Always bet on black! July 31, 2007
Posted by skinbad in Crime, Movies.comments closed
Let a few minorities into Utah and the crime rate soars:
Friday night, Coleman received a misdemeanor citation compliments of Provo city police for disorderly conduct, said Capt. Cliff Argyle of the Provo Police Department.
Coleman, 39, and a female friend were allegedly having a heated relationship discussion Friday at about 7 p.m. at 1067 N. 500 West when two people passed the couple. They told police the 4-foot, 8-inch actor’s temper was quickly rising, Argyle said.
“He raised (his) voice, moved around the inside of his vehicle, hit his arms on the steering wheel while speaking to his female friend,” Argyle said the witnesses told police.
The “Church Ball” movie mentioned in the article is kind of funny. A bunch of white guys get very excited when they hear a black dude has moved into the neighborhood and they go over to try to recruit him (Coleman) for the ward basketball team.
Sadly, the warning signs pointing to violent tendencies have been out there for those paying attention.
How to Chop, Dice, Julienne or Slice Fresh Peas, Part 1: Chopping July 31, 2007
Posted by Sobek in Uncategorized.Tags: Taking a joke waaay too far
comments closed
I’m just leaving this one uncategorized, because we don’t have a category for taking a joke waaaaaaaay too far. But as a tribute to two comments in the recipe thread below, by Harrison and LauraW, which had me laughing harder than I’ve laughed in quite some time, I’m about to take a joke waaaaaaaay too far.
Below the jump, of course.
USS Indianapolis July 30, 2007
Posted by daveintexas in Heroes, History.comments closed
This is the anniversary of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, the Navy cruiser that delivered the operative components of the first atomic bomb to Tinian. She was on her way back when she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.
Her mission was so secret, that she was not reported late for days. In that awful interim, the men of the Indianapolis suffered the worst shark attack on record. She had a crew of almost 1200, and yet there were just over 300 survivors.
I’ll let Quint tell the story…
If It Rains – It Whores July 30, 2007
Posted by Pupster in Crime, Ducks, Gardening, Man Laws, Religion, Sex, Women Ranting.comments closed
Virgin Secret to Good Festival Weather
READINGTON, N.J. (AP) – Organizers think they’ve found the secret to good weather for this weekend’s Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning – a virgin. (more…)
The Innocent Bystanders Global Warming Cookbook™ July 29, 2007
Posted by Michael in Food.comments closed
August is coming, and it’s going to get hot. Real hot. Especially because our poor vulnerable planet, our beloved Mother Gaia, is under attack by SUV drivers emitting greenhouse gases that cause GLOBAL WARMING.
It’s been a while since we posted recipes, and Mrs. Michael had a great idea. Let’s strike a blow in the fight against GLOBAL WARMING by posting some cool recipes to help us through August.
Here’s Mrs. Michael’s entry:
Keeping Cool while the Globe Warms will be a cinch with recipes like this!
TURKEY CANTALOUPE SALAD
- 1 pound smoked breast of turkey meat
- 1 cantaloupe
- Pea pods or frozen peas
- 1 can black beans or kidney beans, drained of liquid
- 1/2 red onion or small bunch of scallions
- 1 each of a red, green, and yellow bell pepper
- 1 cucumber peeled and seeded
- Poppy Seed dressing, or other sweet-sour dressing like Catalina or Russian
Chop, dice, julienne, or slice all ingredients and fold together in a large bowl. Chill for a few hours and serve.
I can vouch for the fact that this deceptively simple recipe is a hit at Casa Michael. Everybody loves it. The poppy seed dressing is your best bet. It really works well with the melon.
You are invited to fight GLOBAL WARMING by posting your cool August recipe in the thread below!
Scientists Breed World’s First Mentally Ill Mouse July 28, 2007
Posted by harrison in Crime, Heroes, Humor, Personal Experiences, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Terrorist Hemorrhoids.comments closed
SCIENTISTS have created the world’s first schizophrenic mice in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the illness.
It is believed to be the first time an animal has been genetically engineered to have a mental illness. Until now they have been bred only for research into physical conditions such as heart disease. It will allow researchers to study the disease and develop treatments using a limitless supply of laboratory animals.
Down this road lies disaster:
The mice were created by modifying their DNA to mimic a mutant gene first found in a Scottish family with a high incidence of schizophrenia, which affects about one in every 100 people.
We’ll just leave them out of this.
And now for the educational part of our post: The Parts Of The Brain.
Pay attention.
Link to the story in The Sunday Times.
Voting Machines vs. Hackers July 28, 2007
Posted by Michael in News.comments closed
Guess who wins.
State-sanctioned teams of computer hackers were able to break through the security of virtually every model of California’s voting machines and change results or take control of some of the systems’ electronic functions, according to a University of California study released Friday.The researchers “were able to bypass physical and software security in every machine they tested,” said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who authorized the “top to bottom review” of every voting system certified by the state.
The results are not really so surprising, given that the test was designed to give the hackers extraordinary access to information about the machines, including the source code.
Neither Bowen nor the investigators were willing to say exactly how vulnerable California elections are to computer hackers, especially because the team of computer experts from the UC system had top-of-the-line security information plus more time and better access to the voting machines than would-be vote thieves likely would have.
“All information available to the secretary of state was made available to the testers,” including operating manuals, software and source codes usually kept secret by the voting machine companies, said Matt Bishop, UC Davis computer science professor who led the “red team” hacking effort, said in his summary of the results.
Indeed, most companies treat their source code like the Holy Grail, and it is subject to very stringent security.
Still, the test should serve to caution us that technologically superior voting machines will not necessarily provide a solution to the perennial problem of vote fraud.
Thanks to Retired Geezer.
Virtual Evangelism July 27, 2007
Posted by Michael in Religion.comments closed
I’m thinking some clerics have too much time on their hands.
ROME (Reuters) – Catholic missionaries have always trekked to dangerous parts of the Earth to spread the word of God — now they are being encouraged to go into the virtual realm of Second Life to save virtual souls.
In an article in Rome-based Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, academic Antonio Spadaro urged fellow Catholics not to be scared of entering the virtual world which may be fertile ground for new converts wishing to better themselves.
“It’s not possible to close our eyes to this phenomenon or rush to judge it,” Spadaro said. “Instead it needs to be understood … the best way to understand it is to enter it.”
See, I just don’t think the ordinary parishioner is going to feel good about funding missionaries to virtual reality. But maybe I’m behind the times.
Second Life is a simulation game where players can create a virtual version of themselves — an avatar — and interact with other people in the three-dimensional world.
According to its Web site, it has a population of more than 8 million residents and millions of dollars change hands there every month.
And there’s the problem with Spadaro’s idea. A “virtual version” of self is not a person, and avatars do not have souls. I think evangelism happens one-on-one, in real life. That’s why the “televangelism” that was such a fad in the 80’s turned out to be a failure, and tainted by scandals.
The target market of evangelism is a contrite heart, not gamers fleeing reality. The “body of Christ” that is the Church is comprised of people, not pixels.
But, those pixels might be horny.
Spadaro warns the uninitiated that “the erotic dimension is very present” in Second Life, that people can buy genitalia for their avatars in a world that is “open to any form of erotic stimulation from prostitution to pedophilia”.
While the virtual world might be a refuge for some people seeking to flee the real one, it is also full of people seeking something more from life, including, possibly, religious enlightenment, he said.
“Deep down, the digital world can be considered, in its way, mission territory,” he said. “Second Life is somewhere where the opportunity to meet people and to grow should not be missed, therefore, any initiative that can inspire the residents in a positive way should be considered opportune.”
Sorry, Spadaro, you are full of crap. I really don’t believe that people “meet and grow” in Second Life, especially as you have described it. Frankly, I’m wondering what you are really doing there.
Sit Down And Shut Up, Sheik July 27, 2007
Posted by Michael in News.comments closed
Dickwad.
MILAN (Reuters) – A Qatar sheikh held up a British Airways flight at Milan’s Linate airport for nearly three hours after discovering three of his female relatives had been seated next to men they did not know.
When none of the other business class passengers agreed to swap seats, the sheikh, a member of Qatar’s ruling family, went to the pilot, who had already started the engine, to complain, an airport official said.
Kudos to the other passengers, who refused to “respect” the medieval customs of the sheik’s contemptible and repressive culture.
But the pilot ordered him and his traveling companions, the three women, two men, a cook and a servant, off the plane.
The London-bound flight took off nearly three hours behind schedule Thursday evening and around 50 of the 115 passengers missed connecting flights.
Traditions in the conservative Gulf Arab region bar women from mixing with unrelated men.
Good for the pilot. “Traditions” in the conservative Gulf Arab region suck, and merit the scorn of civilized people everywhere.
Hey, Sheik Dumbass, you can arrange your family’s seating assignments in advance. Go online to the British Airways website. It’s easy. Otherwise, keep your loony ass off Western airlines.
It just gripes my ass that these jerks assume that the rest of the world should accommodate them. They deserve mockery and ridicule.
Sheesh, I’m all upset now. Maybe an excellent music selection will calm me down.
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Solicit Sex – Wear a Chicken Suit July 27, 2007
Posted by Pupster in Crime, Ducks, Women Ranting.comments closed
Or go to jail for 30 days. Is there a third option? Maybe something with a duck?
Men who solicited sex ordered to wear chicken suits
PAINESVILLE, OHIO — The Best Little Whorehouse is not in Painesville.
And Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti, known for dispensing unusual sentences, doesn’t want one sprouting in his small town.
So Cicconetti ordered three men charged with soliciting sex to take turns dressing in a bright yellow chicken costume while carrying a sign that reads “No Chicken Ranch in Painesville.”
FBI Dinged For $100 Million Due To Wrongful Convictions July 26, 2007
Posted by Michael in Crime.comments closed
Apparently the misconduct by the FBI was flagrant — allowing four men to be framed and go to jail for murder in order to protect FBI informants.
BOSTON (Reuters) – A federal judge ordered the U.S. government on Thursday to pay more than $100 million in damages for the wrongful 1968 conviction of four men of murder, the largest known award of its kind in the United States.
In a stunning reprimand of the FBI, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner in Boston found the Federal Bureau of Investigation had repressed evidence that proved the innocence of Peter Limone, Henry Tameleo, Joe Salvati and Louis Greco in the March 1965 gangland murder of Edward “Teddy” Deegan. Salvati and Limone, along with survivors of Tameleo and Greco — who died in prison — sued the FBI five years ago charging wrongful conviction. They claimed law-enforcement agents had covered up evidence showing that the murder was carried out by other men who were federal informants.
It’s hard to decide what is really “fair” in a case like this. Would you be satisfied with $25 million for over 30 years in prison that you did not deserve? What if it was your husband or father who had died in prison?
It’s not a deal I’d sign up for. Here’s a breakdown of how the award was split up amongst the plaintiffs, including family members.
At least one of the plaintiffs seems satisfied that justice was done.
“I’m very happy for the judge’s decision. She corrected a wrong and made it right,” Limone, 73, told reporters. Still, he added, “all the money in the world couldn’t bring me back 33 years.”
Innocent Bystanders 
