Posted 1/31/2010 02:59:00 PM by Douglas

Remember that death cat that lives in a nursing home and kills old people? Turns out, someone did a study, and that cat really is killing people.

Dosa's doubts eroded after he and his colleagues tallied about 50 correct calls made by Oscar over five years, a process he explains in a book released this week, "Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat." (Hyperion, $23.99) The feline's bizarre talent astounds Dosa, but he finds Oscar's real worth in his fierce insistence on being present when others turn away from life's most uncomfortable topic: death.

"People actually were taking great comfort in this idea, that this animal was there and might be there when their loved ones eventually pass," Dosa said. "He was there when they couldn't be."

Witch!!!! That kitty killed my grammy!!!

Posted 1/31/2010 02:54:00 PM by Douglas

When studying rainfall amounts and how its effected by climate change, maybe you should study rainfall.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in its 2007 benchmark report that even a slight change in rainfall could see swathes of the rainforest rapidly replaced by savanna grassland.

The source for its claim was a report from WWF, an environmental pressure group, which was authored by two green activists. They had based their “research” on a study published in Nature, the science journal, which did not assess rainfall but in fact looked at the impact on the forest of human activity such as logging and burning. This weekend WWF said it was launching an internal inquiry into the study.

This is the third time in as many weeks that serious doubts have been raised over the IPCC’s conclusions on climate change. Two weeks ago, after reports in The Sunday Times, it was forced to retract a warning that climate change was likely to melt the Himalayan glaciers by 2035. That warning was also based on claims in a WWF report.

Ida know, I'm not a scientist or nuthin'

Posted 1/31/2010 02:50:00 PM by Douglas

More fun with your neighbor's wifi. I like these, too.

Posted 1/31/2010 02:48:00 PM by Douglas

As I said earlier, you want really want the fuck up the BCS, let the government get involved.

In the letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch, obtained by The Associated Press, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich wrote that the Justice Department is reviewing Hatch's request and other materials to determine whether to open an investigation into whether the BCS violates antitrust laws.

"Importantly, and in addition, the administration also is exploring other options that might be available to address concerns with the college football postseason," Weich wrote, including asking the Federal Trade Commission to review the legality of the BCS under consumer protection laws.

I'm sure they'll get that straightened right out.

Posted 1/28/2010 05:57:00 PM by Douglas

For credit line increase, press one

The U.S. Senate voted narrowly on Thursday to increase the government's borrowing authority to $14.3 trillion, which would allow the Treasury Department to continue servicing the country's spiraling national debt through most of 2010.

Wow, I can't even imagine $14.3 trillion. At some point, you get so far in debt, you'll never recover. But I don't think they're thinking about that.

Previous "debt ceiling adjustments" noted here in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Why have a "ceiling" if they can raise it whenever the hell they feel like it?

Labels: debt ceiling

Posted 1/28/2010 05:32:00 PM by Douglas

What would you say to someone that wanted to pierce their face and install a clear disk so you could see inside their mouth?

Yes. Yes I would like fries with that.

This has got to be fake.

Posted 1/27/2010 06:54:00 PM by Douglas

It's that time of year again, folks, time for the annual State of the Union Address drinking game! Watching Barry speak really makes me miss G'dumb. No one could step all over his tongue like that poor sumbitch.

Posted 1/27/2010 06:52:00 PM by Douglas

Hipsters, why are you so unhappy? This one's my favourite. Surprisingly absent from these pictures: white belts and Parliament cigarettes.

Posted 1/27/2010 06:49:00 PM by Douglas

Did you get your new toy today, Mac-tards?

The iPad will start at $499, a price tag far below the $1,000 that some analysts were expecting. But Apple must still persuade recession-weary consumers who already have other devices to open their wallets yet again. Apple plans to begin selling the iPad in two months.

Jobs said the device would be useful for reading books, playing games or watching video, describing it as "so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone."

Finally! 2010 and Mac finally comes out with a laptop that's priced in the same order of magnitude of other laptops. Were you feeling the void between the small screen of your iphone and the hinge in your ibook? Well fucking relax, hipster, here's your solution. You wanted another piece of white plastic to plug into a charger and carry around with you everywhere annoying the shit out of people, didn't you?

Labels: Mac

Posted 1/27/2010 06:45:00 PM by Douglas

Not a great day in the history of space exploration, but it's not done yet. We still get to hear from Barry tonight. The hitter:

When the White House releases its budget proposal Monday, there will be no money for the Constellation program that was to return humans to the moon by 2020. The Ares I rocket that was to replace the space shuttle to ferry humans to space will be gone, along with money for the Ares V cargo rocket that was to launch the fuel and supplies needed to return to the moon. There will be no lunar landers, no moon bases.

The "do we need NASA" argument will go on, I'm sure, for ever, but the short answer is people may not know what we do, nor do they care. But they don't care that less than one penny of their tax dollar is given to NASA, and occasionally, we launch something. I don't think the mouth-breathing public is ready to give up on the symbol of American technological superiority so easily. If we're going to spend $2.5 billion to build a train to Disney land, I think people will agree that NASA is worth the price.

But there are alternatives to getting government funding, so here's my idea: Sell off surplus land at KSC and JSC and build tract homes there. Get risky mortgages from people with questionable financial histories. Then, when they default on their mortgages, the NASA Savings and Loan can claim "they're too big to fail" and use that sweet, $800 Billion hand out to fund the mission back to the moon and on to Mars! It can't fail, it's a sure fire way to get government funding? I'll only require a 4% fee for originating the plan. I think that's fair.

Posted 1/25/2010 05:31:00 PM by Douglas

It's kinda sad that this question is even debatable, but some douchebags think it's OK to just let your house go into foreclosure because you just don't feel like paying it anymore.

As many Americans begin to realize that it will be years (if not decades) before their houses are worth what they owe on them, the idea of walking away from your mortgage is going mainstream.

Not surprisingly, the mortgage industry is doing everything it can to prevent this, including telling homeowners that they have a "moral obligation" to pay.

But do they?

Is it okay to walk away from your mortgage for no other reason than it doesn't make financial sense to keep throwing your hard-earned money away?

There's no universal answer here, but in most cases, the answer is "Yes."

Is it OK to just quit your job and go on welfare because you don't feel like working anymore? The answer is "No." The world doesn't work if doucebags don't do what they know they're supposed to do.

But don't let the mortgage industry guilt you into paying from some "moral obligation." You both made a business decision. It turned out to be a bad one. That's why you have a contract.

Of course you don't have a moral obligation to do the right thing. But just because that mentality caused this financial turmoil, it shouldn't make you feel any better by behaving as much of a douchebag. Unless, of course, you're dealing with commercial property where there's real money to be made:

A group led by Tishman Speyer Properties LP is giving up control of the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartment complex in Manhattan to creditors, marking the collapse of one of the largest transactions during the U.S. real estate boom.

The decision came after a joint venture headed by Tishman and a unit of BlackRock Inc defaulted this month on $4.4 billion of debt used to finance the purchase of the 11,200-apartment property.

In a statement, the venture said it had "no intention" of filing for bankruptcy.

The venture acquired the complex from MetLife Inc for $5.4 billion in 2006, just as the nation's real estate market was cresting. The property, however, is now valued at perhaps $2 billion or less.

Dammit, if those greedy rent controlled tenants would just leave and let them charge a billion dollars for the apartments, they'd be fine. Greedy bastards.

Posted 1/25/2010 06:00:00 AM by Douglas

Happy Birthday, bubble wrap! You don't look a day over 40.

Today marks an essential day in pop-culture history: Bubble Wrap's 50th birthday.

Where would we be without these protective, oddly addictive plastic orbs of sealed air?

The term "Bubble Wrap" was coined in 1960 by engineers Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding who came up with the stuff in Hawthorne, N.J., "with the intent of creating a trendy new textured wallpaper."

Thank gawd that didn't catch on. How would you ever match a fresh piece of bubble wrap after your drunken co-worker put his face through your wall? You wouldn't.

Posted 1/22/2010 06:46:00 PM by Douglas

There's a lot of clamoring about how the "big banks" are too big to fail, and that the people need to make them smaller. Well, good luck with that, but what about the ramifications of that when they take away my free checking?

Banks are feeling heat from all sides. This week, President Obama moved to limit the size and activities of the biggest institutions. Last week, he proposed a tax to recover bailout funds.

The biggest impact on checking accounts, however, is likely to come from new regulations governing overdraft protection. Starting in July, banks will need explicit permission from customers before allowing them to use their debit cards to spend more than they have in their bank accounts on a one-time purchase. Similar restrictions will apply to A.T.M. withdrawals.

All it's gonna take is one bank that does offer free checking to put all the others out of business. Let the fun begin!

Posted 1/22/2010 06:21:00 PM by Douglas

I love the headline. I think all news articles should list things that might be possible.

Humans could perhaps run as fast 40 mph, a new study suggests. Such a feat would leave in the dust the world's fastest runner, Usain Bolt, who has clocked nearly 28 mph in the 100-meter sprint.

The new findings come after researchers took a new look at the factors that limit human speed. Their conclusions? The top speed humans could reach may come down to how quickly muscles in the body can move.

And, if disregarding all tenets of the real world, I could start farting gold coins and pissing rainbows!

Posted 1/20/2010 09:23:00 PM by Douglas

Remember a few years ago when Katrina sank New Orleans and a bunch of people moved to Houston that were never going to leave? Well guess what? They didn't leave.

Texas could add four congressional seats following the 2010 Census because of a population jump partly linked to Hurricane Katrina, demographers say.

Demographer William Frey with the Brookings Institution looked at population growth rates from the first half of the decade.

Frey predicts Texas, which now has 32 U.S. House members, will gain four seats, in part because of Katrina, the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday. The one-a-decade count also helps divvy federal funds.

FOUR congressional seats? That's a lot more than 250,000 people, but it's not just Katrina that draws people to Texas.

Posted 1/20/2010 09:03:00 PM by Douglas

Who can fault a bunch of kids that want to pull a silly prank where no one is hurt and nothing is damaged? Apparently the Admin at Cypress Ridge High School

Some students wore T-shirts spelling out "CLASS" as part of "Class of 2010" in a formal shot.

But KHOU-TV reports in a later informal shot, students representing "C" and "L" moved from the front row, leaving behind an offensive three-letter word.

Administrators at Cypress Ridge High School cited the school's code of conduct and suspended the three students for three days. The penalty began Tuesday.

Senior Austin Knight says "C and L ran off" and it's not the fault of the three students, wearing A, S and S, who also were fined $135. The money will help pay the cost of retouching the photo.

The true irony of this is the admin's reaction to this is dumber than the stunt. Besides, you gotta give the A, S, and the other S guy the benefit of the doubt that they weren't in on it. But $135 from three students? Are they trying to buy a full license of PhotoShop?

Posted 1/20/2010 08:52:00 PM by Douglas

Closure on the saga of tater tot, the precious little snowflake that didn't want to cut his hair. How does his mother find a way for him to assimilate so he can go back to school? braids.

Elizabeth Taylor says her son's hair is just as long as ever, but now she's styled it in a double French braid pinned up at the base of his neck. The school principal approved the style.

The boy, who prefers the nickname "Tater Tot," typically wears his hair long and had been sequestered from classmates at Floyd Elementary School in Balch Springs since late November.

The long hair violates the Mesquite school district dress code, which says boys' hair must be kept out of the eyes and cannot extend below the bottom of earlobes or over the collar of a dress shirt.

What a lovely lesson for a four year old. Remember, Tater Tot, you don't have to obey the rules if you don't want to.

Posted 1/19/2010 09:29:00 PM by Douglas

So a Republican now holds the Senate seat that has been held by the Kennedys for the last 500 years. Well, good.

In an epic upset in liberal Massachusetts, Republican Scott Brown rode a wave of voter anger to win the U.S. Senate seat held by the late Edward M. Kennedy for nearly half a century, leaving President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in doubt and marring the end of his first year in office.

Winning on the premise that he will be the 41st vote against ObamaCare AND winning by a sizable margin in the reddest of the red states, this should tell Barry something. The only way he's going to get re-elected is if he drives off a bridge and drowns a girl.

Think about it. . . .

Posted 1/18/2010 05:47:00 PM by Douglas

Good piece by Thomas Friedman about the war(s) and what, if any, positive outcome could be had from them.

As the terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman noted in an essay in The Washington Post: “In the wake of the global financial crisis, Al Qaeda has stepped up a strategy of economic warfare. ‘We will bury you,’ Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev promised Americans 50 years ago. Today, Al Qaeda threatens: ‘We will bankrupt you.’ ” And they will.

Our presence, our oil dependence, our endless foreign aid in the Middle East have become huge enablers of bad governance there and massive escapes from responsibility and accountability by people who want to blame all their troubles on us. Let’s get out of the way and let the moderate majorities there, if they really exist, face their own enemies on their own. It is the only way they will move. We can be the wind at their backs, but we can’t be their sails.

Makes you wander what Cheney, et al, had in mind when they ventured to rid the planet of bad people. He may be many things, but he's not stupid. Hell, he knew, 19 years ago that invading Iraq was a mistake, so is he just that intent on having a permanent protracted land war in Asia?

Posted 1/18/2010 05:35:00 PM by Douglas

Not that this is a big story or anything, but did you know the country's only assembly point of our nuclear weapons went on lockdown the other day? It wasn't because someone had exploding underwear, it was two good old boys settin' out goose decoys.

Two camouflaged duck hunters scared Pantex officials Friday, prompting a lock-down at 8 a.m. at the Texas nuclear weapons plant.

According to Carson County Sheriff Tam Terry, the plant was locked down because armed hunters were spotted on property adjacent to it.

"Somebody saw some armed individuals dressed in camouflage clothing exiting the vicinity of the plant," said Terry.

Sheriffs found a pair of hunters setting out duck decoys and building a blind on property near the plant, Terry said.

Try to find someone that's not wearing camo and has a few shotguns 15 miles outside of Amarillo. . . .

And from the AGN. The comments are priceless.

Posted 1/18/2010 05:28:00 PM by Douglas

Mark your calendars, Apple-tards, Steve Jobs is getting ready to take a dump in a box, again, and I know you're getting ready to line up and buy it.

It's official: Apple Inc. will host a much-anticipated press event January 27 in San Francisco, California.

Invitations went out Monday.

Tech insiders expect the company to unveil a touch-screen "slate" computer, which would look something like a giant iPhone.

Buzz about such an announcement, and the possible press event, has been dominant news in the tech blogosphere for months.

Geez, aren't these pretentious ass-hats getting tired of this self promoting bullshit that tries to make it sound like we all give a shit? Get over yourself already. And:

Labels: Mac

Posted 1/18/2010 05:22:00 PM by Douglas

Taco Bell founder goes on to his Fourth Meal.

Glen W. Bell Jr., an entrepreneur best known as the founder of the Taco Bell chain, has died. He was 86.

"Glen Bell was a visionary and innovator in the restaurant industry, as well as a dedicated family man," Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell, said in the statement.

He will be buried in a casket, covered with a layer of refried beans and something resembling "cheese", and placed inside another casket.

Posted 1/17/2010 11:19:00 AM by Douglas

Democrats, with Obama at the helm, are going after one senate seat in Massachusetts like Captain Ahab. But is this whale worth it?

President Barack Obama will travel to Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon to campaign for Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley — a risky bet that puts Obama’s own credibility on the line on behalf of a weak candidate in hopes of averting a loss that would shatter the party’s 60-seat Senate supermajority.

Obama’s trip represents a stark, late recognition not just that Coakley may lose, but also that her defeat can’t be spun away. The defection of independent voters and some Democrats in one of the nation’s most liberal states would deal a stunning, and possibly fatal, blow to the centerpiece of Obama’s first-year agenda, health care reform, which congressional leaders would be left trying to jam through using procedural loopholes.

From what I've read of Coakley, it doesn't sound like she's worth the fight. Hell, it doesn't sound like she should be running for school board.

Attorney General Martha Coakley—who had proven so dedicated a representative of the system that had brought the Amirault family to ruin, and who had fought so relentlessly to preserve their case—has recently expressed her view of this episode. Questioned about the Amiraults in the course of her current race for the U.S. Senate, she told reporters of her firm belief that the evidence against the Amiraults was "formidable" and that she was entirely convinced "those children were abused at day care center by the three defendants."

What does this say about her candidacy? (Ms. Coakley declined to be interviewed.) If the current attorney general of Massachusetts actually believes, as no serious citizen does, the preposterous charges that caused the Amiraults to be thrown into prison—the butcher knife rape with no blood, the public tree-tying episode, the mutilated squirrel and the rest—that is powerful testimony to the mind and capacities of this aspirant to a Senate seat. It is little short of wonderful to hear now of Ms. Coakley's concern for the rights of terror suspects at Guantanamo—her urgent call for the protection of the right to the presumption of innocence.

Sounds like a prosecutor trying to make a name for herself at the expense of other's lives. Not unlike the ass-hat that wants to be Texas' governor. Remember this?

Posted 1/16/2010 06:27:00 PM by Douglas

Sad end to a noble spacecraft, but have you priced spaceships lately? It's a buyer's market!

Here's a recession bargain: the space shuttle. NASA has slashed the price of these 1970s era spaceships from $42 million to $28.8 million apiece.

The shuttles are for sale once they quit flying, supposedly this fall.
When NASA put out the call to museums, schools and others in December 2008, seeking buyers, about 20 expressed interest. NASA spokesman Mike Curie expects more interest, what with the discount.

I think they would make pretty good hurricane-proof homes in either Florida or Texas.

Posted 1/16/2010 06:25:00 PM by Douglas

If you lost 800 pounds of weed, the Coast Guard in McAllen would like a word with you.

The U.S. Coast Guard has recovered about 800 pounds of marijuana that washed ashore in South Padre Island.

Two Coast Guard boats were launched Thursday afternoon after someone reported black bundles washing ashore. The Coast Guard said that eight bundles were recovered and turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

That's a lot of weed!

Posted 1/16/2010 11:46:00 AM by Douglas

Have you ever been watching a movie and wondered what gun they were using? Well wonder no more, due to the Internet Movie Firearm Database. Yeah, Jules is using "Mr. 9mm" in Pulp Fiction.

Posted 1/15/2010 06:32:00 PM by Douglas

Wanna eat some synthetic meat? I don't either, but the description doesn't sell me.

Dutch scientists have been growing pork in the laboratory since 2006, and while they admit they haven't gotten the texture quite right or even tasted the engineered meat, they say the technology promises to have widespread implications for our food supply.

[...]

Post said the strips they've made so far could be used as processed meat in sausages or hamburgers. Their main problem is reproducing the protein content in regular meat: In livestock meat, protein makes up about 99 percent of the product; the lab meat is only about 80 percent protein. The rest is mostly water and nucleic acids.

So from 2006 to 2010, they came up with 80% meat? Four years of research and they got something that's not fit for sausage? I think I'd rather eat twigs and berries. Or a real pig.

Posted 1/15/2010 05:32:00 PM by Douglas

We all know writing a letter is as dead as Dillenger. So I think we all can enjoy the irony of a blog of interesting letters. And if that's not enough, here's an even more archaic blog: letterhead!

Posted 1/14/2010 06:26:00 PM by Douglas

I really don't want to waste any more text on the breaking story that Sarah Palin is dumb, but this really surprised me. It's hilarious that the fact that she said "BS" was the story, and not how unconscionably dumb she is of current events.

But the former Alaska governor did confirm one of the book's allegations: not knowing exactly who was behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and falsely believing former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein played a role.

Geez, what a moron. Oh wait, I guess she wasn't any dumber than two fifths of America that thought the same thing during the run-up to Bush's war in Iraq.

So what's more remarkable: That Bush convinced two fifths of America of a complete lie to justify his made-up war, or that the McCain/Palin ticket got almost 60 million votes. OR that her cult of personality convinced people to do things like this.

Posted 1/14/2010 06:16:00 PM by Douglas

Just because he's a disgusting perve doesn't mean he wasn't right in 2003

A former chief United Nations weapons inspector is accused of contacting what he thought was a 15-year-old girl in an Internet chat room, engaging in a sexual conversation and showing himself masturbating on a Web camera.

Wow, and then it gets graphic.

Well that's unfortunate that this happens, but let's not forget he was right about WMDs.

Posted 1/14/2010 06:04:00 PM by Douglas

Just when you thought pig flu was here, getting worse, getting better, or even gone, boy, were you wrong.

A top World Health Organization official Thursday dismissed charges that the agency exaggerated the threat posed by the H1N1 virus and that it had been unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry to issue dire warnings about the swine flu pandemic.

So they didn't overreact. Did they under react?

"WHO has always been very balanced and sober in providing its assessment. We have tried very hard to neither overplay or underplay the situation."

Hmmm, that might be believable, if you hadn't see any pig flu news in the past year. So I guess they got it just right, eh?

He also said part of the reason for the relative mildness of the pandemic has been the unprecedented response by countries around the world that were prompted by the WHO's warnings.

See, they said it was going to kill everyone, and it didn't. It didn't because the WHO acted like a bunch of virgins on prom night. Typical governmental self-congratulatory bullshit. You're doin' a heckuva job, WHO.

Labels: pig flu

Posted 1/10/2010 04:30:00 PM by Douglas

Ladies, we know how envious you are over strippers and their elaborate stripper lifestyle. So how can you get hot buns and tight abs of pole dancing without the indelible sense of failure and stench of an creepy guy's crotch? Try this! You too can look like a whore!

Posted 1/10/2010 04:12:00 PM by Douglas

Poor Colty-colt. I feel bad for how the game turned out on Thursday, but this is pretty funny.

"I think every kid, whether he is playing high school football or a pickup game with friends, imagines what it would be like to one day lead your team to the Rose Bowl, stand on the sidelines, and then helplessly watch your team get dismantled on the grandest stage imaginable,"

Ha! Too soon?

Posted 1/10/2010 12:43:00 PM by Douglas

Researchers getting closer to figure out what in the hell the Antikythera machine was used for. I sure hope that the Olympics are involved.

Using nothing but an ingenious system of gears, the mechanism could be used to predict the month, day and hour of an eclipse, and even accounted for leap years. It could also predict the positions of the sun and moon against the zodiac, and has a gear train that turns a black and white stone to show the moon's phase on a given date. It is possible that it could also show the astronomical positions of the planets known to the ancients: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

The Antikythera mechanism wasn't just a scientific tool – it also had a social purpose. The Greeks held major athletic competitions (such as the Olympics) every two or four years. A small dial within the Metonic dial showed the dates of these important events.

After years of more research they're going to find out that it was used to predict the next American Idol winner.

Labels: Antikythera Mechanism

Posted 1/10/2010 12:26:00 PM by Douglas

I wonder if "sluts" have their own MSDS?


VH1 Reality Show Bus Crashes In California Causing Major Slut Spill

Posted 1/09/2010 09:07:00 PM by Douglas

The prohibitionists, draconian, utterly useless drug war claims some more unattended consequences.

Police found two severed heads and the bullet-ridden bodies of two women and a handicapped man in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, the latest chapter in Mexico's increasingly gory drug war.

The killing of women or handicapped people has been rare in a conflict that has cost more than 15,000 lives in the past three years. But drug gangs appear to using such killings — and progressively more gruesome mutilations — to intimidate rivals and the public.

Lovely, is that all? Of course not.

The body of 36-year-old Hugo Hernandez was left on the streets of Los Mochis in seven pieces as a chilling threat to members of the Juarez drug cartel. A note read: "Happy New Year, because this will be your last."

To drive home the point, the assailants skinned Hernandez's face and stitched it onto a soccer ball.

Well that's just super. But, rest assured that with all this violence and billions of dollars being funneled to Central American cartels, illegal drugs are not available to any person in America. So that's kinda cool, right?

Posted 1/09/2010 03:43:00 PM by Douglas

And from the socialist nightmare that is Europe, people guilty of speeding fined according to their wealth.

A Swiss court has slapped a wealthy speeder with a chalet-sized fine — a full $290,000.

Judges at the cantonal court in St. Gallen, in eastern Switzerland, based the record-breaking fine on the speeder's estimated wealth of over $20 million.

A statement on the court's Web site says the driver — a repeat offender — drove up to 35 miles an hour (57 kilometers an hour) faster than the 50-mile-an-hour (80-kilometer-an-hour) limit.

So does that mean that poor people guilty of crimes get a walk on everything because they can't pay the fine?

Posted 1/09/2010 02:55:00 PM by Douglas

Although these pictures will do nothing to assuage those doubting the moon landings really happened, it's pretty incredible to actually see the tracks left by those half-dozen men that walked on the moon.

Posted 1/08/2010 04:32:00 PM by Douglas

I don't know how I missed this Hurricane Ike story, but it's pretty durn funny:

Posted 1/05/2010 05:28:00 PM by Douglas

Your snooze bar is too easy to abuse. Another nine minutes of sleep far outweighs getting up, so what if you had a clock with a snooze you can't ignore? I find that a hungry cat is hard to ignore, but kinda annoying. But what if, E, open you mind real wide and what if your alarm clock cooked bacon?

WHAT: An alarm clock that wakes you up with the smell and sizzle of cooking bacon.

Who wouldn't get out of bed if the bacon was already done?

Also gives new meaning to the term "Wake N' Bac"on.

Posted 1/03/2010 02:14:00 PM by Douglas

I don't know what determines "unclaimed property" and when the government thinks they can take possession of such, but I'm pretty sure unused minutes are the dumbest thing that has ever been attempted.

The suit claims that AT&T should turn over unused balances on the calling cards of consumers whose last known address was in Washington, D.C. and have not used the calling card for three years.

"AT&T's prepaid calling cards must be treated as unclaimed property under district law," the attorney general's office said in a statement.

States and municipalities have often similarly used unclaimed property laws, known as escheat laws, to claim ownership of unused retail gift card balances.

What in the hell are they going to do with them if they get them?

Posted 1/02/2010 02:23:00 PM by Douglas

Happy Palindrome day palindrome lovers.

Palindrome days, at least in the long run, are rarer than visits by Halley’s Comet, which swings by the green planet once every 75 or 76 years. Yes, the last palindrome date wasn't that long ago, on Oct 2, 2001 – 10-02-2001, but the one before that came a full 620 years earlier, on Aug. 31, 1380, in the year Charles VI, the French king, declared no taxes forever.

The next palindrome day, which will be the third out of 12 in the 21st century, will be on 11-02-2011. The 36th and last palindrome date of this millennium will occur on Sept. 22, 2290. The next one after that will be Oct. 3, 3001. A bit spooky to think of, that.

See ya in 11/2/11!

Posted 1/02/2010 02:14:00 PM by Douglas

Phrases that need to die in aught ten. I should be embarrassed at how much I use some of these.

Posted 1/01/2010 08:33:00 PM by Douglas

Happy new year, suckers. Let's hope this decade is better than the last and that aught-ten (yeah, it's still "aught" something) is what you make it.

Now, my favourite New Year Eve's story of all time, someone getting killed by celebratory gunfire. Don't get me wrong, it's a horrible, senseless tragedy, but it's even more senseless because it happens, every, single year. This time, suburban Atlanta.

A falling bullet from celebratory gunfire has killed a 4-year-old boy attending a New Year's Eve church service in metro Atlanta.

DeKalb police spokesman Jason Gagnon tells WSB-TV that it appears the bullet came through the roof of the Church of God of Prophecy in Decatur

Horrible. When are people going to learn to stop being so gall durned stupid?

Also, as with last year, you're really letting me down, San Antonio.