just a reminder

there is an extra second in 2008.
relish it.
do some paco.

cute of the day

woman of the year.

Homeless get Royal Treatment.

ROME (Reuters) - A rare Christmas treat this year for hobos in Milan: choice beluga caviar confiscated from traffickers.

Italian police seized over 40 kg (88 lb) of the delicacy, worth some 400,000 euros ($558,300), from two men who last month smuggled it into the country from Poland for sale in the shops of Milan and the rest of the wealthy Lombardy region.

The head of the local forest police who carried out the raid kept the bounty in barrack fridges for several weeks, but realized it would soon go bad.

"Tests showed us the food was still perfectly OK to eat but it couldn't be stored much longer, so we decided to give it to the poor," Juri Mantegazza told Milan daily Corriere della Sera.

"Everything that comes our way is very welcome, even though most of our guests don't even know what those little black balls are," said Virginio Colmega, a priest who helps run the House of Charity in Milan.

Blowtorch snow removal: GREAT IDEA.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- New Bedford fire officials say a homeowner using a blowtorch to melt ice on his back porch set the home on fire causing up to $30,000 in damage.
No one was injured, though the man's ego did suffer second-degree burns.

Kruger says the man was using a torch hooked up to a 20-pound propane cylinder. He got too close to the building's wood frame and ignited the vinyl siding. The fire quickly spread into the building's uninsulated exterior wall and then into the second and third-floor apartments.

It took 25 firefighters to subdue the blaze that damaged bedrooms in the second- and third-floor units, and caused damage to the structure and wiring.

Jubilation ends with non-jubilation.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A 60-year-old man who was thrown into the air in celebration at his retirement party died after his colleagues failed to catch him and he fell to the floor, a Japanese newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The case came to light after the man's wife filed a police complaint against colleagues who threw the man up into the air, accusing them of gross negligence, the Mainichi paper reported on its website.

The fall damaged his neck and backbone, leaving him paralyzed, and he eventually died of blood poisoning, the paper said.

"He worked until the retirement age. We had been looking forward to going to various places as a couple and were excited that we would be able to spend a relaxing time together," the paper quoted the man's wife as saying.
"No matter what I say he won't come back, but I want to find out why this happened."

You win, Zuckerberg.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - The Supreme Court in Australia's capital Canberra has ruled that Facebook is a sufficient way of serving legal documents to defendants who cannot be found.

The case surrounded a couple who defaulted on a loan.

"We couldn't find the defendants personally after many attempts so we thought we would try and find them on Facebook," lawyer Mark McCormack said.

"We did a public search based on the email address we had and the defendants Facebook page appeared."

He said that was enough to convince the court, which found Facebook was a sufficient way of communicating legal papers when it is the plaintiff's responsibility to personally deliver documents.

Oliver Twist was an Obese, Needy Twat.

LONDON (Reuters) - Because Cancer and AIDS have been cured, doctors have been doing research on novels.
The most recent discovery is nothing short of shocking. Truly life changing.
Scientists have found that the amount of gruel Oliver Twist recieved was sufficient for the health and growth of a 9-year-old boy. Asking for "more" of the slop was simply bad taste.

They further found that contemporary recipes suggest each pint containing 1.25 ounces of best oatmeal, and servings were of course supplemented by wholesome coarse bread.

Historical data also shows large quantities of beef and mutton were delivered to workhouses, pediatric dietician Sue Thornton of Northampton General Hospital in central England and colleagues wrote in the British Medical Journal.

Such a diet, comprising three pints of gruel a day, would sustain growth in a nine-year-old child like Oliver, unless he was exceptionally active.

"Given the limited number of food staples used, the workhouse diet was certainly dreary, but it was adequate," they concluded.
Well thank God, truly.

Shoe Thrower is new Mohhamed

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian man offered his 20-year-old daughter in marriage to Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi this Wednesday. al-Zaidi is famous for THROWING HIS SHOES at Bush in Baghdad on Sunday.

The daughter, Amal Saad Gumaa, said she agreed with the idea. "This is something that would honor me. I would like to live in Iraq, especially if I were attached to this hero," she told Reuters by telephone.

Her father, Saad Gumaa, said he had called Dergham, Zaidi's brother, to tell him of the offer. "I find nothing more valuable than my daughter to offer to him, and I am prepared to provide her with everything needed for marriage," he added.

Zaidi's gesture has struck a chord across the Arab world, where President Bush is widely despised for invading Iraq in 2003 and for his support for Israel.

Zaidi's response to the proposal was not immediately clear.

just as a reminder:

DONT WORRY ABOUT IT?!?!?! I love this man.

Things Worth More than your [lack of] Money

ZURICH (Reuters) - SKIING! Swiss slopes have so far been completely unaffected by the credit crunch, as tourism is not down 1 point.

"The conditions are just so perfect at the moment and people are really keen to get to the mountains," said Daniela Baer, spokeswoman for the Swiss Tourism Board.

Last year they had a record number of visitors. It looks now like Swiss tourism, at least, will not be affected until Springtime.

Xmas Gift of the Day

Available at your neighborhood NYC Rickys.
[thank you Ethan]

Oh man, that burger scent is so HOT

Boston Herald -This weekend Burger King released “Flame,” a new men’s body spray billed as “the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.”

“It’s very nice,” said Salami Caushi, 55 and a South Boston resident, who was sipping hot coffee at the Burger King on Broadway yesterday.
As his companion grimaced, Caushi sprayed the scent on his wrist, and then took a long sniff of Flame for men.
“Yes, nice,” he said.

Tony Rama, who was sitting downwind of Caushi, strongly disagreed. “It’s much too heavy,” he said.

A few tables away, Reno Hoxhallari, 29 and from Medford, was taken aback by the burger joint’s new product.
“It’s got to be a joke,” he said, as he scrutinized a photo of the chain’s cartoonish King, languishing by the fire, wearing his crown and little else.

Two days ago - just in time for the holidays - the fast food chain began selling the body spray, for $4 a bottle, at Rickey’s, a New York City retailer, and on the Web site, http://www.firemeetsdesire.com/.

Yesterday, after the company distributed samples to various news organizations, the Herald took it on a trial run.

“It smells like cinnamon,” said Alyse Hawco, 14, of Dorchester. She was at Burger King enjoying a post-school snack with some friends.
“I’d buy it for my brother,” she said.

What do you call a wealthy wetback?

LONDON (Reuters) - An audacious bid by four illegal immigrants to enter Britain hidden in a luxury car has ended in failure after they were intercepted by immigration officers, the Home Office said Tuesday.

The four men from Iraq were found sitting in a Bentley GT, worth over 120,000 pounds ($192,411), that was being taken from the Nurburgring race track in Germany in a lorry to Bentley's factory in Crewe, central England.

They were discovered in Calais Saturday after UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers, using specialist detecting equipment, found high levels of carbon dioxide being emitted from the German-registered lorry before it boarded a ferry.

"It's important we stop would-be illegal immigrants before they reach the UK," said UKBA Director Tom Dowdall.

"That's why we've got hundreds of British immigration officers based at ports in France and Belgium.

"Last year we searched over one million lorries and prevented 18,000 foreign nationals from crossing the English Channel without permission."

Sarkozy Voodoo Dolls FTW

BBC- A French judge has rejected President Nicolas Sarkozy's attempt to stop sales of a "voodoo doll" in his image.
Dismissing the case, the Paris judge said the doll was "within the authorised limits of free expression and the right to humour".

Mr Sarkozy's lawyer said the president would appeal against the decision.

The doll comes with pins which users can stick into memorable quotes from the president printed on the doll, such as "work more to earn more".

The company refused to stop selling the kit, saying Mr Sarkozy's reaction was "totally disproportionate".
The case has attracted a fair amount of mockery in France and boosted sales of the kit, says the BBC's Alasdair Sandford in Paris.

Vid of the Day.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

yo why'd you shit in my helado?!?!

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A riotous fight broke out in one of Sydney's main tourist pubs after a family got served poop cream.
The shitting in dish came after the family complained about noise during a soccer game.

State government food minister Ian Macdonald confirmed that frozen fecal matter had been found in a serving of chocolate gelato offered to pub patron Steve Whyte and his wife Jessica, who became "violently ill" after eating it.

"The stench went through my nostrils, I retched and spat it into the napkin," Jessica Whyte told the Daily Telegraph newspaper, recounting what local media are calling "gelati-gate."

The tainted sweet was allegedly served up at the Coogee Bay Hotel, one of Sydney's largest and most popular beachfront hotels, located just a few minutes south of Bondi Beach.

The pub has denied serving excrement to the Whyte's after they complained they were unable to hear a televised football game due to loud music, with both the chef and restaurant manager volunteering for DNA tests to prove their innocence.

sex or blog, sex or blog.....

Intel went out to prove how important computers have become in the lives of Americans. Working with Harris Interactive, they surveyed over 2,000 adults in the United States.

According to the study, 46 percent of women and 30 percent of men would opt to forgo sex for two weeks instead of giving up access to their precious Internet for the same period.

More broadly, those surveyed said access to the Internet ranked highest among the discretionary spending items they could not live without. Cable television, dining out, shopping for clothes and gym memberships followed in declining importance.

Along similar lines, 61 percent of the women surveyed said they would rather go without TV for two weeks than lose access to the Internet for one week.

Using the data as a means of pitching products fueled by Intel chips, the company said: “The survey revealed that 65 percent of adults feel they cannot live without Internet access, and even more — 71 percent — responded that it is important or very important to have Internet-enabled devices, such as laptops, netbooks and mobile Internet devices that can provide them with real-time updates on important issues including the state of the economy.”

In LA? Prepare for snow.

"Temperatures in Siberia, Russia will be -81 degrees this week, "said meterorologist Kevin Martin. "With those type of temperatures the arctic air mass has to spill somewhere. Our answer of the exact track will become more clear this week. All residents in the mountain communities should prepare this week for very cold, winter weather, with snow."

Resort level snow will be likely next week, and in pretty hefty amounts if things stay on track.
"We are in a pre-1950 type pattern, "said Martin. "We know we are due for a winter storm sometime this year.

The first snow should come this week, and indications are a second, colder storm could hit near the 18th-22nd time-frame. The details on that will have to be sorted out.

Truly Horrifying

http://chrisdaneowens.com/video/Shine_large.html

Quote of the Day

the egg case of the German cockroach holds about 30–40 long, thin eggs, packed like frankfurters in the case called an ootheca.
The eggs hatch from the combined pressure of the hatchlings gulping air and are initially bright white nymphs that continue inflating themselves with air and harden and darken within about four hours.

Web Page of hte Day. of my life.

- - - -
The Beatles, "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

I want to do it with you.
- - - -

Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On"
I want to do it with you.

- - - -
Led Zeppelin, "Whole Lotta Love"

I want to do it with you.
- - - -

Frank Sinatra, "Strangers in the Night"
I'm drunk and I want to do it with you.

- - - -
Carly Simon, "You're So Vain"

We used to do it, but then you did it with someone else, and now I'm not going to do it with you, although I wish we were still doing it.
- - - -

Pulp, "Common People"
I once met a stuck-up European who wanted to do it with me.

- - - -
Radiohead, "Creep"

I'm filled with self-loathing, and, though outwardly I hate everything you represent, I want to do it with you.

In Arctic? CANT DIE.

Residents of Norway's Svalbard Islands are used to dealing with the dangers of polar bears but, for one remote settlement, wild animals are not the only worry.

It is orbidden to die in the Arctic town of Longyearbyen.
Should you have the misfortune to fall gravely ill, you can expect to be despatched by aeroplane or ship to another part of Norway to end your days.
And if you are terminally unlucky and succumb to misfortune or disease, no-one will bury you here.

The town's small graveyard stopped accepting newcomers 70 years ago, after it was discovered that the bodies were failing to decompose.

Corpses preserved by permafrost have since become objects of morbid curiosity. Scientists recently removed tissue from a man who did die here. They found traces of the influenza virus which carried him and many others away in an epidemic in 1917.

About 1,500 people inhabit small wooden houses which are partly sheltered from the Arctic winds by the settlement's location in a mountain valley.

Bible used to rob Tacoma bank

TACOMA, Wash. - Tacoma Police say a man robbed a downtown US Bank Tuesday morning using a Bible.

The suspect is described as being a black male, 35 to 40 years old, 5-foot-9 to 6 feet tall, with a medium build.

Police say at 10:53 a.m., the suspect entered the bank, approached the counter, and gave the teller a Bible. The suspect told the teller to flip to a specific page in the Bible, where he had written a note on the page, demanding cash or else he would shoot and kill the teller.

The suspect took the money, told the teller he was leaving town, and said he would pay her back later. He then walked out of the bank.

Detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect. He is described as being a black male, 35 to 40 years old, 5-foot-9 to 6 feet tall, with a medium build.

During the robbery he wore sunglasses, a red and white striped knit hat, and a dark jacket.

Witnesses described the suspect as speaking with a Caribbean-type accent.

Why dieting SUCKS, as told by NY Times

Health Halo Can Hide the Calories, By JOHN TIERNEY
Published: December 1, 2008

I offer this alibi after an experiment on New Yorkers that I conducted with Pierre Chandon, a Frenchman who has been studying what researchers call the American obesity paradox. Why, as Americans have paid more and more attention to eating healthily, have we kept getting fatter and fatter?

Dr. Chandon’s answer, is that Americans have been seduced into overeating by the so-called health halo associated with certain foods and restaurants.

Our collaboration began Brooklyn’s Park Slope, whose celebrated food co-op has a mission statement to sell “organic, minimally processed and healthful foods.”
Half of the 40 people surveyed were shown pictures of a meal consisting of an Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad and a 20-ounce cup of regular Pepsi. On average, they estimated that the meal contained 1,011 calories, which was a little high. The meal actually contained 934 calories — 714 from the salad and 220 from the drink.

The other half of the Park Slopers were shown the same salad and drink plus two Fortt’s crackers prominently labeled “Trans Fat Free.” The crackers added 100 calories to the meal, bringing it to 1,034 calories, but their presence skewed people’s estimates in the opposite direction. The average estimate for the whole meal was only 835 calories — 199 calories less than the actual calorie count, and 176 calories less than the average estimate by the other group for the same meal without crackers.

Just as Dr. Chandon had predicted, the trans-fat-free label on the crackers seemed to imbue them with a health halo that magically subtracted calories from the rest of the meal. And we got an idea of the source of this halo after I tried the same experiment with tourists in Times Square.

These tourists, many of them foreigners (they kept apologizing for not knowing what Applebee’s was), correctly estimated that the meal with crackers had more calories than the meal without crackers. They didn’t see the crackers’ health halo, Dr. Chandon said, presumably because they hadn’t been exposed to the public debate that accompanied New York City’s decision last year to ban trans fat from restaurants.

“It makes sense that New Yorkers would be more biased because of all the fuss in the city about trans fat,” Dr. Chandon told me. “It hasn’t been a big issue in most other places. Here in Europe there’s been virtually no discussion of banning trans fats.”

The researchers found that customers at McDonald’s were more accurate at estimating the calories in their meal than were customers at Subway, apparently because of the health halo created by advertisements like one showing that a Subway sandwich had a third the fat of a Big Mac. The health halo from Subway also affected what else people chose to eat, Dr. Chandon and Dr. Wansink reported last year after giving people a chance to order either a Big Mac or a 12-inch Italian sandwich from Subway. Even though the Subway sandwich had more calories than the Big Mac, the people ordering it were more likely to add a large nondiet soda and cookies to the order. So while they may have felt virtuous, they ended up with meals averaging 56 percent more calories than the meals ordered from McDonald’s.

“People who eat at McDonald’s know their sins,” Dr. Chandon said, “but people at Subway think that a 1,000-calorie sandwich has only 500 calories.” His advice is not for people to avoid Subway or low-fat snacks, but to take health halos into account.

An abortion! How thoughtful!

Planned Parenthood is under fire for handing out gift certificates for its services this holiday season.
Pro-life supporters say the scheme by Planned Parenthood of Indiana denigrates the holiday season.

The network of 35 clinics across the state announced it is offering holiday vouchers for basic health care services "or the recipient's choice of birth control method."

Planned Parenthood's annual exams for women, which include Pap tests and breast exams, typically cost $58. The vouchers can be used for the exams, but also for insurance copays and for medication. The initiative was started to protect the almost one million uninsured Indiana women.

But opponents of abortion said Planned Parenthood was making a "mockery" of the holiday season.

Quote of hte story: "They deserve coal in their stocking, not money for lethal gift certificates," said Sister Diane Carollo, director of the Office for Pro-Life Ministry for the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

Rad animal of the Day

Turritopsis nutricula

Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan with a life cycle in which it reverts to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the only known case of a metazoan capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage (Piraino et al. 1996, p. 302). It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation. Theoretically, this cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering it effectively immortal.

Turritopsis nutricula has a diameter of 4-5 millimeters. It has an equally high and bell-shaped figure. The walls are uniformly thin. The bright red, big stomach has a cruciform shape in its cross section. Young specimens have only eight tentacles along the edge, while adult specimens have 80-90 tentacles.

Immortality

Jellyfish usually die after propagating, however the Turritopsis nutricula has developed the ability to return to a polyp state. This is done through a cell change in the external screen (Exumbrella). The ability to reverse the life cycle is probably unique in the animal kingdom, and allows the jellyfish to bypass death, rendering the Turritopsis nutricula effectively immortal.

Turritopsis nutricula are found in temperate to tropical regions in all of the world's oceans.

stupid xmas toy of the day

Can't take care of/afford a real dog?
Buy biscuit, the animatronic puppy! Somehow, this ridiculous bit of awesome has become the British "must-have" do [as claimed by the Daily Mail].

he doesn't shit or bark, wow!
But here's the real kicker...this dog is LIFE SIZED.
And he could be yours for only $150!

His head, ears and tail move, and he follows six voice commands like 'sit up and beg' and 'give me a paw'. He also responds to touch and will sniff and chomp when given a bone.

Labor is no excuse for driving in the breakdown lane, ma'am.

Jennifer Davis was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Nov. 18, her contractions just 3 minutes apart. Her husband, John, was trying to appear calm for his wife's sake, driving in the breakdown lane of Route 2. They pulled up behind a state trooper to ask whether they could continue using the lane to reach the next exit, near Alewife Station.

Not only did the trooper say no, he gave them a $100 citation for driving in the breakdown lane, made them wait for their citation while he finished writing someone else's ticket, and even seemed to ask for proof of pregnancy, Jennifer Davis said.

"He said, 'What's under your jacket?' I said, 'My belly,' " Davis said. "He waited and gestured with his head like, 'OK, let's see it.' He waited for me to unzip my jacket. I mean, it was so clear that I was pregnant."

The Davises say the contretemps occurred after two other troopers they encountered had waved them along in the highway breakdown lane, allowing them to evade gridlock while advising them to be cautious and keep their hazard lights on.

While State Police spokesman David Procopio declined to comment on the merits of this stop, he noted that state law prohibits driving in breakdown lanes on Route 2.

"The trooper made a judgment call to enforce the law governing the use of the breakdown lane," said Procopio. "If the couple does choose to submit a letter of complaint, we'll review it in accordance with our procedure."

Graham Norton to be New Eurovision Host.

Sir Wogan out. That really says it all.

article here.

I only Celebrate B. Obama Day.

MARION, Ala. (AP) - A small central Alabama county whose mainly black residents gave Barack Obama more than 70 percent of the vote on Election Day has created an annual holiday in honor of the president-elect.

The Perry County Commission voted 4 to 1 to observe the second Monday in November as "The Barack Obama Day." County offices will close and its roughly 40 workers will get a paid holiday.

The sponsoring commissioner, Albert Turner Jr., said the holiday is meant to highlight the Democratic president-elect's victory as a way to give people faith that difficult goals can be achieved.

The majority of the county's 12,000 residents are black.

The county commission's three black members and one of its two white members voted for the resolution.

+5 Keisling Family Farm

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – All p eople know that cows fart. and that it kills our world. But now, the Environmental Protection Agency is seeking court action against flatulence, which amounts to air pollution.

"This is one of the most ridiculous things the federal government has tried to do," said Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, an outspoken opponent of the proposal.

It would require farms or ranches with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs to pay an annual fee of about $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 for each hog.

"It's something that really has a very big potential adverse impact for the livestock industry," said Rick Krause, the senior director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The fee would cover the cost of a permit for the livestock operations. While farmers say it would drive them out of business, an organization supporting the proposal hopes it forces the farms and ranches to switch to healthier crops.

"It makes perfect sense if you are looking for ways to cut down on meat consumption and recoup environmental losses," said Bruce Friedrich, a spokesman in Washington for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

"We certainly support making factory farms pay their fair share," he said.

U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, a Republican from Haleyville in northwest Alabama, said he has spoken with EPA officials and doesn't believe the cow tax is a serious proposal that will ever be adopted by the agency.

Man allegedly assaults girlfriend with burger

VERO BEACH, Fla. — A Vero Beach man faces a domestic violence charge after authorities said he assaulted his girlfriend with a cheeseburger. An Indian River County Sheriff's Office arrest report said a 22-year-old man and his girlfriend got into an argument as they sat in a car in front of their home.

The report said the man would not let the woman out of the vehicle, so she threw his drink out of the car. In response, the man allegedly grabbed her arm and smashed the cheeseburger into her face. The pair got out of the car, and authorities say the man again took the McDonald's sandwich and put it on her face.

The man was released on $1,000 bond Wednesday.

Amsterdam gets LESS cool.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Amsterdam unveiled plans Saturday to close brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafes in its ancient city center as part of a major effort to drive organized crime out of the tourist haven.

The city is targeting businesses that "generate criminality," including gambling parlors, and the so-called "coffee shops" where marijuana is sold openly. Also targeted are peep shows, massage parlors and souvenir shops used by drug dealers for money-laundering.

Lodewijk Asscher, a city council member and one of the main proponents of the plan underlined that the city center will remain true to its freewheeling reputation.

"It'll be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can't find anywhere else in the world - very exciting, but also with cultural attractions," he said. "And you won't have to be embarrassed to say you came."

[Prostitution became legal only in 2000 and pot is technically illegal, though sold openly.]

Climate Change does Destroy Societies

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An analysis of rings on a stalagmite from a cave near Jerusalem reveals a drier climate in the region at a time in history when the Roman and Byzantine empires were in decline, scientists reported on Thursday.

University of Wisconsin geologists analyzed the chemical composition of individual rings as small as one-hundredth of a millimeter across that formed the stalagmite growing up from the floor of the Soreq Cave near Jerusalem between 200 B.C. and 1100 A.D..

Geologists John Valley and Ian Orland concluded the climate was drier in the eastern Mediterranean between 100 A.D. and 700 A.D., with steep drops in rainfall around 100 A.D. and 400 A.D. -- a period of waning Roman and Byzantine power in the region.

"Whether this is what weakened the Byzantines or not isn't known, but it is an interesting correlation," Valley said in a statement.

The team is now applying the same geochemical technique to examine older samples from the cave from the time of the last glacial retreat roughly 19,000 years ago, to help understand how weather patterns respond to fast-warming temperatures.

Researchers from the Geological Survey of Israel and Hebrew University in Jerusalem helped with the study, which was to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Quaternary Research.

Church Uses Devil To Rebrand Prayer Channel

A campaign debuting Wednesday will use the devil to pitch the rebranding of a New York religous cable service, The Prayer Channel, into NET (New Evangelism Television).

According to a spokesman for LA-based agency Cesario Migliozzi, which is handling the rebranding campaign, TV and radio spots featuring the devil as an "anti-spokesperson" will begin running Dec. 3 and will include MySpace and Facebook pages, a web site www.StopGoodTV.com and NYC bus advertising (the channel is on Time Warner Cable and Cablevision). The spots feature a "vertically challenged" devil trying to warn viewers off the channel.

NET, which is affiliated with the Catholic Archdioses of Brooklyn, programs religious news, lifestyle, entertainment, and kids programming 24/7 to approximately 850,000.

The Archdiocese's TV arm approved the campaign, according to agency spokesman Ted Faraone.

Nuclear fall-out. Now only $12.

Bored with the Ritz? Can't stand the staff at the Four Seasons? Looking for change? Good. Now you can stay in a zero-star nuclear bunker.
The Null Stern offers amenities such as:
hot water bottles instead of central heating,
earplugs, so that you can sleep through the night under the loud blast of an old and rickety ventilation system,
complementary slippers - the concrete floors do get cold without heat, in a bunker.
And for only $20 more, you can live in a luxury room, with real beds from real condemned hotels!
picture from the sun. the uk type.

The hotel is located in Sevelen, Switzerland (Near Zurich), and was started as an art project by twins Frank and Patrik Riklin. As interest grew, they decided to keep it open.

Cantabridgians not above recession, either.

Harvard University's endowment suffered investment losses of at least 22% in the first four months of the school's fiscal year, the latest evidence of the financial woes facing higher education.

The Harvard endowment, the biggest of any university, stood at $36.9 billion as of June 30, meaning the loss amounts to about $8 billion. That's more than the entire endowments of all but six colleges, according to the latest official tally.

Harvard said the actual loss could be even higher.

Other university endowments also are suffering, and many states are cutting public funding of higher education. Colleges are instituting hiring freezes, planning enrollment cuts and discussing steep tuition increases, intensifying worries about the impact of the recession and financial crisis on college access.

The federal government already has taken emergency steps to boost lending to students, and several well-off colleges have said they will maintain or boost financial aid to help families hurt by job losses, investments setbacks and borrowing problems. But not all colleges have the financial heft to withstand the many forces bearing down on them.

Fort Collins, Colo. -- Battling for visitation rights to his young daughter, J.P. Weichel wanted to vent a little bit.

Weichel, 40, chose an avenue common for many modern plebecites: heposted comments about the woman on the Craigslist "rants and raves" forum, accusing her of child abuse and welfare fraud and making crude comments about her sex life.

The woman said the postings were defamatory. But unlike the majority of libel cases, which are tried in civil court, local authorities have taken the unusual step of charging Weichel with a crime.

Colorado is one of a dwindling number of states with a criminal law against libel. The statute dates to the 19th century and is rarely used.

quote of the case:
"Being a jerk isn't necessarily grounds for felony prosecution," said Mark Silverstein, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.

Officer, I did NOT kill her on purpose.

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- A Tri-State woman is in critical condition Wednesday after police say her husband shot her while they were having sex.

Timothy Havens, 38, told Springfield police he was reaching for something on the nightstand when the pistol went off accidentaly, hitting his estranged wife Carolyn in the upper chest.

Havens, though claiming innocence, has a history of domestic violence. He served 60 days in jail for assaulting his wife and was ordered to go to anger management classes.

homewrecker, thats MY WIG!

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL— A 20-year-old woman told police the wig she was wearing got snatched by an angry ex-boyfriend, who pedaled away on a bicycle.

The victim said she left a party and was walking east on Southeast Voltair Terrace about 3 a.m. Friday when her ex-boyfriend came up on a bicycle.

She said he started arguing and yanked off a black wig that was sewn to her natural blond hair. The ex-boyfriend reportedly slapped her after she began chasing him.

Investigators found the victim's hair in "disorder." She said she and the alleged wig-snatcher lived together for eight months. She knew his first name, but apparently recalled only the first letter of his last name.

The ex-boyfriend called the victim's cell phone while an officer was there. Speaking to an officer via the cell phone, he admitted pulling the wig off and leaving when the victim started crying and said she was calling authorities.

The ex-boyfriend hung up after police asked for his last name. Investigators continue to try to identify the alleged wig-puller.

NY Daily News proves Ease of Mortgage Fraud

NY Daily News successfully STOLE the Empire State Building, worth $2 billion, by filing fradulent notarized paperwork with the city.
"King Kong" star Fay Wray is listed as a witness and the notary shared a name with bank robber Willie Sutton.

The heist shed light into a gaping loophole in the city's system for recording deeds, mortgages and other transactions.
The loophole: The system - run by the office of the city register - doesn't require clerks to verify the information.

Less than 90 minutes after the bogus documents were submitted on Monday, the agency rubber-stamped the transfer from Empire State Land Associates to Nelots Properties LLC. Nelots is "stolen" spelled backward. (The News returned the property Tuesday.)

"Crooks go where the money is. That's why Willie Sutton robbed banks, and this is the new bank robbery," said Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Richard Farrell, who is prosecuting several deed fraud cases.

Of course, stealing the Empire State Building wouldn't go unnoticed for long, but it shows how easy it is for con artists to swipe more modest buildings right out from under their owners. Armed with a fraudulent deed, they can take out big mortgages and disappear, leaving a mess for property owners, banks and bureaucrats.
"Once you have the deed, it's easy to obtain a mortgage," Farrell said.

Many crooks have done just that:
- Asia Smith stole her 88-year-old grandmother's house in Springfield Gardens, Queens, pocketing $445,000 in mortgages she took out.

- A man posing as someone who had been dead for 19 years deeded the dead man's property to himself. He then sold it to the scheme's mastermind, who took out a $533,000 mortgage and vanished with the cash.

- Toma Dushevic managed to steal seven dilapidated city-owned buildings in Brooklyn 10 years ago.

official? no shit, dudes.

News Alert: It's Official: U.S. Economy in Recession‏
From: NYTimes.com News Alert (nytdirect@nytimes.com)
Sent: Mon 12/01/08 12:44 PM
To: paistey@HOTMAIL.COM

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Monday, December 1, 2008 -- 12:32 PM ET
-----

It's Official: U.S. Economy in Recession

The National Bureau of Economic Research, a panel of academic
economists charged with the official designation of business
cycles, said that the United States economy has been in
recession since December 2007, when economic activity peaked.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na