Slap-Stick Reality

The other day I posted a piece about two bozos who enacted a classic slap-stick gag and opined that I thought the video would be hilarious. It is short but it is quite humorous.
And here it is ...

Don't you just love it when reality imitates the theater!

It was less than a Great Escape.

Two New Zealand prisoners who were handcuffed together as they fled a courthouse foiled their own getaway when they ran to opposite sides of a light pole, slammed into each other and fell to the ground.

Jailers nabbed them as they struggled to their feet.

Their escapade on Wednesday was captured by a CCTV camera at Hastings District Court on New Zealand's North Island. The footage shows the two men trying to make a break for it - but apparently forgetting they were joined at the wrist.

Hastings police Senior Sgt Dave Greig said one inmate, Regan Reti, 20, had just been sent to prison for more than two years after being convicted of assault.

The other inmate, Tiranara White, 21, was in custody for allegedly stealing a car and violating parole.

"As they were being led from the Hastings police cells ... they made a bolt for freedom," Greig told The Associated Press on Thursday.

"They fell over and they were sprayed with pepper spray. But they got up and ran out of the court onto the street, across the road to a car park," he said. "That's where they met the pole - it was all over, rover."

The pair were back in court on Thursday, facing fresh charges of escaping from custody.

Police said Reti, who pleaded guilty to the charge, had a month added to his prison term. White did not enter a plea. He will remain in police custody while a psychiatric evaluation is carried out.

Grainy footage of the escapade shown on TV One News was billed as "one of the worst escape attempts ever seen".

Cattle Pastures in Deforested Amazon Now the Size of Iceland

From treehugger

Photo via the New York Times

The largest rainforest in the world is being chopped down almost entirely for a single purpose: beef. That's right, one of the biggest, most beautifully diverse ecosystems on the planet is being traded in—for hamburgers. According to a report from Mongabay, a full 80 percent of the land cleared by Amazon deforestation from 1996-2006 has been used to create cattle pastures.

The rainforest has been cleared at an astonishing rate over the last 12 years—and the cattle craze in the Amazon is only going to get worse.

Article continues: Cattle Pastures in Deforested Amazon Now the Size of Iceland

And I Quote

Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality.
But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.

~ T. S. Eliot

All You Need Is Narf

Pinky and The Brain

As of this moment ...

4236 Brave men and women will not be returning from Iraq
Alive!

What's the difference?

What's the difference between an Italian mother and a Jewish mother?

An Italian mother says, "If you don't eat it, I'll kill you."
A Jewish mother says, "If you don't eat it, I'll kill myself."

Police arrest man driving boom lift at 3 a.m.

From the "Drunk and Stupid" Department:

Mountlake Terrace, Washington, police knew something wasn't quite right after they spotted a man driving a piece of construction lift equipment down a street at 3 a.m. on Thursday.

The man, who apparently had been drinking, was in the lift bucket of the Genie Boom with an unopened six-pack of beer and a bag of beef jerky when police pulled the vehicle over.

He was clocked at 2 mph.

At first the 29-year old man told police he was just going to the store.

But when they asked him why he was in the bucket on the lift, he said he was delivering the $20,000 piece of construction equipment on a dare from a stranger he met on Craigslist, according to a police report.

The lift apparently had been taken from a construction site.

The man was jailed for investigation of theft.

Rescue a mixed blessing for lost hunter

From the "There's one born every minute" Department:

Being rescued was a mixed blessing for a man who got lost while hunting in Cheboygan County, Michigan. Howard Keshick became disoriented in Inverness Township in December and called for help on his cell phone. Police and a Coast Guard helicopter braved high winds and blowing snow to locate him.

But the Cheboygan Daily Tribune reported authorities discovered Keshick was a convicted felon and charged him with illegal possession of a firearm. Police said he claimed he didn't know the law applied to his black powder muzzleloader.

Keshick was bound over for arraignment in circuit court on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, he is scheduled for sentencing February 3, 2009 on charges including home invasion, property destruction and being a habitual offender.

Humorous English

These two prissy English guys are in the wild west of the US about 150 years ago.
They walk into a bar and they see a sign which says "WE PAY $100 FOR INDIAN SCALPS".
So Charles turns to Edgar and says "hey look that's easy money old chap, let us find us some natives."
So the two of them go out, find two Indians, scalp them and duly get their $100.

That night they slept in a tent on the edge of town.
The next morning Charles wakes up and sticks his head out of the tent and he sees 20,000 Indians standing in a circle around them.
He quickly gets back into the tent and shouts excitedly: "Edgar, we're rich, we're rich!"

Married Bliss

A husband and wife are shopping in their local Wal-Mart.
The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in their cart.
"What do you think you're doing?" asks the wife.
"They're on sale, only $10 for 24 cans," he replies.
"Put them back, we can't afford them," demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping.
A few aisles further on along the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket.
"What do you think you're doing?" asks the husband.
"Its my face cream. It makes me look beautiful," replies the wife.
Her husband retorts: "So does 24 cans of Budweiser and its half the price!"

On the PA system: "Cleanup on aisle 25, husband down."

And I Quote

Behind every successful man there's a lot of unsuccessful years.

~ Bob Brown

Daily Funny

I left my car in a garage the other day, when I came back to it the bumper and rear lights were all smashed up.

Then I found this note under the wiper.

It said:

I just accidentally reversed into your car.
Quite a few people saw me do it.
They think I'm leaving my name and details.
Well, I'm not.

Liars and Fools

Today's Liars and Fools are:

DaBrick Compared to Uncle Sam, Bernie Madoff is a rookie.
Handjob Skateboard parks will revitalize the economy?
O'Really Are you worried about your future?

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Have you swapped your seeds, yet?

It's National Seed Swap Day, you know.

Kentucky musters every Guardsman

It's a bad one, folks ...

Governor Steve Beshear deployed every last one of his Army National Guardsmen today, with his state still reeling after a deadly ice storm encrusted it this week.

More than half a million homes and businesses, most of them in Kentucky, remained without electricity from the Ozarks through Appalachia, though temperatures creeping into the 40s helped a swarm of utility workers make headway.

Finding fuel - heating oil along with gas for cars and generators - was another struggle for those trying to tough it out at home, with hospitals and other essential services getting priority over members of the public.

The addition of 3,000 soldiers and airmen makes 4,600 Guardsmen pressed into service.

It's the largest call-up in Kentucky history, which Beshear called an appropriate response to a storm that cut power to more than 700,000 homes and businesses, the state's largest outage on record.

Many people in rural areas cannot get out of their driveways due to debris and have no phone service, the governor said."With the length of this disaster and what we're expecting to be a multi-day process here, we're concerned about the lives and the safety of our people in their own homes,"

He said, "and we need the manpower in some of the rural areas to go door-to-door and do a door-to-door canvass ... and make sure they're OK."

*****

Kentucky could use a heatwave right about now.

Saturday Jam

Introducing a new feature: A 'Jam Session' of various musical styles each Saturday!
To start us off right we have ...

She Drives Me Crazy (original video)

Fine Young Cannibals

I Touch Myself (original video)

Divinyls

I'm Too Sexy (complete version)

Right Said Fred

I'm On My Way (original video)

The Proclaimers

Chick A Boom (doncha just love it?)

Groovie Ghoolies

Cookies for Einstein

The Animaniacs

New $3 LED Bulb Lasts 60 Years

The battle between CFL and LED bulbs may finally be over thanks to researchers at Cambridge University who have developed a $3 LED bulb that lasts for 60 years. The bulb, which is smaller than a penny, is 12 times more efficient than tungsten bulbs and three times more efficient than fluorescent bulbs.

Cambridge’s new 100,000 hour, mercury-free LED bulb uses a man-made semiconductor called gallium nitride that is grown on a cheap silicon wafer. Previously, gallium nitride has only been grown on pricey sapphire wafers.

According to researchers working on the project, the first low-cost LED bulbs could be in stores as early as 2011.

Full Story at Cleantechnica

New Ads Watch You Watching Them

Well, since I do not watch ads this won't effect me all that much ...

Increasingly, small cameras are being embedded in video screens in malls, health clubs, and grocery stores both to determine who is watching and to customize what is displayed to the audience.

Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it, tracking who looks at the screen and for how long. The makers of the tracking systems say the software can determine the viewer’s gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity — and can change the ads accordingly.

That could mean razor ads for men, cosmetics ads for women and video-game ads for teens.

And even if the ads don’t shift based on which people are watching, the technology’s ability to determine the viewers’ demographics is golden for advertisers who want to know how effectively they’re reaching their target audience.

While the technology remains in limited use for now, advertising industry analysts say it is finally beginning to live up to its promise. The manufacturers say their systems can accurately determine gender 85 to 90 percent of the time, while accuracy for the other measures continues to be refined.

The full article can be found here, the links at the bottom of the article show the players in this area:

Quividi: http://quividi.com

TruMedia Technologies: http://trumedia.co.il

Studio IMC: http://www.studioimc.com

Ant Metropolis

As part of the documentary Ants! Nature’s Secret Power, cement was poured into an ant colony, allowed to harden, and then excavated to reveal an amazing metropolis:

Design by Superorganism

Check out the end of the video for to reveal an ant project equivalent to the Great Wall of China. Could this be a model for producing emergent structures with nanotechnology?

President Obama's Weekly Address

ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATION
January 31, 2009

This morning I'd like to talk about some good news and some bad news as we confront our economic crisis.

The bad news is well known to Americans across our country as we continue to struggle through unprecedented economic turmoil. Yesterday we learned that our economy shrank by nearly 4 percent from October through December. That decline was the largest in over a quarter century, and it underscores the seriousness of the economic crisis that my administration found when we took office.

Already the slowdown has cost us tens of thousands of jobs in January alone. And the picture is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Make no mistake, these are not just numbers. Behind every statistic there's a story. Many Americans have seen their lives turned upside down. Families have been forced to make painful choices. Parents are struggling to pay the bills. Patients can't afford care. Students can't keep pace with tuition. And workers don't know whether their retirement will be dignified and secure.

The good news is that we are moving forward with a sense of urgency equal to the challenge. This week the House passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next few years. It puts a tax cut into the pockets of working families, and places a down payment on America's future by investing in energy independence and education, affordable health care, and American infrastructure.

Now this recovery plan moves to the Senate. I will continue working with both parties so that the strongest possible bill gets to my desk. With the stakes so high we simply cannot afford the same old gridlock and partisan posturing in Washington. It's time to move in a new direction.

Americans know that our economic recovery will take years -- not months. But they will have little patience if we allow politics to get in the way of action, and our economy continues to slide. That's why I am calling on the Senate to pass this plan, so that we can put people back to work and begin the long, hard work of lifting our economy out of this crisis. No one bill, no matter how comprehensive, can cure what ails our economy. So just as we jumpstart job creation, we must also ensure that markets are stable, credit is flowing, and families can stay in their homes.

Last year Congress passed a plan to rescue the financial system. While the package helped avoid a financial collapse, many are frustrated by the results -- and rightfully so. Too often taxpayer dollars have been spent without transparency or accountability. Banks have been extended a hand, but homeowners, students, and small businesses that need loans have been left to fend on their own.

And adding to this outrage, we learned this week that even as they petitioned for taxpayer assistance, Wall Street firms shamefully paid out nearly $20 billion in bonuses for 2008. While I'm committed to doing what it takes to maintain the flow of credit, the American people will not excuse or tolerate such arrogance and greed. The road to recovery demands that we all act responsibly, from Main Street to Washington to Wall Street.

Soon my Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, will announce a new strategy for reviving our financial system that gets credit flowing to businesses and families. We'll help lower mortgage costs and extend loans to small businesses so they can create jobs. We'll ensure that CEOs are not draining funds that should be advancing our recovery. And we will insist on unprecedented transparency, rigorous oversight, and clear accountability -- so taxpayers know how their money is being spent and whether it is achieving results.

Rarely in history has our country faced economic problems as devastating as this crisis. But the strength of the American people compels us to come together. The road ahead will be long, but I promise you that every day that I go to work in the Oval Office I carry with me your stories, and my administration is dedicated to alleviating your struggles and advancing your dreams. You are calling for action. Now is the time for those of us in Washington to live up to our responsibilities.

In Keeping With B.A.D.

In keeping with B.A.D. (Blogroll Amnesty Day)

Let me introduce to you:

Sue's Daily Photos

Acerbic Politics

Malaysia Topic

Naked Jen


These are just four blogs you might find interesting.

Uncovering the beginnings of the Final Solution

The Holocaust has a landscape engraved in the mind's eye: barbed-wire fences, gas chambers, furnaces.

Less known is the "Holocaust by Bullets," in which over 2 million Jews were gunned down in towns and villages across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
Their part in the Nazis' Final Solution has been under-researched, their bodies left unidentified in unmarked mass graves.

"Shoah," French filmmaker Claude Lanzmann's documentary, stands as the 20th century's epic visual record of the Holocaust.
Now another Frenchman, a Catholic priest named Patrick Desbois, is filling in a different part of the picture.
Desbois says he has interviewed more than 800 eyewitnesses and pinpointed hundreds of mass graves strewn around dusty fields in the former Soviet Union.
The result is a book, "The Holocaust by Bullets," and an exhibition through March 15th at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Read the rest here.

Our Readers

Our readers today have been in:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Odense, Fyn, Denmark
Inman, South Carolina, United States
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
San Mateo, California, United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Don't expect everybody to agree with everything you say.

No worries mon!
Despite accusations to the contrary from some closed-minded quarters I have never harbored any expectations that everyone must agree with everything I say.
(Or that anyone agree with anything I say for that matter.)

The Etruscans

Italy's ancient Etruscans were buried with a dazzling array of objects - everything from delicate gold jewelry to items one would need for a banquet - such as chalices, plates and a strainer for wine.
Such tomb artifacts along with a stunning 29-foot-long terra-cotta pediment from an Etruscan temple and items found in temples are part of a new exhibit at Southern Methodist University's Meadows Museum featuring more than 450 objects, many being seen for the first time in the United States.

"It's a fantastic chance for people to see things even the experts don't always get to see," said Claire Lyons, curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, who added that while she toured the exhibit she heard even archeologists marveling at the pieces on display.

The Etruscan civilization spanned from roughly 900 B.C. to 100 B.C., by which time they were conquered by the Romans and had been assimilated into Roman society.
For a time though, it was the Etruscans, Phoenicians and Greeks who ruled the Mediterranean.

"A lot of what we consider Italian culture today is from the Etruscans," said Greg Warden, an SMU art history professor who is the American scientific director for the exhibit.
Warden said artifacts help further the understanding of the ancient people because their literature and history is almost entirely gone.

The Etruscan language, which has not been linked to any other known language, has been decoded but there's still not enough text to give a full picture.
"We don't know them as well as the Greeks or Romans," he said.

Their tombs do offer a glimpses into their society.
The tombs can range from a mound of earth and stones over a grave to tombs resembling row houses.
Ivory items show trade with the Near East.
Many tombs contained Greek vases, showing an active trade with that civilization.
In fact, Warden said, most whole Greek vases on display in museums today actually came from well-preserved Etruscan tombs.

Artifacts from early tombs depict military status, including helmets, shin guards, swords and chariots.
Women's tombs included not only exquisite jewelry but also chariots, showing that they had an active role in the society, unlike women's roles in Greece, for example.
Etruscan women are also depicted in scenes as being present at banquets with men.

Most of the items for "From the Temple to the Tomb: Etruscan Treasures From Tuscany," which runs through May 17, come from the Florence National Archaeological Museum.
The Florence museum's director, Guiseppina Carlotta Cianferoni, curated the Dallas exhibit. Cianferoni said she hopes that visitors leave with a better understanding of the Etruscans.

An accompanying exhibit takes a look at an ongoing SMU-led excavation of an Etruscan settlement about 20 miles northeast of Florence called Poggio Colla.
Each summer, students from around the world go to the site featuring a settlement surrounding a fortified acropolis on a hilltop containing the remains of a religious sanctuary.
"It's one of the few places that gives us insight into a sanctuary and the rituals there," said Michael Thomas, who along with Warden oversees team studying Poggio Colla.

I Like To Move It

From the movie Madagascar ... King Julian sings.

One for the good guys

President Obama has signed his first major legislation, an equal pay bill dubbed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which effectively overturns the Supreme Court's 2007 OK for gender-based discrimination in pay.

Liars and Fools

Today's Liars and Fools consist of:

FaxNews' O'Really brags that he doesn't spread rumors before spreading rumor

FauxNews' Handjob revives suggestion Obama may be Muslim

FauxNews is using the Obamas to perfect its racist attacks on Black America

Gingrey (r-Georgia) bows to Dimbulb

FauxNews' O'Really and uncomedian Miller joke about torture

FauxNews' Beck lies that only 3 percent of stimulus plan would be spent in the next 12 month

The Hill repeats repugicans' lie that stimulus bill includes $4.2 billion bailout" for ACORN

FauxNews' O'Really claims that "enhanced food stamps ... will not help the economy one bit" -- but economists disagree

Torture lover John Yoo excoriates Obama for banning torture

World News

In France, huge crowds have taken to the streets to protest the government's handling of the economic crisis. President Sarkozy found billions of euros for bailing out failing French banks, but he couldn't find ten cents for ordinary working stiffs.
More at BBC News.

The CIA's top man in Algeria is accused of using a knock-out drug to rape unconscious Muslim women.
More at ABC News.

Iraq is apparently quite serious about banning Blackwater. A hopeful sign for that nation's future.
More at At Largely.

Vladimir Putin prefers his nation's journalists, like its dissidents, dead.
More at At Largely .

Prosecute the criminals

The ACLU has asked the Obama administration to turn over the shrub's and cabal's memos and legal opinions supporting torture, war crimes, eavesdropping, and other illegal acts.
The shrub and the cabal, of course, refused to allow anyone to see such things, so now we'll see how the Obama administration really feels about open and honest government.
Basically, if the answer is yes, there's a glimmer of hope that the high crimes of the shrub/cabal era might be prosecuted and proven.
And if the answer is no then all hope of justice from any entity within American borders is effectively extinguished.

More at McClatchy Newspapers.

We're Talking Mount Redoubt Here

Alaska get ready for it ... She's gonna Blow!

The Alaska volcano observatory said in a statement today "volcanic tremor" has increased in "amplitude."

..."I would not be surprised to see it erupt at anytime," Cervelli said. "We're going to know it when we see it." - CNN

(you can monitor the mountain too, weather permitting. government scientists have set up webcams at two locations, here and here.) - Christian Science Monitor

I know, I know you were thinking the nitwit governor was going to blow didn't you!

I'm A Believer Shrek Music Video

One of the best Good Time Movies

Items in the News

Item One
The sharp contraction of the us economy accelerated in the last three months of 2008, with official figures showing GDP shrinking at an annualised rate of 3.8%.
With forecasters already predicting the worst U.S. recession since World War II, how big a danger is there that the U.S. economy will slip into a depression similar to the 1930s?
The latest figures paint a gloomy picture of the U.S. economy.
More at BBC

Item Two
The average tax rate paid by the richest 400 Americans fell by a third to 17.2 percent through the first six years of the shrub's and cabal's junta and their average income doubled to $263.3 million, new IRS data shows.
More at Bloomberg and New York Times

Item Three
Exxon mobile corp. on friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a u.s. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from a year ago.

The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world's largest publicly traded oil company set in 2007.

More at Yahoo News and Washington Post

Item Four
J P Morgan Chase protected itself, but not its clients, from Bernie Madoff's swindles.
More at New York Times.

Item Five
Suicides in the US Army are at their highest ongoing levels since the aftermath of the Vietnam war.
More at Associated Press.

Item Six
A US District Judge has ruled that the names of people who contributed to California's anti-gay Proposition 8, names already publicly listed per the law, will remain publicly listed.
In other words, no special rights for bigots.
More at sfist.com.

Springsteen calls Wal-Mart deal a mistake

The Boss is owning up to a mistake.

In an interview with The New York Times, Bruce Springsteen says he shouldn't have made a deal with Wal-Mart.

This month, the store started exclusively selling a Springsteen greatest-hits CD.

Some fans were critical because Springsteen has been a longtime supporter of worker's rights, and Wal-Mart has faced criticism for its labor practices.

Springsteen's team didn't vet the issue as closely as it should have, and that he "dropped the ball on it," he told the Times for a story to be published in Sunday editions and previewed on its Web site.

Springsteen went on to say: "It was a mistake. Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be."

Human Sewage to Power Buses in Norway

It is available for free in huge quantities, is not owned by Saudi Arabia and it contributes minimally towards climate change. The latest green fuel might seem like the dream answer to climate crisis, but until recently raw sewage has been seen as a waste disposal problem rather than a power source. Now Norway’s capital city is proving that its citizens can contribute to the city’s green credentials without even realising it.

In Oslo, air pollution from public and private transport has increased by approximately 10% since 2000, contributing to more than 50% of total CO2 emissions in the city. With Norway’s ambitious target of being carbon neutral by 2050 Oslo City Council began investigating alternatives to fossil fuel-powered public transport and decided on biomethane.

Biomethane is a by-product of treated sewage. Microbes break down the raw material and release the gas, which can then be used in slightly modified engines. Previously at one of the sewage plants in the city half of the gas was flared off, emitting 17,00 tonnes of CO2. From September 2009, this gas will be trapped and converted into biomethane to run 200 of the city’s public buses.

Full Story at EcoWorldly

Oldie but goodie

There's this magician who has been working on a luxury cruise ship for a few years.
He doesn't have to change his routines much as the audiences change fairly often, and he's got a good life.
The only problem is the ship's parrot, who perches in the hall and watches him night after night, year after year.
Finally, the parrot figures out how almost every trick works and starts giving it away for the audience.
For example, when the magician makes a bouquet of flowers disappear, the parrot squawks "Behind his back! Behind his back!"
Well, the magician is really annoyed at this, but there's not much he can do about it as the parrot is a ship's mascot and very popular with the passengers.
One night, the ship strikes some floating debris, and sinks without a trace.
Almost everyone aboard was lost, except for the magician and the parrot.
For three days and nights they just drift, with the magician clinging to one end of a piece of driftwood and the parrot perched on the other end.
As the sun rises on the morning of the fourth day, the parrot walks over to the magician's end of the log.
With obvious disgust in his voice, he snaps "OK, you win, I give up. Where did you hide the ship?"

The Next Catastrophe

The entire world is in recession.

But the United States is the only wealthy country in which the economic catastrophe will also be a health care catastrophe — in which millions of people will lose their health insurance along with their jobs, and therefore lose access to essential care.

Paul Krugman has more to say about this in the New York Times

Ten Rules

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan, gives his 10 rules for surviving an unpredictable world with dignity.

1 Skepticism is effortful and costly. It is better to be skeptical about matters of large consequences, and be imperfect, foolish and human in the small and the aesthetic.

2 Go to parties. You can’t even start to know what you may find on the envelope of serendipity. If you suffer from agoraphobia, send colleagues.

3 It’s not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. If possible, tease people who take themselves and their knowledge too seriously.

4 Wear your best for your execution and stand dignified. Your last recourse against randomness is how you act — if you can’t control outcomes, you can control the elegance of your behaviour. You will always have the last word.

5 Don’t disturb complicated systems that have been around for a very long time. We don’t understand their logic. Don’t pollute the planet. Leave it the way we found it, regardless of scientific ‘evidence’.

6 Learn to fail with pride — and do so fast and cleanly. Maximize trial and error — by mastering the error part.

7 Avoid losers. If you hear someone use the words ‘impossible’, ‘never’, ‘too difficult’ too often, drop him or her from your social network. Never take ‘no’ for an answer (conversely, take most ‘yeses’ as ‘most probably’).

8 Don’t read newspapers for the news (just for the gossip and, of course, profiles of authors). The best filter to know if the news matters is if you hear it in cafes, restaurants... or (again) parties.

9 Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a Booker, a Nobel or a private jet.

10 Answer e-mails from junior people before more senior ones. Junior people have further to go and tend to remember who slighted them.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb: the prophet of boom and doom

Project B.R.A.I.N.

Pinky and the Brain

Unusual Celebrations and Holidays

Remember to have fun at work today
because it is FUN AT WORK DAY today!

'Idol': Judges misconstrued 'Be careful' remark

This is why I don't pay any attention to 'American Idol' - (well other than being a no talent show where the talented ones are booted off in favor of the ones more easily manipulated - you can look no further than the show's 'successes' to see this - every 'winner' that has listened to them has disappeared and those that have told the show to 'F' themselves have gone on to real success and stardom ... even the really talented non-winners who also told the show where to stick themselves have had major success while those drones who listened are a forgotten waste) - they're idiots and hacks

Be careful not to read too much into what someone from Louisville says while heading out the door - like the "American Idol" judges did.

The producers of "Idol" apologized Thursday on behalf of its judges, who apparently misinterpreted what a contestant in Louisville, Ky., said after a failed audition.
On his way out, Mark Mudd said: "Take care and be careful."
Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell took that as a threat.
Abdul scolded Mudd, telling him, "You don't say that to people, 'Be careful.' That's just not a normal thing to say."

It turns out that "Be careful" is a regional parting expression.
The show's producers say they had not heard that from any other contestants, so it took everyone by surprise.
A statement from "Idol" producers said: "We now know better and look forward to visiting Louisville again someday."

*****

As I said Abdul and Cowell are idiots. Someone who 'fails' an 'American Idol' audition isn't going to be 'threatening' anyone let alone those two, they will be thanking their lucky stars for the chance to actually sing instead of being sent through the 'Idol' machine and turned into another Ruben , oh, whats-his-name?

It's a Married Thing

There was a Packers fan with a really crappy seat at Lambeau.
Looking with his binoculars, he spotted an empty seat on the way down 50-yard line.
Thinking to himself "what a waste" he made his way down to the empty seat.

When he arrived at the seat, he asked the man sitting next to it, "Is this seat taken?"
The man replied, "This was my wife's seat. She passed away. She was a big Packers fan."
The other man replied,"I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. May I ask why you didn't give the ticket to a friend or a relative?"
The man replied, "They're all at the funeral."

Growing Trend Of Vacationing In The Buff

A trend in specialty vacations that involves nudity is growing across the country.

That's right, more and more Americans are heading out in the buff. Intimate cruises are made up of less than 200 people, beautiful scenery, crystal clear water and the option of going au natural.

"You remove the uniform, the clothes, we are all the same," Julian Marsh, a self proclaimed naturist.

Marsh described his first experience with nudity five years ago as shocking. He was just visiting a friend at a party.

"When I walked in the door and bunch of people watching TV and drinking coffee and chatting naked," said Marsh.

Julian said that gave him a sense of freedom which is now available for everyone on the high seas.

"People are hungry for a connection for something that is real and our cruises provide that," said Craig Stevens, creator of Source Events, a travel company based in Miami.

Smith is not only surviving, his business is thriving. He is taking advantage of the 400 million dollar a year nude recreation industry. Source Events, which began booking gay cruises, is now expanding their horizons.

"Women that want to create women's cruises, other people that want to do youth cruises," said Smith.

If hitting the high seas naked is something you are not comfortable with you don't have to worry because you'll have options.

"Our events are clothing optional meaning that if you are not comfortable with it, it doesn't mean you have to take your clothes off," said Marsh.

Some of the common questions include looking good naked, one's physical attributes and the average age of each passenger. The answer to all those questions is 'it doesn't matter'. As for the age question, Marsh said he's seen people in the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's cruise nude.

"You are part of a larger group and you are accepted and it's a beautiful thing," said Marsh who can't wait for his next vacation.

*****

This trend will continue to grow and for the reasons the piece says, but also because as the economic keeps getting worse more people will not be able to afford clothes so a nude vacation will become the norm rather than the rare.

Woman's ex-friends used cold as weapon

A 19-year-old woman who thought she was going to a party was instead driven to a rural wooded area and abandoned in 8-degree weather in a long-planned attack by three friends angry with her over an insurance claim, police said.

The victim was wearing only a dress and one shoe, having lost the other in a struggle as she was dragged from the car, said Lt. Frank Cannella of the North Bergen police.
A motorist soon stopped and let the victim use a cell phone but refused to give her a lift.
The victim used the phone to call one of the women who abandoned her.

She spent more than an hour in the freezing cold before flagging down another motorist, who took her to a hospital.
The North Bergen woman, whom police did not identify, may need surgery after suffering frostbite to both feet January 16th in Alpine, a town on the Hudson River about 18 miles north of New York City.

"These actions were so profound that it leads you to believe there was a tremendous indifference to human life," Cannella said.

Maria Contreras-Luciano, 22, of Dumont, and Amber Crespo, 20, and Dyanne Velasquez, 21, both of North Bergen, face kidnapping, assault and conspiracy charges and are free on $200,000 bail.
Crespo is also charged with making terroristic threats.

The women planned the attack for more than a month.
The suspects wanted revenge after the 19-year-old sued Crespo's auto insurance carrier after a car accident, Cannella said, adding that he didn't have details about the accident or claim.

The victim arrived at Crespo's home to meet up with the three women and then drive together to a party, according to authorities.
She noted that her friends weren't dressed for a party but was reassured by their words and by an evening dress on a hanger inside the car.

The incident didn't come to the attention of police until the victim reported it January 20th.

A man identified as Contreras-Luciano's boyfriend was arrested on suspicion of hindering apprehension after he declined to turn his car over to investigators.
Police believe his car was used in the attack.

*****

These three BITCHES (and yes that is the only why to describe them) need to spend an awful lot of time behind bars for this - say, like until they are far past child bearing age!

Hot Tea

There is nothing as calming as a cup of hot tea right before bed.
If you are having difficulties in falling asleep give it a try.
If falling asleep isn't a problem then do it just for the contemplation time as I do.
You won't go wrong either way.
I would suggest an herbal variety, preferably non-caffeinated - unless you desire to get up after a couple of hours sleep to run to the toilet and disrupt that peaceful and serene feeling you had when you went to sleep.

Our Readers

Some of today's readers hail from:

Bath, England, United Kingdom
Munich, Bayern, Germany
Hales Corners, Wisconsin, United States
Abilene, Texas, United States
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:
Discuss what you've recently learned with a person who's always encouraging.

All right then ... Hey, Mom, ya got a minute?

And I Quote

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

~ Albert Einstein

Don't I know it, Al!

Man accused of drunken horse riding in snowstorm

From the "There are some idiots out there" Department:

A man has been cited for public intoxication while riding a white horse during a snowstorm in the northern Wyoming town of Cody. Police said they cited 28-year-old Benjamin Daniels, of Cody, after they received a call at 4 p.m. Sunday from a motorist who was concerned that a man was creating a road hazard by riding his horse on a street in conditions with poor visibility.

Assistant Police Chief George Menig said officers noticed that Daniels was intoxicated after they stopped him to explain that drivers were having difficulty spotting his slow-moving white horse.

Menig said Thursday that Daniels was detained Sunday and released the following day. He will go before a municipal judge later.

A friend of Daniels' picked up the horse.

*****

Riding a white horse in the snow (more so while intoxicated) ... not one of your better ideas to be sure.

Let's call him 'swifty', shall we.

Harris Teeter to cut store openings

Harris Teeter is cutting the number of store openings and renovations planned for 2009 and beyond because of the weak economy, the Matthews-based grocer's parent company said in a filing Thursday.

Charlotte-based Ruddick Corp. said in a filing last summer that it planned to spend about $245 million in 2009 to build 19 new stores and complete eight major remodeling projects. By the fall, those numbers had declined to $241 million to open 17 new stores and finish four major remodeling projects.

The company now says it plans to spend $212 million on such projects in 2009, opening 16 new stores and remodeling three. It is also building a $100 million distribution center in Fredericksburg, Va., that would open in fiscal 2012 and serve its growing roster of stores in the Washington, D.C., area. The center would help save money on transportation, the company said.

Ruddick also announced Thursday that its quarterly earnings slipped 1.7 percent, as a sales drop at textile maker American & Efird offset gains at Harris Teeter. Ruddick, the parent of both, reported net income of $22.9 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, in its first quarter that ended Dec. 29. That's compared to $23.3 million, or 48 cents per diluted share, during the same period the year before.

Growth at Harris Teeter helped Ruddick sales increase 1.9 percent, to $995 million. The Matthews-based grocer's sales rose 3.6 percent, to $928.9 million. That, however, was due to new stores; sales at stores open a year or more, a key gauge of retail health, declined 2.1 percent.

The company attributed that decrease to the recession, noting that customers are buying fewer items per shopping visit. However, the company has been spending additional money on promotions and said its data suggests Harris Teeter is gaining market share and selling more store brand products. Harris Teeter's operating profit rose slightly because of cost-control measures, the company said in a news release.

Someday Never Comes

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Peanut plant problem forces fresh recall

Worried about salmonella, the Army said it is removing some peanut butter items from warehouses in Europe, the latest in an ever-growing list of recalled peanut products linked to a national salmonella outbreak.

Already more than 430 kinds of cakes, cookies and other goods in the civilian world have been pulled off store shelves in what the Food and Drug Administration is calling one of the largest product recalls in memory. The Army's recall does not affect Meals-Ready-to-Eat, but another kind of military grub called Unitized Group Rations-A, which provide a complete 50-person meal.

More than 500 people have gotten sick in the U.S. outbreak, and at least eight may have died as a result of salmonella infection.

At the center of the investigation is a Georgia peanut processing plant where federal inspectors reported finding roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitary problems.

Managers at the Blakely, Ga., plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America continued shipping peanut products even after they were found to contain salmonella, the FDA said. The company shipped the food items after retesting them and getting negative results.

Peanut Corp. expanded its recall Wednesday to all peanut goods produced at the plant since Jan. 1, 2007. The company makes just 1 percent of the peanut products sold in the United States, but those products are ingredients in hundreds of other foods, from ice cream, to Asian-style sauces, to dog biscuits. Major national brands of peanut butter are not affected.

A senior lawmaker in Congress and Georgia's agriculture commissioner called for a criminal probe of the company, but the FDA said that would be premature while its own food safety investigation continues.

The company says it is fully cooperating with the government and has stopped all production at the plant. Peanut Corp. said in a statement it "categorically denies any allegations that the company sought favorable results from any lab in order to ship its products."

Stewart Parnell, the firm's president, said that the recall was expanded out of an abundance of caution.

"We have been devastated by this, and we have been working around the clock with the FDA to ensure any potentially unsafe products are removed from the market immediately," Parnell said.

Most of the older products in the expanded recall have probably been eaten already. Officials said they see no signs of any earlier outbreaks from those goods.

The recall covers peanut butter, peanut paste, peanut meal and granulated products, as well as all peanuts - dry and oil roasted - shipped from the factory. FDA officials could not quantify the amount of products being recalled.

Officials recommend that consumers check the FDA web site, which lists all the products being recalled, and toss out any that are named.

Salmonella had been found previously at least 12 times in products made at the plant, but production lines were never cleaned after internal tests indicated contamination, FDA inspectors said in a report. Products that initially tested positive were retested. When the company got a negative reading, it shipped the products out.

That happened as recently as September. A month later, health officials started picking up signals of the salmonella outbreak.

Michael Rogers, a senior FDA investigator, said it's possible for salmonella to hide in small pockets of a large batch of peanut butter. That means the same batch can yield both positive and negative results, he said. The products should have been discarded after they first tested positive.

Separately, senior congressional and state officials on Wednesday called for a federal probe of possible criminal violations at the plant.

The company's actions "can only be described as reprehensible and criminal," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who oversees FDA funding. "This behavior represents the worst of our current food safety regulatory system."

In Georgia, the state's top agriculture official joined DeLauro in asking the Justice Department to determine whether the case warrants criminal prosecution.

"They tried to hide it so they could sell it," said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin. "Now they've caused a mammoth problem that could destroy their company - and it could destroy the peanut industry."

*****

Whether the case warrants criminal prosecution?

Without a question it does!

*****

More Information

• Video
  
• Video
  
• FDA's recall page
  
• FDA's outbreak page

Scientists Teleport Matter More Than Three Feet

From the "Remember today's Science Fiction is tomorrow's Science Fact" Department:

Scientists have come a bit closer to achieving the “Star Trek” feat of teleportation.

No one is galaxy-hopping, or even beaming people around, but for the first time, information has been teleported between two separate atoms across a distance of a meter — about a yard.

This is a significant milestone in a field known as quantum information processing, said Christopher Monroe of the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland, who led the effort.

Teleportation is one of nature’s most mysterious forms of transport: Quantum information, such as the spin of a particle or the polarization of a photon, is transferred from one place to another, without traveling through any physical medium.

It has previously been achieved between photons (a unit, or quantum, of electromagnetic radiation, such as light) over very large distances, between photons and ensembles of atoms, and between two nearby atoms through the intermediary action of a third.

Wind jobs outstrip the coal industry

Here’s a talking point in the green jobs debate:

The wind industry now employs more people than coal mining in the United States.

Wind industry jobs jumped to 85,000 in 2008, a 70% increase from the previous year, according to a report released Tuesday from the American Wind Energy Association. In contrast, the coal industry employs about 81,000 workers. (Those figures are from a 2007 U.S. Department of Energy report but coal employment has remained steady in recent years though it’s down by nearly 50% since 1986.) Wind industry employment includes 13,000 manufacturing jobs concentrated in regions of the country hard hit by the deindustrialization of the past two decades.

Full Story in Fortune

Statue Unveiled In Honor of Bush Shoe Throw

A sculpture of an enormous bronze-coloured shoe has been erected in Iraq to honour the journalist who threw his shoes at ex-US President George W Bush.

The sofa-sized artwork was formally unveiled in Tikrit, hometown of late Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein.

Read the report from BBC News here.

According to Forbes Magazine, the incident has been a gold-mine for the Turkish shoemaker, Ramazan Baydan, who claims to have made the shoe thrown at the now ex-President, now renamed the Bush Shoe.

”People are calling from all over the world to order this shoe I designed a decade ago. We have so far 370,000 new orders from Europe, the Middle East and the United States compared to only 40,000 orders of this particular model in December last year,” Baydan told Forbes.com during a phone interview through an interpreter.

At least Bush sparked an economic recovery for somebody.

Read the full article in Forbes here.

UK fingerprints foreign six-year-old children at the border

If you bring a child to Britain from outside the EU, be prepared to have her fingerprinted, even if she's only six years old. That's because the British government now leads the world in undermining the civil liberties of children, beating the US-VISIT program by eight years (visitors to America are only fingerprinted if they're over 14). Most of the British government seems not to have realized that this was going on -- even though the UK's Members of European Parliament have been pushing to make this a requirement across the EU.

Remember when the head of Scotland Yard proposed taking DNA samples from five-year-olds who displayed criminal tendencies so that they could be rounded up for arrest later in life? Here again, we see the British government mistaking Nineteen Eighty-Four as a manual for statecraft.

In fact, no one has called the Borders Agency to account. Home Office officials I have talked to outside the agency were shocked that official government policy is now to fingerprint children.

When asked why (question 226407), the Home Office itself offers a much more solid defence: that the EU requires it. What it does not admit is that the British government is almost alone in pushing the EU to ensure that the age when fingerprinting can start is so low. Home Office officials pushed the EU to establish a standard age of six, despite opposition within other European governments. The next time you hear a government official support the EU, it is not just because it is a vehicle for "peace, prosperity and freedom", but also because it is a vehicle to push through policies that the UK government would prefer not to pursue through the legislature at home.

The Bush administration rejected the contemplation of fingerprinting children, even within the controversial US-VISIT program that fingerprints visitors to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security is prohibited from fingerprinting children under 14, though it may well consider lowering it.

Six-year-olds fingerprinted by Britain

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu creator dies

Helio Gracie, one of the main creators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that gained worldwide popularity, has died.
He was 95.

Gracie died this morning and was buried in this afternoon near his home in the mountain resort town of Petropolis near Rio de Janeiro, according to a short statement posted on the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy Web site.

The Agencia Estado news service said he died of pneumonia.

Gracie introduced a series of adaptations to traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu that emphasized leverage and position as a way to compensate for size differences among opponents.

Illinois governor unanimously convicted and tossed from office

Governor Rod Blagojevich was thrown out of office today without a single lawmaker coming to his defense.

He was brought down by a government-for-sale scandal that stretched from Chicago to Capitol Hill and turned the foul-mouthed politician into a national punchline.

Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, becomes the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be removed by impeachment.

After a four-day trial, the Illinois Senate voted 59-0 to convict him of abuse of power, automatically ousting the second-term governor.

In a second, identical vote, lawmakers further barred Blagojevich from ever holding public office in the state again.

*****

It should be noted that the accusation that garnered the lionshare of the attention - that of 'trying' to sell Obama's vacant Senate seat - did not play a role in the trial or conviction in that trail ... it was all the other 'abuses' of power he had committed over the years as governor (just as had his predecessor - it is an Illinois thing).

The new governor will be just the same - Illinoians won't have it any other way.

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Hope you have enjoyed
"Freethinkers Day"
so far today!

Six Months in A Leaky Boat

Split Enz

White House Unbuttons Formal Dress Code

The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.

Read the rest of the NY Times piece here.

It's a Blond thing ...

At a pharmacy, a blond asked to use the infant scale to weigh the baby she held in her arms.
The clerk explained that the device was out for repairs, but said that she would figure the infant's weight by weighing the blond and baby together on the adult scale, then weighing the mother alone and subtracting the second amount from the first.

"That won't work, I'm the aunt."

*****

In Vegas, a blond walks up to a Coke machine and puts in a coin.
Out pops a coke.
The blond looks amazed and runs away to get some more coins.

She returns and starts feeding the machine madly, and of course the machine keeps popping out the drinks.

Another person walks up behind the blond and watches her antics for a few minutes before stopping her and asking if someone else could get a drink. The blond spins around and shouts in her face: "Can't you see I'm winning!?"

*****

A blond and a redhead met in a bar after work for a drink and were watching the 6 o'clock news. A man was shown threatening to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge.
The blond bet the redhead $50 that he wouldn't jump, and the redhead replied, "I'll take that bet!"

Anyway, sure enough, he jumped, so the blond gave the redhead the $50.
The redhead said, "I can't take this, you're my friend."
The blond said, "No. A bet's a bet".

So the redhead said, "Listen, I have to admit, I saw this on the 5 o'clock news, so I can't take your money."

To which the blond replied, "Well, so did I, but I never thought he'd jump again!"

South American leaders head to anti-Davos gathering

Five South American leaders are headed to the steamy Amazon city of Belem, today to join 100,000 activists demanding an overhaul of capitalism they say is long overdue.

The presidents of Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela were expected to join activists of all stripes at an annual protest against the World Economic Forum held for the planet's rich and powerful at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said ahead of his arrival in Brazil that the World Social Forum will show the planet how to make "a better world, distinct from capitalism."

And Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will make his first social forum appearance in three years, bringing 13 government ministers with him instead of going to Switzerland.
Activists said they weren't angry at Silva for shunning the social forum in previous years, predicting he will receive a warm welcome.

Gladys Cisneros, a program officer for the American Center for International Labor Solidarity based in Washington, was encouraged by the VIP lineup - but hoped leaders want to do more than boost their popularity amid the world financial crisis."I would hope their coming here is a genuine reflection of their interest in engaging in civil society and not just a photo op," she said.

Tuscan city says 'basta' to ethnic food

It's the small things like this that ruin the world ...

If you are craving a kebab, tandoori chicken or Peking duck you may go hungry in the small Tuscan city of Lucca, which has just barred new ethnic restaurants from opening in its historic medieval center.

Officials say new rules passed last week by Lucca's conservative administration aim to protect local specialties from the rising popularity of "different" cuisines.
The measure also bans fast food restaurants and hopes to reduce littering within the city's ancient walls, a magnet for tourists.

"By ethnic cuisine we mean a different cuisine," city spokesman Massimo Di Grazia said.
"That means no new kebabs, Thai or Lebanese restaurants."
Di Grazia said ethnic restaurants opened before the measure was passed could stay in business.

The move has sparked accusations of gastronomic racism from opposition politicians and criticism from Italian chefs, who say modern cuisine relies on fusion, the combination of ingredients used in different food traditions.
"It's a discriminatory ban," councilman Alessandro Tambellini said. "It's a sign of closure toward different cultures."

"There is no dish on the face of the Earth that doesn't come from mixing techniques, products and tastes from cultures that have met and mingled over time," said Vittorio Castellani, a TV chef and cookbook author.
Castellani said the ban was also a blow to immigrant communities, whose members often make a living by selling ethnic food.

Downtown Lucca, 40 miles west of Florence, is a popular destination for thousands of visitors, who roam its intact walls, medieval churches and Renaissance palaces.

Di Grazia, noting that other nearby towns had passed similar rules, said, the measure was not discriminatory.
He said it aimed to improve the city's image and protect Tuscan products, like wine and oil, as well as Lucca's cuisine, rich in soups, meat and pasta dishes.

It remains unclear how "different" a restaurant's menu would have to be to fall under the culinary ban.
Di Grazia said a French restaurant would be allowed to open, but he was not sure about a restaurant offering Sicilian dishes, which often include Middle Eastern ingredients.

*****

This is one town who will be loosing quite a bit of its tourist trade just as have other town that have gone down this road. I know I won't be visiting Lucca.

In environmental friendly news

In environmental friendly news ...

The Co-Op today became the first UK supermarket to ban the use of a group of pesticides implicated in billions of honeybee deaths worldwide.

It is prohibiting suppliers of its own-brand fresh produce from using eight pesticides that have been connected to honeybee colony collapse disorder and are already restricted in some parts of Europe.

Read the rest in The Guardian

Being Green: The Boy Scouts Aren't

In proof that 'image' isn't all it's cracked up to be ...

For nearly a century, the Boy Scouts have worn a self-adorned badge as campsite conservationists and good stewards of the land. makes

"The Boy Scouts were green before it was cool to be green," said the organization's national spokesman, Deron Smith.

But for decades, local Boy Scouts of America administrations across the country have clearcut or otherwise conducted high-impact logging on tens of thousands of acres of forestland, often for the love of a different kind of green: cash.

An investigation has found dozens of cases over the past 20 years of local Boy Scout councils logging or selling prime woodlands to big timber interests, developers or others, turning quick money and often doing so instead of seeking ways to preserve such lands.

Read more here

Your brain on fiction

In an upcoming journal article in Psychological Science reports on the research of scientists from the Dynamic Cognition Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis into what brain activity takes place while we read narrative stories.
The study concludes that our brains simulate the action in the story, echoing it as we read.

Nicole Speer, lead author of this study, says findings demonstrate that reading is by no means a passive exercise. Rather, readers mentally simulate each new situation encountered in a narrative. Details about actions and sensation are captured from the text and integrated with personal knowledge from past experiences. These data are then run through mental simulations using brain regions that closely mirror those involved when people perform, imagine, or observe similar real-world activities.

"These results suggest that readers use perceptual and motor representations in the process of comprehending narrated activity, and these representations are dynamically updated at points where relevant aspects of the situation are changing," says Speer, now a research associate with The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Mental Health Program in Boulder, Colo. "Readers understand a story by simulating the events in the story world and updating their simulation when features of that world change."

Readers build vivid mental simulations of narrative situations, brain scans suggest

Aerial shots of London by night

Here is a gallery of magnificent aerial night-photos of London from Jason Hawkes, who notes, "I often shoot tethered to my MacBook Pro to check the sharpness of the images whilst I shoot."

More of London from above, at night

You Got It

Roy Orbison

New Zealand inmate's leisurely stroll stopped by pole

Don't you just love it when real life imitates a slapstick comedy gag!

It was less than a Great Escape.

Two New Zealand prisoners who were handcuffed together as they fled a courthouse foiled their own getaway when they ran to opposite sides of a light pole, slammed into each other and fell to the ground.

Jailers nabbed them as they struggled to their feet.
(laughing their arses off, I'm sure - the jailers that is)

Their escapade on Wednesday was captured by a CCTV camera at Hastings District Court on New Zealand's North Island.

The footage shows the two men trying to make a break for it - but apparently forgetting they were joined at the wrist.

*****

I can't wait for that footage to make it to the net ... it'll be better than any Keystone Kops or Three Stooges skit ever was, I just know it!

Our Readers

Today's readers hail from:

Sylacauga Alabama, Unites States
Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
Lleida, Catalonia, Spain
Florence, South Carolina, United States
Luqa, Malta, Malta

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Although things are going pretty well, you still need to be careful.

I am always.

The Internet

In a look at the Internet we debut a new series with that little padlock symbol you see on the bottom right-hand corner of those 'secure' pages you use ...

That little padlock symbol that means you're shopping or banking at a secure site?
It might not be the symbol of security you've been told it is.

Read more in the Washington Post.

'Immortal' jellyfish swarming across the world

An 'immortal' jellyfish is swarming through the world's oceans, according to scientists.

The Turritopsis Nutricula is able to revert back to a juvenile form once it mates after becoming sexually mature.

Marine biologists say the jellyfish numbers are rocketing because they need not die.

Dr Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute said: "We are looking at a worldwide silent invasion."

The jellyfish are originally from the Caribbean but have spread all over the world.

Turritopsis Nutricula is technically known as a hydrozoan and is the only known animal that is capable of reverting completely to its younger self.

It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation.

Scientists believe the cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering it potentially immortal.

While most members of the jellyfish family usually die after propagating, the Turritopsis nutricula has developed the unique ability to return to a polyp state.

Having stumbled upon the font of eternal youth, this tiny creature which is just 5mm long is the focus of many intricate studies by marine biologists and geneticists to see exactly how it manages to literally reverse its aging process.

Science News

A couple of stories from the world of Science:

Many damaging effects of climate change are already largely irreversible

Climate change leaves emperor penguins 'facing extinction'

Health News

In a round up of Health related stories:

Study finds that aspirin may prevent liver damage that afflicts millions

Fast-food diet cancels out benefits of breastfeeding in preventing asthma

Cutting salt isn't the only way to reduce blood pressure; study suggests boosting potassium is also effective

Ailing economy leads to rise in stress, drop in healthy habits

Common medication associated with cognitive decline in elderly

New survey results show huge burden of diabetes

Unmet medical needs are most common among vulnerable children

Study finds MRSA in Midwestern swine, workers

Also in a related piece to a previous post on Carolina Naturally ...

If you've been paying attention you already know that high fructose corn syrup is bad for you, but it's worse than you thought - it's loaded with mercury

Did you know ...

Banks that got the ongoing bailout billions have reduced their lending more than banks that didn't get diddley-squat.

Read more at Reuters.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Concert for George

Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and other musicians, including George Harrison's son Dhani, perform Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"at the "Concert For George" - a memorial to the ex-Beatle George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death - at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002.

Unemployment is now at 17%

If it's calculated the way they used to do math before political tinkering.

C-Span

Liars and Fools

For today's edition of Liars and Fools we have the following.

Wingnut heads explode because President Obama gives his first TV interview to Al-Arabiya
Maybe if enough of them explode we can be shed of the lot of them. We can hope.

Robert Reich calls Dimbulb, Handjob, 'Male'kin on their lies
But do you think they noticed?

Wing-nut fact-fudger William Kristol jumps from New York Times to Washington Post
Yeah, like that is going to make him a writer.

Lush Dimbulb is hot under the collar
And this is a bad thing, how?

King (r-Michigan) believes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed wants asylum and American citizenship
He also 'believes' in little green men and the moon is made of cheese - so this is news?

Faux News promotes anti-Obama book filled with "falsehoods and red herrings"
All right, is anyone surprised at this?

Wing-nuts run with absolute nonsense on Guantanamo issue
As if it would be any other way.

Parroting repugican talking points, Dimbulb resumes lying about ACORN
Telling the truth would literally kill the fat bastard ... his body couldn't take the traumatic shock!

Dick(head) Morris reiterates: Obama stimulus plan is a trojan horse filled with socialists
He sees a socialist every time he looks in a mirror, oh, wait vampires can't see their reflection, sorry -forgot there for a moment.

Handjob repeats false calculation of job creation cost
One added to one equals two or at least it does in the real world ... in Handjob's world, who knows?

On Meet the Press, Gregory lets Boehner (r-Ohio) lie repeatedly about terror linked to former Guantanamo prisoners
Boner (excuse me, Boehner) does know how to tie his shoes without a map drawn out for him to follow so why should anyone listen to the blowhard anyway?

Juan Williams: Michelle Obama is 'Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress'
And Juan is such a prize?

And I Quote

"So far so good for the Obamas. The family is settled in. Their only complaint
is they can still hear creepy organ music coming from Dick Cheney's dungeon."

~ David Letterman

Economic Meltdown Continues

You want more proof the shrub and the cabal screwed this country over.

Then read this:

The FBI was aware for years of "pervasive and growing" fraud in the mortgage industry that eventually contributed to America's financial meltdown, but did not take definitive action to stop it.

"It is clear that we had good intelligence on the mortgage-fraud schemes, the corrupt attorneys, the corrupt appraisers, the insider schemes," said a recently retired, high FBI official.

Another retired top FBI official confirmed that such intelligence went back to 2002.

Read more here

Better be thankful they're not in China

Peanut processor knowingly sold tainted products.

The Georgia peanut plant linked to a salmonella outbreak that has killed eight people and sickened 500 more across the country knowingly shipped out contaminated peanut butter 12 times in the past two years, federal officials said yesterday.

Read more in the Washington Post

The recent spat of such things in China resulted in the ones responsible attending a necktie party in their honor ... it was the last party they ever went to.
Hemp neckties tend to make lasting impressions on the honoree, you know.

Attenborough's response to creationists' hate mail

Sir David Attenborough gets a lot of hate mail because he doesn't give credit to God in his documentaries.

In an interview with this week's Radio Times about his latest documentary, on Charles Darwin and natural selection, the broadcaster said: "They tell me to burn in hell and good riddance."

Telling the magazine that he was asked why he did not give "credit" to God, Attenborough added: "They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."

Attenborough's response to creationists' hate mail

You and me David, you and me.

Canada opposition reconsiders toppling government

Canada's main opposition party backed away from plans to topple the Conservative government, saying Wednesday the prime minister is "on probation" and must give periodic economic updates to Parliament.

The opposition Liberals had vowed to use a parliamentary confidence vote to take down Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government if his stimulus plan fell short.

But Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said he would support Harper's $32 billion plan if he agrees to give regular status reports on the economy to lawmakers.

"We are putting this government on probation," Ignatieff said.

"Should Mr. Harper fail to satisfy the expectations of Canadians we will be ready to defeat him."

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This is a huge mistake! You should oust the Harper n'er-do-wells' post haste and not let them further ruin your country.