Off

Cattle Wander Into Convenience Store

A handful of steers participating in a cattle parade in Puyallup, Washington, veered off course on Sunday and wandered inside a convenience store, forcing cowboys on horseback to enter and herd them outside.

SEC - BofA Deal is NO Deal

A judge's condemnation of the Securities and Exchange Commission in rejecting its $33 million settlement with Bank of America over bonuses at Merrill Lynch dealt a stinging rebuke to an agency seeking to mend its image after its failure to detect Bernard Madoff's fraud scheme.

Judge's rejection of SEC deal with BofA deals setback to embattled agency and its chairman

Just a Remnder ...

When you can skip the ER visit

When you can skip the ER visit

Learn what can be treated just as well at an urgent care center or an in-store clinic.

To the moon, Alice, to the moon.

Workers' health care costs skyrocket

Premiums for job-based health care shot up steeply over the last decade, a study shows.

Reject Cash

How to get cash for your rejects

Here are some easy ways to sell old books, CDs, DVDs, or small electronics online.

Reykjavik sure has alot of gas

The waste generated by households in Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik has the potential to be a valuable power source.

Iceland Homes Generate Tons Of Methane Gas

More TSA paranoid antics

Nick George, a California college student, was handcuffed and detained for five hours at the Philadelphia airport because ... he's studying Arabic, and had Arabic-language flash cards in his backpack.

Mr George should sue and win enough money to retire young.

In Decline

U.S. global power 'in decline'

The U.S. only has one alternative to losing its place on the world stage, a think tank says.

Man loses stepson while trying to buy drugs

They don't call it DOPE for nothing you know!

Philadelphia police said a man out buying drugs flagged down officers after he couldn't find the car he'd parked with his 6-year-old stepson inside.

Full Story

Pink Slipped

Bank fires exec over housing scandal

A senior vice president at Wells Fargo is fired for holding parties in a foreclosed beachfront home.
'It's shocking'
Also:

Into the light

Secret society thrust into spotlight

For centuries, the Freemasons have cultivated mystery and inspired fear.

Can I afford it?

Most and least affordable U.S. cities

Home prices are down dramatically, but these five cities still command top dollar.

Like saving $3,000

New mpg rules may save owners $3,000

The Obama administration proposes higher fuel economy standards starting in model year 2012. What will change
Also:

Space shots on the cheap

$148 camera takes photos from space

Two students launch a camera high enough to capture amazing images of Earth.

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Come on, people! There are no holidays or celebrations on September 15th?!

We have to remedy that. Any Suggestion for a holiday or celebration for today?

Daily Almanac

Today is Tuesday, September 15, the 258th day of 2009.

There are 107 days left in the year.

Today in History, September 15.

Our Readers

Some of our readers to day have been in:

Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Minsk, Minsk, Belarus
Warsaw, Mazowiekie, Poland
Lisbon, Lisboa, Poland
Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia
Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
Saint Catherines, Ontario, Canada
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
London, England, United Kingdom
Angers, Pays De La Loire, France

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Controversy will be a helpful shield for you today.
It will create a nice loud, distracting noise that will keep everyone busy -- and out of your hair!
Today is the perfect day to put your new ideas to work, so you will need all the elbow room and autonomy you can muster.
Get in any research, planning, or organizing you need to do as early in the day as possible.
By late afternoon, people could be hovering around you again, looking for answers only you can give.

Ain't it always that way?!