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.
—– JUMBO SIZED EDITION —–
* 10,000 people are about to undergo forced sterilization in China. This isn’t mentioned anywhere in the US mainstream media, but it’s all over Europe. This sounds like an evil rat bastard thing they’re doing until you realize…. wait, no, it is an evil rat bastard thing they’re doing. Nevermind. [SKY.COM]
* A commanding officer in the military in Iraq tells his subordinates… “If someone in your line gets hit with an IED, 360 rotational fire. You kill every mother****** on the street.” The solider under his command says… “and you couldn’t just disobey orders to shoot, because they could just make your life hell in Iraq. So like with myself, I would shoot up into the roof of a building instead of down on the ground toward civilians. But I’ve seen it many times, where people are just walking down the street and an IED goes off and the troops open fire and kill them.” BTW, this soldier interviewed is the Army Ranger who saved the children in the van from that infamous Apache shootout a few weeks ago. He has a lot to say. Definitely read this to see how things in Iraq *really* are. Oh, and Obama… why the HELL are we still in Iraq? [WSWS]
* How trusting would you be if you heard that a judge and a prosecutor were having a secret ongoing affair with each other? Would you trust or believe any judgment in the cases they made together? The US Supreme Court did! They said it was OK to the point of letting a man stay on death row! Has no one on the Supreme Court ever heard the “If you do this for me…” compromise-thing in a relationship? [WASHINGTON POST]
* Speaking of trusting, it’s really a sad commentary on our society when someone who has a condition where they automatically and completely trust everyone is the “problem”. It’s called Williams Syndrome, and this story about a child affected with it will really will make you think about the world. Hollywood? Are you paying attention? This has “academy award” written all over it. [NPR]
* Speaking of Hollywood, they now want “real” women for their movies and are looking at casting outside of California. Apparently the local “actresses” are too plastic for them. Good idea Hollywood! Run with it and try casting “real” men next! [NY TIMES]
* The latest hot supplement is Omega-3 fatty acids. “Research shows they promote heart health and reduce pain in people with rheumatoid arthritis. They also may help treat autism, bipolar disorder, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD and prostate cancer.” But it doesn’t do windows or laundry? Next! [LA TIMES]
* You’ll never ever see this in the mainstream media…. new research shows fizzy drinks and processed foods are linked to premature aging! D’oh! [TELEGRAPH.CO.UK]
* Trick question… if the medical care is so good in this country, why is it far cheaper to fly to London to have the same procedures done? [CNN]
You never saw this
* There were two super secret military rocket launches in the US this week. Well, OK, obviously not so secret because those launches are on the internet with a lot of photos. Anyhow, the first launch was the military version of the space shuttle, which “can stay in orbit for up to 270 days, whereas the Shuttle can last only 16 days” and is designed for “launch(ing) a surge of small satellites during periods of high international tension.” The second was a “prototype of a new weapon that can hit any target around the world in less than an hour.” Soooo maybe this is the first step toward a space military that can say “nuke ’em from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.” And by the way, why was this launch completely glossed over in the US and only covered by the Times Online overseas? [TIMES ONLINE]
* In the “I see this going wrong in all sorts of ways” category, the “gene that allows growing a new head” has been identified! And we need to have two heads because? Wait. Seriously. Don’t answer that. [THE REGISTER]
* In another of the “I see this going wrong in all sorts of ways” category, “Scientists in California plan to use the world’s biggest laser to set off a nuclear reaction so intense it will make a star bloom on the surface of the Earth. If they succeed they say they could solve the planet’s energy crisis.” Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! A star ON the Earth? I think those scientists missed a teeny little detail in their plan! [CNN]
* NASA screws up a balloon launch. I mean, come on! Just let go of the string! It works every single time for me! [YAHOO]
* Those dirty rotten bastiches who send spam emails have pulled an idea from computer technical support companies…. they’re getting people in developing countries to work for them. [NY TIMES]
* Speaking of dirty rotten tricks, when GM said they paid back their loan “in full, with interest, years ahead of schedule.” It turns out… no. It’s all a bunch of lies. [REASON]
* In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I think anybody who says they are doing something “for the children” has ulterior motives. Exhibit A: An anti-piracy group said at their latest convention that ”Child pornography is great! By playing that card, we can get them to act, and start blocking sites. And once they have done that, we can get them to start blocking file sharing sites.” [CHRISTIAN ENGSTROM]
* A corrupt attorney at Homeland Security? Taking bribes? Noooooooo! [JUDICIAL WATCH]
* Infertility might begin in the womb? Wait… how does that work? [INDEPENDENT.CO.UK]
* The most blindingly obvious idea yet – use the Sahara to generate solar power. Good luck getting everyone in the area to play nice long enough to get the generators installed, though. [GUARDIAN]
* On the not-so-blindingly obvious side of things, Texas says the state’s water can handle “10 times more bacteria in some of the state’s creeks, rivers and lakes” so more dumping is OK! WTF!! I have an idea. Make the state senators drink a glass of water every day from Texas lakes and streams while they are in session. If the water can handle “10 times more bacteria” and not taste barfiliciously funky, they shouldn’t have a problem! [AUSTIN POST]
—>WARNING : POLITICAL RANT STARTS HERE<—
* Obama said to Wall Street this week “I Do Think at Some Point You’ve Made Enough Money.” Right. Where to start with this comment… how about by **whose** definition have you made enough money? The ones who have money already? And who is to say what the limit is? If I had 100 million dollars, I can guarantee it’s not enough for all of my dreams to come true. I would love to help Bill Gates create safe nuclear energy systems across the nation. I would love to create a national food bank with a computerized warehousing system to rival WalMart to help in feeding the truly destitute who have nothing to eat. I would love to re-establish a sustainable space program and have tiered space stations (plural!) that gradually expand out into our solar system. I would love to push stem cell research *hard* in the hopes of stopping all the thousands of variations of the damned “big C”. The problem isn’t who has “enough” money and who is making “enough” money. It’s the bozos who do stupid, petty and trivial things with the money they have and with the government who tries to mandate controls on individuals’ lifestyles. The video of his comment is below…
—>END OF POLITICAL RANT<—
* “A sudden change in the Atlantic Gulf Stream, which new research has linked to the mass extinction of dinosaurs, may happen again, many scientists fear. The shift could be abrupt, and climate experts advise that we must continue to monitor the present warning signs, such as influxes of fresh water into the North Atlantic, and slowdowns of the Atlantic Gulf Stream.” Daaaaaaamn. Just in time for the oil spill! [DISCOVERY]
* Finally, the SciFi channel (now known as the uber macho name SyFy) is abandoning most science fiction programming and is now airing WWE Smackdown. You gotta give them partial credit here. Is the WWE Science? No. Is it Fiction? Ah-hah! [MSNBC]
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