A true story from the MountIsa in Queensland.
Recently a routine Police patrol car parked outside a local neighborhood pub.
Late in the evening the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so intoxicated that he could barely walk.
The man stumbled around the car park for a few minutes, with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five vehicles. The man managed to find his car, which he fell into.
He was there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons left the bar and drove off. Finally he started the car, switched the wipers on and off (it was a fine dry night). Then flicked the indicators on, then off, tooted the horn and then switched on the lights.
He moved the vehicle forward a few cm, reversed a little and then remained stationary for a few more minutes as some more vehicles left. At last he pulled out of the car park and started to drive slowly down the road.
The Police officer, having patiently waited all this time, now started up the patrol car, put on the flashing lights, promptly pulled the man over and carried out a random breathalyser test.
To his amazement the breathalyser indicated no evidence of the man's intoxication.
The Police officer said "I'll have to ask you to accompany me to the Police station - this breathalyser equipment must be broken."
"I doubt it," said the man, "tonight I'm the designated decoy"
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Question and Answer
Q. How does a Brazilian woman turn a man into a millionaire?
A. She first meets him when he is a billionaire
A. She first meets him when he is a billionaire
Store won't put child's name on cake
Heath and Deborah Campbell of Greenwich, Pennsylvania are angry that the ShopRite supermarket refused to spell out their 3-year-old son's name in frosting on his birthday cake.
His name is Adolph Hitler Campbell. Poor kid. An area Wal-Mart later agreed to decorate the cake. Others who read the story in a local paper were apparently upset with Heath Campbell about choosing that name for his child. That made him even angrier.
From the Associated Press:
"There's a new president and he says it's time for a change; well, then it's time for a change," the 35-year-old continued. "They need to accept a name. A name's a name. The kid isn't going to grow up and do what (Hitler) did...."
Heath Campbell said he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked the name and because "no one else in the world would have that name." He sounded surprised by all the controversy the dispute had generated...
He said he was raised not to avoid people of other races but not to mix with them socially or romantically. But he said he would try to raise his children differently.
Truths in Life
There is only a certain number of truths in Life and this is one of them ...
... If you want to live like a republican - Vote Democrat!
... If you want to live like a republican - Vote Democrat!
Best in Bathroom Reading
10. Archie comics
Simple, straightforward and escapist literature for the not too serious bathroom sessions.
9. Through Different Eyes
An excellent book of Poetry that allows you to see the world 'through different eyes'.
8. TV Guide
Take a highlighter in there with you and plan your entire TV schedule in one sitting.
7. Chicken Soup for the Soul
A book with lots of short stories about overcoming life's obstacles and challenges.
6. Daily newspaper
If you have time to read the newspaper, then it could be a great source of information. Unfortunately, many of us just cannot find the time to check out the day's headlines. Solution: just leave it in the think-tank and you'll end up reading it.
5.The Ultimate Bathroom Reader
The title says it all.
4. Business Magazines
OK, it's pretty obvious that big business does this so why not you.
3. Dictionary / Encyclopedia
If you want to increase your brain power this is it.
2. Playboy
Don't deny it. Even the ladies keep this one in their bathrooms.
1. Guinness Book of World Records
If you think this is a joke try one of those 'serious' bathroom sessions without it.
Simple, straightforward and escapist literature for the not too serious bathroom sessions.
9. Through Different Eyes
An excellent book of Poetry that allows you to see the world 'through different eyes'.
8. TV Guide
Take a highlighter in there with you and plan your entire TV schedule in one sitting.
7. Chicken Soup for the Soul
A book with lots of short stories about overcoming life's obstacles and challenges.
6. Daily newspaper
If you have time to read the newspaper, then it could be a great source of information. Unfortunately, many of us just cannot find the time to check out the day's headlines. Solution: just leave it in the think-tank and you'll end up reading it.
5.The Ultimate Bathroom Reader
The title says it all.
4. Business Magazines
OK, it's pretty obvious that big business does this so why not you.
3. Dictionary / Encyclopedia
If you want to increase your brain power this is it.
2. Playboy
Don't deny it. Even the ladies keep this one in their bathrooms.
1. Guinness Book of World Records
If you think this is a joke try one of those 'serious' bathroom sessions without it.
Greatest Rock Guitar Solos
Check out the rest of the list of the greatest rock guitar solos here.1. Comfortably Numb - David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
2. Stairway To Heaven - Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
3. All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
Got any old shoes ...
Got a pair of old shoes laying about the house? Want to be shed of them?
As a sign of your "respect and admiration", please feel free to send your old shoes to;
George W. Bush Presidential Library
c/o SMU
6425 Boaz Lane
Dallas TX 75205
Australia OKs Facebook for serving lien notice
From the "This is wrong and dangerous" Department:
You've been served.
A court in Australia has approved the use of Facebook, a popular social networking Web site, to notify a couple that they lost their home after defaulting on a loan.
The Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court last Friday approved lawyer Mark McCormack's application to use Facebook to serve the legally binding documents after several failed attempts to contact the couple at the house and by e-mail.
Australian courts have given permission in the past for people to be served via e-mail and text messages when it was not possible to serve them in person.
McCormack, a lawyer for the lender the couple borrowed from, said that by the time he got the documents approved by the court late Tuesday for transmission, Facebook profiles for the couple had disappeared from public view.
The page was apparently either closed or secured for privacy, following publicity about the court order.
"It's somewhat novel, however we do see it as a valid method of bringing the matter to the attention of the defendant," McCormack said.
Despite the setback, McCormack said the Facebook attempt would help his client's case that all reasonable steps had been taken to serve the couple.
A court is expected to settle the matter as early as next week.
A Queensland state District Court judge ruled in April against documents being served by Facebook because the option of contacting a person via a post office box had not yet been exhausted.
In the latest ruling, Master David Harper insisted that the documents be attached to a private e-mail sent via Facebook that could not be seen by others visiting the pages.
McCormack said he and a colleague found the woman's Facebook page using personal details that she had given the lender including her birth date and e-mail address.
The man was listed on her page as a friend.
Prior to Tuesday, neither had imposed security options that deny strangers access to their pages.
McCormack said he did not bother searching for the couple through any other social networking sites.
"It's one of those occasions where you feel most at home with what you know and I myself have a Facebook account," McCormack said.
This is so wrong on so many levels. And open to misuse and outright abuse by those seeking to harass, threaten and intimidate someone and claim they are just 'notifying' them of legal proceedings.
There are already flagrant violators of the 'Do Not Call' rule here in the USA claiming to have a 'prior relationship' with the person they are harassing with incessant phone calls to solicit something ... imagine the crap they'd be pulling if this egregious error by the Australian courts made was allowed here.
You've been served.
A court in Australia has approved the use of Facebook, a popular social networking Web site, to notify a couple that they lost their home after defaulting on a loan.
The Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court last Friday approved lawyer Mark McCormack's application to use Facebook to serve the legally binding documents after several failed attempts to contact the couple at the house and by e-mail.
Australian courts have given permission in the past for people to be served via e-mail and text messages when it was not possible to serve them in person.
McCormack, a lawyer for the lender the couple borrowed from, said that by the time he got the documents approved by the court late Tuesday for transmission, Facebook profiles for the couple had disappeared from public view.
The page was apparently either closed or secured for privacy, following publicity about the court order.
"It's somewhat novel, however we do see it as a valid method of bringing the matter to the attention of the defendant," McCormack said.
Despite the setback, McCormack said the Facebook attempt would help his client's case that all reasonable steps had been taken to serve the couple.
A court is expected to settle the matter as early as next week.
A Queensland state District Court judge ruled in April against documents being served by Facebook because the option of contacting a person via a post office box had not yet been exhausted.
In the latest ruling, Master David Harper insisted that the documents be attached to a private e-mail sent via Facebook that could not be seen by others visiting the pages.
McCormack said he and a colleague found the woman's Facebook page using personal details that she had given the lender including her birth date and e-mail address.
The man was listed on her page as a friend.
Prior to Tuesday, neither had imposed security options that deny strangers access to their pages.
McCormack said he did not bother searching for the couple through any other social networking sites.
"It's one of those occasions where you feel most at home with what you know and I myself have a Facebook account," McCormack said.
*****
This is so wrong on so many levels. And open to misuse and outright abuse by those seeking to harass, threaten and intimidate someone and claim they are just 'notifying' them of legal proceedings.
There are already flagrant violators of the 'Do Not Call' rule here in the USA claiming to have a 'prior relationship' with the person they are harassing with incessant phone calls to solicit something ... imagine the crap they'd be pulling if this egregious error by the Australian courts made was allowed here.
100 arrested in raids to thwart Mafia regrouping
Italian police backed by helicopters arrested almost 100 suspected mobsters Tuesday and thwarted a plan by the hobbled Sicilian Mafia to reconstitute itself and form a new ruling commission to set strategy, authorities said.
Carabinieri police in Palermo said the operation there and in other Sicilian cities was one of the largest in recent years and gave investigators a picture of the new highest echelons of the Mafia.
It also prevented possible bloodshed as bosses vied to control the commission.
The raids involved 1,200 police officers and helicopters.
They targeted the bosses of local families and lower-level mobsters intent on setting up the commission, which was to make Cosa Nostra's important decisions such as possible attacks, police said.Salvatore
"Toto" Riina, the boss of bosses, famously headed such a commission, known as the "cupola," until his arrest in 1993.
The commission decided to carry out a strategy of all-out attack against the state that culminated with the back-to-back slayings of top anti-Mafia fighters Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.
The Mafia's hierarchy has been trying to overcome disarray in its ranks since Riina's successor, Bernardo Provenzano, was arrested in April 2006 and Provenzano's closest aides two months later.
"If that operation ... brought Cosa Nostra down to its knees, this prevented it from getting up again," Pietro Grasso, the national anti-Mafia prosecutor, said Tuesday.
The operation - called Perseus, after the Greek mythological hero who beheaded Medusa - "severed all the strategically important heads of a new ruling structure that had to deliberate, as it once did, on all serious acts," Grasso said.
The current attempt to restore the commission was masterminded by a suspected mobster, Matteo Messina Denaro, who is among a handful of people vying to replace Provenzano, police said.
Messina Denaro is seen by investigators as a top candidate for the job after his main competitors were arrested.
He remains at large.
Charges for those arrested Tuesday include Mafia association, extortion, arms and drug trafficking, the Carabinieri said in a statement.
Carabinieri police in Palermo said the operation there and in other Sicilian cities was one of the largest in recent years and gave investigators a picture of the new highest echelons of the Mafia.
It also prevented possible bloodshed as bosses vied to control the commission.
The raids involved 1,200 police officers and helicopters.
They targeted the bosses of local families and lower-level mobsters intent on setting up the commission, which was to make Cosa Nostra's important decisions such as possible attacks, police said.Salvatore
"Toto" Riina, the boss of bosses, famously headed such a commission, known as the "cupola," until his arrest in 1993.
The commission decided to carry out a strategy of all-out attack against the state that culminated with the back-to-back slayings of top anti-Mafia fighters Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.
The Mafia's hierarchy has been trying to overcome disarray in its ranks since Riina's successor, Bernardo Provenzano, was arrested in April 2006 and Provenzano's closest aides two months later.
"If that operation ... brought Cosa Nostra down to its knees, this prevented it from getting up again," Pietro Grasso, the national anti-Mafia prosecutor, said Tuesday.
The operation - called Perseus, after the Greek mythological hero who beheaded Medusa - "severed all the strategically important heads of a new ruling structure that had to deliberate, as it once did, on all serious acts," Grasso said.
The current attempt to restore the commission was masterminded by a suspected mobster, Matteo Messina Denaro, who is among a handful of people vying to replace Provenzano, police said.
Messina Denaro is seen by investigators as a top candidate for the job after his main competitors were arrested.
He remains at large.
Charges for those arrested Tuesday include Mafia association, extortion, arms and drug trafficking, the Carabinieri said in a statement.
Man accused of stealing fridge with urine samples
Gainesville, Florida authorities say a man was arrested for stealing a small refrigerator from a probation office used to store urine samples, including his own.
The Alachua County Sheriff's Office said a 26-year-old man stole the fridge after testing positive for drug use. Police said he went to the office Sunday, shot out a window to get inside and removed the locked refrigerator.
Probation officers gave investigators a list of names of those whose drug samples were stored in the stolen fridge. Investigators tracked down the suspect at his home where they found shards of glass with blood on them.
The fridge is still missing, but the man was being held at the Alachua County jail. He's charged with arson, destroying evidence, burglary and larceny.
Boy, 4, breaks into Texas store, plays with toys
From the "WTF!" Department:
Police called to a variety store by a burglar alarm overnight found a toddler inside, playing with the toys. Police said store surveillance video showed the unidentified boy trying to open one of the front doors to a Family Dollar store in Beaumont, Texas about 3 a.m. Monday, only to find it locked. But the second door was unlocked and the child went inside.
That triggered the silent alarm.
Detective Randy Stevens said the child apparently unlocked a door at his nearby home, got out, then crossed a multi-lane street to reach the store.
A canvass of the neighborhood turned up a family member searching for the child.
CPS spokeswoman Shari Pulliam said Child Protective Services claimed oversight of a 4-year-old boy during a review of the incident. The boy will be allowed to stay with other relatives, not the parents, during the CPS review period.
Emer the errant emu found safe after a month trip
Emer the errant emu is home after roaming free across northern Rhode Island for a month. The fugitive was profiled on television broadcasts. Authorities, area residents and owner Pamela Hood had tried to capture him. Yet he managed to outlast tranquilizer darts, traffic, freezing temperatures and hunger.
Finally on Saturday a Burrillville woman spotted Emer sauntering up her driveway. She walked the 6-foot-tall, 130-pound bird into a horse stall. Four-year-old Emer was 16 miles away from home.
His trek began after a pig nuzzled open the gate on Hood's livestock enclosure.
Emer took off the same night his mate laid an egg. It falls to male emus to sit on eggs for incubation. With its father back, the egg has a better chance of hatching.
*****
He just wanted a last fling before he was saddled with motherhood is all.
Arkansas woman says dog saved her life
An Arkansas woman said her dog Miley saved her life when she persisted in waking her from a carbon monoxide stupor. Stacie Pitts, 30, said her 1-year-old pet was sleeping next to her and woke her up in the early morning hours of Dec. 7. Pitts said she had a headache and went back to sleep, but Miley persisted and woke her up again. Pitts said she was overcome with nausea and realized then that something was wrong.
"I couldn't hold anything down. I ran to the bathroom throwing up," Pitts said. "And I wasn't throwing anything up but chemicals. It tasted like medicine in the back of my throat."
Her fiance, Richard Childers, woke up with a headache and woke up Pitts' 6-year-old stepdaughter.
"It took a while (for Richard) to wake her up. And when she woke, she had a headache," Pitts said.
Childers then called an ambulance, which took Pitts to Summit Medical Center while Childers and the child, who had also thrown up, followed in his vehicle.
At the hospital, Pitts said, doctors found that Pitts had a carbon monoxide level of 25, Childers tested at 20-22 and Pitts' stepdaughter's level was 17. The poison permanently scarred Pitts' lungs.
"My doctor said I was just inches away from the deadly point. I was not comatose, but I couldn't open my eyes," she said.
The family was treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and released from the hospital.
"If it wasn't for her (Miley) waking me up and making me feel the sickness, I would have went to sleep and never woke up," Pitts said.
Arkansas Oklahoma Gas inspected the home and found a leaky home heating unit that Pitts said was "rusted and about to fall through the floor." Pitts said the home was not equipped with a carbon monoxide detector, but her landlord has since installed one and plans to put in a new heater.
N.Y. Giants ask fan to cover up skimpy outfit
The New York Giants need another sack - to cover a flamboyant fan who wears skimpy outfits.
Sondra Fortunato went to Giants Stadium last week wearing a Santa Claus outfit, a tiara, fishnet stockings, a bathing suit bottom and high-heeled boots.
She also had a suitcase and two 11-by-17 signs reading "Go Giants" and "Have a No Guns Christmas," referring to the team's wide receiver shooting himself in the leg.
She insists nothing naughty was showing even though she's "well-endowed." As the middle-aged woman puts it, "You couldn't even see my underwear."
The Giants apparently saw it another way.
Security escorted her out, saying signs and baggage weren't allowed and telling her to cover up because there were children present. She figures other women "got jealous and complained."
*****
They are going to regret having her 'cover up' next Sunday when she was their best chance at distracting the Carolina Panthers from beating them on their home field.
Would not have worked, but she was their best hope!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Goat born with the number 10 written in its fur
From the English Russian: “This Russian animal was born numbered. It’s still is and the owners search for some good sports player who uses the number “10″ to sell the goat to him.”
Discriminating readers read Carolina Naturally
Readers in ...
Australia, Malaysia, Italy, France, Russia, England, Belgium, Kuwait. Canada, Portugal, Japan, Peru, Sweden, New Zealand and the Netherlands ... have all visited Carolina Naturally today.
Australia, Malaysia, Italy, France, Russia, England, Belgium, Kuwait. Canada, Portugal, Japan, Peru, Sweden, New Zealand and the Netherlands ... have all visited Carolina Naturally today.
Sheboygan staged shootout turns a bit too real
A staged shootout got a little too real when two people were shot with a gun mistakenly loaded with birdshot. The Sheboygan County Sheriff's Capt. Dave Adams said the shooting happened about 11 a.m. Sunday during a train robbery re-enactment held as part of the weekend Santa Steam Train event.
Adams said participants were acting out a shootout between the train robbers and police when a gun sprayed 46 shotgun pellets into the arm, leg and abdomen of 49-year-old re-enactor Thomas E. Rumpff of Sheboygan.
Two pellets struck a 14-year-old spectator. One embedded in his index finger, and another bounced off his knee.
Adams said both were treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Man shot dead in Gaston hospital
In Local News:
An off-duty Gaston County police officer working as a security guard at Gaston Memorial Hospital fatally shot a man late Sunday after the suspect pointed a gun at another person in the hospital waiting room, Gaston County police say.
Authorities say Keyjuantas Devance Tims, 29, of Gastonia, was shot and wounded about 11 p.m. by Officer W.E. Howell, who was working private security when he received word that a man had a gun in the waiting room.
Tims died later.
Howell said that as he walked into the waiting room, he warned Tims several times to put his hands on a nearby counter, police say. He said as he approached Tims, the suspect allegedly drew a gun and aimed it at another person, police say.
Howell then pulled his service gun and shot Tims, police say.
Tims was treated at Gaston Memorial and then transferred to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he died overnight.
A check of court records for Tims shows a lengthy list of arrests and includes convictions on charges of marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession, carrying a concealed weapon, speeding and resisting public officer charges.
Howell has been placed on paid administrative leave, and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is joining Gaston County police in investigating the incident. That is customary in cases involving police shootings.
Laura Hargett of McAdenville witnessed the shooting.
She had brought her husband to the hospital for kidney stone treatment about 10 p.m. Sunday and was watching television in the waiting room when she saw two men coming through the front entrance.
About that time, she said, Howell walked into the waiting room through another door and warned Tims several times to "put his hands on the counter."
She said Tims started backing up, and then moved toward the officer.
"I saw a flash," said Hargett, 61. "And then the gun went off again." She said Howell kicked something across the floor that she later learned was a gun.
"In my eyes, the officer did what he should have done," she said. Hargett said she tried to keep calm. "I didn't want to shock somebody and (have) them turn on me."Change is not necessary
For all the repugs out there:
It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.
~ W. Edwards Demming.
It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.
~ W. Edwards Demming.
Science News
Ancient armored amphibian had world's oddest bite
From Reuters:
From Reuters:A peculiar amphibian that was clad in bony armor prowled warm lakes 210 million years ago, catching fish and other tasty snacks with one of the most unusual bites in the history of life on Earth.
The creature called Gerrothorax pulcherrimus, which lived alongside some of the early dinosaurs, opened its mouth not by dropping its lower jaw, as other vertebrate animals do.
Instead, it lifted back the top of its head in a way that looked a lot like lifting the lid of a toilet seat.
"It's weird. It's the ugliest animal in the world," Harvard University's Farish Jenkins, one of the scientists who describe the mechanics of its bite in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, said in a telephone interview on Friday.
"You almost can't imagine holding your jaws still and lifting your head back to take a bite," Jenkins said.
"There are some vertebrates that will lift their heads slightly or the upper jaws (when they bite). Some salamanders do it slightly. Some fish do it slightly. But no animal is known to have done it this extensively," Jenkins added.
The scientists think Gerrothorax lurked at the bottom of a lake, then with a sudden movement of the skull created a mouth gape that entrapped any fish unfortunate enough to swim by.
Gerrothorax measured about 3 feet (1 meter) long and was stoutly protected by bony body armor reminiscent of chain mail. It had a very flat body and very flat head, short, stubby limbs and well-developed gills, Jenkins added.
Its jaws were lined with sharp teeth. And the roof of its mouth was studded with large fangs to keep any slippery fish from escaping its chomp.
With a special adaptation of the joint between its skull and first neck vertebra, Gerrothorax could raise its head relative to its lower jaw by as much as 50 degrees, giving it the wide gape necessary to swallow its prey.
Gerrothorax is one of a group of odd amphibians called plagiosaurs with no modern descendants that vanished along with numerous other species 200 million years ago in a mass extinction at the end of the Triassic Period. Its fossils were found in the Fleming Fjord Formation of east Greenland.
"That the same species is found in Greenland as well as Western Europe and Scandinavia suggests that their unique structure was hugely successful," Anne Warren of La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, another of the scientists, said in a statement.
It was armored for good reason. It lived alongside massive, crocodile-like reptiles called phytosaurs and larger, predatory amphibians. Other fossils show dinosaurs, flying reptiles called pterosaurs and early mammals lived alongside it.
Only in Vegas
Atheist Seeks Same Access to Altar as Fake Liberaces, Elvises
“In a city launched by shotgun weddings and quickie divorces, which offers the chance to be wed by faux Liberaces, King Tuts and Grim Reapers, there remains at least one nuptial taboo: you can’t be married by an atheist. Michael Jacobson, a 64-year-old retiree who calls himself a lifelong atheist, tried this year to get a license to perform weddings. Clark County rejected his application because he had no ties to a congregation, as state law requires. So Jacobson and attorneys from two national secular groups — the American Humanist Association and the Center for Inquiry — are trying to change things. If they can’t persuade the state Legislature to rework the law, they plan to sue.
Jacobson, who spends most afternoons reading online or dining at a nearby buffet, is an admittedly reluctant plaintiff. But he’s willing to fight on principle, recalling one time he couldn’t: In the 1960s, the Army demanded that his dogtags note his religion. He reluctantly chose Judaism, which reflected his ancestry if not his beliefs.
“One of the things I like to do is stand up and say I’m a non-believer, so you know you’re not alone,” he said recently. For years Mel Lipman, a friend of Jacobson’s and the American Humanist Association president, had presided over non-religious weddings in Las Vegas. But he belonged to the Humanist Society, a secular branch of the Humanist Association whose tax status as a religious group satisfied the clerk’s requirements.
When Lipman and his wife moved to Florida this spring, Jacobson decided to become the Las Vegas atheist celebrant. “But I’m not going to do it by saying I belong to a religious organization,” he said. “That’s a sham because atheists are not religious.”
Captain Nemo of the cocaine trade
Darkside maker Enrique Portocarrero of Colombia is alleged to have designed and built up to 20 fiberglass submarines for transporting cocaine.
"He had a marvelous criminal vision," Colombian navy Capt. Luis German Borrero said. "He introduced innovations such as a bow that produced very little wake, a conning tower that rises only a foot above the water and a valve system that enables the crew to scuttle the sub in 10 minutes. He is very ingenious."...
Portocarrero was living well. Police, who reported finding $200,000 hidden in the spare tire of his car, say he had invested his reputed $1-million-per-vessel fees in the purchase of five shrimp boats.
Administrative Security officials allege that Portocarrero helped invent "semi-submersibles," as the narco-vessels are called, because they don't dive and resurface like true submarines, but cruise just below the surface.
Portocarrero's craft are difficult for counter-narcotics officials to detect on the open seas because their tiny wake creates a negligible radar "footprint." Also, authorities say, the exhaust is released through tubing below the surface, frustrating patrol aircraft's heat-sensing equipment.
Petition to "Get a Secretary of Real Food appointed" in Obama Administration
Bonnie Powell, who covers the ethics and politics of food over at Ethicurean, says:
Obama still hasn't named a Secretary of Agriculture, which is one of the most important appointments in the Cabinet, overseeing a $94 billion budget that directly affects not just farmers, but public health, the environment, animal welfare, and so much more. For years this post has been held by shills for "Big Farma" and pandered to those corporations like Cargill, Smithfield, Monsanto, and Archer Daniels Midland with massive lobbying clout. As Nicholas Kristof wrote in his NY Times column "Obama's Secretary of Food?", appointing a reformer to head the USDA would send a "powerful signal" that U.S. food policy was finally about to become more palatable.Kristof linked to a petition at fooddemocracynow.org that asks Obama's transition team to consider six candidates — all experienced, viable names of people who are ready and willing to serve — for Secretary of Agriculture who could potentially mend our broken food system. Already, after only six days, 36,000 people have signed the petition, including Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, and Bill Niman, and the Obama transition team appears to be paying attention. But for some reason, the current names still being floated in the media are not those of reformers at all.
Dave Murphy, a sixth-generation Iowan and the petition's organizer, said that he thinks if we can get the number of signers to 100,000 over the next few days, the pressure to choose someone from the sustainable agriculture and food community — not Big Farma – would be too immense to ignore.
Please consider signing the petition, blogging it, and/or forwarding this message to your personal networks and any list-servers you are on.
Visit fooddemocracynow.org now to sign.
Petition to make clean water a human right
The Article 31 petition is trying to get the UN to add a new article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one that recognizes a fundamental right to water. It comes from the people who made the amazing documentary on water rights, Flow.
In 1948, the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were ratified by all the nations of the world. These 30 articles guaranteed a broad sweep of human rights across many human endeavors, from Life to Liberty to Freedom of Thought.Now, sixty years later, recognizing that over a billion people across the planet lack access to clean and potable water and that millions die each year as a result, it is imperative to add one more article to this historic declaration, the Right to Water.
We, the undersigned, respectfully call upon the United Nations to add a 31st article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing access to clean and potable water as a fundamental human right.
We believe the world will be a better place when the Right To Water is acknowledged by all nations as a fundamental human right, and that this addition to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights represents a major step toward the goal of water for all.
Please join us. Water is a right, not a privilege.
Free Gubmint Money
FREE GOVERNMENT MONEY!
I am going to get my share!
Every year the government is required to give away free money to citizens and residents of the United States. Over $50 billion dollars is given away each year to individuals and businesses in the form of free grants. This free money can be used for almost any purpose - including to buy a house, start a business, pay for college, buy equipment, pay salaries, buy school supplies, get out of debt, buy clothing, pay for child camp, pay for music, art or education lessons, paying off your medical bills, pay for gas for your car, and anything else you desire.
Most Corrupt State
Its largest city is legendary for machine-style politics and its elected leaders have been under investigation for years, but by one measure, Illinois is not even close to the nation's most-corrupt state.
North Dakota, it turns out, may hold that distinction instead.
Read the rest here.
The Human Face of Eviction
This is a crime!
In the third quarter of 2008, more than 700,000 Americans faced foreclosure -- a new and troubling record. While mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced last month they would temporarily halt foreclosures and evictions from Thanksgiving to Jan. 9, the moratorium is likely to affect only a small percentage of homeowners. On a cold December morning, ANP witnessed an increasingly common, but rarely documented, tragedy: someone being evicted from his home.
Eviction Day: Foreclosure Crisis Forces Man From Home
In the third quarter of 2008, more than 700,000 Americans faced foreclosure -- a new and troubling record. While mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced last month they would temporarily halt foreclosures and evictions from Thanksgiving to Jan. 9, the moratorium is likely to affect only a small percentage of homeowners. On a cold December morning, ANP witnessed an increasingly common, but rarely documented, tragedy: someone being evicted from his home.
Just in case you missed it ...
Have you noticed?
Corporate Media have been desperately trying to shoehorn Barack Obama into the ethical problems of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, even though there’s not a shred (or hint of a shred) of evidence that he was in any way involved.
And the wing-nut shrill shills are still trying to foist the lie that we have a "Liberal Media" in this country!? The Corporate media are about as Liberal as the wing-nuts who own them are!
Corporate Media have been desperately trying to shoehorn Barack Obama into the ethical problems of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, even though there’s not a shred (or hint of a shred) of evidence that he was in any way involved.
And the wing-nut shrill shills are still trying to foist the lie that we have a "Liberal Media" in this country!? The Corporate media are about as Liberal as the wing-nuts who own them are!
New Readers
Carolina Naturally would like to welcome our newest readers in our 152nd country - Namibia!
Christians, Why Do You Celebrate Christmas?
This video poses a very GOOD question!
Why do Christians use the trappings of a pagan festival to celebrate the birth of Jesus when the Bible commands believers to avoid such things?
Daily Funny
A man staggered into a hospital with a concussion, multiple bruises, two black eyes, and a five iron wrapped tightly around his throat.
Naturally, the Doctor asked him, 'What happened to YOU?'
'Well, I was having a quiet round of golf with my wife, when at a difficult hole, we both sliced our golf balls into a field of cattle.
We went to look for them and while I was looking around I noticed one of the cows had something white at its rear end.'
'I walked over, lifted its tail, and sure enough, there was a golf ball with my wife's monogram on it - stuck right in the middle of the cow's arse
Still holding the cow's tail up, I yelled to my wife, 'Hey, this looks like yours!''
'I don't remember much after that'
Naturally, the Doctor asked him, 'What happened to YOU?'
'Well, I was having a quiet round of golf with my wife, when at a difficult hole, we both sliced our golf balls into a field of cattle.
We went to look for them and while I was looking around I noticed one of the cows had something white at its rear end.'
'I walked over, lifted its tail, and sure enough, there was a golf ball with my wife's monogram on it - stuck right in the middle of the cow's arse
Still holding the cow's tail up, I yelled to my wife, 'Hey, this looks like yours!''
'I don't remember much after that'
And I Quote
On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.
~ Will Rogers
~ Will Rogers
Bush, Iraq, Obama, Afghanistan, and journalistic shoes
Here is a good summary of recent events:
Someone has finally treated George W. Bush with the respect he deserves.
The treatment: two shoes thrown at his head. The someone: a certain Muntadar al-Zaidi, opinionated journalist of refined aim, if rather unsophisticated expression. "This is a farewell kiss! … Dog, dog!" he bellowed at Bush as he hurled the symbolic footwear, one after another.
"Throwing a shoe at someone," reports the Washington Post in a story I hope will trigger a 30-day stampede of American shoe-throwing, "is considered the worst possible insult in Iraq and is meant to show extreme disrespect and contempt."
I can't imagine a more fitting dénouement for Bush, for Iraqis, for us. But just as one miserable chapter of American interventionism inches -- maybe -- toward a close, another is ominously in the making.
Read the rest of P. M. Carpenter's piece here.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
And I Quote
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.
but the silence of our friends.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.
Naked Jen's Delicious Revenge on Brangelina!
Looking hot is the best revenge!
That's clearly the strategy that Jennifer Aniston has finally settled on after watching Angelina bewitch her ex-husband Brad...and the rest of the world.
And thank you, Jen. Going into battle unabashedly nude with a body toned to perfection
Read the rest here.
Cheetahs on brink of extinction
Cheetahs are fast, but can they outrun extinction? According to a new report released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the speedy feline, which can reach speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour, or 75 mph (making it the world's fastest land animal), is at risk of becoming the latest extinct species, The Independent's Ian Johnston reports. The report blames the cheetah's downfall on the usual suspects: habitat loss and degradation, urban development and hunting. Current populations levels stand at 10 percent of their historic highs.
Read the rest at Treehugger.com
Dividing the spoils
There was a huge nut tree by the cemetery fence. One day two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.
"One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy.
The bucket was so full, several rolled out towards the fence.
Cycling down the road by the cemetery was a third boy. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate.
Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you."
He knew what it was. "Oh my!!" he shuddered, "It`s Satan and St. Peter dividing the souls at the cemetery!"
He cycled down the road and found an old man with a cane, hobbling along.
"Come quick!" he said, "You won`t believe what I heard. Satan and St. Peter are down at the cemetery dividing the souls."
The man said, "Shoo, you brat! Can`t you see I`m finding it hard to walk as it is!"
After several pleas, the man hobbled to the cemetery and heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one..."
The old man whispered, "Boy, you`ve been tellin` the truth! Let`s see if we can see the Devil himself."
Shivering with fear, they edged toward the fence, still unable to see anything, but they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me, and one last one for you. That`s all. Let`s go get those nuts by the fence, and we`ll be done."
They say the old guy made it to town 10 minutes before the boy!
"One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy.
The bucket was so full, several rolled out towards the fence.
Cycling down the road by the cemetery was a third boy. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate.
Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you."
He knew what it was. "Oh my!!" he shuddered, "It`s Satan and St. Peter dividing the souls at the cemetery!"
He cycled down the road and found an old man with a cane, hobbling along.
"Come quick!" he said, "You won`t believe what I heard. Satan and St. Peter are down at the cemetery dividing the souls."
The man said, "Shoo, you brat! Can`t you see I`m finding it hard to walk as it is!"
After several pleas, the man hobbled to the cemetery and heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one..."
The old man whispered, "Boy, you`ve been tellin` the truth! Let`s see if we can see the Devil himself."
Shivering with fear, they edged toward the fence, still unable to see anything, but they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me, and one last one for you. That`s all. Let`s go get those nuts by the fence, and we`ll be done."
They say the old guy made it to town 10 minutes before the boy!
You heard right?
After his death, Osama bin Laden went to paradise. He was greeted by George Washington, who slapped him across the face and yelled angrily, "How dare you attack the nation I helped conceive!"
Then Patrick Henry punched Osama in the nose and James Madison kicked him in the groin.
Bin Laden was subjected to similar beatings from John Randolph, James Monroe, Thomas Jefferson and 66 other early Americans. As he writhed in pain on the ground, an angel appeared.
Bin Laden groaned, "This is not what I was promised!"
The angel replied, "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you! What did you think I said?"
Then Patrick Henry punched Osama in the nose and James Madison kicked him in the groin.
Bin Laden was subjected to similar beatings from John Randolph, James Monroe, Thomas Jefferson and 66 other early Americans. As he writhed in pain on the ground, an angel appeared.
Bin Laden groaned, "This is not what I was promised!"
The angel replied, "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you! What did you think I said?"
A moral tale
An attractive blond from Dublin arrived at the casino and bet twenty-thousand dollars on a single roll of the dice.
She said, "I hope you don't mind, but I feel much luckier when I'm completely nude". With that, she stripped from the neck down, rolled the dice and yelled," Come on, baby, Mama needs new clothes!"
As the dice came to a stop, she jumped up and down and squealed... "YES, YES, I WON, I WON!" She hugged each of the dealers and then picked up her winnings and her clothes and quickly departed. The dealers stared at each other dumbfounded
Finally, one of them asked, "What did she roll?" The other answered, "I don't know -.....I thought you were watching."
MORAL OF THE STORY
Not all Irish are stupid.
She said, "I hope you don't mind, but I feel much luckier when I'm completely nude". With that, she stripped from the neck down, rolled the dice and yelled," Come on, baby, Mama needs new clothes!"
As the dice came to a stop, she jumped up and down and squealed... "YES, YES, I WON, I WON!" She hugged each of the dealers and then picked up her winnings and her clothes and quickly departed. The dealers stared at each other dumbfounded
Finally, one of them asked, "What did she roll?" The other answered, "I don't know -.....I thought you were watching."
MORAL OF THE STORY
Not all Irish are stupid.
Late-night California mayor must leave City Hall by 11
Fed up with the nocturnal work habits of its mayor, South El Monte city council has approved a curfew limiting how late she can work at City Hall.
South El Monte council members say they have safety and liability concerns for Mayor Blanca Figueroa, who frequently works until the wee hours of the morning. She must now leave the building by 11 p.m.
The mayor - a self-described night owl - calls the restriction petty. She says she needs to stay late because her daytime schedule is filled with meetings and her inbox is overflowing with letters from residents affected by the worsening economy.
South El Monte is a city of 21,000 about 14 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Council members approved the curfew Wednesday.
Panthers win
The Carolina Panthers won for the second time in six days by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Monday night and beating the Denver Broncos just a few minutes ago.
At 11 - 3 the Panthers need only to win their remaining two games to be the number one seed in the NFC for the playoffs.
At 11 - 3 the Panthers need only to win their remaining two games to be the number one seed in the NFC for the playoffs.
Consumer civilization collapses.
Sociologists will tell you that the most powerful impetus to change is not a new discovery.
It's when you learn what you already knew.
What Americans already knew at some level was that the credit-card-driven, debt-ridden, pay-later economy wasn't sustainable.
Not economically.
Not environmentally.
Well, most Americans knew in any case.
It's when you learn what you already knew.
What Americans already knew at some level was that the credit-card-driven, debt-ridden, pay-later economy wasn't sustainable.
Not economically.
Not environmentally.
Well, most Americans knew in any case.
Man throws shoes at Bush in Iraq
The shrub had two shoes thrown at him Sunday during a news conference in the Iraqi prime minister's office in Baghdad.
The man who threw the shoes, apparently a journalist, shouted an Arabic phrase, which reportedly translated as, "This is a farewell kiss, dog,"
The shrub ducked and narrowly missed being struck by the first shoe, and the man threw a second shoe, which also came close to hitting the moron.
"All I can report is it is a size 10," the shrub said jokingly.
The shrub unexpectedly flew to Iraq Sunday to pay a farewell visit and discuss a recently signed security agreement, officials said.
Check out the video.
The Iraq trip is the shrub's fourth, and likely final, visit to the country that will define his legacy as the usurper.
Welcome new readers
Carolina Naturally would like to welcome our newest readers from our 151st country: Cambodia!
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Saturday, December 13, 2008
Naked in the Streets
Here's a story that might have slipped under your radar about how some celebrated Obama's election.
The "naked" Facebook group had 227 celebrating members — and on election day, their reports began rolling in. "Its dark and cold here in Vermont, but it felt great!"
"I did it too! In fact, I danced on the front porch, and yelled 'Whoo hoo!'"
"My partner and I went downstairs in our robes, dropped the robes and cracked up like a couple of giddy schoolgirls!"
And in Santa Cruz, Susie Bright reported that she "tore off my clothes and ran out on the front porch and screamed my head off."
Naked in the Streets
The "naked" Facebook group had 227 celebrating members — and on election day, their reports began rolling in. "Its dark and cold here in Vermont, but it felt great!""I did it too! In fact, I danced on the front porch, and yelled 'Whoo hoo!'"
"My partner and I went downstairs in our robes, dropped the robes and cracked up like a couple of giddy schoolgirls!"
And in Santa Cruz, Susie Bright reported that she "tore off my clothes and ran out on the front porch and screamed my head off."
Speaking of prophets
After "new left" protesters clashed with police during the 1968 Democratic convention, Norman Mailer had predicted that a torn country "will be fighting for forty years." (One critic complained that "Here at our end of the forty-year war there are no Norman Mailers. Only pollsters. And consultants. And political scientists.")But shortly before his death last year, 84-year-old Mailer had made the only political campaign contributions of his life — to Barack Obama.
Bears going bald, ...
... look like ' large rats'
OCALA NATIONAL FOREST
Somehow this poor creature just does not look as intimidating as a bear would normally appear.
OCALA NATIONAL FOREST
Somehow this poor creature just does not look as intimidating as a bear would normally appear.
Waste Coffee Grounds Make Great Biofuel
In the new study, Mano Misra, Susanta Mohapatra, and Narasimharao Kondamudi note that the major barrier to wider use of biodiesel fuel is lack of a low-cost, high quality source, or feedstock, for producing that new energy source. Spent coffee grounds contain between 11 and 20 percent oil by weight. That’s about as much as traditional biodiesel feedstocks such as rapeseed, palm, and soybean oil.
Growers produce more than 16 billion pounds of coffee around the world each year. The used or “spent” grounds remaining from production of espresso, cappuccino, and plain old-fashioned cups of java, often wind up in the trash or find use as soil conditioner. The scientists estimated, however, that spent coffee grounds can potentially add 340 million gallons of biodiesel to the world’s fuel supply.
To verify it, the scientists collected spent coffee grounds from a multinational coffeehouse chain and separated the oil. They then used an inexpensive process to convert 100 percent of the oil into biodiesel.
The resulting coffee-based fuel — which actually smells like java — had a major advantage in being more stable than traditional biodiesel due to coffee’s high antioxidant content, the researchers say. Solids left over from the conversion can be converted to ethanol or used as compost, the report notes. The scientists estimate that the process could make a profit of more than $8 million a year in the U.S. alone. They plan to develop a small pilot plant to produce and test the experimental fuel within the next six to eight months.
Nearly frozen sea turtle heading to rehab
His name is Herb, and he was very, very cold when he was found on a Cape Cod beach.
The 75-pound loggerhead sea turtle was discovered by volunteers from the Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay and was taken to the New England Aquarium in Boston for a slow but steady warmup.
The aquarium said Herb's body temperature was in the 40s when he was found on the beach in Truro on December 3rd.
Veterinarians and rescue biologists slowly warmed him about five degrees each day, and his body temperature is now in the low 70's.
Now Herb is ready to be moved to the Riverhead Foundation on New York's Long Island, which rehabilitates and releases seals, whales, dolphins, and sea turtles.
Herb, who was also suffering from an eye infection, is not the only sea turtle rescued from Cape Cod in a state of hypothermia this season, but the loggerhead turtle does have one distinction.
"This particularly guy, Herb, is the biggest of the season," said Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium.
So far this year, a total of 62 stranded sea turtles have been taken to the aquarium.
The 75-pound loggerhead sea turtle was discovered by volunteers from the Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay and was taken to the New England Aquarium in Boston for a slow but steady warmup.
The aquarium said Herb's body temperature was in the 40s when he was found on the beach in Truro on December 3rd.
Veterinarians and rescue biologists slowly warmed him about five degrees each day, and his body temperature is now in the low 70's.
Now Herb is ready to be moved to the Riverhead Foundation on New York's Long Island, which rehabilitates and releases seals, whales, dolphins, and sea turtles.
Herb, who was also suffering from an eye infection, is not the only sea turtle rescued from Cape Cod in a state of hypothermia this season, but the loggerhead turtle does have one distinction.
"This particularly guy, Herb, is the biggest of the season," said Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium.
So far this year, a total of 62 stranded sea turtles have been taken to the aquarium.
It's Getting There
Getting there! We have one tree decorated and four more to go. How is your holiday coming along?
As the fortune cookie crumbles
Had Chinese for lunch today and my 'fortune cookie' had this to say:
You love Chinese food.
Talk about the obvious!
You love Chinese food.
Talk about the obvious!
Mark, his words. Twain speaks from beyond
It only took a 100 years or so.
But the world is finally getting a piece of Mark Twain's mind on the subject of free expression and whether it's safer for your words to be expressed after you're dead."We have charity for what the dead say. We may disapprove of what they say, but we do not insult them, we do not revile them, as knowing they cannot now defend themselves. If they should speak, what revelations there would be!" Twain observed in "The Privilege of the Grave," an essay written in 1905, and long unpublished, that will appear in the issue of The New Yorker that comes out Monday.
"Now there is hardly one of us but would dearly like to reveal these secrets of ours; we know we cannot do it in life, then why not do it from the grave, and have the satisfaction of it?"
Foiled by pepperoni
Police say a pizza delivery man fought back with the one weapon he had handy when a gun was pulled on him in a stickup: A large, hot pepperoni pizza.
Delivery man Eric Lopez Devictoria, 40, flung the steaming pie at the gunman, buying time as he ran for safety, police said.
At least one shot was fired as Devictoria fled, but the deliveryman wasn't hurt and was able to quickly call police, according to authorities.
Three teenage suspects were nabbed soon after Wednesday's run-in with the cheesy weapon, police said, adding they were charged with armed robbery.
Delivery man Eric Lopez Devictoria, 40, flung the steaming pie at the gunman, buying time as he ran for safety, police said.
At least one shot was fired as Devictoria fled, but the deliveryman wasn't hurt and was able to quickly call police, according to authorities.
Three teenage suspects were nabbed soon after Wednesday's run-in with the cheesy weapon, police said, adding they were charged with armed robbery.
Wonder if he's Irish
A man, whose level of drunkenness was bordering on the absurd, stood up to leave a bar and fell flat on his face.
"Maybe all I need is some fresh air," thought the man as he crawled outside.
He tried to stand up again, but fell face first into the mud.
"Screw it," he thought. "I'll just crawl home."
The next morning, his wife found him on the doorstep asleep.
"You went out drinking last night, didn't you?" she said.
"Uh, yes," he said sheepishly. "How did you know?"
"You left your wheelchair at the bar again."
"Maybe all I need is some fresh air," thought the man as he crawled outside.
He tried to stand up again, but fell face first into the mud.
"Screw it," he thought. "I'll just crawl home."
The next morning, his wife found him on the doorstep asleep.
"You went out drinking last night, didn't you?" she said.
"Uh, yes," he said sheepishly. "How did you know?"
"You left your wheelchair at the bar again."
Can I get a witness
In court, the trucking company's fancy hot shot lawyer, was questioning Clyde.
"Didn't you say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine,'?" asked the lawyer.
Clyde responded, "Well, I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite cow, Bessie, into the..."
"I didn't ask for any details", the lawyer interrupted. "Just answer the question, please. Did you, or did you not say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine!'?"
Clyde said, "Well, I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road...."
The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Your Honor, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question."
By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Clyde 's answer and said to the lawyer, "I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite cow, Bessie".
Clyde thanked the Judge and proceeded. "Well, as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite cow, into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting, real bad and didn't want to move. However, I could hear old Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans."
"Shortly after the accident a Highway Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning, so he went over to her. After he looked at her, and saw her fatal condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes."
"Then the Patrolman came across the road, gun still in hand, looked at me, and said, "How are you feeling?""
"Now tell me, what the f*#k would you say?"
"Didn't you say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine,'?" asked the lawyer.
Clyde responded, "Well, I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite cow, Bessie, into the..."
"I didn't ask for any details", the lawyer interrupted. "Just answer the question, please. Did you, or did you not say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine!'?"
Clyde said, "Well, I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road...."
The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Your Honor, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question."
By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Clyde 's answer and said to the lawyer, "I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite cow, Bessie".
Clyde thanked the Judge and proceeded. "Well, as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite cow, into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting, real bad and didn't want to move. However, I could hear old Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans."
"Shortly after the accident a Highway Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning, so he went over to her. After he looked at her, and saw her fatal condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes."
"Then the Patrolman came across the road, gun still in hand, looked at me, and said, "How are you feeling?""
"Now tell me, what the f*#k would you say?"
Bias against Chimps
NASA sent a blond and 2 chimps into space.
Radio messages to the capsule were as follows:
NASA to chimp 1: Optimize life support systems and recalibrate radiation monitoring equipment.
NASA to chimp 2: Check trajectory and compensate if required using formula (m2-3n) x (5-m3).
NASA to blond: Vacuum capsule, feed chimps and don't touch anything else!!!!!
Radio messages to the capsule were as follows:
NASA to chimp 1: Optimize life support systems and recalibrate radiation monitoring equipment.
NASA to chimp 2: Check trajectory and compensate if required using formula (m2-3n) x (5-m3).
NASA to blond: Vacuum capsule, feed chimps and don't touch anything else!!!!!
Manifest Incompentence
McCain-Palin campaign dumps Blackberries loaded with personal numbers, internal email
The McCain-Palin campaign had a fire-sale and dumped several orphaned Blackberries, including at least one loaded with confidential personal numbers of important people, and a ton of internal campaign email.
Remember folks, these were the people who were planning on running an entire country. Our country!
Blackberry phones at $20 a piece. There were only 10 left. All of the batteries had died. There were no chargers for sale. But people were snatching them up. So, we bought a couple.And ended up with a lot more than we bargained for.
When we charged them up in the newsroom, we found one of the $20 Blackberry phones contained more than 50 phone numbers for people connected with the McCain-Palin campaign, as well as hundreds of emails from early September until a few days after election night.
We traced the Blackberry back to a staffer who worked for “Citizens for McCain,” a group of turncoats who threw their support behind the Republican nominee. The emails contain an insider’s look at how grassroots operations work, full of scheduling questions and rallying cries for support.
But most of the numbers were private cell phones for campaign leaders, politicians, lobbyists and journalists.
We called some of the numbers.
“Somebody made a mistake,” one owner told us. “People’s numbers and addresses were supposed to be erased.” (as the saying goes 'no shit sherlock')
“They should have wiped that stuff out,” another said. But he added, “Given the way the campaign was run, this is not a surprise.” ( again we say 'no shit sherlock')
Now after reading this latest in manifest incompetence, aren't you glad we voted in Obama, instead?!
They don't come as cheap as they used to ...
Earlier today the washing machine died on us and the Mrs., dragged me out to the appliance store to replace it ... of course we had to replace the perfectly good dryer as well - they had to match!
Now, $3500.00 poorer I told her those damn machines better gather, wash, dry, fold and put away any clothing or bed linens in the house by themselves!
I don't know what all the doodads and bells and whistles they have on them but she likes them.
But damn, $3500.00!
Now, $3500.00 poorer I told her those damn machines better gather, wash, dry, fold and put away any clothing or bed linens in the house by themselves!
I don't know what all the doodads and bells and whistles they have on them but she likes them.
But damn, $3500.00!
In answer to your question
On a political forum a young man in his twenties asked ... "I am only twenty-seven so I am a bit young but is there anyone that remembers when a republican would speak of 'family values' and 'honesty' and 'personal responsibility' and everyone would not break out into uncontrollable hysterical laughter?"
Well, I am old enough to remember when - if there was such a time ... alas, sadly there was not.
It is good to see younger people caring about politics.
Well, I am old enough to remember when - if there was such a time ... alas, sadly there was not.
It is good to see younger people caring about politics.
Explorers ID 19th-century schooner in Lake Ontario
Two explorers conducting underwater surveys of Lake Ontario have uncovered an aquatic mystery - a rare 19th-century schooner sitting upright 500 feet under the waves.
Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville located the 55-foot long dagger-board ship unexpectedly this fall using deep scan sonar equipment off the lake's southern shore, west of Rochester.
The ship is the only dagger-board known to have been found in the Great Lakes.
Kennard said vessels of this type were used for a short time in the early 1800s.
The dagger-board was a wood panel that could be extended through the keel to improve the ship's stability.
The dagger-boards could be raised when the schooner entered a shallow harbor, allowing the boat to load and unload cargo in locations that would not otherwise be accessible to larger ships.
The shipwreck was found upright and in remarkable condition considering it had plunged more than 500 feet to its resting place on the bottom, the men said.
The schooner's origin is a mystery so far.
The name of the schooner is unknown and there are no documented accounts of a dagger-board schooner sinking in Lake Ontario.
The explorers suspect the schooner was being converted to a barge or other sailing craft by its owners and perhaps broke free from its moorings in the ice or during a violent storm and was carried far out on the lake before it eventually sank.
During the past several months, the explorers have been seeking help from Great Lakes maritime historians to learn more about the schooner.
The dagger-board schooner is one of the older ships discovered in Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes.
In May 2008, Kennard and Scoville discovered the British warship HMS Ontario, which was lost in 1780.
The Ontario is the oldest shipwreck ever found in the Great Lakes and the only British warship of this period still in existence in the world.
There are estimated to have been over 4,700 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, including about 550 in Lake Ontario.
Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville located the 55-foot long dagger-board ship unexpectedly this fall using deep scan sonar equipment off the lake's southern shore, west of Rochester.
The ship is the only dagger-board known to have been found in the Great Lakes.
Kennard said vessels of this type were used for a short time in the early 1800s.
The dagger-board was a wood panel that could be extended through the keel to improve the ship's stability.
The dagger-boards could be raised when the schooner entered a shallow harbor, allowing the boat to load and unload cargo in locations that would not otherwise be accessible to larger ships.
The shipwreck was found upright and in remarkable condition considering it had plunged more than 500 feet to its resting place on the bottom, the men said.
The schooner's origin is a mystery so far.
The name of the schooner is unknown and there are no documented accounts of a dagger-board schooner sinking in Lake Ontario.
The explorers suspect the schooner was being converted to a barge or other sailing craft by its owners and perhaps broke free from its moorings in the ice or during a violent storm and was carried far out on the lake before it eventually sank.
During the past several months, the explorers have been seeking help from Great Lakes maritime historians to learn more about the schooner.
The dagger-board schooner is one of the older ships discovered in Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes.
In May 2008, Kennard and Scoville discovered the British warship HMS Ontario, which was lost in 1780.
The Ontario is the oldest shipwreck ever found in the Great Lakes and the only British warship of this period still in existence in the world.
There are estimated to have been over 4,700 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, including about 550 in Lake Ontario.
They don't make'em like they used to ...
The washing machine just gave up the ghost and it was only 16 years old!
I mean it literally just died.
They just don't make thing to last any more!
Why is that?
And, I did not know the Mrs., knew such Sunday School language?!
I mean it literally just died.
They just don't make thing to last any more!
Why is that?
And, I did not know the Mrs., knew such Sunday School language?!
Malaysia burglar stuck for 3 days in haunted house
A news report says a burglar who broke into a house claims he was held captive by a "supernatural figure" for three days without food and water.
Police official Abdul Marlik Hakim Johar said the house's owners found the 36-year-old man fatigued and dehydrated when they returned from vacation Thursday.
He says they called an ambulance to take him to a hospital.
The man told police that every time he tried to escape, a "supernatural figure" shoved him to the ground.
*****
We have just entered the 'Twilight Zone'!
Florida woman drinking on roof asks man for more beer
From the "There might be a problem here" Department:
A man called police on Wednesday night after he came home from work and spotted an intoxicated woman drinking a beer on the roof of his home. The 28-year-old woman was taken into custody after she refused to get down and leave. The police report said the woman agreed to leave only if the man agreed to give her more beer.
The woman, who faces a disorderly intoxication charge, has been in trouble before.
A police report shows that she was suspected of stealing money from her sister to buy alcohol in October. And last week an officer who went to her apartment on a disturbance report reported that Smith was intoxicated and wouldn't quiet down.
Kasparov begins new Russian opposition movement
Kremlin critic and former chess champion Garry Kasparov has teamed up with like-minded politicians to begin a new Russian opposition movement called Solidarity.
The organization is named in honor of the Polish anti-communist movement.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov is among the founders of the new movement.
He and Kasparov have been criticizing Kremlin policy for years under the auspices of various opposition groups.Russia's liberal opposition has traditionally been criticized for lacking a positive program, something Solidarity aims to change.
Over 150 delegates attended Saturday's founding congress at a hotel near Moscow.
The organization is named in honor of the Polish anti-communist movement.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov is among the founders of the new movement.
He and Kasparov have been criticizing Kremlin policy for years under the auspices of various opposition groups.Russia's liberal opposition has traditionally been criticized for lacking a positive program, something Solidarity aims to change.
Over 150 delegates attended Saturday's founding congress at a hotel near Moscow.
Not too shabby
Carolina Naturally averages around 400 readers a day.
Not too shabby seeing as how there are some big name blogs out there who average just about the same. Then again, there are some big name blogs out there that average multiple thousands of readers a day. So, it is all relative, isn't it?!
Things to say ...
Things to say when you are losing a technical argument:
- That won't scale.
- That's been proven to be O(N^2) and we need a solution that's O(NlogN).
- There are, of course, various export limitations on that technology.
- The syntax is idiosyncratic.
- Trying to build a team behind that technology would be a staffing nightmare.
- That can't be generalized to a cross-platform build.
- Unfortunately, the license would contaminate our product.
- If we go with that idea, we're going to have Don Marti camped out in the front lobby with 300 angry software jihad supporters.
- Our support infrastructure simply can't handle the volume that change would involve.
- I had one of the interns try that approach for another project, and it scrambled the CEO's hard drive. So I think it's going to be a hard sell.
- Yes, well, that's just not the way things work in the real world.
- I like your idea. Why don't you write up a white paper and we'll review it at the next staff meeting?
- Unfortunately, we're an all-FORTH shop. Otherwise, it's a nice idea.
- I think you need to stop taking this so personally. We need to think about what's best for the project, not about our own little pet theories.
- Oh, I played with that approach back as an undergrad. Got a D, too.
- I was reading about that on BugTraq yesterday.
- Yes, I believe that's the approach Windows NT is taking.
- That's totally inefficient on modern hardware.
- Well, yes, but it really reduces to the knapsack problem in that case. Do you have some kind of heuristic, or are we dealing with an NP-complete case?
- Have you LOOKED at the number of I/O requests that will create?
- We can't afford the transaction overhead.
- Yeah, or we could all just plink away on Amigas or something.
- What? I don't speak your crazy moon-language.
- Hmm. Didn't they just go bankrupt? It's OK, I guess -- there's some German company who's picked up the existing service contracts.
- No, no, no. We're really working on an N-TIER architecture, here.
- No, no, no. It's fairly important that the database be in THIRD NORMAL FORM.
- No, that would break object encapsulation.
- I don't think that's altogether clear. Please write it up in UML for me.
- I think there's a problem with your drive geometry.
- Can you generate some USE CASES that would justify the change?
- How is that going to impact the schedule?
- RAM is cheap and all, but...
- It would probably be best if we deferred that until version 2.0.
- I like it, but it is too point-oh for my tastes.
- If you make this change, I will fork the code.
- Yes, well, unfortunately the economy is going away from anything remotely like that. Our investors would kill us.
- Jakob Nielsen wrote an interesting hit piece on that.
- Yes, yes, we've all read DJB's RFCs on the subject.
- This is all covered in Knuth, and we don't have time to go over it again.
- This one is in the FAQ: http://www.linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/#your_dumb_technology
- I don't have time for this extropian nonsense.
- Well, I guess we could start the QA cycles again from square one. That would require a press release, though.
- You used to program in Pascal, didn't you?
- Why don't we make a generalized solution including both options, and let the administrator decide with a config-file setting?
- You've obviously ignored the various namespace issues.
- I don't think you're considering the performance trade-offs.
- What kind of benchmarks have you been running?
- Let's table this for now, and we'll talk about it one-on-one off-line.
- This really doesn't jibe with our core competency.
- This sort of thing should really be outsourced.
- I remember that IBM had a project to do that back in the 70s.
- Um, hello? We're using VON NEUMANN MACHINES HERE.
- We need this to fit on a single floppy.
- Yes, but can this be embedded in a toaster, for example?
- We need something that my mom can use.
- Users won't want to click through that many layers of hierarchy.
- The packaging costs will be prohibitive.
- OK, but what about internationalization?
- Look, would you just get off your Be obsession for FIVE MINUTES and talk serious design with us?
- That's a good idea -- you should do that on your home page.
- Yeah, Linuxcare tried that with the Sourceror project.
- Ho, man! Are they still AROUND? That's so cool. I thought that whole idea was discredited years ago.
- What you're not seeing is the difference between an 'is-a' and a 'has-a' relationship.
- There is no hope for the widow's son, Boaz.
- Yes, but we're standardizing on XML.
- That doesn't fit into the MVC model.
- Well, that's great if you have an AI running the thing.
- Well, they're going to do that with the next version of Perl, so we should probably wait.
- Well, they're going to do that with the next version of OS X, so we should probably wait.
- I heard that the only real application for that technology was child pornography. How did you hear about it?
Daily Horoscope
The horoscope for the day says:
You have everything figured out, but now there are complications.
Now, ain't that the truth!
You have everything figured out, but now there are complications.
Now, ain't that the truth!
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Highlands
Click on the photo of Castle Stewart in Inverness to see why we Scots love our Highlands!
Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy is a town located in northern South Australia and is known as the opal capital of the world, as nearly 95 percent of the world's opal supply comes from the local mines. This small town with a population of around 3000 has a unique way of life – nearly half of them live underground.
Read the rest here (and see the photos).
India is trying to block Bangladesh's copy of Taj Mahal
A wealthy film director is spending £40 million to build an exact replica of the Taj Mahal in Bangladesh, but Indian officials are trying to block its constructing, claiming the Taj Mahal, which was completed in 1653 is protected by copyright.
For their part, Bangladeshi officials are incensed by suggestions that the Taj Mahal - which was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and completed in 1653 - is protected by some sort of copyright.“I'm not sure what they are talking about,” one said. “Show me where it says that emulating a building like this can be illegal.”
To make his Taj, Mr Moni imported marble and granite from Italy and diamonds from Belgium to add to 160kg (350lb) of bronze. He hopes that his version of the mausoleum will attract tourists to Bangladesh, a country that is well off the beaten track for Western holidaymakers.
Through A Glass Darkly
When one examines the oddities and absurdities about life one finds they are in fact not oddities and absurdities, but that which is 'normal'.
And all that is 'normal' in life is naught save the oddities and absurdities of life.
It is like looking through a glass darkly ... all you see is yourself.
And all that is 'normal' in life is naught save the oddities and absurdities of life.
It is like looking through a glass darkly ... all you see is yourself.
Catholics On Parade
No, it's not the Ku Klux Klan.It really is 'catholics on parade' in the 1950's in Procession de Semana Santa en Sevilla.
Fooled you didn't they?!
Mexican soldiers kill pregnan woman
Soldiers shot to death a pregnant 35-year-old woman after she reportedly failed to stop at a highway checkpoint in the northern state of Chihuahua, authorities said.
Silvia Arzate died after soldiers opened fire on the sport utility vehicle she was driving near the capital of Chihuahua, which is experiencing a surge of violence as drug gangs battle each other and authorities, said the state prosecutors' spokesman, Eduardo Esparza.
The circumstances surrounding Thursday's shooting remain unclear.
Esparza said Arzate, who died of several gunshot wounds, had been carrying a cousin in her vehicle who had been wounded in an earlier gunbattle. Her mother was also aboard, but was not injured.
Silvia Arzate died after soldiers opened fire on the sport utility vehicle she was driving near the capital of Chihuahua, which is experiencing a surge of violence as drug gangs battle each other and authorities, said the state prosecutors' spokesman, Eduardo Esparza.
The circumstances surrounding Thursday's shooting remain unclear.
Esparza said Arzate, who died of several gunshot wounds, had been carrying a cousin in her vehicle who had been wounded in an earlier gunbattle. Her mother was also aboard, but was not injured.
Our readers
Some of today's readers hail from:
Lucknow, Espoo, Madrid, Rome, Nagpur, Jakarta, Zaragoza, Tamuning, Pune, Baghdad, Ahmedabad, Izmir, Paris.
And lest you think Carolina Naturally only has out of state and out of country readers.
The following cities in the Carolinas all have Carolina Naturally readers in them who have dropped by today:
Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Boone, Cary, Greensboro, Beaufort, Charleston, Raleigh, Wilkesboro, Lumberton, Greenville, Cullowhee, Asheville, Black Mountain, Linville, Highlands, Monroe, Waxhaw, Huntersville, Davidson, Statesville, Moresville, Morris, New Bern, Fayetteville, Columbia, Clemson, Greenwood, Spartanburg, Mount Airy, Farquy-Varina, Hatteras, Robbinsville, Hot House, Saulda, Cherokee, Waynesville, Sanford, Pinehurst, Wagram, Old Fort, and Gastonia.
Lucknow, Espoo, Madrid, Rome, Nagpur, Jakarta, Zaragoza, Tamuning, Pune, Baghdad, Ahmedabad, Izmir, Paris.
And lest you think Carolina Naturally only has out of state and out of country readers.
The following cities in the Carolinas all have Carolina Naturally readers in them who have dropped by today:
Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Boone, Cary, Greensboro, Beaufort, Charleston, Raleigh, Wilkesboro, Lumberton, Greenville, Cullowhee, Asheville, Black Mountain, Linville, Highlands, Monroe, Waxhaw, Huntersville, Davidson, Statesville, Moresville, Morris, New Bern, Fayetteville, Columbia, Clemson, Greenwood, Spartanburg, Mount Airy, Farquy-Varina, Hatteras, Robbinsville, Hot House, Saulda, Cherokee, Waynesville, Sanford, Pinehurst, Wagram, Old Fort, and Gastonia.
Scientists create device that can project images from dreams
From the "Oh, Shit it's finally happened ..." Department:
... They can really read our minds!
... They can really read our minds!
And just begs the question ... Can this possibly be true?
A team of Japanese scientists have created a device that enables the processing and imaging of thoughts and dreams as experienced in the brain to appear on a computer screen.
While researchers have so far only created technology that can reproduce simple images from the brain, the discovery paves the way for the ability to unlock people’s dreams and other brain processes.
A spokesman at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories said: “It was the first time in the world that it was possible to visualise what people see directly from the brain activity.
Darpa, Dronemaker to Brew Algae-Based Jet Fuel
Pentagon way-out research arm Darpa and Predator dronemaker General Atomics are teaming up to try to turn algae into jet fuel. The Defense Department announced the $20 million deal earlier in the week.The idea is to “demonstrate and ultimately commercialize the affordable production” of an algae-based surrogate for JP-8 jet fuel by 2010. The work is going to be spread all over the country, from the Scripps Institutions of Oceanography near San Diego to Hawaii Bio Energy in Honolulu to the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental research center. General Atomics also seems to have pulled down an extra $4 million in Congressional pork money to set up a plant-fuel research facility at Eastern Kentucky University.
Former Nasdaq chairman busted for running a $50 billion fraud
A former Nasdaq chairman has been arrested for stealing over $50 billion through an elaborate Ponzi scheme (the largest ever) run through his private investment fund -- he allegedly ripped off some clients to pay other clients, then recruited (and then robbed) new clients to pay off the last round of losers. The Wall Street Journal says he was turned in by his sons.
In a separate criminal complaint, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Theodore Cacioppi said Mr. Madoff's investment advisory business had "deceived investors by operating a securities business in which he traded and lost investor money, and then paid certain investors purported returns on investment with the principal received from other, different investors, which resulted in losses of approximately billions of dollars..."
The 70-year-old Mr. Madoff is the founder and primary owner of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The firm is primarily known for its business in market-making, or serving as the middleman between buyers and sellers of shares. But Mr. Madoff also oversaw an investment-advisory business that managed money for high-net-worth individuals, hedge funds and other institutions...
Both complaints say Mr. Madoff told his sons he believed losses from his fraud exceeded $50 billion. That figure couldn't be confirmed. But such a loss is plausible, had money been flowing in and out for years: At the beginning of 2008, according to the SEC filing, his operation had more than $17 billion under management.
Such a scheme would dwarf past Ponzi schemes. It would also be nearly five times larger than the accounting fraud that drove telecom company WorldCom into bankruptcy proceedings in 2002.
Albino raccoon
This not a fox but rather a rare albino raccoon that lives in the woods of Rockledge, Florida. A local woman has been lobbying for the zoo to capture it for its own protection.
Michelle Smurl, Brevard Zoo's director of animal programs, said the zoo is not at liberty to trap an adult animal that is thriving in the wild. She viewed photos of the animal and confirmed that it is a white raccoon.
"The raccoon looks healthy, and it looks like it's doing well," Smurl said. "I grew up with white squirrels up in New York, and I was worried that someone was going to shoot them."
Federal Reserve refuses to disclose the recipients of $2 trillion in emergency loans
It's our money and we have bloody well got a right to know where it's going!
Bloomberg News filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Federal Reserve on November 7 to find out who is getting the $2 trillion in bailout money.
The Federal Reserve told them to shove it.
The Federal Reserve told them to shove it.
The Fed responded Dec. 8, saying it’s allowed to withhold internal memos as well as information about trade secrets and commercial information.You think Madoff's $50 billion fraud was something? He's a penny ante operator compared to these guys....
“Notwithstanding calls for enhanced transparency, the Board must protect against the substantial, multiple harms that might result from disclosure,” Jennifer J. Johnson, the secretary for the Fed’s Board of Governors, said in a letter e-mailed to Bloomberg News.
“In its considered judgment and in view of current circumstances, it would be a dangerous step to release this otherwise confidential information,” she wrote.
Biggest, brightest full moon of the year tonight
If you get a chance, check out tonight's full moon. It will be closer to Earth than it's been since 1993 - 221,560 miles away, making it look 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than 2008's other full moons.The composite NASA photo above shows how different the size of the moon appears at perigee, the moon's closest point to the Earth, and apogee, its furthest position from us.
From National Geographic:
"Typically we don't have the full moon phase and perigee (the position of an object at its least distance from Earth), coinciding at the same time, so that makes this event particularly special," said Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California...
"While high tides happen each month when the sun, Earth, and the moon are aligned, there is going to be an enhanced effect, with the moon being the closest it's been in more than a decade," said Ben Burress, staff astronomer at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, California.
It's Rummey's fault
Rumsfeld's decision a "direct cause" for POW abuse, says bipartisan Senate report
A bipartisan Senate report concluded that decisions by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld were a "direct cause" of inhumane treatment of POWs.
You know, of course, the only thing that will happen as a result of this report is that the shrub will hand Rummy a medal along with his pardon.The report, endorsed by Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is the most forceful denunciation to date of the role that Rumsfeld and other top officials played in the prisoner abuse scandals of the last five years.
The document also challenges assertions by senior Bush administration officials that the most egregious cases of prisoner mistreatment were isolated incidents of appalling conduct by U.S. troops.
"The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own," the report says.
Instead, the document says, a series of high-level decisions in the Bush administration "conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in U.S. military custody."
Web site producer dresses as backup Caps goalie
A 6-foot-7 Web site producer for the Washington Capitals prepared to dress as the team's backup goalie for tonight's game against the Ottawa Senators because of an injury to Jose Theodore.
Brett Leonhardt, who played Division III hockey in college, signed an amateur tryout contract before the game. If he were to actually get on the ice, he would tie the record for tallest goalie ever to play in an NHL game.
1940's heartthrob Van Johnson dies at 92
Van Johnson, whose boy-next-door wholesomeness made him a popular Hollywood star in the '40s and '50s with such films as "30 Seconds over Tokyo," "A Guy Named Joe" and "The Caine Mutiny," died Friday of natural causes.
He was 92.
Johnson died at Tappan Zee Manor, an assisted living center in Nyack, N.Y., said Wendy Bleisweiss, a close friend.
With his tall, athletic build, handsome, freckled face and sunny personality, the red-haired Johnson starred opposite Esther Williams, June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor and others during his two decades under contract to MGM.
He proved to be a versatile actor, equally at home with comedies ("The Bride Goes Wild," "Too Young to Kiss"), war movies ("Go for Broke," "Command Decision"), musicals ("Thrill of a Romance," "Brigadoon") and dramas ("State of the Union," "Madame Curie").
During the height of his popularity, Johnson was cast most often as the all-American boy.
He played a real-life flier who lost a leg in a crash after the bombing of Japan in "30 Seconds Over Tokyo."
He was a writer in love with a wealthy American girl (Taylor) in "The Last Time I Saw Paris." He appeared as a post-Civil War farmer in "The Romance of Rosy Ridge."
He was 92.
Johnson died at Tappan Zee Manor, an assisted living center in Nyack, N.Y., said Wendy Bleisweiss, a close friend.
With his tall, athletic build, handsome, freckled face and sunny personality, the red-haired Johnson starred opposite Esther Williams, June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor and others during his two decades under contract to MGM.
He proved to be a versatile actor, equally at home with comedies ("The Bride Goes Wild," "Too Young to Kiss"), war movies ("Go for Broke," "Command Decision"), musicals ("Thrill of a Romance," "Brigadoon") and dramas ("State of the Union," "Madame Curie").
During the height of his popularity, Johnson was cast most often as the all-American boy.
He played a real-life flier who lost a leg in a crash after the bombing of Japan in "30 Seconds Over Tokyo."
He was a writer in love with a wealthy American girl (Taylor) in "The Last Time I Saw Paris." He appeared as a post-Civil War farmer in "The Romance of Rosy Ridge."
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