Sunday, December 30, 2007

From the sub-prime to the ridiculous: how $100bn vanished | Business | The Guardian

From the sub-prime to the ridiculous: how $100bn vanished Business The Guardian: "It began with low-income Americans being encouraged to borrow mortgages they couldn't afford.
The economic butterfly effect would eventually cause deals worth billions of dollars to fall apart; the first run on a British bank in 140 years; some of the most powerful figures on Wall Street losing their jobs; wild gyrations on the markets; and dire warnings that the world is on the brink of recession"

Getting the Story Straight | Redstate

Getting the Story Straight Redstate: "Every once in a while I am more thankful than ever for today’s technology which allows me to talk to you directly instead of having to go through the filter of the main stream media."

Saturday, December 29, 2007

It's better than a religion!


A Nation of Dim Bulbs: "The new bulbs are particularly vulnerable to extremes of temperature, for example; you won't want to use them in your garage in winter. CFLs are also 25 percent longer in size than the average incandescent. This makes them unsuitable for all kinds of lighting fixtures--particularly chandeliers and other ceiling lights--which will have to be either discarded or reconfigured, at considerable expense, after the Bush ban goes into effect. You can't use most CFLs with dimmer switches, either; ditto timers. Newer models that can be dimmed and are adaptable to timers will require you to buy new CFL-compatible dimmers and timers.
The quality of the light given off by CFLs is quite different from what we're used to from incandescents. The old bulb concentrates its light through a small surface area. CFLs don't shine in beams; they glow all the way around, diffusing their illumination. They're terrible reading lights."

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Hillary: I've Know Mrs. Bhutto Many Years


Now that's some real foreign policy experience!

Hillary: I've Know Mrs. Bhutto Many Years Sweetness & Light: "I had given a lot of thought to how Chelsea and I should dress on the trip. We wanted to be comfortable, and under the sun’s heat, I was glad for the hats and cotton clothes I had packed. I didn’t want to offend people in the communities I was visiting, but I was also wary of appearing to embrace customs reflecting a culture that restricted women’s lives and rights."

TorontoSun.com - Lorrie Goldstein - BS alert! BS alert!

TorontoSun.com - Lorrie Goldstein - BS alert! BS alert!: "Finally, if idiot celebrities jetting around the world claiming they are 'carbon neutral' because they buy carbon offsets understood the Kyoto Accord, they wouldn't bother, considering what hypocrites they already are.
That's because Kyoto doesn't count GHG emissions caused by flying, although it's one of the world's fastest-growing sources of GHG."

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Iowa man spends Christmas Eve stuck upside-down in opening of septic tank

Iowa man spends Christmas Eve stuck upside-down in opening of septic tank: "DES MOINES, Iowa - It was a stinky holiday for Robert Schoff.
The 77-year-old man spent part of Christmas Eve stuck upside down in the opening of his septic tank, with his head inside and his feet kicking in the air above.
'It wasn't good, I'll tell you what,' Schoff said Tuesday. 'It was the worst Christmas Eve I've ever had.'DES MOINES, Iowa - It was a stinky holiday for Robert Schoff.
The 77-year-old man spent part of Christmas Eve stuck upside down in the opening of his septic tank, with his head inside and his feet kicking in the air above.
'It wasn't good, I'll tell you what,' Schoff said Tuesday. 'It was the worst Christmas Eve I've ever had.'"

Thursday, December 20, 2007

FAQ: The End of the Light Bulb as We Know It - US News and World Report

FAQ: The End of the Light Bulb as We Know It - US News and World Report: "The incandescent light bulb, one of the most venerable inventions of its era but deemed too inefficient for our own, will be phased off the U.S. market beginning in 2012 under the new energy law just approved by Congress."

OMNIVORACIOUS: Best of the Year Roundup

OMNIVORACIOUS: Best of the Year Roundup

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

NewsBusters.org | Exposing Liberal Media Bias

NewsBusters.org Exposing Liberal Media Bias: "You know all that nonsense the media have been spewing that the Bush tax cuts caused the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer?
Well, the Internal Revenue Service and the Congressional Budget Office have published tax and income numbers for 2005, and the press couldn't be any more wrong."

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Mark Steyn is Not Alone - Opinion - Arutz Sheva

Mark Steyn is Not Alone - Opinion - Arutz Sheva: "Two 'human rights' panels, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission, have him on trial for his alleged claim that Islam does not square with Western ideals. Whatever the outcome, we're all on notice that Big Brother is watching. The word 'tribunal' itself reeks of an Orwellian nightmare and Soviet gulagism."

Against universal health care: Romania’s disastrous example

Transatlantic Politics » Blog Archive » Against universal health care: Romania’s disastrous example: "When going to a birth center resembles a Russian roulette, with no guarantees that the mother and child will be healthy, something is definitely rotten in Romania's universal health care system. Warning against all the universal-health-care-gurus in the US. There is no glamor to a corrupt, mismanaged, state-run system. And no reliable, equitable treatment either."

Monday, December 17, 2007

It's lights out for traditional light bulbs - USATODAY.com

It's lights out for traditional light bulbs - USATODAY.com: "A little-noticed provision of the energy bill, which is expected to become law, phases out the 125-year-old bulb in the next four to 12 years in favor of a new generation of energy-efficient lights that will cost consumers more but return their investment in a few months."

Weirdest work stories of the year - CNN.com

Weirdest work stories of the year - CNN.com: "12. 'Workers killed after seeking raises'
A car dealership owner killed two employees because they kept asking for more pay. The employer told police he was having financial problems and was under a lot of stress."

British taxpayers pay for failed asylum seekers to set up ostrich farm in Iran | the Daily Mail

British taxpayers pay for failed asylum seekers to set up ostrich farm in Iran the Daily Mail: "The revelation reignited a row over Labour's controversial policy of 'bribing' bogus refugees to leave the country."

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Michelle Malkin » Scrooges on the Hill: Saying no to Christmas resolution

Michelle Malkin » Scrooges on the Hill: Saying no to Christmas resolution: "From the office of GOP Rep. Steve King: Congressman Steve King reacted this morning to the nine “NO” votes on his resolution to honor Christmas and the Christian faith. The vote shocked Capitol Hill observers because votes on similar resolutions honoring the holidays of Islam and Hinduism passed without any NO votes. Appearing this morning on the Fox News Channel’s Fox and Friends, King said, “The [nine] naysayers didn’t make it to the floor to debate. I would like to know how they could vote Yes on Islam, Yes on the Indian Religions and No on Christianity when the foundation of this nation and our American culture is Christianity…I think there’s an assault on Christianity in America.” The nine Members voting NO were Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) (FL), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). None of the nine voted against resolutions honoring the Islamic holiday of Ramadan and the Hindu holiday of Diwali."

Man Drinks Liter of Vodka at Airport Line

Man Drinks Liter of Vodka at Airport Line: "A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing a liter (two pints) of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new carry-on rules, police said Wednesday. The incident occurred at the Nuremberg airport on Tuesday, where the 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a holiday in Egypt. New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked as cargo. Instead, he chugged the bottle down—and was quickly unable to stand or otherwise function, police said. A doctor called to the scene determined he had possibly life- threatening alcohol poisoning, and he was sent to a Nuremberg clinic for treatment. The man, whose name was not released, is expected to be able to complete his journey home in a few days. "

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Children 'bad for planet' | NEWS.com.au

Children 'bad for planet' NEWS.com.au: "John Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London, said: 'The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights. 'The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child.'"

Monday, December 10, 2007

Superwoman!

Security Guard: 'God Guided Me And Protected Me' - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver: "'I saw him coming through the doors' and took cover, Assam said. 'I came out of cover and identified myself and engaged him and took him down.'"

I wonder what the Hillary camp is thinking......

Saturday, December 08, 2007

The Corner on National Review Online

The Corner on National Review Online: “Just look at the development within Europe, where the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes”
Guess who said this!

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Four Winds Casino withholds revenue sharing - Muskegon Chronicle - MLive.com

Four Winds Casino withholds revenue sharing - Muskegon Chronicle - MLive.com: "The American Indian tribe that owns the new Four Winds Casino Resort in extreme southwestern Michigan is withholding its first revenue-sharing payments from local governments and school districts."

John R. Bolton - The Flaws In the Iran Report - washingtonpost.com

John R. Bolton - The Flaws In the Iran Report - washingtonpost.com: "Rarely has a document from the supposedly hidden world of intelligence had such an impact as the National Intelligence Estimate released this week. Rarely has an administration been so unprepared for such an event. And rarely have vehement critics of the 'intelligence community' on issues such as Iraq's weapons of mass destruction reversed themselves so quickly. "

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

City OKs tax break for new facility - mlive.com

City OKs tax break for new facility - mlive.com: "In return for the 50 percent tax abatement, the company promises to retain 31 jobs and add 50 positions over the next two to three years, officials said. "

Mother Nature feels the pains of divorce (AP) : Yahoo! Green

Mother Nature feels the pains of divorce (AP) : Yahoo! Green: "Divorce can be bad for the environment. In countries around the world divorce rates have been rising, and each time a family dissolves the result is two new households. 'A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household,' said Jianguo Liu, an ecologist at Michigan State University whose analysis of the environmental impact of divorce "

Hospital Defends Plans to Turn Patients' Beds to Face Mecca -- 12/05/2007

Hospital Defends Plans to Turn Patients' Beds to Face Mecca -- 12/05/2007: "A hospital in northern England is playing down media reports saying that nurses have been ordered to stop normal duties five times a day to turn Muslim patients' beds so that they face Mecca. British tabloid newspapers reported Tuesday that at a hospital in West Yorkshire county, 'overworked' nurses in the taxpayer-funded National Health Service (NHS) were struggling to cope with the additional duties required for Muslim patients. Apart from moving the beds, the nurses also have to provide bathing water for pre-prayer ablutions, the reports said. The new duties were causing 'havoc,' said the Daily Express, while the Daily Star said they were 'creating turmoil' and quoted a doctor at the hospital as saying it was a case of 'political correctness gone mad.'"

Monday, December 03, 2007

How not to measure temperature, part 38 « Watts Up With That?

How not to measure temperature, part 38 « Watts Up With That?: "This station, COOP number 04-1838 is in Cloverdale, CA is just a few feet away from a chimney flue and an exhaust stack of a diesel generator. Note also the rain gauge placement. "

Sunday, December 02, 2007

CNN: Corrupt News Network - Los Angeles Times

CNN: Corrupt News Network - Los Angeles Times: "THE United States is at war in the Middle East and Central Asia, the economy is writhing like a snake with a broken back, oil prices are relentlessly climbing toward $100 a barrel and an increasing number of Americans just can't afford to be sick with anything that won't be treated with aspirin and bed rest. So, when CNN brought the Republican presidential candidates together this week for what is loosely termed a 'debate,' what did the country get but a discussion of immigration, Biblical inerrancy and the propriety of flying the Confederate flag?"

Lucianne.com News Forum

Lucianne.com News Forum: "The EU says it’s a leisure vehicle The Times [London, UK], by Michael Evans Original Article Posted By:Desert Fox, 12/2/2007 6:16:13 PM People who rely on motorised scooters to help to cope with disabilities are to be hit with a £300 tax, after an EU ruling that they should be categorised along with “leisure vehicles”. The electric power-driven wheelchairs with flexible handlebars are used by people with severe mobility difficulties, such as disabled ex-servicemen. They are now taxed in the same class as snowmobiles, jet skis and racing cars. (Snip) Under the EU ruling the scooters are now subject to a £300 import tax on top of their £2,000 cost. "

More gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig | Eyepiece | Idaho Statesman

More gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig Eyepiece Idaho Statesman: "More gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig Allegations made since news of the Minneapolis case broke lend weight to rumors about Craig."

Saturday, December 01, 2007

FOX Sports on MSN - NFL - Taylor's death a grim reminder for us all

FOX Sports on MSN - NFL - Taylor's death a grim reminder for us all: "No disrespect to Taylor, but he controlled the way he would be remembered by the way he lived. His immature, undisciplined behavior with his employer, his run-ins with law enforcement, which included allegedly threatening a man with a loaded gun, and the fact a vehicle he owned was once sprayed with bullets are all pertinent details when you've been murdered."

ICECAP

ICECAP: "Temperature peaked in 1998 and have shown no warming for a decade now. Many scientists have been remarking about this trend for several years but no one takes heed, preferring to believe models than actual data. Here is the satellite derived global temperature trend since 1979. Note the cooling globally near the volcanically active periods of the early 1980s and 1990s. Note also the warm spike associated with the super El Nino that seemingly marked the beginning of the end of the warm Pacific trend that began in 1978. Temperature peaked in 1998 and have shown no warming for a decade now. Many scientists have been remarking about this trend for several years but no one takes heed, preferring to believe models than actual data. Here is the satellite derived global temperature trend since 1979. Note the cooling globally near the volcanically active periods of the early 1980s and 1990s. Note also the warm spike associated with the super El Nino that seemingly marked the beginning of the end of the warm Pacific trend that began in 1978. "

Melville, sperm.... no whale?

Sperm donor may owe support: "MELVILLE — A Long Island man who said he donated sperm to a female co-worker as a friendly gesture — and then sent presents and cards to the woman’s child over the years — likely will owe child support for the college-bound teenager, according to a judge’s ruling. ........ Even without genetic evidence, the man’s interactions with the child over the years had a patriarchal nature, said Jeffrey Herbst, a county attorney...."

Over-50s 'turned down for NHS treatment' - Telegraph

Over-50s 'turned down for NHS treatment' - Telegraph: "One in six said they had been denied treatment on the NHS on the basis of cost."

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

>bt: Notes from the Silent Surrender

>bt: Notes from the Silent Surrender: "The dogma of multiculturalism holds that all cultures are equal, except Western culture, which (unlike every other society on the planet) has a history of oppression and war is therefore worse. All religions are equal, except Christianity, which informed the beliefs of the capitalist bloodsuckers who founded America and is therefore worse. All races are equal, except Caucasians, who long ago went into business with black slave traders in Africa, and therefore they are worse. The genders, too, are equal, except for those paternalistic males, who with their testosterone and aggression have made this planet a polluted living hell, and therefore they are worse."

Monday, November 26, 2007

Not chicken?

Cannibal goes vegetarian in jail The Courier-Mail: "Meiwes met 43-year-old Bernd Juergen Brandes on the internet after he posted a message asking for someone he could kill and eat. In March 2001, Meiwes killed, dismembered and devoured Brandes in a house in Rotenburg, in Germany’s north. In the book Conversations with a Cannibal, Meiwes said human flesh tasted like pork and that he had reformed"

Sunday, November 25, 2007

My Way News - Study: Kids Will Eat Healthy School Food

My Way News - Study: Kids Will Eat Healthy School Food: "Maybe getting schoolchildren to eat healthy foods isn't a hopeless struggle. Bucking some common notions, a University of Minnesota study has found that school lunch sales don't decline when healthier meals are served, and that more nutritious lunches don't necessarily cost schools more to produce."

'Redacted': Battle Casualty, By Kurt Loder - Movie News Story | MTV Movie News

'Redacted': Battle Casualty, By Kurt Loder - Movie News Story MTV Movie News: "The movie's implication is that such horrific incidents are not unusual, but that they're covered up by the military and the craven mainstream media. This is possible, of course. But the contention is unpersuasive in this particular case, since all five of the soldiers involved were arrested and charged, and three have been tried and sentenced to 90, 100 and 110 years in prison — information the movie declines to convey. "

TCS Daily - Loving Monsters

TCS Daily - Loving Monsters: "One need only look at the treatment of such other topics as crime, terrorism, and warfare to see examples of the same sort of misplaced sentimentality and willful ignorance. Tolerance of criminality leads to more crime; tolerance of terrorism leads to more terrorism; efforts to appear defenseless lead to war. "

Natural disasters have quadrupled in two decades: study

Natural disasters have quadrupled in two decades: study: "The Oxfam study was compiled using data from the Red Cross, the United Nations and specialist researchers at Louvain University in Belgium. "

Euro exchange control possible in face of economic crisis : November 2007 : Ambrose Evans-Pritchard : Business : Telegraph Blogs

Euro exchange control possible in face of economic crisis : November 2007 : Ambrose Evans-Pritchard : Business : Telegraph Blogs: "The die is now cast. As the euro brushes $1.50 against the dollar, it is already too late to stop the eurozone hurtling into a full-fledged economic and political crisis. We now have to start asking whether the EU itself will survive in its current form."

Friday, November 23, 2007

Randy Pausch's Home Page

Randy Pausch's Home Page

Dying prof's last lecture hits home

Dying prof's last lecture hits home: "'Who wants to see a dying man?' he asked. 'It's a beautiful warm day in September.' "

The dollar's in decline. Great news! | Gerard Baker - Times Online

The dollar's in decline. Great news! Gerard Baker - Times Online: "For the historically short-sighted, let's remember we have been here before. Between 1985 and 1995, the dollar declined by 43 per cent against the world's big currencies — somewhat more than it has in the past six years. That period was also marked by dire proclamations of the end of US economic power. But it turned out that in those years the foundations were laid for the strongest period of US economic growth in the past 35 years. "

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Maui News | IfA solar session out of this world

Maui News IfA solar session out of this world: "Over decades of scanning changes in the sun, solar astronomers noticed that when there were few sunspots, the Earth was cold; and when there were many, the Earth was warmer. Today is a time of many sunspots, so that might explain global warming. Not so fast, says University of Hawaii solar astronomer Jeff Kuhn. You can also find a correlation between sunspots and the number of Republicans elected to the U.S. Senate."

Friday, November 16, 2007

Al Gore Wrong Again : November 2007 : ReasonMcLucus : My Telegraph

Al Gore Wrong Again : November 2007 : ReasonMcLucus : My Telegraph: " The culprit is a developing la Nina , a cooling of the water in the eastern Pacific along the South American coast"

Silver Bullet: Neo-Con? Extreme Moderate? How about Revolutionary Liberal.

Silver Bullet: Neo-Con? Extreme Moderate? How about Revolutionary Liberal.: "Often when I walked onto the set of the West Wing some of my colleagues would greet me with a chanting of “Ron, Ron, the neo-con.” It was all done in fun but it had an edge."

Atomic Trousers: Bask in Bumper Sticker Wisdom

Atomic Trousers: Bask in Bumper Sticker Wisdom: "“A PBS Mind In a FOX News World” - This particular bumper sticker is positively oozing with smugness. “God, I can't stand being surrounded by these Wal-Mart-shopping, NASCAR-watching, deer-hunting troglodytes. How can these country-fried rubes allow themselves to be spoon-fed White House talking points from Bill O’Reilly? They must not be smart enough to enjoy watching some dusty old Brits mumble through a clunky drama on PBS like I am.”"