Category: Other

Disinformation: Everything You Know Is Wrong: “Japan’s nuclear power plant crisis is no laughing matter in Springfield: Networks in several European countries are reportedly reviewing episodes of ‘The Simpsons’ for any ‘unsuitable’ references to nuclear disaster.

An Austrian network has apparently pulled two eps, 1992’s ‘Marge Gets a Job’ and 2005’s ‘On a Clear Day I Can’t See My Sister,’ which include jokes about radiation poisoning and nuclear meltdowns, respectively.

Al Jean — exec producer of the animated Fox comedy featuring inept family man/nuclear power plant worker Homer Simpson — tells EW that he can appreciate the concern.

‘We have 480 episodes, and if there are a few that they don’t want to air for awhile in light of the terrible thing going on, I completely understand that,’ says Jean, citing the previous example of the 1997 episode ‘Homer Versus the City of New York’ that was pulled after 9/11 because it included key scenes at the…”

 

ThinkProgress » GOP Rep. Woodall’s Response To Exxon Paying Nothing In Taxes: We Need ‘Lowest Corporate Tax Rate We Can Get’: ” Last week, Rep. Rob Woodall held a tele-town hall meeting with his constituents, allowing them to call in and ask questions. At one point, a constituent called in and challenged Woodall’s belief that all we need is spending cuts to move towards a more balanced budget. The caller pointed out that closing corporate tax loopholes on big companies like Exxon Mobil — which paid zero federal corporate income taxes in 2009 — and Google, which only paid a 4.2 percent rate in taxes, would do a lot to help balance the budget as well.

Woodall replied by saying he’s ‘not a fan of class warfare’ and that the only people who’ve ever employed him are rich people. He then went on to say that corporate taxes are really taxes on the customers of these companies and that we need to get ‘corporate taxes as low as we can in this country’: “

 

Curiosities: A Closer Look: “A CLOSER LOOK

We so rarely look at everyday objects that, when they are pictured under an electron microscope, they take on a new – and sometimes disgusting new life.”

 

The Dollar Bill Surgeon (12 pieces) – My Modern Metropolis: “While most people cringe at the thought of destroying money, Brooklyn-based tattoo artist Scott Campbell sees it as the perfect medium to showcase his impressive skill set. By laser-cutting each dollar individually with surgeon-like precision, then arranging them into 100-dollar stacks, Campbell creates highly detailed pieces that are almost too bizarre to believe. In essence, he destroys to create.

Of all his works, the three-dimensional skulls and skeletons really stand out. The imagery alludes to mortality, yet it’s sculpted from the currency with which we trade our time and energy. His subject matter and iconography epitomize blue-collar grit and the allure of the tattoo culture. Although communicating with this lowbrow parlance, he delivers work that is supremely refined, deliberate, and meticulously executed.

The piece above, titled Pièce de Résistance, uses $11,000 worth of currency sheets to create an over two-foot cube, into which a three dimensional skull is carved-out. If you find yourself in L.A., you can catch Campbell’s most recent solo show, Noblesse Oblige, in person at OHWOW gallery until 4.22.11. “

 

Man Wins $5,000 Suing Debt Collectors, Thanks To Google Voice – The Consumerist: “Reader PJ sued a bunch of harassing debt collectors and won $5,000, and Google Voice made doing it really easy. Someone had put down his work cellphone number on their credit applications and ran up a bunch of debts and collectors started calling him multiple times per day. He told them he wasn’t the guy and asked them nicely to stop, but that only made it worse.

PJ writes:

‘ In fact, the call frequency increased once they realized they had reached a live person. I called each of these companies multiple times, and though I was given assurances each time that my number would be taken off of their lists, the calls continued, morning, noon and night.

At my wits end, I decided the only way to have the harassing calls stop was to file suits against the collection companies. It’s very important to understand that it is against the law for a company to leave a pre-recorded message on your cell phone. Armed with this knowledge, I filed suit against several of the collection companies. I filed in small claims court so I did not need to hire an attorney, and the process was as simple as completing a paragraph on a complaint form. For evidence, I had over a hundred Google Voicemail transcripts showing the times the companies called and the text of the pre-recorded messages.

Mysteriously, the calls all stopped immediately on the same date the collection companies received the certified letters stating they were being sued. Then a new flurry of calls began pouring in. This time it was their attorneys.

The attorneys representing these out of state collection companies were all desperate to settle out of court. hey did not want to incur the expense of traveling for court or hiring a local law firm who wasn’t on retainer. They also understood they had no justifiable defense for the calls. To make a long story short, so far I have successfully sued 3 of these collection companies and settled for more than $5,000 out of court. All it cost me was $35 and 20 minutes per suit.

Making these companies pay is the only incentive for them to stop their illegal and harassing practices. If more consumers knew their rights and actually took a few minutes to stand up for them, it would become less profitable for these companies to conduct business the way they do now.”

 

‘Til Death Do Us Part – today and tomorrow: “‘Til Death Do Us Part”

Samsung rolling out Star Trek-like see-thru LCD panels | 9 to 5 Mac Samsung rolling out Star Trek-like see-thru LCD panels | Apple Intelligence: “First samples of Samsung awesome new display panels have begun rolling out from assembly lines. These isn’t your pa’s display – the Korean consumer electronics maker has outdone itself by developing a new technology, pure Star Trek stuff. According to a press release, not only is the display itself transparent, it doesn’t require backlight because they’ve found a way to replace the traditional backlight with ambient light.

Given that traditional backlights consumer the vast majority of power in a traditional LCD, Samsung’s see-thru panels are tremendously power-savvy as well. The first panels coming out are of a 22-inch variety and sport a 1680-by-1050 pixel resolution with a 500:1 contrast ratio”

 

WHO ARE THEY FOOLING???

 

Federal agency backtracks on pro-marijuana info after 11 days | The Raw Story: “The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has removed information about the anti-tumor effects of marijuana from its online treatment database just eleven days after becoming the first federal agency to formally recognize marijuana’s medicinal properties.

The Colorado Independent first reported that the NCI replaced a sentence about marijuana’s ‘possible direct anti-tumor effect’ with one stating that although ‘no relevant surveys of practice patterns exist’ it is prescribed mainly for ‘symptom management.’ The edit appeared Monday afternoon.

Although the NCI backtracked on the possible anti-tumor effects of marijuana, it still acknowledged that it has potential benefits for cancer patients, such as antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep.

Fifteen states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes, but the National Cancer Institute is the only federal agency to formally recognize it as medicine.

The NCI’s original paragraph, published on March 17, read:

The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.

The new paragraph reads:

The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. Though no relevant surveys of practice patterns exist, it appears that physicians caring for cancer patients who prescribe medicinal Cannabis predominantly do so for symptom management.”

 

Dem Rep. Jared Polis calls on Congress to end marijuana prohibition | The Raw Story: “WASHINGTON – Speaking alongside industry advocates, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) called Wednesday for Congress to end the prohibition on marijuana, stressing the need to reduce drug violence while hailing the medical cannabis market’s capacity for growing the economy.

‘Ending the failed policy of prohibition with regard to marijuana will strike a major blow against the criminal cartels that are terrorizing Americans and Mexicans on both sides of the border,’ Polis said at the National Press Club, in response to a question from Raw Story.

‘It’s been estimated that the drug cartels drive about half of their revenue from marijuana, so I think it would reduce the violence by half, and reduce the money that fuels the criminal enterprises by half.’

Organized by the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), a lobbying and trade group for the industry, the event featured anti-prohibition advocates and owners of medical marijuana businesses speaking out against the burdensome federal regulations they face.”

 

AT&T’s secret f*cking loophole: If you want out of an Internet contract, just curse | The Raw Story: “With telecom giant AT&T rolling out limitations and additional fees on how much information its Internet users can access, it seems the company is bracing for an influx of anger.

In a little-noticed contract tweak recently, AT&T customer service representatives have been empowered to cancel the contract of any customers who behave in an abusive manner towards them.

In other words, when those top two percent of users get massive bandwidth bills at the end of May, and they call in with full-bore nerd rage, AT&T will have an easy solution: cut them off entirely, “

 

Feds Remove Anti-Tumor Cannabis Info After Just Days Online – Toke of the Town: “Just 11 days after adding a section on medical marijuana to its treatment database, the National Cancer Institute has altered the new page, removing any mention of the evidence that marijuana can diminish and even reverse tumor growth.”

Shhmokewear Stealth Wrist Hookah Bracelet Pipe Hemp Wick | Shhmokewear: “

‘…the quality of the bracelet is awesome. I showed the bracelet to the CEO and he thought it was really cool.… Definitely very unique!’ – Jazmine via email”

 

1970s Anti-Marijuana Commercial by Illuminaught

Warholstars: Andy Warhol:

Libyan Woman Claims Rape By Soldiers, Is Dragged Away: “TRIPOLI, Libya (AP_ A distraught Libyan woman stormed into a Tripoli hotel Saturday to tell foreign reporters that government troops raped her, setting off a brawl when hotel staff and government minders tried to detain her.

Iman al-Obeidi was tackled by waitresses and government minders as she sat telling her story to journalists after she rushed into the restaurant at the Rixos hotel where a number of foreign journalists were eating breakfast.

She claimed loudly that troops had detained her a checkpoint, tied her up, abused her, then led her away to be gang raped.”

 

CNN correspondent rejects Fox report on human shields – CNN.com: “Tripoli, Libya (CNN) — A CNN correspondent on Monday angrily rejected a report by the Fox network that he and other journalists were used as human shields by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to prevent a missile attack on his compound. The Fox story, labeled ‘exclusive’ and posted on the Fox website Monday, said the presence of news crews from CNN, Reuters and other organizations forced a British aircraft to call off firing seven Storm Shadow missiles at the area that already had been hit. ‘Officials from Libya’s Ministry of Information brought those journalists to the area to show them damage from the initial attack and to effectively use them as human shields,’ said the Fox report. According to the Fox story, the curtailed strike ‘led to a great deal of consternation by coalition commanders.’ Nic Robertson, a veteran CNN correspondent who was part of the CNN crew cited in the Fox story, called the rival network’s report ‘outrageous and hypocritical.’ CNN refutes ‘human shield’ claims Gadhafi’s compound attacked RELATED TOPICS Libya Moammar Gadhafi FOX News Network LLC Nic Robertson Cable News Network Robertson said a Fox staffer was among the journalists on the trip — a fact left out of the Fox report — and that the journalists in the group were hurried through their trip by their minders. ‘To say it was a human shield is nuts,’ Robertson said, later adding: ‘I expect lies from the government here. I don’t expect it from other journalists. It’s frankly incredibly disappointing.’ There was no immediate response from Fox to a CNN request for comment.”

Best Men’s Deodorant & Antiperspirant Ratings and Reviews | Best and Worst Products | GoodGuide: ” GoodGuide scientifically rates the health, environmental, and social performance of products and companies. “

New York City Wasting $75 Million a Year on Marijuana Arrests | | AlterNet: “A new study reveals that since 1996 New York City has spent from half a billion to over a billion dollars arresting people for less than an ounce of marijuana.”

Actors, musicians demand end to inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning | The Raw Story: “A group of prominent actors, artists, and musicians joined with leading human rights organizations on Friday to urge President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates to take ‘immediate action to address the inhumane and unjustified treatment of PFC Bradley Manning at Quantico Marine Base.'”

Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms like fried bacon.

Man With 4th Amendment Written On His Chest Sues The TSA – The Consumerist: “This 21-year-old was on his way to Wisconsin for his grandmothers funeral when he was handcuffed and held for 90 minutes on a disorderly conduct charge. Why? He opted-out of the ‘naked scanner’ and instead chose the pat-down — at which point he began removing his clothes to expose a message written on his chest in marker. The message, of course, was the 4th amendment.

‘He went there knowing he would not do the advanced imaging and do the pat-down instead,’ his attorney said in a telephone interview with Wired. ‘He was making it easy for them and in the process he wanted to communicate his objection for doing so.’

The man is now suing for, among other things, wrongful detention and a breach of the First Amendment and Fourth Amendment. Despite the delay, he made his flight.”

 

Woman’s Remarkable Vagina Hid 54 Bags of Heroin — Daily Intel: “A Scranton, Pennsylvania, woman was discovered with dozens of bags of heroin hidden in her vagina — and cash! — after a car crash Sunday. The woman was suspected in a burglary of the local Dunmore Inn, and was taken into custody after crashing her car.

Twenty-seven-year-old Karin Mackaliunas began feeling the sting of all those tiny bags, and ‘After a struggle with Officer Baumann during a more thorough search at headquarters,’ read the police report, ‘Ms. Mackaliunas asked to speak with Sergeant Michael Mayer and told him she had hidden more heroin in her vagina.’ Mackaliunas was searched and police discovered a stunning 54 bags of heroin, 31 empty bags used to package heroin, and eight prescription pills in her vagina — along with $51.22 in cash and change. Mackaliunas was charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. “

 

 

Owsley Stanley, Artisan of Acid, Is Dead at76 – NYTimes.com: “Owsley Stanley, the prodigiously gifted applied chemist to the stars, who made LSD in quantity for the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Ken Kesey and other avatars of the psychedelic ’60s, died on Sunday in a car accident in Australia. He was 76 and lived in the bush near Cairns, in the Australian state of Queensland.”

Feds: Alleged Ecstasy Smuggler Hid Her Stash In Octomomesque Protuberance | The Smoking Gun: “A Georgia woman is facing a federal drug rap for allegedly trying to smuggle a large stash of Ecstasy into the country over a bridge connecting Canada to Buffalo.

Leeann Corley, 25, was aboard a Greyhound bus last Thursday night when border agents became suspicious of her claim that she was eight months pregnant and was returning to the U.S. after visiting a sick aunt.

During a pat down search, investigators discovered that Corley was ‘wearing a body suit with a modified stomach area,’ according to a U.S. District Court complaint. As seen in the above evidence photo (click to enlarge), that ‘modified stomach area’ contained ‘33 zip lock bags containing colored pills.’

The seized narcotics weighed 21.63 pounds, and border agents extrapolated that the bags contained a total of 34,230 Ecstasy pills.

While Corley was not photographed in her ‘pregnant’ state, her purported protuberance would likely have been Octomomesque.”

 

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