Giant Puts on a Fresh Face For Its Supermarket Upgrades
“It’s a bird! It’s a fruit bowl! It’s … Giant Food’s new logo.” Shopping at our neighborhood Giant is a staple memory of my youth. Sadly, they’ve changed from their mediocre, outdated old logo to a hideous new one that looks like something Carmen Miranda would’ve approved of.
Via Uni Watch
Aug 27, 2008 in Breaking News | Comment
What comes after a trillion?
“Inflation in Zimbabwe is 9m%, a Z$50bn note is worth just 17p - the cost of a single egg - and there is more than 80% unemployment. How are ordinary people coping with this disastrous economic meltdown?”
Jul 24, 2008 in Breaking News | Comment
Britney's behavior has cost her $61 million!
“In addition to the enormous tab for legal bills, rehab and psychiatric care, Britney’s inability to work has cost her a fortune. ‘by not touring for her last album [Blackout], she lost out on $50 million…’” Someday, I want to have $61mm to waste!
May 1, 2008 in Breaking News | Comment
The Complete List Of Players Mentioned In The Mitchell Report
The players found to have been using performance-enhancement drugs. Actually, a surprisingly short list. Too short to have many surprises, although, Lenny Dykstra? Wasn’t he an awful long time ago to be on this report? Also, wonder how many used these drugs to recover from injury vs. gain strength (although obviously using them would give you both). I’ll admit I was a bit worried I’d see Cal Ripken’s name there, just because, how else do you stay so invulnerable? Good to know it was hard work & luck. Also, shocking number of SoCal players on that list — did the Dodgers & Angels have a real problem?
Dec 13, 2007 in SpurtsSpurts | Comment
Church finances are made public
Westboro Baptist — the church that pickets the funerals of dead soldiers, arguing that our servicemembers died because America doesn’t hate gays enough — argues that it doesn’t have enough assets to pay the $10mm judgment against it. Well, if you can’t pay the fine, don’t do the crime! I’m sure that the family of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder would be happy to get a slice of the defendants’ paychecks every two weeks.
Nov 15, 2007 in PoliticksPoliticks | Comment
New bill would punish colleges, students who don't become copyright cops
“A massive education bill… introduced into Congress contains a provision that would force colleges and universities to offer ‘technology-based deterrents’ to file-sharing under the pain of losing all federal [student] financial aid.” Appears to mandate that schools monitor or block some kinds of traffic and buy music services for their students. Seems like a bad idea to say “hey, let’s not educate kids!” as punishment for file-sharing. Actually, it seems evil!
Nov 12, 2007 in Breaking NewsBreaking News | Comment
Fire damage database
“Find homes damaged or destroyed in the fires. This is a partial list from a variety of government sources. It will be updated as information becomes available.”
Oct 27, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
USC Marshall Best Entrepreneurial MBA Program
I can’t believe I keep forgetting to blog this — Entrepreneur Magazine and Princeton Review voted my alma mater as the #1 graduate entrepreneur program! Naturally, I’m exceedingly proud.
Oct 23, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Dallas homeowner shoots, kills intruder after parrot's warning
Junior would totally say hello to anyone who walked in. Seamus, if he’s around, has a big-dog bark and would both wake me and scare off the intruder. Pets are great!
Via Obscure Store
Oct 17, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment (1)
Poverty line out of touch with costs, advocates say
“A person working full-time for th [California]’s minimum wage of $7.50 an hour earns $15,600 annually. But a single adult in Los Angeles needs to make $28,126 a year to live modestly, while a single parent needs $62,393, according to the California Budget Project, the policy group behind the report being released today.” Not surprising, but still scary!
Oct 17, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Taco Bell attempts to sell gringo tacos in Mexico
I can’t imagine why the fact that Taco Bell is now opening restaurants in Mexico City isn’t getting bigger press. I mean, shouldn’t we expect revenge of some type? At least everything’s becoming more like Demolition Man.
Oct 12, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Popular lipsticks test positive for lead
I knew we were trying to make our beautiful women stupid, just like they are in the movies. Either that or this is part of the gigantic Chinese conspiracy to make all of us stupid by putting lead in everything we import from there. Crafty folk, those Chinese, playing the long game to become the dominant power in the world!
Oct 12, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
New revelations in attack on American spy ship
It’s nice when our closest allies sink our ships and steal our nuclear secrets. Good thing that tail wags this dog!
Oct 11, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Deportees file motion over forced sedation
“The ACLU filed a motion Tuesday in federal court to stop immigration authorities from forcibly drugging deportees in order to send them back to their home countries on commercial airlines.” How Soviet! I guess it never occurred to me that this would be something that, you know, we’d have to tell people not to do, insofar as it seems obvious that people shouldn’t be drugged against their will.
Oct 10, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
A band of survivors returns from Iraq
The story of my cousin Huber’s company in Iraq. Scary stuff — I hope that our leaders do something to make the sacrifices of our men and women there worthwhile.
Oct 8, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Bulgaria Suffering From Too Much Democracy; Must Import Envelopes to Hold It All
“[S]o many candidates are running in local elections next month in Bulgaria that the ballots are now too large to fit in any Bulgarian-made envelopes. Due to this humiliating deficiency in the domestic Bulgarian envelope industry, authorities have said that they will have to import more than 11 million foreign envelopes that are sufficiently large to hold the ballots…”
Oct 1, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Alex the Gray Parrot Dies
Alex was the subject of a fascinating, years-long study into language use in parrots. His sudden death, at least 10 years before would be expected, is both sad and unfortunate for our knowledge about the world around us.
Sep 9, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
State OKs final piece of Expo light-rail funding
“The California Transportation Commission on Wednesday approved a crucial piece of funding for construction of the Exposition Line light-rail line, committing the final $314 million needed to build the project.” Yay, light rail from near my house to downtown! Hope it makes it to Santa Monica too.
Sep 7, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
O's give up 30 runs in loss to Rangers
“The Texas Rangers became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record Wednesday in a 30-3 rout of the Orioles.” Oy, I think it’s time for me to start becoming embarrassed.
Aug 22, 2007 in Breaking NewsBreaking News | Comment
Forced to Pick a Major in High School
“[S]tarting this fall, freshmen at Dwight Morrow High School here in Bergen County must declare a major that will determine what electives they take for four years and be noted on their diplomas.” Brilliant, since I and so many of my friends have jobs that we prepared for in High School. Also, please note: this is how the French do it.
Aug 16, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Signal fixes get the green light
“L.A. officials Wednesday approved traffic improvements for the car-clogged Westside, including traffic signal upgrades at 361 intersections and the addition of 33 left-turn lights…The nearly $6 million in projects approved by the City Council on Wednesday are funded in part by developers’ fees that are paid to the city to mitigate traffic problems…” Good news, but “Last month, [Councilman Jack] Weiss asked the city Department of Transportation for its master plan and list of top needs, and found out there were none.” Oops!
Aug 16, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Litigious Judge's Future Unclear
“The D.C. judge who sued his dry cleaners for $54 million over a pair of pants may want to begin looking for a new job.” Apparently they’re dotting all the “i”s and crossing all the “t”s to start the non-reappointment process.
Aug 13, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Court Rules: Novell owns the UNIX and UnixWare copyrights
If you’ve been following the long, and quite absurd, SCO vs. Novell case, then you may be excited to hear that the court ruled that Novell does indeed own the UNIX copyrights. This pretty much puts paid to SCO’s overall lawsuit strategy. If you’re not familiar, this means that the things you’re used to getting for free on the Interwebs, you can continue to get for free.
Aug 11, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
King-Harbor fails final check, will close soon
The scandal-plagued hospital, which can’t seem to stop killing people through sheer incompetence, will finally be shut down. Scary: “The fate of the hospital’s 1,600 employees is unclear. Some will remain at the outpatient clinics; others could be reassigned to other county health facilities.” Um, how about “fired and out of healthcare permanently”?
Aug 11, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Work begins on light-rail line from downtown to Westside
Yay! I hope they take it all the way down to Santa Monica, too; I’d ride that all the time. I don’t know why, but light rail seems more fun to ride than buses, to me.
Aug 11, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
NYC Backs Down on Photo Rules
The NY Mayor’s office has backed down on proposed rules that, in my reading, would’ve required me to get a permit to simply be a tourist and take nice pictures. I’m a big believer in regulating commercial work to prevent traffic disruption, but a tourist town needs to err on the side of caution.
Aug 6, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Harry Potter and the Digital Fingerprints
The person who leaked the whole, real copy of the latest Harry Potter, by photographing every page and uploading the photos? Turns out their camera embedded its serial number in every photo. Oops, this could be trouble for someone. For those who think they’re not being tracked, your printer and CD burner also put uniquely-identifiable data on everything you produce with them.
Jul 23, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Driving with danger in tow
Probably best not to move with U-Haul, after all, since they don’t so much care about things like “safety” and “inspections” and stuff like that. (Although, I don’t quite understand how a company hopes to get ahead by maximizing liability…)
Jun 28, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Judge tosses $54 million suit over missing pants
Remember the DC Judge who sued for $54mm over some pants he said his dry cleaners lost? The one who I think lost his job over it? Well, apparently the judge tossed the case even before a verdict was returned; looks like the guy wasn’t able to prove he was damaged in any way. Now he has to pay the opponent’s court costs, and may get stuck paying their lawyer costs! I guess it pays to be reasonable!
Jun 25, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
The Soviet Collapse, by Yegor Gaidar
“The timeline of the collapse of the Soviet Union can be traced to September 13, 1985. On this date, Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the minister of oil of Saudi Arabia, declared that the monarchy had decided to alter its oil policy radically. The Saudis stopped protecting oil prices, and Saudi Arabia quickly regained its share in the world market. During the next six months, oil production in Saudi Arabia increased fourfold, while oil prices collapsed by approximately the same amount in real terms.” “Between 1991 and 1994, [Gaidar] was acting prime minister of Russia, minister of economy, and first deputy prime minister.”
Via blog.pmarca.com
Jun 22, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Death on the streets
“Baltimore’s homicide rate last year surpassed all of the nation’s largest cities with the exception of Detroit, according to FBI crime statistics released yesterday… ‘Baltimore is becoming an increasingly safer city for law-abiding citizens but has become an increasingly dangerous city for those that live outside the law,’ [Matt Jablow, a spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department] said. ‘We see it over and over with our homicide victims and suspects: They’re people who’ve been arrested, five, 10, 15 times. We have to get these people off the streets for longer periods of time.’”
Jun 5, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Vets 'pop' hedgehog to safe its life after it balloons to size of football
Adorable, but, let’s face it, hedgehogs are, like Marmaduke, assholes.
Jun 5, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment (1)
Court: Menu Foods harassed pet owners
“The pet food company that recalled 60 million cans of contaminated dog and cat food repeatedly made harassing phone calls to pet owners who had lawyers and said they didn’t want to talk, even after a judge ordered the firm to leave them alone…” At first I thought they just had incompetent PR, now I think they’re bad people. I hope Menu Foods goes bankrupt from the lawsuits.
May 28, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Making less than dad did
“Relying on Census Bureau figures, the study’s authors found that after adjusting for inflation, men in their 30s in 2004 had a median income of about $35,000 per year, for a 12 percent drop compared with $40,000 per year for men in the same age group in 1974.”
May 25, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Mars Rover Spirit Unearths Surprise Evidence of Wetter Past
“A patch of Martian soil analyzed by NASA’s rover Spirit is so rich in silica that it may provide some of the strongest evidence yet that ancient Mars was much wetter than it is now. The processes that could have produced such a concentrated deposit of silica require the presence of water.”
May 22, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Toyota cutting hybrid costs, claims every car produced will be hybrid by 2020
Economies of scale and experience will make hybrids affordable across-the-line, if this is what Toyota really wants. A good solution for green consumers, because Toyota’s hybrids don’t demand any new infrastructure, unlike plug-in and hydrogen cars.
May 17, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment (1)
Lawmakers Find $21 a Week Doesn't Buy a Lot of Groceries
“[Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio)] and three other members of Congress have pledged to live for one week on $21 worth of food, the amount the average food stamp recipient receives in federal assistance. That’s $3 a day or $1 a meal.” Darned right that doesn’t go far, especially now that food prices eat deeper into wallets.
May 17, 2007 in Breaking NewsBreaking News | Comment
Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff Confirm Final Season of Battlestar Galactica!!!
This is news that definitely deserves four exclamation marks!!! However, it seems like most good shows these days have limited runs, usually 4-6 seasons. It just seems to keep the quality up. I’ll be happy to see BSG go out on top, and, with cable around, the 50-ish episodes should be enough to live extensively in syndication. (Interesting that the cause for the series’ end — cost — is the same reason that the original BSG was cancelled.)
May 11, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Colorado sheriff haunted by hostage dilemma
Good perspective on all of the second-guessing going on around the Virginia Tech shootings. There’s rarely an ideal possible decision under pressure, with incomplete information; you just try for good enough.
Apr 24, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Hi, My Name is Kurt Vonnegut, and I'm Dead
Gosh, that’s sad. He was so together on John Stewart last year; I almost feel he was cut down with some possibility of having a prime left.
Apr 11, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Mystery cat takes regular bus to the shops
“The feline, which has a purple collar, gets onto the busy Walsall to Wolverhampton bus at the same stop most mornings - he then jumps off at the next stop 400m down the road, near a fish and chip shop.”
Via Fark
Apr 10, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Arkansas House Passes Grammar Resolution
“The state House approved a resolution declaring “Arkansas’s” the possessive form of the state’s name - a bill so weird it prompted the sponsor to offer an apology.” I don’t understand why they’re apologizing, they’re clearly promulgating the right possessive form, and nobody can spell these days so it’s badly needed. Arkansas’s, Los Angeles’s, that’s they way you make the possessive!
Apr 5, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment (3)
LA Homicide Report Map
If you like the LA Times Homicide Blog, then you can’t miss this map of where all the violence takes place! Surprisingly, no homicides near me (too bad they don’t have other crimes!).
Apr 2, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
One-way streets may get Westside on the fast track
Run Pico and Olympic one-way only? This might be a good idea — the major issue being that the streets are too far apart to easily circle around — but why is it being considered instead of the Expo Line light-rail extension? Should be a as well as thing, to relieve congestion.
Mar 29, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Giant Pool of Water Ice at Mars' South Pole
“[T]he planet has enough water ice at its south pole to blanket the entire planet in more than 30 feet of water if everything thawed out.” This is a cool new discovery! I mean, with this water, Mars + sufficent effort = habitable, right?
Via Slashdot
Mar 15, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Fact or Fiction?: Living People Outnumber the Dead
“The human population has swelled so much that people alive today outnumber all those who have ever lived, says a factoid whose roots stretch back to the 1970s. Some versions of this widely circulating rumor claim that 75 percent of all people ever born are currently alive.” True or not? The truth may shock you!
Mar 4, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Energy Dept.'s missed deadlines on appliance efficiency cost billions, report says
“All told, the Department of Energy has missed every one of 34 mandatory rule-making deadlines for setting minimum energy efficiency standards involving 20 products including refrigerators, dishwashers, freezers, pool heaters, furnaces and central air conditioners, analysts at the Government Accountability Office reported.”
Mar 3, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Colorado to use inmates to fill migrant shortage
Inmates get paid $0.60/day for work — so we’re basically using slave labor to work our fields. Question: are we becoming more like China faster than China is becoming more like us? If so, does that mean they win?
Mar 1, 2007 in Breaking NewsBreaking NewsBreaking News | Comment (2)
Walter Sondheim, RIP
How many people were both responsible for the first school desegregation south of the Mason-Dixon line and revitalizing the downtown of a major city? (“He said he regretted the white flight let loose by desegregation, but he regretted segregation more.”) Sondheim was a major force in the city I grew up in and will be missed.
Feb 18, 2007 in Breaking NewsBreaking News | Comment
Nation's gin tree in need of a tonic
Juniper may die out in Britain, giving us no authentically British Gin. Who wants Slovenian Gin? This, folks, is serious!
Via Fark
Feb 18, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Lead-laden lunchboxes OK'd by government
I’m super-glad that I used one of these to carry my dinner all through b-school. In general, I imagine this is a brilliant Chinese conspiracy (since I imagine the bags , being inexpensive, were made in China): if you’re keeping your eye on winning in the next 100 years, not now, then what’s a better strategy than to poison America’s kids in a way that makes them stupid, thus reducing our ability to compete in 20 years? Yep, brilliant.
Feb 18, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment (2)
L.A. mayor wants citywide wireless access
“Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa outlined plans Tuesday to blanket Los Angeles with wireless Internet access in 2009… The L.A. Wi-Fi initiative would give Los Angeles residents, schools, businesses and visitors uninterrupted high-speed Internet connections — for work, research, Web browsing or even phone calls.” Cool, but is this the best use of our money?
Feb 14, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
In Culver City, Calif., Art and Food Turn a Nowhere Into a Somewhere
Apparently, my ‘hood has so arrived that they’re writing about it on the other coast. I vote we don’t turn into Santa Monica; Silverlake would be just fine. (Perhaps we’ll be saved by the fact that LA Can’t Drive)
Jan 30, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
BET Walks on The Wire
BET will be showing all episodes of all four seasons (so far) of The Wire starting on the 10th! Woo hoo!
Jan 4, 2007 in Breaking News | Comment
Wild parrots invade Pomona Valley
“The large colony of wild parrots first appeared about three weeks ago, north Pomona and Claremont residents say. Perched high in neighborhood trees, they roost in flocks of hundreds.” There’s parrots in my ‘hood too, but pionus, I think, rather than those Red-Crowned Amazons that the IE seems to have. Wish they’d had these there when I was in college!
Via Fark
Dec 31, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
300-Plus Sick After Olive Garden Meal
Not food poisoning this time, but an infectious disease. The predictable consquence of our never-go-home-sick society?
Dec 24, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Olive oil 'can cut cancer risk'
“A study of 182 European men found those who had 25 millilitres of olive oil per day had reduced levels of a substance which indicates cell damage. The Danish team said it may explain why many cancer rates are higher in northern Europe than the south, where olive oil is a major part of the diet.”
Dec 24, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Chiefs' founder Lamar Hunt dies
“Hunt was one of the creators of the AFL in 1959 and was a principal negotiator in the merger of the AFL and NFL in 1966. He was credited with coining the term ‘Super Bowl’ for what’s turned out to be the country’s most-watched sporting event, with the name coming from his children’s toy ‘Super Ball.’” Hunt was a great sportsman and one of the big men of American sports, and football will be worse off without him.
Dec 14, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Sound Output Levels of the iPod and Other MP3 Players: Is There Potential Risk to Hearing?
“The results of this study suggest that MP3 players produce high enough sound levels to pose a risk of hearing loss, if used at high enough volumes for extended durations.” Don’t listen to your iPod at 90% volume through the stock earphones for more than 18 minutes a day, k?
Dec 8, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Older than the sun, the meteorite scientists call 'the real time machine'
“[A] team lead by Keiko Nakamura-Messenger and Michael Zolensky show the levels of the isotopes in the meteorite could only arise from chemical reactions taking place in an extremely cold climate, where temperatures were as low as -260C. Those conditions would only be found in remote molecular clouds before the formation of the solar system.” That’s potentially billions of years older than anything we’ve seen before.
Dec 7, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Prince Charles to reduce his 'carbon footprint'
“Putting his money where his environmentalist mouth is, Prince Charles is swapping gas-guzzling private planes and helicopters for commercial flights, train journeys and biodiesel cars.” Go Chas!
Dec 7, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Photos show evidence of recent water on Mars
As recent as several years ago. Holy crap!
Dec 7, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Gender pay gap narrows -- for unexpected reasons
“Women are closing in on men when it comes to wages, but not for the reasons anticipated — or hoped for — when gender pay equity became a rallying cry in the 1970s. Data show that the pay gap has been narrowing not because women have made great strides, labor experts say, but because men’s wages are eroding.” Yay tax cuts!
Dec 3, 2006 in Breaking NewsBreaking News | Comment
Aching Back? Sitting Up Straight Could Be The Culprit
“A 135-degree body-thigh sitting posture was demonstrated to be the best biomechanical sitting position, as opposed to a 90-degree posture, which most people consider normal,” and lazy good-for-nothings are proven to be ergonomically-correct.
Via Slashdot
Nov 29, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Four Were Framed With The FBI's Help
In order to protect informants in a Mafia case, the FBI framed four innocent people for a murder the informants comitted. The four were sentenced to death, later commuted to life, but two died in prison. The $100 million they ask for seems small.
Via Fark
Nov 20, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Satire hands a right
“Now Fox News Channel, a primary source of material for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, is teaming with the exec producer of 24 to try its hand at a news satire show for conservatives to love… ‘The way I look at it, almost every comedy show or satire show I see uses the same talking points against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney,’ [producer] Surnow said. ‘The other side hasn’t been skewered in a fair and balanced way.’”
Via Defamer
Nov 20, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment (4)
We Have Nothing To Fear Except Fear Itself, Which it Turns Out We Should Be Really Scared Of
Also known as “how the Republican party is driving the entire country insane.”
Nov 14, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
In the fields, a rude awakening
In a remarkable turn of events, a company has actually exploited immigrant laborers, brought in through the new guest worker program, by promising them the moon and then delivering bad working conditions. Oops — worker’s rights organizations noticed.
Nov 5, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Grocers enter produce-safety debate
“The nation’s largest supermarket chains have given produce growers six weeks to establish new safety rules to prevent deadly E. coli outbreaks.” An interesting example of the free market vs. regulation; growers had ignored government warnings and resisted regulation, but now have an extremely short deadline in which to fix their practices or go out of business. Which is better for the growers: government regulation instituted over a moderate period, through a process in which everyone has a say, or their customers saying “do this right quick or never sell your product anywhere again”?
Nov 2, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment (2)
How iTunes saved 'The Office'
“‘I’m not sure that we’d still have the show on the air’ without the iTunes boost, says Angela Bromstead, president of NBC Universal Television Studio, which owns and produces ‘The Office.’ ‘The network had only ordered so many episodes, but when it went on iTunes and really started taking off, that gave us another way to see the true potential other than just Nielsen. It just kind of happened at a great time.’” Makes me want to download a few shows I like on iTunes even if I won’t watch ‘em!
Via Ars Technica
Nov 1, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Pink plastic flamingo faces extinction
Oct 31, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Extra anus kills four-legged chick
“‘He developed two bottoms and I think he got glugged up,’ she said.” With classic photo.
Oct 27, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
U.S. Jails Man Once Tortured by Taliban
This is good stuff — a guy imprisoned and tortured by the Taliban and then by the US; a guy hired to be a guard for the Karzai regime, thrown in Guantanamo because he has the same name as a terrorist; maybe we won’t let people out of Guantanamo because we’d look too incompetent for having picked them up in the first place
Via Fark
Oct 23, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Transplant group is lax in oversight
If you thought that organ transplants — you know, cutting one person open, taking out a major part of what makes their body operate, and moving that part to another person in order to allow that second person’s body to continue to operate — was regulated or supervised by some organization that ensured the safety of transplant patients, well, you were wrong!
Oct 22, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment (2)
Lichtenstein: creator or copycat?
High school art teacher David Barsalou has collected many of the original comic panels Roy Lichtenstein turned into his art. Is Lichtenstein a great artist or just a copycat? And, if he is a copycat, what are the legal consequences?
Via The Legal Reader
Oct 20, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Warriors Against Fascism Reunite in Madrid
“George Sossenko was a 16-year-old boy in Paris when he left a note for his mother and ran off to fight in the Spanish Civil War. ‘I know this will cause you pain’ he wrote, ‘but the future of the world is being played out in Spain.’ Sossenko and about 35 of his former comrades in arms came together in Madrid on Monday to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the war triggered when Gen. Francisco Franco rebelled against Spain’s elected government. They formed part of the International Brigades, about 35,000 men and women from more than 50 countries who journeyed to Spain to fight fascism, an ultimately losing battle that is often regarded as the precursor to World War II.”
Oct 10, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Novel police tactic puts drug markets out of business
“In a counterintuitive approach, police here are trying to shut down entire drug markets, in part by giving nonviolent suspected drug dealers a second chance. Their strategy combines the “soft” pressure from families and community with the “hard” threat of aggressive, ready-to-go criminal cases. While critics say the strategy is too lenient, it has met with early success and is being tried by other communities afflicted with overt drug markets and the violence they breed.”
Via Kottke
Oct 3, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Two Months Before 9/11, an Urgent Warning to Rice
Hmmm, the CIA Director says “let’s worry about Bin Laden!” and the administration ignores it… good job!
Oct 1, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
"Saved by the Bell's" Dustin Diamond does the dirty
“…[W]e just found out, courtesy of the New York Daily News and the excellent Defamer, that Dustin Diamond, aka Screech on ‘Saved by the Bell,’ is the star of his very own sex tape — featuring him with two women… It is currently being shopped around for a distributor. Working title, I kid you not: ‘Saved by the Smell.’ This is no doubt due to a widely circulated nasty detail that goes by the delicate nickname ‘Dirty Sanchez.’” And now it turns out that “The sex tape got out because Diamond and some buddies have a ‘monthly gathering’ wherein they exchange such tapes (emphasis mine) which earn points based on ‘what [we’re] able to accomplish’ on the tapes”
Via Fark
Sep 29, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Army Warns Rumsfeld It's Billions Short
“According to a senior Army official involved in budget talks, Schoomaker is now seeking $138.8 billion in 2008, nearly $25 billion above budget limits originally set by Rumsfeld. The Army’s budget this year is $98.2 billion, making Schoomaker’s request a 41% increase over current levels.” Guess we can’t do a half-assed job on the cheap anymore, we’re going to have to pay full price. Too bad it’s too late to do the job right; nothing’s quite as crappy as an expensive, mediocre outcome.
Sep 25, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Special forces stretched thin by two wars
“So many of America’s special operations commandos have been thrown into combat in Iraq and Afghanistan that only a handful of the elite troops are available for the quiet but critical work of training local security forces and stabilizing governments elsewhere — raising worries about al-Qaida and related terrorist groups expanding in other parts of the world.” Is there any way in which this Iraq plan is not failing?
Sep 24, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Macho Men Fall for Purse-Sized Pooches
“According to Wendy Diamond, editorial director of Animal Fair Magazine, the trend is a big one. ‘Men with small dogs tend to be secure with themselves; they’re confident,’ Diamond said. ‘They don’t need a big dog to prove something.’” Sounds like my kind of dog.
Sep 18, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
Diamond in the Rough
Screech’s “I’m gonna lose my house, give me money” thing? Turns out it was all a put-on, if not a scam.
Sep 11, 2006 in Breaking News | Comment
NSA eavesdropping program ruled unconstitutional
“[The judge]further declared that the program ‘violates the separation of powers doctrine, the Administrative Procedures Act, the First and Fourth amendments to the United States Constitution, the FISA and Title III.’ She went on to say that ‘the president of the United States … has undisputedly violated the Fourth in failing to procure judicial orders.’”
Hezbollah Leads Lebanon Cleanup
“Only days after guns fell silent, Hezbollah has emerged as the lead player in the cleanup in the towns and villages of southern Lebanon. It has the volunteers, owns the equipment, and has spent years burnishing its image as the champion of ordinary people, from poor tobacco farmers to doctors and lawyers, who see Hezbollah as much more than a militia.”
Round and Orbity? Must Be a Planet
“There goes the solar system. The elite society of nine lordly bodies of rock, ice and gas would grow to at least 12 and as many as 53 members under a new definition of “planet” proposed Tuesday by the International Astronomical Union. The core of the definition? Planets are round. And they orbit a star.”
Security 'bad news for sex drive'
“They found 60% of 30-year-old women wanted sex “often” at the beginning of a relationship, but within four years of the relationship this figure fell to under 50%, and after 20 years it dropped to about 20%. In contrast, they found the proportion of men wanting regular sex remained at between 60-80%, regardless of how long they had been in a relationship. “
Bush Staff Wanted Bomb-Detect Cash Moved
“While the British terror suspects were hatching their plot, the Bush administration was quietly seeking permission to divert $6 million that was supposed to be spent this year developing new homeland explosives detection technology.” Hooray for competence.
Hello, Young Workers: One Way to Reach the Top Is to Start There
“He found that the performance of the stock market in the two years the students were in business school played a major role in whether they took an investment banking job upon graduating and, because such jobs pay extremely well, upon the average salary of the class. That is no surprise. The startling thing about the data was his finding that the relative income differences among classes remained, even as much as 20 years later… And as economists have looked at the economy of the last two decades, they have found that Dr. Oyer’s findings hold for more than just high-end M.B.A. students on Wall Street. They are also true for college students.” Great, I graduated from college in a recession and from b-school during a short positive bump in a not particularly prosperous time.
It's Called Soccer
“[A]s much as the world likes to mock Americans for their ignorance of the beautiful game, football just isn’t the correct term for it in English. Soccer is right.” Note the source - Der Spiegel.
Humans, chimps may have bred after split
Verizon sued for $50 billion over wiretap program
“AT&T Corp., BellSouth Corp and Verizon Telecommunications are facing lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in damages for the decision to turn over calling records to the government, the New York Times reported Saturday. A federal lawsuit was filed in Manhattan yesterday seeking as much as $50 billion in civil damages against Verizon on behalf of its subscribers. Under telecommunications law, the phone companies are at risk for at least $1,000 per person whose records they disclosed without a court order, according to Orin Kerr, a former federal prosecutor and assistant professor at George Washington University.” Donate to the EFF — they’re protecting your rights!
Israel killed top-wanted Palestinian with chocolate
Study: Songbirds can learn basic grammar
“The simplest grammar, long thought to be one of the skills that separate man from beast, can be taught to a common songbird, new research suggests.”
'Galactica' Prequel on Tap at Sci Fi
Hmm, make something really good and you can create a franchise out of it. Who’d’ve thunk it?
Magician David Copperfield robbed after show
“Copperfield said he pulled out all of his pockets for [the robber] to see he had nothing - even though he had a cell phone, passport and wallet stuffed in them.”
Wildlife defies Chernobyl radiation
“As humans were evacuated from the area 20 years ago, animals moved in. Existing populations multiplied and species not seen for decades, such as the lynx and eagle owl, began to return. There are even tantalising footprints of a bear, an animal that has not trodden this part of Ukraine for centuries.”
Diplomatic faux pas at US-China summit
Forget the heckler, Chinese Premier Hu was introduced as coming from the “Republic of China”, also known as Taiwan, which is viewed as a renegade province by the “People’s Republic of China”, also known as China.
Crossfield, First to Fly at Mach 2, Killed in Crash
“Scott Crossfield, a test pilot who was the first person to fly at two times the speed of sound, was found dead today in the wreckage of a single-engine plane that crashed in northern Georgia. He was 84.”
The One Certainty About Iraq: Spiraling Costs for Americans
“ABC analyst Tony Cordesman, who also holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the exorbitant costs come down to poor planning. ‘When the administration submitted its original budget for the Iraq war, it didn’t provide money for continuing the war this year or any other. We could end up spending up to $1 trillion in supplemental budgets for this war.’”
ENEMY WEAPON: Russian VA-111 Shkval
The basis for the “super torpedo” that Iran has boasted of having, the Shkval has been in Russian service since the mid-70s and has not been particularly feared because of its several substantial weaknesses, including inaccuracy and short range. Also, an explosion of the propellant in a Shkval is one of the possible causes of the Kursk’s loss.
Case of bubonic plague confirmed in L.A.
Results of First Multicenter Trial of Intercessory Prayer, Healing Touch in Heart Patients
“Distant prayer and the bedside use of music, imagery and touch (MIT therapy) did not have a significant effect upon the primary clinical outcome observed in patients undergoing certain heart procedures, researchers at Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), Duke University Medical Center, the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and seven other leading academic medical institutions across the U.S. have found.”
Facebook turns down $750mm buyout, wants 2B
One wonders how diluted the original founders are that they need that kind of money to make their 15-50x return. Or do their projections actually have the company reasonably valued at that number?
Solaris author Stanislaw Lem dies at 84
“Lem, whose books have sold more than 27 million copies and have been translated into more than 40 languages, won widespread acclaim for The Cyberiad, stories from a mechanical world ruled by robots, first published in English in 1974.” Lem is one of my favorite sci-fi authors, try the famous Solaris or the hilarious The Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy.
Hidden CJD is new threat to thousands
“Thousands of people in Britain may be infected with variant CJD, the human equivalent of mad cow disease, without knowing it, research suggests. Experiments have confirmed that it is possible for a much wider group of people than had been assumed to be infected with the incurable brain condition. The presence in the population of undetected carriers of the infection has serious implications for the safety of the blood supply, and it increases the risk of passing on vCJD to others through infected surgical instruments.”
Oglala Sioux Tribe on the South Dakota Abortion Ban
“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty.” President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, says “I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.”
Decades later, Marines hunt Vietnam-era deserters
“Thirty years after the war ended, hundreds of Vietnam-era deserters are still on the loose. [Recently-captured Vietnam-era deserter] Conti’s attorneys, Louis Font and Tod Ensign, say the Pentagon, and the Marine Corps in particular, are cracking down on long-term cases in an effort to warn current-day troops in Iraq against deserting.”
Scientists: Liquid water erupting on Saturn moon
“The Cassini spacecraft has found evidence of liquid water spewing from geysers on one of Saturn’s icy moons, raising the tantalizing possibility that the celestial object harbors life.”
Record Set for Hottest Temperature on Earth: 3.6 Billion Degrees in Lab
That’s hotter than the sun!
Mechanic finds $30,000 worth of pot in car
“Police said the vehicle’s owner, Charles Warholic, of Jermyn, has no involvement with the drugs, other than that he’s driven around with them hidden in his bumper since November. That’s when he purchased the used car from Eynon Pontiac-Buick.”
Red rain could prove that aliens have landed
“On 25 July, 2001, blood-red rain fell over the Kerala district of western India. And these rain bursts continued for the next two months… [Godfrey] Louis [a physicist at Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam] decided that the rain was made up of bacteria-like material that had been swept to Earth from a passing comet. In short, it rained aliens over India during the summer of 2001.”
Jupiter's New Red Spot
That big storm on Jupiter that forms the enormous Red Spot? Well, it has a little brother!
Scientists find Antarctic ice shrank significantly
“Using data from the NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), scientists concluded that Antarctica’s ice sheet decreased by about 152 cubic kilometers annually from April 2002 to August 2005.”
Study: Movie Critics Speak Even When They Don't Utter a Word
“It finds that many film critics, faced with far too many movies to write about, tend to avoid writing reviews of bad films that they’ve seen. At the same time, a few critics, faced with the same overwhelming choice, tend to avoid reviewing good movies that they’ve watched.”
The Ugly Face of Crime
“Not only are physically unattractive teenagers likely to be stay-at-homes on prom night, they’re also more likely to grow up to be criminals, say two economists who tracked the life course of young people from high school through early adulthood.” Thank goodness I’m downright gorgeous!
Israeli group announces anti-Semitic cartoons contest!
“‘We’ll show the world we can do the best, sharpest, most offensive Jew hating cartoons ever published!’ said Sandy ‘No Iranian will beat us on our home turf!’”
RIAA et al. says CD ripping, backups not fair use
“The [submitted arguments in favor of granting exemptions to the DMCA] provide no arguments or legal authority that making back up copies of CDs is a noninfringing use. In addition, the submissions provide no evidence that access controls are currently preventing them from making back up copies of CDs or that they are likely to do so in the future. Myriad online downloading services are available and offer varying types of digital rights management alternatives… Presumably, consumers concerned with the ability to make back up copies would choose to purchase music from a service that allowed such copying. Even if CDs do become damaged, replacements are readily available at affordable prices.” Remind me again what the advantage to legal music purchase is, besides a warm feeling in one’s heart?
Cowboys: Gay Since 1981, per Willie Nelson
“Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)’ may be the first gay cowboy song by a major recording artist… Available exclusively through iTunes, the song features choppy Tex-Mex style guitar runs and Nelson’s deadpan delivery of lines like, “What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?” and “Inside every cowboy there’s a lady who’d love to slip out. The song… was written by Texas-born singer-songwriter Ned Sublette in 1981.”
“The $200 Billion Broadband Scandal.” -- AKA Where’s the 45MB/s I Already Paid for!
“One of the most damning indictments, that United States residents have already paid for upgrades to our existing broadband infrastructure — being charged for services never delivered — and not a small amount either, but actually to the tune of $200,000,000,000. When you break it down, that’s roughly a $2,000 refund for every household that’s due for contractual obligations never fulfilled.”
Infection Killed King Tut
“According to the Italian doctors, it was likely that King Tut suffered a violent blow, most likely by a sword. The blow would have lodged gold fragments from the decorations of the pharaoh’s armour or dress into the knee. Shortly after, infection set in, bringing Tutankhamun to death at the age of about 19.”
End of a (Telegram) Era
“Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage.”
Video captures octopus attack on sub
“Rare video footage shows a giant octopus attacking a small submarine off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Salmon researchers working on the Brooks Peninsula were shocked last November when an octopus attacked their expensive and sensitive equipment.”
Britons unconvinced on evolution
“More than half the British population does not accept the theory of evolution, according to a survey. Furthermore, more than 40% of those questioned believe that creationism or intelligent design should be taught in school science lessons.” Yay! At least one other country is as screwed up as we are!
Spy Agency Data After Sept. 11 Led F.B.I. to Dead Ends
“More than a dozen current and former law enforcement and counterterrorism officials, including some in the small circle who knew of the secret program and how it played out at the F.B.I., said the torrent of tips led them to few potential terrorists inside the country they did not know of from other sources and diverted agents from counterterrorism work they viewed as more productive.” Sounds like a culture clash, more than anything: “[t]he N.S.A., an intelligence agency, routinely collects huge amounts of data from across the globe that may yield only tiny nuggets of useful information; the F.B.I., while charged with fighting terrorism, retains the traditions of a law enforcement agency more focused on solving crimes.”
100 things we didn't know this time last year
Polar bears drown as ice shelf melts
“Scientists have for the first time found evidence that polar bears are drowning because climate change is melting the Arctic ice shelf.” Could this be because global warming is past the point of no return?
Baby thrown from burning building
“An ex-rugby player relied on his safe pair of hands to catch a baby boy after his mother was forced to drop him out of her burning home.”
Fake journalism, real consequences
“It’s always the first question people ask when they see someone being more or less made fun of on ‘The Daily Show With Jon Stewart’: Didn’t they know it’s a joke? Well, yes, usually.”
DART cops put a guy in jail 11 days for jaywalking
In case you forgot that some people just can’t afford even the smallest amount of bail, what being arrested can do for a (potentially innocent) person.
Marquette suspends dental student for blog comments
“A dental student at Marquette University has been suspended for the rest of the academic year and ordered to repeat a semester after a committee of professors, administrators and students determined that he violated professional conduct codes when he posted negative comments about unnamed students and professors on a blog.” Remind me not to be associated with Marquette in any way in the future. However, also note that I mention almost nobody by name on this blog and talk about others very little.
Update: more at Inside Higher Ed and Marquette Warrior Blog.
Baltimore dims as thieves snatch lights
“City streets are getting darker because thieves, some disguised as utility crews, are stealing 30-foot light poles, authorities said.”
Bird-like dinosaur forces rethink
“One theory suggests the lineage of dinosaurs the new animal belonged to, the dromaeosaurs, originated in the Cretaceous Period (144 to 65 million years ago)… But this discovery suggests their lineage can be traced further back in time, to the Jurassic (206 to 144 million years ago), experts say… This branch is distinct from Laurasian dromaeosaurids, including Velociraptor and some of the famous feathered dinosaurs from China. Birds are commonly thought to have evolved from this group.”
On their own
“Among thousands of homeless schoolchildren in Baltimore is a group of teenagers who choose to care for themselves rather than submit to the help offered by social agencies.” This is the story of two — and a happy story, for one. I ran a couple of races against Eastern when I was in High School.
Oct 11, 2005 in Breaking News | Comment
Python Explodes After Eating Alligator
“The snake apparently tried to swallow the gator whole — and then exploded. Scientists stumbled upon the gory remains last week.”
Oct 5, 2005 in Breaking News | Comment
Katrina, Rita may have released armed, killer US Navy dolphins into Gulf
“Experts who have studied the US navy’s cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying ‘toxic dart’ guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet’s smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.” If a British newspaper prints it, then it must be true!
Sep 27, 2005 in Breaking News | Comment
Ex-Tyco Execs Get Up to 25 Years in Prison
“Kozlowski, 58, was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs as his wife quietly sobbed from a bench three rows back. He will be eligible for parole after eight years and four months behind bars in a state prison in New York.” This ain’t Club Fed here, folks!
Sep 19, 2005 in Breaking News | Comment
Apparenty a real note written by the President to Condi Rice...
Sep 14, 2005 in Breaking News | Comment
Grammy winner "Gatemouth" Brown dies
“Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown, the singer and guitarist who built a 50-year career playing blues, country, jazz and Cajun music, died Saturday in his hometown of Orange, Texas, where he had gone to escape Hurricane Katrina. He was 81.” Gate was one of my favorites — I’m sad to hear he died of a broken heart.
Sep 11, 2005 in Breaking News | Comment
Cockpit Confusion Found in Crash of Cypriot Plane
“The crew members of a Cypriot airliner that crashed Aug. 14 near Athens became confused by a series of alarms as the plane climbed, failing to recognize that the cabin was not pressurizing until they grew mentally disoriented because of lack of oxygen and lost consciousness, according to several people connected with the investigation into the crash.”
Sep 7, 2005 in Breaking News | Comment
Living Paycheck to Paycheck Made Leaving Impossible
“To those who wonder why so many stayed behind when push came to water’s mighty shove here, those who were trapped have a simple explanation: Their nickels and dimes and dollar bills simply didn’t add up to stage a quick evacuation mission.”
Sep 7, 2005 in Breaking News | Comment
Dinosaurs may have been a fluffy lot
“The popular image of Tyrannosaurus rex and other killer dinosaurs may have to be changed as a scientific consensus emerges that many were covered with feathers.”
Sep 7, 2005 in Breaking News | Comment
Subway Flasher Caught!
That flasher who was caught on camera was IDd and caught! Apparently masturbating in front of unwilling witnesses is just “a misdemeanor”, says the alleged perp, who owns the Quintessence restaurants.
Hunt perv caught in a flash
That guy that was caught on cameraphone allegedly masturbating on the subway? His picture just ran on the front page of the New York Daily News! Also, the meme seems to have spread to Paris (NSFW).
What Makes People Gay?
“The debate has always been that it was either all in the child’s upbringing or all in the genes. But what if it’s something else?” An article including the story of two identical twins, one gay, one not.
Moonbat anti-evolutionist: Deepak Chopra
A good response to Chopra’s anti-evolution comments on Larry King, and to creationists in general.
Letter may solve 1930 mystery of missing judge
The mysterious case of the disappearance of Judge Crater may now be solved!
Porn will make you blind
It’s true. Proven by science. And not quack science either.
Climate warning as Siberia melts
“The world’s largest frozen peat bog is melting. An area stretching for a million square kilometres across the permafrost of western Siberia is turning into a mass of shallow lakes as the ground melts, according to Russian researchers just back from the region.”
IP Oversight Costs "Dukes of Hazzard" $17.5 Million
Apparently, The Dukes of Hazzard TV show was based on a movie, and the makers of the original movie only sold the rights to make a TV show back in the ’70s. So, no right to make a movie actually existed. The settlement was sizable!
A hit below the belt?
“Mike Tyson might be turning from his fists to another body part to make a living. The former champ says he’s been approached by reps for porn star Jenna Jameson to co-star in a X-rated movie.” (Article towards the bottom of the page — complete with surprising vital statistics.)
Redesign Is Seen for Next Craft, NASA Aides Say
“The plan would separate the jobs of hauling people and cargo into orbit and would put the payloads on top of the rockets - as far as possible from the dangers of firing engines and falling debris, which were responsible for the accidents that destroyed the shuttle Challenger in 1986 and the Columbia in 2003.”
Ice lake found on the Red Planet
“A giant patch of frozen water has been pictured nestled within an unnamed impact crater on Mars.” This is incredible for future exploration of that planet.
Here's why you can't buy the News Journal at Wal-Mart
“[Wal-Mart Manager] Hart, however, said he and his stores couldn’t tolerate a newspaper that would print the opinions of someone who was as mean and negative as [News Journal Columnist] Mark O’Brien… Mr. Hart said he wanted the newspaper to get its racks off his lots. But he also said that if I fired Mark, we could talk about continuing to sell the newspaper at his stores.”
Russia's great leap for tourism - a $100m trip to the moon
“Russia’s federal space agency took a giant leap in the field of cosmic tourism yesterday with the announcement it will offer a $100m (£57m) trip to the moon.” Sadly, this trip only gets you to orbit the moon, not land on it. Instead of charging such a large fee why not, as one Slashdot reader suggested, sell 10 million $10 raffle tickets to win a trip to the moon?
Genetic flaw leaves felines without sweet tooth
“Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and their collaborators said Sunday they found a dysfunctional feline gene that probably prevents cats from tasting sweets, a sensation nearly every other mammal on the planet experiences to varying degrees.”
'Star Trek' Icon Doohan Dies
One third of Americans believe in ghosts
“A Gallup poll has revealed that 32 per cent of all adult Americans believe in ghosts. Nineteen per cent aren’t so sure, while a level-headed 48 per cent dismissed the idea outright.” Hey, I’m pretty level-headed, and I’m in that third!
Bus firm takes car sharers to court
“[A] group of French cleaning ladies who organised a car-sharing scheme to get to work are being taken to court by a coach company which accuses them of ‘an act of unfair and parasitical competition’.
The women, who live in Moselle and work five days a week at EU offices in Luxembourg, are being taken to court by Transports Schiocchet Excursions, which runs a service along the route. It wants the women to be fined and their cars confiscated.” Read more in The french-language original.
Now, the Sun Prevents Skin Cancer -- Right?
“Scientists are excited about a vitamin again. But unlike fads that sizzled and fizzled, the evidence this time is strong and keeps growing. If it bears out, it will challenge one of medicine’s most fundamental beliefs: that people need to coat themselves with sunscreen whenever they’re in the sun. Doing that may actually contribute to far more cancer deaths than it prevents, some researchers think.”
Scientists Create Zombie Dogs (It's True!)
“Pittsburgh’s Safar Centre for Resuscitation Research has developed a technique in which subject’s veins are drained of blood and filled with an