Sunday, December 30, 2007

From the sub-prime to the ridiculous: how $100bn vanished | Business | The Guardian

From the sub-prime to the ridiculous: how $100bn vanished Business The Guardian: "It began with low-income Americans being encouraged to borrow mortgages they couldn't afford.
The economic butterfly effect would eventually cause deals worth billions of dollars to fall apart; the first run on a British bank in 140 years; some of the most powerful figures on Wall Street losing their jobs; wild gyrations on the markets; and dire warnings that the world is on the brink of recession"

Getting the Story Straight | Redstate

Getting the Story Straight Redstate: "Every once in a while I am more thankful than ever for today’s technology which allows me to talk to you directly instead of having to go through the filter of the main stream media."

Saturday, December 29, 2007

It's better than a religion!


A Nation of Dim Bulbs: "The new bulbs are particularly vulnerable to extremes of temperature, for example; you won't want to use them in your garage in winter. CFLs are also 25 percent longer in size than the average incandescent. This makes them unsuitable for all kinds of lighting fixtures--particularly chandeliers and other ceiling lights--which will have to be either discarded or reconfigured, at considerable expense, after the Bush ban goes into effect. You can't use most CFLs with dimmer switches, either; ditto timers. Newer models that can be dimmed and are adaptable to timers will require you to buy new CFL-compatible dimmers and timers.
The quality of the light given off by CFLs is quite different from what we're used to from incandescents. The old bulb concentrates its light through a small surface area. CFLs don't shine in beams; they glow all the way around, diffusing their illumination. They're terrible reading lights."

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Hillary: I've Know Mrs. Bhutto Many Years


Now that's some real foreign policy experience!

Hillary: I've Know Mrs. Bhutto Many Years Sweetness & Light: "I had given a lot of thought to how Chelsea and I should dress on the trip. We wanted to be comfortable, and under the sun’s heat, I was glad for the hats and cotton clothes I had packed. I didn’t want to offend people in the communities I was visiting, but I was also wary of appearing to embrace customs reflecting a culture that restricted women’s lives and rights."

TorontoSun.com - Lorrie Goldstein - BS alert! BS alert!

TorontoSun.com - Lorrie Goldstein - BS alert! BS alert!: "Finally, if idiot celebrities jetting around the world claiming they are 'carbon neutral' because they buy carbon offsets understood the Kyoto Accord, they wouldn't bother, considering what hypocrites they already are.
That's because Kyoto doesn't count GHG emissions caused by flying, although it's one of the world's fastest-growing sources of GHG."

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Iowa man spends Christmas Eve stuck upside-down in opening of septic tank

Iowa man spends Christmas Eve stuck upside-down in opening of septic tank: "DES MOINES, Iowa - It was a stinky holiday for Robert Schoff.
The 77-year-old man spent part of Christmas Eve stuck upside down in the opening of his septic tank, with his head inside and his feet kicking in the air above.
'It wasn't good, I'll tell you what,' Schoff said Tuesday. 'It was the worst Christmas Eve I've ever had.'DES MOINES, Iowa - It was a stinky holiday for Robert Schoff.
The 77-year-old man spent part of Christmas Eve stuck upside down in the opening of his septic tank, with his head inside and his feet kicking in the air above.
'It wasn't good, I'll tell you what,' Schoff said Tuesday. 'It was the worst Christmas Eve I've ever had.'"

Thursday, December 20, 2007

FAQ: The End of the Light Bulb as We Know It - US News and World Report

FAQ: The End of the Light Bulb as We Know It - US News and World Report: "The incandescent light bulb, one of the most venerable inventions of its era but deemed too inefficient for our own, will be phased off the U.S. market beginning in 2012 under the new energy law just approved by Congress."

OMNIVORACIOUS: Best of the Year Roundup

OMNIVORACIOUS: Best of the Year Roundup

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

NewsBusters.org | Exposing Liberal Media Bias

NewsBusters.org Exposing Liberal Media Bias: "You know all that nonsense the media have been spewing that the Bush tax cuts caused the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer?
Well, the Internal Revenue Service and the Congressional Budget Office have published tax and income numbers for 2005, and the press couldn't be any more wrong."

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Mark Steyn is Not Alone - Opinion - Arutz Sheva

Mark Steyn is Not Alone - Opinion - Arutz Sheva: "Two 'human rights' panels, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission, have him on trial for his alleged claim that Islam does not square with Western ideals. Whatever the outcome, we're all on notice that Big Brother is watching. The word 'tribunal' itself reeks of an Orwellian nightmare and Soviet gulagism."

Against universal health care: Romania’s disastrous example

Transatlantic Politics » Blog Archive » Against universal health care: Romania’s disastrous example: "When going to a birth center resembles a Russian roulette, with no guarantees that the mother and child will be healthy, something is definitely rotten in Romania's universal health care system. Warning against all the universal-health-care-gurus in the US. There is no glamor to a corrupt, mismanaged, state-run system. And no reliable, equitable treatment either."

Monday, December 17, 2007

It's lights out for traditional light bulbs - USATODAY.com

It's lights out for traditional light bulbs - USATODAY.com: "A little-noticed provision of the energy bill, which is expected to become law, phases out the 125-year-old bulb in the next four to 12 years in favor of a new generation of energy-efficient lights that will cost consumers more but return their investment in a few months."

Weirdest work stories of the year - CNN.com

Weirdest work stories of the year - CNN.com: "12. 'Workers killed after seeking raises'
A car dealership owner killed two employees because they kept asking for more pay. The employer told police he was having financial problems and was under a lot of stress."

British taxpayers pay for failed asylum seekers to set up ostrich farm in Iran | the Daily Mail

British taxpayers pay for failed asylum seekers to set up ostrich farm in Iran the Daily Mail: "The revelation reignited a row over Labour's controversial policy of 'bribing' bogus refugees to leave the country."

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Michelle Malkin » Scrooges on the Hill: Saying no to Christmas resolution

Michelle Malkin » Scrooges on the Hill: Saying no to Christmas resolution: "From the office of GOP Rep. Steve King: Congressman Steve King reacted this morning to the nine “NO” votes on his resolution to honor Christmas and the Christian faith. The vote shocked Capitol Hill observers because votes on similar resolutions honoring the holidays of Islam and Hinduism passed without any NO votes. Appearing this morning on the Fox News Channel’s Fox and Friends, King said, “The [nine] naysayers didn’t make it to the floor to debate. I would like to know how they could vote Yes on Islam, Yes on the Indian Religions and No on Christianity when the foundation of this nation and our American culture is Christianity…I think there’s an assault on Christianity in America.” The nine Members voting NO were Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) (FL), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). None of the nine voted against resolutions honoring the Islamic holiday of Ramadan and the Hindu holiday of Diwali."

Man Drinks Liter of Vodka at Airport Line

Man Drinks Liter of Vodka at Airport Line: "A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing a liter (two pints) of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new carry-on rules, police said Wednesday. The incident occurred at the Nuremberg airport on Tuesday, where the 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a holiday in Egypt. New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked as cargo. Instead, he chugged the bottle down—and was quickly unable to stand or otherwise function, police said. A doctor called to the scene determined he had possibly life- threatening alcohol poisoning, and he was sent to a Nuremberg clinic for treatment. The man, whose name was not released, is expected to be able to complete his journey home in a few days. "

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Children 'bad for planet' | NEWS.com.au

Children 'bad for planet' NEWS.com.au: "John Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London, said: 'The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights. 'The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child.'"