Coozer-Bits.

LiveScience: Facts behind popular diet pills.

New York: Can The Daily Show survive the Obama presidency?

NY1: NYC considering tolls on all East River bridges.

Universe Today: Cool image of recent asteroid impact into our atmosphere.

Consumerist: Circuit City closing 155 stores, but don't expect many deals.

WZZM13: Bowler dies just after completing life-long goal of rolling a 300.

$700B bailout being used toward executive bonuses.

This is sick. These fucking greedy assholes tanked the global economy and then took more of our money! From Alternet:

It turns out that the nine banks about to be getting a total equity capital injection of $125 billion, courtesy of Phase I of The Bailout Plan, had reserved $108 billion during the first nine months of 2008 in order to pay for compensation and bonuses (PDF).

Paying Wall Street bonuses was not supposed to be part of the plan. At least that's how Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson explained it to Congress and the American people. So, on Oct. 1, when the Senate, including Obama, approved the $700 billion bailout package, the illusion was that this would magically loosen the credit markets, and with taxpayer-funded relief, banks would first start lending to each other again, and then, to citizens and small businesses. And all would be well.

That didn't happen. Which is why it's particularly offensive that the no-strings-attached money is going to line the pockets of Wall Street execs. The country's top investment bank (which since Sept. 21 calls itself a bank holding company), Goldman Sachs, set aside $11.4 billion during the first nine months of this year -- slightly more than the firm's $10 billion U.S. government gift -- to cover bonus payments for its 443 senior partners, who are set to make about $5 million each, and other employees.

Octopuses share living ancestor.

Could this ancestor be... Cthulhu?!! From BBC:

Many of the world's deep-sea octopuses evolved from a common ancestor that still exists in the icy waters of the Southern Ocean, a study has shown.

Researchers suggest that the creatures evolved after being driven to other ocean basins 30 million years ago by nutrient-rich and salty currents.

Obama may select the Terminator for energy role.

I hope Rutger Hauer becomes Secretary of the Interior. From News.com.au:

Former Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger, nearing the end of his days as California's governor, could take a place in President-elect Barack Obama's inner cabinet.

Speculation is rife that Governor Schwarzenegger, a Republican, will be offered the energy secretary role, because of his record in cutting carbon emissions in California.

He was named as a contender on the www.politico.com website, as Senator Obama moves to surround himself with a high-powered bipartisan team.

Although he will not take office until January 20, Senator Obama is moving to fill key posts in his administration.

Monks brawl at holy site in Jerusalem.

This is awesome. I wonder if the monks used Snake in Eagle's Shadow Fist or drunken boxing. From ABC News:

Israeli police rushed into one of Christianity's holiest churches Sunday and arrested two clergyman after an argument between monks erupted into a brawl next to the site of Jesus' tomb.

The clash between Armenian and Greek Orthodox monks broke out in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, revered as the site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

The brawling began during a procession of Armenian clergymen commemorating the 4th-century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus.

The Greeks objected to the march without one of their monks present, fearing that otherwise, the procession would subvert their own claim to the Edicule — the ancient structure built on what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus — and give the Armenians a claim to the site.

The Armenians refused, and when they tried to march the Greek Orthodox monks blocked their way, sparking the brawl.

Two buses filled with Girl Scouts collide.

Show your support by buying me a box of Samoas. From NY Daily News:

A trip to Radio City Music Hall turned into a ride from hell for a Girl Scout troop from Massachusetts when their tour buses crashed in the Bronx, injuring a dozen passengers.

The buses, carrying about 90 girls and chaperones, left Norwood, Mass., about 6 a.m. Saturday. Just before 10 a.m. one of the Crystal Transport buses slammed into the back of the other, sending passengers flying from their seats.

[...] None of the passengers was seriously hurt.

Top 5 songs of the week, 11/2-11/8/08.

Here's what I'm most addicted to this week:

1. Polysics - Wild One

"Now Is The Time!" isn't my favorite album from this wonderfully spazzy Devo-adoring band from Japan, but the more I listen to it, the more I love it. It's more rock-structured and guitar heavy than my faves "Neu" and "Eno," but man does it rock! And nothing rocks more than their cute, synthy version of Suzi Quatro's The Wild One. Endearingly sung by the group's bassist, the song is fun, bouncy, and has the most addicting synthesizer solo since Rush's Tom Sawyer.



2. Suggs - Cecilia

My second fave song of the week is also a cover. Suggs of Madness has only had a handful of solo hits that have stuck with me (Camden Town being one), but his version of Simon & Garfunkel's Cecilia is one of my favorite dance songs. It's got syncopated rhythm, a C&C Dance Factory-esque repetitive whistle, and a dancehall bridge that altogether sounds more dated than its 1996 release, but it comes together so nicely. I can listen - and shake my booty - to this song all day.



3. Mr. T Experience - And I Will Be With You

Rarely does a week go by without listening to MTX, who make everything all right. For some reason, this tune has been stuck in my head all week. Is it the addicting beat, steady riffs, or Dr. Frank's adorable vox with the "you-oo-oo-oo" refrain? Whatever it is, their video is also a low-budget treasure, featuring a K-Tel-like comp-by-mail ad, cheerleaders doing the watusi, furries, and the band as a Jabberjaw cartoon.



4. Beck - Timebomb

Get.... this... song... OUT OF MY HEAD!!! AHHHHH!!!!

Tick tick tick tick... nah-n'nah-nah...



5. Sisters of Mercy - Lucretia, My Reflection

I've been in a bouncy mood, but this goth song has been in my head on repeat all week. The dripping bass, the steady drums, Andrew Eldritch's deep, dramatic voice... But what I think I love most about the song is when the guitars kick in, and then those parts where they drop out again for a second or two pause, and - POW! This dated video doesn't do it justice (although it actually isn't so bad all things considering), but close your eyes and get swept up in the blood-red tide.



(By the way, I notice he's wearing the same clothes and swinging a pool stick in the This Corrosion video too. Weird.)

Arizona loses data on 40,000 children in disk theft.

From ComputerWorld:

Arizona's Department of Economic Security (DES) is notifying the families of about 40,000 children that their personal data may have been compromised following the theft of several hard drives from a commercial storage facility.

The information stored on the stolen disks included the names, addresses and phone numbers of families whose children were referred to the DES for early intervention services over the past several years. In the cases of families that had applied for and received services from the agency, their records also included Social Security numbers, DES spokeswoman Liz Barker Alvarez said.

The DES provides services such as financial assistance and food stamps programs as well as ones that are aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect. According to Alvarez, the data on the stolen disks was password-protected but not encrypted. She said the disks were stored in a leased storage unit at a local Extra Space Storage facility that was broken into on Oct. 14, and were part of a much broader array of items — including furniture and electronics — that were taken from multiple units at the facility.

Applebee's offers free meals to military and veterans.

Haven't these brave men and women suffered enough? From Army Times:

Active-duty members, retirees and veterans can get a free meal at a limited number of Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants on Veterans Day, with proof of military service.

The 164 participating restaurants in 12 states are testing this promotion, which will offer one of the following entrees: House Sirloin, Riblet Basket, Fiesta Lime Chicken, Quesadilla Burger or Oriental Chicken Salad. Traditional side dishes are included.

“It’s an honor to host an event that helps the neighborhood come together and say thanks to our veterans and active servicemen and women,” said Mike Archer, president of Applebee’s Services, Inc., in a statement announcing the offer.

Hot teacher guilty of lesbian tryst.

Teachers should not take advantage of underage students. That said... hot diggity damn! From News.com.au:

A teacher has been found guilty of pursuing an unlawful sexual relationship with a female student.

Amanda Louise Thompson, 28, pleaded not guilty in the Brisbane District Court to maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child between April 2003 and 2005.

Thompson fell for the 14-year-old student, who cannot be named, when she was teaching at a high school south of Brisbane in April 2003.

During the trial the court was told the friendship developed into a sexual relationship, with the pair meeting regularly for romantic trysts.

Film spoofs Das Boot.

A film spoof of Das Boot?! Really? From the Independent:

A film comedy which parodies the legendary, but deadly earnest 1981 submarine epic Das Boot has been released in Germany in the industry’s latest attempt to show that the Second World War is no longer off-limits as a subject for laughter.

U-900, by the German director Sven Unterwald, faithfully reproduces the menacing eeriness of Wolfgang Petersen’s original award-winning U-boat movie, down to the spooky film music and anguished submariners who bellow orders at each other while being depth-charged. But this time the U-boat is captained by a stand-up comedian who appears to be Germany’s answer to Ken Dodd. When he steps aboard U-900 he asks his grimfaced crew: "What are we supposed to do if we hit a whale, keep it as a pet or eat it?" The first mate wails: "Everything he says is complete drivel."

Amateur winemakers suffocate from fumes of stomped grapes.

From the Daily Mail:

Two amateur French wine makers have died after they were suffocated by the fumes from the grapes they were treading with their bare feet.

The victims had volunteered to help a friend make wine at his vineyard in the northern Ardeche region and had climbed into the six-foot wide vat to begin the traditional process of extracting the juice from the grapes.

But police believe Daniel Moulin, 48, and 50-year-old Gerard Dachis were overcome by carbon dioxide fumes that are given off during fermentation and collapsed.

Ants figure out traffic congestion problem.

I spent a lot of time looking at swarms of ants in the Panama rainforests. Those little buggers are highly well organized. Leaf-cutter ants, for instance, even have giant warrior ants who act as traffic guards and protect the highways of ants and keep the busy workers in line. It was really quite interesting and just goes to show that I have too much time on my hands. From New Scientist:

ANTS seem to have cracked a problem we humans haven't. While our cars get clogged in jams, ants help each other to move around their colony much more efficiently. Understanding how they do this could inspire more effective routing of road traffic.

Collective intelligence expert Dirk Helbing from the Dresden University of Technology in Germany and his team investigated how ants move around their colony. They set up an ant highway with two routes of different widths from the nest to some sugar syrup. Unsurprisingly, the narrower route soon became congested. But when an ant returning along the congested route to the nest collided with another ant just starting out, the returning ant pushed the newcomer onto the other path. However, if the returning ant had enjoyed a trouble-free journey, it did not redirect the newcomer.

The researchers created a computer model of more complex ant networks with routes of different lengths. The team found that even though ants being rerouted sometimes took a longer route, they still got to the food quickly and efficiently.

If human drivers travelling in opposite directions could pass congestion information to each other in this way, we would all be better off.

Coozer-Bits.

EurekAlert: MIT creates tiny backpacks for cells.

EurekAlert: Migraines cut breast cancer risk.

HuffingtonPost: Palin didn't know Africa is a continent.

NY Times: Scientists decode set of cancer genes.

Reuters: Victim drives sleeping rapist to police station.

Science Daily: Dried mushrooms slow climate warming in forests.

US air strike hits wedding party, kills 40 civilians.

From Xinhua:

KABUL, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 Afghan civilians have been killed and 28 more injured as an airstrike of the U.S.-led Coalition forces hit a wedding gathering in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, officials and local villagers said Wednesday.

The U.S.-led troops called in gunship helicopters Monday afternoon to retaliate on militants who earlier that day attacked them at Wech Baghtu village in Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar. However, the air bombing hit a wedding party being held near the hilly area where the Taliban insurgents' firing came from, according to locals.

Condemning the incident, Afghan President Hamid Karzai was saddened by "the killing of 40 civilians and injuring of 28 others in a Coalition air strike," a statement from his office said. "President Karzai has stressed repeatedly in the past that civilian casualties should be avoided but the Coalition forces usually carry out bombing without planning."

Airline passenger restrained with duct tape.

From Breitbart:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - An airline crew used duct tape to keep a passenger in her seat because they say she became unruly, fighting flight attendants and grabbing other passengers, forcing the flight to land in North Carolina.

Maria Esther Castillo of Oswego, N.Y., is due in court Thursday, charged with resisting arrest and interfering with the operations of a flight crew aboard United Airlines Flight 645, from Puerto Rico to Chicago.

Castillo, 45, struck a flight attendant on the buttocks with the back of her hand during Saturday's flight, FBI Special Agent Peter Carricato said in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte. She also stood and fell onto the head of a blind passenger and later started pulling the person's hair, the complaint stated.

Ankle cuffs kept slipping off Castillo, so the flight crew and two passengers were forced to use duct tape to keep her in her seat, the complaint states.

Demand for food assistance spiking.

If you can spare it, now would be a great time to donate to your local food bank. From the Philanthropy News Digest:

At a time of growing concern about joblessness and high heating prices, charities in Massachusetts are seeing a significant increase in the number of families seeking food and are bracing for a spike in holiday demand, the Boston Globe reports.

According to a recent survey of 163 pantries and soup kitchens conducted by the Greater Boston Food Bank, 90 percent of respondents reported a significant increase in need. At the same time, the Salvation Army has seen a big jump in the number of individuals seeking help with food or energy bills. Indeed, between October 2007 and May 2008, requests were up 48 percent in Milford, 66 percent in Framingham, and 86 percent in Greenfield.

To make matters worse, high food prices are squeezing the budgets of relief organizations. For example, the price of Thanksgiving turkeys increased from 77 cents a pound last year to $1.06 a pound this year, said the Greater Boston Food Bank. The increase means the Salvation Army's South End Thanksgiving Distribution program will be short four hundred turkeys this year and that senior citizens who expected to take a turkey dinner home will have to go to a group Thanksgiving dinner instead.

Zombie Watch: One step closer to Jurassic Park.

Speaking of Michael Crichton, a Japanese team has cloned mice from frozen bodies!

The whole premise of "Jurassic Park" was preposterous on its face. Making clones of long-dead animals? We know better.

But now a Japanese team has taken -- let's say, a step. They report, in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that they cloned mice from bodies that had been kept frozen for 16 years. It's not bringing life back from the Jurassic, just the 1990s, but still, it's something most biologists would have thought impossible.

Dead: Michael Crichton.

From BBC:

Best-selling author Michael Crichton has died in Los Angeles aged 66 after a "courageous and private battle against cancer", his family has said.

He penned Jurassic Park, as well as books like Congo and Disclosure, all of which were adapted into films.

His books have sold more than 150m copies. He also created the long-running US hospital TV drama ER.

"He will be profoundly missed by those whose lives he touched," his family said in a statement.

Marijuana decriminalized in Mass.

I hadn't paid attention to the ballot initiatives. Some good news (besides Florida). From MSNBC:

Voters in Colorado and South Dakota on Tuesday rejected anti-abortion initiatives, Michigan approved medical marijuana and Massachusetts decriminalized the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, according to NBC projections.

In Florida, voters agreed to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Those results were among the first from 153 state measures across the country. Some of the nation's most divisive social issues — gay marriage, abortion and affirmative action — went before voters as 36 states.

Fungus discovered that produces diesel fuel.

Another good reason to not destroy our rainforests. Who knows - maybe there's a fungus yet to be discovered that can cure swamp ass. From Science Daily:

A team led by a Montana State University professor has found a fungus that produces a new type of diesel fuel, which they say holds great promise. Calling the fungus' output "myco-diesel," Gary Strobel and his collaborators describe their initial observations in the November issue of Microbiology.

The discovery may offer an alternative to fossil fuels, said Strobel, MSU professor of plant sciences and plant pathology. The find is even bigger, he said, than his 1993 discovery of fungus that contained the anticancer drug taxol.

Strobel, who travels the world looking for exotic plants that may contain beneficial microbes, found the diesel-producing fungus in a Patagonia rainforest. Strobel visited the rainforest in 2002 and collected a variety of specimens, including the branches from an ancient family of trees known as "ulmo." When he and his collaborators examined the branches, they found fungus growing inside. They continued to investigate and discovered that the fungus, called "Gliocladium roseum," was producing gases. Further testing showed that the fungus -- under limited oxygen -- was producing a number of compounds normally associated with diesel fuel, which is obtained from crude oil.

Thank You, America.

YES!

NY Post proclaims Obama the winner!

I'm surprised at the Post's enthusiasm. Never a paper to wait until the facts are in, they called Obama the winner as soon as he got Ohio. But for once, I'm hoping the Post's shoddy journalism is right.

Barack Obama Wins the Presidency

Barack Obama scored a barrier-breaking victory tonight to become the first black president of the United States - capping a 22-month quest that tapped into a national hunger for "hope" and "change."

At age 47 and still serving his first Senate term, the Democrat cleared a historic hurdle that seemed insurmountable just a few years ago - and was bolstered by Democrats padding their majority in Congress.

Obama held blue-tilting Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes by large margins, despite a massive effort by GOP Sen. John McCain to try to score a win there to shore up his faltering numbers elsewhere.

But for Obama, who merely needed to hold every state John Kerry won in 2004 and pick up one George W. Bush state in order to clinch victory, things started to break at around 9:30 p.m., when several media outlets called Ohio for the Democrat.

No Republican has won the White House without capturing battleground Ohio, which has 20 electoral votes.

Tina Fey changed the election.

The Guardian might have a point...

[...] Then, something truly astonishing occurred. Tina Fey, the lantern-jawed alumnus of Saturday Night Live, and creator of the critically esteemed sitcom 30 Rock, made a return visit to Saturday Night Live and began doing a dead-on impersonation of McCain's gee-whiz, aw-shucks running mate, Sarah Palin. Her send-up of the intellectually anaemic Alaskan was seen by countless millions on YouTube and soon became the No1 topic of conversation in America. Almost overnight, McCain's poll numbers began to drop precipitously, as the arrayed forces of electronically transmitted satire rained down on the GOP ticket. Before you knew it, Palin was viewed as a clown, a dolt, a joke, and McCain was condemned as a nitwit for selecting her as his running mate. For the first time in American history, a presidential candidate had seen all his hopes and dreams undone by the sheer emotive power of naked, unalloyed satire.

Obviously, Ms Fey did not accomplish this all by herself. Clearly, the savage nightly attacks by Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart played an important role in softening up the target. Surely the satirical tabloid The Onion should get some credit here. Without a doubt, the withering contempt of Bill Maher and Michael Moore played a vital role in causing the Republican colossus to come crashing to earth.

But the truth is, Moore and Maher and Stewart and Colbert had been flaying the Republican party for years without any notable effect. Not until Tina Fey stepped into the ring and began eviscerating the hapless Palin did the tide truly begin to turn. Like Horatius at the bridge, like William Tell versus the Austrian invaders, like George Washington at Valley Forge, Ms Fey had come to the aid of her country at the moment her country needed her most. She serviced it with a smile.

UK schoolchildren too fat for desks.

Too much bangers n' mash? From the Guardian:

Schools need to upgrade their furniture because today's children have outgrown the tables and chairs designed to meet the needs of 1960s pupils, experts say.

Pupils are so much bigger in height as well as girth that many no longer fit into standard school furniture.

There is also a much larger variation in the size of pupils meaning furniture needs to be redesigned to meet a wide range of shapes and sizes.

Your rights in taking time off of work to vote.

This is a great, handy-dandy state-by-state list of laws protecting your right to take a few hours off to vote and maybe catch a movie. Here ya go and sock it to your employer!

MTV, MySpace join forces to make money off pirated videos.

From ComputerWorld:

While online video has proved to be one of the most popular Web 2.0 applications, the sites that show them are constantly battling to fend off copyright infringement notices from broadcast and media companies that own much of the video content posted by users.

MySpace and Viacom International-owned MTV Networks today moved to resolve some key online video issues by tapping a new technology that inserts advertising into any videos uploaded by users to MySpace -- whether they're authorized or not.

The deal pairs the two companies with Auditude, a start-up firm that has developed technology that can identify any uploaded professional video and allow the content owners to insert ads into the video, the companies said.

Dead: Jimmy Carl Black.

Not just "the Indian of the group," but the rhythm backbone for the Mothers of Invention and Zappa. He passed away on 11/1, but just found out.

Thanks for all the music, JCB. RIP.

Coozer PSA: 5 reasons why you should vote.

Should you vote? Short answer, no. Voting is a pain in the ass. But long answer - hell yes! And here's why:

1. It will get you out of work.

Standing on a line with geriatrics for four hours might not be your idea of a good time, but it beats working for a place that doesn't give you Election Day off. And, you know what? If everyone took four hours to stand in line, all of those lame workplaces will give up and make it a holiday. A vote for president is a vote for a day off.

2. Some voting places have free cookies.

I recommend snagging the box off their information table and running into a voting booth with them. While they debate the legality of following you into a booth, you can use the opportunity to scarf them all down!

3. You can feel morally superior.

This is especially true if you can find or steal an "I Voted" button. Wear it proudly and look down your nose at the unwashed jerks who don't have a brightly colored 3" button that states their banal daily actions. I'm going to wear mine alongside my "I Give Blood" and "I Floss" buttons. Again, stolen, but who's got time for that crap?

4. You can vote for Ralph Nader out of irony.

Think about it - that's hilarious!

5. You should exercise your right as a citizen, a right for which millions of young people gave their lives.

Just kidding. Voting places are a great place to meet girls, and kissing booths are conveniently already set up!

Cooties are real! Women have more germs than men!

It's a good thing I got my cootie shot in the 2nd grade. From New Scientist:

Ladies, your hands are a zoo. Sampling the bacterial DNA on human skin has revealed that while women's hands get washed more often than men's, they teem with a more diverse selection of germs.

What's more, the average person's hands probably carry at least 3000 different bacteria belonging to more than 100 species. This startling cornucopia may make it possible to tell which objects have been touched by someone, just by looking at the bacteria left behind.

[...] Unexpectedly, women had different bacteria from men and significantly more kinds, even though women reported washing hands more often; bacterial diversity needs time to recover when hands are washed. In a follow-up experiment, the team tracked eight people after they washed their hands. Some bacteria preferred clean hands, other types showed up much later, but men always had fewer types of bacteria on their hands.

Councils ban use of Latin terms.

Is England becoming an idiocracy? They're banning well-known Latin terms so dumb people don't get confused or have their feelings hurt. Qui bono? From BBC:

A number of local councils in Britain have banned their staff from using Latin words, because they say they might confuse people.

Several local authorities have ruled that phrases like "vice versa", "pro rata", and even "via" should not be used, in speech or in writing.

But the ban has prompted anger among some Latin scholars.

Professor Mary Beard of Cambridge University said it was the linguistic equivalent of ethnic cleansing.

Some local councils say using Latin is elitist and discriminatory, because some people might not understand it - particularly if English is not their first language.

[...] Other local councils have banned "QED" and "ad hoc", while other typical Latin terms include "bona fide", "ad lib" and "quid pro quo".

But the move has been welcomed by the Plain English Campaign which says some officials only use Latin to make themselves feel important.

A Campaign spokesman said the ban might stop people confusing the Latin abbreviation e.g. with the word "egg".

Japanese petition to marry anime characters.

Where do I sign up? (Oh, Gadget from the Rescue Rangers. Someday you will be mine.) From ABC News:

Whether the man of your dreams is Brad Pitt, Nelson Mandela, or Homer Simpson, most people accept that a crush is just a crush. A fantasy: something to dream about on a rainy afternoon. However, more than 1,000 people in Japan are petitioning to take it to the next level. Taichi Takashita is the man behind the plan: he has created an on-line petition asking for a law to permit civilians to marry comic characters.

Alongside the petition, Takashita explained that he is putting forward the unconventional law because he feels more of a connection with the "two dimensional world" than with reality. "I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world," he wrote. "However, that seems impossible with present-day technology. Therefore, at the very least, would it be possible to legally authorize marriage with a two-dimensional character?"

Takashita is not alone in this sentiment. The popularity of formalizing the union between cartoons and humans was instantly apparent. The proof is in the petition. Among the 1,000 supporters who signed, one man expanded on his plea: "For a long time I have only been able to fall in love with two-dimensional people and currently I have someone I really love. Even if she is fictional, it is still loving someone. I would like to have legal approval for this system at any cost."

Palin duped by prank call.

You must check out the audio. From the BBC:

US vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has become the victim of a prank phone call by a Canadian comedian posing as the French president.

Marc Antoine Audette convinced Alaska's governor she was speaking to Nicolas Sarkozy during a six-minute chat aired on a Montreal radio programme.

Topics discussed ranged from the beauty of Mr Sarkozy's wife, Carla Bruni, to the prospect of a joint hunting trip.

A spokesperson for Mrs Palin said she was "mildly amused" by the prank.

At one point during the phone call, aired three days before the US election, Mr Audette told Mrs Palin he could see her as president one day.

Laughingly, the Republican candidate replied: "Maybe in eight years."

I'm amazed this part didn't tip her off.

Mr Audette said he would be keen to join her on a helicopter hunting trip.

"I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun," he said in an exaggerated French accent.

"I'd really love to go, so long as we don't bring along Vice-President [Dick] Cheney."

In 2006, Mr Cheney infamously shot and injured a hunting partner while quail-hunting in Texas.

Mrs Palin responded: "I'll be a careful shot."

Ryanair to offer $10 flights from the UK to the US.

I need to move to the UK so I can get around the US cheaper. From the BBC:

Budget airline Ryanair is to offer flights to the US for eight pounds, by buying planes from struggling rivals.

The plan will be revealed when chief executive Michael O'Leary announces the firm's quarterly results on Monday.

"Economy class will be very cheap, around 10 euros, but our business class will be very expensive," he said in a newspaper interview.

Ryanair's second quarter profits are expected to fall, due to higher fuel prices and its decision to cut fares.

Mr O'Leary is expected to announce plans to buy more than 50 extra aircraft, as part of plans to beat the recession by undercutting more expensive rivals.

"We'll just have to keep flying more aircraft, opening up more routes and offering people more cheap flights," Mr O'Leary said.

Photographer offers divorce albums.

Wow, this sounds like it would be painfully awkward. I love it. From Ananova:

Divorcing couples in Italy are flocking to a photographer who's offering to shoot a wedding-style album of their split.

Gianni Fasolini, from Valeggio sul Mincio, had the brainwave after reading that the divorce rate was going through the roof.

"People celebrate a marriage as a milestone in their lives, but a divorce is an important event too," he explained.

Trend Spotting: Hi-tech toilets.

ABC News has a feature on Japanese toilets. I was in Japan four years ago and fell in love with these futuristic commodes. The seats heats up, and a control panel allows you to spritz water, deodorize, and dry your bum. Those toilets can do anything.

Coming back to America and having to clean my own ass using paper was a culture shock. It's sad to think about how great this country once was, and far we've slipped behind butt-cleaning technology. This is why we are no longer a superpower.

Trailer: My Name Is Bruce.

"Legendary B-movie actor Bruce Campbell plays himself in the new film MY NAME IS BRUCE, which opens theatrically on October 31 in New York. MY NAME IS BRUCE doesn’t have a standard issue release date because we’re doing something for the film that doesn’t seem to be done anymore. Campbell is traveling to every opening city to be at the opening theatre for the first night or two. As such, Bruce is working his way across the country between November and December, in a new city every few days.."

Happy Halloween!

I'm spending my Halloween in the best possible way: seeing the Polysics! They are the greatest band in all the universe.

What's everyone doing today? What's your costume? Post a comment!

David Tennant quits as Doctor Who.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Horrible, soul-crushing news from BBC:

David Tennant is to stand down as Doctor Who, after becoming one of the most popular Time Lords in the history of the BBC science fiction show.

Tennant stepped into the Tardis in 2005, and will leave the role after four special episodes are broadcast next year.

He made the announcement after winning the outstanding drama performance prize at the National Television Awards.

"When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won't be with me," he said.

"Now don't make me cry," he added. "I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don't take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you'll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair."

'I'll miss it'

Three years was "about the right time" to play the role, he told the BBC in an exclusive interview.

"I think it's better to go when there's a chance that people might miss you, rather than to hang around and outstay your welcome," he said.

His stint in the show had been "the most extraordinary time, it's been bewildering, life changing, very exciting", he said.

"And just so much fun, such a great show to work on.

"That's one of the reasons I think it's right to take a deep breath and bow out when it's still fun, when it's a novelty.

"I don't ever want it to feel like a job, so I want to move on when it still feels exciting and fresh and that means I'll miss it."

The Goldblum getting Oscar whispers even though film hasn't been picked up.

Spout's got some news about The Goldblum's latest tour de force. It's been said that His acting is so godlike in this film that distributors are afraid to go near it.

Remember Adam Resurrected, the Paul Schrader-directed, Jeff Goldblum-starring film that Paul saw at Telluride which made him admit to wanting “to make out with Jeff Goldblum in the back of his Toyota Prius”? I got an invite for a press screening for the film a couple of hours ago, which I thought was weird, because the last I heard, the film didn’t have distribution. Now Mike Jones at The Circuit has posted an item that solves the mystery: it looks like Bleiberg Entertainment, the company that financed the film, have decided that rather than wait for a distributor to pick it up and miss this Oscar season, they’ll fund a qualifying run for the film in New York and LA themselves.

Man jailed for buffet violation.

And for a $7 buffet, I'm sure those were some high quality bites. From the Consumerist:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that a man was jailed for two days after letting his girlfriend eat from his plate — and then refusing to pay for two $7 buffet meals.

When he was charged for two $7 buffet meals, Linscomb refused to pay for one of them. He said that “there were no signs in the restaurant that said someone could not have some food off your plate,” the report said.

[...] According to the police report, the jailed diner said that his girlfriend had only had "a couple bites" of his food. Don't mess with buffet restaurant managers, people. They are serious about the buffet rules.

YOU are causing cold symptoms!

Well, not you specifically, but our bodies are creating the symptoms in response to the cold virus, instead of coming from the virus itself. DAMN MY CONGESTED FACE! From Science Daily:

A University of Calgary scientist confirms that it is how our immune system responds, not the rhinovirus itself, that causes cold symptoms. Of more than 100 different viruses that can cause the common cold, human rhinoviruses are the major cause.

The research, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, is the first study to comprehensively review gene changes in rhinovirus. “The study’s findings are a major step toward more targeted cold prevention and treatment strategies while also serving as a valuable roadmap for the broader respiratory science community,” says David Proud, PhD, a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the Faculty of Medicine, and lead author of the study.

Vietnam bans flatchested motorists.

From Ananova:

Wonder bras are set to become best-sellers in Vietnam where the country's communist rulers are set to ban small-chested motorists.

Anyone with a chest under 28 inches will be banned from driving a motorbike - which make up 90% of the traffic in the country, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The idea is to prevent people who are too thin, too short or too sickly from riding a motorbike. Ailments such as enlarged livers or sinusitis will also rule out aspirant motorists.

"The new proposals are very funny, but many Vietnamese people could become the victim of this joke," said Le Quang Minh, 31, a Hanoi stockbroker.

"Many Vietnamese women have small chests. I have many friends who won't meet these criteria."

The average Vietnamese man is 5ft 4ins tall and weighs less than nine stones. The average Vietnamese woman is 5ft 1in tall and weighs about seven stones.

Vietnamese bloggers have been poking fun at the plan, envisioning traffic police with tape measures eagerly pulling over female drivers to measure their chests.

The only group not voting for Obama are hate groups.

From ABC News:

The prospect of a Black president has America's bastions of hate in an uproar. Leaders, including the wizard of the Imperial Klans of America, Ron Edwards, have long warned the white race is under attack and must be defended. Federal authorities say web sites have featured ugly calls to target Senator Barack Obama.

And twice now since August, two sets of self-proclaimed neo-Nazi skinheads have been caught in what officials say were feeble but still troubling plots to assassinate Obama.

"If Obama is elected president, these people see the world as they know it to end," said Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Christie's to auction punk mementos.

God save the green! Old punk fliers are expected to fetch tends of thousands of dollars. Punk rock! From CNN:

Memorabilia from some of punk rock's biggest acts and seminal moments -- including a scrawled flier for one of the Clash's first shows and publicity photos signed by the Sex Pistols -- is headed for a November 24 Christie's auction.

The event, announced Tuesday, includes more than 120 records, photos and promotional pieces for such punk, garage rock and new wave legends as the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, the Ramones, David Bowie, Blondie, the Cure and the Smiths.

The auction is Christie's first to focus on punk mementos, signaling the collectible status of a brash, anti-authoritarian rock movement that largely thumbed its nose at posterity.

Man using Hudson tragedy to sell gun racks.

Classy! From the Chicago Tribune:

Officials with a company that manufactures shotgun racks sent out a news release Tuesday that asked, "Could a Bedside Shotgun Rack Have Saved Jennifer Hudson's Family from Tragic Death?"

The rack, called The Back-Up ($39.95, plus shipping and handling), is designed to fit along the side of the gun owner's bed, between the mattress and box spring. The release goes on to say, "Whether it is someone known or a stranger entering the home, too many people in this country are paying with their lives during these home invasions. The Hudson family is just one of far too many Americans gunned down in their own home."

A. John Peters, president of Home Back-Up Protection, said Tuesday that he didn't issue the news release to capitalize on the Chicago family's pain.

Dismantled rollercoaster unearths wealth of flung property.

I once lost a sneaker on a ride at Adventureland. I've since suspected that rollercoasters were invented by devious carnies who harvest mismatched shoes for smack. From BBC:

The owner of a prosthetic leg found beneath an Alton Towers rollercoaster is being sought by the amusement park.

The leg was just one of many bizarre items found near The Corkscrew, which is to be dismantled after carrying 43.5 million people since it opened in 1980.

Staff clearing the site also found underwear, a diamond wedding ring, 53 non-matching shoes and 604 watches.

Other lost property items included 800 pieces of jewellery, 237 mobile phones, thousands of caps and a prosthetic ear.

Riders are turned upside down twice within three seconds - which probably explains the large amount of lost items found below.

Neat profile on one of NYC's speakeasies.

I wish I lived during this era so I could hang out in a speakeasy and say stuff like "23 skidoo!" Maybe I'll be a flapper for Halloween... From ABC News:

The club opened as a speakeasy in 1929 and was one of the swankiest of the city's approximately 32,000 illegal clubs during Prohibition. It's one of the very few that still exist today.

[...] But it wasn't all good times and glamour for 21 Club. Federal agents targeted the bar during Prohibition. In fact, a gossip columnist was banned after he penned a column noting that Prohibition agents had never raided 21. The next day, law enforcement agents decended on the speakeasy and the owners vowed that day in 1930 never again to lose their precious liquor in a raid.

They hired an architect to design an ingenious and intricate system to hide and destroy liquor in case of future raids.

"If they knew that the feds were coming in -- which they always did -- because the New York City police used to tip them off -- they would just press [some] buttons," said Food and Wine author John Mariani. "The first button would set off an alarm, alerting patrons to down their drinks."

"Then the barman inside, he would press the button under the bar and the back shelves would flip upside down. And all of the liquor and wine bottles would slide down and break into the New York City sewer system," McGuire said.

ZombieWatch: World Zombie Day.

Whoops. Two days ago was World Zombie Day. I'm sorry for not warning you. I'm sure you're all undead now. I'm sorry.

Where McCain and Obama stand on the issues.

Hey, this is weird! An article on the stances of the candidates for the most powerful position in the world on the most important issues we face. What a crazy idea! Article here.

Microsoft unveils "cloud" operating system.

I'm pretty sure this will lead to sentient Matrix-like computer programs. From Xinhaunet:

BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Microsoft on Monday unveiled a new "cloud" operating system Windows Azure at its annual Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles.

Windows Azure is a platform that allows third-party developers to host, manage, calculate and store data for applications running on the Internet.

Azure is clearly Microsoft's response to a computing world going ever more deeper into the "cloud" (also known as the Internet). So in a sense what Microsoft is trying to do with Azure is re-define what an OS is, for the cloud computing age.

"It's a transformation of our software. It's a transformation of our strategy," Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, said at the Professional Developer's Conference, Microsoft's annual gathering of third-party engineers to detail the company's future plans.

Traditionally, software has run on a single computer's hard drive, but as Internet connections became faster and more reliable, companies started to deliver software as an online service by using the computing power of the "cloud," a network of powerful computer servers accessed over the Web.

Microsoft explained in a white paper on the Azure website, "Windows Azure runs on a large number of machines, all located in Microsoft data centers and accessible via the Internet."

Bush admin trying to weaken pollution rules for power plants.

Just a reminder that he's still in office, undermining the country's welfare for corporate profits. From McClatchy:

WASHINGTON — At the Bush administration's direction, the Environmental Protection Agency is working on a new rule that would weaken pollution regulations for power plants, allowing them to increase emissions without adding controls.

EPA officials have been working on a fast track to meet a Saturday deadline, but many of them are arguing against changing the rule, said former EPA attorney John Walke and an EPA career official who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to make statements.

They said that the EPA was expected to decide in November on another eleventh-hour rule that would allow more power plants to be built near national parks and wilderness areas.

Power companies have sought the rule about power plant emissions for many years, and it was part of Vice President Dick Cheney's 2001 energy plan. Rules finalized more than 60 days before the administration leaves office are harder for the next administration to undo.

Group pride rooted in insecurity.

This is true about every group except for Coozer-Philes. From LiveScience:

From screaming baseball fans to political rally-goers, groups that engage in boastful self-aggrandizing may be trying to mask insecurity and low social status.

"Our results suggest that hubristic, pompous displays of group pride might actually be a sign of group insecurity as opposed to a sign of strength," said researcher Cynthia Pickett, associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis.

The new study reveals how two types of pride are related to a person's good feelings about one social group or another to which they belong. These good feelings could come from being a Los Angeles Lakers fan (when they win), a war veteran, a member of a particular ethnic group or a sorority gal or fraternity brother. But while authentic pride is linked with real confidence in your group, hubristic pride is a false arrogance that belies insecurities about one's group.

Study: Red attracts men to women.

This might explain why redheads make me tingly (mmm.. David Caruso...). From the University of Rochester:

A groundbreaking study by two University of Rochester psychologists to be published online Oct. 28 by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology adds color—literally and figuratively—to the age-old question of what attracts men to women.

Through five psychological experiments, Andrew Elliot, professor of psychology, and Daniela Niesta, post-doctoral researcher, demonstrate that the color red makes men feel more amorous toward women. And men are unaware of the role the color plays in their attraction.

The research provides the first empirical support for society's enduring love affair with red. From the red ochre used in ancient rituals to today's red-light districts and red hearts on Valentine's Day, the rosy hue has been tied to carnal passions and romantic love across cultures and millennia. But this study, said Elliot, is the only work to scientifically document the effects of color on behavior in the context of relationships.

Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo agree on free speech.

This is promising, if a little vague. From the Independent:

Three of the technology world's biggest players are expected to announce today that they have agreed to a common set of principles on how to do business in nations that restrict free speech and expression, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The move by the Internet media and technology giants comes in the wake of criticism that they have helped enable censorship in those countries.

Under the new principles, which were crafted over two years, the companies will promise to protect the personal information of their users wherever they do business and to "narrowly interpret and implement government demands that compromise privacy," the Journal said.

They are also expected to commit to scrutinizing a country's track record of jeopardizing personal information and freedom of expression before launching new businesses in a country and to discuss the risks widely with their executives and board members. The document was crafted by a group of participants including human rights groups like Human Rights First and Committee to Protect Journalists.

Man pleads guilty to frozen chicken assault.

Crime most fowl! From Breitbart:

JACKSON, Mich. (AP) - A man accused of stabbing his mother with a fork and attacking a second woman with 10 pounds of frozen chicken has pleaded guilty to one count of felonious assault. Frederick McKaney, 40, entered the plea Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court. Prosecutors dropped additional assault, larceny and other charges.

Prosecutors said McKaney stabbed his mother with a fork June 23 and later exchanged words with another woman as he rode a stolen bicycle. They said he hit her in the head with a plastic bag of frozen chicken, opening a wound that required five surgical staples to close.

McKaney will be sentenced Dec. 11. He faces up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

Coozer-Bits.

CNN: Top 5 female spies.

Boston Globe: Cost of diabetes drugs double.

Daily Mail: Bizarre street attack in Switzerland leaves British tourist dead.

IHT: Iceland raises interest rates to 18%.

Newsweek: Millionaires who play child's game too weak for rain.

Reuters: Man drives drunk to protest drunk driving charge.

Science Daily: Archeologists find King Solomon's mines.

EcoGeek: eBay responsible for 2/3 of the trade in endangered animals. (Thanks Jen!)

EurekAlert: More evidence that red wine is awesome for you.

Rockefeller University: In mice, anxiety linked to immune system.

Coozer-Bits.

Breitbart: Japan's new PM complains he's too busy to read manga and comics.

Reuters: Freak shot lands golf caddy in the hospital for 7 weeks.

Reuters: Reluctant groom sets hotel on fire to get out of ceremony.

EurekAlert: Stress may make you itch.

EurekAlert: Purple tomatoes may fight cancer.

Man's arm gets sucked down train toilet.

Man, I would've loved to have seen this, even if it meant being delayed by two hours. From BBC:

A passenger on a French train had to be rescued by firemen after having his arm sucked down the on-board toilet.

The 26-year-old victim was trapped when he tried to fish out his mobile phone, which had fallen into the toilet bowl, and fell foul of the suction system.

The high-speed TGV train had to stop for two hours while firemen cut through the train's pipework.

The man was carried away by emergency services, with the toilet still attached to his arm.

Dog risks his life for kittens.

AND the dog survived! Finally, some good news today. From BBC:

A dog has risked its life to protect four kittens trapped in a house fire in Melbourne, Australia.

Firefighters found Leo guarding the kittens which were in a cardboard box in one of the bedrooms.

When the fire broke out inside the house, the family of four plus their other dog managed to escape.

However Leo paid the price for his bravery. He succumbed to the smoke and heat.

Firefighters rushed the dog to safety and revived the unconscious Leo with a heart massage and oxygen.

Brooklyn mom beat 11-year-old daughter to death with a mop.

This is awful. I hope there's a reserved space in hell for this woman. The sickest part is that she left her to slowly die over three days. Amazingly, she hasn't been charged yet. From Newsday:

A Brooklyn mother has confessed she fatally beat her 11-year-old daughter with a mop handle and left her to die in bed, police said.

Florenzia Vazquez, 36, allegedly told detectives she hit the girl so hard on the head that the handle shattered.

The girl, Alejandra Vazquez, was found dead Sunday in the family's Atlantic Avenue apartment -- three days after she was left whimpering in her bedroom.

The mother and her unidentified boyfriend -- the father of two of her other children -- called 911 after a man renting a room from them saw the girl lying motionless, according to the Daily News.

The city's child welfare agency is investigating and charges against the couple are pending.

During an interview with police, the girl's mother told investigators she "despises" her daughter and chased her around the family's East New York home on Thursday, striking her with the mop handle. The girl, who tried to escape the beating by hiding beneath a baby crib, then lay in bed for three days, vomiting and unable to eat.

"Crazy news" replaces business news in Russia.

From Moscow Times:

Television viewers who tuned in to NTV on a recent Monday were in for a surprise.

Instead of the usual evening news featuring presidential meetings and prime ministerial visits, they saw a clip showing a man entering a supermarket naked. In another clip, a crow was being given wine from a plastic cup. A third piece showed two elderly women thrashing each other with shopping bags.

The motley collection of bizarre home videos lasted for 20 minutes. Then, finally came the news.

Touted by NTV as a roundup of crazy news every Monday to Thursday, the prime-time extravaganza is called "Mad Day" and precedes the news, which has had is starting time bumped back to 11 p.m. from 10:40 p.m.

"Mad Day" premiered on Oct. 13, roughly a month after the global liquidity crunch caught up with Russia, fueling suspicion that it might be an initiative to soften up viewers ahead of the relatively tame nightly news. The three main channels — Channel One, Rossia and NTV — have paid scant attention to Russia's financial crisis, both on their newscasts and other shows.

But in a sign that viewers remain unworried about the crisis, there has not been a revival in the popularity of shows featuring psychics, television analysts said.

NTV deputy CEO Alexander Nechayev denied that airing home videos under the banner of "crazy news" before the nightly news was an attempt to make the real news more palatable, saying the decision to push back the newscast had been made in April.

US threatens to halt "everything" in Iraq.

Is it just me, or are things in the War on Terror getting wackier each day? From McClatchy:

BAGHDAD _ The U.S. military has warned Iraq that it will shut down military operations and other vital services throughout the country on Jan. 1 if the Iraqi government doesn't agree to a new agreement on the status of U.S. forces or a renewed United Nations mandate for the American mission in Iraq.

Many Iraqi politicians view the move as akin to political blackmail, a top Iraqi official told McClatchy Sunday.

In addition to halting all military actions, U.S. forces would cease activities that support Iraq’s economy, educational sector and other areas _ "everything" _ said Tariq al Hashimi, the country’s Sunni Muslim vice president. "I didn’t know the Americans are rendering such wide-scale services."

Hashimi said that Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, listed “tens” of areas of potential cutoffs in a three-page letter, and he said the implied threat caught Iraqi leaders by surprise.

"It was really shocking for us," he said. "Many people are looking to this attitude as a matter of blackmailing."

Pakistan & Afghanistan to begin negotiating with the Taliban.

From McClatchy:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A major push to open negotiations with the Taliban on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border will begin Monday at a summit of leading political figures from the two countries, as the U.S.-backed governments in Kabul and Islamabad face a mounting threat from Islamic extremists.

Pakistani Taliban, based in the country's tribal border area with Afghanistan, have joined the battle in Afghanistan and also taken on Islamabad. Nevertheless, the assembly of 50 people, called a jirga, which will meet for two days in Islamabad with the backing of both governments, is likely to question the continued presence of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Rustam Shah Mohmand, a participant and a former Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, said it's impossible to deal with the Taliban while Western forces remain in Afghanistan. He also said that the Kabul and Islamabad governments must drop their insistence that they'll negotiate only with Taliban who've disarmed.

Dead: Mystery author Tony Hillerman. Whodunit??

He died in a hospital? It just doesn't make sense! From the Chicago Tribune:

Tony Hillerman, author of the acclaimed Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels and creator of two of the unlikeliest of literary heroes — Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee — died Sunday of pulmonary failure. He was 83.

Hillerman's daughter, Anne Hillerman, said her father's health had been declining in the last couple years and that he was at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque when he died at about 3 p.m.

Barnes & Noble creates social network for nerds.

NEEEEEEERDS!!!! From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The superstore chain on Monday launched ''My B&N,'' where online shoppers can set up personal pages focusing on their interests in books, film and music. They can also share information with Facebook and other social networks.

''Through My B&N, book lovers everywhere can create their literary identity, connect and share insights with other readers, discover and rate new products, and keep up to date on events in their local Barnes & Noble store,'' Tom Burke, executive vice president of e-commerce for Barnes & Noble.com, said in a statement.

The new network can be linked to through the store's online home page, www.barnesandnoble.com.

Boy, 8, accidentally dies at gun club.

Children + gun clubs + Uzi submachine guns = good idea? Oh, America, you so crazy! From the Boston Globe:

An 8-year-old boy died yesterday at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield after he accidentally shot himself in the head at a Westfield gun club, Westfield Police reported.

Police said the child's death, caused by a fully automatic Uzi machine gun, appears to have been an accident, but it remains under investigation.

The Westfield Police Department released a statement about what they described as a self-inflicted, accidental shooting, which occurred at 2 p.m. at the Westfield Sportsman's Club on Furrowtown Road.

[...] Information on the club's website explained participants did not need a permit or license and would be accompanied on the range by a certified instructor.

The event was organized by C.O.P. Firearms & Training, an Amherst company which, according to its website, organizes machine gun shoots throughout New England. Officials from that group also could not be reached.

Bee swarm kills 3 dogs, injures woman in Florida.

Sad about the dogs. From ABC News:

A 70-year-old woman is injured and three dogs are dead after a swarm of bees terrorized a neighborhood in South Florida.

Authorities say crews removed 50 pounds of honeycomb from the side of a home in Palm Beach County after Friday's attack. The hive has been contained.

GOP email to Jewish voters compares Obama to Hitler.

From the Jerusalem Post:

Pennsylvania Republicans are disavowing an e-mail sent to Jewish voters that likens a vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to events that led up to the Holocaust.

"Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008," the e-mail reads. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake. Let's not make a similar one this year!"

A copy of the e-mail, provided by Democratic officials, says it was "Paid for by the Republican Federal Committee of PA - Victory 2008."

It warns "Fellow Jewish Voters" of the danger of a second Holocaust due to the threats to Israel from its neighbors and touts Republican presidential candidate John McCain's qualifications over those of Obama.

State Republican officials disavowed the e-mail and said the strategist who helped draft it had been fired.

"The Republican Party of Pennsylvania did not authorize that e-mail," Michael Barley, communications director for the state party, told The Associated Press on Saturday evening.

Male transsexual gene found.

From BBC:

Australian researchers have identified a significant link between a gene involved in testosterone action and male transsexualism.

DNA analysis from 112 male-to-female transsexual volunteers showed they were more likely to have a longer version of the androgen receptor gene.

The genetic difference may cause weaker testosterone signals, the team reported in Biological Psychiatry.

However, other genes are also likely to play a part, they stressed.

Increasingly, biological factors are being implicated in gender identity.

Adorable baby dino had scary-ass teeth.

I just like the idea of a dino baby with puppy dog eyes and button nose chewing our faces off. From New Scientist:

A rare baby dinosaur skull – only the size of a rat's head – confirms Heterodontosaurus as one of the most unusual of all dinosaurs.

The 45-millimetre skull has features characteristic of a juvenile – large "puppy dog" eye sockets, and a snub nose – but it also sports the meat-tearing canine teeth normally associated with adults. The fossil was newly identified after being examined in a South African museum.

Intriguingly, while it has canines at the front of the mouth, it also has molars behind – a pattern more often seen in mammals.

"It's exceptionally rare to see that pattern of teeth in a reptile," says Richard Butler, a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in London.

Trend Spotting: Curry baths.

Enjoy smelling like curry? You're in luck! CScout reports on the growing trend of turning bath water into dinner.

Bandai has come out with Curry Bath Powder, a dissolvable powder reminiscent of a curry roux cube and packaged accordingly. Such curry starter kits, the base of a simple home cooked dinner, are common fixtures on Japanese supermarket shelves.

The series includes four varieties—sweet, hot, very, hot, and white stew—that promise to turn your bath water the corresponding color. Not quite as gross at is sounds, the scents draw on the more bath-appropriate ingredients found in curry such as ginger, honey, and milk, plus red pepper extract. With the high gimmick value of the Curry Bath Powder, Bandai is looking to follow up on their success earlier this year with the ¥10,000 note bath Bubble Money.

Biden faces off against right-wing lunatic.

Biden fends off loony questions from WFTV Channel 9's Barbara West before laughing in her face.

Coozer-Bits.

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska's biggest paper endorses Obama.

Truthout: Bush admin once again trying to take endangered wolves off the protection list.

ABC News: US helicopters attack Syrian village.

ABC News: The origins of phrases relating to being sick.

Time: Which religion picks the best stocks?

LiveScience: Stephen Hawking to retire from Cambridge.

Understanding the financial crisis in 3 minutes.

Saw this on Consumerist, but here's the direct link. The Washington Post put together an excellent slideshow that explains what happened to our economy. I have to admit it helped me understand the crisis more clearly.

10 things you didn't know about dreams.

Actually, I knew most of these things, but it's still interesting. List here.

Famous people who have been homeless.

Interesting list of celebrities who once lived on the street, in a car, or at a homeless shelter. Some surprises: Kelly Clarkson, Daniel Craig, David Letterman, and John Woo.

8-story luxury condo to be built ontop of old church.

Forget sacrilegious to either the church or the neighborhood, this just doesn't seem very safe. From Curbed:

Let's not try to sugarcoat this: "APPLICATION FILED TO SHOW EXISTING CHURCH WITH GENERAL CONSTRUCTION, MECHANICAL VENTILATION AND PLUMBING WORK TO ACCOMMODATE A NEW BUILDING WHICH WILL BE ERECTED THROUGH AND ABOVE THIS EXISTING STRUCTURE." Eight floors, 34 units, and we don't think we need to add anything else except that a name that appears on the permit is "R.I.P. Construction Consultants."

Florida Supreme Court protects shoddy journalism.

Double-edged sword, no? From the Pensacola News Journal:

TALLAHASSEE — Newspapers were protected Thursday from lawsuits challenging accurate reporting that could possibly cast someone in a bad light.

The Florida Supreme Court, in a pair of rulings, said libel and defamation lawsuits offer enough protection and refused to recognize "false-light" invasion of privacy as grounds to sue.

The decisions served to uphold a lower-court ruling that tossed out an $18.3 million judgment against the Pensacola News Journal and its parent company, Gannett Co. Inc.

Kevin Doyle, president and publisher of the News Journal, said the court's ruling was important beyond the decision that benefits the paper.

"It's a big deal to everybody in the media, not only a victory for us," Doyle said. "Justice prevailed. It's pretty hard to think about the truth not being a defense."

Adria Harper, director of the Florida First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, called the ruling "great news for the newspapers because they don't have to worry about printing accurate information that might offend somebody."

ABC News cancels subscriptions, meal reimbursements, holiday parties, etc.

The New York Observer has reprinted an email from ABC News' president to staffers. Depressing. The email:

We report every day on the economic climate and the effects being felt throughout the country. We are not immune from the downturn. At the same time, the importance of the election and economic stories reminds us how much we have to do to help our audiences absorb and understand what is going on around them. What we need to do—and will do—is to make sure that we have all the resources we need to cover the news.

To that end, we (together with the rest of the Media Networks Group) are adopting the following, new guidelines to reduce some of our administrative costs.

1. All executives are asked to fly one grade below what they're entitled to. Some have contractual provisions on air travel, and the company is not breaching any contracts. But we are being asked to use our discretion on this.

3. All executives are asked to stay in "B" level hotels. I'm told that Travel knows what this means.

4. Starting immediately, the only business meals for which we will be reimbursed are those with third parties. Any meals (or drinks) with ABC or Disney employees will not be reimbursed.

5. All non-production (i.e. administrative) travel must be pre-approved by the CFO (in our case, Jim Hedges) in writing. Your finance and operations people can help you with this.

6. As of December 1, we will cancel all subscriptions (newspaper and magazine) for executives and production employees and move them to on-line. This change will have the added benefit of helping the environment. If there are particular circumstances where you believe this will materially impair your ability to get your work done, you should make your case to your executive producer or supervisorby November 15th. Dave Davis, Kate O'Brian, and Paul Slavin will review these requests and submit their recommendations to me.

7. We're asked to keep any convention or conference attendance to an absolute minimum. Anyone who attends things like NAB or RTNDA, we need to have a conversation. If someone needs to attend, it will be a skeleton crew.

8. We'll forego all holiday parties this year. This means that the company parties in LA, NY and DC are cancelled.

Thanks again for your understanding and cooperation. I won't pretend that this won't be difficult. But, I truly believe that there is a way for us to do this together that will result in a stronger ABC News.

Robot Uprising Watch: Astronauts to emotionally rely on HAL-like spaceship program.

I'm pretty sure having a spaceship program lose faith in your mental capabilities is a bad idea. From HappyNews:

In the project, sponsored by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, a recorded video therapist guides astronauts through a widely used depression therapy called "problem-solving treatment."

The recording helps astronauts identify reasons for their depression. Then the program helps them make a plan to fight the depression, based on the descriptions the astronauts type in about their problems.

Astronauts also can learn strategies for handling conflict through interactive role-playing, and even read psychology books.

Former Marxist guerilla may become Rio's next mayor.

From GuerillaNews:

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — A wiry Marxist revolutionary who kidnapped the U.S. ambassador to protest Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1969 could become Rio de Janeiro’s next mayor.

Fernando Gabeira still can’t get a U.S. visa, but he got a ringing endorsement from the daughter of the diplomat he held at gunpoint for four days.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said Valerie Elbrick, daughter of former Ambassador Charles Elbrick. “I’m excited and fascinated by it. I’m certainly sympathetic with his party and with his views.”

The 67-year-old motorcycle-riding congressman favors legalizing marijuana and gay marriage and defends the right of prostitutes to safely work.

Top 10 places to find free snacks.

An important public service from Snackerrific. Click here for the 411 on free snackin'. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods may be obvious ones, but Heini's Cheese Chalet?? Gas up the car, I'm going to Ohio!!!