Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.
* The internet gives us ADD? What? Next! [NY TIMES]
* It turns out putting kids to bed early and at a specific consistent time helps them get smarter! Next thing you know they’ll find out eating veggies and exercising is good for you, and staying in school lets you go further in life! Where’s Captain Obvious when you need him? [BUSINESS WEEK]
* Another week, another scientist comes out that says he knows UFOs are real. He’s just missing that pesky “evidence” part of the equation. [AOL]
* Have you ever seen the movie Team America: World Police? It’s actually not that far off from Kim Jong Il’s real life. Check out this article to see how the other “tyrannical leader of a country” half lives. And why do I suddenly hear “You are worthress, Arec Barrwin!” in my head? [TIME]
* This quote may just be what’s carved on BP’s tombstone. “”Are you f****** happy? Are you f****** happy? The rig’s on fire! I told you this was gonna happen!” This quote was from “Deepwater Horizon installation manager Jimmy Harrell, a top employee of rig owner Transocean, (who) was speaking with someone in Houston via satellite phone.” [MOTHER JONES]
* BP is apparently buying keywords from Google and Yahoo to control what search results show up on the gulf oil spill disaster. Um… why the hell is BP spending money anywhere aside from the gulf cleanup? [EXAMINER]
* Hey Hollywood! I got your big summer movie right here! A volunteer chief of firefighters in a small town, about to be ravaged by the worst environmental disaster in US history, sets out on his own to make things right. He devises a detailed plan to keep thousands of gallons of oil out of his town’s 1,275 miles of shoreline, and puts everything in place with the help of the small town volunteers. He is facing jail time for not waiting for unified command’s permission. He is facing jail time for not clearing the barrier with BP. He is facing jail time for not waiting for the federal government. He is facing jail time… for doing the right thing. (some dramatic music goes here!) Here’s the quote to fade to black with… “The lesson we learned from Louisiana is to act, not wait. We’ll ask for forgiveness later.” BOOM. Call me, Hollywood. [NY TIMES]
======== WARNING : ANGRY VOTER / BP RANT BEGINS HERE ========
* A recent article in the Huffington post says “BP — not our president — controls the response. In fact, people on the ground say things are out of control in the gulf. Even worse… BP is using federal agencies to shield itself from public accountability. ”
According to the article, BP is collecting carcasses from the beaches and disposing of them. BP has also apparently managed to change “the federal flight restrictions of 3,000 feet over the oiled Gulf region… to include the coastal barrier islands off Alabama.”
Another article at CHRON.COM says “Three days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch government offered to help. It was willing to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms, and it proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands. The response from the Obama administration and BP, which are coordinating the cleanup: “The embassy got a nice letter from the administration that said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.”
President Obama? You need to end this. All of this. Right now.
If you let this kind of idiocy from BP continue to slide, you’re doing irreparable damage not only to the Gulf States, but to your entire legacy as president. Everyone, and I mean everyone, should be able to see, 24-7, what’s going on in the gulf. Individuals. The media. Bloggers. Everyone. This is not BP’s ocean. These are not BP’s shores. These are not BP’s homes. BP should not have any control whatsoever in who sees what is on the surface of the gulf of Mexico. Period.
And you must re-consider accepting any and all offers of professional help, even if it is external. Because BP obviously has no clue on how to control the underwater oil volcano. And so far, I have yet to hear of one federal submarine or deep-water expedition to confirm BP’s achievements or actual state of the remaining well.
Here’s an idea: James Cameron volunteered to go and look at what’s going on in the gulf last week for free. Give him a call right now and just say one word. “GO!”. Better yet, send the military down to have a look-see. I’m pretty confident that the military tech is a touch beyond what’s available commercially. Then tell BP that every single individual has free reign to walk, fly or float along the shorelines and take any photos and/or video they want to.
Quit taking BP’s word as gospel and find out what they’re really doing. Quit doing what BP says and let everyone have full access to see what is really going on for themselves.
While I appreciate a carefully measured tactical pre-strike analysis, these are our homes being ruined. This is our land being desecrated. These are our rights being subjected. All by a foreign corporation. You need to quit analyzing how we are being violated and start acting like we are being violated.
[HUFFINGTON POST] and [CHRON]
============= END OF ANGRY VOTER / BP RANT =============
* Have you ever been to a play that’s gone on too long and you’re ready to bail? I’m not talking about your local community-theatre play. (Those are always too long.) I’m talking about a multi-page playbill, intermission, “damn those are some nice costumes” kind of play. Well, unfortunately billionaire investor George Soros said “we have just entered Act II” of the world financial crisis play and we’re all gonna’ have to ride it out. Apparently it’s Europe’s turn to come out on stage, and it looks like they’re gonna stink up the theater. Soros says… “The collapse of the financial system as we know it is real, and the crisis is far from over.” Great. How many more acts are in this disaster anyhow? Oh, and on a related note, I’ve noticed that the fancier the play, the more upscale the concession stand will be. Nachos and bud light? You’re waaaaaaay off Broadway. $70 half-glass of wine and $30 green things on painted glossy sticks? Now we’re talking!! [BLOOMBERG]
* In the “I see this happening a lot in the future” department, the city of Robbinsville “won approval… to raise its (homeowner) tax bills by 29 percent.” Ouch! That hurt all the way over here! Corrupt City politicians still have to make their money somehow! I do have a bad feeling these “DAAAYYUM!” kinds of tax hikes will be spreading. [BLOOMBERG]
* The SEC just approved “Halts for S&P 500 Stocks That Move 10%”. Sooooo in other words, all this time the stock market was driving itself, and NOW the SEC wants to add brakes to the thing? What do they know that we don’t? [BLOOMBERG]
* This 2×4 upside the head brought to you by the headline “REMEMBER: In 1930, They Didn’t Know It Was “The Great Depression” Yet”. Well what does that have to do with… THUNK! [BUSINESS INSIDER]
* This headline is a bit troubling. “Of the 431,000 jobs created in May, 411,000 were census workers.” Um…. the census doesn’t happen every year. If this article’s facts are valid, what happens when the spike in jobs levels off? [REAL CLEAR POLITICS]
* The entire White House administration is carrying around iPads. Ah-hah! This may explain quite a few things. [WASHINGTON POST]
* Captain Obvious just flew in and delivered this message marked URGENT to me… “First-time parents’ daily sleep duration predicts their relationship satisfaction”. Wow! So a screaming baby keeps parents awake? And stresses them out too? And working together to manage sleep is a good thing for them to do? Dude! Thanks Captain Obvious! [PHYSORG]
* Bernie Madoff shows his true colors in prison. “F*** my victims! I carried them for twenty years, and now I’m doing 150 years.” At this rate it’s gonna be another 10 years before he gets to the “bargaining” stage of his “grief”. Good thing he’s got the time to invest! [NY MAG]
* Speaking of giant scams, did you ever wonder why that H1N1 Swine flu never went anywhere? Mmmmmmaybe this has something to do with it… WHO advisors “received kickbacks from H1N1 vaccine manufacturers… A stunning new report reveals that top scientists who convinced the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare H1N1 a global pandemic held close financial ties to the drug companies that profited from the sale of those vaccines… resulting in billions of dollars in profits for vaccine manufacturers.” Damn. This is just all kinds of wrong. [NATURAL NEWS] and [BMJ]
* Nobody wants to make coral snake antivenom? After “after Oct. 31 of this year” there will be no more because “it was hardly a profit center”?!? Dammit! This is *another* reason I need to win the lottery! Why isn’t somebody with ca$$$$h money to spare making antivenom as part of a non-profit organization, giving away the antivenom at cost with free overnight shipping to hospitals? Name the organization something clever having to do with venomous cures and run a fundraising drive every year to cover part of any equipment that needs updating and part of the staff salary cost. Tie it in with the 24 hour national poison control center (1-800-222-1222 – http://www.poison.org/actfast/1800.asp) for extra points and you’re done! Come on billionaire-level rich people! This is pretty straightforward stuff here!! [POPULAR MECHANICS]
* It looks like the “weed-killer Roundup has made weeds harder to kill”. I, myself, have found that weeds seldom have immunity to gasoline. I just have to work out the not-killing-the-good-grass-as-well part. Oh, and the occasional WHOOMP that tends to aggravate the neighbors somewhat. [DAYTON DAILY NEWS]
* A surfer punched a great white shark. “then catches a wave” back in. Dude. I’m totally with the surfer on this. The man in a grey suit was totally aggro to start with and gashed my bro for no reason. OK, fine, I’m really just a scuba diver and not a surfer. But surfers are cool, dammit! All I have are these stupid fins and oxygen tanks… [SMH]
* And finally, speaking of surfing, saltwater crocodiles are wising up and surfing hundreds of miles on ocean currents to get to new locations! “One 12ft long crocodile tracked by researchers travelled 366 miles in 25 days around the Australian coast while another 15ft reptile rode seasonal currents off Australia’s Cape York Peninsula for 20 days, travelling 255 miles.” Um…. damn. Sharks were bad enough! Now I gotta watch out for friggin’ ocean crocodiles?!? Australian ocean crocodiles at that! [TELEGRAPH.CO.UK]
That’s all for this week! Hope ya’ll have a great weekend!
(NOTE: EDITED @ 1AM Sunday the 13th for grammar and spelling!)
