News of the Weird / Pro Edition (December 13, 2010)
News of the Weird/Pro Edition
You're Still Not Cynical Enough
Prime Cuts of Underreported News from Last Week, Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
December 13, 2010
(datelines December 4-December 11) (links correct as of December 13)
Due Process of Law Meets Faulty Brain Wiring, Plus An Accountant Strips and Anthropologists Rumble
★ ★ ★ ★!
Catch-22, on the Big Stage: David Henderson served on the front lines in the Korean War, and among his souvenirs therefrom was a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, for which he has been getting government help. For enhanced benefits under a 2001 law, he had to apply by a certain 120-day deadline--which he missed, by 15 days, and is now permanently shut out. But wait, said his doctor. Doesn't anyone understand the meaning of "out of it"? He has lost touch with reality. 120 days? 135? Might as well be a thousand days . . or two million. (Justice Breyer: Does anyone think Congress put the deadline in to exclude someone like Henderson?) (Justice Scalia: La-la-la ♫ the statute doesn't say there's an exception ♫ so there's not an exception ♫) New York Times
I Know What I'd Do The 56-year-old man lay in the back of the ambulance, struggling to breathe, while the driver pulled in to a strip mall so close to the man's house that, flat on his back, he knew it was the Subway sandwich shop. Driver ran in, a few minutes later ran out, and onward to the hospital. Man survived and is fine. Ambulance company said all protocol was followed. (Backstory: Driver didn't stop for a sandwich. Driver stopped for sudden-onset diarrhea.) Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
U-S-A! U-S-A! Number . . Oh . . Oh, Dear! In math, an international assessment last year reported that the U.S. finished 31st (behind intellectual powerhouses Slovenia, Estonia, and Liechtenstein, but on the bright side, we kicked Latvia's dumb ass!). Better in science (We have all those Bunsen burners)! 23rd, but still in the shadow of those brainy Slovenians. OK, how about just comparing ourselves lately to Western nations, without those pesky, smart-ass Asians that were in the 2009 mix? Now, 13th in math, 24th (dead last) in science. Polacks (5th in math, 3rd in science) are probably teaching their kids ethnic sensitivity (to stop telling "American" jokes!). Wall Street Journal [perhaps subscription-protected] /// New York Times
Jobs Abroad for the Phillie Phanatic: A mainstream conservation agency in China now routinely dresses a minder up as a large panda bear for the purpose of socializing motherless baby pandas in preparing them for the wild. It is not known, they readily admit, whether the baby panda is fooled. [That's good; try to imagine what they'd be thinking if they knew.] Daily Telegraph (London)
We Ask, You Tell, You Prove: For a modern EU nation, Turkey's military-service homophobia is epic: Absolutely no gays allowed! However, since Turkey requires universal service, homosexuality is a way to avoid the military, for straights as well as gays. The government knows that, though, and gets all up in the face of anyone claiming exemption based on homosexuality. You have to prove it, and for some officials, the only really persuasive evidence is a photograph of yourself engaged in the act . . and then, only if you're receiving! (And they have to see your face, so stop biting the pillow and turn toward the camera!) (Bonus: But the Czech Republic is apparently the only EU country to still hook up the penile plethysmograph to verify the orientation of alleged gays who seek political asylum.) Foreign Policy /// BBC News
The Officially Sanctioned Jesus and Mary World Tour: No amateur sightings this week! The Roman Catholic Church declared that Mary, indeed, did appearonce twice three times to a nun in Champion, Wis. (in 1859). Good to know. Associated Press via Forbes
And Still More Things To Worry About
Fine Points of Wisconsin Law: Brandi Jo Winkelman, 17, was arrested for "child abuse" for beating up a girl in school. (Bonus: The victim is older than Brandi Jo.) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Good ol' European Union human rights rules have required that a prison in Poland pay out the equivalent of about $4,000 to a rapist whose meals contained meat. He claims to belong to a Buddhist sect that requires vegetarian. (Bonus: Before he was a Buddhist who wanted special treatment, he was a Catholic who wanted special treatment.) BBC News
Jake Schutter, 11, is back playing baseball, and swinging his metal bat, while his parents' lawsuit works its way through the courts. They're suing Easton, the bat-maker, because its metal bats (Jake's, too) are too dangerous because batters' hits (including Jake's hits) come off the bat too fast. (Jake got hit with a batted ball in May and has lost hearing in one ear. What a trouper!) Chicago Sun-Times
Tara Cohen, 38, got into some drug issues so she's being deported to her "native" Mexico (and by "native," the Immigration judge means the place from where she was brought to the U.S. at age ½ and which she knows as much about as you know about, say, Eritrea). Toronto Star
President Ian Khama, 57, of Botswana, is looking for a First Lady--but "not like this one," he said, pointing to the portly woman who is his Assistant Minister of Local Government. "She may fail to pass through the door, breaking furniture with her heavy weight and even break the vehicle's shock absorbers." (Given the job market in Botswana, the Assistant Minister merely chuckled.) ABC News
Ambassador Meera Shankar, India's rep to the United States, was singled out for a thorough TSA patdown (for the second time in three months) at the Jackson, Miss., airport as she returned to Washington from a university speech event. India's Foreign Minister went nuts, and Gov. Barbour wasn't too happy, either. WTOK-TV (Jackson)
What Passes For a Knife Fight on Academia's Mean Streets: Half the organization of anthropologists are furious at the other half because the governing board voted to de-emphasize the word "science" in their descriptions. There . . will . . be . .blood . . journals and notebooks flying across the room. New York Times
Unrepentant neo-Nazi John Ditullio is on trial in New Port Richey, Fla., charged with stabbing two neighbors to death because they were gay and/or friendly with blacks. Ditullio, already tattooed, added a couple more while awaiting trial, and the judge (i.e., the great state of Florida) is paying a cosmetologist $125 a day to cover them up, lest the jury get the wrong impression of Mr. Ditullio. On the other hand, everyone's tolerant of all the due process because they smell a lethal injection coming on, and no one wants it on them if Ditullio gets downgraded to life without parole. Among the evidence: a Christmas card to a victim's mother, taunting her for the "loss" of her son. (Bonus: The St. Petersburg Times stylebook apparently requires that a neo-Nazi residence be referred to as a "compound"--even if it's just a trailer.) St. Petersburg Times /// New York Times
Losers
Another teenage girl outsmarted herself trying to avoid a DUI: Got mom to switch seats with her as the deputy was approaching the car (but the deputy saw 'em, and besides, mom was UI, too). Gaston Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.)
The Pervo-American Community
Accounting Made Nasty: Raymond Taylor, 57, Kennesaw State University (in Georgia) business instructor, just (without mentioning why) decided in the middle of class to get close to nature. (Bonus: caught-in-the-headlights mugshot!) Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the state of Florida, an appeals court ruled, it's legal for an elementary school principal to "manual-Photoshop" (i.e., using scissors and paste) ordinary portrait photos of 8-year-old girls over the raunchy nude photos of adult women. (A trial court had sentenced him to five years in prison.) Lakeland Ledger
Pervo-Brit: Driving instructor Barry Morgan, 58, was convicted (though not imprisoned) for his incentive program for young women drivers: For every mistake you make, Barry gets a free grope, plus, since he turned up the car's heater, might as well take off those tops. Daily Mail
Your Weekly Jury Duty
[In America, you're presumed innocent . . . until the mug shot is released]
To believe Jennifer Pizzuto, 35, guilty of a prostitution scam, you have to believe that she actually had some clients. Tough call. Allegedly, she and her boyfriend ran stings (Jennifer distracting them with her "charms," boyfriend robbing them). Asbury Park Press
It says here that this female funeral director did some awful things, covering up errors about remains, digging up and reburying one body, lying to clients and to the authorities. But, c'mon, is that the face of a bad person? I mean--whoa, momma! Free Marcee Dane! WLS Radio (Chicago)
Below The Fold
Betcha Can't EatJust One Any: The Product of the Year at the Scottish Food and Drink Excellence [sic] Awards is set to appear on the international stage. Haggis chips. United Press International
Headlines: "Woman Kidnaped, Forced to Shop" /// "Missouri Home Damaged By Lawnmower Fire In Bedroom" WPVI-TV (Philadelphia) /// Associated Press via St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Squealers: (1) Mom, to police: No way did I threaten to shoot that pizza delivery guy for being late. Mom's daughter, to police: Yeah, you did, Mom. (2) Daughter, 60, to police: I took good care of my 98-year-old mom. Daughter's parrot (over and over, to no one in particular): "Help me! Help me! A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" WPXI-TV (Pittsburgh, Pa.) /// Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
Mixed Message: Larry Falter, owner of LTD Jewelers in Superior, Wis., is a man of deep faith and gives props to the Book of Revelation, hence, "50 percent off" for his "Second Coming" sale. (Bonus: So . . you can take it with you!) Duluth News Tribune
The author of Bizarre Thailand fills us in: At the Monkey Hospital in the provincial capital of Lopburi, monkeys get deluxe cremations because, of course, they'll soon be back as humans, and they'll remember who mistreated them. In Khon Kaen province's "Tortoise Town," the big entertainment is the shell-butting duels during mating season. Then, near Bangkok, there's the temple that an abbot has built with the 6,000 buffalo skulls he's collected. And-- . . well, you get the picture. CNN
The Christmas parade in Yr Editor's favoritely-named F State town of Niceville turned un-nice when a city worker leaped on a float halfway through the parade, grabbed the keys, and urged the driver, also a city worker, to step down and fight him. The spectator accused the driver of stealing his overtime pay for the last two years, so "Get out of the truck and I'll whip your ass." (Answer to obvious question: .266) Northwest Florida Daily News
No Longer Weird: (1) Another woman about to plop down on a toilet only to see, staring up at her, a critter (here, a squirrel). (2) More self-frightened UK school administrators: At Gillespie's Primary in Scotland, no playing in the snow during recess or lunch (too dangerous!). (3) And more now-ritual fistfighting on the floor of the South Korean parliament (over an expensive river-cleaning project). (4) Once again, the sad fate of a newly-spotted mammal species (a monkey in Myanmar): Before biologists could arrive to study it, natives ate it. (5) Once again, as U.S. Customs inspected the suitcase of the arriving "spiritualist" (from Ghana), up turned a mother lode (a hedgehog, elephant tails, chameleons, cat skins, sheets purposely soaked in chicken blood). (6) Once again, inexplicably, the musician entrusted with the multi-million-dollar Stradivarius violin guarded it like he would, say, an Army surplus book bag. (1) WBBH-TV (Fort Myers, Fla.) /// (2) The Scotsman (Edinburgh) /// (3) Reuters via Yahoo News /// (4) National Geographic /// (5) Baltimore Sun /// (6) CNN
Newsrangers: Christopher Nalty, Robert Hagwood, Sandy Pearlman, Richard Witt, and Hal Dunham, and the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors
You're Still Not Cynical Enough
Prime Cuts of Underreported News from Last Week, Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
December 13, 2010
(datelines December 4-December 11) (links correct as of December 13)
Due Process of Law Meets Faulty Brain Wiring, Plus An Accountant Strips and Anthropologists Rumble
★ ★ ★ ★!
Catch-22, on the Big Stage: David Henderson served on the front lines in the Korean War, and among his souvenirs therefrom was a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, for which he has been getting government help. For enhanced benefits under a 2001 law, he had to apply by a certain 120-day deadline--which he missed, by 15 days, and is now permanently shut out. But wait, said his doctor. Doesn't anyone understand the meaning of "out of it"? He has lost touch with reality. 120 days? 135? Might as well be a thousand days . . or two million. (Justice Breyer: Does anyone think Congress put the deadline in to exclude someone like Henderson?) (Justice Scalia: La-la-la ♫ the statute doesn't say there's an exception ♫ so there's not an exception ♫) New York Times
I Know What I'd Do The 56-year-old man lay in the back of the ambulance, struggling to breathe, while the driver pulled in to a strip mall so close to the man's house that, flat on his back, he knew it was the Subway sandwich shop. Driver ran in, a few minutes later ran out, and onward to the hospital. Man survived and is fine. Ambulance company said all protocol was followed. (Backstory: Driver didn't stop for a sandwich. Driver stopped for sudden-onset diarrhea.) Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
U-S-A! U-S-A! Number . . Oh . . Oh, Dear! In math, an international assessment last year reported that the U.S. finished 31st (behind intellectual powerhouses Slovenia, Estonia, and Liechtenstein, but on the bright side, we kicked Latvia's dumb ass!). Better in science (We have all those Bunsen burners)! 23rd, but still in the shadow of those brainy Slovenians. OK, how about just comparing ourselves lately to Western nations, without those pesky, smart-ass Asians that were in the 2009 mix? Now, 13th in math, 24th (dead last) in science. Polacks (5th in math, 3rd in science) are probably teaching their kids ethnic sensitivity (to stop telling "American" jokes!). Wall Street Journal [perhaps subscription-protected] /// New York Times
Jobs Abroad for the Phillie Phanatic: A mainstream conservation agency in China now routinely dresses a minder up as a large panda bear for the purpose of socializing motherless baby pandas in preparing them for the wild. It is not known, they readily admit, whether the baby panda is fooled. [That's good; try to imagine what they'd be thinking if they knew.] Daily Telegraph (London)
We Ask, You Tell, You Prove: For a modern EU nation, Turkey's military-service homophobia is epic: Absolutely no gays allowed! However, since Turkey requires universal service, homosexuality is a way to avoid the military, for straights as well as gays. The government knows that, though, and gets all up in the face of anyone claiming exemption based on homosexuality. You have to prove it, and for some officials, the only really persuasive evidence is a photograph of yourself engaged in the act . . and then, only if you're receiving! (And they have to see your face, so stop biting the pillow and turn toward the camera!) (Bonus: But the Czech Republic is apparently the only EU country to still hook up the penile plethysmograph to verify the orientation of alleged gays who seek political asylum.) Foreign Policy /// BBC News
The Officially Sanctioned Jesus and Mary World Tour: No amateur sightings this week! The Roman Catholic Church declared that Mary, indeed, did appear
And Still More Things To Worry About
Fine Points of Wisconsin Law: Brandi Jo Winkelman, 17, was arrested for "child abuse" for beating up a girl in school. (Bonus: The victim is older than Brandi Jo.) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Good ol' European Union human rights rules have required that a prison in Poland pay out the equivalent of about $4,000 to a rapist whose meals contained meat. He claims to belong to a Buddhist sect that requires vegetarian. (Bonus: Before he was a Buddhist who wanted special treatment, he was a Catholic who wanted special treatment.) BBC News
Jake Schutter, 11, is back playing baseball, and swinging his metal bat, while his parents' lawsuit works its way through the courts. They're suing Easton, the bat-maker, because its metal bats (Jake's, too) are too dangerous because batters' hits (including Jake's hits) come off the bat too fast. (Jake got hit with a batted ball in May and has lost hearing in one ear. What a trouper!) Chicago Sun-Times
Tara Cohen, 38, got into some drug issues so she's being deported to her "native" Mexico (and by "native," the Immigration judge means the place from where she was brought to the U.S. at age ½ and which she knows as much about as you know about, say, Eritrea). Toronto Star
President Ian Khama, 57, of Botswana, is looking for a First Lady--but "not like this one," he said, pointing to the portly woman who is his Assistant Minister of Local Government. "She may fail to pass through the door, breaking furniture with her heavy weight and even break the vehicle's shock absorbers." (Given the job market in Botswana, the Assistant Minister merely chuckled.) ABC News
Ambassador Meera Shankar, India's rep to the United States, was singled out for a thorough TSA patdown (for the second time in three months) at the Jackson, Miss., airport as she returned to Washington from a university speech event. India's Foreign Minister went nuts, and Gov. Barbour wasn't too happy, either. WTOK-TV (Jackson)
What Passes For a Knife Fight on Academia's Mean Streets: Half the organization of anthropologists are furious at the other half because the governing board voted to de-emphasize the word "science" in their descriptions. There . . will . . be . .
Unrepentant neo-Nazi John Ditullio is on trial in New Port Richey, Fla., charged with stabbing two neighbors to death because they were gay and/or friendly with blacks. Ditullio, already tattooed, added a couple more while awaiting trial, and the judge (i.e., the great state of Florida) is paying a cosmetologist $125 a day to cover them up, lest the jury get the wrong impression of Mr. Ditullio. On the other hand, everyone's tolerant of all the due process because they smell a lethal injection coming on, and no one wants it on them if Ditullio gets downgraded to life without parole. Among the evidence: a Christmas card to a victim's mother, taunting her for the "loss" of her son. (Bonus: The St. Petersburg Times stylebook apparently requires that a neo-Nazi residence be referred to as a "compound"--even if it's just a trailer.) St. Petersburg Times /// New York Times
Losers
Another teenage girl outsmarted herself trying to avoid a DUI: Got mom to switch seats with her as the deputy was approaching the car (but the deputy saw 'em, and besides, mom was UI, too). Gaston Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.)
The Pervo-American Community
Accounting Made Nasty: Raymond Taylor, 57, Kennesaw State University (in Georgia) business instructor, just (without mentioning why) decided in the middle of class to get close to nature. (Bonus: caught-in-the-headlights mugshot!) Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the state of Florida, an appeals court ruled, it's legal for an elementary school principal to "manual-Photoshop" (i.e., using scissors and paste) ordinary portrait photos of 8-year-old girls over the raunchy nude photos of adult women. (A trial court had sentenced him to five years in prison.) Lakeland Ledger
Pervo-Brit: Driving instructor Barry Morgan, 58, was convicted (though not imprisoned) for his incentive program for young women drivers: For every mistake you make, Barry gets a free grope, plus, since he turned up the car's heater, might as well take off those tops. Daily Mail
Your Weekly Jury Duty
[In America, you're presumed innocent . . . until the mug shot is released]
To believe Jennifer Pizzuto, 35, guilty of a prostitution scam, you have to believe that she actually had some clients. Tough call. Allegedly, she and her boyfriend ran stings (Jennifer distracting them with her "charms," boyfriend robbing them). Asbury Park Press
It says here that this female funeral director did some awful things, covering up errors about remains, digging up and reburying one body, lying to clients and to the authorities. But, c'mon, is that the face of a bad person? I mean--whoa, momma! Free Marcee Dane! WLS Radio (Chicago)
Below The Fold
Betcha Can't Eat
Headlines: "Woman Kidnaped, Forced to Shop" /// "Missouri Home Damaged By Lawnmower Fire In Bedroom" WPVI-TV (Philadelphia) /// Associated Press via St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Squealers: (1) Mom, to police: No way did I threaten to shoot that pizza delivery guy for being late. Mom's daughter, to police: Yeah, you did, Mom. (2) Daughter, 60, to police: I took good care of my 98-year-old mom. Daughter's parrot (over and over, to no one in particular): "Help me! Help me! A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" WPXI-TV (Pittsburgh, Pa.) /// Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
Mixed Message: Larry Falter, owner of LTD Jewelers in Superior, Wis., is a man of deep faith and gives props to the Book of Revelation, hence, "50 percent off" for his "Second Coming" sale. (Bonus: So . . you can take it with you!) Duluth News Tribune
The author of Bizarre Thailand fills us in: At the Monkey Hospital in the provincial capital of Lopburi, monkeys get deluxe cremations because, of course, they'll soon be back as humans, and they'll remember who mistreated them. In Khon Kaen province's "Tortoise Town," the big entertainment is the shell-butting duels during mating season. Then, near Bangkok, there's the temple that an abbot has built with the 6,000 buffalo skulls he's collected. And-- . . well, you get the picture. CNN
The Christmas parade in Yr Editor's favoritely-named F State town of Niceville turned un-nice when a city worker leaped on a float halfway through the parade, grabbed the keys, and urged the driver, also a city worker, to step down and fight him. The spectator accused the driver of stealing his overtime pay for the last two years, so "Get out of the truck and I'll whip your ass." (Answer to obvious question: .266) Northwest Florida Daily News
No Longer Weird: (1) Another woman about to plop down on a toilet only to see, staring up at her, a critter (here, a squirrel). (2) More self-frightened UK school administrators: At Gillespie's Primary in Scotland, no playing in the snow during recess or lunch (too dangerous!). (3) And more now-ritual fistfighting on the floor of the South Korean parliament (over an expensive river-cleaning project). (4) Once again, the sad fate of a newly-spotted mammal species (a monkey in Myanmar): Before biologists could arrive to study it, natives ate it. (5) Once again, as U.S. Customs inspected the suitcase of the arriving "spiritualist" (from Ghana), up turned a mother lode (a hedgehog, elephant tails, chameleons, cat skins, sheets purposely soaked in chicken blood). (6) Once again, inexplicably, the musician entrusted with the multi-million-dollar Stradivarius violin guarded it like he would, say, an Army surplus book bag. (1) WBBH-TV (Fort Myers, Fla.) /// (2) The Scotsman (Edinburgh) /// (3) Reuters via Yahoo News /// (4) National Geographic /// (5) Baltimore Sun /// (6) CNN
Newsrangers: Christopher Nalty, Robert Hagwood, Sandy Pearlman, Richard Witt, and Hal Dunham, and the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors
Comments
Even before I crack open (metaphorically that is) Chuck's offering of the week, let it me recorded that between bacon is good but offal is just awful!
BTW, some of Yanks actually got an edumakashun oncet upon a time.
BTW, some of Yanks actually got an edumakashun oncet upon a time.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 12/13/10 at 10:30 AM
And now for my comments:
Catch-22 US stands behind their troops. <U>YOU WILL BELIEVE!</U>
I Know What I'd Do That's a sh1tty excuse if I ever heard one!?!
USA #24 Ah... did I misspell edumakatsun in my earlier post?
Panda Plushy I'm not sure we should be raising too many pandas, they may start endangering the world bamboo crop!
Jesus and Mary World Tour: <U>YOU WILL BELIEVE!</U>
Tara Cohen Deportation Good! It should be happening more often!
TSA Pats Down Ambassador So governor what'cha'gonn'a do about it?
KSU Prof In Kennesaw you're lucky you don't get your a55 shot off pulling a stunt like that! http://www.rense.com/general9/gunlaw.htm
Jury Duty #1 Guilty! Her claim of charm seem fishy to me! #2 Guilty! But I want to be the one to spank her. PLEEEEEEEEASE
Catch-22 US stands behind their troops. <U>YOU WILL BELIEVE!</U>
I Know What I'd Do That's a sh1tty excuse if I ever heard one!?!
USA #24 Ah... did I misspell edumakatsun in my earlier post?
Panda Plushy I'm not sure we should be raising too many pandas, they may start endangering the world bamboo crop!
Jesus and Mary World Tour: <U>YOU WILL BELIEVE!</U>
Tara Cohen Deportation Good! It should be happening more often!
TSA Pats Down Ambassador So governor what'cha'gonn'a do about it?
KSU Prof In Kennesaw you're lucky you don't get your a55 shot off pulling a stunt like that! http://www.rense.com/general9/gunlaw.htm
Jury Duty #1 Guilty! Her claim of charm seem fishy to me! #2 Guilty! But I want to be the one to spank her. PLEEEEEEEEASE
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 12/13/10 at 11:05 AM
'S funny. My dictionary spells ashes a-s-h-e-s, not "cremains". Hm. Mine must be the British spelling.
Expat, you had it right the first time. Extra credit for correct use of oncet, too.
24th: how can that be? We give all the students a passing grade, no one fails, so how can we be last? Plus, I demand to see the test sheet - I bet they've done something sneaky, like asked about evolution.
Jury Duty - between them, they average a reasonable-looking woman. Which says a great deal about the law of averages, really.
Tara Cohen: I'm a legal immigrant. I'm unmoved by the fact that an illegal immigrant is deported. She's not a refugee (and don't get me started on the whole Quaid thing! ), so out she goes.
Ambassador: I wonder why they thought the Ambassador needed a patdown? Maybe she was wearing enough jewelry to set off the metal detector? http://news.oneindia.in/2010/12/13/indian-un-envoy-pat-down-search-us-airport.html says it was because she was wearing a sari. I can believe that.
The skinny on Accounting: could have been worse. Isn't Newt a professor at KSU, too?
Expat, you had it right the first time. Extra credit for correct use of oncet, too.
24th: how can that be? We give all the students a passing grade, no one fails, so how can we be last? Plus, I demand to see the test sheet - I bet they've done something sneaky, like asked about evolution.
Jury Duty - between them, they average a reasonable-looking woman. Which says a great deal about the law of averages, really.
Tara Cohen: I'm a legal immigrant. I'm unmoved by the fact that an illegal immigrant is deported. She's not a refugee (and don't get me started on the whole Quaid thing! ), so out she goes.
Ambassador: I wonder why they thought the Ambassador needed a patdown? Maybe she was wearing enough jewelry to set off the metal detector? http://news.oneindia.in/2010/12/13/indian-un-envoy-pat-down-search-us-airport.html says it was because she was wearing a sari. I can believe that.
The skinny on Accounting: could have been worse. Isn't Newt a professor at KSU, too?
Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 12/13/10 at 12:50 PM
Lou, isn't that kind of an oxymoron, "reasonable Member of Congress"?
Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 12/13/10 at 01:58 PM
Pervo-Brit: I THINK IT IS HIGHLY RELEVANT TO ANY WU DISCUSSION THAT THE MAN ONLY HAD ONE LEG.
Posted by venomlash on 12/13/10 at 08:28 PM
vets- shame unto those who mistreat these men and women.
sick ambulance driver- what should he have done?
education- all dicipline has been removed from the schools, structure is now a dirty word and mainstreaming assures that normal kids who need help are ignored and the best and brightest are thrown under the bus entirely.
prove it- suprised more us troops don't use it to get out what with the multiple tours and ever changing dates to go home.
the church- wow the church is all the way up to 1859, impressive.
tara cohen- adopted at 5mo old. she should be considered a citizen. that is terrible.
pat down- diplomat gets patted down twice! hahahahahahahahaha~!!!
jury duty- switch the pictures and it becomes believable.
parade fight- most interesting part of the parade i bet.
squirrel in potty- HILARIOUS!!!!
new monkey- species name, monkeius delicieus
sick ambulance driver- what should he have done?
education- all dicipline has been removed from the schools, structure is now a dirty word and mainstreaming assures that normal kids who need help are ignored and the best and brightest are thrown under the bus entirely.
prove it- suprised more us troops don't use it to get out what with the multiple tours and ever changing dates to go home.
the church- wow the church is all the way up to 1859, impressive.
tara cohen- adopted at 5mo old. she should be considered a citizen. that is terrible.
pat down- diplomat gets patted down twice! hahahahahahahahaha~!!!
jury duty- switch the pictures and it becomes believable.
parade fight- most interesting part of the parade i bet.
squirrel in potty- HILARIOUS!!!!
new monkey- species name, monkeius delicieus
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 12/13/10 at 10:04 PM
I strongly suspect George Crum 'invented' the potato chip in much the same way the English Earl of Sandwich 'invented' the sandwich. Crum is supposed to have created them in a fit of pique in 1855, but there are several recipes for thinly sliced potato, fried and served cold as an appetiser, dating from before then.
E.g. the 1825 book French Domestic Cookery, by an English Physician includes a recipe for "pomme de terre frites" which reads "Cut some raw potatoes into thin slices, and fry them in clarified butter or goose dripping; when brown and crisp, drain of all grease on a towel, and serve on a napkin or in a deep dish, sprinkling them with a little fine salt.
Later the Illustrated London Cook Book of 1852 states "Remove the peel from an uncooked potato. After it has been thoroughly washed cut the potato into thin slices, and lay them in a pan with some fresh butter, fry gently a clear brown, lay them one upon the other in a small dish, and send to table as an entreméts."
Interestingly, this latter recipe was plagiarised word for word in a 1956 edition of an American publication called Godey's Lady's Book, where it is sometimes cited as one of the first appearances of the "potato chip" in print.
So who did invented the potato crisp/chip? Hard to say, but the French probably have a lot stronger claim to it than the Brits or Yanks.
E.g. the 1825 book French Domestic Cookery, by an English Physician includes a recipe for "pomme de terre frites" which reads "Cut some raw potatoes into thin slices, and fry them in clarified butter or goose dripping; when brown and crisp, drain of all grease on a towel, and serve on a napkin or in a deep dish, sprinkling them with a little fine salt.
Later the Illustrated London Cook Book of 1852 states "Remove the peel from an uncooked potato. After it has been thoroughly washed cut the potato into thin slices, and lay them in a pan with some fresh butter, fry gently a clear brown, lay them one upon the other in a small dish, and send to table as an entreméts."
Interestingly, this latter recipe was plagiarised word for word in a 1956 edition of an American publication called Godey's Lady's Book, where it is sometimes cited as one of the first appearances of the "potato chip" in print.
So who did invented the potato crisp/chip? Hard to say, but the French probably have a lot stronger claim to it than the Brits or Yanks.
Posted by Dumbfounded on 12/14/10 at 06:03 PM
yes dumbfounded, but i am sure they can be convinced to surrender the claim. :cheese:
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 12/14/10 at 10:10 PM
that makes more sense to me ges, i am glad to hear it.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 12/17/10 at 07:53 AM
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