Science proves older brothers do suck ...

It's bad enough a recent study has shown that having older brothers can actually make you shorter (one might think it's from all the pbysical pounding on your head, but it's apparently because those born last "appear to grow up in an environment where parents are more stretched for time, money and the ability to lavish attention."

Now, a new UC Davis study shows that children who have older brothers tend to become more aggressive than those with older sisters. The study, published in the September/October 2007 issue of the journal Child Development, had the following findings:

• Having a brother or a highly aggressive sibling of either gender can lead to greater increases in aggression over time.


• Older siblings with younger sisters tend to end up less aggressive.


• Older siblings who were aggressive tended to have younger siblings who were also aggressive, and vice versa.'

Combined with the above study on height, and combined with another study that concluded that older siblings have higher IQs (meaning younger ones have lower ones!), one can only conclude that older brothers suck.

Vanessa Hudgens Tops Yahoo! Buzz List

Interest in Vanessa Hudgens hasn't tailed off at all since the release of her nude photo, as well as other embarrassing photos. In fact, a check of the Yahoo! Buzz list today shows her at the top of the list (click photo for Yahoo! Buzz list image).

At the same time, she's #2 this week on Lycos' Top 50.

However, Google's Hot Trends list doesn't show Hudgens at all at the time of this writing. I'm guessing Google users are less lascivious than others.

Guess how many countries don't use the metric system ...

It's amazing what you can learn on Jeopardy. There are only three countries in the world that don't officially use the metric system ... one of them (naturally) is the United States. I do recall at one time the U.S. was very close to converting (they even put dual metric / English measurements on car speedometers), but they never followed through.

It shows how far behind the U.S. is when you consider the only other two countries that don't use the metric system: Myanmar and Liberia. Hardly two world powers. Of course, the U.S. always goes its own way.

Airline exec accidentally erases company data while cleaning porn off his computer

Mesa Air Group, the parent of go! airlines, said its CFO Peter Murnane accidentally erased data related to an upcoming court case while trying to cover up his porn habit.

Hawaiian Airlines is suing Mesa Air Group for allegedly using confidential Hawaiian Airlines business information to launch go! airlines last year. Murnane, according to Mesa, has a long-standing habit of cruising porn sites, and he was trying to erase that information when he accidentally deleted hundreds of pages of computer records that allegedly would have shown that Mesa misappropriated the Hawaiian Airlines information.

In its defense Mesa presented evidence that Murnane had a long standing interest in porn; a Mesa executive testified Wednesday that he once saw Murnane looking at pornography on his work computer.

Mesa also stated that they have copies of the deleted files, so no harm was done.

However, it sure was convenient, wasn't it?

Large percentage of workers admit to sleeping, kissing on the job: poll

Note that when I said sleep, I meant sleep ... not sleeping "with." Don't let the kissing part go to your head. What's strange, knowing techies as I do, is that IT workers outscored the average in the kissing category.

A Harris Interactive poll, done for CareerBuilder.com, showed which workplace taboos are more "popular" with workers:

Falling asleep at work (45%)
Kissing a co-worker (39%)
Stealing from the office (22%)
Spreading a rumor about a co-worker (22%)
Consuming alcoholic beverages while on the job (21%)
Snooping after hours (18%)
Lying about an academic background (4%)
Taking credit for someone else’s work (2%)

Unsurprisingly, men admit to more of these no-nos.

Men report that they engage in all of these workplace taboos more than women. For instance, nearly half (49%) of men have fallen asleep on the job compared to 35% of women. When it comes to kissing co-workers, 44% of men and 34% of women admitted to puckering up.

As I said, IT workers outdid their brethren in the kissing category with 47% admitting to that taboo, vs. the 39% average. They also fall asleep more, with 49% doing so vs. the 45% average.

On the other hand, kings of the sleep category are the government workers, as 64% admitted to falling asleep on the job. I wonder if this includes our President?

Boy charged after shooting paper at another with a rubber band

I remember doing this in school. You take a rubber band, a piece of paper rolled up, and shoot it at each other. It's all schoolyard fun / pranks. In this case, an English boy was charged with grevious bodily harm after shooting another boy in the eye.

The charges were eventually dropped, but only after the boy was arrested and fingerprinted,
had his DNA taken --- and after he and his family went through three court appearances.

What gets me is it was just a bunch of friends shooting paper at each other. There were eight boys total, but one was hit in the eye. His eye began to bleed, but he has since fully recovered.

The other parents, however, went to the police. The mother of the "attacker" said: "What happened was absolutely ridiculous and a complete overreaction by the police. It was a stupid thing for him and his friends to do but they were all playing a game and it was just a bit of horseplay."

Good thing it didn't happen in the U.S. or there might have been a lawsuit filed, despite the fact the other boy had no lasting injuries. What about psychological damage and trauma, right? I'd better keep my mouth shut or I might give them some ideas.

Nickelodeon shows good PR with "Go Dark" plan -- but it's parents that will make the difference

Mainstream media seems very enamored with Nickelodeon for its plan to cut off programming Saturday at noon, but besides being a good PR move, it's not going to accomplish much --- unless parents get the message.

Let's be honest, there are so many other channels that cater to kids (like Toon Disney, Disney, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, etc. etc.) all they have to do is flip channels. And if their service provider supplies both East Coast and West Coast feeds (like DirecTV, for example), they won't even have to change from Nick, just from NickE to NickW or whatever.

The only way kids will get out and play is if parents encourage them to do so. Perhaps the word "force" needs to be used instead of "encourage." And perhaps parents need get outdoors themselves. Maybe what Viacom, the parent company of Nickelodeon needs to do, is cut off some adult programming, like Comedy Central, so that'll happen.

Roadway pavement writer needs to go to "Scohol"; misspells warning

In Oviedo, Florida, a roadway warning sign needs a little spell correction, as the worker who painted it on the pavement either needs a refresher course, or a little less booze. Though since it was at least painted straight, probably not the booze part.

Obviously the sign is a "School Zone" warning sign -- -and officials are scrambling to get it fixed. Wait, did I spell anything wrong in this post?

Fire hydrant tribute removed from dog park for obvious reasons

If you build it, they will go -- and we all know where dogs will go if given a chance. And that's why this tribute is being removed.

A fire hydrant in a Hillsboro, Oregon dog park, which had been placed there and painted with the colors of the American flag in tribute to a heroic police dog, was removed, for obvious reasons.

Actually, the hydrant, planted in honor of Hondo, a police dog who was killed 10 years ago in the line of duty, had been surrounded by "dog-unfriendly" prickly shrubs. But people were still concerned, although there had been no reports of dogs urinating on the hydrant.

They're going to move the tribute somewhere else, but it has not yet been decided where.

Bush: "I is so arti-coo-lit"

All right, all right, he never said that -- or tried to. But he might as well have. It was revealed Tuesday that he needed a phonetic cheat sheet to make sure he didn't pronounce any names incorrectly in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

A draft copy of the speech, full of phonetic hints, accidentally turned up on the U.N. website briefly. Examples of his "hints" were French President Nicolas Sarkozy (sar-KO-zee) and Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe (moo-GAH-bee). Tips were also provided for Kyrgyzstan (KEYR-geez-stan), Mauritania (moor-EH-tain-ee-a) and the Zimbabwe capital Harare (hah-RAR-ray).

And that's not all. Wednesday, in an event Bush used to campaign for the reauthorization of his controversial "No Child Left Behind" law, Bush gave us the key reason it should be renewed:

"Childrens do learn."

Too bad our President doesn't.

Mozambique bishop believes European condoms tainted by HIV virus

I may be willing to at least be open to certain conspiracy theories but this one is over the top. Archbishop Francisco Chimoio said in a statement to Reuters that he believes that some European-made condoms have been tainted with the HIV virus in an effort to "finish with African people."

He said, "I know of two countries in Europe who are making condoms with (the) virus on purpose, they want to finish with African people as part of their program to colonize the continent."

Not only that, but some anti-retroviral drugs are also tainted, according to him.

"I also know some companies who are manufacturing anti-retroviral drugs already infected with the virus, also in order to finish quickly the African people."

On the other hand, since this is a Catholic bishop, and the use of condoms is not favored by the Church, could this be a scare tactic?

Vick tests positive for marijuana

Michael Vick, already facing federal dogfighting charges, was hit with state indictments for dogfighting yesterday -- and things got worse today. A urine sample submitted on Sept. 13th tested positive for marijuana (no! a high-profile mega-athlete using recreational drugs!?) and because of that, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson placed additional conditions on Vick, including restricting him to his home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. with electronic monitoring and ordering him to submit to random drug testing.

The date of the test was 17 days after his plea agreement, so this definitely doesn't sit well with the judge. In fact, as part of his pretrial release, Vick agreed to "refrain from use or unlawful possession of a narcotic drug or other controlled substance."

I don't feel sorry for the guy. He was involved in something particularly heinous in the first place, then he went and did something that can only be called brain-dead stupid.

Larry Craig tries for his "do-over" today

Today's the day. As we previously wrote, Larry Craig is trying to withdraw his prior guilty plea in an airport sex sting. The focus will be if Craig's attorneys can convince Judge Charles Porter that the Idaho senator's plea was a mistake.

I'm not sure how you make a mistake when you plead guilty, though I have seen people coerced into confessions.

You may recall that Craig reportedly used the types of gestures and foot taps that are used to signal such bathroom, er, encounters. Craig himself said they were misinterpreted by the police officer, and that he plead guilty to avoid triggering a story by an Idaho newspaper that had been investigating his sexual orientation.

Update: the judge said he probably wouldn't rule until late next week. Craig also indicated he will stay in office, for now, apparently rescinding his prior "resignation."

The fans have spoken: Bonds' record HR ball to be branded with *; sent to Hall of Fame

The public has spoken. If you recall my prior story about the poll being run by the new owner of Barry Bonds' record-breaking 756th HR ball, Marc Ecko.

There were three choices:

1. Give the ball to Cooperstown.
2. Brand it with an asterisk. Then give it to Cooperstown.
3. Shoot it into space.

The poll ended last night just before midnight, and the winner is:

Brand it with an asterisk and send it to Cooperstown.

The Baseball Hall of Fame said they wanted it in any way, shape or form, so they're going to get it branded. Ecko said on the Today Show this morning he is going to work with the HoF on the transfer of the ball to them.

Speeding costs driver over $276,000

Drivers in Virginia have been complaining about the speeding fines in that state, since the fines have been raised to up to $1000. They should talk to this guy, though. He lost a lot more than that -- at least until and unless his story checks out.

A Washington State Patrol trooper pulled over Honda Accord speeding southbound on Interstate 5 last Friday. The driver acted nervous, prompting the trooper to search the car.

In the trunk the trooper found a suitcase filled with $276,640 in cash. The driver claimed he won the stacks of dollar bills at 23 casinos in Washington, California and Nevada. Since he also didn't have much of a poker face (see the above paragraph ) -- and because he was unable to produce any receipts, authorities figured that might be a bogus excuse.

The money is currently under lock-and-key while an investigation is conducted. If they can confirm his story, the money will be returned to him. If not, he might be in even more trouble.

Yahoo! News shows Bush's true colors ...

All right, all right, this is such a great picture, I can't believe Yahoo! actually posted it to their main news page without noticing it. Or did they? Take a look. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Even more hilarious when taken in the context of the headline. Admittedly, a Reuters picture, but Yahoo! was the one who front-paged it.

In case you're wondering (or even care), the story the picture was linked to is this one.

NO, YouTube isn't going to put ads before each video ...

Gizmodo posted a story today where they said YouTube was going to add advertising before each video. The problem with the story, is that if you check the story they linked to ... it was from April of this year. Since then, in August, YouTube decided to go with an embedded ad format, similar to those ones you frequently see roll across the bottom of your TV screen.

Although the story's been made popular on Digg, it's also been marked as inaccurate.

Someone needs to check the date before linking to a post.

More advertising for a captive audience: huge ads near airport runways

When my wife flies, takeoff and landing are adventures. That's because she's deathly afraid of flying. She definitely wouldn't fit into the targeted audience of Ad-Air, because she will never look at the runway.

Ad-Air is a new company (their website did not open until 9/25) which plans to offer companies the chance to place huge advertisements near the runways of some of the world's busiest runways.

And there you have a captive audience, right? The first such ad will debut in Dubai next month.

The ads will be 20,000 square meters in size, will be illuminated where permitted, and could develop in the future to have a moving image that starts each time a plane comes into sight. The picture above is from a video clip on their site, by the way.

And here we go, just what we all need: more ads.

Lesson to be learned: when texting your mistress, make sure you don't text your wife

Ah, technology can be a curse as well as a boon. Former Australian cricket champion Shane Warne broke up his own marriage by texting his wife, instead of his mistress. The couple had reconciled last December (Warne is a reputed womanizer).

"Hey beautiful, I'm just talking to my kids, the back door's open," the message from Warne said.

"You loser, you sent the message to the wrong person," Callahan replied.

Personally, why reconcile with a cheater? If he's cheated before, he will cheat again.

After all those tax cuts, the Bush adminstration says we need Social Security cuts, tax increases

Today the Bush administration said the only way to permanently fix Social Security is through some combination of benefit cuts and tax increases. You can read the full story here, that's not my rant.

My rant is that after the series of tax cuts that Bush pushed (and of course, greedy and gullible people that we are, we fell for it), here we are with huge deficits and the need to cut back on Social Security benefits.

The tax cuts Bush pushed ended up helping the wealthy more than anyone else; now with tax increases proposed (no specification in the above story as to who would be affected, but take a guess) and Social Security cuts, who do you think will take the hit?

That's right, John and Jane Q. Public, the middle-class. After all, do you really think truly rich people even care about Social Security, or even bother filing for it? The rest of us, the common U.S. citizen, depend on this in our old age. The rich will just loll around with their big piles of cash, while "just plain folk" will end up working until their mid-70s or longer.

BTW, one thing it says in the story is that "delaying needed reforms is not fair to younger workers." I would ask, what about older workers? Younger workers can ... well, work; older ones cannot.

And, speaking of fairness, let's not forget how long the older workers have been putting money into Social Security, with past assurances of a certain payout. How is that fair to them?

Dimwit thief uploads picture of himself to Flickr

An idiot thief stole a number of computers from an office in Vancouver, B.C. One of those was an iMac with Flickrbooth installed. This is a plug-in for Apple's Photo Booth that automatically uploads photo booth shots to a Flickr account. Well, apparently the dimwit managed to get photos of himself uploaded to the company's Flickr stream.

That's his picture above (click to enlarge and get the full tattoo effect), and you can view the Flickr picture and comments here.

Boing Boing has a message from a member of the company, Dane Brown:

Last week a number of computers were stolen from our office in Vancouver, BC. One of those computers was a shared iMac with Flickrbooth, an app that automatically uploads photo booth shots to our flickr account, installed on it. Just this morning a friend called to tell us that there are photos of whoever has the computer now in our flickr stream! Obviously the guy didn't know he was uploading images of himself and his awesome tattoos.

As I've always said, thieves aren't generally the brightest people in the world!

Report: NRA audience calls for protester to be "Tased"

Unless you subscribe to "Roll Call" you'll probably miss this, so here it is here. At the National Rifle Association's "Celebration of American Values" conference Friday, during Sen. John Thune's (R-SD) opening remarks, a female protester stood up and began yelling. Free speech, right?

Well, many in the audience started shouting, "Tase her! Tase her!" and it wasn't like she had starting violently protesting or anything.

According to Roll Call:

Alas, security personnel just quietly walked the offender out the door, sans the 50,000 volts of electricity and — as NRA members might appreciate — 'more stopping power than a .357 Magnum' that Taser claims to provide. Maybe next time.

Protester or no, I'd say this would have been a little overkill, don't you? (And before people bring up the Kerry incident, in that case it definitely looks like security went overboard, but bystanders were not egging them on, which is where the NRA members erred -- or shall we say, made themselves look like thugs?)

Drunken man rips head off hotel's pet duck

In the Embassy Suites Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota, a drunken man ripped the head off of one of the hotel's pet ducks, saying, "I'm hungry. I'm gonna eat it" to horrified onlookers.

The hotel has an ornamental pond in the lobby, and Scott D. Clark, 26, a Denver businessman, ran across a public area of the hotel, cornered one of the ducks, then grabbed the bird and "ripped its head from its body," according to the police report.

Clark is currently in custody on suspicion of felony animal cruelty charges.

I really hope he gets the book thrown at him, but I can already hear people saying "it was just a duck." People may not know this, but serial killers often start on pets and animals first (I'm not saying this guy is going to become one, but whenever someone says "it's just an animal" I always think of that fact).

Cancer charity recalls lead-laced bracelets

The Friends of Mel, a cancer charity based in Massachusetts, is recalling 200,000 bracelets it sold as a fundraiser after discovering they contained lead.

According to their website (note that this is their main page, and thus may change in the future):

When we learned that there may be lead in the bracelets, we took the proactive step of hiring an independent lab and sending random samples for testing. These tests confirmed that, though the beads contain no lead, the small rings have a high lead content. The Foundation had a written assurance from a foreign supplier that the bracelets did not contain lead.

The bracelet is pictured above. Since the above statement says "foreign supplier" I'm wondering if it's China (naturally). The foundation first found out about the problem after receiving an e-mail that a 9-month-old boy apparently ingested lead from a bracelet. If you have a bracelet, you can return it to:

The Friends of Mel Foundation
Post Office Box 1660
Wakefield, MA 01880

They will send you a new one and reimburse you for your postage.

Man drowns in vat of sulfuric acid

Wow, this sounds horrific. It brings up images of horror movies like "Darkman."

The 18-year-old was working at a PC board manufacturer in Redwood City, California, when he was overcome with fumes, passed out, and fell into the vat. He was not wearing facial protection, as he should have been.

Initial reports say he drowned, but I can imagine all sorts of horror film scenarious of melting flesh, etc. I just hope he stayed unconscious after falling in.

The Coastal Circuits Factory will remain closed while Cal-OSHA conducts an investigation.

Seniors protest lack of donuts

Haven't these seniors heard about Type 2 Diabetes? I mean, donuts would be one of the worst things for Type 2, with the simple carbohydrates and sugar spiking their blood glucose levels sky-high. That said, in Putnam County, north of New York City, senior citizens are protesting, even picketing a change in policy which means donated donuts, pies, and breads are now refused.

To put things in proper perspective, the seniors aren't protesting the lack of donuts so much as the perceived lack of respect -- they were not consulted about the decision.

"Lack of respect is what it's all about," said Joe Hajkowski, 75, a former labor union official who organized the demonstration. He said officials had implied that seniors were gorging themselves on jelly doughnuts and were too senile to make the choice for themselves.

On the other hand, some say gorging was indeed taking place. "It was disgusting the way people went after them," said 80-year-old Rita Jorgensen. "I think the senior center did them a favor by taking it away."

Hey, frees stuff, and loads of it, is hard to turn down. I can see why they might pig out. And based on the obesity problem around the U.S., which you can confirm just by taking a look around you, no one needs an excuse to eat more. What do you readers think?

Would you buy from these guys? "Stiff Nipples Air Conditioning Service"

And I'm not making it up. In fact, from London Online, here's their profile (so you can see their address if you want to check out some of their saleswomen, er, salespeople).

Yes, and I find it so clever and hilarious, I'd most likely at least give them a call.

Dwntwn Miami logo: "more creative without the O's"

Miami's Downtown Development Authority Friday approved a new logo for the area, one which beat out a number of other logos (you can see a MiamiFly.net poll here). The "controversy" is over the lack of O's, which you can see in the logo to the left.

According to Oscar Rodriquez, a board member with the DDA,"Not having the O's makes it more creative."

Critics it will project an image of Miami as a city of illiterates, and might also go over the heads of foreign tourists, confusing them, but I look at it this way: you really want the young people to go downtown, and they are definitely used to missing vowels from text messaging, so why not?

"Finger in Chili" woman wins appeal

What the heck am I talking about, right? Unless the Wendy's logo sparks your memory. On March 22, 2005, Anna Ayala claimed she found a finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili. Subsequent investigations found a history of lawsuits in her past, and eventually it was discovered that the severed finger belonged to an associate of her husband's, Brian Paul Rossiter, and had been planted in the chili. Both Ayala and her husband Jaime Placencia received nine year prison terms.

Ayala won an appeal based on the January U.S. Supreme Court ruling which stated that California's sentencing law violates the right to a trial by jury because it allows judges to adjust a prison term based on facts that were not presented to the jury.

The Sixth District Court of Appeal's decision will require re-sentencing of Ayala on one of the three felony counts she had been sentenced on, and could cut two years or more off her jail time.

Is Lindsay Lohan a sex addict?

Wouldn't surprise me. A person with her tendencies, per my psychologist wife, is prone to substituting one addiction for another. Much like someone trying to kick cigarettes will frequently gain weight.

Accordiing to The Metro, Lohan has been dreaming about her old boyfriends while in rehab.

"She's been having erotic dreams about her former lovers, like Calum Best, Wilmer Valderrama, and Jared Leto. Her counsellors are trying to get her to understand that she's substituting one addiction for another."

Well, duh. To top it off, according to Star Magazine, Lindsay is praying for Britney to get her act together. Well, in reality her father said, "Lindsay and I both pray Britney can turn her life around too." Imagine if Lindsay was actually saying that. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

We (Mattel) apologize to China for China's manufacturing screw-ups

No secret here: there have been tons of recalls lately - centered around Chinese goods. Some of the recalls have been toys, but not all of them (don't forget toothpaste, lunchboxes, etc. etc.). Mattel has been central to the toy recalls, and today it offered a huge olive branch to China.

Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel’s executive vice president for worldwide operations, in a meeting with Chinese product safety chief Li Changjiang, said the following:

"Our reputation has been damaged lately by these recalls. And Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys."

He also said that the "vast majority of those products that were recalled were the result of a design flaw in Mattel’s design, not through a manufacturing flaw in China’s manufacturers."

I'm not a toy manufacturer, nor do I work for a toy company, but I'm not sure if the specifications for the toys would actually say, "go ahead and use this amount of lead in your paint" as opposed to the common sense (which, being common sense, I would figure wouldn't need to be explicitly stated) "check our product safety standards before you make stuff for us, OK?"

Maybe I'm wrong, but this seems more like a PR move to make us, the consumers, feel safe about Chinese products. Which I don't ... I mean, you get what you pay for, right? We Americans want cheap, cheap, cheap, and corners are cut to meet our always high demand for the latest gizmo.

God responds to Nebraska State Senator's Lawsuit

Remember Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers' lawsuit against God? He said he filed the lawsuit in response to what he considered to be another example of how easy it is to file frivolous lawsuits in America. God, all-knowing and all-seeing, apparent has been "served" with the papers and has responded, leaving a mysterious court filing.

According to John Friend, clerk of the Douglas County District Court in Omaha, "This one miraculously appeared on the counter. It just all of a sudden was here _ poof!" Friend read God's response to the lawsuit to reporters.

His response argues that the defendant is immune from some earthly laws and the court lacks jurisdiction. Also, his response said, "I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you."

I wonder if God fails to appear physically for the hearing, could he be held in contempt of court? After all he's omnipresent, so he would be there even if he wasn't.

Vanessa Hudgens to bare all again?

I was staying away from these because they are strictly rumor, but there are too many of them for me to continue to be silent ...

Several rumors abound about Vanessa Hudgens. First, there's the rumor that she and boyfriend Zac Efron have split. OK! Magazine says sources close to the couple said that they've gone their separate ways. Of course, this has been denied by their representatives.

Next, apparently Hudgens would, given the right magazine, agree to do a sexy layout for them. Hudgens said, "I think being a woman and being able to show a sexy side is empowering. Being able to show we are comfortable in our skin is a good thing. I totally would pose for a sexy magazine. But not Playboy."

Also, there is also the rumor (or I guess, another instance of the same old rumor) that she actually leaked the shots herself, to rid herself of her girl-next-door image.

Finally, two non-rumors. She is being sued for $150,000 in unpaid lawyer fees by her former attorney, Brian Schall.

Also, Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis has apparently offered Disney star Vanessa Hudgens $500,000 to join his band of amateur porn stars. As Francis said, "Vanessa Hudgens is the classic girl next door gone wild. Being sexual is not a crime."

When it rains, it pours, I guess. On the other hand, considering her future earning potential, I should be so unlucky.

Ohio man arrested after photographing his crop of pot

An Ohio man faces marijuana cultivation charges. The mastermind was growing plants in a field and took pictures of them -- then had them developed at a pharmacy.

First of all, who doesn't use a digital camera these days? Second of all, why was he taking pictures of them? To post fliers?

Anyway, he was turned in by the employees that developed the pictures; his name has not been released in hopes he can lead the police to "bigger fish."

Woman pleads "not guilty" in "lack of lawn watering" case

A brown lawn is a crime? Heck, look down my street will you? Is this some crazy Utah law?

Betty Perry, 70, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. Her attorney, Gloria Allred said, "I ask the citizens of Orem: How many of you would like to have your great-grandmother taken from her home with bruises and blood and placed in handcuffs for failing to water her lawn?"

In addition to failing to maintain her landscaping, Perry is charged with resisting arrest. Both are misdemeanors.

This just goes to show we made the right decision when we tore out our lawn and replaced it with native plants and landscaping.

Giuliani thinks he's among the "four or five best known Americans"

Oh, come on. Someone's ego is just a little too big. Rudy Giuliani is on a trans-Atlantic campaign trip. He made the statement that "I'm probably one of the four or five best known Americans in the world," to a small group of reporters at a posh London hotel. Meanwhile onlookers gathered in the lobby to gawk at actor Dustin Hoffman who was on a separate visit.

When asked who the other three or four Americans were, "Bill Clinton ... Hillary," he started, but then he was whisked away to another engagement before he completed his thought.

Sorry, Rudy, it's easy to think of a ton of people more famous than you. Apparently Dustin Hoffman is one. Let's be honest: George W. Bush (bleh).

I would definitely say people would recognize Angelina Jolie before they recognize you. Madonna? Britney Spears? Fred Thompson (remember those Law & Order episodes)?

Tone it down a little, will ya, Rudy?

Man calls cops when backpacks full of cocaine are lost ...

... but he had a good reason (I suppose!), unlike the woman who called the police when she thought the drugs she had purchased were fake.

In this case, Leroy Carr, 46, called Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on August 7 to report that two backpacks he had stashed near the Canadian border containing 31 kg. of cocaine were missing.

He was only protecting himself, though. He wanted the agents to put out a press release saying the drugs had been seized (not lost) so that his employers would know he hadn't double-crossed them. Makes sense, right? I mean, otherwise the guy might end up on a missing-persons report one day. 'Course that would have been lying on their part - and the cops never lie, do they?

Needless to say, he was arrested and about two weeks later, a Boy Scout ranger called the Northwest Regional Drug Task Force to report finding the two backpacks full of drugs.

Random drug, alcohol testing ordered for Britney

I doubt anyone would say that Britney Spears (or for that matter, Kevin Federline) are model parents, and it appears a judge has concerns in that area as well. Access Hollywood has obtained court documents in which a judge ordered the twice-weekly random tests for the Spears, stating in the document:

Based on the Evidence presented, the Court finds that there is a habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol by the Petitioner.

Yep, the Petitioner is Spears.

Additionally in the document:

The Petitioner is ordered to meet with a Parenting Coach for a minimum of eight hours each week, in at least two sessions per week. The Parenting Coach is to observe the Petitioner's interaction with the minor children and her parenting skills.

Oh, that's not going to turn out well, I think.

The coach will file a written progress report to the courts on October 22 and appear on November 26 (the date of the next hearing).

Finally, you can see Kevin doesn't escape unscathed, as the document also says:

Neither party shall consume alcohol, or other non-prescription controlled substance during or for the 12 hours immediately preceding any period such party is responsible for the health and safety of the minor children.

Finally, in the ruling, the Court declined to modify the current custodial agreement.

Couple divorces after online affair - with each other

A couple in Bosnia is getting a divorce after each had an online affair -- with each other. Sana Klaric, 27, and husband Adnan, 32 met in an online chat room. Her handle was Sweetie and his was Prince of Joy.

Amazingly, they discovered they were both in unhappy marriages. They eventually met, and you can guess what happened. Now they are getting a divorce (which they probably should have been considering in the first place).

Sana said, "I thought I had found the love of my life. The way this Prince of Joy spoke to me, the things he wrote, the tenderness in every expression was something I had never had in my marriage."

Adnan said, "To be honest I still find it hard to believe that the person, Sweetie, who wrote such wonderful things to me on the internet, is actually the same woman I married and who has not said a nice word to me for years."

This actually brought back memories for me of an old song (I'll date myself) called "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes. In that song, a man, unhappy in his current relationship, finds an ad in the personals for a woman looking for a man who must like Piña Coladas (among other things, like getting caught in the rain).

He wrote back, and they met, at a "bar called O'Malley's, where we'll plan our Escape." (Memory coming back now?)

Anyway, unlike this couple, the couple in the song realized they had more in common than they knew and stayed together. Ah, fantasy, right?

O.J. to face 10 felony charges, including kidnapping

O.J. Simpson has been charged with 10 felonies in the aftermath of the Las Vegas break-in incident late last week. At the same time, one of this friends, also involved in the incident, indicated he felt Simpson had been set up.

Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., said Tuesday that he felt Simpson may have been tricked.

“It sounds like a setup to me,” Alexander told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He said Simpson had thought the memorabilia belonged to him after getting a call from the dealer, Tom Riccio.

Simpson and the other three men are charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping; two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon; burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon; two counts of assault with a deadly weapon; conspiracy to commit kidnapping; conspiracy to commit robbery; and a misdemeanor, conspiracy to commit a crime.

Simpson also faces one charge of coercion with use of a deadly weapon, a felony. Source: MSNBC

Hmmm ... the problem for O.J. now is he doesn't have sufficient funds for a new "Dream Team." Despite the fact that my wife is one of those who believes he "got away with murder," she thinks he's being railroaded in this case. She said, "As hard as it is to believe, I'm actually starting to be on O.J.'s side."

Mother sues doctor after having twins

It sounds like a lawsuit that should be filed in the United States (see my earlier story), but it's not. It's in Australia. A woman who underwent in-vitro fertilization (IVF) is suing her doctor for the estimated expense of raising a child until age 21 because she gave birth to twins, not one baby.

Testifying in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory on Tuesday, the 40-year-old mother said she told her doctor that she only wanted one child. However, an embryologist under the doctor's supervision implanted two embryos in her uterus, resulting in the birth of non-identical twin girls.

The woman and her female partner even considered putting the second baby up for adoption. The lawsuit is for $329,000.

I hate to say this, but this is the usual case in IVF, especially with older women. Doctors usually implant multiple embryos because the success rate is so low. In fact, above 40, the success rate falls off dramatically, to a rate of only 4% at age 42. I realize there is an expense associated with the second child, but still ...

So, my questions would be: didn't he discuss this with her (I would assume he did)? Also, didn't he tell her when he put the second embryo in? Was she suddenly surprised when the sonogram came back with two fetuses instead of one? I just don't get it. I also don't get why this case wasn't thrown out.

What would you do with Bonds' HR ball? Tell the owner

Marc Ecko, the winner of the auction for Barry Bonds' record-setting 756th HR ball, has just that question for you. He paid $752,467 for the ball at an online auction that wrapped up Saturday, and he wants to know what you - yes, you - want him to do with it.

At the website www.vote756.com, you can tell him just what to do with it. Now, now, clean up that mind of yours. You can tell him to:

1. Give the ball to Cooperstown.
2. Brand it with an asterisk. Then give it to Cooperstown.
3. Shoot it into space.

According to the site, "Final voting results will be audited and certified by an independent, third-party auditor. Promosis Inc." Voting ends at 11:59PM EST on September 25th, so vote now!

Nebraska State Senator Sues God

Before you get all upset, there's a method to his madness. Yes, Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers is suing God. But he's doing to to show how many frivolous lawsuits are filed in the United States.

He's right, in a country where people can sue over their coffee being too hot (burning themselves because they were stupid enough to hold it in their lap), where people can sue when they attempt to break into a house and fall through a skylight - yes, our society it too litigious.

This, I find hilarious, and I agree with his point about too many lawsuits.

Chambers says in his lawsuit that God has made terroristic threats against he and his constituents, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants." He also said that God has caused "fearsome floods ... horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes" ... and he's seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty.

As humorous as you and I may find this, I like the point he makes, and hope some people take it to heart, though I may be sued for saying so.

On the other hand, he's bound to be raked over the coals for this.

Want a country? Belgium for auction on eBay

Currently an auction is running on the U.S. eBay site for Belgium, much to the chagrin of Belgians who may not want to move. Note that eBay shut the same auction down on the Belgian eBay site, but they apparently didn't get around to shutting this one down.

However, knowing eBay, the auction will probably be gone before you can take a look, so I have an image to the right (click on it for a larger one). There are 26 bids as of this writing, with the current high bid 10,000,000 Euros.

The seller, dekaesstecker is from (where else), Belgium, and has 100% positive feedback based on one auction in May of this year.

According to the auction, the country is a "Kingdom in several (3) parts, can be bought as a whole (not recommended), can be bought in parts."

The three parts are Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia. Note that the country is used; the seller does take PayPal, at least.

Recording of O.J. "break-in" emerges

Well, in case you missed it, TMZ has obtained a tape of the O.J. Simpson break-in. In it, you hear someone say, "You against the motherf*****g wall." Although the tape is only 38 seconds long, you can also hear him say "Think you can steal my s**t and sell it?" more than once.

Once again, I would be remiss if I didn't at least post this - but now back to more important matters, like Iraq and global warming.

Contract hit on K-Fed? Why would anyone bother?

Today Entertainment Tonight broke a story in which it asserted that there has been a hit put out on Kevin Federline. According to ET, the LAPD and FBI are investigating.

ET also spoke to K-Fed's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, who gave a really obtuse answer when asked about the alleged hit:

"As a policy, I would not say that I was or was not contacted by an investigative agency."

What?

For me, the question would be, why would anyone bother? I mean, it's not like he's a huge superstar. He's basically ridden on Britney's coattails to this point. And no, I don't think Britney put out the hit, either. The only other possibility that comes to mind is some sort of gambling or drug debt (and no, I'm not saying he's into either - I just watch a lot of C.S.I.).

Update: TMZ, as opposed to ET, says that there was an investigation in the past, but that it has already been closed due to insufficient evidence. So K-Fed's life is not in danger, and any hope of turning it into a "Law and Order" ripped-from-the-headlines episode is gone.

Toilet paper dust diverts Southwest Airlines flight

Remember those days right after the anthrax powder attacks in 2001? Everything powdery was suspicious, and I even recall seeing some powder on the office floor and reporting it (turned out to be someone's protein powder).

Last week a Southwest Airlines flight (they can't stay out of the news, can they?) traveling from Tampa, Florida to Las Vegas, Nevada, was forced to make a stop in New Orleans when a powdery substance was noticed on the floor of a restroom.

It turns out it was toilet paper dust. Given the timing (so close to 9/11) I can't really blame the passenger, but doesn't it just go to show you how the terrorists are (sorta) winning? I mean, the aim of terrorism is to disrupt our lives and instill fear, and they've succeeded at that.

Beaner's Coffee to rebrand itself

I've never heard of this coffee chain, since it is based in the Midwest. However, as the third largest retail coffee chain in the Midwest, and the largest 100% operator-owned retail coffee franchise in the U.S., the company felt it was time for a name change, for obvious reasons.

In a press release, the company said:

As the company has grown from a single store to a regional chain, the need for a new name became evident amidst growing concerns over the use of the word "beaner" as a disparaging term against Hispanic Americans.

"As we've continued to expand into new markets, we've heard more and more comments about our name, to the point that we had to take a hard look at changing it," said Bob Fish, BEANER'S CEO and co-founder. "We ultimately felt we would be condoning the use of a disparaging term if we chose to do nothing.

"I understand that BEANER'S loyalists may have a hard time with the name change, but at the end of the day, we believe our customers will be supportive of our choice to do the right thing," said Fish. "What matters most is that the store experience will be exactly the same, only our name will be different."

The new name will be Biggby Coffee. The current website, which is likely to change to a new domain name, is here. They plan to take an inside-out approach, starting first with mugs, t-shirts, and the like, and moving toward the outsides of the businesses.

Those of you with Beaners' memorabilia, could see its value rise (though honestly, not a huge amount) as a result, since they won't be making these items any longer.

O.J. Arrested

I won't devote a huge amount of space to this, as you can find this story on any media outlet, but I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention it. It all started last week, when allegations appeared that O.J. Simpson participated in a break-in and armed robbery of sports memorabilia in a Las Vegas casino. It's culminated in today's arrest.

Charges include robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a firearm, all felonies, said Capt. James Dillon. More charges could be brought against Simpson, he added.

Alfred Beasley, one of the collectors involved, has said he wanted the case dropped and that he's "on O.J.'s side." As I previously said, I can't believe Simpson would do this, for no other reason that he's so widely known, how could he possibly get away with it?

On the other hand, criminals aren't the smartest, either.

Travelers flock to the "Craig Bathroom"

Lately people going to the restroom in the Minneapolis airport haven't been hearing the "call of nature" so much as the "call of morbid curiousity." They've been wanting to see the bathroom stall made infamous by Larry Craig.

''It's become a tourist attraction,'' said Karen Evans, information specialist at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. ''People are taking pictures.'' Just 15 minutes into her shift on Friday, Evans said she had been asked directions to the new tourist attraction four times.

Craig has filed paperwork to retract his guilty plea. That hearing will take place on Sept. 26th, four days before Craig said he "intends" to resign from the Senate.

BTW, if you want to find the correct restroom, it's by the Lottery shop, right next to the shoeshine shop.

O.J. Accuser Says He Wants the Case Dropped

I knew this was going to turn into a circus. Just two days after O.J.'s alleged participation in the robbery of sports memorabilia in Las Vegas, the accuser in the case wants the charges dropped, as he now says he is "on O.J.'s side."

"I want this thing to go away. I have health problems," said Alfred Beardsley, the collector who told police on Thursday that Simpson and several other men stormed into a Las Vegas hotel room and stole sports memorabilia at gunpoint.

You may recall that Simpson said the items were actually his and that he was "reclaiming" them.

Las Vegas police said neither Beardsley, nor Bruce Fromong, another collector in the room at the time of the incident, had formally agreed to drop the charges.

Is Condi Rice a lesbian (and do we care)?

Honestly, if she wasn't in the position she's in, as both a stauch Bush supporter and a high-level Republican, I wouldn't care. However, I'm sure this wouldn't go well with their conservative base - and that's the only reason I care.

This week Mike Signorile had Glenn Kessler, author of The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy on his show. He discussed a few things from the book including her relationship with Randy Bean, her closest female friend, who she co-owns a home with.

From The Gist:

In the book and on the show, Kessler described how Rice's "closest male friend" is openly gay, a man by the name of Coit D. Blacker, a Stanford professor (Rice was provost at Stanford in the late 1990s for six years) and a Democrat who served in the Clinton administration. Blacker, whose partner is also mentioned, advised Al Gore's campaign in 2000, while his close friend Rice became a chief confidante to a president who has tried to make gays into second class citizens in the U.S. Constitution. But wait, it gets better.

Rice's "closest female friend" is a woman named Randy Bean (pictured here), who is unmarried and whose sexual orientation is not stated. She is described as a "liberal progressive;" she's a documentary filmmaker who works at Stanford University and once worked for Bill Moyers. She and Rice and Blacker (again, who has a partner) are discussed as a "second family," a term Bean uses, also saying that, "on friends, [Rice] goes narrow and deep."

From the book itself (page 12, hardback version - Amazon.com's Search Inside is great!):

Real estate records show that in 1998 Rice (along with Blacker) helped buy the two-bedroom, pale blue clapboard house that Bean lives in. In 2003, Blacker sold his on-third share to Rice and Bean. In 2005, Bean and Rice signed documents that gave them a $50,000 line of credit on the shouse, which apparently was used for home maintenance such as painting and landscaping. In 2006, the house was assessed at nearly $670,000.

"We are more family now than anything. She would throw herself under a bus for me," Bean said, though she ruefully adds, "I wonder if she will be out of the country when I need her under that bus."

Of course, this is all speculation, much as people speculate over Jodie Foster's sexuality. Still, such speculation is bound to put the kibosh to any support from those who have pushed for her to run for President.

Funerals - the Final Frontier: Casket Maker licenses Star Trek products

Eternal Image says they design "Brand name funerary products that celebrate the passions of life," and those passions apparently include Star Trek. Today they announced an agreement to design, manufacture and market a line of Star Trek branded funeral products.

From their press release:

"After launching our company in 2006 with sports, collectible, religious and pet branded items, the agreement provides us with a tremendous opportunity to enter the entertainment industry category with an extremely popular and well-loved brand," said Clint Mytych, CEO Eternal Image.

"These licensed-image Star Trek products offer true fans a unique expression of their commitment to the franchise. For many years fans have asked for these types of products - or made their own - and we believe the Star Trek audience will embrace the idea which will create a very strong demand," added Mytych.

They have already started designing products and expect to ship urns and caskets by late this year. If that's the case, I would hope (expect?) to see a photon torpedo type casket, a la Spock's casket in Star Trek II (pictured above).

Vanessa Hudgens cancels Leno appearance; fresh pics emerge

Vanessa Hudgens was to appear on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" last night, but backed out at the last minute, citing "scheduling conflicts." I'm sure it had more to do with avoiding embarrassing questions than with an actual conflict.

Yet, the story just won't die. You remember, I'm sure, the nude photo that showed up online and its aftermath. Disney continues to back her, so far, but more photos have shown up.

What gets me is the headlines I've seen. "Lesbian kiss!" "Girl-on-Girl!" Well, take a look at the photo; it's hardly salacious - maybe goofy.

On the other hand, the pics of her slinking around (above), though also not scandalous - probably not good judgment there.

Still, she hasn't done anything on the level of say, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, or Nicole Richie. I say we cut her a break - at least for now.

O.J. Simpson - now a robber?

There are many that say O.J. Simpson is a murderer who got away with it. Now he's suspected of participating in an armed confrontation over sports memorabilia at the Palace Station casino.

Investigators have questioned him and named him as a suspect. Simpson said he went to the room to retrieve property that was stolen from him but denied breaking in.

He said he had been tipped that there was stolen memorabilia, and he went there as part of a "sting."

The Associated Press was told by police spokesman Jose Montoya, "Simpson made the comment that he believed the memorabilia was his. We're getting conflicting stories from the two sides."

Now, I'm sure we will learn more, but I'm inclined (unfortunately) to believe Simpson. Why? Think about it. Why would someone whose face is so well-known participate in a robbery? It makes absolutely no sense.

Then again, neither did the verdict in his trial.

Mark Foley to skate; statute of limitations will likely prevent prosecution

Score one for Mark Foley. He lost his job, but apparently, will not lose his freedom. Why? Florida's three-year statute of limitations.

The best case against Foley was an explicit instant message sent by Foley to a 17-year-old high school student in February 2003 - but the Florida Department of Law Enforcement did not begin investigations until November 2006. Simple math shows the problem.

Unfortunately, as later investigations showed, there were quite a few in the House of Representatives who knew of Foley's, er, activities earlier than when the story broke - but didn't report it.

Let's not let the media off, either. The St. Petersburg Times could have reported the story a year earlier, but didn't. You may recall Executive Editor Neil Brown's editorial addressing why they did not break the story.

Our decision not to publish was a close call. We decided to hold off. Why?

I led deliberations with our top editors, and we concluded that we did not have enough substantiated information to reach beyond innuendo.

Likely, this is true. At any rate, some will say Foley has already been punished enough. He lost his career, his reputation, and - no small matter - contributed greatly to the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2006.

Teenager refuses to return sexually explicit book to library

... but not for the reason you might think.

No, it's not because they want to keep it because it's titillating. It's because the teenager and her grandmother don't want any other teens exposed to it.

Until she returns the book, Lysa Harding, 15, won't be able to check out any others. She also faces a fine or a replacement fee if it's not returned by Friday.

The book, "Sandpiper," by Ellen Wittlinger is a book with mature subject matter. As one of the customer reviews at Amazon.com says, "Wittlinger explores the current widespread belief that oral sex is not "real sex." The novel's subject matter and its weighty tone make it appropriate for older teens."

"This book is sick," said Harding's grandmother, Pam Pennington. "I'm 50 years old, and I've raised 11 sets of kids and been through many a library, and I've never seen a book like this in a school library before."

She's had 11 kids? Well, she certainly should know a lot about sex. What gives them the right to decide what other people get to read, BTW? Oh, oh, I know, it's because it's a school library. IMHO, someone - or rather, some two - are waaay too uptight.

U.S. Postal Service "celebrates" jury duty with postage stamp

Does anyone like serving on a jury? Now, I didn't ask if anyone feels it's their civic duty. I asked if anyone liked it. I think the percentage who would say "yes" would be lower than Bush's approval rating.

Well, to celebrate jury duty, or to remind us every time we send a letter, the U.S. Postal Service has unveiled a Jury Duty stamp. They even made it a 41¢ instead of making it say, a 2¢ stamp, more in line with how most feel about it.

Now before you get on my case about it - yes, I do believe it's important to serve. It's just that it's so very painful as well, and always seems to come at precisely the wrong time.

Southwest, formerly the "hot pants airline," involved in second "cover-up"

At least it's not a political cover-up of any type. But it's another cover-up "scandal" for Southwest Airlines. You may recall Kayla Ebbert's story from last week (she's pictured on the left in the outfit that caused the "problem"). Typical of these sorts of stories, the cat has been let out of the bag. A second young woman has come forward to complain about being told to cover-up, with an outfit that's hardly scandalous.

Setara Qassim (pictured on the right above) said a flight attendant confronted her during the trip from Tucson, Arizona, to Burbank, California, and asked whether she had a sweater to go over her green halter-style dress. Interestingly, last week's incident took place on a San Diego to Tucson flight. Maybe the flight attendants on that California to Arizona run are a little uptight.

Now, looking at Ebbert's outfit, I could only see an issue if she was doing a Britney / Lindsay type of outfit (if you get my drift). Qassim's outfit, to me, is pretty - and certainly not too skimpy (and to be quite honest, she's waaaay better looking than Ebbert - not that that has anything to do with anything).

Now, Southwest does not publish a dress code, although but airline spokesman Chris Mainz said "We rely on our employees to use common sense, good judgment and good taste."

Speaking of good taste, I'd like to remind Southwest that in the 1970's they were the "love airline" and dressed their flight attendants in hot pants and go-go boots.

Students suspended over shirt-tucking rule

You read it right, a rule that enforces tucking in of shirts at schools in the Tulsa Public School District (Oklahoma). But before you get all bent ouf of shape, consider the reason: the rule was put into effect after a student brought a loaded gun into Will Rogers High School last week, hiding it under a "too-long" shirt.

Seventy of the Will Rogers High students were suspended for protesting. The school said they broke a rule that prohibits "encouraging other students to violate school rules or regulations."

I thought I had the right to come out here and protest, " said one of the students facing suspension, Jennifer Cantu. "If they're going to ask us to tuck in our shirts, then they might as well put us in uniforms so it actually looks right."

She might get her wish. Apparently the school district is considering uniforms for next year.

David Vitter's Freudian Slip

They sure worked hard to get Larry Craig out of office quickly - though it's still not a done deal. Now, David Vitter, despite the D.C. Madam controversy, has been given a pass. Things heated up a bit yesterday when a former New Orleans prostitute, Wendy Ellis (her prostitute name was Wendy Cortez, and she's often been identified as such) broke the news of a former business relationship with Vitter at news conference arranged by Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt. Ellis will appear in the magazine in January.

"I want the truth to be known," Ellis said. "It was a pure sexual relationship. He would come in and do his business."

On MSNBC's Dan Abrams Live yesterday, Abrams hosted Ellis, and played an excerpt from a July 2002 broadcast of Ringside, a political radio show. On it, Vitter made a Freudian slip when questioned about his relationship with Cortez / Ellis. From the Ringside transcript:

Flaming Liberal: Thank you Jeff for taking my call, always a pleasure to talk to the Congressman. Congressman, since spokesperson for the Republican Party William Bennett has said character counts. I would like to put the same challenge to you that I put to Representative Perkins and he accepted. Would you be willing to sign under the penalty of perjury an affidavit saying you have never had an extramarital affair and you have never known, met or been in the company of one Wendy Cortez.

David Vitter:

Flaming Liberal thank you for repeating all these vicious rumors that my political enemies are trying to bandy about and those rumors are absolutely true and they really don’t belong in any political campaign and I’ve stated very clearly that they’re lies, but I’m not going to start jumping through hoops and taking orders from my political enemies who have absolutely no credibility. So, I’ll speak very clearly about that. I have in the past; I’ll continue to do so.

I love it.

eBay keeps quiet about PayPal shipping glitches until ...

... well, until it hit critical mass, that's when. In a post on the official eBay blog, eBay admitted the problem, but it had been posted about in the forums for quite some time.

What's happening is when checking out, PayPal is filling out the "ship-to" address incorrectly. Although eBay says this is only affecting "a very small number of purchases," I must just be unlucky then, as I noticed an issue in my address when making a purchase over the weekend, though I don't know if it was related.

Because the problem was deemed to be minor in terms of numbers, this problem was never posted to the System Announcements board (where you would expect it to be posted).

I'm wondering what will happen to any sellers whose Feedback is affected negatively by these issues. That's usually not easy to retract (though I have 100% positive feedback, it's almost all due to buying, not selling, so I could be wrong).

China signs agreement to ban lead paint in toys -- it wasn't banned before?

Today China signed an agreement in which it agreed to ban lead paint in any toys exported to the United States. "This is an important signal from the Chinese government that it is serious about working with CPSC to keep dangerous products out of American homes," said acting CPSC chairman Nancy Nord.

I guess I wonder - since we kept recalling toys because of lead paint in them - wasn't lead paint already banned? Or perhaps, much as I've always said, China has "looser" standards and thus these types of issues, such as the toy recall or the toothpaste recalls, should surprise no one.

The timing of this couldn't be more perfect. Tomorrow Nord and toy industry executives are due to appear before Congress to discuss the toy issues.

Still, China's image has been severely battered by these series of recalls. Unfortunately for us, because of the way we've outsourced our manufacturing, there's virtually no way to avoid Chinese imports when simply living life, day-to-day. So we're stuck. At least until Peak Oil becomes so onerous that imports aren't viable.

Thief uses own check during bank robbery

Like I said, thieves aren't usually very bright. This one, Forest Kelly Bissonnette, 27, decided to write the note he gave the bank teller on one of his own checks. Yeah, he scratched off his name, but come on ... even without the magic of C.S.I. they were apparently able to read it.

"We could still make it out even though he blacked it out," said Rene VonderHaar, FBI special agent.

Need I say he's in custody?

Lesson: if you steal a truck, don't leave a gas station receipt behind

No one ever said thieves were particularly bright. A thief stole a pickup in Sheffield Park, Ohio. He dumped it in Westlake, Ohio, apparently exchanging it for an SUV. Later that SUV was found back in Sheffield Park. I guess he wanted to make a round trip, eh?

For him, the problem is he left a receipt from a gas station in the truck. They managed to get some images from the closed-circuit camera, and now they have a suspect - though they haven't caught him yet.

Interestingly, looks like he's wearing a Venom T-shirt, though he's hardly a super-villain.

Kids burn a house down while killing cockroaches

This'll teach these kids - if they want to kill cockroaches, use pesticides, not fire. On the other hand, I suppose you could say if their grandparents had kept the house pest-free ...

A pair of boys, eight and ten years old, were sleeping over at their grandparents' house in Pompano Beach, Florida. They were doing what boys do, playing with fire, but also using rubbing alcohol along with the lighter to burn the cockroaches. The big problem occurred when they set their bed on fire.

No one was hurt (aside, I assume, from the cockroaches they burned).

Larry Craig wants a "do-over"

As expected, Sen. Larry Craig today filed paperwork to withdraw his guilty plea in an airport sex sting operation. The argument given in the papers filed is that Craig "panicked," did not seek the advice of an attorney, and in a "state of intense anxiety" following his arrest, "felt compelled to grasp the lifeline offered to him by the police officer" - a guilty plea.

Craig was sentenced to pay $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year, with a stayed 10-day jail sentence.

To reverse his guilty plea Craig would have to convince a judge that there was a ''manifest injustice'' in the case. Such motions are rare. When they are filed, according to experts, they are rarely successful.

So, OK, he panicked. I can understand that - but it was a few months ago. Did he really think it would stay buried, and thus only sought to act when it became public, and his career was in jeopardy?

You can bet most of the GOP would prefer he resign so they can put this behind them, before the 2008 elections. Craig has said he "intends" to resign, but if he can clear himself before Sept. 30th, the date he originally indicated, he would not do so.

Britney sleepwalks through MTV Video Music Awards opening

Comeback appearance? Or embarrassment? Britney Spears' opening for the MTV Video Music Awards was supposed to be the former, but it seemed more like the latter. Not only was her performance poor, but she looked really out of shape. Take a look at her tonight (left) and in 2001 (her heyday, of course). On the right she look sexy and hard-bodied, and while many would love to have her current body, it's just not the same.

And back to the performance - she lip-synched (obviously) to her new single "Gimme More," and while I really wanted to see her do well, to start getting her life and career back together, I saw no energy in her performance.

It seemed like she was either bored, or quite honestly, drugged. The audience seemed just as disinterested in the performance as she was.

Comeback, no way. I hope she doesn't fall off the deep end when she reads some reviews.

Too much salt at McDonald's leads to jail time

Just a bit of overkill, wouldn't you think? In a small town in the southern suburbs of Atlanta, a McDonald's worker put too much salt on hamburger that was used on a Big N' Tasty burger - and it was served to a Union City police officer who got sick, returned and arrested the "felon."

Apparently the worker, Kendra Bull accidentally spilled salt on hamburger meat and told her supervisor and a co-worker, who "tried to thump the salt off." So it wasn't just one burger that most likely was "spoiled," yet the officer was the only one to complain.

Bull also said on her break, she ate a burger made with the salty meat. "It didn't make me sick," she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The officer, Wendell Adams, spoke to the restaurant's manager, another employee and Bull, who admitted she spilled the salt on the burger. Bull said the officer asked her to step outside, where he continued to question her. "He told me it made him so sick it had to have something worse than salt on it. He asked me if I had ever had a bad experience with cops. Did I know it was a police officer that came through the drive-through? A whole lot of nonsense like that."

You can see where this is going. Adams thought Bull had a beef (pun intended ) with cops, so she intentionally laced the burger.

Bull said she didn't know a police officer had ordered the burger because in the area where she worked, she couldn't see out the drive-through window.

Union City Police public information officer George Louth said said Bull was charged with the misdemeanor reckless conduct because she served it anyway "without regards to the well-being of anyone who might consume it.

Here's the kicker: police said samples of the burger were sent to the state crime lab for tests. Give me a break!

Hudgens story just won't die

This story just won't die. First Vanessa Hudgens was forced to admit the nude photos posted to the Web were indeed her - and speculation ran rampant that Disney was going to drop her. Then, after she apologized, Disney stated they were not dumping her, and that they were backing their "High School Musical" star. Now reports have emerged that indicate that the nude photo in question previously - wasn't the first time.

People magazine reports that a source close to the situation has said that two years ago Hudgens sent "suggestive" pictures to Drake Bell, star of the Nickelodeon show "Drake and Josh." This was prior to Hudgens "stardom."

Bell's rep, Jill Fritzo, said "Drake says he never received those photos."

No reaction from Disney at this point, and of course this story is still all unsubstantiated.

Too Much Information, Michelle Obama!

In an interview with Glamour Magazine, Michelle Obama, besides discussing her husband and his campaign, gave me waaay more information than I needed to know. She said:

They (her girls) come in my bed, and if Dad isn’t there—because he’s too snore-y and stinky, they don’t want to ever get into bed with him.

Wow, I really wanted to know that, Michelle! I hope voters don't care if Barack smells or snores when voting! If they do you just sank his campaign.

China strikes again: Nissan gift mugs laced with lead

Nissan said it was recalling - not cars - but lead-laced promotional mugs it had given out in Japan to people who took a test drive. The mugs were manufactured - guess where - China.

One of the customers who received a mug drank from it, got sick and complained. Nissan said the lead content was 30% above the safe level, and that the mugs may have been distributed to as many as 87,000 customers.

Disney backs Vanessa Hudgens after her apology for nude photo

Close call, and you can bet Vanessa Hudgens will be playing it safe for the time being. In the wake of revelations that the nude photo that surfaced on the web was an actual photo of her, Vanessa Hudgens apologized on Friday. Despite the damage to the squeaky-clean image of the "High School Musical" star, Disney has indicated it will stand behind her.

Her first statement said, “This photo was taken privately. It is a personal matter and it is unfortunate this has become public.”

A second, more conciliatory statement said, "I want to apologize to my fans, whose support and trust means the world to me. I am embarrassed over this situation and regret having ever taken these photos. I am thankful for the support of my family and friends."

Meanwhile, Disney said it hoped Hudgens had learned a valuable lesson. "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment."

A Disney representative said the photo would not affect its decision to cast Hudgens in the third film of the "High School Musical" franchise.

Some parents were still outraged, however, with postings and complaints appearing all over the web. Looking at some of her fansites, as well, most of them have closed comments and / or deleted comments from the sites.

Fred Thompson says Al Qaeda smoking ban pushed Anbar to U.S. side

Here's a great way to start a campaign, and it makes you wonder what Fred "was smoking." In a town hall style gathering yesterday in Sioux City, Iowa, Thompson said it was an Al Qaeda ban on smoking that made Iraqis in Anbar Province, on the few relative bright spots in Iraq, move to back the U.S.

"They said, 'You gotta quit smoking,'" Thompson explained when asked about progress in Iraq.

For some, and for me, it was confusing. "I don't know what that was about," said Jim Moran, 72, who had driven from nearby McCook Lake, S.D.

Fred, maybe they just had the best interests of the Iraqis at heart - you know, kind of like the Surgeon General Warning on cigarette packs?

Arrested man says pot farm was "science project" gone wild

In Jacksonville, Florida, 32-year-old Patrick Rowe was arrested by police for cultivating marijuana with intent to distribute. Basically, it was a pot farm.

But he told a local TV station it was a science project gone wild, though he wouldn't say just what kind of science project. He also indicated that he turned himself in, whereas the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) said they were tipped off to the farm.

"Our undercover officers actually received a tip that this person was cultivating marijuana. And we simply walked up to the door, knocked on the door, the homeowner came out and we asked, can we search your residence, he said, 'sure, come on in,'" said Melissa Bujeda, with the JSO. "He was definitely cultivating marijuana with intent to sell or distribute. It's definitely a large quantity and we're glad we were able to get this before it was distributed on the streets."

Yeah, well it was nearly 200 plants; I would say that's a large quantity, yes. Rowe says he never planned on selling the drugs, which might explain his cooperating so well with the JSO - he'd been partaking of his own harvest.

Vanessa Hudgens Fired Over Nude Pics?

When will they learn (never)? You take a "private" nude pic for your boyfriend / girlfriend, and it gets leaked to the Internet. Frequently its a result of a disgruntled ex-, but in this case, since Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens are a) either dating, b) he's gay - and this photo was supposedly taken for him - who knows?

Although initially denied by representatives, Hudgens was forced to put out a statement acknowledging it was her in the photograph.

Her statement said: “This photo was taken privately. It is a personal matter and it is unfortunate this has become public.”

What does this mean for her career? "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2" were huge hits. "High School Musical 3" is slated for the big screen - and Disney is very protective of their wholesome image (which is why it was a good thing for Lindsay Lohan that she didn't start her antics earlier).

Reports have already surfaced that Disney has fired Hudgens. In fact, the Post-Chronicle cites US Weekly (via "Allie is Wired") as saying:

Due to the recent scandal of "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens' naked photo scandal, Execs at Disney have parted ways with the star and have decided to replace her with "Cheetah Girls" star Adrienne Bailon.

The decision came just hours after the scandal became public and got to the offices at Disney. Says insiders, "It was an extremely hard decision to do. Vanessa has become apart of the family, but we felt it was irresponsible of her to do what she did."

Thing is, if you go to the US Weekly link "Allie is Wired" gives, that blurb is nowhere to be seen.

What do I think? I think, if she's not gone yet, she will be soon.

Land Leeches Invade Japan

Gross! Land leeches, or yamabiru, are moving down from the mountains in Japan and are invading the cities. 29 out of Japan's 47 prefectures are having problems with them. I didn't even know there were such things.

"Yamabiru will climb into people's socks and stay for about an hour, growing five to 10 times in size. Unlike with water leeches, people don't immediately realize they've been bitten. Only later when they see their blood-soaked feet, do they realize what has happened," said Shigekazu Tani, the director of the Institute for Environmental Culture.

I'm not happy with most of his suggestions for dealing with them. They take the normal attitude of humans that since we "own the world" (so to speak), we should do what we want.

"We can cut down trees and mow long grass to dissuade wild animals from coming too close, and create sunny habitats that are inhospitable to leeches. We can also spread pesticides that kill the leeches."

I prefer his final suggestion.

"Or we can just tough it out."

Bush Accepts Invitation to 2008 Beijing Olympics

Not that I was going to go anyway, but this is just another excuse for me to not go to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Bush has received multiple invitations from President Hu Jintao of China (why, I don't know) and he finally accepted.

Mr. Hu extended the invitation during a 90-minute private session with Mr. Bush in Sydney, Australia on the eve of an economic summit meeting of Asian nations. Despite the importance of other items, such as, oh, say Chinese product safety, global warming, the Middle East, the two made sure they discussed the Olympics

“It was a constructive and cordial conversation,” Bush said afterward. “And once again he extended an invitation to me and Laura and our family to come to the Olympics. And of course, I was anxious to accept.”

It makes sense, in both directions, though. Things are touchy between the U.S. and China, especially with all the product recalls, and it also puts pressure on China to clean up its act. Not just encouraging citizens to not swear and be polite, but also, in terms of human rights. Critics have been calling for a boycott of the games to protest human rights abuses in China.

Airline sacrifices goats to appease "sky god"

Having problems with your 757? Don't bother trying to have your mechanics fix it - just make a sacrifice to the sky god.

After all, the 757 is pretty new - anything wrong with it has to be the work of the gods, and not a technical fault, right? And Nepal Airlines only has two 757s, so they can't afford to have them out of service, right?

The carrier said Tuesday that they sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft.

I'm speechless, and my wife, who has enough trouble flying on a major carrier, said she would never fly on an airline that depends n sacrifices to keep their airplanes from falling out of the sky.

Rep. Jack Kingston and the "Demoncrats"

Check out the image above. This particular story was sitting on Jack Kingston's House of Representatives web page for a month. Despite a spokesperson saying it was a typo, it was not corrected until today, after the story hit media outlets.

Here's the thing: normally a typo which involves inserting a character results because the letters are close or adjacent to each other - think about it. So, "o", "n" and "c" are pretty far apart. Typo? Sure, sure.

BTW, this is the same guy who, when told the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives would have to work 5 days a week, said:

"Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

Whoopi Defends Vick on "View" Debut

Well, I just lost all respect for Whoopi Goldberg. On Tuesday, her first day on the view, she took time out to defend Michael Vick.

Goldberg said that "from where he comes from" in the South, dogfighting isn't that unusual. "It's like cockfighting in Puerto Rico," she said. "There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country."

Oh come on. I've heard this same argument before about Vick, and "where he comes from" and I don't buy it.

McCain: "Thanks for the question, you little jerk"

Clearly McCain was trying to joke around, but he's too much like Kerry - he can't tell a decent joke.

During a Q&A session in Concord, New Hampshire Tuesday, McCain was questioned about his age by a high school student. The student said, "If elected, you'd be older than Ronald Reagan, making you the oldest president. Do you ever worry that you might die in office or get Alzheimer’s or some other disease that might affect your judgment?" Naturally this garnered some laughs from the audience.

McCain, after rambling a little bit, pointed to his 95-year-old mother as a example of his genetics, and then said "Every campaign I've ever been on in my entire life, I've outcampaigned all of my opponents. And I'm confident that I will. Thanks for the question, you little jerk."

The crowd laughed, and then McCain quipped, "you're drafted."

Watch it here:

Jerry Lewis apologizes for anti-gay slur

Jerry Lewis' Labor Day Telethon raised $64 million this year, $3 million more than last year - but that wasn't the big news. The big news was Lewis being the latest celebrity to stick his foot in his mouth on camera.

The telethon lasted 21 1/2 hours, so Lewis was likely tired - but that's no excuse. While mugging to the camera, and teasing a cameraman, Lewis said (and I listened to it):

"Oh, your family has come to see you. You remember Bart, your oldest son, Jesse, the illiterate fa ..."

At this point he caught himself and said "No ..." You could hear a few groans from the audience. In a media release, Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) addressed the issue.

"Jerry Lewis’ on-air use of this kind of anti-gay slur is simply unacceptable,” said Giuliano. "It also feeds a climate of hatred and intolerance that contributes to putting our community in harm's way. Our nation’s media have done an admirable job this year holding public figures accountable for their use of anti-gay slurs, and I hope they continue to do so with Mr. Lewis."

Oh, don't you worry, they will. In a statement released today, Lewis made clear that he was joking with his cameraman, and that:

"I apologize to anyone who was offended. Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard. In the family atmosphere of the telethon, I forget that not everyone knows me that well. That something like this would distract from the true purpose of the telethon pains me deeply. ... I accept responsibility for what I said. There are no excuses."

Bush wants to "replenish his ol' coffers"

Bush provides a wealth of comments that are easy to pick on, but his latest one, from the book "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush," is just prime Bush. It shows his arrogance, and perhaps just what he really thinks of all of us - and the time and money he apparently wasted by being President.

The book was written by Robert Draper, and it will be on newsstands tomorrow. His comment concerns what he will do with his life after the Presidency. Here's what he has to say:

"I can just envision getting in the car, getting bored, going down to the ranch," he says. He also has big plans for making money. “I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers.” And he said, “I don’t know what my dad gets - it’s more than 50-75” thousand dollars a speech, and “Clinton’s making a lot of money.”

Well, as an American citizen, I'm sorry that we inflicted you with the sad task of being the most powerful person on the planet, while meanwhile keeping you from keeping your bank account fat.

Policeman on Segway catches shooting suspect

The Segway Human Transporter has a top speed of 12.5 MPH, but apparently that's fast enough to run down (though not literally) a shooting suspect in Chicago.

Chicago Police Officer Thaddeus Martyka was riding his Segway looking for parking violations, a more common use for the Segway, when he heard a shot ring out. He saw two young men sprint away -- and the chase was on.

The two men split up, but he continued to pursue one, and eventually the suspect grew tired and gave up. Martyka is a 17-year veteran of the Chicago police and I guess I would wonder - sorry to say - if he's out of shape or obese. I mean, he could have snagged the guy by running after him a lot sooner than with the Segway.

The second suspect is still at large, BTW.

Lovers Fined for Hugging in China

It was even the Chinese version of Valentine's Day (Qi Xi), and they still fined them. However, the government realized this was overkill and reprimanded the police for their actions. The couple had been fined 5,000 yuan ($660).

According to the woman, "As we hugged each other, three policemen came and separated us so they could ask questions. They brought us to the police station and didn't free us until we paid a 5,000 yuan fine." Yep, and I wonder how much of that fine went to the policemen themselves.

It was only after a ton of protests on the Internet that officials looked into the matter. The police eventually refunded the money to the boyfriend and apologized as well. Chinese police generally take a dim view of PDAs.

"I'm not dead, but my Medicaid benefits are"

A Michigan resident received a death notice in the mail, which seemed humorous at first - but now that his Medicaid benefits have been cut off, he needs help - and fast.

Robert Thomas, of Detroit, said "At first it was amusing to see I was legally dead. Now, the joke is over, and I need help." He received the letter in June, and was initially told everything would be taken care of in three or four days, but instead he was notified that his Medicaid coverage was being canceled due to his death.

As a diabetic, Thomas spends about $1,000 a month - so he needs Medicaid help. The state has apologized to Thomas and promised to have his Medical benefits restored by next week.

I hope they also repay him for any expenses he has accrued since the start of all this.

Iraqi-Americans Detained for Speaking Arabic

It comes to this. America, reduced to fear of those who are "different." These Iraqi-Americans were in San Diego to train marines at Camp Pendleton. A woman on a flight to Chicage was frightened by the group of six, who were speaking Arabic. Anyone remember the scenes in Flightplan, with the obviously Middle Eastern passenger looked at suspiciously by the other travelers? Uh, huh, there you go.

Their crime, therefore, was being of Middle Eastern descent and speaking Arabic. The men work for Defense Training Systems, a unit of International Logistics Services. The six Iraqis had been training US Marines at Camp Pendleton.

"We were hired for this Government. We can prove ourselves. We are good people, not a bad people," said one of the men involved, Dave Alwatan, who is a US citizen. Additionally, he said, "How can we be bad if we are helping our people here - American people? Why are we getting treated like that?"

Why are they being treated like that? Simple, unrelenting fear. Are we now judging people's guilt or innocence by their skin or language? It so, perhaps the terrorists are winning.

Worf's Son Guilty of Domestic Violence

Wow, domestic violence from a Klingon would be particularly rough. Another child actor hits the skids. Brian Bonsall, who appeared in not just "Star Trek: the Next Generation" as Worf's son Alexander, but also in "Family Ties," pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in a case involving his girlfriend and was sentenced to two years' probation.

Three other charges were dismissed as a result of the plea bargain. He was arrested in March after his girlfriend told police he poured an alcoholic drink on her face while she slept, put her in a choke hold and threw her onto a bed when she tried to leave.

Bonsall told investigators he pushed her down in self-defense after she cut his arm and face with a steak knife. She denied the claim and wasn't charged in the case.

There have been many incidents involving former child actors and actresses, who often seem to find turbulent times once their "15 minutes of fame" are over. Examples include Dana Plato (dead of a drug overdose in 1999 at the age of 34), Todd Bridges (drug addiction and other problems), and Anissa Jones (dead of a drug overdose in 1976 at the age of 18).

Larry Craig Gets the "Avenue Q" Treatment

I'm going to assume you know about the Larry Craig sex scandal because - how could you not? (Oh, in case you didn't hear, he resigned today). Avenue Q on the other hand - you may not be familiar with.

Avenue Q is a Tony-award winning musical which uses Muppet-like puppets (the resemblance is undeniable) to tell "the story of Princeton, a bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York City with big dreams and a tiny bank account" (from the Avenue Q FAQ). In 2004 it won Tonys for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. Unlike Sesame Street or other Muppet-based movies or TV shows, puppet operators appear onstage with their "charges."

The show is definitely un-PC with songs like "Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist."

This YouTube video takes the Avenue Q song "If You Were Gay" and intersperses clips from one of Larry Craig's press conferences to form a hilarious montage. Watch it: