Go to http://www.theartoftheblog.com for my new site.
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - An Icelandic fishing captain, known as 'the Iceman' for his tough character, grabbed a 660-pound shark with his bare hands as it swam in shallow water toward his crew, a witness said Thursday. . . .
Captain Sigurdur Petursson, known to locals as 'the Iceman,' ran into the shallow water and grabbed the shark by its tail. He dragged it off to dry land and killed it with his knife.
posted by TAotB at 10:42:00 AM
FOXNews.com - Views - Junk Science - Hit-and-Run Pesticide News
The term “pesticide contamination” may be effective when it comes to scaring Times readers, but it doesn’t accurately reflect the results of EWG’s report.
No unsafe levels of pesticide residues were detected on the fruits and vegetables. EWG labeled fruits and vegetables as “contaminated” with pesticides if any trace levels of pesticide residues were detected on the fruits and vegetables.
Using today’s sophisticated and sensitive laboratory equipment, it’s possible to measure the minutest levels of pesticide residues. But such low levels aren’t dangerous and are, in fact, typically far below pesticide residue levels permitted on fruits and vegetables by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Significantly, the EWG did not report that any pesticide levels over a 10-year period -- even for one piece of produce -- exceeded EPA safety standards.
posted by TAotB at 9:34:00 AM
CFCN.ca - Calgary news from CFCN, CTV
Scientists are warning about a strong geo-magnetic storm expected to hit the Earth tomorrow.
Forecasters say the storm has the potential to affect everything from cell phones and power grids to other satellite communications.
The disturbance is rated a G-3 storm. The highest is G-5.
NASA scientists are calling it the perfect space storm.
A largest cluster of sunspots caused an explosion on the sun, sending a massive amount of gas and charged particles into space towards Earth.
Scientist say they expect it to be the worst solar flareup to be felt on Earth since a storm in 1859. That storm caused telegraph wires to short out across North America and Europe.
posted by TAotB at 9:25:00 AM
Ananova - Boy, 10, finds two-headed snake
A ten-year-old Kentucky boy tried to pick up a snake with a stick only to find it had a head at both ends.
Hunter York, from Centretown, said the black king snake grabbed the stick with both heads.
His dad has named it Mary-Kate and Ashley and thinks it might have a future in showbusiness.
posted by TAotB at 10:58:00 AM
And someone had to pay for the cops' time etc. People get fined all the time over false alarms which are tripped by accidnet. But this liar gets off scott free?
Ananova - Woman calls police to get rid of spider
A Swiss woman claimed a burglar had broken into the offices where she was working late at night because she wanted police to come and get rid of a spider.
The young woman was alone in the office building in the Swiss district of Pfaeffikon near Zurich when she spotted the spider.
She scrambled on to her desk and used her mobile phone to tell police that there had been a break in, and when a patrol car arrived admitted she had lied about the burglar.
The two officers removed the spider and told the woman she would not face charges over the fraudulent break-in report. The spider was released to safety in a park outside the office.
posted by TAotB at 10:38:00 AM
Ananova - Austrian farmer faces jail over apricot 'marmalade'
An Austrian farmer has been threatened with jail because he sold marmalade made from apricots instead of citrus fruits.
Johann Thiery was also fined after trading standards inspectors found him selling the apricot marmalade which he made using his grandmother's recipe.
According to a European Union ruling, marmalade can contain only citrus fruits like lemons, limes and oranges. It can't be made out of apricots or other soft fruits. Such produce has to be labelled as jam.
Austria's biggest-selling newspaper, the Kronen Zeitung, has run a campaign to defend the farmer and his apricot marmalade, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Erwin Proell, Lower Austria's governor from the ruling People's Party, criticised EU red tape. 'Brussels should keep their grubby fingers off regional traditions carried out for years,' he said.
An EU spokesman said: 'The law is the law.'
posted by TAotB at 10:32:00 AM
Ananova - Australian MPs ordered to not say please
A South Australian MP has been told not to use the word please in parliament because it is akin to begging, and that the word has been banned for 300 years.
After Question Time in the House of Assembly, National MP Karlene Maywald said she thought she was being polite by including the word please while asking a question about water restrictions.
She asked: 'Can the Minister please advise the House when he will make public the framework?'
But Speaker Peter Lewis took exception to her language, says ABC News Online.
'The word 'please' is to beg, no honourable member in this place needs to beg any minister for anything, least of all an answer,' he said.
Ms Maywald then sought a further clarification. 'I spend most of my time outside this house (parliament) insisting that my daughter use the word please when asking a question,' she said.
'And I wonder whether or not is it against standing orders to use the word please?'
'Explicitly,' Mr Lewis replied. He said that had been the case for 300 years of parliamentary practice.
posted by TAotB at 10:26:00 AM
STUFF : NATIONAL NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website
Lincoln University vice-chancellor Frank Wood retired on medical grounds – only days after he acknowledged a relationship with a student.
Dr Wood, 62, revealed his relationship with the Chinese student, who is a table tennis scholar at the university, shortly before he resigned two and a half weeks ago.
posted by TAotB at 10:22:00 AM
You do realize that some politicians have suggested a similar sort of card here in the US, right?
Telegraph | News | Liberty groups attack plan for EU health ID card
Tony Bunyan, the head of Statewatch, said it was part of a disturbing Union-wide erosion of privacy since September 11 2001. 'We all know where they're heading with this,' he said. 'They want a single card with all our data on one chip. It'll be a passport and driver's licence rolled into one with everything from our national insurance numbers, bank accounts, to health records.
posted by TAotB at 9:50:00 AM
Walter E. Williams: No excuses
The route to greater academic excellence is nearly a no-brainer. There are three vital inputs to education: parents, teachers and students. You tell me: How much money does it take for teachers to assign homework, and for parents and teachers see to it that it gets done? How much money does it take to see to it that kids get a good night's sleep, come to school on time, don't fight in school,and respect authority? If these no-brainer things aren't accomplished, there's no amount of money that's going to make much of a difference.
posted by TAotB at 9:44:00 AM
Thomas Sowell: A lynch mob gathers
Look to see Justice Brown portrayed as evil incarnate and a threat to the republic. Already the character assassins are throwing around words like 'extremist' and a conservative 'activist.' The truth has not cramped their style in the past and is unlikely to do so during the current confirmation hearings.
Justice Brown is just the opposite. Social agendas are not her business as a judge and the integrity of the law is. "The quixotic desire to do good, be universally fair and make everybody happy is understandable," she wrote in one of her opinions, where she dissented from a majority decision that she found "a little endearing." She added: "There is only one problem with this approach. We are a court."
posted by TAotB at 9:33:00 AM
