Rush's Retrospective III information and track list.

The last two decades haven't been Rush's strongest, but I could've come up with a much better track list. Blargh. From a press release:

Atlantic Records is pleased to announce details of the upcoming third installment in Rush’s continuing compilation series. “RETROSPECTIVE III (1989-2008)” arrives in stores on March 2nd in the UK (and March 3rd in North America) and features music from the rock trio’s last two decades with the label, including tracks taken from the albums - PRESTO (1989), ROLL THE BONES (1991), COUNTERPARTS (1993), TEST FOR ECHO (1996), VAPOR TRAILS (2002), and SNAKES & ARROWS (2007).

RETROSPECITVE III will be released as both a single CD and a 2-Disc CD/DVD set. The CD includes a previously unreleased live version of the song "GHOST OF A CHANCE" recorded in Atlanta during Rush’s 2008 "Snakes & Arrows Tour", plus remixes of the tracks "ONE LITTLE VICTORY" and "EARTHSHIINE".

The “RETROSPECTIVE III” bonus DVD gathers the band’s 10 stunning music videos during the Atlantic years, including clips for fan favourites such as “The Pass,” “Roll The Bones,” “Stick It Out,” “Driven,” and the Grammy Award-nominated “Malignant Narcissism.” The DVD boasts a trio of live videos filmed in Frankfurt, Germany during Rush’s 2004 “R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour,” highlighted by a masterful performance of The Who’s classic “The Seeker” (originally recorded by Rush for 2004’s “FEEDBACK”). As an added bonus, the band has included a rare TV performance of the classic “Tom Sawyer” and an interview.

CD:

1. One Little Victory (Remix)
2. Dreamline
3. Workin' Them Angels
4. Presto
5. Bravado
6. Driven
7. The Pass
8. Animate
9. Roll the Bones
10. Ghost of a Chance (Live)
11. Nobody's Hero
12. Leave That Thing Alone
13. Earthshine (Remix)
14. Far Cry

DVD:

1. Stick it Out
2. Nobody's Hero
3. Half the World
4. Driven
5. Roll the Bones
6. Show Don't Tell
7. The Pass
8. Superconductor
9. Far Cry
10. Malignant Narcissism
11. The Seeker (Live)
12. Secret Touch (Live)
13. Resist (Live)
14. Interview Tom Sawyer (Live)*

*bonus material

Coozer-Bits.

These are from yesterday - I got inaugural fever and forgot to post them.

Trends: Japanese girls prefer video games as gifts over anything else. (Thanks Larissa)

Creepy: Synthetic sex smell lures vampire fish to its doom.

D'oh: Super leaves window open, causes $100,000's in damage.

PSA: Company recalls its "cuddly uterus" toy because the ovaries are a choking hazard.

Health: Epidurals are even safer than previously thought.

D'oh: Newlyweds leave wedding gifts in trunk of taxi.

Local: Federal judge lets Bloomberg overturn public referendums that would prevent him from being dictator for life.

Lame: Waiter plays Arabic chanting to frighten guests at Jewish wedding.

Awful: Proving again that England doesn't take rape seriously, gang rapists who tortured mentally challenged girl (and filmed her!) essentially get a slap on the wrist. Warning: this is as bad as it gets.

Hometown News: Kid stabbed at gory 3-D horror movie.

From the NY Post:

The credits rolled but the blood kept flowing.

A Long Island security guard allegedly stabbed a moviegoer after a showing of the gruesome splatter flick "My Bloody Valentine 3-D" in Valley Stream Sunday night.

A 16-year-old boy began fighting with 24-year-old security guard Ricardo Singh, of Uniondale, who had insisted that he leave the theater immediately after the film ended, said Nassau County police .

After some pushing and shoving, Singh allegedly pulled out a small pocket knife and jabbed the teen in the stomach.

The victim was taken to Winthrop University Hospital, where he received six stitches to close the wound and was released.

Singh was arrested and charged with second-degree assault. He is set for an arraignment hearing today.

The movie, a remake of the 1981 slasher classic, tells the tale of a pickax-swinging psychopath and promises it's audience a "3D ride to hell."

Israel destroys UN buildings in Gaza.

From BBC:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is appalled by Israeli attacks on a UN compound in Gaza after seeing the destruction for himself.

Mr Ban said that those responsible should be held accountable and demanded a "full investigation" through proper judiciary systems.

He was speaking in front of the smouldering remains of the UN food warehouse destroyed by Israeli shells.

He said he would do all he could to help the population of Gaza.

Appearing stern and at times angry, Mr Ban called the attacks "outrageous" and demanded guarantees that it would never happen again.

"I have protested many times. I am today protesting again in the strongest terms. I have asked (for a) full investigation and (to) make those responsible people accountable," he said.

"I am just appalled. I am not able to describe how I am feeling, having seen this site of the bombing of the United Nations compound. This was an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack against the United Nations."

Israeli shells hit the UN headquarters as well as two UN schools during the recent three-week offensive.

The headquarters were badly damaged and nearly 40 people were killed near one of the schools.

Coozer-Bits.

Eats: Haagen-Dazs decreases the sizes of their containers.

Neat: 10 spectacular pools around the world.

Aww: New conversation heart slogans revealed. ("IM A SLAVE 4U" not one of them.)

Games: Play Street Fighter II using YouTube.

Architecture: Top 12 yonic monuments. ("Yonic" is the female version of "phallic.")

Awesome: Christopher Walken interviews Mickey Rourke.

Games: Top 10 most awesomely insane arcade games of the 1980s.

Politics: Keith Olbermann: 8 years of Bush in 8 minutes.

WTF: Australian man who insulted Thai royal family in book jailed for 3 years.

Film: Amazing Polish movie posters of American movies. Even the Short Circuit 2 poster is a modern art masterpiece.

Politics: If Bush established a think tank, would it be empty?

USDA defines "naturally raised" (and makes it worse).

It's good that the USDA creates standards that food producers need to abide by if they're making claims to consumers. But this "voluntary standard" essentially allows just about anything to be stamped "natural" - even when it defies common sense. From US Food Policy:

The USDA Agriculture Marketing Services has issued a voluntary standard for 'naturally raised' livestock and meat marketing claims.

Naturally raised, often used as a marketing tool to attract consumers concerned about animal welfare, has up until now not had a official definition.

The new standard states that livestock used for the production of meat and meat products have:

1. been raised entirely without growth promotants, antibiotics (except for ionophores used as coccidiostats for parasite control)

2. have never been fed animal by-products

The voluntary standard will establish the minimum requirements for those producers who choose to operate a USDA-verified program involving a naturally raised claim. USDA analyzed over 44,000 comments from producers, processors, consumers, and other interested parties in the development of this standard.

Many are concerned that:

a) the standards aren't stringent enough on what it means to 'naturally raise' an animal. Under this ruling, animals raised in CAFO's (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) can still be tagged natural.

b) the new label will undercut the USDA Organic certification and/or farmers pushing to establish sustainable raised meat.

The Consumers Union and Food and Water Watch say the new standards sanction un-natural practices.

"This regulation will allow an animal that has come from a cloned or genetically engineered stock, was physically altered, raised in confinement without ever seeing the light of day or green of pasture, in poor hygiene conditions with a diet laced in pesticides to be labeled as ‘naturally raised.’ This falls significantly short of consumer expectations and only adds to the roster of misleading label claims approved by USDA for so-called natural meat," said Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Senior Scientist and Policy Analyst at Consumers Union.

"These last minute rules for the 'naturally-raised' label on meat practically invite agribusiness to greenwash their products and rip off consumers" stated Patty Lovera, assistant director for consumer group Food & Water Watch. "Until these standards are revised, consumers will have to navigate another set of misleading labels at the grocery store."

It's official: Bush is least popular president ever.

Alternative headline: 22% of Americans brain dead or living under rock. From MichaelMoore.com:

President Bush will leave office as one of the most unpopular departing presidents in history, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll showing Mr. Bush's final approval rating at 22 percent.

Seventy-three percent say they disapprove of the way Mr. Bush has handled his job as president over the last eight years.

Mr. Bush's final approval rating is the lowest final rating for an outgoing president since Gallup began asking about presidential approval more than 70 years ago.

The rating is far below the final ratings of recent two-term presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, who both ended their terms with a 68 percent approval rating, according to CBS News polling.

Recent one term presidents also had higher ratings than Mr. Bush. His father George H.W. Bush had an end-of-term rating of 54 percent, while Jimmy Carter's rating was 44 percent.

Coozer-Bits.

Duh: Kids have stopped collecting junk as hobbies.

Lame: LA getting into the drug trade by suing drug gangs.

Hot Cha Cha: Politician posts shower pic of herself on facebook.

Band of the Day: Doble Fuerza - the Argentine Ramones!

Inflation: Zimbabwe now printing $100 trillion note ($30 US).

Sad: 167 South African miners trapped underground.

Local: New York State wastes $54 million on failed statewide wireless project; kills rest of multibillion-dollar contract.

Science: Humans are the reason for animals' varied colors and coats.

Funny: Most awkward inaugural dance moves.

Small birds can take down planes.

This is a lot more common than I thought. Who knew that commercial aircrafts were so vulnerable? From Live Science:

More than 200 people have been killed worldwide as a result of wildlife strikes with aircraft since 1988, according to Bird Strike Committee USA, and more than 5,000 bird strikes were reported by the U.S. Air Force in 2007. Bird strikes, or the collision of an aircraft with an airborne bird, tend to happen when aircraft are close to the ground, which means just before landing or after take-off, when jet engines are turning at top speeds.

The incidents are serious particularly when the birds, usually gulls, raptors and geese, are sucked into a jet engine and strike an engine fan blade. That impact displaces the blade such that it strikes another blade and a cascade can occur, resulting in engine failure.

A 12-pound Canada goose striking an aircraft going 150 mph at lift-off generates the force of a 1,000-pound weight dropped from a height of 10 feet, according to Bird Strike Committee USA.

[...] Large aircraft are certified to be able to keep flying after impacting a 4-pound bird, however 36 species of birds in North America weigh more than this, according to the committee. Even smaller birds, such as starlings (which the committee's Web site refers to as "feathered bullets" due to their density), can cause engine failure.

The greater the difference in the speed of the plane and the bird, the greater the force of the impact on the aircraft. The weight of the bird is also a factor, but the speed difference is a much bigger factor.

Government gives soldiers' kids virtual versions of parents.

Hey kids, sorry we may kill your parents for no good reason, but here's a Tamagotchi to call "Mom"! From New Scientist:

It is a poor substitute for the real thing, but the US government is hoping a "virtual parent" could provide emotional support for the children of servicemen and women while they are away on active duty.

The Department of Defense is soliciting proposals for a computer program that would enable young children to interact with a virtual version of their parent. Officials hope it could provide reassurance and general chat when phone or internet contact is not possible.

The DoD believes that "the stresses of deployment might be softened if spouses and especially children could conduct simple conversations with their loved ones in immediate times of stress or prolonged absence".

PSA: Sex and heart attacks.

The second paragraph is pretty weird. Who doesn't want to die having sex? From CNN:

While research shows that sex can indeed trigger heart attacks in some people, especially men, the odds of literally succumbing to passion are very low. Sexual activity is a contributing factor in less than 1 percent of heart attacks, according to a 1996 study by Harvard Medical School researchers.

Although heart attacks during sex are rare, no one wants to be among the unlucky few who die while getting lucky. So if you have cardiovascular disease (CVD), or even if it runs in your family, it's important to ask your doctor what type of sexual activity is safe. If you've just had a heart attack, for instance, you should wait three to four weeks before having intercourse, according to current guidelines.

Hometown News: Man shoplifts shark.

From Gothamist (thanks Jen!):

30-year-old Long Island native Elbert Starks was arrested yesterday for allegedly shoplifting a live shark from Total Aquarium in Lynbrook. Police say the heist took place last month, when Starks—a sex offender on probation—grabbed a $350 nurse shark from a tank, put it into his jacket, and drove it to a new home in his apartment's aquarium. (The shark survived!)

Starks is also accused of using a credit card stolen from another pet shop to buy a 2-foot-long green moray eel for $300, which he put in the tank with the shark. An employee tells the Post, "This guy obviously has a thing for fish."

He's charged with grand larceny, which could land him in jail for five years; in his defense, Stark's lawyer explains, "He loves sea life basically, that's what it comes down to."

Good punk music actually coming out?

I don't normally share label news, but on a whim, I checked Asian Man Records' website and I'm super excited. They've got GREAT stuff coming out in 2009: New Queers, Ben Weasel, Riverdales, Nicotine, Monkey, and Classics of Love (Jesse Michaels of Op Ivy/Common Rider).

Asian Man continues to carry the torch thrown away by Lookout! Looking forward to these releases.

Circuit City news.

Bad news: 34,000 people will lose their jobs.

Good news: Liquidation sales start tomorrow, and they're still accepting gift cards until all the merch is gone! Rock Band 2, here I come!

More info here.

EDIT: Dang - Consumerist has this to say:

Are liquidation sales good places to find bargains?
No. Most of the time the liquidator raises all the prices back to their original number and starts marking down from there, with the markdowns getting steeper week by week. He's still allowed to make big signs that scream 50% OFF!!!! even though that price at the time might be the same or even higher than the price before the liquidation. By the time prices actually get below what they were pre-liquidation, most of the inventory has been picked pretty clean. Except for the most dedicated bargain sleuths, liquidation sales are a ripoff.

Zombie Watch: Zombie star spins like crazy.

Shoot it in the head!! From Space.com:

The fading glow of a "zombie" star reveals that its body remains plenty active, as seen in an incredible rotation rate.

The very old star has a dead heart, having exhausted all the fuel that runs thermonuclear fusion. But the star itself goes on spinning about its axis once every 2.6 seconds and generating intense magnetic fields.

The term zombie was applied by researchers associated with the work, in a statement today. The more scientific term is Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs). There are only five known, four in the Milky Way Galaxy and one in a nearby satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Each of these strange beasts is between roughly 6 and 20 miles in diameter (10 to 30 km), yet contains about twice the mass of the sun. They're part of a larger class of dead, collapsed stars known as neutron stars.

UK Kennel Club issues new rules to spare animals lives of pain and misery.

From New Scientist:

The UK Kennel Club, representing British dog breeders, issued new regulations on 12 January that could banish hallmark features of bulldogs and other breeds, on the grounds that they're cruel and disabling for the dogs themselves.

The new regulations make complete sense to me from an animal welfare perspective. So well done the Kennel Club, which spells out the changes for each dog breed in a review.

It did make me reflect, however, on how such cruelties have been tolerated and even encouraged without public condemnation for so many years, even though the objective of breeding is one purely of human vanity.

It seems unfair that, while people who breed freakish animals to satisfy vain and frivolous objectives have got away with it, scientists who experiment on animals with the arguably more noble objective of developing medicine to reduce suffering have been pilloried by extremists.

Zombie Watch: Researchers discover protein that causes cell suicide.

Hmm. Scientists finds a way to cause cells to kill themselves. What could go wrong?? From the Albert Einstein College of Medicine:

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified a small intracellular protein that helps cells commit suicide. The finding, reported as the "paper of the week" in the January 16th print issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, could lead to drugs for combating cancer and other diseases characterized by overproduction of cells. The research was led by the late Dennis Shields, Ph.D., a professor in Einstein's Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology for 30 years, who died unexpectedly in December.

In response to stress or as a natural part of aging, many cells undergo programmed suicide, also known as apoptosis. Cancer cells often become immortal and dangerous by developing the ability to suppress apoptosis.

A decade ago apoptosis was thought to be directed solely by the nucleus and mitochondria of cells. Dr. Shields' laboratory was the first to show that a cellular organelle known as the Golgi apparatus also plays a role in apoptosis.

Our world may be a giant hologram.

I think anyone who's ever gotten stoned in junior high school has come to this same conclusion. From New Scientist:

DRIVING through the countryside south of Hanover, it would be easy to miss the GEO600 experiment. From the outside, it doesn't look much: in the corner of a field stands an assortment of boxy temporary buildings, from which two long trenches emerge, at a right angle to each other, covered with corrugated iron. Underneath the metal sheets, however, lies a detector that stretches for 600 metres.

For the past seven years, this German set-up has been looking for gravitational waves - ripples in space-time thrown off by super-dense astronomical objects such as neutron stars and black holes. GEO600 has not detected any gravitational waves so far, but it might inadvertently have made the most important discovery in physics for half a century.

For many months, the GEO600 team-members had been scratching their heads over inexplicable noise that is plaguing their giant detector. Then, out of the blue, a researcher approached them with an explanation. In fact, he had even predicted the noise before he knew they were detecting it. According to Craig Hogan, a physicist at the Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois, GEO600 has stumbled upon the fundamental limit of space-time - the point where space-time stops behaving like the smooth continuum Einstein described and instead dissolves into "grains", just as a newspaper photograph dissolves into dots as you zoom in. "It looks like GEO600 is being buffeted by the microscopic quantum convulsions of space-time," says Hogan.

If this doesn't blow your socks off, then Hogan, who has just been appointed director of Fermilab's Center for Particle Astrophysics, has an even bigger shock in store: "If the GEO600 result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram."

Boy licks lamppost, gets stuck.

What's really strange is that this is the town that A Christmas Story is based on! From Chicago Tribune:

HAMMOND, Ind. - In a scene straight out of the movie "A Christmas Story," a 10-year-old Hammond boy got his tongue stuck to a metal light pole.

Police say the unidentified 4th grader was able to tell them a friend had dared him to lick the pole Wednesday night. Temperatures in Hammond were around 10 degrees at the time.

By the time an ambulance arrived, the boy was able to yank his tongue off the frozen pole.

Police say ambulance personnel explained to the boy's mother how to care for his bleeding tongue.

The 1983 movie is set in a fictional city based on Hammond, the hometown of author Jean Shepherd.

Coozer-Bits.

Update: Cops take away 3-year-old Adolph Hitler.

Creepy: Ice cream man faces prison time for showing off his Mr. Softee.

WTF: Student forced out of school for being molested.

Sad: India razes slums, leaves poor homeless.

Science: Don't even THINK about having sex in an ant colony!

Duh: Amy Winehouse continues to be a walking (well, crawling) disaster area.

Funny: If movie posters were honest.

Lame: Japan Times op-ed piece says Japanese have every right to discriminate against foreigners.

Science: Atmospheres of other planets detected.

Duh: Paintballs can cause "devastating" eye injuries.