Does a caveman walk in the woods?

Among the many surprises associated with the discovery of the oldest known, nearly complete skeleton of a hominid is the finding that this species took its first steps toward bipedalism not on the open, grassy savanna, as generations of scientists – going back to Charles Darwin – hypothesized, but in a wooded landscape.

Read more here.

Yahoo denies Iran allegations

Let's hope the charge is false, or we have a dangerous situation on your hands...

“The allegations in the story are false [Yahoo collaborated with the Iranian regime during the election protests, providing to the authorities the names and emails of some 200,000 Iranian Yahoo users, according to a post on the Iranian Students Solidarity (Farsi) blog]. Neither Yahoo! nor any Yahoo! representative has met with or communicated with any Iranian officials, and Yahoo! has not disclosed user data to the Iranian government. Yahoo! was founded on the principle that access to information and communications tools can improve people’s lives, and Yahoo! is committed to protecting and promoting freedom of expression and privacy.

Read more here.

Et U2 Bono? Idiot of the Day

More than 30 years a rock star, Nobel peace prize nominee and honorary knight – but what does Bono have to do to become a Twitter trending topic?

The band's frontman became a villain on the web today moments after he turned up as a support act at the Tory conference. While the Tories hoped Bono's surprise address – via a giant videoscreen – would provide a shot of welcome celebrity pizzazz, the singer could hardly have imagined his appearance would have such a swift impact on his profile.

Many of the responses on Twitter were hostile as the tag #BonoToryScum quickly spread over the social networking site. "Look for U2's new song called Where the Streets Have No Low-Income Housing," tweeted Deadeye_Dick.

Read more here.

Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

OH NO, it has the word "Peace" in it! Countdown to some Republican calling it anti-American in 3...2...

Update: it begins:

RedState.com is just a little caught off guard because he “did not realize the Nobel Peace Prize had an affirmative action quota for it.”

NASA's moon bomb bombs

NASA has successfully bulldozed two spacecraft into the moon's south pole in a search for hidden ice, but without the promised live photos.

First a 2.2-ton empty rocket hull smacked the moon's south pole at 7:31 a.m. EDT Friday. Then four minutes later the camera-and-instrument laden space probe made its death plunge.

The smaller probe had five cameras and four other scientific instruments and NASA had touted live photos on its web site. But those images didn't occur...

Read more here.

Republicans reward childish behaviour

America' Party of the Tantrum continues to embarrass itself, at least in front of thinking people...

Wilson becomes Republican rock star [thus proving CNN knows little of rock...]

In the days after Joe Wilson shouted "You lie!" at President Obama during his address to Congress last month the South Carolina congressman reached out to several of his longtime confidantes.

A graduate of Washington and Lee University, a school with a strict honor code*, and a veteran of the Army Reserves, Wilson was worried he had disappointed those close to him by showing a lack of civility.

"Joe has always operated as a gentleman, and I think for anyone to question if he was continuing to do that is something that concerned him," his friend Ed McMullen said.

* an honor code that seems optional if your the party out of power, or if your president is black...

Read more here.

Levi does Manhattan

Read more here.

Scientists discover massive ring around Saturn

Scientists at NASA have discovered a nearly invisible ring around Saturn -- one so large that it would take 1 billion Earths to fill it.

The ring's orbit is tilted 27 degrees from the planet's main ring plane. The bulk of it starts about 3.7 million miles (6 million km) away from the planet and extends outward another 7.4 million miles (12 million km).

Read more here.

The Staffordshire Hoard

Dinosaurs on German television

Apple drags feet over Flash

One of the most common technologies for watching video on a computer will soon be available for most smartphones.

Flash software is used to deliver around 75% of online video and is the key technology that underpins websites such as YouTube and Google Video.

Until now, many smartphones and netbooks have used a "light" version of the program, because of the limited processing power of the devices.

The new software is intended to work as well on a smartphone as a desktop PC.

Adobe, the maker of Flash, said it should be available on most higher-end handsets by 2010, although Apple's iPhone would continue not to use the software.

Read more here.

Buried Coins May Hold Key To Solving Mystery Of Ancient Roman Population

Using a mathematical model to predict population trends based on ancient coin hoards, a UConn biologist and a Stanford University historian have concluded that the population of ancient Rome was smaller than sometimes suggested.

Although the first century BC in Italy has been extensively studied, and much is known about the great figures of the era, including Cicero, Caesar, Virgil, and Horace, some basic facts – such as the approximate population size of the late Roman Republic – remain the subject of intense debate.

Read more here.

"Unique" dinosaur footprints discovered in France

A set of dinosaur footprints uncovered in eastern France and dating from 150 million years ago has been authenticated by scientists as a unique discovery.

The well-preserved footprints, between 1.5 and two meters in diameter, were discovered in Plagne in the French Jura by a team from Claude Bernard university in Lyon, eastern France.


Read more here.

God doesn't want you equal

More hateful people hiding behind the Bible, this time in Washington State.

"Protect our children". Who's protecting them for mind withering people such as are behind this ad?

Britain's Royal Mail wants you sick and unemployed

Websites that help people find jobs or hospitals have been hit by legal action threatened by the Royal Mail.

The threat was issued against the company supplying them, and many other sites, with postcode data.

Royal Mail said the legal action was threatened to stop "unauthorised access" to the postcode data...

...Commenting on its action the Royal Mail said: "We have not asked anyone to close down a website.

"We have simply asked a third party to stop allowing unauthorised access to Royal Mail data, in contravention of our intellectual property rights," it added in a statement.

So fuck you and close down anyway...?

Read more here.

Taiwanese Army

They're going to need a wider painting

McDonald's to open in the Louvre.

In a move guaranteed to wipe the famous smile off Mona Lisa's mug, McDonald's is planning to open an eatery inside France's great temple of culture: the Louvre museum.

The London Telegraph reported the restaurant will open next month in the underground shopping plaza beneath I.M. Pei's glass pyramid in the museum courtyard.

Read more here.

God was a liberal pinko

There is an effort afoot to make a version of the Bible that is more acceptable to conservatives.

I am the Word, and the Word has a liberal bias...

I'd love to see what they do with the early bits. The Snake will have the face of Darwin.

Liberal bias has become the single biggest distortion in modern Bible translations.

Some highlights:

Utilize Powerful Conservative Terms: using powerful new conservative terms as they develop;[4] defective translations use the word "comrade" three times as often as "volunteer"; similarly, updating words which have a change in meaning, such as "word", "peace", and "miracle".

Combat Harmful Addiction: combating addiction by using modern terms for it, such as "gamble" rather than "cast lots";[5] using modern political terms, such as "register" rather than "enroll" for the census

Accept the Logic of Hell: applying logic with its full force and effect, as in not denying or downplaying the very real existence of Hell or the Devil.

Express Free Market Parables; explaining the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning

Exclude Later-Inserted Liberal Passages: excluding the later-inserted liberal passages that are not authentic, such as the adulteress story

Jesus forgives her, and we can't have that!

Read more here.

A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits

Carl Sagan sings.

Microsoft makes a visit

My stats show a little visit from Redmond.

file:///D:/Blog/Blog_19/blog_20038.html

Do they have a file open on this blog at Microsoft? How innnteressting.

This also happens to be post #666 of this year. Coincidence, I think not.

UK dig finds Roman amphitheatre

British archaeologists have unearthed an amphitheatre at a ancient port outside Rome which may have played host to emperors such as Hadrian and Trajan.

The team, led by the University of Southampton, say the arena could have held up to 2,000 people and been used for gladiator games or animal baiting.

Read more here.

Another cringe worthy Microsoft video - Windows 7 Party!

Cudos to Microsoft for finding the four most insincere people on the planet.

John Derbyshire: Idiot of the Day

My apologies to the other idiots out there, even they could not reach such heights of stupidity.

John Derbyshire, a British-American conservative author and columnist for the National Review, has written a new book titled We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism. The book contains a section called “The Case Against Female Suffrage.” Yesterday on his radio show, Alan Colmes asked Derbyshire to articulate his argument.

DERBYSHIRE: Among the hopes that I do not realistically nurse is the hope that female suffrage will be repealed. But I’ll say this – if it were to be, I wouldn’t lose a minute’s sleep.

COLMES: We’d be a better country if women didn’t vote?

DERBYSHIRE: Probably. Don’t you think so?

COLMES: No, I do not think so whatsoever.

DERBYSHIRE: Come on Alan. Come clean here [laughing].

COLMES: We would be a better country? John Derbyshire making the statement, we would be a better country if women did not vote.

DERBYSHIRE: Yeah, probably.

Read more here.

Beaches residents fight condo

Lord be Praised!

Beaches residents flocked to an Ontario Municipal Board hearing today to fight a proposed four-storey condo project they fear will block off Lake Ontario.

The development, which would span the beachfront between Munro Park Avenue and Neville Park Boulevard, would dwarf surrounding houses, block views of the lake and could harm the fragile environment of the lakefront, homeowners said.

What else are condos for?

Read more here.

Newsmax BS's their way around John L. Perry

Jesus, didn't they read the article?

Statement from Newsmax Regarding Blogger

In a blog posting to Newsmax John Perry wrote about a coup scenario involving the U.S. military. He clearly stated that he was not advocating such a scenario but simply describing one.

After several reader complaints, Newsmax wanted to insure that this article was not misinterpreted. It was removed after a short period after being posted.

Newsmax strongly believes in the principles of Constitutional government and would never advocate or insinuate any suggestion of an activity that would undermine our democracy or democratic institutions.

Mr. Perry served as a political appointee in the Carter administration in HUD and FEMA. He has no official relationship with Newsmax other than as an unpaid blogger.

French drop Polanski release call

Good.

Like the recent list of people stepping forward to defend torture, the so called celebrates signing on to defend Polanski will go down in the history books as a black mark on their names.

Read more here.

John L. Perry's possibly treasonous article pulled...but not here

Mr Perry's possibly treasonous article has to be read to be believed. The site hosting it has pulled it....

There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America’s military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the “Obama problem.” Don’t dismiss it as unrealistic.

America isn’t the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened doesn’t mean it wont. Describing what may be afoot is not to advocate it. So, view the following through military eyes:

Officers swear to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Unlike enlisted personnel, they do not swear to “obey the orders of the president of the United States.” Top military officers can see the Constitution they are sworn to defend being trampled as American institutions and enterprises are nationalized.

They can see that Americans are increasingly alarmed that this nation, under President Barack Obama, may not even be recognizable as America by the 2012 election, in which he will surely seek continuation in office.

They can see that the economy — ravaged by deficits, taxes, unemployment, and impending inflation — is financially reliant on foreign lender governments.

They can see this president waging undeclared war on the intelligence community, without whose rigorous and independent functions the armed services are rendered blind in an ever-more hostile world overseas and at home.

They can see the dismantling of defenses against missiles targeted at this nation by avowed enemies, even as America’s troop strength is allowed to sag.

They can see the horror of major warfare erupting simultaneously in two, and possibly three, far-flung theaters before America can react in time.

They can see the nation’s safety and their own military establishments and honor placed in jeopardy as never before.
So, if you are one of those observant military professionals, what do you do?

Wait until this president bungles into losing the war in Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s arsenal of nuclear bombs falls into the hands of militant Islam?

Wait until Israel is forced to launch air strikes on Iran’s nuclear-bomb plants, and the Middle East explodes, destabilizing or subjugating the Free World?

What happens if the generals Obama sent to win the Afghan war are told by this president (who now says, “I’m not interested in victory”) that they will be denied troops they must have to win? Do they follow orders they cannot carry out, consistent with their oath of duty? Do they resign en masse?

Or do they soldier on, hoping the 2010 congressional elections will reverse the situation? Do they dare gamble the national survival on such political whims?

Anyone who imagines that those thoughts are not weighing heavily on the intellect and conscience of America’s military leadership is lost in a fool’s fog.

Will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a “family intervention,” with some form of limited, shared responsibility?

Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability challenged, radical-left commissars. Having bonded with his twin teleprompters, the president would be detailed for ceremonial speech-making.

Military intervention is what Obama’s exponentially accelerating agenda for “fundamental change” toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America. A coup is not an ideal option, but Obama’s radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible.

Unthinkable? Then think up an alternative, non-violent solution to the Obama problem. Just don’t shrug and say, “We can always worry about that later.”

In the 2008 election, that was the wistful, self-indulgent, indifferent reliance on abnegation of personal responsibility that has sunk the nation into this morass.

Roman Statues Found in Blue Grotto Cave

A number of ancient Roman statues might lie beneath the turquoise waters of the Blue Grotto on the island of Capri in southern Italy, according to an underwater survey of the sea cave.

Dating to the 1st century A.D., the cave was used as a swimming pool by the Emperor Tiberius (42 B.C. - 37 A.D.), and the statues are probably depictions of sea gods.

Read more here.

John L. Perry: Hey, treason's an option, just sayin'

There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America’s military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the “Obama problem.” Don’t dismiss it as unrealistic.

America isn’t the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened doesn’t mean it wont. Describing what may be afoot is not to advocate it.

He then goes on to advocate it...

Military intervention is what Obama’s exponentially accelerating agenda for “fundamental change” toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America. A coup is not an ideal option, but Obama’s radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible.

Unthinkable? Then think up an alternative, non-violent solution to the Obama problem. Just don’t shrug and say, “We can always worry about that later.”

Read more here.

Ed Rollins: Idiot of the Day

Ed Rollins of CNN [He was White House political director for President Reagan and chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee], a classic armchair warrior, seems to be upset that Obama went to the U.N. last week and didn't nuke everyone out of existence...

No American president has ever stood before the U.N. body and condemned his predecessor or American foreign policy in such a way. President Bush, like every president before him made some mistakes, but he did not deserve this put down

Except he might be a war criminal, a minor point, I know, in Ed's mind...

...let's not forget America was attacked on September 11, 2001, and thousands of American lives were lost. President Bush and his team got us through all that and kept us safe for the rest of his terms.

Conveniently forgetting September 11th happened under the Republicans.

The public's question should be can he deal with reality?

Like Iraq's WMD?

Last Thursday, the president, chairing the United Nations National Security Council, pushed through a six-page resolution that was approved unanimously 15-0. The resolution urged a world without nuclear weapons.

President Obama stated: "We must never stop until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of the earth."

Obama wants to eliminate nuclear weapons? How dangerously Un-American!

The rest of the article whines on about how poor Obama is doing too much at once. It might seem that way to a man used to Bush, a man unable to open a door and string a coherent sentence together...

Read more here.

Second Life Claims Social Network Crown

OK, guys. We get it. Second Life is not a fad. But a rival to social networking sites? We're having a little trouble with that one. The idea was floated in the latest collection of Second Life usage statistics released by Linden Lab last week. The press release stresses the claim that users have spent more than one billion hours in-world, but it also describes a few pieces of information that seem intended to put the 3D virtual world way ahead of the social networking pack in several key areas:

Read more here.

Pittsburgh police as provocateurs

Didn't they see the Quebec video? Numbskulls.

"Why isn't this kind of deception illegal?"

"Because the police are doing it"

"Oh..."

Tell us what you really think CNN

CNN tells us what to think about the Facebook Obama poll story.

What what it's worth, yes he/she should be arrested, I just don't care what a news anchor thinks...just read thanks.

Nero's Dining Room found

A 'rotating room' built by Roman Emperor Nero to please his dinner guests has been unearthed, Italian archaeologists say. Excavations in the Domus Aurea ('Golden House') on the Palatine Hill have revealed remains of a room experts think is the one described by the ancient historian Suetonius in his Lives of the Caesars.

The room contained a wooden platform, Suetonius said, which rotated day and night to follow the movement of the Earth.

Read more here.

Temple to Our Lord Dugong Dugon found

French archaeologists have discovered the oldest known place of worship dedicated to the dugong, or sea cow, on an island just north of Dubai, two research centres said Thursday.

The sanctuary believed to date back to 3,500 to 3,200 years BC was discovered on Akab island in the United Arab Emirates, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Dubai.

The French archaeological mission in the Emirates and the Umm al-Quwain museum there said in the specialist magazine Antiquity that the sanctuary on the deserted island provided key details "on the rituals of prehistoric coastal societies in the Gulf."

Read more here.

Bacon of the Month Club

Here's what you get!

A different artisan bacon delivered to your door each month

• Informative notes on all bacon selections
  
• Discounts on The Grateful Palate bacon products and bacons
  
• Bacon of the Month Club Membership Card
  
• The bacon strip- our members only monthly bacon comic strip
  
• The Bacon of the Month Club Pig Ballpoint Pen
  
• A little Rubber Toy Pig
  
• One free Bacon Tee-shirt
  
• A recipe each month using the bacon selection
  
• Discounts on suggested wines and products in recipes
  
• And a pig nose!

Read more here.

Who fucking cares about your divorce on Facebook

“We are getting a divorce. It has been in the works for a while now,” Lauren, a 36-year-old mother of two who resides in a small town outside of Austin, wrote on her Facebook page at the beginning of July, about her husband of 13 years. (Lauren is not her real name.) She was commenting on a response -- a single, stunned “Huh?” -- to the change in her relationship status. “Lauren went from being ‘married’ to being ‘single,'” read the dry, cold, unsympathetic recitation of fact. The infamous little broken-heart icon, the fixture you hope that, like some medical alert bracelet, you will never have to wear, fluttered up to hang alongside it. This is how life’s big moments unfold on Facebook: Epic emotions are reduced to emoticons.

=)

Read more here.

The Vatican: We're kinda sorry...oh look, gay people!

I mean, other religions are worse than us, and it's the gays fault anyway, duh...

In a defiant and provocative statement, issued following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the Holy See said the majority of Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not paedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males.

…The statement said that rather than paedophilia, it would "be more correct" to speak of ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males.

"Of all priests involved in the abuses, 80 to 90% belong to this sexual orientation minority which is sexually engaged with adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17."

Read more here.

Mayor Miller vandalizes city with bad art

Mayor David Miller convoked the press yesterday to Wellesley Street, just east of the subway entrance, where he pulled back a blue cloth to reveal a cheerful painting of a bicycle parked in front of a fruit stand...

..."These works will provide pedestrians with interesting art, and protect the utility boxes against vandalism and graffiti. They are interesting, vibrant and fun."

What he means to say is: "This will prevent ordinary citizens from expressing themselves publicly, which as we all know is the sole right of governments and corporations. Know your place, people..."

Sheep: Can I haz condo?

Who needs to protect neighbours when developers are luring condo buyers offering an incentive to ensure someone finds a home inside the $12-million penthouse: an $800,000 Rodin sculpture...

Bazis International's failure to get its much-hyped One Bloor tower off the ground might have indicated otherwise, but most evidence suggests Toronto's remarkable flurry of luxury condo projects appears to have survived the recession.

The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton opened its new presentation office on the weekend, one of more than a dozen luxury condo projects in Toronto that continue to generate interest in the face of economic instability.

Read more here.

A sonic cannon

Not from a movie...

“Other law enforcement agencies will be watching to see how it was used,” said Nate Harper, the Pittsburgh police bureau chief. “It served its purpose well.”



Read more here.

Université du Québec and the Black Eyed Peas

Countdown to some asshole corporate lawyer claiming copyright violation in 3...2...

Steve Friedman, 62, radio talk-show host

I used to listen to Steve Friedman's late night movie radio show in Montreal in the 80's. I have a recording of him interviewing Al Lewis (Grandpa from the Munsters).

Steve Friedman, 62, of Malvern, a talk-radio host and film expert, died of kidney disease at home Sunday just hours after completing his Mr. Movie program on WPHT-AM (1210).

On Saturday nights for the last 10 years, Mr. Friedman joined Steve Ross and Jimmy Murray on their Remember When radio show from 10 to midnight, and then continued with his own show until 1 a.m. Previously, he had stayed on the air all night.

Read more here and here.

Lily Allen: Idiot of the Day

Yesterday it was revealed that, despite her calls for tougher anti-piracy legislation, Lily Allen herself created illicit mixtapes full of copyrighted music and made them available to the public. Today, after having rationalized why it is okay for her to pirate music, she killed her pro-copyright blog because “the abuse was getting too much.”

In a few dozen articles on her new blog, Lily Allen complained how illegal file-sharing is bankrupting the music industry. Unfortunately for her she forgot to remove some of her old mixtapes from LilyAllenMusic.com, which revealed that she’s not the saint she claimed to be.

However, just a few hours after we posted the article, Lily explained that she’s not a pirate but simply didn’t know any better.

“I made those mixtapes 5 years ago, I didn’t have a knowledge of the workings of the music industry back then…,” she responded.

What she probably meant to say is that she had no clue about copyright before her income depended on it.

Read more here.

Cronkite records destroyed by FBI

Who wants history cluttered up with little things like facts?

The FBI destroyed its files on former CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite two years ago under a policy that has been criticized by researchers for allowing potentially valuable records to be wiped out.

A search of the agency's main index of the subjects of FBI investigations found some records tied to Cronkite's name were destroyed in October 2007, the FBI said in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by USA TODAY. Cronkite's death in July at age 92 made any FBI files about him available for release under the federal law.

Read more here.

Motorcyclist billed for accident with sheep

Moray Ferguson was sent a bill for £200 by Aberdeenshire council after his bike hit a sheep which had wandered into his path on the unclassified Cuminestown to Fyvie Road.

The 47-year-old was flung from his black Honda Fireblade motorbike which burst into flames, and suffered a broken hip socket, pelvis and collarbone, seven cracked ribs and a collapsed lung in the accident.

The fire caused the road surface to melt, leaving it with a ''bubbly'' texture covering approximately six feet by six feet where the accident happened, a neighbouring farmer said.

The sheep was also killed in the accident, which happened on July 4 this year.

After five weeks of hospital treatment, the father-of-two returned home, but was shocked when Aberdeenshire council sent him their invoice to cover the cost of repairing the road surface.

Read more here.

Gaylord

Esquire stands up for the idiots

Can We Stop Being Such Snobs Already?

When lowbrow reaches out to a mass audience, the critical mass stops mattering. In the wake of erudite Emmy winners and the dawn of schlock movie success, a manifesto for our collective acceptance of junk culture.

Read more here.

Largest hoard of Anglo Saxon treasure found

An amateur treasure hunter prowling English farmland with a metal detector stumbled upon the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered, a massive collection of gold and silver crosses, sword decorations and other items, British archaeological experts said Thursday.

One said the treasure would revolutionize understanding of the Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic people who ruled England from the fifth century until the Norman conquest in 1066. Another said the find would rank among Britain's best-known historic treasures.

Read more here.

Kitteh dwinks fwom phauwset

Kirk Cameron: Idiot of the Day

'Open internet' rules criticised

More reasons to hate your ISP.

Mobile providers have said that US proposals to ensure all traffic on the internet is treated equally should not be applied to wireless traffic...

...Providers claim a two-tiered system is essential for the future vitality of the net.


Read more here.

Rogers plays the shell game with consumers...again

Rogers Communications Inc. said Monday it will no longer charge new cellphone customers the much-maligned system access fee, which for years has ruffled the feathers of consumers groups that claim it was designed purely to pad the bottom lines of carriers.

In its place will be a first for the industry; new subscribers will have to pay what Rogers calls a "government regulatory recovery fee" of between $2.50 and $3.50 per month, depending on the province...

...Rogers said the new scheme would have created a revenue shortfall were it not for the company raising prices on basic voice plans for new customers. For example, a $25-a-month plan will now cost $30.

Read more here.

Montreal: Most corrupt city in North America

Well duh.

You could say the ethics and "time for a cleanup" theme already evident in the Montreal municipal election campaign, which officially debuts today, was ordained by history.

Every 30 years or so, for more than a century, a tale of corruption has prompted an official probe. The probe, in turn, has led to a report damning the municipal administration. The report then spawns calls for a broom to sweep out city hall.

It happened after the conclusions of the provincial inquiry into the 1976 Olympic Games cost overruns were made public in 1980, and it happened with the release of corruption probe results in 1954, 1925 and 1905.

Read more here.

On a related note, Developers 1, Public 0. Read more here.

Rogers does block Skype on iPhone

In April I received this comment from someone claiming to represent Rogers, regarding rumours they would block Skype on the iPhone:

"I'm in the communications group at Rogers and wanted to respond to your post. Rogers Wireless doesn't block Skype. If and when the Skype app is available in the Canadian iTunes store, our customers will be able to use it. "

Turns out this is carefully worded bullshit. Skype is indeed blocked on the 3G network, due to "contractual obligations", but can be used only on wifi.

Never trust a spokesperson.

Teabaggers on Parade

The film makers are picking the worst cases here, but omg.

The rest of the world is not so amused. Read more here.

Prehistoric man 'used crude sat nav'

Not sure I buy this, but it's an interesting theory.

They were able to travel between settlements with pinpoint accuracy thanks to a complex network of hilltop monuments.

These covered much of southern England and Wales and included now famous landmarks such as Stonehenge and The Mount.

New research suggests that they were built on a connecting grid of isosceles triangles that 'point' to the next site.

Many are 100 miles or more away, but GPS co-ordinates show all are accurate to within 100 metres.

This provided a simple way for ancient Britons to navigate successfully from A to B without the need for maps.

Read more here.

Bloor 1 phase 2

Condoland is all atwitter with news that the Bloor 1 land will have a condo after all. Oh Joy, let the Lord be Praised!

Despite the issues surrounding the Bazis project, Mr. Juriansz says he still expects the new condo tower to be massively popular, though perhaps not to the same fever pitch.

"I don't think it will create less interest, but I don't think you're going to have the hype," Mr. Juriansz said, noting Bazis developer Michael Gold was a "visionary" whose unique design created a "stampede" among buyers.

"My clients went crazy when they saw that design," Mr. Juriansz said. "That was all part of the hype of Michael Gold. He created something spectacular that people just did not want to miss. They wanted to be part of it."

Once bitten, twice shy? Nawww, these are condo buyers we're talking about here. Offer something new and shiny and they'll come a'runnin', pocket books at the ready...

Read more here.

WTF? Ben Hur Live

Welcome to Ben Hur Live.

The stage extravaganza - based on the 1880 novel by Lewis Wallace which in turn engendered the Charlton Heston screen epic - arrives in London on 17 September with the world premiere at the O2.

The performances - lasting just under two hours - will re-enact the famous vengeance and redemption tale set at the time of Christ.

Read more here.

Phil Gingrey should lose his job

Another caring, compassionate American conservative. Thank goodness we here in Canada aren't governed by such cold hearted bastards...oh wait..

Obama Wan Kanobi

Horse Defenestrations

Audio of Obama calling Kanye West a jackass

Fuck History, build more condos

[Tocondo] City councillors voted yesterday to overrule planning staff and approve demolition of the Royal Canadian Military Institute on University Avenue for a 42-storey condo building.

City staff noted the tower, which would have 210 one-bedroom and 105 bachelor units, is five times the size permitted by the zoning and has just nine parking spaces, which "is not considered appropriate."

Read more here.

Microsoft's Bing targets illiterate Americans

Shucks Clem, look at all the pruddy pictures!

Software giant Microsoft has introduced "visual search" to its Bing search engine to try to further set itself apart from market-leader Google.

The new feature will allow users to browse results using pictures instead of text.

Visual search will initially concentrate on four main areas: travel, health, leisure and shopping.

Read more here.

CNN: Iraqi shoe thrower is "unrepentant"...BBC: "tortured"

CNN never mentions the T word. What a surprise!

Read more from CNN here, and BBC here

Update: CNN has changed the story to cover the torture report. There is hope yet.

The UnDeer Lives!

Gregory [My original tape was a dub from the broadcast cart at WLAP-AM in Lexington] has sent along audio proof of the Undeer's existence! Actual 1970's radio ads. Take that Wikipedia...











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Kanye West: Idiot of the Day

The lost of civility in American social discourse continues apace.

Moments after [country star Taylor] Swift won the MTV VMA for best female video for "You Belong With Me," West appeared onstage and interrupted her speech. Swift was in the midst of talking about the difficulty country artists face in crossing over on MTV when West declared that the award should have gone to Beyoncé for her "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)."

Throughout the remainder of the night, the VMA crowd at New York's Radio City Music Hall let West hear it, booing loudly anytime his name was mentioned. Pink, a performer on the telecast, took to her Twitter, and blasted Kanye -- its R-rated language prevents us from linking to it.

Read more here.

Fucking Disney to fucking remake fucking Yellow Submarine

A 3D remake of The Beatles' 1968 film Yellow Submarine has been confirmed, Disney Studios has announced.

It will incorporate the 16 Beatles songs and recordings from the original animated film.

Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook said the new film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis using the same motion-capture effects employed in Polar Express.

Robert fucking Zemeckis.

Kill me now.

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Assholes of the Future

Not too bright child at today's teabagathon, dipping their balls into the gaping maw of ignorance.

His sign? "Do I "look" like I want to "serve" in Obama's Nazi Youth Militia? Arrest our Communist, Racist, Facsist, Lying, President Now for Treason!!"

A soaring intellect in the making...

Apple, restore the Green Dot in iTunes

The latest update of iTunes, v9, has changed the functionality of the green dot. Where it used to toggle between the mini player and full window, now only a 3 key combination will do this.

BOOOOOO!!!!!!

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Sotomayor questions corporate personhood

As anyone with a brain should question it.

In her first appearance as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor questioned the concept of corporate personhood, which endows corporations with constitutional rights that persons enjoy.

The Wall Street Journal reported, regarding the oral arguments over Citizens United, that "Justice Sotomayor went further, suggesting that the court's error was not in upholding limits on corporate speech, but its far earlier decisions that first granted corporations the legal status of persons."

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34,000-Year-Old Twine Woven by Ancient Humans Discovered

Humans who lived 34 thousand years ago in a cave in the Republic of Georgia were making clothing from dyed, woven fibers. Scientists who discovered the fibers say they are the oldest known examples of human-made cloth and rope.

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The Arlington Independent School District: Hypocrites of the Day

"Hypocrites" is the nicest thing you can say about them...

The Arlington Independent School District in Texas decided not to show President Obama’s address to students live yesterday because it reportedly didn’t want to interrupt its regularly scheduled lesson plans. However, the district has now decided to bus its students off-campus on Sept. 21 to hear President Bush speak:

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glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com

Or not. Produce the documents Glen, and put this controversy to rest!

It's got him in a tizzy tho...

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Thatcher: Keep that wall up

Thatcher to Gorbachev, 1989:

The reunification of Germany is not in the interests of Britain and Western Europe. It might look different from public pronouncements, in official communiqué at Nato meetings, but it is not worth paying ones attention to it. We do not want a united Germany. This would have led to a change to post-war borders and we can not allow that because such development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security...

...I can say that the President of the United States is of the same position. He sent me a telegram to Tokyo in which he asked me directly to tell you that the United States would not do anything that might put at risk the security of the Soviet Union or perceived by the Soviet society as danger. I am fulfilling his request.

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Vegemite doesn't want you linking to them

You are also prohibited from linking the Site to another website in any way whatsoever.

Now I know why it tastes so bad..

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Idiots

Harper must never get a majority

God help us if this man ever gets full power.

Thank God Simon Cowell wasn't around in the 60's

Simon Cowell says Ringo Starr would have scuppered The Beatles' chances of winning 'The X Factor'. The pop impresario says he would have had no qualms about turning The Fab Four down, because drummer Starr wasn't talented or good looking enough. Asked if he'd have taken The Beatles on if they auditioned for the show, Cowell quipped: "No, we would have said, ‘We'll take those three [John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison] but probably lose the drummer.’ Ringo, I'm afraid, we would have said is ‘bad news’."

Mark Whicker: Idiot of the Day

So called journalist and sports writer Mark Whicker thought making light of Jaycee Dugard's 18 year kidnapping ordeal was a good idea.

Perhaps he and Zachary Quinto should make films together, they both seem to think the terrorizing of women is no big deal and should be mined for their comedy potential.

Read more here.

Rep. Joe Wilson: Today's Scum of the Earth

Unbelievable.

When cattle car makers design airplane interiors

Another innovation from designers bent on treating people like cattle.

...a solution [from Design Q] that entails a row of inward facing seats on each side of the aircraft plus two back-to-back rows down the middle resulting in a configuration whereby passengers are facing each other.

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Zachary Quinto: Stupendously Unfunny

HOSTAGE: A Love Story with Zachary Quinto from Zachary Quinto

If this makes you laugh, the technical term for you is "sick fuck".

Surely one of the most tasteless and hateful so called comedies ever made.

The Beatles come to iTunes - not

CA Assemblyman Michael Duvall: Hypocrite of the Day

Even God thinks this is bullshit

It does reenforce the idea what we are born suspecting stupid studies...People don't like wearing murderers sweaters, therefore they are born believing in God.

Yes, makes perfect sense..=/

Humans are programmed to believe in God because it gives them a better chance of survival, researchers claim.

A study into the way children's brains develop suggests that during the process of evolution those with religious tendencies began to benefit from their beliefs - possibly by working in groups to ensure the future of their community.

The findings of Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology at Bristol University, suggest that magical and supernatural beliefs are hardwired into our brains from birth, and that religions are therefore tapping into a powerful psychological force.

Read more here.

The Beatles remastered part 2

While things is mostly well and good with the Beatles remastered, not all is well in Pepperland.

High Points and Unmitigated Disasters

As these recordings have always been available in stereo, the surprises are not as big, but the pleasure comes from hearing the songs with greater range and depth.

The remastering continues to make the songs sparkle, with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" a beneficiary. The digital harshness of the 80's release is reduced, and the mix is now more psychedelic.

Other highlights include "Fool on the Hill" and "Baby You're a Rich Man"

The first great train wreck is "Birthday". Remember when that song used to rock? Not anymore, with the vocals pushed too far to the front. This song has suffered.

As has "It's All Too Much', with again the vocals pushed too far forward, and death by handclap.

"Helter Skelter" on the other hand jumps, as does "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" (if you are afraid of cowbells, run!)

"The Ballad of John and Yoko", though not a disaster, has been remixed to sound like a different song.

"Abbey Road" sounds great, if one ignores "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "Octopus's Garden", which no remaster could salvage.

One is also best to ignore "Let it Be" no matter what variation is offered...

People who love cement, advertisements and bad architecture love Dundas Square

One of Toronto's most hideous eyesores (aka Yonge-Dundas Square), get a glowing tribute from the National (aka Toronto) Post...it's "come of age" don't ya know. They must have installed a new billboard:

exciting things are happening in the square these days. Specifically, Citytv next month moves into a triangular building at the east edge of the square, and Omni television moves in a month later; in all, 360 television staff will inhabit the reimagined five-storey space.

Citytv can take credit for bringing cool to Queen Street West, in its building at John Street, and it seems a fair bet they will add some sparkle to this spot.

Read more here.

Ivar the Boneless

Montreal STM Bus Driver: Idiot of the Day

At least now he knows how to say "Quelle heure est-il?"

Muhammad Ahmad Munir, a master's student from Pakistan studying at McGill University, was kicked off the No. 66 bus at 6:45 Friday morning after he asked the driver what the time was in English.

"I got on the bus and I didn't have a watch, so I asked the driver for the time," he said. "She started talking in French and I didn't understand what she was saying."

The 32-year-old native of Islamabad came to Montreal a few months ago to enroll in a master's degree program in Islamic studies at McGill.

After twice telling the bus driver he didn't understand French, she responded in English, saying: "I don't speak English."

"I then told her that she just showed me that she does speak English, and that's when she really got angry."

Munir said when he insisted on being served in English, the bus driver pressed a button to phone police, and proceeded to tell all the passengers to get off the bus.

Read more here.

The Beatles remastered part 1

I'm looking through you
Where did you go?
I thought I knew you
What did I know?
You don't look different
but you have changed.
I'm looking through you
You're not the same.

I've had the chance to listen (using a nice set of noise cancelling Bose headphones) to most of the Beatles remastered (stereo) releases and here are some early thoughts.

If you're a fan and familiar with the songs, these releases will be a delight. There is many new sounds to hear for the first time. If you are new to the Beatles, they've never sounded better (overall. There are exceptions).

Please Please Me

The first song you are greeted with is "I Saw Her Standing There", and the first thing you will say is "The Beatles never had that much bass" (one gets the feeling Sir Paul has been standing over the new engineers saying "Boost the bass!").

The Beatles are loud again.

The separation may bug newer listeners, as the "stereo" here is the same kind that used to show up in original "simulated" stereo Capital record vinyl releases of the early to mid 60's. The rhythm section firmly tucked into the left channel, vocals in the right (which is probably a reflection of the source recordings. Two songs, "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" show up here in mono, even on the stereo CD).

Once you attune yourself to the new low end, you notice that the high end has not suffered, but is cleaner and crisper than it's even been.

Songs that have always been flat panels, to be "viewed" from the outside, are now 3d. You can now wander around inside the songs, inspecting its parts as never before possible.

No big surprises here though, the songs don't sound wildly different from the originals…yet something is subtly different.

With the Beatles

Same separation here as on "Please Please Me", but are some stand outs.

"You Really Got a Hold on Me" - the new clarity here is wonderful.
"Money (That's What I Want) - with Lennon here in centre channel and the overall mix more balanced, this song thumps.

A Hard Day's Night

The overall production is now more balanced, as these songs seem to have made with stereo in mind.

Beatle records have always been not just great songs, but those little moments within the song, be it an unexpected tambourine to a random voice, and now instruments and vocals you always knew were there are now all polished up and shiny for you to inspect.

Turn this CD up and enjoy the thunder, it's a close to Beatlemania as you're going to get.

Beatles for Sale

This CD is a dramatic improvement over the muddy 80's CD version. It's also one of the Beatles more reverb crazy releases, and one of their most depressing.

The new stereo lightens up the mood a bit, and all the janglly guitars sparkle (listen to "Honey Don't", and note the chord sustain of the guitar in the right channel during the verse. If that was there, I'd never heard it before).

Unfortunately, no amount of restoration can save "Mr. Moonlight", one of the top 5 worst Beatle songs in existence.

Crank up the volume and marvel at "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey" and "Eight Days a Week".

Help!

The title song is still the murky mess it always was, yet cleaner at the same time.

It's on the CD we get the first of potentially Lucas sized revisions (I have a lurking suspicion of the use of Autotune in the earlier CDs.

As well, how many mistakes have been quietly removed? Certainly "Paperback Writer" has be "corrected", and possibly "Ticket to Ride" as well).

"You've Got to Hide your Love Away" is lower pitched than the 80's version, but also thankfully much brighter. It may be closer to the original recording, but sounds very different to my ears.

Again, other than that, the other songs are all sparkly but not too different from earlier versions. "Another Girl" and "You Going to Lose That Girl" retain their 'recorded under the highway' sound.

Rubber Soul

This album is notorious for the brutal separation of mid 60's stereo recordings. It seems here they have softened it, the song "What Goes On" being the worse offender, while retaining Ringo in the left it sounds more smoothed out.

One wishes they had restored the false start to "I'm Looking Through You"…

Yet again, fans of janglly guitars will be in heaven, with "If I Needed Someone" a fave of mine.

Revolver

The issue of what the original intent of the Beatles was on any given recording comes up here again:

"Eleanor Rigby" - the voices are pushed to the front now?

The new production of "Got to Get You into My Life" makes the horns jump, and listen for the vocal hums in the right channel.

"Tomorrow Never Knows" suffers here, as the production is now too clear and the sound effects no longer rise and fall out of the background, but come in and out much like the samples they are.

Part II coming...

Europe's oldest stone hand axes

Europe’s Stone Age has taken an edgy turn. A new analysis finds that human ancestors living in what is now Spain fashioned double-edged stone cutting tools as early as 900,000 years ago, almost twice as long ago as previous estimates for this technological achievement in Europe.

If confirmed, the new dates support the idea that the manufacture and use of teardrop-shaped stone implements, known as hand axes, spread rapidly from Africa into Europe and Asia beginning roughly 1 million years ago

Read more here.

Toronto Bus Torcher: Today's Dimmest Criminal

Now the world knows who he is.

At least it was a Nova bus.

Ancient wall found in Jerusalem

A 3,700-year-old wall has been discovered in east Jerusalem, Israeli archaeologists say.

The structure was built to protect the city's water supply as part of what dig director Ronny Reich described as the region's earliest fortifications.

The 26-ft (8-m) high wall showed the Canaanite people who built it were a sophisticated civilisation, he said.

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DDB Brasil: Worst Ad ever

It may be a fake, based on a print ad this agency did...or not

Update: DDB Brasil had the first posting removed due to "copyright violation". Kinda proves it's theirs, doesn't it?

Read more here. Brasil

Azerbaijan government makes ass of themselves

Two bloggers from Azerbaijan are facing up to five years in jail after posting a video of a donkey giving a news conference on YouTube.

Shortly after the video was released, Andnan Hajizade and Emin Milli were held on hooliganism charges following a scuffle in a restaurant.

Their lawyer says the arrests were politically motivated.

But authorities insist they are investigating a simple criminal case.

In the video, the donkey extols the benefits of living in Azerbaijan and praises the government for its positive attitude towards donkeys.

The Psychotic Hour presents The Divine Comedy trailer 2

Call security, there's an old lady in the DJ booth

From Madonna's new video "Celebration".

She's forgotten that her songs used to be coupled with good videos. This is not a good video.

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South Carolina: Andre Bauer and the State of Hypocrisy

Seems the Lt. Governor may have some 'xplainin' to do.

His record? The bachelor is a right wing Christian conservative. He's done everything from defend the state issuing "I believe" license plates (complete with a cross on them) to defending the right of schools to use corporal punishment. In the presidential election he supported Mike Huckabee....

...I [Mike Rogers, author of "Outrage"] am now able to confirm a rumor that has circulated in South Carolina for years. South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer is a closeted anti-gay politician who stands to replace Mark Sanford should Sanford resign or be impeached (a real possibility as Sanford is caught in his own sex scandal.)

The louder the protest, the bigger the Queen.

Read more here.

Carrie Prejean sues to maintain reputation as whiney bitch

Carrie Prejean has filed a lawsuit against Miss California USA officials who stripped her of her title, accusing them of libel and religious discrimination for her views on same-sex marriage.

"We will make the case that her title was taken from her solely because of her support of traditional marriage," her attorney, Charles LiMandri, said in a news release...

...[Miss California USA officials Keith Lewis] said it was for "contract violations," including missed public appearances.

He said then it wasn't one thing Prejean did, but "many, many, many things."

Read more here.