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.

* Kucinich says democrats have betrayed “the promise of change” and are in deep trouble in November if things don’t get back on track. Wow! Kucinich actually gets it! [RAWSTORY]

* And to emphasize Kucinich’s point, there’s apparently a tax on married couples in the new healthcare plan. So not only are we going to be fined and face possible jail time if we do not get this new mandatory no-public-option government insurance, but now the government says it’s better to not be married to save money. Great message! [MONEYCENTRAL.MSN]

* This did make some of the mainstream news, but it really is important to mention again… “the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down laws that banned corporations from using their own money to support or oppose candidates for public office.” So now, it’s perfectly legal for there to be attack ads by large corporations against Congressmen who advocate a change they do not agree with. A company with billions of dollars versus nickel and dime donations from the general public. This. Is. Not. Good. [MSNBC]

* Texas college tuition is heading up. Way up. Who needs smart people anyway? [TEXASTRIBUNE]

* The New York Times, bleeding money left and right, has decided to “charge some frequent readers for access to its Web site .” Wow. They’re going to spend serious money to put a web blocker in place that can be bypassed by either (a) deleting the cookie left on a computer or (b) visiting their site through any of the hundreds of free proxy websites out there. Brilliant job, guys! [NYTIMES]

* YouTube is getting into movie rentals! That works. $3.99 for a 48-hours is a bit high, but it’s a start. Plus, since YouTube is part of Google and Google just introduced their own phone, I think this movie rental thing is probably going to lead somewhere bigger in a few months. [MSNBC]

* Finally, some “cute” news… “Baby”, a 13 year old cat who went missing after saving his owners in Chicago from a house fire, just turned up safe and sound. A cat acting for the good of his owners? That’s a strange cat! [MSNBC]

Today, NASA announced that “Astronauts aboard the International Space Station received a special software upgrade this week – personal access to the Internet and the World Wide Web via the ultimate wireless connection.”

Wait… this wasn’t in place already? A multi-nation multi-billion dollar project and there was no internet access until 2010? I guess rocket science really is hard work.

The first thing the Astronauts did was set up an official “NASA_Astronauts” Twitter account that you can read here. Now that should be an interesting set of tweets to follow!

It’s not all free and clear for them to surf anywhere they want to, though. “Astronauts will be subject to the same computer use guidelines as government employees on Earth. In addition to this new capability, the crew will continue to have official e-mail, Internet Protocol telephone and limited videoconferencing capabilities.” Also… “the crew will have remote access to the Internet via a ground computer [and be able to] view the desktop of the ground computer using an onboard laptop and interact remotely with their keyboard touchpad.”

I still think Astronaut productivity will fall off just a little bit for the next few months.

Here’s the link to the NASA article.

A short time ago, I posted a story about a man and his family came who home from church services in Britain and they were all attacked in their own home by a knife wielding burglar. Long story short, the police arrested the homeowner for beating the burglar and let the real criminals go.

Today, that error was overturned.

“The Lord Chief Justice freed a father jailed for attacking an armed burglar, saying the case demanded mercy in the face of a national outcry.”

The Lord Chief Justice said ‘There are some situations which guidelines cannot and do not cover. This is one of them and today the sentence of the court must address and balance the ancient principles of justice and mercy. In this case the call for a merciful sentence is intense.”

It’s good to see that a focused public outcry still works. And good going Lord Chief Justice! Well done on a sensible interpretation of the law!

Here’s the link to article on the DailyMail.

OK, this is just all sorts of surreal.

NASA is selling the Space Shuttle Atlantis, Endeavour and Enterprise this Fall. For $28.9 million a piece.

This is a perfect example of why I need to be a billionaire. Because if I was a billionaire, I would snatch each one of these shuttles, hire each and every one of the original creators of the space shuttles back, retrofit all the space shuttles with brand new parts and updated computer components, and launch them all again (in tandem) to build a real, habitable and structurally sound space station. Maybe give away three tourist tickets to an engineering or middle school for some kids to come along with every launch.

But some Las Vegas schmuck is probably going to grab them and stick it on top of his casino. Or on top of some restaurant somewhere in Armpit, USA.

As a bonus, NASA is GIVING AWAY the space shuttle’s main engines. All you have to do is pay shipping and handling.

Not kidding.

Decades of engineering miracles so great that they were taken for granted… now available to the general public.

Blasphemy.

Here’s the link to the MSNBC article.

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.

* Here’s something no mainstream media will report : it has now scientifically been proven that watching TV will shorten your lifespan! Seriously. Now turn off the “idiot box” and go outside already. [LATIMES.COM]

* The police WILL now arrest you in Boston for video recording them as they are arresting someone! It’s called “Illegal Video Surveillance”, citizen! Do jackboots compensate for something? [BOSTON.COM]

* 104 year old human tank, who could lift 475 lbs with his teeth, bench 635 pounds and pull 3,200 lbs, never ate meat, alcohol or had cigarettes and walked five miles every morning was killed by his archenemy – stupid people. A mini van ran him over. [NYTIMES.COM]

* The TSA is a lying pack of perverts. “The Transportation Security Administration has promised not to store or transmit nude images of airline passengers made by whole-body scanners, but when it asked manufacturers to submit bids for such machines, it required that the scanners have exactly those capabilities, according to agency documents obtained in a lawsuit.” Does the TSA now stand for Turd Sucking Asshats? [NYTIMES.COM]

* California may delay paying some bills in March because they’re low on cash. But they’re good for it! Really! Just spot them this one hit, man! [BLOOMBERG.COM]

* Have you noticed ammunition prices are a still high? I’ve noticed my ammunition of choice is now around $2 – $3 a round! An article on ammoland breaks it down… in the United States last year, gun owners bought over “14 Million Plus Guns In 2009 – More Than 21 of the Worlds Standing Armies Combined.” Now if you figure the “14,033,824” people each bought 100 rounds of ammunition for their new firearm? That’s 14,033,824,000 rounds of ammunition sold! Supply and demand 101. [AMMOLAND.COM]

* And speaking of ammo, monks are now packing heat! The monks have realized something I always knew. Any .45 > kung fu. However .45 + kung fu = blockbuster movie. Or it could just be a great defense against thugs who like to pick on monks. Now if only the local Amish would pick this up… [RELIGIONDISPATCHES.ORG]

* And finally, it’s the Worlds! Largest! Disco! Ball! In France, of course. [GIZMODO.COM and LIFELOUNGE.COM]

** Posted on Sunday because of a severe “PEBKAC” error.

A Longmont, Colorado prankster was arrested for putting labels of his own design on some Gatorade bottles in some grocery stores around Colorado. The labels Jason Eric Kay made had… “a photograph of professional golfer Tiger Woods and his wife Elin Woods on one side, and the word ‘unfaithful’ on the other side”.

Sounds pretty harmless, right? But does the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA OCI) sure don’t think so. The DOJ and FTC are charging the prankster with “intent to cause serious injury to the business of any person” and are saying he needs 5 years in prison and a $450,000 fine!

No, Really! I’m not kidding!

Jason is being charged with “misbranding and altering food labels with intent to cause serious injury to the business of any person… The introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any food that is adulterated or misbranded (which carries a penalty of not more than 1 year incarceration and not more than a $100,000 fine)…  The alteration, mutilation, destruction, obliteration, or removal of the whole or any part of the labeling of, or the doing of any other act with respect to food, if such act is done while such article is held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce and results in such article being adulterated or misbranded (which carries a penalty of not more than 1 year incarceration and not more than a $100,000 fine) AND …With intent to cause serious injury to the business of any person, tainting a consumer product or rendering materially false or misleading the labeling of, or container for, a consumer product which affects interstate or foreign commerce. (which carries a penalty of not more than 3 years’ incarceration, a not more than a $250,000 fine.)

What. The. Hell.

How exactly does this re-labeling a Gatorade bottle have any “intent to cause serious injury to the business of any person” possibility whatsoever?! He covered a store label with a sticker. A sticker! His punishment should be to pay back the store owner(s) for their merchandise, and, at the very worst, write an apology to Gatorade.

What the hell is wrong with these idiots blowing something like this way out of porportion? Do they have nothing else to do? That’s the biggest fish to fry up there?

Hopefully Assistant U.S. Attorney Jaime Pena will plead this right out the door. But if it goes to trial, I would love to see the judge’s reaction when they read the charges.

Here’s the link to the OH MY GOD ITS A FAKE TIGER WOODS LABEL ON OUR DRINK release from the Department of Justice.

It’s nice to see a major government agency taking great strides to keep up with current public expectations.

Today the FDA announced earlier today they have launched the first phase of its Transparency Initiative which will “explain agency operations, how it makes decisions, and the drug approval process.”

The FDA, one of the few agencies who have already fulfilled President Obama’s mandate for more openness in government agencies, is really pulling back the curtain for everyone to see how the machine works. This is wonderful project, and exactly how the rest of the government agencies should work.

Here’s the link to the FDA press release, a link to the FDA Transparency Task Force, a link to FDA Basics, and an Update on Phase I of the Transparency Initiative.

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.

* California shut down their recycling centers to save money. Now if Hollywood would quit recycling garbage, we’ll all be all set! [OAKLAND TRIBUNE and SACRAMENTO BEE]

* Oh no! The super rich who have never had to work for a living are losing money in this recession too! They’re having to take trips on friends’ yachts because they no longer have their own private yacht anymore! They’re having to purchase apartments for their mistresses as opposed to getting them a new home! The shame! The horror! To quote officer John McClaine (Bruce Willis) on the matter… “WELCOME TO THE PARTY, PAL!” [SPIEGEL]

* US car manufacturers still can’t figure out why nobody is buying any of their cars. Captain Obvious just flew in would and would like to point out there are now “246 milion licensed cars for 209 million licensed drivers”. Ah hah! That sounds like a clue! [GUARDIAN.UK]

* It’s not looking good long term for the United States. The Economist magazine just issued a big red honkin’ “Bubble” warning on government spending saying… “the prices of many assets are being held up by unsustainable fiscal and monetary stimulus. Something has to give.” These guys know money like Santa knows cookies, so if they say somethin’ bad is coming, you better go ahead and plan for it. [THE ECONOMIST]

* Oh, and unemployment is still at 10%. And it’s predicted to rise to 11% or more this year. Conveniently, the government doesn’t count people whose unemployment checks have run out as being unemployed since they are no longer receiving any unemployment checks after a year. Isn’t that kind of like saying someone no longer counts as being overweight after they’ve been overweight for over a year? I think the official unemployment level of 10% may be just a tad on the low side. [YAHOO]

* And to put the cherry on top, PBS did a special on the debt and how bad things are seeming. You know it’s bad when PBS puts a fork in you. [PBS and PBS FRONTLINE]

* The cooks in the government health care kitchen say “no transparency for you!” Even though the President specifically promised there would be transparency during this whole health care bill thing for America. Turns out – not so much. And on a related note, didn’t President Obama specifically promise during his campaign there would be absolutely no forced healthcare insurance? But now… it will be mandatory insurance or else you will get a fine and jail time. This isn’t the change I signed up for.  [CBS] and [YOUTUBE]

* China was down to their last tiger. Their last of these terrifying yet majestic of the great beasts in their whole entire country. And what did they do? Did they keep him safe by moving him away to another country or putting him in a giant secure habitat? Nah… they let a villager eat him. Tiger sandwiches anyone? [TELEGRAPH.CO.UK]

* And finally, something completely different. Peter Pan seems to be a home wrecker! At least in this high school play he was! And later, you can see some of the kids were also hitting the pixie dust a little hard that night.