moonbuggy

`Claude Archambault says his client threw out the cup and should get the “Roll up the Rim” prize that is being fought over by two Montreal families.

Last week, a 10-year-old girl found the unrolled cup in a garbage can in her school. She enlisted the help of a 12-year-old friend to roll up the cup’s rim. They discovered the cup was the winner of a $28,700 Toyota RAV 4.

Since then, their families have been bickering over who should get the prize.

The Quebec government agency that regulates contests said the whole thing seems to be spinning out of control.’

`Regardless of who deserves the most credit in its invention, before the incandescent bulb began to proliferate in the early twentieth century, human sleep schedules were largely governed by the Earth’s day and night cycle. But once humans possessed the technology to ward off an appreciable chunk of nighttime, we soon extended our usable waking hours by an average of 13%. Some researchers believe that this modern convenience, credited with bringing the human race in from the dark, may also be responsible for numerous ills. [..]

Once humans began to use artificial light to vary the length of the day, the average night’s sleep decreased from about nine hours to about seven, and the amount of sleep began to vary considerably from one night to the next. This irregularity prevents one’s circadian rhythm from settling into a pattern, and creates a state of perpetual semi-jet-lag. Our bodies’ rhythms attempt to appropriately adjust our alertness, blood pressure, and such for particular times of day; but we often do things contrary to this cycle, and therein lies the problem.’

`The Pakistan foreign office had paid tens of thousands of dollars to lobbyists in the US to get anti-Pakistan references dropped from the 9/11 inquiry commission report, The Friday Times has claimed.

The Pakistani weekly said its story is based on disclosures made by foreign service officials to the Public Accounts Committee at a secret meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday.

It claimed that some of the commission members were also bribed to prevent them from including damaging information about Pakistan.’

`So the Memory Hole has posted a list of movies made or used by the CIA. Some have titles you’d expect: “Ear Wiretapping — Bugging Devices,” “Investigation of US Bacteriological Warfare.” Others seem out of place, like “Animal Farm,” the animated version of the Orwell classic.

animal_farm_cover.jpgBut, as Nick reminded me the other day, no one should be surprised to find “Animal Farm” on the list. After all, the Agency bought the movie rights to the book, a long time back.’

`Bruce Crower has made a name for himself with his aftermarket performance parts business Crower Cams, but at 75 years old Crower may have done the most remarkable thing in his life. Crower has developed a six-stroke engine that may just forever change the automotive world.

Using a modified single-cylinder diesel engine Crower converted it to use gasoline, then machined the necessary parts to create the worlds only six-stroke engine. The engine works through harnessing wasted heat energy created by the fuel combustion to add another two-strokes to the engine cycle. After the combustion stage water is injected into the super heated cylinder and steam forms forcing the piston back down and in turn cools the engine. The result is normal levels of power using much less fuel and no need for an external cooling system.’

`It almost seemed like a miracle to Haldis Gundersen when she turned on her kitchen faucet this weekend and found the water had turned into beer.

Two flights down, employees and customers at the Big Tower Bar were horrified when water poured out of the beer taps.

By an improbable feat of clumsy plumbing, someone at the bar in Kristiandsund, western Norway, had accidentally hooked the beer hoses to the water pipes for Gundersen’s apartment.’

`A B.C. man spent the weekend detained at a military base in California after being arrested for deserting the U.S. Marine Corps four decades ago during the Vietnam War.

Allen Abney, who was born in the United States but became a Canadian citizen in 1977, was arrested at a border crossing on Thursday while trying to enter Idaho from southeastern British Columbia. [..]

He and his wife were on their way for a holiday in Reno, Nev., when U.S. officials accused him of desertion and took him into custody.

In 1968, Abney was a 19-year-old marine when he fled to Canada because he didn’t want to fight in Vietnam.’

`Following two recent studies on changes to Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, NASA is touting a survey that it says confirms “climate warming is changing how much water remains locked in Earth’s largest storehouses of ice and snow.”

In a press release for the survey, NASA directly tied the changes to warming and described the survey as “the most comprehensive” ever in both regions. [..]

“If the trends we’re seeing continue and climate warming continues as predicted, the polar ice sheets could change dramatically,” he said in the press release last Wednesday. “The Greenland ice sheet could be facing an irreversible decline by the end of the century.”’

`The Earth is not rotating…nor is it going around the sun.

The universe is not one ten trillionth the size we are told.

Today’s cosmology fulfills an anti-Bible religious plan disguised as “science”.

The whole scheme from Copernicanism to Big Bangism is a factless lie.

Those lies have planted the Truth-killing virus of evolutionism in every aspect of man’s “knowledge” about the Universe, the Earth, and Himself.’

`Death cult guru Shoko Asahara is merely trying to pull the wool over authorities’ eyes to avoid the death sentence against him from being carried out, psychiatrists claimed in a report filed to the Tokyo High Court last month to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial. Friday (3/17), however, says what the swami’s actually pulling is something entirely different. [..]

“He took off his trousers and diapers, exposed his genitalia and masturbated. He repeated the same action frequently. Whenever he acts like that, he drops his trousers, his diaper and diaper cover to his knees, finishes the act, then raises his trousers up to his waist again,” Friday quotes the Nishiyama Report as saying.

The weekly goes on to note that Asahara does not restrain his self-ministrations to times when he’s alone in his cell at the Tokyo Detention Center.’

`Virus hunters have discovered a new Trojan that encrypts files on an infected computer and then demands $300 in ransom for a decryption password.

The Trojan, identified as Cryzip, uses a commercial zip library to store the victim’s documents inside a password-protected zip file and leaves step-by-step instructions on how to pay the ransom to retrieve the files.

It is not yet clear how the Trojan is being distributed, but security researchers say it was part of a small e-mail spam run that successfully evaded anti-virus scanners by staying below the radar.’

`NSW health officials are investigating an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease after two women were hospitalised with symptoms of the killer bacteria.

The two women, one aged in her 50s and the other in her 70s, were admitted to Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital sometime last week after visiting Chatswood’s shopping area.

Doctors on Friday confirmed they had contracted an infection of the lungs caused by the bacteria of the Legionella family.’

`A new theory to explain global warming was revealed at a meeting at the University of Leicester (UK) and is being considered for publication in the journal “Science First Hand”. The controversial theory has nothing to do with burning fossil fuels and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

According to Vladimir Shaidurov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the apparent rise in average global temperature recorded by scientists over the last hundred years or so could be due to atmospheric changes that are not connected to human emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of natural gas and oil. Shaidurov explained how changes in the amount of ice crystals at high altitude could damage the layer of thin, high altitude clouds found in the mesosphere that reduce the amount of warming solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface.’

`A Pennsylvania motorist is going to federal court to protect a very specific part of what he claims are his free speech rights: the right to show his middle finger.

Thomas Burns of New Castle, Pa., was cited for disorderly conduct last April after he became frustrated with a PennDOT traffic delay and he flipped his middle finger at a construction worker. The worker reported the gesture to a police officer in Beaver County, Pa., who cited Burns.’

`Sandra Day O’Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the supreme court, has said the US is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party’s rightwingers continue to attack the judiciary.

In a strongly worded speech at Georgetown University, reported by National Public Radio and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Ms O’Connor took aim at Republican leaders whose repeated denunciations of the courts for alleged liberal bias could, she said, be contributing to a climate of violence against judges.’

`Isaac Hayes has quit “South Park,” where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.

Hayes, who has played the ladies’ man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.

“There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,” the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.’

`The University of Wisconsin – Madison has deployed 35 5.6TB Xserve RAID storage arrays in a single research installation as part of an ongoing scientific computing initiative.

The Grid Laboratory of Wisconsin (GLOW), a partnership between several research departments at the University of Wisconsin, have installed almost 200TB, or 200,000GB, of Xserve RAID arrays. As a comparison, 200TB of storage is enough to hold 2.75 years of high definition video, 25,000 full length DVD movies, 323,000 CDs, 20 printed collections of the Library of Congress, or over 1000 Wikipedias.’

with pictures.

`Were you to glance up from the deserted beach below, you might mistake Tranquility Bay for a rather exclusive hotel. The statuesque white property stands all alone on a sandy curve of southern Jamaica, feathered by palm trees, gazing out across the Caribbean Sea. You would have to look closer to see the guards at the wall. Inside, 250 foreign children are locked up. Almost all are American, but though kept prisoner, they were not sent here by a court of law. Their parents paid to have them kidnapped and flown here against their will, to be incarcerated for up to three years, sometimes even longer. They will not be released until they are judged to be respectful, polite and obedient enough to rejoin their families.

Parents sign a legal contract with Tranquility Bay granting 49 per cent custody rights. It permits the Jamaican staff, whose qualifications are not required to exceed a high-school education, to use whatever physical force they feel necessary to control their child. The contract also waives Tranquility’s liability for harm that should befall a child in its care. The cost of sending a child here ranges from $25,000 to $40,000 a year.’

`Late last week, anti-virus vendor McAfee acknowledged that its anti-virus software had mistakenly flagged hundreds of legitimate third-party programs as malware, prompting some customers to delete or quarantine these programs.

The error lay in McAfee’s daily virus definition file called DAT, causing genuine files to be identified as W95/CTX – a virus first discovered in 2004. [..]

The files that were dubbed malicious were Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet, Adobe’s Flash, Google’s Toolbar installer, parts of Sun Microsystems’ Java Runtime Environment and several Adaptec drivers.’

`The reigning Miss Deaf Texas died Monday afternoon after being struck by a train, officials said.

Tara Rose McAvoy, 18, was walking near railroad tracks when she was struck by a Union Pacific train, authorities said. A witness told Austin television station KTBC the train sounded its horn right up until the accident occurred.

McAvoy, who had been deaf since birth, won the state title in June and represented the state “with dignity and pride,” state pageant director Laura Loeb-Hill told the Associated Press via e-mail Monday night.’

`As hybrid sales skyrocket, there’s a growing concern that the battery-gas powered vehicles pose a risk because they aren’t as noisy as gas-powered engines. When idling, hybrids run on the quiet electric battery. Most, with the exception of GM and Honda hybrids, can also operate on the battery until the car reaches higher speeds, when the gas engine kicks in.

What follows is silence at locations where drivers are likely to tangle with pedestrians and bicyclists — crosswalks, turning lanes and parking lots.

In Sant’Anna’s case, an elderly man enjoying a morning walk didn’t hear her coming as she backed into the street. She lunged for the brake, stopping just short of hitting him.’

`Facing problems in its efforts to train insects or build robots that can mimic their flying abilities, the U.S. military now wants to develop “insect cyborgs” that can go where its soldiers cannot.

The Pentagon is seeking applications from researchers to help them develop technology that can be implanted into living insects to control their movement and transmit video or other sensory data back to their handlers.’

`You know the drill. Every 14th of February you get the chance to display your fondness for a significant other by showering her with gifts, flowers, dinner, shows and any other baubles that women find romantic. Every Valentines day you rack your brains for that one special, unique gift that will show your wife or girlfriend that you really do care for them more than any other. Now ladies, I’ll let you in on a little secret; guys really don’t enjoy this that much. Sure seeing that smile on your face when we get it right is priceless, but that smile is the result of weeks of blood, sweat and consideration. Another secret; guys feel left out. That’s right, there’s no special holiday for the ladies to show their appreciation for the men in their life. Men as a whole are either too proud or too embarrassed to admit it.

Which is why a new holiday has been created.

March 14th is now officially “Steak and Blowjob Day”. Simple, effective and self explanatory, this holiday has been created so you ladies finally have a day to show your man how much you care for him.’

‘Bill Dance Outdoors fishing show. This guy just cant catch a break or a fish for that matter.’

(5meg Windows media)

see it here »

‘Check out the guy in the background watching his buddy wipe out on this stunt. That board could of bounced a thousand different ways but it chose the least favorable one for one unlucky bystander.’

(700kB Windows media)

see it here »

‘A very eager reporter is attempting to run underneath the belly of a horse. I really think the horse knew exactly what it was doing. I think she’ll stick to the weather from now on.’

(673kB Windows media)

see it here »

`Reporters who write about government surveillance could be prosecuted under proposed legislation that would solidify the administration’s eavesdropping authority, according to some legal analysts who are concerned about dramatic changes in U.S. law. [..]

The draft would add to the criminal penalties for anyone who “intentionally discloses information identifying or describing” the Bush administration’s terrorist surveillance program or any other eavesdropping program conducted under a 1978 surveillance law.

Under the boosted penalties, those found guilty could face fines of up to $1 million, 15 years in jail or both.

Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, said the measure is broader than any existing laws. She said, for example, the language does not specify that the information has to be harmful to national security or classified.’

If you don’t know who David Gilmour is you won’t care about these pictures. If you do know who David Gilmour is you still probably won’t care. I barely care. Don’t really know why I’m posting them at all. :)

`Four former inmates of the Citrus County Detention Facility filed a federal lawsuit against the private company that runs the jail, alleging two former officers put human waste in their food and drinks.

The inmates were subject to cruel punishment, torture and battery in 2004, when they were forced to eat the food contaminated with urine and feces, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Tampa.

A spokesman for Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America said the company took immediate action once it heard about the incident.

“Management immediately investigated and terminated three employees right there and then,” company spokesman Steve Owen said Saturday. “The company does have a zero-tolerance policy for conduct of that nature.”‘