The most interesting part, however, was this video showing the way Wal-Mart has spread across the country like a microbe culture in a petri dish.

Video of Wal-Mart's spreading across USA like germ culture - Boing Boing

A county sheriff in Arizona is now field-testing a CDEX METH GUN, which is a $500 device that can spot even tiny quantities of methamphetamine residue on clothing and other surfaces using ultraviolet light. The gun goes into production later this year. Future improvements will detect other drugs, according to the company. Every evangelical church should have one!

I wonder if this was just some miscommunication. Someone asks for a Death Ray, and through word of mouth you end up with a Meth Ray.

The Raw Feed: Drug-Spotting 'Meth Gun' Now Being Tested

Manhattan resident Carol Ann Gotbaum, who is married to the stepson of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, died in a Phoenix airport holding cell while in police custody. Phoenix authorities believe she may have died while trying to get out of her handcuffs.

Carol Ann Gotbaum, 45, was trying to board a flight to Tucson at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, but arrived too late and was booked on another flight. A US Airways spokesman, Derek Hanna, said that "she became extremely irate, apparently running up and down the gate area." She also allegedly shouted at the gate attendant, so US Airways called security. From the Post:

Gotbaum ran into the responding officers after going back through the security checkpoint toward the main terminal, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a police spokesman.

"The officers were not able to calm Ms. Gotbaum and eventually arrested her for disorderly conduct."

Gotbaum resisted, and was "continually screaming" after being put into a holding cell, Hill said.

Officers checked on her every 15 minutes, but some five to 10 minutes after one check-in, he said, she had gone silent.

They then found that she wasn't breathing and attempts to revive her failed.

"It appeared as though Ms. Gotbaum had possibly tried to manipulate the handcuffs from behind her to the front, got tangled up in the process, and they ended up around her neck area," Hill said.

That last bit sounds a bit suspicious to me.

Gothamist: Gotbaum's Daughter-In-Law Dies in Phoenix Airport Custody

For standing on stage like a cowardly sack of crap, because in theory you more than anyone else there should have known what was going on in that room was illegal and would have had the power to stop it with a word but didn't.

FUCK YOU.

You're done. As far as a lot of Americans and myself are concerned, you will never be worthy of a vote again. You very obviously don't have our best interests in heart, and even more clearly don't give a crap what happens to your fellow man even when it's right in front of you.

John Kerry: FUCK YOU.

Gordon Ramsay was rushed to hospital recently after burning his private parts on a cooker.

The foul-mouthed chef got too close to his oven and accidentally singed his testicle - leaving him in excruciating pain.

I hope none of the places i eat have people who rub their balls on the cookery.

'Kitchen nightmare' as Gordon Ramsay burns his testicle | 24dash.com - Showbiz & Slap Dash

Using photos of oft-snapped subjects (like Notre Dame) scraped from around the Web, Photosynth (based on Seadragon technology) creates breathtaking multidimensional spaces with zoom and navigation features that outstrip all expectation.

This is fucking astounding.

We're not that far from pervasive social construction of reality.

TED | Talks | Blaise Aguera y Arcas: Jaw-dropping Photosynth demo (video)

Decius wrote:

Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours.
art.cat.ap.jpg

His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means the patient has less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," Dr. David Dosa said in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.

Creepy...

I wonder if there's a connection between people who are liked by cats and life expectancy. Or, maybe the cat is killing these people by spreading the illnesses from person to person.

RE: 'Furry Grim Reaper'

This rocks. some Australian guys build a Trojan Horse full of people dressed like Greek solders, and then try to get it past security into various places in Sydney. The only place that denies them access is the Turkish Consulate.

YouTube - Trojan Horse Test

The hicks in the farmlands in the US aren't quite so clever.

3d pyramid crop circle

Shots of the various self-made weapons seized by Russian army and police in Chechnya. There is even self-made machine gun.

Make magazine should do a special issue.

English Russia - Chechen Self-Made Weapons