Archive for January, 2011
Ass Reflexology Hoax Shames Integrative Medicine Conference
Readers may be familiar with the infamous Sokal Affair, where a physicist successfully published an utterly nonsensical article in Social Text, a journal of postmodern cultural studies, in order to demonstrate its poor editorial standards and idealogical biases.
Recently, professor of medical education John C. McLachlan pulled the same stunt on an “International Conference on Integrative Medicine” held in Jerusalem in 2010, where he was invited to present a paper on the promising new field of ass reflexology. He described his findings as such:
McLachlan's Ass Reflexology Map
Recently, as a result of my developmental studies on human embryos, I have discovered a new version of reflexology, which identifies a homunculus represented in the human body, over the area of the buttocks.
The homunculus is inverted, such that the head is represented in the inferior position, the left buttock corresponds to the right hand side of the body, and the lateral aspect is represented medially.
As…
Job Surge Boosts Economic Outlook
Employment has a slight rise, lay-offs see a decrease, college grads smile? Reuters reports:
A surprise surge in private-sector employment last month to its highest level on record provided the most bullish signal in months that the U.S. economy is on the mend.
“Sometimes numbers come as bolts from the blue; this is one of them,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
Private employers added 297,000 jobs in December, triple the median estimate by economists and up from the gain of 92,000 in November, an ADP Employer Services report, whose data goes back to 2000, showed on Wednesday.
The report undercut the prices of the U.S. Treasury securities, and helped the U.S. dollar gain against the yen and the euro. U.S. stocks opened lower though they did pare losses after the jobs news.
[Continues at Reuters]
China Vows To Help European Debt Crisis
2010 had Greece and Ireland receiving financial help from the Internatioanl Monetary Fund and Eurozone nations. 2011 has Spain, Germany and Britain finding help from Chinese investors as Vice Premier Li Keqiang began his European tour. Via The Jakarta Globe:
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang backed Europe in its sovereign debt battle on Wednesday, starting a three-nation tour by promising to buy more Spanish government bonds.
Li, widely tipped to be the next premier, delivered a significant vote of confidence given China’s world record foreign reserves of 2.648 trillion dollars (2.0 trillion euros), much of it in euros.
On his visit to Spain, Germany and Britain he is supporting Europe’s recovery efforts and seeking to soothe global market fears of a debt quagmire spreading from Greece and Ireland to Portugal and even Spain.
[Continues at The Jakarta Globe]
McDonald’s, CBS, Mazda, Microsoft Sued For Tracking Internet Users’ Histories
Always remember — the vacant, shining, plastic eyes of Ronald McDonald are upon you. A lawsuit claims that internet users’ browsing histories are tracked and shared among corporations that use the data to tailor advertising. Via MediaPost:
A New York resident who recently sued behavioral advertising network Interclick for allegedly violating her privacy by using history-sniffing technology has filed a related lawsuit against McDonald’s, CBS, Mazda and Microsoft.
In a complaint filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Sonal Bose alleges that McDonald’s and the other companies “acted in concert with Interclick,” to mine users’ Web surfing history for marketing purposes. “Defendants circumvented the privacy and security controls of consumers who, like plaintiff, had configured their browsers to prevent third-party advertisers from monitoring their online activities,” Bose alleges.
The lawsuit alleges that the companies violated the federal computer fraud law, wiretap law and other statutes. She…
World Food Prices At Record High
Photo: Fir0002 (CC)
This could be one of the big stories of 2011. Look for export restrictions, trade sanctions, riots and food resource wars to follow. CBC reports:
Global food prices rose to a record in December, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization reported Wednesday, surpassing highs in 2008 when rising prices sparked riots in 61 countries.
The FAO food price index — which measures monthly price changes in a basket of foods including cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar — averaged 215 in December, up for the sixth straight month, and its highest in nominal terms since 1990.
That was up from 206.0 points in November and passed the high of 213.5 in June 2008 during the food crisis at that time.
Its sugar price index soared to a record high of 398.4 points from 373.4 points in November.
The FAO’s cereals price index, which includes prices of main food staples such as wheat, rice and…
Republican Leader Asks Businesses Which Laws To Change
Curious who will be writing the legislation in Congress henceforth? Look towards the drug and oil industries. The House oversight committee’s incoming chairman, Republican Darrell Issa, has begun by sending out letters to 150 companies and business associations asking what laws are constraining growth and need to be changed. Politico reports:
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wants the oil industry, drug manufacturers and other trade groups and companies to tell him which Obama administration regulations to target this year.
The incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee – in letters sent to more than 150 trade associations, companies and think tanks last month – requested a list of existing and proposed regulations that would harm job growth.
“It was a broad net that we cast,” Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella said.
Bardella did not have a complete list of groups that received an inquiry from Issa or their responses. But a partial list obtained…
Far Right Supporting Terrorist Organization
Aaron Cynic writes at Diatribe Media:
Just before Christmas, The Washington Post reported that former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, former secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and two other former Bush officials took a trip to France, home of the “cheese eating surrender monkeys,” to demand President Obama take the MEK (Mujaheddin-e Khalq) off the FTO list.
The MEK supported Saddam Hussein in Iraq, killed U.S. soldiers in the ’70s in Iran and has been known to “routinely aim its attacks at government buildings in crowded cities.” Rudy, Tom and friends want the MEK cleared off the list because they wish to depose the current Iranian regime. In other words, the MEK engaged in terroristic activities — some in support of America’s enemies and some which killed American soldiers – but that’s water under the bridge because the hard right needs someone to do the dirty work.
Chupacabra Shot Dead In Kentucky?
Perhaps, although the truth may be more mundane. A man in Kentucky’s Nelson County shot and killed a bizarre, hairless animal after it emerged from the woods as “he feared what it was, since he did not recognize it.” Naturally, local residents are now letting forth with Chupacabra claims, WAVE 3 News reports:
Has a mythical creature made its way to Kentucky? Some people seem to think so, after a Nelson County man came across a creature with grayish, wrinkly skin and no fur.
Mark Cothren shot and killed an animal on Dec. 18 because he said he feared what it was, since he did not recognize it. He said the animal walked from the woods onto his front yard around 3 p.m. Cothren lives on Mount Carmel Church Road in Lebanon Junction.
“I was like: ‘every animal has hair, especially this
time of year!’ What puzzled me is how something like that could survive…
U.S. Bee Deaths Caused By EPA Approved Pesticide
Could this be the answer to the mysterious case of the disappearing bees? It could certainly be one reason for colony collapse. Report from Fast Company:
The world honey bee population has plunged in recent years, worrying beekeepers and farmers who know how critical bee pollination is for many crops. A number of theories have popped up as to why the North American honey bee population has declined–electromagnetic radiation, malnutrition, and climate change have all been pinpointed. Now a leaked EPA document reveals that the agency allowed the widespread use of a bee-toxic pesticide, despite warnings from EPA scientists.
The document, which was leaked to a Colorado beekeeper, shows that the EPA has ignored warnings about the use of clothianidin, a pesticide produced by Bayer that mainly is used to pre-treat corn seeds. The pesticide scooped up $262 million in sales in 2009 by farmers, who also use the substance on canola,…
LBJ Got His Johnson Out At Every Opportunity
Cracked.com has a story about “6 Presidential Secrets Your History Teacher Didn’t Mention,” and Number 6 is a doozy:
Lyndon Johnson Was a Dong-Waving Sex Machine
Johnson was a sexual beast, and also fond of (literally) waving his dick around.
While other unfaithful presidents were satisfied with little affairs here and there, Johnson’s bevy of babes was referred to by his male aides as a harem (he was said to be jealous of Kennedy’s womanizing ways and wanted to top him). Johnson would make passes at secretaries, and it was known that any who accepted would be promoted to private secretary, two words that in this context should probably have air quotes around them anytime they are uttered. By the time he was done, virtually all of his secretaries, plus his two mistresses, got the Johnson Treatment.
He then tasked the Secret Service with keeping his philandering from his wife, but it obviously did not do a…
Land For First Discovered ‘Earth-Like Replacement’ on Sale on eBay
Start your bidding now. Via NatGeo News:
The alien planet Gliese 581g set off a firestorm of controversy earlier this year when astronomers loudly declared it to be the first truly habitable planet found outside our solar system.
One of several planets known to orbit the red dwarf star Gliese 581, the headline-grabbing world was described by one researcher as being “just the right size and just at the right distance [from its star] to have liquid water on the surface.”
Not so fast, other astronomers cried. Are you sure this planet actually exists?
Even at a mere 20 light-years from Earth, Gliese 581g is too far away for us to see it directly. We have to infer its existence based on the planet’s gravitational tugs on its host star.
Romania Legally Recognizes Witchcraft As A Profession
The Romanian government has recognized jobs such as witches, embalmers and driving instructors, as professions. The interest was in gaining income tax as an effort to recover from the nation’s recession. From The Huffington Post:
Romania has changed its labor laws to officially recognize witchcraft as a profession, prompting one self-described witch to threaten retaliation.
The move, which went into effect Saturday, is part of the government’s drive to crack down on widespread tax evasion in a country that is in recession.
In addition to witches, astrologists, embalmers, valets and driving instructors are now considered by labor law to be working real jobs, making it harder for them to avoid income tax.
For months the measure had been debated, protested by witches and mocked by the media.
On Saturday, a witch called Bratara told Realitate.net, the website of a top TV station, that she plans to cast a spell using black pepper and yeast to…
Why Legalizing Drugs — All of Them — Is the Only Forward Path For Black America
Interesting article from John McWhorter in the New Republic:
This should change, as I have argued frequently over the past year (listen to part of a speech I did on this here). Of the countless reasons why this revival of this Prohibition that looks so quaint in Boardwalk Empire should be erased with all deliberate speed, one is that with no War on Drugs there would be, within one generation, no “black problem” in the United States. Poverty in general, yes. An education problem in general — probably. But the idea that black America had a particular crisis would rapidly become history, requiring explanation to young people. The end of the War on Drugs is, in fact, what all people genuinely concerned with black uplift should be focused on, which is why I am devoting my last TNR post of 2010 to the issue. The black malaise in the U.S. is currently like a…
10 Year-Old Girl Becomes The Youngest To Discover Supernova
Photo: Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Press Release
This fifth grader is going to be getting a lot of extra credit in science this year. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada announced the little girl’s discovery of supernova in galaxy UGC 3378 on New Years Eve. Canada’s National Post reports:
Kathryn Aurora Gray is taking her new celebrity in stride after becoming the youngest person to discover a supernova.
The 10-year-old Fredericton girl’s phone has been ringing off the hook since the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada announced her find Monday.
But the amateur astronomer knows — better than anybody, perhaps — that her discovery is fleeting.
“It’s just a blowing-up of stars so eventually it will fade away,” she said of the supernova in an interview.
[Continues at National Post]
Congressional Prayer Caucus Asks For ‘Correction’ To ‘E Plubris Unum’
A circulated $1 bill with "In God We Trust" marked with a custom-made stamp
What about church vs. state? Members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus complain about President Obama’s alteration of his use of the “national motto.” David Edwards from The Raw Story reports:
Members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus wrote to President Barack Obama last month to ask that he correct speeches they say disregard the nation’s religious heritage.
The members took specific exception to a speech the president gave in Jakarta, Indonesia on Nov. 10, 2010, where he referred to the US motto as E pluribus unum.
The words are Latin, meaning “Out of many, one.”
“E pluribus unum is not our national motto,” the letter (.pdf) said. “In 1956, Congress passed and President Eisenhower approved the law establishing ‘In God We Trust’ as the official national motto of the United States.”
Obama used the term E pluribus unum in his speech to illustrate that in America,…
Montana Jurors Stage ‘Marijuana Mutiny’
When draconian drug laws linger on the books, it may be up to juries to rebel by refusing to convict people of crimes such as marijuana possession — a Missoula, MT jury did just that. The New York Times reports:
Marijuana fans are calling it the Mutiny in Montana.
It all began last Thursday, when a group of prospective jurors in Missoula were seated for a two-day trial of a repeat offender by the name of Teuray Cornell, whom the local police had arrested and charged with sellingmarijuana, a felony, and possession of a small amount of the drug, a misdemeanor.
To seat a 12-person jury, Judge Robert L. Deschamps III of Missoula County District Court had called a passel of Montanans to serve, and 27 had arrived at court on Dec. 16. So far, so good.
But after the charges were read, one of the jurors raised a hand. “She said, ‘I’ve got a…
North Korea’s Most Sought-After Consumer Items: Skinny Jeans, Ramen, Porn, And Human Manure
Wondering what objects people ruled by the world’s most repressive dictatorship would like to get their hands on? A Seoul-based professor who interviewed recent North Korean defectors was told that the hottest consumer goods from the past year include skinny jeans, ramen soup, porn films, and even human feces. The Korea Herald has the story:
Skinny jeans, blue crabs, pig-intestine rolls and even human manure were some of the hottest items among North Korean consumers this year, according to a South Korean professor who has interviewed recent defectors from the communist country.
Kim Young-soo, a political science professor at Seoul’s Sogang University, said in a conference on Tuesday that adult movies, television dramas and instant noodle “ramen” made in South Korea are also selling “like hot cakes” in North Korea.
Skinny jeans refer to slim-fit pants that have gained popularity around the world, said Kim who interviewed about 2,000 defectors this year as part…
Rushkoff: Abandon The Corporate Internet
The Internet. Source: Matt Britt (CC)
You can rely on Doug Rushkoff to be ahead of the curve in the world of Cyberia. In his post at Shareable he says we should give up trying to pretend that the Internet can be free of corporate and governmental interference and control, abandon it and start a new, truly free network. Is he being realistic?
The moment the “net neutrality” debate began was the moment the net neutrality debate was lost. For once the fate of a network – its fairness, its rule set, its capacity for social or economic reformation – is in the hands of policymakers and the corporations funding them – that network loses its power to effect change. The mere fact that lawmakers and lobbyists now control the future of the net should be enough to turn us elsewhere.
Of course the Internet was never truly free, bottom-up, decentralized, or chaotic. Yes,…
