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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Sunday, January 10, 2010

New Words

Beelzebug (n): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
or (n): An insect so big you are sure it was sent by Satan himself.

Banks Prepare for Bigger Bonuses, and Public’s Wrath

Everyone on Wall Street is fixated on The Number. The bank bonus season, that annual rite of big money and bigger egos, begins in earnest this week, and it looks as if it will be one of the largest and most controversial blowouts the industry has ever seen.

Full Story

Radical Jamaican-born Muslim cleric returns to Kenya after his deportation fails

Officials say a Jamaican-born Muslim cleric who led a British mosque attended by convicted terrorists was flown back to Kenya after an attempt to deport him to Gambia failed.

Full Story

Rare self-rolling giant snow balls found in UK

Tombs suggest slaves didn't build pyramids

Tombs suggest slaves didn't build pyramids

A discovery upends long-held beliefs about who built ancient Egypt's towering monuments.

Gross eating habits to break

6 gross eating habits to break

Overdosing on condiments, shoveling food, double dipping — that's so 2009.

Interview myths that can cost you a job

Interview myths that can cost you a job

When asked to name your biggest weakness, ignore the conventional wisdom.

School for Shamans to Save Culture from Extinction

From Treehugger:

amazonian shaman photo

Photo via Mongabay

While environmental groups and governmental policies are aiming at reducing deforestation and development in the Amazon rainforest to help preserve the world's most diverse terrestrial ecosystem, traditional indigenous cultures in the region are being rescued from extinction as well. For native tribes of the Northwest Amazon, shamans have long played an important role in daily life, acting as spiritual leaders and medicinal healers. Throughout the twentieth century, shamans faced such intense persecution from Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries that some feared their ancient wisdom would be lost to the ages, but a new school in the Amazon is working to make sure that doesn't happen.

How to Exterminate a Great White Shark

From Treehugger:

great white shark murder photo
Image: Flickr, hermanusbackpackers

How do you kill a shark? Well, you don't. Sure, sharks are responsible for the deaths of six humans swimming off of Western Australia. But WA law prohibits killing sharks. They are protected species. Even the widow and son of one shark victim, Brian Guest, have stated publicly that they believe sharks belong in the marine environment and should not be killed.

That may not stop the WA Government's Shark Hazard Committee, which -- according to the Perth Now Sunday edition -- has "put down in policy" a method for killing great whites that have attacked a human and hung around to get caught red-handed (red-toothed in this case, I guess).

Oh, Give Me a Home: Bison Relocation Controversy

From Treehugger:

bison on road photo
"Bison Lane" photo by V Man via Flickr

Eco-baron and media mogul Ted Turner has placed a bid to "borrow" 74 wild bison from Yellowstone National Park at the request of Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer. But opposing forces to the plan claim the animals are being used for private profit instead of conservation, in violation of promises made. Should they stay or should they go?

Police Shoot Bull in Face to Prevent Car Accidents

From Treehugger:

police shooting bull photo

An officer opens fire on a bull in the roadway. Photo: Cristiano Couto

Lawyers for the International Union for the Protection of Animals (UIPA) are hoping that charges will be sought against an officer of the Brazilian Federal Highway Police for breaking animal protection laws when he shot and killed a bull on a highway road in the country last week. The questionable incident and shocking photograph above have propelled the story throughout South American news sources--leading some to wonder if the officer's actions were justified.

Artificial leaf could make green hydrogen

Mimicking a plant's photosynthetic machinery could be a clean way to generate hydrogen.

Artificial leaf could make green hydrogen

And I Quote

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.
Now put the foundations under them.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Winter Poem

I found this beautiful winter poem and thought it might be a comfort to you.
It was to me and it's very well written and I hope that you enjoy it too.

" WINTER "

by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre



Shit It's Cold

The End

Billionaire investor's big warning

Billionaire investor's big warning

A hedge-fund investor who predicted the Enron scandal is betting on the next big economic crash.

6.5 earthquake near Eureka, California, snaps power lines and topples televisions

Centered under the Pacific Ocean, about 25 miles southwest of Eureka, a strong earthquake, estimated magnitude 6.5, rocked the Eureka, Calif., area, snapping power lines, toppling televisions, disrupting power throughout the region and forcing the evacuation of at least one mall.

Full Story

Coal from mass extinction era linked to lung cancer mystery

The volcanic eruptions thought responsible for Earth's largest mass extinction which killed more than 70 percent of plants and animals 250 million years ago is still taking lives today.

Full Story

Have we lost our minds?

A new poll by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life concludes: "Large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions. Many also blend Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs such as reincarnation, astrology and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects. And sizable minorities of all major U.S. religious groups say they have experienced supernatural phenomena, such as being in touch with the dead or with ghosts."

China overtakes Germany as biggest exporter

China overtook Germany as the world's biggest exporter after exports rose in December for the first time in 14 months, data showed Sunday, in a new sign of the rapid Chinese rise as a global economic force.

Full Story

Today is ...

Today is Sunday, January 10, the 10th day of 2010.

There are 355 days left in the year.

Today In History January 10

Today's unusual holidays and celebrations are:

National Cut Your Energy Costs Day

and

Stephen Foster Day

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Vienna, Wien, Austria
Pondicherry, Pondicherry, India
London, England, United Kingdom
Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Stoke On Trent, England, United Kingdom
Garbsen, Niedersachsen, Germany
Tarrasa, Catalonia, Spain
Berlin, Berlin, Germany

as well as Scotland, Hong Kong, and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

You've been dealing with feeling off balance for days, wanting to completely let go of any semblance of control, even though you know this is prime time for you to keep things in order.
Your dilemma will end this evening.
The stars will inspire you to be practical and responsible, and you'll take hold of the reins and get things back to 'normal.'
Does this mean you won't have any fun?
Hardly.
It will just be fun of a far calmer variety.

Ah, fun ...