SQUIRRELS IN THE NEWS: Alert! Power lines from America to Britain under siege by shock seeking squirrels!

Associated News archives...

SQUIRRELS: IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, ZAP 'EM!

These cute but pesky rodents are a leading cause of unplanned outages. They chew through power lines, fry themselves by completing electrical circuits and generally wreak havoc on power grids.

Utility companies, always on the hunt for new ways to combat animals, may have found an inexpensive solution to what has long been a vexing problem.

The ZAPshield is an $11 polymer disc that arrived on the market some three years ago and delivers a non-lethal, electrostatic jolt to any varmint touching it. In Pennsylvania, PECO and PPL have both deployed the ZAPshield. Philadelphia-based PECO also uses an older, similar technology made of metal.

The idea is to give the squirrels enough of a shock to keep them away from sensitive power equipment, but not enough of one to hurt them. Inventor Jim Rauckman compares the feeling of getting zapped by the ZAPshield to walking across a carpet on a dry day and then touching someone.

"It teaches them not to be up there," he said.

image from eclectech.com UK

FROM: expressandstar.com Britain's largest Online Publication...

Squirrel puts radio off the air

Presenters at a radio station based in Kidderminster were cut off from the airwaves on Saturday for three hours – by a squirrel.

The hapless creature somehow managed to get into the transmitter site and nibbled through a wire which caused a short in a power circuit breaker. It resulted in the station, 107.2FM The Wyre, based on the Stourport Road, going off air for three hours.

Station boss Pete Wagstaff said he had realised something was wrong when he heard the station go off air early on Saturday morning.

He said: “I called the transmitter service provider and they said it was a power problem. They called me back about three hours later to say the power failure was the result of a squirrel. At first I thought the guy was nuts but he explained exactly how it happened and I didn’t like to ask what became of the squirrel.”

 

 

It's about time that we quit bailing out bums from AIG... and let the rats sink or swim!

"Like millions of other Americans I'm wondering why we continue to pour money down the "rat hole" to keep AIG afloat. These clowns have given each other raises from the taxpayer bailout! They should be lined up and whipped for the lousy jobs they did for AIG! Instead, the bloodsuckers come away with our money!

I have a hard time believing all of the so-called reasons for bailing these bastards out. When will this stop? How much deeper will the AIG CEO's dig into the taxpayer's wallets to satisfy their greed! The answer is; for as long as we let them. Obama says they had to do it...but it appears to me that a lot of politics were involved in rewarding these thieves."

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST TODAY...

By Brady Dennis

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 16, 2009

In the six months since the government's bailout of insurance giant American International Group, a rescue that has become increasingly costly and contentious, one question has loomed above all others: Where did the money go?

To read the whole article click here.

photo via Reuters

Even baby shampoo isn't safe anymore! What's next?

NEWS FROM THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE...

It looks like one of the oldest baby shampoos - and most used - has two chemicals that cause cancer! Who knew? My wife even uses baby shampoo because it's gentle on her hair. Now, parents have something new to worry about while taking care of their babies.

The Chicago Tribune picked up the story from The Washington Post's reporter Lyndsey Layton:

"More than half the baby shampoo, lotions and other infant-care products analyzed by a health advocacy group were found to contain trace amounts of two chemicals that are believed to cause cancer, the organization said Thursday.
Some of the biggest names on the market, including Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo and Baby Magic lotion, tested positive for 1,4-dioxane or formaldehyde or both, the non-profit Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reported.
The chemicals, both characterized as probable carcinogens by the Environmental Protection Agency, are not added intentionally to products and appear to be byproducts of the manufacturing process."

To read more about this click here.

Step right up folks and see the amazing Insect Circus!

Here is a cool link to the Traveling Museum and Emporium of "The Insect Circus", apparently a fine British establishment since1964. It features irresistible attractions such as "a bearded ladybug" or the "Liberty Beetle"

Splendor in the Sky: these rare photos are stunning!

 

Letchik Lekha" is a Russian commercial pilot who also happens to be an avid photographer.

On his site you can find many rare shots of airplanes, the land below and the sky above.
("Letchik" means "the pilot" in Russian, so his real name is kept secret for now... perhaps because of airline regulations)

Resources to research the origins of Friday the 13th

So, here is a quick history of what has happened on Friday the 13th in the past.

- Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut album was released in the UK on Friday, February 13, 1970.
- The “Friday the 13th Storm” struck Buffalo, New York on October 13, 2006.
- Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925
- Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926

More Friday the 13th.

- The remake of the original Friday the 13th was released on Friday, February 13, 2009.
- The asteroid 99942 Apophis will make its close encounter on Friday, April 13, 2029. Apophis is an asteroid, which may strike earth in 2036, according to NASA.
Apophis is also known as Apep, the Destroyer, Apophis is the Egyptian god of evil and destruction who dwelled in eternal darkness For more info about asteroid 99942

Random Facts:

-The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia.

What Is Superstition?Origin of Friday the 13th SuperstitionsThe Phobia Institute

Resources for Unlucky

MythologyFear of the Number 13More Fear of the Number 13

Resources: Unlucky Friday

History of FridayFolklore of FridayFriday, an Unlucky Day

Related Articles

• Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky

'Vampires' unearthed in Venice plague grave by researchers

DID YOU EVER WONDER WHERE THE LEGEND OF VAMPIRES BEGAN? IT SURE WASN'T BRAUM STOKERS COUNT DRACULA BOOK. PEOPLE REALLY BELIVED THEY WERE UNDEAD MONSTERS WHO SUCKED HUMAN BLOOD. VAMPIRES ARE POPULAR IN TODAY'S CULTURE. THERE WAS A RECENT MOVIE ABOUT VAMPIRES - THE TWILIGHT - WHICH ROMANTIZED THE BLOODSUCKERS. HERE'S AN INTERESTING REPORT FROM RUETERS...

By Daniel Flynn ROME (Reuters) - Italian researchers believe they have found the remains of a female "vampire" in Venice, buried with a brick jammed between her jaws to prevent her feeding on victims of a plague which swept the city in the 16th century. Daniel Flynn Rome (reuters) - Italian Researchers Believe They Have Found The Remains Of A Female "vampire" In Venice, Buried With A Brick Jammed Between Her Jaws To Prevent Her Feeding On Victims Of A Plague Which Swept The City In The 16th Century. – Thu Mar 12, 1:19 pm ET

Matteo Borrini, an anthropologist from the University of Florence, said the discovery on the small island of Lazzaretto Nuovo in the Venice lagoon supported the medieval belief that vampires were behind the spread of plagues like the Black Death.

"This is the first time that archaeology has succeeded in reconstructing the ritual of exorcism of a vampire," Borrini told Reuters by telephone. "This helps ... authenticate how the myth of vampires was born."

Read more about vampires here. Image via www.fanpop.com/spots/vampires/images/4076279

Have you ever been to the "Goat Races" in Tabago?

THEY'RE THE THOUROUGHBREDS OF THE CARRIBEAN...THEY ARE GOATS WHO RUN FAST AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN WITH THEM!

THESE JOCKIES RUN BEHIND THEIR STEEDS WHILE ENCOURAGING THEM TO KICK UP THEIR HEELS.

SOUNDS KINDA LIKE A CERTAIN RACE WE HAVE IN AMERICA EVERY FOUR YEARS BETWEEN THE ELEPHANTS AND THE DONKEYS...

In Tobago, goat racing is serious business! Introduced in 1925, goat racing as an Easter Tuesday activity, has a long history. This event is surrounded by pageantry and pomp. There are stables, owners, trainers, jockeys and of course the steeds. Racing goats are very carefully selected and trained. They must be energetic and long-legged. The training of the jockey is equally rigorous.

They must be able to match their goat's pace during an actual race over a 100m stretch of turf.

Once they are assigned to their respective lanes, the goats are paraded with commentary about the race favorites, before being taken to the box.

I remember when I was a kid my Aunt and Uncle had a big old Billy Goat named Stonewall Jackson.

He might not have been a racing goat, but I thought he was pretty fast when he chased me!

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                          photos by © Claus Qvist Jessen

Famous investigative journalist, Sy Hersh, drops a bombshell at University of Minnesota event

HERE'S AN INTERESTING ITEM FROM ALTERNET TODAY:

Investigative journalist Sy Hersh dropped a bombshell revelation on Monday about international killings ordered under Bush.

At a “Great Conversations” event at the University of Minnesota [Monday] legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh may have made a little more news than he intended by talking about new alleged instances of domestic spying by the CIA, and about an ongoing covert military operation that he called an “executive assassination ring.”

Click here to read the rest of this revealing talk to university students and staff.

Google image via : www.saffronpromotions.com/corporateevents/vie...

75-year-old Saudi woman to be whipped for letting in 2 deliverymen unrelated to her!

• FROM TRUTH DIGG THIS MORNING WE HAVE A DISTURBING ACCOUNT OF AN ELDERLY WOMAN WHO IS FACING A WHIPPING AND PRISON TIME...
• "For the crime of receiving two unrelated men in her home, a 75-year-old Saudi woman has been sentenced to 40 lashes and four months behind bars.
• Once again, a nation that is both one of America’s closest allies and brutally oppressive of women finds itself in an awkward light."

Google Image via Rueters

There's more than one way to make apple juice!

(via "The Red Green Show")

Police go "Phishing" at rock concert and arrest 200 fans!

The cops have come up with a new plan to bust people for drugs. They just attend concerts and shake fans down! The whole shakedown was overseen by the Hampton Police Division under a "multi-jurisdictional operation."

The return of Phish to the concert stage has been a welcome development for both fans of the jam band and police.

During a series of concerts last weekend in Hampton, Virginia, authorities arrested nearly 200 Phish fans, most for possession or distribution of narcotics (cops reported seizing $68,000 and illegal drugs with a purported street value of--exactly!--$1,213,882.80)."multi-jurisdictional operation" overseen by the Hampton Police Division.

image via thesmokinggun.com

I'm Back! Time to Blog and Roll.....

Look out traditional newspapers, Dave's back to blog! I've been going through withdrawals not being able to blog the last four days.

So much is happening in the world that I have to blog on it. It's time for opinions, snappy images, jokes, optical illusions, news items, and so much more.

I see my column last Sunday (3/8/09) has got people talking in cyberspace and that four different blogs have picked it up. One of those blogs, WatchPaul, seemed to think I was day-dreaming about pot legalization. Rose pointed out that my column was all "hearts and flowers" etc.

First off, I want to thank Rose, and everyone else, who gave input on my legalization column. The T-S Topix thread got a lot of responses to my column. Some people thought I was nuts. However, if you read those comments you'll notice that the majority seem to agree with my position on legalizing pot.

Not that that matters. When I give an opinion I expect people won't always agree with me. That's really okay. I just like having honest input, pro or con. Oh yeah...you may be right Rose...about me being all happy about the prospect of legalization. Should I have lengthened the column and talked about all the possible problems and side-effects of legalization?

I don't think so. I stayed on point for a reason. To make an impact. There's plenty of naysayers out there willing to conjure up all kinds of reasons why legalization wouldn't work. I hear what Rose is saying, and respect her opinion. I hope that is a two-way street.

Time to open the door to my muse for the day...it's great being back!

Google image

I'll be away from this blog for a a short period of time! From Today - 3/6- until Wednesday morning - 3/11

I may be gone but don't let that stop you from checking out my archives. You're bound to find something interesting.

image via Google Images

The Ongoing Meltdown: RNC Member wants Steele to resign!

This interesting news from The Hill web site is going to provide the "talking heads" from both parties with plenty of ammo. Watching the GOP Party thrash around trying to find a new identity is almost painful to see. Who will emerge from this chaos carrying the Republican flag to victory in the next election? My guess is Rush Limbaugh after recent events exposed the GOPs slavish following of an entertainer-who just happens to be an conservative extremist who wants the country to fail unless his buddies get their way about whose going to run things. Steele probably isn't wacky enough for the confused elephant-worshippers. Stay tuned...

By Reid Wilson

Michael Steele should resign as Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, according to a committee member from North Carolina.
In an e-mail to fellow RNC members obtained by The Hill, Dr. Ada Fisher, North Carolina's national committeewoman, said Steele is "eroding confidence" in the GOP and that members of his transition team should encourage him to step aside. Fisher added Steele's personal e-mail address to the e-mail."I don't want to hear anymore [sic] language trying to be cool about the bling in the stimulus package or appealing to D.L. Hughley and blacks in a way that isn't going to win us any votes and makes us frankly appear to many blacks as quite foolish," Fisher wrote.

Click here to read the rest of this controversial column advocating recently-elected Republican Party Chair Steele to step down. AP/News Photo

Classic paintings meet Classic Horror in these artworks

 

Classic Masters paint Classic Horror, with a good dose of the pop-culture camp.
This is only a part of the larger series, located at Worth1000.com.

Vintage Consumer Packaging: products in their infancy

 

 

If you're interested in vintage kind of stuff then go to this web site where there's 912 products featured. It's kinda fun noodling around and reading the labels and recalling the ones you used to use when you were young.

Taipei Lottery: American lotteries should offer a prize like this...the peace would be priceless!

Boy wins rights to tropical island in lottery

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A 4-year-old boy has won the use of an uninhabited tropical island, with white sand beaches and clear turquoise waters, in a Taiwan lottery aimed at boosting spending during an economic downturn.

Officials said Yeh Chien-wei, who won the prize at Thursday's draw, will get exclusive rights to the tiny plot in the Taiwan Strait from May through September.

Penghu County, an offshore archipelago, will provide food, drinks, water and electricity to the boy. He has been quoted in local media saying he wants to play in the sea.

"Penghu has a lot of islands, and that one has water and electricity, so someone can really enjoy it," said county economic promotion official Lu Yan-chang, explaining why use of the island, which also has a cabin, was offered as a prize.

Counties elsewhere in Taiwan have offered cars, houses and other prizes to encourage locals to spend consumer vouchers worth T$3,600 ($103) that the government gave to every citizen in January to encourage spending to help boost the sagging economy.

Penghu, which comprises 64 islands, is known for its beautiful beaches and water sports.

According to the terms of the prize, the boy and up to seven family members can visit the island five times, for trips that last a maximum of three days.

(Reporting by Ralph Jennings, editing by Miral Fahmy)

Art via www.shafferfineart.com/The_Art_of_Walfrido.htm

One Man's Pork is another Man's Stimulus Package: See who is in Hog Heaven!

IT'S OINK TIME AGAIN... AS THE SENATORS WALLOW IN THEIR PERSONAL PORK PACKAGES! AFTER ALL OF OBAMA'S GRAND SPEECHES ABOUT ELIMINATING EARMARKS "BY GOING OVER THEM LINE-BY-LINE" THIS IS OUR REALITY...

By Richard Simon

The Los Angeles Times

''Reporting from Washington -- A massive spending bill expected to be approved by Congress this week is filled with more than 8,500 earmarks -- those pet projects that lawmakers love -- costing $7.7 billion.

Despite the tough economy, mounting federal budget deficit and pledges by President Obama and members of both parties to crack down on the practice, a number of lawmakers have defended their earmarks as important to the nation's economic recovery.'' Click here to see which state is in "Hog Heaven!"

pig image via Google Images

 

Republicans 'Rush' to apologize to their LimBoss!

  

I'm Sorry, Rush
"My intent was not to go after Rush - I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh..."
"I was maybe a little bit inarticulate... There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."
"I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking..." Michael Steele.

The parodies of Republicans saying their sorry to entertainer Russ Limbaugh are popping up all over the Web. Here's one site (set up by the Democrats) that allows you to craft your own letter to Russ.

images via Google Images