2008/11/28

Day of Listening

From StoryCorps:
StoryCorps is declaring November 28, 2008 the first annual National Day of Listening.
This holiday season, ask the people around you about their lives — it could be your grandmother, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood. By listening to their stories, you will be telling them that they matter and they won’t ever be forgotten. It may be the most meaningful time you spend this year.

Unforunately, the most listening people will be doing today will be to either the mall traffic report or the store announcer saying the location of the next blue light special. Damn materialistic bastards.

2008/11/25

It's coming right for us!

From APOD:
What if you're driving down the street and an object from space shoots across the sky right in front of you? Such was the case last week for many people in south central Canada. Specifically, an extremely bright fireball, presumably a desk-sized meteor from deep space, flashed across the sky just after sunset on 2008 November 20. The bright fireball was recorded on many images and movies, including the spectacular video shown above that was captured by a dashboard camera of a police cruiser in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.


2008/11/19

Flush your cares away. It's World Toilet Day.

World Toilet Organization (WTO) stands up for the 3 "WE (s)" in the theme "We Deserve Better".

WE: Toilets deserve better social status. WTO has been striving to elevate the status of toilets to make them status symbols and objects of desire. WTO speaks on behalf of toilets "WE DESERVE BETTER SOCIAL STATUS".

WE: The second WE are the toilet cleaners. WTO aims to professionalize the sanitation and restroom industry and to upgrade the skill sets of the restoom cleaners. WTO speaks on behalf of the toilet cleaners "WE DESERVE BETTER PAY, RESPECT AND PROSPECTS".

WE: WTO speaks on behalf of 2.5 billion toilet-less people, "WE DESERVE BETTER PLACES TO DEFECATE -- PROPER TOILETS".

2008/11/18

Ramping up your marriage

From Dailystar:
THE world’s fattest man has finally managed to consummate his marriage after friends built him a “sex ramp”.

Tubby Manuel Uribe, 43, slimmed down to 47st for his wedding to Claudia Solis, 38, two weeks ago.

He was carted to the ceremony on a flatbed truck but was unable to have his wedding night fun.

So pals constructed a three-foot ramp, reinforced with concrete, allowing him to raise the lower half of his body.

This enabled his new bride to have greater access to his private parts.

The idea for the ramp came from US company Liberator, which makes a variety of bouncy ramps so regular-sized couples can try new sex positions.

Liberating indeed.

SF 4 is coming

2008/11/17

Turning a lemon into cake

From Autoblog:
The eBay auction for this 1963 Pontiac LeMans Tempest started out innocently enough. Obtained after owner died. Appears to have original interior but no motor, no transmission. Body has a little rust and some dents. There's stuff in the trunk, but no key to open it. Opening bid nine days ago was a mere $500. After one week, eBay seller 123ecklin will pocket $226,521 before auction fees. What happened between Day 1 and Day 9 is an amazing story.

The car's plexiglass windows, unusual suspension setup and a dash plate bearing the name of a racetrack tipped the owner to its racing history. But what he didn't know is that the car is one of only six 1963 Pontiac LeMans Tempest Super Duty coupes ever made. Hemmings recently did a story on the rare cars in which they listed all ever built. This one looks to have been driven by Stan Antlocer and was the fastest drag car in 1963 before disappearing.

If life hands you a lemon, put it on ebay and profit!

2008/11/14

Resort goes nude to combat downturn

From Stuff:
An Australian holiday resort will hold a month-long, nude "anything goes" party to combat an expected economic downturn.

"Tough economic times call for stiff measures," Tony Fox, the owner of the White Cockatoo resort in Mossman, in tropical Queensland state, told the Courier-Mail newspaper.

"It will be a hedonism resort, where anything goes for a month. It doesn't take rocket science to work out what it means," Fox said, naming March as the risque party month.

Stiff measures indeed...

2008/11/13

Witchdoctor crackdown

From BBC:
Police in southern Tanzania say they have arrested a man accused of attempting to sell his albino wife.

The man was allegedly planning to sell his wife to two Congolese businessmen for around $3,000.

Albinos have been living in fear in Tanzania after a series of killings due to a belief their body parts can make magic potions more effective.

At least 27 people with albinism have been killed since March, including a seven-month old baby.

President Jakaya Kikwete ordered a police crackdown on those involved in the killings, and 170 witchdoctors have since been arrested.

If they want to be conduits to the forces of nature, they should follow Shatner's lead.

2008/11/12

The Phoenix has risen for the last time

From NASA:
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications after operating for more than five months. As anticipated, seasonal decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not providing enough sunlight for the solar arrays to collect the power necessary to charge batteries that operate the lander's instruments.

Mission engineers last received a signal from the lander on Nov. 2. Phoenix, in addition to shorter daylight, has encountered a dustier sky, more clouds and colder temperatures as the northern Mars summer approaches autumn. The mission exceeded its planned operational life of three months to conduct and return science data.

The project team will be listening carefully during the next few weeks to hear if Phoenix revives and phones home. However, engineers now believe that is unlikely because of the worsening weather conditions on Mars. While the spacecraft's work has ended, the analysis of data from the instruments is in its earliest stages.

Phoenix
© Carmen Colombo1996

Out of my ashes
will rise a new phoenix.

A soaring being
returning from death
proving once again
that life is eternal.

I live forever
because the spirit
never dies.

I will return
in another body
in another time,
but it is me.

The me who is me now
will always be.

As long as I live,
I learn.
And I live
F o r e v e r

Here's your sign..er headline...

From MSNBC:
Unaware Police Carry Guns, Mountain Lion Charges at Officer

Arcadia police fatally shot a 140-pound mountain lion that killed a dog Wednesday in an Arcadia backyard, then charged at an officer, police said. The encounter near the Angeles National Forest in the 2200 block of Canyon Road occurred shortly after someone reported the big cat in their back yard about 7:50 p.m., Arcadia police Lt. Larry Goodman said. An Australian shepherd that belonged to the residents was barking at the cougar, then suddenly fell quiet, he said. When the officers entered the backyard, they saw the mountain lion standing over the dog. The cat then charged at the officers, prompting them to open fire, he said.

2008/11/11

Change is here.

From O's page on Urban Pacification...er, Policy:
Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.


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OH, look at that, the website is down. Thanks Google Cache.

Thank You

2008/11/10

Happy Birthday USMC

From Marines.Mil:
3. ONLY A FEW AMERICANS CHOOSE THE DANGEROUS, BUT NECESSARY, WORK OF FIGHTING OUR NATION'S ENEMIES. WHEN OUR CHAPTER OF HISTORY IS WRITTEN, IT WILL BE A SAGA OF A SELFLESS GENERATION OF MARINES WHO WERE WILLING TO STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR OUR NATION; TO DEFEND THOSE WHO COULD NOT DEFEND THEMSELVES; TO THRIVE ON THE HARDSHIP AND SACRIFICE EXPECTED OF AN ELITE WARRIOR CLASS; TO MARCH TO THE SOUND OF THE GUNS; AND TO ABLY SHOULDER THE LEGACY OF THOSE MARINES WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE.
4. ON OUR 233RD BIRTHDAY, FIRST REMEMBER THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED AND THOSE "ANGELS" WHO HAVE FALLEN - OUR REPUTATION WAS BUILT ON THEIR SACRIFICES. REMEMBER OUR FAMILIES; THEY ARE THE UNSUNG HEROES WHOSE SUPPORT AND DEDICATION ALLOW US TO ANSWER OUR NATION'S CALL. FINALLY, TO ALL MARINES AND SAILORS, KNOW THAT I AM PROUD OF YOU AND WHAT YOU DO. YOUR SUCCESSES ON THE BATTLEFIELD HAVE ONLY ADDED TO OUR ILLUSTRIOUS HISTORY. GENERAL VICTOR H. "BRUTE" KRULAK SAID IT BEST WHEN HE WROTE, "... THE UNITED STATES DOES NOT NEED A MARINE CORPS ... THE UNITED STATES WANTS A MARINE CORPS." YOUR ACTIONS, IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, AND ACROSS THE GLOBE, ARE AT THE CORE OF WHY
AMERICA LOVES HER MARINES.
5. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARINES AND SEMPER FIDELIS! JAMES T. CONWAY,
GENERAL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS//

2008/11/04