December 2008
“News is what somebody, somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is...”
– — Lord Northcliffe (via Intercourse with Biscuits.)
UFO cult's 'World Orgasm Day' orgy cancelled due... →
Via TechnOccult.
Monkeys Pay to See Female Monkey Bottoms |... →
Via travors.com.
“I believe in God, only I spell it ‘Nature’.” ”
– —Frank Lloyd Wright
(via Kiyo, Projectionist.)
Mystery naval explosion may have stinky solution |... →
‘The theory suggests that rotting faeces in the bilges led to a build up of gas which was ignited by a candle below deck.’
Amateurs are trying genetic engineering at home |... →
(Via TechnOccult.)
Inquiry into US plastic surgeon who 'used fat from... →
Bailiffs get power to use force on debtors | Times... →
‘The government has been accused of trampling on individual liberties by proposing wide-ranging new powers for bailiffs to break into homes and to use “reasonable force” against householders who try to protect their valuables.’
(Via UK Liberty.)
Clown strip-searched at airport | Telegraph →
“It was the toy handcuffs which I’d bought them from the Early Learning Centre especially for the trip that were supposedly a risk.”
Real-life Mowgli kept alive by cats | Telegraph →
‘Policewoman Alicia Lorena Lindgvist discovered the child by a canal in the Christ King district of the city.
She said: “I was walking and noticed a gang of cats sitting very close together. It is unusual to see so many like that so I went for a closer look and that’s where I saw him. The boy was lying at the bottom of a gutter. There were all these cats on top of him licking...
A World Enslaved | Foreign Policy →
‘Every single man, woman, and child in Lohagara Dhal is a slave. But, in theory at least, Garg neither bought nor owns them. They are working off debts, which, for many, started at less than $10. But interest accrues at over 100 percent annually here. Most of the debts span at least two generations, though they have no legal standing under modern Indian law. They are a fiction that Garg...
Villagers shoot down advertising balloon over... →
People 'still willing to torture' | BBC News →
‘US researchers repeated the famous “Milgram test”, with volunteers told to deliver electrical shocks to another volunteer - played by an actor.
Even after faked screams of pain, 70% were prepared to increase the voltage, the American Psychology study found.’
"Football fans have rights too" | Comment is free →
‘The Section 27 form is a new power that allows police to direct individuals to leave a locality. This is where an individual’s presence is likely to cause or contribute to the occurrence, repetition or continuance of alcohol-related crime or disorder in a locality and it is necessary to remove the individual from the locality for the purpose of removing or reducing the likelihood of...
Tumult in Iraqi Parliament Over Shoe Hurling |... →
‘How badly injured Mr. Zaidi was by members of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s security detail is not clear. He has not appeared in public since his arrest, and his family members and his legal representatives say they have not been permitted to visit him.’
Missouri considers decriminalizing margarine |... →
‘Lampe, a Springfield Democrat, said the law doesn’t make sense anymore.’
(Via My sentiments exactly.)
Amnesty demands Taser use restrictions |... →
‘The new report, compiled by Amnesty International, found that 90% of those who died after being stunned with a Taser were unarmed and many had not appeared to present a serious threat. Information from 98 autopsies showed that many of those who died had been subjected to repeated or prolonged shocks, far in excess of the five-second standard cycle, or had been fired at by more than one...
Saturn's moon has 'ice volcanoes' | BBC News →
Messy gift-wrapping service 'Crapwrap' launched by... →
‘It’s perhaps not surprising that presented with an immaculately wrapped gift, many women become suspicious that it may not have received the personal touch.
But one UK retailer is providing a wrapping service so shoddy the recipient will be left in no doubt her partner did it.
Firebox.com is paying 20 of its male forklift truck drivers and warehouse assistants to wrap presents as...
Australian couple served with legal documents via... →
‘In what may be a world first, lawyers from Canberra law firm Meyer Vandenberg persuaded a judge in the Australian Capital Territory’s Supreme Court to allow them to serve the documents over the internet after repeatedly failing to serve the papers in person.’
Update: “It’s like serving notice on me by sticking a post-it on a toilet wall on which someone has written...
Weather rocket kills man and blows up his body at... →
Gaza families eat grass as Israel locks border |... →
(Via Earthman, Come Home.)
Talking to Fireflies Before Their Flash Disappears... →
‘BAN LOMTUAN, Thailand — Thousands of fireflies fill the branches of trees along the Mae Klong River here, flashing on and off in unison — relentless and silent, two times a second, deep into the night.
Nobody knows why.’
Moon sails close to earth | BBC News →
‘The Moon is set to pass closer to the Earth on Friday evening than it has done for the past 15 years.’
A suggestion for Music Commerce; STOP THE... →
“In the early ‘60’s when I was recording, records were thought of as a tool to help promote live performances. The live performances were the main revenue stream and the records were just promotional tools to get people to come see the shows. Somewhere this mode of thinking got turned upside down. Consequently in years hence, record companies, producers, et. all, have made ...
Waste coffee grounds offer new source of biodiesel... →
(Via The New Shelton Wet/Dry.)
Masterpieces lost for 80 years found hanging in... →
World's first 'thought images' seen on screen |... →
‘According to several online sources, Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories first showed a group of test subjects the six individual letters that make up the word ‘neuron’.
Then by measuring brain activity – specifically, activity in the brain’s visual cortex – ATR’s researchers were able to reproduce each of the letters, from each of the subjects, on a PC...
“Suppose, if you will, that I am part of a silent Martian invasion and that my...”
– — Oliver Postgate (from his essay Does Children’s Television Matter?) (via Intercourse with Biscuits) (And that’s the last one, I promise.)
Black hole found in Milky Way | BBC News →
‘There is a giant black hole at the centre of our galaxy, a study has confirmed.’
Always nice to find something where you thought it was supposed to be.
Sweet Honey on the Block | Edible Manhattan →
‘But in New York, bees are reprobate and illegal. They appear in the City Health Code’s Section 161.01, along with an enormous list of animals “naturally inclined to do harm or capable of inflicting harm,” lumped in with the truly ferocious/impractical—polar bear, cougar, alligator, whale—and a menagerie of the truly obscure. Actively encouraged by almost every other self-respecting cultural...
Getting high on HIV drugs in S Africa | BBC News →
‘Reports suggest that the drugs are being sold by patients and even healthcare staff for money.
Schoolchildren have been spotted smoking the drugs, which are ground into powder and sometimes mixed with painkillers or marijuana.
Aids patients themselves have been found smoking the drugs instead of taking them as prescribed.’
“After repeating this a few times, there will come a moment when none of the...”
– — Let’s talk about Python 3.0
Never Get Busted Again | Kop Busters →
‘KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually...
Embassies owe £1.5m parking fines | BBC News →
‘A spokesman for the Afghan embassy said staff and visitors had trouble trying to park outside the building.’
Britain's "Great Firewall" set to restrict access... →
‘This is the “voluntary” child-porn filter that we hear very little about. The process by which pages are added to the repository of child porn sites is secret, the list of child porn sites is secret, and the process for correcting errors is secret. At issue are images such as a Scorpions cover that shows the naked chest of a little girl, and a still from a 1938 documentary on...
Archaeologists find piece of string dating back... →
“I don’t think the average person realises what an important piece of technology string has been over the ages.”
Nuclear bunker hit by credit crunch | Telegraph →
‘The facility, protected by 2ft thick concrete walls and six-inch deep steel doors, was decommissioned in 1997 and has been used as office space.
Kevin Gilbert, of Clive Emson Auctioneers, said it could be converted into “a fantastic hobbit-style residence” but admitted the work would cost a lot of money.’
Armed anti-paedophile cops swoop on video site... →
‘A video sharing website user who posted a clip of a man apparently swinging a baby around has had his house raided by an armed Australian police anti-paedophile squad.
The user “Biggles9” has been charged with “accessing child abuse material, downloading child abuse material and uploading child abuse material with the intent to distribute”. He is out on bail and is...
Ducking an iPhone Annoyance →
‘Since the release of the iPhone, some people have been annoyed at the iPhone’s spelling checker, which is, how shall we say, a little prudish.’
‘There is no way that I am aware of to add a word to the iPhone dictionary, but you can work around the issue by being what I call “a sneaky bastard”.’
See also duckingiphone.com. Via matt.cc is a tumblelog.
Naked ambition: Inside the curious world of nude... →
’ “If you’re in a classroom or in workshop situations, [students] have very big responses to that. They’ll be like, ‘I don’t want to draw her;,she’s too fat. I don’t want to draw her; she’s too skinny. I don’t want to draw him; he’s a him.’ “
Then it’s up to the teacher to set people straight.
“Today we...