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.


Thursday, May 13, 2010

Its Only The Environment After All

Its Only The Environment After All
After the first dome failed, crews hope a smaller unit can siphon the gushing oil leak in the gulf.
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Numerous equipment and procedural problems caused the Gulf catastrophe, new documents show.
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Congressional committee report on BP oil spill - even worse than expected
You have to wonder if BP did much of anything right after reading these lowlights. It also seems obvious that BP had very little concern about maintaining proper safety if they were so far off in so many places. Being cozy with government may help run a campaign but when it comes to safety and the rest of us, it's completely off.
A senior House Democrat said that the blowout preventer that failed to stop an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico had a dead battery in its control pod, leaks in its hydraulic system, a "useless" test version of one of the devices that was supposed to close the flow of oil and a cutting tool that wasn't strong enough to shear through joints that made up 10 percent of the drill pipe.

In a devastating review of the blowout preventer that BP said was supposed to be "fail-safe," Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said in a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday that the device was anything but fail-safe.

And now for something other than the oil spill:
Follow the volcanic ash cloud
An interesting map of where the Iceland volcano's ash cloud was yesterday and where they expect it to be today in Europe. Everyone is still bracing themselves for much more trouble in the coming months. It would be unusual to only see Eyjafjallajokull erupting. If the much larger neighbor blows as many expect, then it could get considerably worse.

Finland’s 100,000-Year Plan to Banish Its Nuclear Waste

Onkalo
Onkalo, on the other hand, is supposed to last 20 times as long as the pyramids have so far — so long that the builders of the site have to take into account the next ice age, when the weight of two miles of ice on top of Finland will be added to the stress on the buried waste containers, copper canisters two inches thick.
It might seem crazy, if not criminal, to obligate 3,000 future generations of humans to take care of our poisonous waste just so that we can continue running our electric toothbrushes. But it’s already too late to wave off the nuclear age, and Mr. Madsen’s film comes at a perfect time to join a worldwide conversation about what to do with its ashes. On June 3, administrative law judges from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will begin hearing arguments about whether the Department of Energy can proceed with shutting down development of the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada, where the United States had been planning since 1987 to store its own nuclear waste.

Planet Earth

Planet Earth
Tape of John Lennon's Jesus comments to be auctioned next month
On auction block next month: a circa 1966 tape of a Beatles press conference in which John Lennon defends his controversial comments about Jesus. This is what he said:
Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.
The recording is expected to sell for about $25K. Beatles press conference tapes auctioned [BBC]

Irish sellers of "legal highs" face life in jail
Ireland's government approved tough new legislation on Tuesday to crack down on "legal highs" available at so-called 'head shops' by threatening operators of the popular stores with life imprisonment. Under the new legislation, the sale or supply of substances that do not specifically fall under existing drugs legislation, but which have "psychoactive effects" will land users with up to 7 years in prison and suppliers with a maximum life sentence.

Head shops, which sell a variety of drugs paraphernalia, have thrived in recession-hit Ireland by selling substances often dubbed "legal" or "herbal" highs. With some other countries are mulling legalising certain drugs, critics of the new Irish legislation said it could drive users to try and get "legal high" drugs via the Internet or on the black market.


"That is a matter for the police," Prime Minister Brian Cowen said after announcing the new measures. Such drugs are common in Amsterdam's 'smart shops', as are marijuana and hash in the Dutch city's 'coffee shops' while other countries in Europe have sought to ban "legal highs."

Others are questioning how the group of substances with "psychoactive effects" would be defined. "The righteous fuming over these products is never applied in the same way to the products sold in the local pub which are just as lethal and dangerous when misused and abused," Irish Times journalist Jim Carroll said, referring to the consumption of alcohol in bars.

These eccentric structures, some breathtakingly weird, are worth a detour.
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korea dmz demilitarized zone nature photo
Environmentalists cheered the March announcement that North Korea and South Korea would work together to create an ecological corridor out of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). But few, if any, global conservationists have actually seen what kinds of natural habitats and wild animals the 155-mile-long and 2-mile-wide buffer zone contains. Photographer Choi Byung Kwan has.
Article continues: Rare Glimpse at the Wild Nature Inside Korea's DMZ

Culinary DeLites

Culinary DeLites
The worst juice choices are loaded with added sugar and water and contain very little fruit.  
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The freezer aisle has healthy, timesaving options as well as salty, fattening meals.  
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Many people wonder if brown and white eggs are really different, or if organic is always healthier. 
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Interesting In General

Interesting In General

Spiders spin web for the record books

Beavers may have built a dam visible from space, but they didn't catch millions of mosquitoes.  
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An accelerated program can lower students' costs by $10,000 or more.  
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Rare 'King of Herrings' found off Swedish coast
First he thought it was a piece of plastic floating near the shoreline. When he got closer, 73-year-old Kurt Ove Eriksson realized the 12-foot serpent-like object was a rare creature from the depths of the ocean.
Injured seagull stays on the loose with crossbow bolt through head
A seagull which has been flying around a seaside town for two weeks with a crossbow bolt through its head has eluded efforts by rescuers to catch it. The bird has been seen swooping around Scarborough, apparently unaffected by the dart-like object, which is about the length of a pen, sticking out of its head.

The injured bird was pictured by local gallery owner Graham Rhodes – who was shocked to find the seagull perched on a pier wall with the bolt through its head. The father-of-one, who runs the Aakschipper Gallery, said: "My main worry is there is someone walking the streets of Scarborough with a crossbow and shooting at birds. "If they are shooting at gulls in the sky and miss, the bolts have to go somewhere and could take someone's eye out.


"I see it most days sitting on the wall near my gallery, it just acts like a normal seagull but with a large dart through its head. It doesn't appear in any pain or discomfort. It isn't as flighty as the others but I have seen it flying about."

RSPCA staff have tried to catch the bird but without success. Geoff Edmond, RSPCA inspector for the Scarborough area, said: 'It is absolutely appalling and completely illegal to be shooting birds in this manner. "It is remarkable that the gull with the bolt in its head is still flying because the object could have hit the brain or fractured its skull."

There are more photos here.

rosslyn chapel photo
Image from scotsman.com
We have read a lot about the demise of the bee colonies but recently the world's oldest beehive has been found. Located in the medieval Scottish Rosslyn Chapel, which dates back to 1446, two ancient hives have been found, skillfully carved in the stone work under the roof's peak. They are thought to be the first man-made stone hives ever found.
The discovery was made whilst some stone conservation work was being carried out which involved dismantling the peaks of the roof. Apparently the hives were still in use until just recently when the chapel was temporarily covered with a canopy and the bees de-camped.
Article continues: World's Oldest Beehive Discovered in Scottish Chapel

Helpful Hints

There are inexpensive ways to protect your home without adding an alarm.  
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Scientists discover use for cigarette butts

Trillions of unsightly discards from smoking may actually have a benefit.  
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They walk among us ...

What an idiot ...

Slug-eating dare lands man in hospital with worm disease
An Australian man is fighting for his life after he ate a slug on a dare.


Man returns stolen beer saying they weren't cold enough
After reportedly stealing beer from a Clarksville gas station, a man brought the drinks back minutes later and attempted to exchange the stolen beers because they weren’t cold enough.

A clerk told police that she went into the back of the store while re-stocking the beer, and when she returned a few cases were missing, according to a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office report.

At that point, the man — who appeared drunk, the clerk said — came in with the warm beer and asked to exchange it.

When the clerk asked if he’d paid for the beer, he grew “anxious,” the report said, asked for directions to Wilma Rudolph Boulevard and left.

Inmate fled wearing only socks and shackles
An inmate decked a detention deputy and ran off from a hospital wearing only socks and ankle shackles, the Polk county Sheriff's Office said. Bradley Norris, 20, was arrested minutes later, about 300 yards from the Lake Wales Hospital, the sheriff's office said. Norris was at the hospital for medical reasons and had been there since Friday with a detention deputy assigned to his room. He had been arrested on 10 counts of violation of probation, which included grand theft, burglary and trespassing.

At around 12:20 p.m., Norris asked detention Deputy Michelle Threatt if he could use the restroom, the sheriff's office said. Inmates at hospitals are secured to the hospital bed with handcuffs and shackles. Before Norris got up from the bed, Threatt shackled his ankles together, which is standard operating procedure.


When he got up from the bed, Norris attacked Threatt and hit her on the head, according to the sheriff's office. He then struggled with her, overpowered her and fled the room. He lost his hospital gown during the struggle and ran from the room wearing only socks and ankle shackles, the sheriff's office said. Threatt was bleeding profusely but chased after Norris through the hospital hallway and down three flights of stairs.

The Lake Wales Police Department and Polk County Sheriff's Office were contacted by radio. Norris was spotted 300 yards from the hospital at the Lake Wales Art Center and taken into custody, the sheriff's office said. The charges of escape and battery on a law enforcement officer are pending, the sheriff's office said.

Woman charged with forcing 5-year-old son to smoke cigarette while teaching him not to smoke

A Johnson City woman has been charged with child abuse and other charges after Carter County deputies received complaints that she had forced her 5-year-old child to smoke a cigarette. Jordon Paige Hensley, 24, of 2468 Lakewood Drive, Johnson City, was charged with child abuse and neglect, disorderly conduct and possession of Schedule VI drug.

Deputy Cory Tidwell said he was dispatched to the Watauga Lake Overlook on Wilbur Lake at 8 p.m. when he spotted the car the woman was reported to be driving. He stopped her car at the Misty Waters Store and asked her if she had given her son a cigarette. Tidwell said she admitted she had given the boy a cigarette and said she did it because “she was teaching him not to smoke.”


While he was talking with Hensley, a witness to the incident pulled into the parking lot and told Tidwell he had seen Hensley stick the cigarette in the boy’s mouth and also saw the child exhale smoke and begin coughing. He said he also saw the child running around and his mother screaming at him to keep running. He said that when the child fell to the ground screaming that he could not run anymore, Hensley jerked him up by his arm and told him he had better keep running.

As he continued to talk to Hensley, Tidwell said, he noticed she appeared to be trying to hide something. He told her to show him her hands and she told him “no.” When he again asked, she again refused. Tidwell then removed her from the car and placed her in restraints. He then checked where she was sitting and found a small bag of marijuana, according to the report. A passenger in the car, Chester Paul Kyle III, 36, 2468 Lakewood Drive, was also arrested on charges of violation of probation. The two are scheduled to answer the charges in Sessions Court on May 21.

Man committed suicide after fears that people were laughing at his constant blushing
A man who was convinced he was being humiliated on the internet because of his constant blushing gassed himself, an inquest has heard. Gifted musician and artist Luke Shears thought the New York Police Department was monitoring his body and home for when he blushed and then posting it on the world wide web so people could laugh at him.

Mr Shears, 43, was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and attempted suicide several times before he was found dead by police at his flat in Winchester, Hampshire, in July last year. The inquest in Winchester was told that Mr Shears had retreated from the world as he felt the blushing got worse. He even had a nerve cut to try and stop it and he used fake tanning to hide it. The fixation had started while he was working in New York in 1993.

On the night he died, Mr Shears was due to have dinner with his sister Emma but he failed to turn up and she raised the alarm. His father Barry told the hearing that his son was a "lovely man" but he did not know why the fixation with his blushing started.

Central Hampshire coroner Grahame Short recorded a verdict of suicide. "It's clear he suffered from a psychosis. It's also clear from the reports I have read he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia which was a result of a tendency to blush," he said. "His life became dominated by his strong desire to avoid situations where he might blush. Furthermore, the total belief he was being watched."

Man accidentally kills wife while committing suicide
A 70-year-old man who committed suicide by shooting himself in the head early on Sunday morning ended up killing his wife with the same bullet, Wichita police said. The woman's daughter called police when she discovered their bodies at about 1 p.m. on Sunday in the 3400 block of South Everett, Lt. Ken Landwehr said.

Gene Whitmore was lying on the bed when he pulled the trigger of the medium-caliber handgun, Landwehr said. The bullet passed through his head from right to left and then struck 66-year-old Betty Whitmore in the head, killing her as she slept. "I have never worked one like this before," Landwehr said.

There is no indication Whitmore intended to injure his wife, he said. Their bodies were found two to three feet apart. Investigators think the shooting occurred at about 4 a.m., Landwehr said.

None of the people staying in the house heard the gunshot, he said. Gene Whitmore had been notably depressed for the past few days, his stepdaughter told police. He had been out of work for more than a year.

SEC porn scandal continues with lawsuit

A Denver lawyer is suing the Securities and Exchange Commission for the names of agency workers disciplined in the past five years for viewing pornography on government computers.

Kevin D. Evans filed suit in Denver federal court last week, accusing the agency of violating federal law by not disclosing the names of 33 current and former employees and contractors who viewed pornographic images while on the job. Evans said he's offended by their actions and tired of government waste and abuse.

"What these individuals did is the equivalent of falsely billing a client (in this case taxpayers like you and me)," Evans said in an e-mail to The Eye. "If one does this in private practice one has disciplinary action taken against one, and if the fraud is large enough there is the potential for additional action. Lawyers should not be excused simply because they work for the government."

Evans, who represented the U.S. Olympic Committee in connection with the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics scandal, said he plans to publicly release the list of names if he wins his case (a long shot, considering federal civil service protections). He also hopes to deter other federal employees from doing something similar by exposing the names of the porn-surfing workers.

"There is no real deterrence without knowing that one's name will be exposed if one engages in such abuse of taxpayer resources and trust," Evans said. News of his lawsuit was first reported by the Washington Times.

None of the SEC employees caught up in the scandal has been fired, according to the agency. Eight of the workers resigned, six were suspended, six were issued informal counseling or warning letters, five received formal reprimands and three are currently on suspension.

Charles E. Grassley (retard-Iowa) is seeking specific salary and disciplinary information for each of the workers and contractors, hoping to learn why they faced different levels of discipline.

Visa fraud alert puts banks, payment processors on guard- Porn Sites the Worst

Visa Inc. last week sent a fraud alert to banks and payment processors warning them to look out for a "large batch settlement fraud scheme" involving a merchant account in East Europe.

That alert is focusing renewed attention on a longstanding need for banks to tighten up the standards for authorizing merchants who accept credit and debit card payments.

Batch settlements refer to the common practice where merchants store all authorized payment card transactions that occur during a day and then send them in a batch for settlement to their acquiring bank at the close of business. An "acquiring" bank, in payment industry parlance, is the financial institution that basically vets and clears a merchant to accept payment card transactions.

In its alert, Visa said it had received reliable information from a "third-party entity" that a criminal group planned to submit a large batch settlement through a merchant account approved by a bank in Eastern Europe. "The criminals claimed to have access to account numbers and the ability to submit a large batch settlement upload to occur over a weekend," Visa warned.

The company said it had no details about who exactly was involved or when the fraudulent activity might occur. The alert noted that the people behind the scheme were likely a "consortium of online merchants that have been trying to secure processing arrangements after being shut down at several acquirers across many geographies."

In an e-mailed comment, a Visa spokesman said that card issuers and acquiring banks routinely monitor for unusual batch settlements. Even so, it issued the alert as a reminder to "critical stakeholders so they can take cautionary or mitigating steps" against fraud..

Avivah Litan, an analyst with Gartner Inc. said that the type of fraud Visa is warning about has been going on for several years. It typically involves certain categories of high-risk merchants, such as porn sites, which often submit fraudulent transactions using credit card numbers they have collected. Once money is moved from cardholder accounts to the rogue merchant's accounts the funds are quickly withdrawn and the merchant drops out of the payment system, she said.

The situation is largely a result of the relatively loose manner in which merchants are approved to accept payment card transactions, Litan said. Credit card companies and acquiring banks, "need to tighten up their accreditation process and how they onboard new merchants."

She said there are too many third parties and Independent Sales Organizations (ISO) acting on behalf of banks to approve merchant accounts, Litan said. The standards for approval used by such organizations have allowed "too many illegitimate merchants to establish accounts and access to the payment systems," she said.

Michael Petitti, chief marketing officer at Trustwave, a firm that does PCI security audits for some of the largest retail establishments in the U.S., said that poor merchant validation is a problem -- especially with e-commerce.

Sometimes, e-commerce merchants are approved for payment card transactions based on little more than their domain validation SSL certificates, he said. But SSL certificates do little more than establish the right of an applicant to use a specific domain name. The certificates are usually issued without any vetting of the information provided by the domain name holder.

Acquiring banks that are approving new e-commerce merchants for credit card transactions should, at a minimum, ensure that the merchant has acquired an Extended SSL certificate, Petitti said. Those certificates offer a much higher degree of identity validation because they're issued only after the certificate authority has verified the legal, physical and operational existence of a company.

Leaping Beauty

Fractured Fairy Tales

Odds and Sods

Odds and Sods
In Cop News 





















Headlines

Here are six of the most peculiar mysteries that no one can find a good explanation for.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:
You're just about to take flight -- in nearly every possible aspect of your life, but especially in affairs of the heart. If you've been dating someone casually, things should shake up right away.
One or both of you is sure to either want to make a commitment or say your (graceful) goodbyes -- but don't worry.
Your life is full of romance over the long run, and betting on anything other than commitment just isn't prudent. 
Some of our readers today have been in:
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Caracas, Distrito Federal, Venezuela
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Liege, Liege, Belgium
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Deventer, Overijssel, Netherlands
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
London, England, United Kingdom
Bucharest, Bucuresti, Romania
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Quebec, Quebec, Canada
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia
Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Stockholm, Stockhloms Lan, Sweden
Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany
Algiers, Alger, Algeria

as well as China, Finland, and the United States in such cities as Gig Harbor, Crane, Boiling Springs, Ballwin, Tallahassee and more


Today is Wednesday, May 12, the 132nd day of 2010.
There are 233 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:
National Nutty Fudge Day
and
Limerick Day

We Googled our little ol'blog and found out we have 228,373 followers (last time we did so we had about 9,000) ... Wow, thanks.
Of course you know we threw ourselves a party after learning that number and thus today's postings will have to wait until the drums echoing in our heads calms down to a crescendo at least.
http://www.beyondtheparty.com.au/files/party.jpg
Please read  this blog quietly until tomorrow ... and thanks again!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:
Try a fresh approach with an old problem.
It's important for you to apply wild, untried methods to solving this current conundrum -- after all, if it's back in your life, the old techniques must not have worked too well the first time!
Talk to strangers, go online or try randomly picking strategies to get you out of your current mindset and pick up a fresh outlook on whatever it is you're grappling with.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Athens, Attiki, Greece
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Cairo, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Annecy, Rhone-Alpes, France
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Munich, Bayern, Germany
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
London, England, United Kingdom
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia
Pakanbaru, Riau, Indonesia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Debrecen, Hajdu-Bihar, Hungary
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

as well as Norway, and the United States in such cities as Coralville, Sandpoint, Rock Island, Jessup, High Point, Summerville and more

Today is Tuesday, May 11, the 131st day of 2010.
There are 234 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
Eat What You Want Day

As The World Turns

As The World Turns
Airline passenger detained in Pakistan with circuits in shoes
The early reports out certainly sound suspicious though it's a positive sign that this was detected.
A passenger was detained by airport authorities in Pakistan after electrical circuits and batteries were found in the soles of his tennis shoes, an airport security official said today.

Officials were investigating what the components could be used for and why they were concealed. Similar materials can be used in the construction of bombs.

The man, Faiz Mohammad, was arrested at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport last night, said Munir Ahmed, a spokesman for the airport security force. The materials were detected by a scanner.
Afghan Girls Hit Again By Suspected Gas Attack

Dozens of schoolgirls in Afghanistan were admitted to the hospital on Tuesday after two suspected poisonous gas attacks on schools, officials said, the latest in a spate of similar incidents

Med students kill man, dissect body, then blame each other
Two Romanian medical students were sentenced to 16 years in prison after killing and dissecting a 65-year-old man with surgical instruments before trying to dispose of the pieces of his body.

The State Of The Nation

The State Of The Nation
Two stories about tornadoes
Violent weather sent cars flying off highways and flipped mobile homes.
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Twisters in Oklahoma and Kansas bring hail the size of baseballs and leave thousands without power.  
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Might it just be that Ma Nature is a bit peeved at the assholes in Kansas and Oklahoma for their idiotic and illegal immigration and abortion stances?

Local Hospitality

Local Hospitality
Pole Dance Maven Sues Former Partner
The founder of a chain of pole dance-based fitness studios says a former business partner misappropriated one of her outlets and swiped proprietary business information, including her "lap tease" routine, and the name for it.

Kelly Adams (pictured) claims in Mecklenburg County Court that when she started her business in August 2006, its primary activity was holding "traveling pole parties." It evolved into a three-studio chain called Pole Dance Charlotte Fun & Fitness Studio, offering dance pole sessions and other fitness classes.

Adams said she created the curriculum and all of its choreography by herself.

In November 2008, Adams said, defendant Raymond Wood approached her and encouraged her to open a fourth Pole Dance Charlotte studio as a tax deduction for the coming tax year.

Adams claims Wood incorporated the new studio as Pole Dance Charlotte at the Lake, and he and Adams shared its start-up costs. Adams says she oversaw all the details of the business.

In late 2009, Adams says, she hired defendant Judith Storey as a freelance teacher, then promoted her to part-time manager, but fired her in January this year for "irreconcilable differences."

Almost immediately, Adams says, Wood hired both Judith Storey and co-defendant Robert Storey to manage the studio, which he promptly converted to Pole Dance Cornelius Inc.

A week later, Adams says, she received a call from one of her instructors, who told her that the locks to the studio had been changed. The next day, Adams says, she received a Notice of Discontinuance for the lease of the studio and a letter from Wood, terminating their business relationship.

Adams claims the defendants conspired to usurp her interest in the studio, used her copyrighted material on their Web site, and are using her curriculum, methods, designs, techniques and traveling pole party format for profit.

She says they also tried to lure away her customers, inducing them to sign up with the breakaway business by offering one month's membership free.

Adams seeks injunctive relief, and treble and punitive damages on claims of conspiracy, unfair and deceptive trade practices, interference with actual and prospective economic advantage, and trading on her business's name.

She is represented by John F. Hanzel of Cornelius, N.C.

Upping the cute factor

cuuuute.jpg
Upping the cute factor today features the obscenely adorable photographs of In Cheryl Kim, a publicist for a zoo in Seoul, South Korea. Among them, images of a baby brown bear carousing with a stuffed teddy. For maximum cuteness, browse this subset of his photos with the tag "baby."

Zombie satellite

A satellite "goes rogue" and inexplicably begins stealing other communications signals.
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Mass-marketed genetic kit

Mass-marketed genetic kit stirs controversy

An over-the-counter test gives shoppers an easy way to scan for disease risk.  
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