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.


Sunday, December 6, 2009

Afghan Women Among 'Worst Off' In World

Afghan women are among the worst off in the world, violence against them is "endemic" and Afghanistan's government fails to protect them from crimes such as rape and murder, a rights group has said.

Afghan Women Among 'Worst Off' In World

Cop News

Photographers win British war on photography

Is Britain's war on photography coming to an end?

After the Independent newspaper got senior officials to admit that anti-terror legislation was being "widely abused...to question and search innocent photographers," the Association of Chief Police Officers has sent out a strongly worded memo to all officers ordering them to cease the practice.

The harassment of photographers by police officers is said to have senior officers "exasperated, depressed and embarrassed," and they characterize officers' belief that anti-terror laws prohibit photography as an "internal urban myth."
Chief Constable Andy Trotter, chairman of Acpo's media advisory group, took the decision to send the warning after growing criticism of the police's treatment of photographers.

Writing in today's Independent, he says: "Everyone... has a right to take photographs and film in public places. Taking photographs... is not normally cause for suspicion and there are no powers prohibiting the taking of photographs, film or digital images in a public place."

He added: "We need to make sure that our officers and Police Community Support Officers [PCSOs] are not unnecessarily targeting photographers just because they are going about their business. The last thing in the world we want to do is give photographers a hard time or alienate the public. We need the public to help us.

"Photographers should be left alone to get on with what they are doing. If an officer is suspicious of them for some reason they can just go up to them and have a chat with them - use old-fashioned policing skills to be frank - rather than using these powers, which we don't want to over-use at all."

Section 44 of the Terrorism Act allows the police to stop and search anyone they want, without need for suspicion, in a designated area. The exact locations of many of these areas are kept secret from the public, but are thought to include every railway station in and well-known tourist landmarks thought to be at risk of terrorist attacks...

Science News

From BBC-Science:

Archaeologists uncover signs of mass cannibalism at a 7,000-year-old human burial site in Germany.

A group of huge cave spiders that have been squatting in a house in Yorkshire are repatriated underground.
THE BIG PICTURE
Click to reveal

Liars and Fools

Liars and Fools today are:

Lush Dimbulb lies claiming Liberals are using health care reform to "eliminate" the elderly.
Only the wingnuts, Lush, only the wingnuts.

The Wasington Times pulishes a full-page birther ad with chimp imagery.
Well, considering a chimp is a full step up from a birther ...

Dimbulb lies again saying Obama thinks "people that want to kill us" "have a point".
Does this fool ever listen to himself?

What not to do at office holiday parties

What not to do at office holiday parties

Too many visits to the punch bowl could make you the punch line at work.

Reunited with son two decades after horror

Reunited with son two decades after horror

Fatima Mohammed Salih thought all her kids died in one of Saddam Hussein's most notorious acts.

Reintroduced wolves causing strife

Reintroduced wolves causing strife

Southwest ranchers are frustrated by livestock killed by the once-endangered animals.

Top hotels around the world

Top hotels around the world

Learn which hotel is rated the best beach resort and which is the most romantic.

Secret to living like the wealthy

Secret to living like the wealthy

Rich people don't necessarily act the way that most of us think they do.

America's best bang-for-the-buck cities

America's best bang-for-the-buck cities

Stable jobs, lower costs, and quick commutes make these areas among the most affordable to live.

Federal bailout czar's new life as a recluse

Federal bailout czar's new life as a recluse

Neel Kashkari created the $700 billion TARP program, then fled Washington.

Car dealer extras you don't need

5 car dealer extras you don't need

These options can add thousands to the cost of your car, and most of them are worthless.

Instant cures for bad breath

Instant cures for bad breath

Mints and gum only cover up odor but these easy tips can give you fresh breath fast.

Palin Left Hawaii Because Of Too Many Asians

In the New Yorker review of "Going Rogue," Sam Tanenhaus writes a paragraph that exposes something that should gather a lot of attention in a country where whites are becoming the minority.
Apparently in her travels to various colleges, Sarah Palin's stint at the University of Hawaii was ended not by poor grades or distractions, but by too many Asian faces.

Overqualified, but happy to have a holiday job

Retailers report a surge in applications this year from professionals who had never applied for such jobs before.

Full Story

Cooking a rat to eat lands celebrity TV show in hot water; actors charged with animal cruelty

Two stars of the reality TV show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" have been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly killing and cooking a rat to eat during filming.

Gino D'Acampo, the winner of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and fellow contestant Stuart Manning are facing criminal charges for animal cruelty after cooking and eating a rat on the TV program.

Officials: Bin Laden in Afghanistan - maybe

Osama bin Laden may be slipping back and forth from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

Or the U.S. might not have a clue, more than eight years after the al-Qaida leader masterminded the terrorist attacks on America.

Full Story

Missing Aussie man found at pub

A Tasmanian man at the center of a two-day missing persons operation in New Zealand has been found drinking in a bar and oblivious to the search.

Missing Aussie man found at pub

Manufactured doubt

How fake science debunked real science on climate change, tobacco and more

A fascinating essay about how big business, working alongside Hill & Knowlton, among others, manufactured fake doubt about the link between tobacco and cancer, the danger of CFCs to the ozone lawyer, and now climate change.

It's long, comprehensive, and very good.
Worth a read.

North Carolina & S. Virginia Snow Totals

Ah, the joys of winter!

North Carolina & S. Virginia Snow Totals

Break-in attempts at leading climate change scientist's offices

Idiots being idiots ...

From The Guardian:
Attempts have been made to break into the offices of one of Canada's leading climate scientists, it was revealed yesterday. The victim was Andrew Weaver, a University of Victoria scientist and a key contributor to the work of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In one incident, an old computer was stolen and papers were disturbed.

In addition, individuals have attempted to impersonate technicians in a bid to access data from his office, said Weaver. The attempted breaches, on top of the hacking of files from British climate researcher Phil Jones, have heightened fears that climate-change deniers are mounting a campaign to discredit the work of leading meteorologists before the start of the Copenhagen climate summit tomorrow.

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Today is Miners' Day.

ONLY 18 SHOPPING DAYS UNTIL XMAS!

Daily Almanac

Today is Sunday, Dec. 6, the 340th day of 2009.

There are 25 days left in the year.

Today In History December 6

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

London, England, United Kingdom
Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
Mannheim, Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany
Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Hjorring, Nordjylland, Denmark
Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
Salem, Tamil Nadu, India
Nantes, Pays De La Loire, France
Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal
Quebec, Quebec, Canada

as well as Singapore, Scotland, and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Try to keep petty dramas and other unwanted intrusions out of the way as much as possible.
Now's a good time to pay attention to your inner workings for a while.
If you're feeling frustrated about something, do whatever is necessary to cleanse yourself of that negative energy.
Tonight, make sure you give something (or someone) your best shot -- the gesture will mean a lot.

Will do.