Singing Mice

Via the Dave Ross show - scientists in Japan have developed mice that tweet like birds

Patterns of Behavior

If you dont agree with her you get boxed out.

"The governor said she'd had no contact with McGinn since he said in late October that he didn't think Seattle could trust Olympia or Gregoire when it came to the Alaskan Way Viaduct tunnel replacement."

23,000 Teddy Bears

Hockey fans in Calgery, Alberta, Canada tossed 23 thousand teddy bears
on to the ice during a hockey game for charity. This mimics the old tradition of throwing hats, rats(Florida) or octopus(Detroit) on the ice when a goal is scored.

30 year old tech still in use

Here are 3 stories of technology that we developed over 30 years ago and havnt updated or surpassed.

Alvin

Voyager

Discovery

...are greatest days of this country are behind us?

The BP blowout you didnt hear about

Via Wiki leaks - BP's rig in Azerbaijan had a blowout similar to the one experienced in the Gulf of Mexico. And you didnt hear about it because they covered it up.

Lunar Eclipse Monday Night

The moon is going dark this monday night/tuesday morn. There wont be another totality for 3 years so if you misss this one you've got a long wait.

New money game for Banks

Shocking! The forclosure mess isnt even in the grave yet and the banks have a new game to play. This one depends on buying up tax debt the government is too lazy to pursue then tacking on and profiting from a bunch of fees when you finally track the person down. Its like bail bonding, but for the utility companies, and if the poor guy cant pay the courts give you the property.  

Thank god we elected Barak Obama, who promised to reform wall street.

35K Miles, 15 hotels, $418

This guy is stealing my idea of spending 2011 living in hotels for cheap. Except he's doing it by gaming the credit card system.

Geminid meteor shower this monday night

Check it out! 11pm Monday

Lawyer misconduct regularly ignored by States, ABA

Government lawyers regularly act unethically and no one is holding them accountable. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes.

Can we ever be free of Government?

So the American government is now using its authority squelch payments to WikiLeaks. Americans and foreign citizens alike are being prevented from supporting what is clearly a political organization. This brings up 2 questions.

1) The founding fathers wrote into the constitution a duty to revolt against ones government should it become a tyranny. Given the strengths of the federal government (which was not part of the original constitution) is that now impossible?

2) For the last year or two I have repeatedly heard "intelligence" experts on the radio talking about how the next war will be a cyberwar and we need to fund their departments or it will be the end of the world. Since the leaks from Wikileaks havnt been all that damaging or mindblowing..is it possible someone took a lesson from 911 and just let this leak happen?

Also, in Sweden, things are getting nasty

SpaceX set to launch today

If successful SpaceX will be the first non-government entity to launch a vehicle that returns from obit.

Sao Paulo went dark ?

Can you imagine what would happen if the entire metropolis of LA or NY lost power? Well apparently Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo lost its power, along with 18 of the 26 States of that nation. Thats a lot of people stuck in elevators...

Start of the Cyberwar?

All I know is that freedom ends when it makes public employees look bad.

Via the Palm Beach Post

"It's the start of the information war, it really looks like that," said Pascal Gloor, vice president of the Swiss Pirate Party, whose Swiss Web address, wikileaks.ch, has been serving as a mainstay for WikiLeaks traffic.
"There is a whole new generation, digital natives, born with the Internet, that understands the freedom of communication," he told The Associated Press. "It's not a left-right thing anymore. It's a generational thing between the politicians who don't understand that it's too late for them to regulate the Internet and the young who use technology every day."

Via Dave Ross

Meantime CBS's Mark Phillips says Wiki-leaker Julian Assange continues to hide in Britain -- consulting with his lawyer:
"With the threats against him, including assassination threats, he's not breaking cover."
You'd think he'd published a picture of Mohammed or something. He didn't do that. But he sure has published an unflattering portrait of America's friends, and the penalty seems to be similar.

Candlelight

I thought you weren't suppose to do anything "by the candlelight" heh. Cute song..bout time jews started "representing"

Aliens

As usual Dave Ross says it the best :

"Because I'm telling you, the real alien is going to be a life form where the penis sprouts from the forehead and they don't care who sees it.
And then what do we do?
Large segments of America can't even get used to gay people.
Can you imagine the level of political correctness that would require?
"Ah it's OK you can keep the hat on."

Joe is a douche

What do people see in this guy? He has become scarier than Bush when it comes to hawkish bills design to curtail liberty and strengthen the power of government.I spent 3 minutes with him and I needed a shower.

Solar Powered Yacht

This bugger is sailing into Miami today. When people say solar or electric I always wonder if they mean full time. And whats the point of a boat with no deck space? Here are more examples of people who definitely need those Bush tax cuts. 

Harry Potter : Deathly Hollows 1 review

Bottom Line : If you went hoping to see the mysterious and magical world of Harry Potter, you left disappointed. If you went to see a twilight-esk romance/relationship story between 3 friends, you left disappointed. If you went with kids you left after the first 15 minutes. Click below for more details

Courage or Entertainment?

Seattle has Superheroes now. I think this vigilante superhero thing started with the movie "Watchman". Obviously its a copy cat of "Kick Ass" but I think the motivation comes from Watchman. Maybe a bit of "Fight Club" Apparently people are actually dressing up in spandex and doing this. Question is - are they doing it our of righteousness or for entertainment.

Dick Cheney no longer has a pulse

Literally. I guess he had an artificial heart installed which "flushes" instead of beats like a regular heart would. Doesnt look like he is doing too well health wise.

Government protects child abductors

So..you are under investigation for child abduction and you've gone missing...but you're apparently still paying your taxes and claim the missing child as a deduction. Common sense would say cops should be able to get your address from that tax form? Right ? naaaaa!? People on the run with abducted child apparently have a right to privacy.

Bill Nye strokes out on stage

Via the Dori monson show - this sounds bad!. Nye was funny on Loveline and I guess he was Almost live though I never liked that show.

Russia bans smoking

Wouldn't it be nice to live in a country with a government that takes its role of public steward seriously?

Rockstars of science

In an effort to make sciencists appear kool, various Nobel laureates and the like are posing for photos with famous rock stars. I'm pretty sure the people who would be attracted to one group would be repelled by the other...but point for trying right ? 

Leonid Meteor shower 2morrow morning

Dont miss it! Early morning Wednesday and Thursday.

4yo left alone calls 911

When florida parents arnt letting their children drowned in the pool (which happens every week it seems) they are leaving them home alone to go on beer runs.

Going out of business

The other day I drove all over town trying to find a store that sold incense supplies. My first stop was the Juno beach surf shop "lazydayz" which apparently is/was "authentic" as opposed to the numerous mass market swimming/beach supply stores. I was told after 30+ years lazydayz threw in the towel and went out of business. Bummer. I was advised to check out the local skate board shop "Modern culture", in Jupiter. Out of business as well. Juno/Jupiter isnt exactly a bastion of counter-culture so I'm not really surprised, but apparently Whole Foods is now the only supplier of incense supplies in the area. Damn giant corporate box stores killing local business.

Today I drove down to Boarders books in Boca to see if the next book in a series was cheaper there than the bit of literary greed that is Barnes and Noble.Boarders books - specifically the ONLY large sized Boarders store in the Miami area - is going out of business. They are apparently keeping their mall based waldenbooks stores but ditching the large scale stores. Damn shame. But I got a 20% close out discount.

Cops hate donuts

At least donuts sold by kids. Yet another case where the government shut down young people doing something valuable with their time because the state wasnt getting its cut.

Have we hit our lowest yet ?

Just when you think the human waste in government has done its worst more proof emerges. Seriously!? No one at Palm Beach County Division of Human Services thought to background check people working with kids at camps ? Not one single person though it might be a good idea to enquire about the criminal history of their employees?   

Interesting tidbits

Some interesting tidbits from our South American news desk -

1) As per the map, nearly all of South America is actually east of Florida. This is something I didnt realize.

2) Brazil is is home to the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan. Imagine the sushi possibilities!

Lake Agassiz

I've been reading a book called "Ancient Shores" which is a story about a strange boat found in North Dakota. Apparently 14 thousand years ago a chunk of north america was under water, covered by Lake Agassiz. The book got me thinking. 14 thousand years ago ISNT that long ago. How much of human history are we missing due to it being covered up by planetary changes ? The planet has changed soooo much ~recently~ and no one really talks about it. How different was the world map 10000 years ago? I'm sure there was more changes than this lake...

Cocoa Beach bomb "defused"

This may not have made the national news

Veterans of the 80's

Something Awful has posted an evaluation of the missions GI-JOE has undertaken for the American taxpayer. I swear I havnt laughed so hard in a long time. Worth a read.

Skyscraper Link

Here a great link from skyscraper city. Can you guess where this photo is from?

Nov 5th UFO over DC

Fear the Department of Business & Professional Regulation

Lots of police overreach going on these days. Here is one about the police organizing armed raids against  - wait for it - "unlicensed barbers".

Bichon Frise

 

puff dog pics at Something Aweful

Never question authority

Sorta of a followup on the german tourist who recorded the cop chewing him out over a traffic stop. This story is about a kid who video taped a police stop, was charged with a felony for posting it on youtube and faces up to 16 years in prison.

Time spent podcasting

I'm a big fan of background noise. I'm sure some people cant stand other things going on that arnt related to what they are doing but I'm a multitasker. When I'm at home - whether sleeping, watching tv, playing vidoe games or reading I often have either music or pod caster running in the background. In you are looking for some white noise that will also educate you..check these out...Astronomy cast and Love line are particularly good. List after the break

The Chuck Republic

Where is Chuck Norris? Apparently in the Czech Republic. Walker, Texas Ranger must have a big following there heh

2101 Florida midterm election

So click below to hear my take on the recent Florida election

Cop threatens prison rape for speeding

Via the Dori Monson show

Women and their thumbs

From our South American news desk - Brazil elected its first woman president and voting was done with a biometric fingerprint scan system. No hanging chads in this election! 

2.5 thousand trillion calculations a second.

China claims worlds most powerful computer

"Tianhe-1A is unusual in that it unites thousands of Intel processors with thousands of graphics cards made by Nvidia.
The chips inside graphics cards are typically made up of small arithmetical units that can carry out simple sums very quickly. By contrast, Intel chips are typically used to carry out more complicated mathematical operations."

American Legislative Exchange Council

Another story from NPR that blew my mind. This one frames the scary truth of how mega corporations work around the accountability and records laws to lobby your government officials. Basically this membership club called ALEC offers education seminars on "how to draft a bill" and offers them, with airfare, hotel stay, food, child care etc free of charge to legislators. Conveniently the representatives of major corps have also been invited and the two groups work together to draft "practice" legislation. Shocking, those "practice" bills end up word for word as actual bills up for vote, such as the controversial Arizona immigration law, which was "practice" for Arizona legislators and the largest prison company. And a study done of the legislators records showed not a single legislator reported receiving any of the free benefits from ALEC.

Tiny moving boxes

So due to a streak of bad rental experiences I've decided to take a serious look at the RV/Camper living. I've been pleasantly surprised to find the RV market has piggybacked the car market in downsizing everything. There is a solid selection of ultra light weight trailers designed to be easily pulled by small cars like my 4 cyl.Subaru Forester.  I've been meaning to simplify my life for a while - eliminate the clutter of material possessions and the temptation of a kitchen.This could be a great opportunity and it would be nice to own something rather than flushing away money in a rental.

Healthcare bluebook

Via NPR, a a free web project that helps determine if your doctor or hospital is gouging you. My understand is that the greatest source of "extra" costs come from facility fees and if its at all possible one should rent a place at an outpatient facility  before using the hospital.

Emperor shooting legal

From our lets kill all the beautiful things desk - Emperor, the 9 foot tall giant elk of England has been shot and killed. Experts say there was nothing illegal about the hunting of Emperor, who was considered the largest wild animal in the UK, and that it was likely done for trophy as 12yo elk meat is inediblely tough.

Robots replace teachers in S. Korea

Heard about this story on NPR. Apparently faced with a teacher shortage, the government of South Korea is filling its classrooms with robotic teaching assistants. Kool. The NPR people were wondering what Americans are going to do for work as slowly but surely robotics and computers take human jobs.

Idaho shuts down 6yo's pumpkin stand

Yet another story of seemingly insane behavior by public employees. I'm really waffling between the benefits of a lot more government and the feeling that we'd be better off with none at all.

"A representative for the tax commission in Coeur d'Alene when reached by phone today said it is not the state's intention to shut anyone down but to educate them about state policy. "

Strippers go all out for dogs

The strippers of Rachels, the favored "steak house" of West Palm Beach's political establishment, have raised $3000 for Dog rescue nonprofits. Apparently 3 other companies turned down the strippers offer of aid. 

12yo Bounty hunter earns $3K

From our "this makes me feel old dept" Kool story..randomly reminds me of a guy I met in Australia who drove around the outback with his 2 todders hunting wild pigs for government bounty money. Kid prob deserves more than 3k though.. a lot of people use Firefox..Firefox is the internet browser that sane people use in place of Internet Explorer