Non Sequitur

The truth hurts

Romney now flip-flopping on abolishing FEMA

Romney Flip-Flops on Abolishing FEMA

Mitt Romney today clarified – in only the way he can – that he would NOT abolish FEMA as he previously stated he would.  Maybe.
You’ll recall that Mitt Romney had previously said he might dismantle FEMA and devolve its responsibilities to the states.  The Romney campaign appeared to confirm these statements last night, and the campaign most certainly refused to issue a statement denying it.
Now, after much criticism in the middle of one of the largest natural disasters in American history, the Romney campaign is saying that he wouldn’t “abolish” FEMA, but would still partially dismantle it.  And they’re not even willing to give a real quote, with a real official’s name behind it, even though the rest of the statement from the campaign, about giving more of FEMA’s powers to the states, they do say on the record with a named official.

Then Romney Backs Off His Own Flip-Flop on FEMA

Note what happens here.  First, a named official gives Politico a quote that still  sounds like they’re going to tear FEMA apart.  Then, an unnamed official refuses to give an actual quote saying that they wont’t abolish FEMA.
Here’s Romney’s typically wish-washy “clarification” that doesn’t really clarify anything:

“Gov. Romney believes that states should be in charge of emergency management in responding to storms and other natural disasters in their jurisdictions,” Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said in a statement. “As the first responders, states are in the best position to aid affected individuals and communities, and to direct resources and assistance to where they are needed most. This includes help from the federal government and FEMA.”

Now the unnamed campaign official and no longer a quote:

A campaign official added that Romney would not abolish FEMA.

See that.  First it’s Ryan William and a quote when the quote is somewhat anti-FEMA.  Then it’s no name and no quote when supposedly the content is pro-FEMA.
I’m a bit surprised that Politico didn’t find this odd, and didn’t frankly demand an on the record quote by a named official before they’d print the campaign’s claim that Romney won’t abolish FEMA.  It’s also odd that they didn’t push Romney on the clear implication in the quote that FEMA may be emasculated and partially dismantled by Romney should he win.

Romney Previously Said Funding FEMA Was “Immoral”

Politico also didn’t bother giving you the rest of the quite damning quote about FEMA Romney made during the repugican primaries:

“Including disaster relief, though?” debate moderator John King asked Romney.
“We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids,” Romney replied. “It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we’ll all be dead and gone before it’s paid off. It makes no sense at all.”

The man said it’s immoral to keeping spending money on disaster relief while running a deficit. But we’re now supposed to believe that the latest Romney flip-flop, one that the campaign won’t even give an on-the-record quote about, is the “real” truth, the real Romney.
In the end, the Romney campaign doesn’t want to be held to this promise, so no one made it – there’s no quote, so if they end up abolishing FEMA they’ll say that Politico is crazy, they didn’t even have a source.
Latest view of the earth and Hurricane Sandy:

The truth be told

Obamacare repeal has insurance industry scared

Oh, so, now they’re worried.

The insurance industry did a lot of crying about Obamacare, even though we’ve known for a while it was going to be big business for them.  Now they’re crying because – heaven forbid! – a Romney victory, along with a repugican-controlled House, might mean chaos for their business as the repugican cabal attempts to follow through on its threat to repeal health care reform.

Poor babies, right?

Despite all of the talk by repugicans about how disruptive Democrats are for business, it sure sounds like it’s the repugicans who are the making life unpredictable for business.  This time for the insurance industry.
In truth, the repugicans are loose cannons and everyone knows it – remember, it was repugican threats not to pass the debt ceiling increase that caused the US’ credit rating to be downgraded.
From National Journal:

The big new element on Friday was an official outside recognition that U.S. creditworthiness is being undermined by a new factor: political insanity. S&P didn’t base its downgrade on a change in the U.S. fiscal and economic outlook. It based it on the political game of chicken over the debt ceiling, a game that repugicans initiated and pushed to the limit, and on a growing gloom about the partisan deadlock.   Part of S&P’s gloom, moreover, stemmed explicitly from what a new assessment of the repugican cabal’s ability to block any and all tax increases.
S&P was remarkably blunt that its downgrade was mostly about heightened political risks:  “The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed,” it said….
To be sure, S&P didn’t specifically single out repugicans. It criticized the overall $2.4 trillion deal as too limited, and it implicitly criticized both political parties for refusing to tackle their sacred cows – entitlements, in the case of Democrats; tax increases in the case of repugicans.
But it’s hard to read the S&P analysis as anything other than a blast at repugicans.  In denouncing the threat of default as a “bargaining chip,” the agency was saying that the repugican strategy had shaken its confidence.  Though S&P didn’t mention it, the agency must have been unnerved by the number of repugicans who insisted that it would be fine to blow through the debt ceiling and provoke a default.

And now Big Insurance has suddenly woken up to the fact that repugican insanity is bad for business.  Maybe they should have thought about that before joining the repugican cabal in ripping Obamacare.
ABC via Yahoo:

Although the industry hates parts of President Barack Obama’s health care law, major outfits such as UnitedHealth Group and BlueCross Blue Shield also stand to rake in billions of dollars from new customers who’ll get health insurance under the law. The companies already have invested tens of millions to carry it out.Were Romney elected, insurers would be in for months of uncertainty as his administration gets used to Washington and tries to make good on his promise repeal Obama’s law. Simultaneously, federal and state bureaucrats and the health care industry would face a rush of legal deadlines for putting into place the major pieces of what repugicans deride as “Obamacare.”
Would they follow the law on the books or the one in the works? What would federal courts tell them to do? Looking at the strange and destructive insanity of the repugican cabal, let’s take a guess how a repugican Congress might react.

Did you know ...

Burglary Suspect Sues Homeowner for Shooting Back

You know this country is overly litigious when even suspected criminals can sue their alleged victims for violence.

A suspected burglar and attempted murderer has brought a lawsuit against the man he allegedly tried to kill.
Apparently, the burglar did not like that his intended victim shot back at him, reports CBS News.
You know this country is overly litigious when even suspected criminals can sue their alleged victims for violence. The plaintiff/criminal suspect, Samuel Cutrufelli, allegedly kicked in the door of 90-year-old Jay Leone's California home. Leone was ordered not to move as Cutrufelli scoured the house for valuables.
After some time, Leone told the burglar that he needed to use the bathroom. But instead of a potty break, Leone went to retrieve his .357 revolver.

Leone allegedly emerged from the bathroom with the revolver and pointed it at the burglar. Cutrufelli then took the first shot and hit Leone in the cheek, reports CBS News. Leone, a former sheriff's deputy, returned fire as Cutrufelli begged for his life.
As Leone tells it, "I looked him straight in the eye. He says, 'Don't kill me. Don't kill me... I've got a daughter!' I said, 'F- you ... pow, pow, pow, pow!'"
While Leone hit Cutrufelli with three of the shots, the criminal suspect allegedly rushed Leone, wrestled him to the floor, and then tried to kill Leone with his own weapon. But when Cutrufelli pulled the trigger, his weapon was out of ammo.
Cutrufelli eventually escaped and called for medical treatment, claiming that he'd shot himself. However, police promptly arrested him for suspicion of burglary and attempted murder, reports CBS.
Perhaps smarting over being outsmarted by his 90-year-old victim, Cutrufelli filed a lawsuit claiming that Leone negligently shot him. Given California's self-defense laws, Leone likely had a pretty good reason to fire at the suspected burglar who'd already broken into his home and shot at him.
Leone may soon fire back at his alleged attacker yet again: He says he's going to file a countersuit against the suspected burglar.

The Highest Credit Score in the US

The highest possible credit score is 850. But apparently, no one ever gets that score. Tom Pavelka of Westlake, Ohio, recently was congratulated by a credit bureaus for having a credit score of 848, which "ranks higher than 100 percent of U.S. consumers." How did he do it?

He has a few simple rules:

1. Never charge something without having something to show for it.

2. Never spend money without knowing when you can repay it.

3. Pay your bills on time.

You might think you have to have no debt to have a really high credit score, but that's not true. Credit scores are formed in part based on your payment history. If you never have debt, you have no track record for repaying it.

In fact, the Pavelkas have a mortgage (with four years left,) an equity line that he usually uses to buy cars and then pays off, four credit cards with amounts due this month (they pay the bills in full each month) and a total of eight credit cards with available credit exceeding $120,000.

But here's what might be the biggest factor in building such a reputation for financial responsibility: the Pavelkas have no children. More

Random Celebrity Photo

Gene Tierney c. 1940’s

Fake gold bars infiltrate precious metals market

Warning: some of your $18,000 10-ounce gold bars might actually be filled with tungsten. Gold goes for about $1800/ounce; tungsten is $1/ounce.

Chemical engineer Ibrahim Fadl, who owns a business in Manhattan's Diamond District, strips away the outer layer of a 10-ounce bar of what he thought was pure gold, sold to him by a customer at his gold refinery business.
The shell peels off like foil on a chocolate bar.
"It's got to be somebody really, really professional," said Fadl. "When I analyzed them, it showed they are tungsten."
Tungsten is a metal used to make military weaponry, drilling equipment and even jewelry. Gold and tungsten have almost the exact same density, so a substitution of metals would be difficult to detect.

Diamond District Businessman Tricked Into Paying $100K For Fake Gold Bars 

Fire Station Fire

A fire station in Lanzhou, Gansu province, China, was gutted by a fire recently, causing chagrin for the local fire department. It was first announced as a "training exercise," but later fire officials had to admit that a welding spark ignited a nearby can of gasoline, and the resulting blaze spread out of control. The improperly-stored gas can led at least one blogger to ridicule fire officials.

"They're forever telling other people what to do, how many extinguishers to have and closing down businesses because they don't meet fire regulations.

"How about we close them down now?" said one local blogger.

More

Old Family Photos

Man Sued Wife for Ugly Baby

I'm a firm believer that no babies are ugly, but a man named Jian Feng from China apparently believed that there are such a thing, and that his own baby is one.
Because his wife is beautiful and he considered himself to be hunky, Feng immediately thought that his wife cheated. But the truth was much, much darker:

As it turns out, his wife didn’t cheat, but did gloss over the fact that she had spent $100,000 on intense plastic surgery to severely change how she looked before she met him. It’s the kind of thing that can slip your mind on the first date. After his wife revealed this to him, Feng took the only right-minded course of action and divorced and sued her, claiming that she got him to marry her under false pretenses. The false pretense presumably being that she was good looking.

Feng sued and, incredibly, he won $120,000 in judgment against his ugly-turned-beautiful ex-wife: More

Librarians Found a Gun in a Donated Book

Image: Valparaiso Police Department

Hiding a gun inside a hollowed-out book seems like something you'd only find in mystery books or at the movies, so employees at an Indiana public library were surprised to find it in real life:

The book, which carries the title "Outerbridge Reach," was hollowed out and contained a historic-looking handgun, according to Valparaiso police.
"Somebody just opened it up and said, 'Oh my,' " said Assistant Library Director Phyllis Nelson.
The weapon was described by police as a gold, wooden handle, A.S.M. brand, .31-caliber, single shot, black powder gun.
Nelson said she contacted police and told them the book had been donated to the library.

Bob Kasarda of The Times of Northwest Indiana has the story: Here.

Mystery Celebrity Photo

Scary Costume

At Least One Office Will Remain Open During the Hurricane

Hurricane Sandy is about to hit the eastern coast of the United States. But the guards at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Virginia have sworn:

Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements, I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability.

They have stood continuous watch since April 6, 1948. They will continue.
More

HMS Bounty Sinks in Sandy

Crew rescued, two missing

The 180-foot wooden ship HMS Bounty sank in high seas off the coast of North Carolina. Read more

Ye olde hurricane analysis

The above is an excerpt from the entry on hurricanes in A New and Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, published in 1763 by the delightfully named "A Society of Gentlemen".
The entry contains information on how natives of the Caribbean were said to be able to predict hurricanes — portents that center around the color of the sky and the phases of the Moon. I'm curious whether any meteorology fans and experts out there can offer insight on that. Read the full entry. (It's short.) And let me know. Does this sound like stuff that would line up with what we know about hurricanes today?
Also: Helpful tip. "F" is pronounced "S" here.

Old Timey Medical treatments Inspired by Your Nightmares

A hundred years ago, the state of medical knowledge was a bit thin by our standards, but it was much better than what came before. A list at Cracked makes us glad to live in the time we do, despite the price of health insurance. You are probably familiar with some of the frightening treatments on the list, but some may be new to you, like the practice of stuffing balls into a person's lung. I am not making this up.

It was a procedure called plombage, which was the process of collapsing a person's lungs with acrylic balls to allow them to "rest" and heal the lesions caused by tuberculosis. The drawback to this therapy was that sometimes the balls were never taken back out, which led to infection, sepsis and other serious complications related to having your lung tissue inundated with balls made of the same material used to craft RuPaul's fingernails.

There are other treatments that are illustrated with pictures that may be disturbing. More

The legend of Sleepy Hollow

The entire 1949 Disney work that was banned.

The Great New England Vampire Panic

Although European vampire panics died out in the 1700s, America had its share of scares in the 1800s, particularly in New England, and particularly during outbreaks of tuberculosis. Some of the dead were dug up and killed a second time, just to make sure.

The particulars of the vampire exhumations, though, vary widely. In many cases, only family and neighbors participated. But sometimes town fathers voted on the matter, or medical doctors and clergymen gave their blessings or even pitched in. Some communities in Maine and Plymouth, Massachusetts, opted to simply flip the exhumed vampire facedown in the grave and leave it at that. In Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont, though, they frequently burned the dead person’s heart, sometimes inhaling the smoke as a cure. (In Europe, too, exhumation protocol varied with region: Some beheaded suspected vampire corpses, while others bound their feet with thorns.)

Often these rituals were clandestine, lantern-lit affairs. But, particularly in Vermont, they could be quite public, even festive. One vampire heart was reportedly torched on the Woodstock, Vermont, town green in 1830. In Manchester, hundreds of people flocked to a 1793 heart-burning ceremony at a blacksmith’s forge: “Timothy Mead officiated at the altar in the sacrifice to the Demon Vampire who it was believed was still sucking the blood of the then living wife of Captain Burton,” an early town history says. “It was the month of February and good sleighing.”

Yes, it happened in several states, a lot more often than one would suspect in 19th-century America. Read about these incidents in Smithsonian magazine's extensive article about American vampires. More

Extremely Silly Photos of Extremely Serious Historical Figures

It's always nice to catch a glimpse of VIPs doing things everyday normal people do. This image of Tsar Nicholas II playing airplane made me wonder whether the guy supporting him was really a "friend" or a subject forced to carry him -but the source gallery at Retronaut labels him as a fellow royal. Other celebrities in the list at Flavorwire include Albert Einstein, Joe Stalin, Richard Nixon, Franklin Roosevelt, and more. More

Four Stories Of Alleged Time Travelers

Is it possible to travel through time? Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the need for the traveler to experience the intervening period (at least not at the normal rate).

Although time travel has been a common plot device in science fiction and the theories of special and general relativity allow methods for forms of one-way travel into the future via time dilation, it is currently unknown whether the laws of physics would allow time travel into the past. We may never know, but in the meantime we can at least enjoy a good laugh at those who would have us believe they've cracked the code.

The Stark Beauty of Arizona’s Petrified Forest

From the painted desert badlands to the rainbow-colors of petrified wood, the Petrified Forest is one national park you won't want to miss. More

Thai man caught with 16 tiger cubs in truck

Thai authorities have arrested a lorry driver after 16 tiger cubs were discovered in the back of his vehicle. The man was stopped near the border with Laos after avoiding a police checkpoint.

The driver told police he had been paid 15,000 baht ($490; £300) to transport the cubs. Thailand is one of the centers of the illegal trade in tigers. Tiger body parts are prized in many parts of Asia for their reputed medicinal properties.

The cubs were found packed into eight plastic crates. The driver now faces the possibility of a four-year jail term or a fine of 40,000 baht ($1,300; £800) on wildlife-smuggling charges. The animals are now in the care of wildlife officials.

YouTube link.

Only six subspecies of tiger remain in the wild, with fewer than 1,000 tigers thought to be left in each group. Earlier this year, heads of police and customs from 13 countries with wild tiger populations agreed to tighten controls and improve cross-border co-operation to combat smuggling.

Hermit Crabs Socialize To Evict Their Neighbors

Social animals usually congregate for protection or mating or to capture bigger prey, but a University of California, Berkeley, biologist has found that the terrestrial hermit crab has a more self-serving social agenda: to kick another crab out of its shell and move into a larger home.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

Yes, do ...

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Kuwait, Kuwait

Lahore, Pakistan

Lublin, Poland

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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Today in History

312		Constantine the Great defeats Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius at the Mulvian Bridge.
969		After a prolonged siege, the Byzantines end 300 years of Arab rule in Antioch.
1216		Henry III of England is crowned.
1628		After a fifteen-month siege, the Huguenot town of La Rochelle surrenders to royal forces.
1636		Harvard College, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, is founded in Cambridge, Mass.
1768		Germans and Acadians join French Creoles in their armed revolt against the Spanish governor of New Orleans.
1793		Eli Whitney applies for a patent on the cotton gin, a machine which cleans the tight-clinging seeds from short-staple cotton easily and effectively–a job which was previously done by hand.
1863		In a rare night attack, Confederates under Gen. James Longstreet attack a Federal force near Chattanooga, Tennessee, hoping to cut their supply line, the "cracker line." They fail.
1886		The Statue of Liberty, originally named Liberty Enlightening the World, is dedicated at Liberty Island, N. Y., formerly Bedloe's Island, by President Grover Cleveland
1901		Race riots sparked by Booker T. Washington's visit to the White House kill 34.
1904		The St. Louis police try a new investigation method: fingerprints.
1914		The German cruiser Emden, disguised as a British ship, steams into Penang Harbor near Malaya and sinks the Russian light cruiser Zhemchug.
1914		George Eastman announces the invention of the color photographic process.
1919		Over President Wilson's veto, Congress passes the National Prohibition Act, or Volstead Act, named after its promoter, Congressman Andrew J. Volstead. It provides enforcement guidelines for the Prohibition Amendment.
1927		Pan American Airways launches the first scheduled international flight.
1940		Italy invades Greece, launching six divisions on four fronts from occupied Albania.
1944		The first B-29 Superfortress bomber mission flies from the airfields in the Mariana Islands in a strike against the Japanese base at Truk.
1960		In a note to the OAS (Organization of American States), the United States charges that Cuba has been receiving substantial quantities of arms and numbers of military technicians" from the Soviet bloc.

Non Sequitur

Marco Rubio not told daughter was in accident until after rally for Romney

We need to know more, but I do find it interesting that no one reportedly told repugican Senator Marco Rubio that his daughter was airlifted to a hospital in stable condition following a car accident until AFTER he was done doing a campaign rally with Mitt Romney.Miami Herald:

Rubio was notified of the accident after coming off stage while campaigning with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Kissimmee.

The Washington Post has the same story. And the AP is reporting that Rubio was informed after coming off stage AFTER the rally was over.
I don’t know about you, but if my child were in a car accident, and in bad enough shape that she needed to be airlifted, I’d like to know immediately, not after I’m done campaigning for Mitt Romney.
It will be interesting to see whose staff, Rubio’s or Romney’s, made the decision not to tell Rubio that his daughter was laying on a stretcher until after he was done giving his campaign speech for Mitt Romney.
No matter which 'camp' it was it shows how 'compassionate' repugicans truly are - which is to say not compassionate at all.

More repugican lies ...

Well, what do you know, it turns out that tax cuts for the top 5% does nothing to create jobs.

It's just another repugican lie - but we knew that anyway.

Obama 74.4% chance of winning, Romney 25.6%

Nate Silver of Five Thirty Eight and the NYT keeps showing Obama with an increasing chance of winning the election.  Obama’s chances versus Romney’s are currently 74.4% to 25.6%.

[W]e may be approaching the point where the state polls will have to be systematically biased toward Mr. Obama in order for Mr. Romney to have strong chances of prevailing on Election Day.

 

Nate’s graph shows Obama’s chances steadily improving since October 13/14.
It’s interesting to note that Nate and HuffPost say the race is virtually tied, in terms of votes, but not according to electoral votes.  And if you look at HuffPo’s electoral map, you can see why.  At this point, Romney has to win more than is likely in order to pull it off – meaning, he has to win ever state where he has strong support (191 electoral votes), every state that leans his way (15), every tossup state (55), and he’d still be 9 electoral votes short of winning.

That’s not to say it’s impossible, but a lot has to go Romney’s way for him to win.
Politico’s Mike Allen is saying that this could be the closest race in our lifetimes:

 If you’re a political junkie, enjoy it, soak it in: In our lifetimes, there may never be another  race that looks this close for the final two weekends.

The Huffington Post also has an interesting piece up about how Hurricane Sandy might affect the election (in case you’ve been living under a rock, there’s a massive storm heading to the East Coast that’s freaking everyone over here out). The head of Gallup is worried that the storm might make it difficult to correctly poll people who live out east.

Newport, appearing on MSNBC’s “Jansing & Co.,” responded to a question from Chris Jansing about the potential impact of the storm on Gallup’s polling by saying, “It affects us, because if a sizable hunk of the country can’t communicate — power’s out or they’re disrupted — then that can affect our national estimate. So you’re right, we might have to stop polling for the days when the storm hits, unfortunately.”

I also wonder how the storm might impede any early voting, and also it will steal the news cycle away from the candidates – though not entirely.  The President will have to weigh in, and possible tour the area – that could help or hurt depending on whether it’s seen as empathetic or opportunistic.  As for Mr. Romney, expect him to be holding lots of press conferences in people’s flooded interviews announcing that he’s there to help.

A 108-year-old to vote for first time

South Carolina woman grew up during Jim Crow laws

 A 108-year-old woman plans to vote in her first election next month, and the South Carolina woman spoke about what inspired her to cast a ballot after so many years.
"I feel good," said Joanna Jenkins.
For decades, Joanna has watched elections come and go. But something, and someone, is standing out about this election, and she is using her right to vote for the very first time.
"She's just excited. She wants to vote this year,” said cousin Shirley Lee. “We were looking at the elections, and as the debates were going on, she decided -- say, 'I want to vote,' all of a sudden. She just wants to vote. She just decided that she wants to vote. She's excited to vote."
Because she can't read or write and does not have a state-issued ID, Joanna’s family didn't think she'd be eligible to vote. But thanks to help from their family doctor and the Beaufort County Board of Elections, she's now registered as an absentee voter.
But elections officials said her case is extremely unusual.
"It's incredible,” said Scott Marshall, Beaufort County election director. “She grew up in a time when Jim Crow laws were fully in effect, and minority voter suppression was the norm. And to vote was a fight, not a right, at that time. So for her to be voting now is a great example to others that it's never too late to vote, and you should always exercise your right to vote."
"She was telling everyone, everybody that came by to visit, she was just telling everybody, 'I'm going to vote! I'm going vote! I'm going vote!' So this year, she's going do it,” said Lee.
For Joanna, there's no better time than now to start her voting record, and who gets her vote?  Obama.

US more racist now than before Obama, poll shows

Not so surprisingly, four years of racist hate from the tea party and mainstream repugicans has come with a price: a new poll shows that racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008.Day after day, year after year, they spew hate and the repugican cabal leadership and much of the media fails to call them out for what they are.

 

Though they’re wearing American flag shirts or Paul Revere costumes, it’s not an overstatement to say these people hate America and what we used to stand for.
They’re against change, they’re terrified of the future, they detest science, and are as closed minded as the Taliban. Besides being generally ignorant, and not very bright, they control almost 50% of the politicians in Washington. How embarrassing for our country.
The added insult from these knuckle-draggers is that they will probably be blaming Obama for the increase in racism, rather than looking in the mirror and accepting what putrid hate mongers they are.

Racial attitudes have not improved in the four years since the United States elected its first black president, an Associated Press poll finds, as a slight majority of Americans now express prejudice toward blacks whether they recognize those feelings or not.
Those views could cost President Barack Obama votes as he tries for re-election, the survey found, though the effects are mitigated by some people’s more favorable views of blacks.
Racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008 whether those feelings were measured using questions that explicitly asked respondents about racist attitudes, or through an experimental test that measured implicit views toward race without asking questions about that topic directly.

Fearful Kids More Likely to Become Wingnuts

People raised by parents who value obedience are more likely to vote wingnut, research suggests. Read more

Why Do Children Think Covering Their Eyes Makes Them Invisible?

Anyone who has ever engaged in a round of peekaboo with a child has witnessed an adorable yet somewhat illogical behavior that is nearly universally shared among children: the attempt to hide from view by simply closing their eyes. This is cute and all, but it's also baffling.

Why do children think they can render themselves invisible? And why have nearly all young children come to this same irrational conclusion? Cambridge researchers are finding out why.

Differences That Confuse Us All

Do you know the difference between a boat and ship? A ghost and a ghoul? Speed and velocity, or a pill and a tablet? English can be a very confusing language - with similar terms for different things and different terms for similar things.
Here's a selection of 20 things that have vastly different names for things we consider the same - but as you will see, in most cases they are completely different.

World's Worst Prisons

Hard time is a lot harder in any of these jails.  
Read more

Assault suspect had victim's ear in his pocket

A Tulsa, Oklahoma, man is being held in lieu of $50,500 bond after police found part of an ear in his pocket. Joseph Sidney Hall Jr., 24, was booked on Friday morning on complaints of domestic assault and battery, kidnapping, maiming and obstructing an officer.
Police say the mother of Hall's son contacted them after she escaped from the Braden Creek Apartments where she said she was being held against her will. The victim had been severely assaulted and had contusions to her face, head, torso, arms and legs, according to a police report.

The woman also had several bite marks on her body, broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Part of her right ear had been cut or torn off, the arresting officer states.

Police went to Hall's apartment they took him into custody. Officers say they found blood stains and clumps of hair consistent with the victim's. When they booked Joseph Hall into the Tulsa County Jail, police say they found the missing part of the victim's ear in his pocket. Hall has a tattoo that says "misunderstood," police noted in their report.

Pro Tip

Don't Rob Banks Where the Tellers Know You By Name  

Especially if you're on a first-name basis with them:

During one robbery the teller actually recognized her, asking Heffernan, “Do you want to make a deposit Kerri?”

No, Kerri wanted to make a withdrawal. But before she could complete the transaction, police in Whitman, Massachusetts arrested her for this bank robbery and on suspicion of three others.

More

Man who lost pants while stealing iPads found hiding in dog house

When Brad Storck fled Sheriff's deputies from Orangevale Open K-8 School, California, with four stolen iPads, he left behind something important: his pants.  Storck's crime occurred on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at around 2:47am. According to a report filed by Sacramento County Sheriff's Department deputies, officers were dispatched to a silent alarm call at the school where they saw Storck casually walking away from the school.

Seeing the deputies, Storck, 35, made a snap-decision. "When deputies first arrived in the area in response to the call, one of them observed Storck hiding behind a tree," said Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Ramos. Once deputies observed Storck hiding out, he took off running and the chase was on, Ramos said. Storck took off westbound through yards, hopping fences and dropping the iPads in the process. It's also around that time Storck dropped his pants.

"We assume that he lost his shorts as he was fleeing, or simply ditched them to be wearing something different than what he was first seen wearing (because we also recovered his sweatshirt along the way)," Ramos said. Storck managed to briefly elude deputies till a K9 officer's dog found him hiding in a doghouse approximately one block south of the fence he jumped, Ramos said.

"After he was caught, a deputy returned to the place he was first seen and found four iPads. It does not appear that he had any kind of bag to carry them in," Ramos said. Storck was booked at Sacramento County's main jail where he faces felony burglary charges. According to the school, the four I-pads are all that were taken and all recovered. Ramos added that Storck's shorts were later found in a yard southwest of the fence.

There's a short news video here.

Russian man refuses to pay traffic fine over Doomsday fears

A Kemerovo region resident has refused to pay a fine after getting into a traffic accident because of the upcoming apocalypse.
The unnamed resident was issued a 1,000 ruble fine (£20, $32) for being involved in a minor car accident, but he dismissed it as meaningless and declined to pay.

He wrote a 10-page explanation of his decision, saying that “according to his calculations the Doomsday will come at the end of the year, and the payment would be pointless,” regional court marshals said in a statement. Every day he visits a court marshal to back his predictions with “schemes, drawings and graphs,” the marshals said.

“The debtor thinks that if people become kinder to each other and forgive debts, then the Doomsday won’t happen,” court marshal Irina Felzinger said. She didn’t say whether officials backed his opinion. According to myth, the Maya predicted the Doomsday would occur on Dec. 21.

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Archaeologists: Hadrian's Wall Was an Economic Boon to Ancient Britons

Hadrian's Wall is a 73-mile set of fortifications built across northern Roman Britain to protect it from raiding Picts. It was very costly to the Empire. But according to a 2008 article in the Telegraph, local Celts found it a highly profitable venture:

Mr MacLeod, senior investigator for English Heritage's aerial survey and investigating team, said: "Having got over the first shock of the invasion and occupation the native population began to see the potential created by the presence of the Roman garrison.
"The building of the wall appears to have provided a boost to the local economy. A sophisticated network seems to have grown up to supply the new market created by the occupation."
He said the survey found photographic evidence of several farmsteads and field networks on either side of the wall which would have adapted themselves to supply crops, livestock and other raw materials, such as leather, to the Romans.

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Deer goes on rampage after breaking into office

Workers at a Jackson, Mississippi business got a break-in they didn't expect. "The last thing you expect to do, is come to work and find a large deer standing behind your desk," said Margie Purvis. The deer crashed through a double paned window and found his way to the break room where employees locked him in.

The 80 pound spike was not happy with the room layout. He knocked over tables and chairs and even tried to leap on top of cabinets to escape. Employees stayed at bay until Animal Control arrived, but even they were caught off guard. After a few minutes of planning, an animal control officer went in and eventually came out with a bloody and tired deer.

As Animal Control led the deer to freedom outside, employees examined the damage left behind inside. "He trashed it. We definitely need a paint job and a carpet cleaner," said Richard Lingle. Workers say they may never know why the deer decided to crash into their workplace.

"The deer could have been chased by something and ran through the glass, or he could have seen himself and wanted to fight, I mean you don't know," said Lingle. Animal Control officials say the deer had a few cuts from his run in with the window, however they expect him to make a full recovery back out in the woods.