News of the Weird / Pro Edition (12-14-2009)

News of the Weird/Pro Edition
December 14, 2009
(mordant and/or stupefying news from December 4-12)

The power of personal belief continues to trump common sense. A U.S. Treasury agent told a reporter that many more deluded people continue to believe in all sincerity that, to get out of debt, they can merely compose their own "private offset bonds" or "bond promissory notes" and send them off to a grateful Bank of America et al. It never occurs, even, to ask why the sellers of the seminars and guidebooks on how to do these thing accept only cash. One guy who used such a "bond" on a federal tax lien was hauled into court by IRS but patiently explained to the judge that the main problem here was that "your clerks may not be familiar with these type of instruments and do not know how to handle them." St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Hustler creator Larry Flynt was in court last week testifying against his nephews Jimmy Flynt and Dustin Flynt for producing pornography under the family name. Larry said their product didn't measure up to the exquisite quality of porn that consumers have come to expect from "Flynt." Explained Larry, they're "focusing on the boob element, so to speak. I just think that's sort of passé" Similarly(?), the world-famous Lincoln Center (for the Performing Arts in New York City) formally threatened litigation against the Lincoln County Multi-Purpose Facility in Brookhaven, Miss. (pop. 9,800), for referring to the facility locally as the "Lincoln Center." Los Angeles Times /// Daily Leader (Brookhaven)

Things Government Is/Isn't Good At (continuing series): The SEC couldn't catch Bernard Madoff, but IRS nailed Rachel Porcaro, who makes $19,000 a year cutting hair, which IRS auditors said was too little taxable income for her demographic. (She and her kids live in her parents' house, but in that case, IRS said she paid the parents below-market rent and therefore shouldn't have claimed the kids as dependents. So, she's toast. IRS levied her the equivalent of a year's wages.) And while many people had their time wasted at an airport last week, pulled out of line for random searches, someone at the Transportation Security Administration accidentally posted TSA's entire airport screening procedures manual online (leading, of course, to the totally implausible reassurance by the agency that no harm was done). Seattle Times /// ABC News

And while state and local government employees (the people who most affect Americans' quality of life) get laid off and furloughed, with consequent reduction of services, the number of federal employees making $100,000-plus salaries has rocketed up (e.g., Defense Department, from 1,800 such employees in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009; Transportation Department, from 1 person making $170,000-plus in December 2007 to 1,690 in June 2009). (And the numbers don't even include overtime or bonuses.) USA Today

Taking a break from the world's other crises, the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education last week issued a major policy pronouncement: The "mythical status" of the hymen "has caused far too much harm for far too long," and from now on, it shall be known not as the hymen but as the "vaginal corona." The Local (Stockholm)


More in extended >>

Posted By: Chuck - Mon Dec 14, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category:

Best New Arcade Game

Tim Hunkin, who owns an arcade on Southwold pier in Suffolk U.K., has come up with a great new game. 'Whack a Banker', which is based on the game 'Whack a Mole', has proven so popular that Hunkin has repeatedly needed to replace worn out mallets. If people over there like it that much then after everything that's happened in the banking industry over here people would absolutely love it. The game has generic looking bald white guys as the bankers to be whacked. Imagine how the game would go over if it showed up in American arcades with the the banker characters having the likenesses of various Ceos involved in the mess here. Freddie and Fannie CEOs, the AIG head honcho, and maybe Bernie Madoff for good measure. The mallet making business sure would pick up!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/suffolk/8410453.stm

Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 13, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category:

The Terrible Truth

Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 13, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category: Addictions, Drugs, PSA’s, 1950s

Full Moon

According to a study published in the Australia Medical Journal the full moon brings out the beast in people. Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital did a study on 91 patients in which 23%, 21 patients, were violent with staff. This number is double the amount of incidences that took place in other moon phases during the 11 month study. The attacks included biting and scratching and other animalistic behavior. Use of alcohol and drugs was also elevated during this time. The werewolf myth was mentioned and perhaps this tendency in humans during the full moon did give rise to such stories. Health care workers have long believed violence and odd behavior are more prevalent during this time each month. Often the assertion has been dismissed as anecdotal but now it appears, in at least this study, to have some validity.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26479508-23272,00.html

picture from nasa.com

Updated: Story took place in Australia not Austria.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 13, 2009 - Comments (10)
Category:

Unique Stairs

The above picture is one of a dozen unusual staircases shown at the link below. They are all pretty cool, but this one and the polished stone one were my favorites. Share your faves too guys!
http://www.oddee.com/item_96905.aspx

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 12, 2009 - Comments (9)
Category:

Totally Wired Christmas Lights

It probably took some serious caffeine to get this set up. The first part is slow, so if you want the sterioids version, click in at about 45 seconds.

Amazing Grace Techno - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Caught you dancing to "Amazing Grace" -- didn't I? Well, maybe that was just me.

I especially like the drum riffs.

Posted By: gdanea - Sat Dec 12, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category: Music

The World’s Smallest Snowman

The National Physical Laboratory has been around since the early 1900s and is famous for a number of its creations, such as the first working atomic clock. But never let it be said that it's all work and no play in the lab. Just in time for Christmas, the NPL, located in Middlesex, England, has created the world's smallest snowman. The snowman is not visible to the naked eye, being only one-fifth the width of a human hair. It was created with two tin beads used to calibrate electron microscope astigmatism. The nose is ion beam deposited platinum and the rest of the face was milled using a focused ion beam. All that scientific mumbo-jumbo aside, this tiny snowman is adorable!

Posted By: Nethie - Sat Dec 12, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Art, Crafts, Inventions, Seasonal, World Records

Just Some Friends Shooting a TV

When you make a bet with friends who have firearms, and have always wanted to shoot a TV, well -- you can predict the outcome.



The local authorities said no laws were broken, but discouraged the use of alcohol and firearms in combination. Ya think?

Posted By: gdanea - Fri Dec 11, 2009 - Comments (7)
Category: Sports

Separated at Birth

When I saw famed photog Annie Leibovitz in today's New York Times, I instantly flashed on famed director Martin Scorsese. Has anyone ever seen these two masters of the lens in the same room together?

(Pic of Leibovitz from Flickr user maxnoy.)

Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 11, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Celebrities, Movies, Photography and Photographers, Hair Styling, Men, Women

Two Great Things That Go Great Together

Football And lingerie another post for you fellas out there. Miami Caliente vs. New York Majesty, I seriously doubt anyone with a y chromosome who watched this could tell you who won. But I bet they had a good time! More pics available at the link.
http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Sports/Lingerie-Football-Part-2/2519/8/

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 10, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: