Welcome to ...

The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Parts of vacation can be free

From flights to rooms to ground transportation, you can get away with minimal expense.
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Best affordable places in U.S.

You’ll find bargain homes, low crime, and strong economies in these 10 locales. 
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Home prices hit post-bubble low

American attitudes shift as a 20-city home index falls for the eighth straight month. 
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Odds and Sods

Imagine walking into your home and finding a peacock lurking inside. That's what happened to one Las Vegas homeowner over the weekend.

Bad Cops

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Virginia sheriff's deputy goes on bloody rampage, killing ex-wife
Jonathan Agee will be charged with murder after he shot his ex-wife Jennifer Agee.
An off-duty county sheriff's deputy killed his ex-wife and shot a state trooper before he was wounded during a bloody Memorial Day rampage in Roanoke, Virginia.

'Flipping the Bird' at Trooper Not a Crime:
State Patrol Drops Charges
Shane Boor, 35, had been charged with criminal harassment after flipping off a Colorado state trooper who had pulled another driver over to the shoulder of the road, but the charges have now been dropped, after the police decided the gesture wasn't a crime.

More Bad Cops:
Las Vegas police officer arrested for strangling ex-wife

New Orleans cop is finally fired for his involvement in cover-up of 2005 murder

Philadelphia police harass, threaten to shoot man legally carrying gun; then charge him with disorderly conduct for recording them

California drug cop charged with marijuana crime

New Jersey police officer charged after allegedly pulling gun in bar confrontation

Florida deputy arrested for producing child porn

Video shows California police officers on tape possibly stealing property

Oregon woman wins $82K, after asking cop for ID and getting arrested

San Antonio police officer fatally shoots unarmed teen who scared him

Oregon deputy arrested on assault, mistreatment charges

Scandals plague "controversial" wingnut Arizona sheriff

Florida deputy gets plea deal on domestic violence charges

Texas deputy sentenced to 6 years in prison for his role in a plan to smuggle contraband into county jail

L.A. County to pay nearly $5 million in deputy's drunk driving crash

Illinois police officer charged with stealing drugs

Michigan police officer gets five years in sex assault case

New York cop arrested for assault

California deputy arrested, suspended on domestic violence charges

New York cop gets one year in jail for bribery, coercion

Immigration officer gets 5½ years in prison for accepting bribes

Georgia ex-cop charged in bookstore threat

New revelations of unchecked misconduct among LA traffic cops

Mother and son Louisiana police officers arrested after nightclub fight

Massachusetts K-9 officer starved dog to death

North Carolina police officer on leave after arrest on assault charge

Cult fined $100 per branch for improper tree pruning

Should be $1,000,000.00 per branch
Every two to three years, Eddie Sales trims and prunes the crape myrtles at his church, Albemarle Road presbyterian cult.

But this year, the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, cited the church for improperly pruning its trees. "We always keep our trees trimmed back because you don't want to worry about them hanging down in the way," said Sales, a church member.


The church was fined $100 per branch cut for excessive pruning, bringing the violation to $4,000. "I just couldn't believe it when I heard about it," Sales said. "We trim our trees back every three years all over our property, and this is the first time we have been fined."

The fine will be dropped if the church replaces each of the improperly pruned trees, said Tom Johnson, senior urban forester for city of Charlotte Land Development Division. Charlotte has had a tree ordinance since 1978, and when trees are incorrectly pruned or topped, people can be subject to fines, Johnson said.

Self Reflection

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How do you see yourself?

Brain-tickling optical illusions

If you look closely enough, you'll catch a glimpse of what is making this fox so nervous.  
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Land Speed Record Bid Could Make Space Flight Safer

By developing new rocket technology on the land scientists hope to help aid in safer space travel. It sounds counter intuitive, however the group making the bid for the land speed record thinks it could lead to a breakthrough in safer space travel.

So says Daniel Jubb, who is the founder of military rocket motor company Falcon Project Limited (FPL), based in Mojave, California, and chief rocket engineer for the Bloodhound SuperSonic Car, which aims to reach a speed of 1600 kilometres per hour (1000 miles per hour) on the salt flats in Hakskeen Pan, South Africa, sometime in 2013. The current record is 1227 km/h, and was set in 1997 by the Bloodhound team’s driver Andy Green, in a car called Thrust SSC.

Daily Comic Relief

Hong Kong Phooey
Hong Kong Phooey

Mubarak to face trial for death of protesters

Finishing his years in a miserable prison may be more appropriate but that's not likely to happen. He will be very lucky to avoid the death penalty for what happened during his rule.
Egypt's prosecutor general ordered Tuesday former President Hosni Mubarak put on trial on charges of corruption and conspiring in the deadly shootings of protesters during the uprising that ousted him, a stunning step against a leader whose power was nearly unquestioned for three decades.

The announcement that Mubarak would face a criminal court grants a major demand of Egyptians who have threatened a second revolution amid growing worries about the slow pace of change under the country's new military rulers. The charges could carry the death sentence, said the prosecutor-general spokesman Adel el-Said.

It would be the first time an Arab leader is sent to trial solely by his own people in modern history. Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein was toppled during the U.S. invasion in 2003 and sentenced three years later to death for killing 140 Shiites.

Cracks in the regime and boots on the ground

"What is happening to our people has frightened us," one of the officers said.
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    Al-Jazeera Footage Shows Western Boots on the Ground in Libya
    In what could be boots on the ground in advance of a Western invasion, or could simply be spotters to help aircraft in ground attack missions, Western forces have been spotted on the ground in Libya in Al-Jazeera video footage.

    Iran to disconnect from the internet

    <a href=http://www.zgeek.com/content.php/7674-Iran-to-disconnect-from-the-internet.-Also-taking-it-s-bat-and-ball.>Iran to disconnect from the internet. Also taking it's bat and ball.</a>

    Iran may soon take Internet censorship to a level so ridiculous one can’t help but laugh. Unfortunately, it’s not a joke. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Middle Eastern country will disconnect its citizens from the Internet we all know and love, and replace it with its own nationally-run Internet, which would, of course, be tightly restricted.

    The project, initiated by the country’s communications ministry, is part of the repressive Iranian government’s plans to limit exposure of Western cultures and ideas — something pulling the plug on the Internet would do in a massive way. According to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei, this plan is part of the country’s “soft war” on the West, and will help further instill Islamic moral values on Iran’s people.


    Filtering in ...

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    One of the Most Ancient Cave Towns of Georgia


    Uplistsikhe is an ancient cave town located in eastern Georgia. In 2003 it was in quite a poor condition – the old road was all in pits and ruts, and even though the entrance was free, there were barely any visitors. Not long ago it was renovated. Cafes and toilets were built there, the road was restored and admission became 3 GEL (slightly more than 50 rubles – $ 1.7).

    An ancient city under Jerusalem

    Excavations of the biblical-aged tunnels are as controversial as the region's politics.  
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    Greenland cold snap linked to Viking disappearance

    A cold snap in Greenland in the 12th century may help explain why Viking settlers vanished from the island, scientists said on Monday.

    B.C.

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    Bigfoot Sighting!


    Bigfoot was (probably not) caught again on video. A group of young people were recording absolutely nothing with an iPhone camera as they traversed the undergrowth near the Spokane River. According to the woman in the video, YouTube user samantha13950:
    While hiking, we accidentally caught an image of bigfoot walking through the woods. I didn’t even notice until I got home and saw it on the computer! This scarred [sic] the crap out of us!
    While I commend the cinematographer for keeping Bigfoot out of center-frame, I’m going to request that the next sighting include some dialogue and/or a group of people talking directly to the camera as Sasquatch Himself walks by unnoticed over their shoulders.

    Jellyfish Mob Stings Hundreds In Florida

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    An enormous gang of jellyfish has stung hundreds of beach-goers in Florida.
    CNN reports that 800 people have been stung so far.
    Thankfully, the jellyfish are easy to detect due to their looking like blobs of unappetizing grape jello.
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