Sep 4, 2010
Mona Lisa artwork made of toast slices
A Mona Lisa mosaic artwork made of 6,000 slices of toast on show at a shopping mall in Hong Kong
Baby western lowland gorilla
Hasani, a 6-month-old western lowland gorilla, sits in the grass at a gorilla exhibit during his first public viewing at California's San Francisco Zoo, June 5, 2009. Since his mother rejected him at birth, zoo staff members have raised him. A surrogate gorilla mother was trained to care for Hasani and has accepted the newborn as her own.
Sep 3, 2010
College vote up for grabs this year
The college vote is up for grabs this year — to an extent that would have seemed unlikely two years ago, when a generation of young people seemed to swoon over Barack Obama.
Though many students are liberals on social issues, the economic reality of a weak job market has taken a toll on their loyalties: far fewer 18- to 29-year-olds now identify themselves as Democrats compared with 2008.
“Is the recession, which is hitting young people very hard, doing lasting or permanent damage to what looked like a good Democratic advantage with this age group?”
A jobless reality in the wake of failed stimulus programs that have hardly slowed the decline in the unemployed rate seems to be getting the attention of those on college campuses.
Many students, especially seniors nearing graduation, said that worries about the economy, and about getting a job after graduation, had filtered through the campus, dampening enthusiasm for Democrats in Congress and Mr. Obama.
Dallas proposes $25 fee for garage sales
Two members of the city council, however, have said the fee should be $25.
The number of garage sales could go down significantly if a $25 fee is attached which could decrease the revenue estimate.Link
Report: the global warming claim is now in shreds
If this keeps up, no one's going to trust any scientists.
The global-warming establishment took a body blow this week, as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change received a stunning rebuke from a top-notch independent investigation.
Al Gore and many other warming alarmists have insisted that "the debate is over" -- that the science was "settled."
That claim is now in shreds -- though the grants are still flowing, and advocates still hope Congress will pass some version of the economically ruinous "cap and trade" anti-warming bill.
The entire report is here.
www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/meltdown_of_the_climate_consensus_G0kWdclUvwhVr6DYH6A4uJ
Sep 2, 2010
Court ruling gives Cape Wind green light
A divided Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that a state board had the power to sidestep community opposition to grant the controversial Cape Wind energy project local and state permits it needs to start construction in the waters off Cape Cod.
That sound you hear is Teddy Kennedy, a vocal opponent of Cape Wind, rolling in his grave at the court ruling.
In the photo above Interior Secretary Ken Salazar seems to be blessing the waters off Cape Cod. Below is what Cape Wind will probably look like.
Cape Wind will be America's first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. Miles from the nearest shore, 130 wind turbines will produce up to 420 megawatts of clean, renewable energy.
It is claimed that in average winds, Cape Wind will provide three quarters of the Cape and Islands electricity needs.
That may happen until the first category 5 hits and plunks the windmills in the drink - except for one left standing as a twisted, mangled reminder that, just maybe, Teddy was right after all.
Cape Wind must still win approval from the Department of Public Utilities.
While the wind farm is proposed in federal waters, beyond the reach of most state and local agency decisions, a transmission line will cross state waters and tie into the region’s electricity grid on land, giving various government agencies authority to review pieces of the project.
Time will tell if Teddy has the last laugh or if Cape Wind will be build "over his dead body."
Link
Crocodile Dundee held hostage down under for fiddling the taxman
The 70-year-old actor was served with a departure prohibition order while in Australia to attend his 101-year-old mother's funeral. The departure prohibition order prevents him from leaving Australia and returning to Los Angeles where he lives with his wife and son.
The photo above shows Paul Hogan as he appeared in the movie Crocodile Dundee II.
Mr. Hogan told Australian television Nine Network's A Current Affair program, "I can't pay 10 percent of what they're asking."
The Australian Tax Office has refused to comment on reports they are seeking tax on $34 million of allegedly undeclared income from Hogan.
Link
South Dakota teen wanted to be world's most infamous sociopath
Joseph Thomas Hansen (pictured), of Claire City, was arrested Aug. 23 after someone tipped off a police school resource officer that Hansen had talked about an attack, authorities said.
Clair City is a small town between Sisseton, South Dakota and the North Dakota state line.
He has pleaded not guilty to selling, transporting or possessing an explosive device and possessing substances with the intent to make a destructive device, and is due back in court Sept. 14. If convicted of all charges, he could face up to 25 years in prison.
He listed 39 people he hated and the reasons why, and he researched the 1999 Columbine school massacre in Littleton, Colo., in which two student gunmen killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 26 others before committing suicide.
World leaders engaging in summer activities
Left to right: Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush
Fox News tops other cable channels in viewership race
Once again Fox News outperforms them all by a wide margin in the cable news race.
FOX News - Bill O’Reilly - 3,977,000
FOX News - Sean Hannity - 2,645,000
Fox News - Glenn Beck - 2,600,000
FOX News - Bret Baier - 2,097,000
FOX News - Shepard Smith - 1,858,000
FOX News - Greta Van Susteren - 1,856,000
MSNBC - Keith Olbermann - 1,078,000
MSNBC - Rachel Maddow - 1,027,000
MSNBC - Ed Shultz - 699,000
CNN - Rick Sanchez - 676,000
CNN - Larry King - 620,000
MSNBC - Chris Matthews - 620,000
CNN-HN Nancy Grace - 586,000
CNN - Anderson Cooper - 581,000
*Matt Drudge
Sep 1, 2010
Environmental radical killed by police in Discovery Building
Police shot and killed a gunman who held three hostages for several hours Wednesday at the Discovery Communications building in Silver Spring, Md., authorities said.
They said the hostages were safe.
At least one explosive device on his body went off when he was shot, and other explosive devices could still be in the building in Montgomery County in suburban Washington, D.C.
The man, James Jay Lee, 43, was a longtime protester at the building.
Included in a manifesto by Mr. Lee:
“Nothing is more important than saving ... the Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels. The humans? The planet does not need humans.”
Lee said he experienced an ‘‘awakening” when he watched former Vice President Al Gore’s environmental documentary ‘‘An Inconvenient Truth."
More here.
Shooting for the moon
A rocket enthusiast prepares a rocket at the International Rocket Week in Largs, Scotland.
Artificial corneas could restore sight to millions
An experimental synthetic cornea implanted in 10 patients may be a potential alternative to cadaver corneas for curing vision loss caused by corneal inflammation and scarring.
Eye surgeons primarily use cadaver corneas for transplants, but that requires the use of anti-rejection drugs and presents a risk of infection.
There is also a shortage of donated corneas in much of the world.
Plastic corneas can be used, but they present other problems and are generally tried only when tissue transplants have failed.
More here.
About the Oval Office speech…
Two things most people took away from the Oval Office speech:1) The war is over in Iraq.
2) There will be a federal cost saving as a result.
Not mentioned in the speech:
The stimulus program has cost more than the entire Iraq war!
The graph below shows deficits with and without the Iraq war. 
The Iraq war spending is shown in blue. Other federal spending is shown in red. Notice how the skyrocketing red coincides with the Obama stimulus programs.
Link
Sen. Murkowski stunned by Palin-backed Joe Miller
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (upper photo) was defeated by Sarah Palin-backed candidate in GOP primary Tuesday by a little-known conservative lawyer in what could be the biggest political upset of the year.
Joe Miller (lower photo), backed by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express, became the latest newcomer to the national political stage to take down an incumbent in 2010 amid deep dissatisfaction with the Washington establishment.
Murkowski trailed Miller, a Faribanks attorney, by 1,668 votes after the Aug. 24 primary. Election officials began counting absentee and outstanding ballots Tuesday, and Murkowski made slight gains. But after more than 15,000 ballots were counted, she remained 1,630 votes behind.
The stunning result was a huge validation of the political power of Palin as the former Alaska governor has been playing kingmaker in midterm elections ahead of a potential 2012 White House run.
LA Dodgers baseball team lands in Divorce Court
The main issue in the divorce trial between Jamie McCourt and her estranged husband Frank McCourt is ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
The photo above shows Jamie and Frank McCourt in 2004 when they became the fourth owners of the Dodgers since the team moved from Brooklyn in 1958.More here.
Omega-3 fats may not help heart patients as much as thought
But new research shows that the beneficial fats, found in certain types of fish and plants, may not help reduce heart attacks as much as previously thought.
Researchers in the Netherlands report that among heart-attack survivors, those who boosted their omega-3 intake had the same risk of a second heart attack as those who did not supplement their diet with added omega-3s.
More here.
Charlie Rangel photo in a caption contest
Kevin Aylward entered this photo of the ethically challenged Congressman Charlie Rangel in one of his photo caption contests last month.The winning caption: "I'm a little teapot, short and corrupt."
note: one caption was r-rated or we would have posted the link
Aug 31, 2010
Cruise ship runs aground in Arctic Ocean
The passengers were safely removed after the ship became stranded. The photo above shows the starboard side of the Clipper Adventurer. A slight list to port is noticeable.None of the estimated 128 passengers and 69 crew members were hurt or injured.
Link
370 illegals arrested in 10 states - 347 were criminals
The arrests in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska were part of the agency's "Cross Check" operations that began in 2009 and are being held across the country.
Of the 370 people arrested this week, more than half of them had prior convictions for serious violent crimes such as armed robbery, drug trafficking and aggravated assault.
According to the report they are crimes that were committed in the United States.
More here.
Obama photo in a caption contest
This photo is making the rounds on the Internet. It has been given many different captions.The photo appears to show the leader of the free world perplexed by an umbrella that won't go through a gate during his recent visit to New Orleans.
Following are captions found on various web sites:
1) Let's see, how did Mary Poppins do it?
2) Red beans and rice will do that to ya.
3) This is above my pay grade.
4) It's Bush's fault.
5) It's a Republican plot. Get Axelrod. He'll know what to do.
6) Don't just stare at me Michelle - tell me how to work this thing.
7) If Nagin was still Mayor, he'd know what to do.
8) Outsmarted by an umbrella!
Aug 30, 2010
CBS to do a Hawaii Five-O remake?
As the report at the link below says, "Hawaii Five-O" was the gangbuster of the Hawaii crime shows.
Hawaii was the 50th state to join the union - which is how the show got the name Hawaii Five-O, except they used a capital "O" in stead of a zero. Hawaii Five-O aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980. Reruns of the popular show were aired long after the original show ended.
Detective Steve McGarrett, played by Jack Lord, would end most episodes by arresting the bad guys with the phrase: "Book 'em, Danno!" referring to Danny Williams played by James McArthur.The name of the new show will have a subtle difference: it will be "Hawaii Five-o" instead of the old name "Hawaii Five-O."
Link
Cops can secretly put GPS tracker on your car
A federal appeals court ruling in California allows law enforcement to not only "bug" your car parked on your property, they can do it without seeking a warrant from a judge.
More here.
Democrats may stop supporting weak candidates
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen sent a cold-blooded message Friday to under-performing party candidates: Get your act together, or you’re on your own.
Facing a perilous political environment that has left the House Democratic majority in jeopardy, Van Hollen told reporters in a briefing at the National Press Club that the party faces a series of difficult decisions about which candidates to invest in this fall — and whom to leave behind.
Cannibal restaurant asks diners to donate body parts!
A restaurant soon to open in Berlin has disgusted residents of the German capital by hinting that human flesh will be on the menu and asking for people to donate body parts.
Local politicians are not amused and believe it is a tasteless PR stunt.
The claims of cannibalism seem a transparent marketing ploy ahead of the restaurant's opening at the beginning of September. In a conversation with SPIEGEL ONLINE, a restaurant spokesman insisted unconvincingly that the project was not a hoax.
Perhaps it would have been more appropriate for the restaurant to wait until Halloween to open.
Link
Aug 29, 2010
Protestor influenced by Avatar movie
An American University student sports Na'vi face paint at a climate rally last spring in Washington DC
Gallup Muslims give Obama highest approval - Mormons lowest
The approval ratings for Mr. Obama are slipping in every category as shown in the Gallup chart shown above.
Link
A picture of my cave
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