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.


Monday, March 8, 2010

Seven simple dinners

Seven simple dinners

Try something new for dinner with these easy menus for every day of the week.

When it makes sense to file taxes late

When it makes sense to file taxes late

In some cases, filing for an extension on your tax return is a smart financial plan.

Warren Buffett's amazing record

Warren Buffett's amazing record

Just $10,000 invested with Buffett in 1964 would now be worth $80 million.

Confusion over American al-Qaida arrest

Confusion over American al-Qaida arrest

Pakistani officials thought an American al-Qaida member they arrested was the terror group's spokesman.

Reason
Also:

Spreading ocean threat worries scientists

Spreading ocean threat worries scientists

An underwater phenomenon creeping toward shore may signal big changes.

Come to America ...

Australians traveling to America will be asked to pay a $US10 fee to help fund a program to boost US tourism - as well as the country's ailing economy.

... and pay the bills

Siberian Methane Could Fast-Track Global Warming

Unexpectedly huge quantities of Siberian methane are being released into the atmosphere, according to a new study.
The resulting feedback loop could dramatically outpace the climate models that scientists and policy makers have been using as they attempt to roll back emissions.
When it comes to climate change, methane is bad news: It is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide in causing increased atmospheric temperatures.

Full Story

Attack on Nigerian Town Kills Hundreds

The death toll from weekend violence in central Nigeria climbed to more than 200 Monday after members of a machete-wielding muslim group attacked mostly christian villages, officials said.

Full Story

Earthquake hits eastern Turkey

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 struck eastern Turkey on Monday, killing 57 people as it knocked down stone or mud-brick houses and minarets in at least six villages, the government said.

6.0 earthquake hits eastern Turkey

Ma Nature is getting a wee bit restless right about now.

Teacher pricked children with syringe

A kindergarten teacher in southwestern China has admitted she used an empty hypodermic needle to prick 63 of her students on the hands, feet and buttocks as punishment for bad behavior, state media reported Friday.

Full Story

Man arrested for 'thinking of a cheeseburger'

A homeless Gastonia man who allegedly hoisted a sign reading, "I'm thinking of a cheeseburger," near an interstate off-ramp was charged with violating the city begging ordinance.

Full Story

Sleep Habits Revealed

A survey of more than 1,000 Americans, divided into four ethnic groups, showed people are pretty busy during the one hour before going to bed.

Sleep Habits Revealed

Pothole Gardening for the Truly Compulsive

From Treehugger:

pete dungey photo
Image from P. Dungey

We have had match stick gardening and upside down plant holders and guerrilla gardening but this is one for the gardener who is truly compulsive. Potholes, filled with flowers... Why?

Pete Dungey has been patiently planting flowers in potholes to highlight "the problem of surface imperfections on Britain's roads." He says "If we planted one of those in every hole, it would be like a forest in the road". It's poetry of an urban kind.

Puffed-up planets are heated like toast

Wind-driven electrical currents could explain why some exoplanets are much bigger than expected – and account for Jupiter's stripes.

Puffed-up planets are heated like toast

Adding oxygen to booze speeds sobriety

It sounds like a drinker's dream, but could end up being their downfall if it encourages heavy drinkers to consume even more.

Adding oxygen to booze speeds sobriety

Bonobos opt to share their food

From BBC-Science:
Bonobos
One of our closest primate relatives, the bonobo, prefers to share its food rather than dine alone, scientists report.

Accents Trump Skin Color

Children, like adults, use three visible cues--race, gender and age--to arrange their social world. They prefer to make friends with kids similar to them on these traits.

New research shows that verbal accents may be equally important in guiding youngsters’ social decisions--in fact, accents may be even more important than race.

Accents Trump Skin Color


And I Quote

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

~ Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

Grandmother Camps Out 43 Hours For Ice Cream

Here's one Wisconsin grandmother who makes time for her grandson.

Grandmother Camps Out 43 Hours For Ice Cream

It's a Knockout: Granny vs. Shark Edition

You just can't make this stuff up!

A grandma enjoying a snorkeling holiday near the Whitsundays in Queensland Australia was the unfortunate victim of a vicious shark attack last week.
But rather than simply trying to make her escape, the 60 year old holiday maker decided to fight back - by literally punching the five foot shark in the face.

Full Story

World's Largest Tree House Stands 10-Stories Tall

From Treehugger:

worlds biggest treehouse in winter

Photo via Obvious

16 years ago, Horrace Burges had a divine vision, a calling from heaven. And, like the ark-crafting Noah before him, Horrace picked up a hammer and built a large wooden structure of his own--the world's largest tree house. At 10 stories tall, with roughly 10,000 square feet, the tree house may be more aptly called a 'tree mansion', but according Horrace, it's a work in progress.

Healthiest housing markets in the U.S.

Healthiest housing markets in the U.S.

Find the right mix of affordability, stable home prices, and fewer foreclosures in these cities.

Lindsay Graham lies about reconciliation

Repugicans - They're liars, plain and simple.

The Democrats need to remind the American people, over and over, that the repugicans got us into the entire mess we are in, and that they are liars.

Lindsay Graham is leading the pack - the following is an out-n-out lie:
GRAHAM: Well, reconciliation will be used to clean up the Senate bill to make House members happy. House members are going to vote for the Senate bill and they hate it. And the Senate and the president saying, OK, we’re going to change what you don’t like.

And when it comes to the Republicans, you all don’t matter anymore. You just need a simple majority. So reconciliation will empower a bill that was very partisan. We’ve had reconciliation votes, but all of them had received bipartisan support. The least was 12 when we did reconciliation with tax cuts.
Now the truth, from ThinkProgress:
Graham’s claim that “the least” amount of Democratic votes a GOP reconciliation bill received “was 12″ is flat out false. As The Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky has detailed, during the Bush presidency, the Republican-controlled Senate passed three reconciliation bills with three or less Democratic votes. The 2003 Bush tax cuts were supported by only two Democrats and needed Vice President Dick Cheney’s tie-breaking vote to pass.
The White House and the Democrats in Congress are dealing with bold-faced liars.
They need to start treating them like it.

Woman again tries using cabs to steal TVs

In Dumb Crook News:

Police said a North Pole woman accused in December of stealing televisions and hiring a cabbie as her getaway driver is now accused of trying it again.

Full Story

Breakthrough Producing Hydrogen from Water + Sunlight

From Treehugger:

solar hydrogen breakthrough image
Image: Angewandte Chemie, Wiley

Sunlight + Water = Hydrogen Gas
Scientists at the University of East Anglia, led by Dr. Thomas Nann, report a breakthrough in the production of hydrogen from water using the energy of sunlight. Amidst all the hype about a potential hydrogen economy, which would rely upon the highly energetic and clean burning hydrogen atom, one of the big questions has been whether sufficient hydrogen can be produced without using yet more energy to create the hydrogen. Typical production methods include stripping hydrogen from other fuels like methane or using electrolysis to split the hydrogen out of water. But with efficiencies between 20 and 40% for producing energy from traditional photovoltaic processes, the hydrogen economy cannot be solar powered. Or can it?

Cop News

World's most expensive olive oils

World's most expensive olive oils

An "ultra premium" Greek oil costs $182 a bottle and boasts a vanilla aftertaste.

Defying logic ...

I received a letter from my bank the other day, telling me, "This is the last time we're going to spend a quarter to tell you that you have fifteen cents!"

Little tricks that add up to big savings

Little tricks that add up to big savings

Live a richer life without being wealthy by implementing these creative ideas.

Best freebies to get on your birthday

Best freebies to get on your birthday

There are plenty of places to find free meals and deals on your special day.

And I Quote

Seeing a murder on television ... can help work off one's antagonisms.
And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.

~ Alfred Hitchcock

Bones Found

The bones of a 14-year-old Southern California girl who vanished more than a year ago while walking to school were discovered in a rugged, remote area, authorities said Sunday, less than a week after a registered sex offender was charged with murdering another Southern California girl, 17-year-old Chelsea King.

Police say bones of 14-Year-old have been found

IT personnel placed on leave in school district spying case

More information continues to flow in about a Pennsylvania school district's alleged practice of "webcam spying" on students. The practice of the district remotely activating (school-provided) laptop webcams first emerged when the parents of Harriton High School tenth-grader Blake Robbins discovered that an assistant principal told their son that she had a picture that proved he “was engaged in improper behavior in his home.”

Full Story

Afghan militants battling Taliban defect to government

Dozens of Islamist militants defected to Afghan government forces Sunday after armed clashes erupted between them and their one-time Taliban allies in a northeastern province, two police officials said.

Full Story

Speaking of just that ...

Taliban, rival militants battle in Afghan province

The militants are apparently fighting for control of several villages where the central government has almost no presence.

Employers, consumers in standoff

Employers, consumers in standoff

Employers won't hire until customers spend, and customers won't spend until employers hire.

Pakistan detains American-born al-Qaida

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20100307/capt.da21d12792664caaa8bacaf47f4c1040.al_qaida_arrest_wx105.jpg?x=213&y=146&xc=1&yc=1&wc=409&hc=280&q=85&sig=nRXmzDQaa7vfzrF1oqOHEQ--Two Pakistani officers and a government official said Sunday that an American charged with treason for working with al-Qaida had been captured, a development that could deliver another significant blow in the U.S.-led battle against the terror network.


UPDATED: Adam Gadahn may not be the Al Qaeda operative captured in Pakistan, the New York Times now reports. Senior U.S. officials told the Times that Pakistani security forces actually caught American Abu Yahya al-Adam, a Pennsylvania native linked to Al Qaeda's Afghan combat operations and a close aide to Osama Bin Laden.

Today is ...

Today is Monday, March 8, the 67th day of 2010.

There are 298 days left in the year.

Today In History March 8

Today's unusual holiday or celebrations is:

Fun Facts About Names Day

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
London, England, United Kingdom
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Quito, Pichinca, Ecuador

as well as Scotland, and the United States in such cities as Chepachet, Hialeah, Shrewsbury, Bokeelia, Cour D'Alene, Glastonbury, Sparta, Katy, Mammoth Lakes, Lodi and more

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

You've decided to give yourself exactly what you need -- which might be a change of scenery and some new people and experiences to enjoy.
Still, you're duty-bound to make sure everything at home will run without a hitch in your absence.
So before you board that plane or hop in your car, be sure the person you trust most is in charge of everything.
You won't be able to enjoy yourself or concentrate on the task at hand if you don't.

And away we go.