March 21st, is the day locals can get their druid on by gathering together at Phelps Grove Park to "honor the trees that fell" during the recent ice storm, and "give gratitude" to those still standing. Would I kid you?
If you want to go, show up at 7:30 p.m., around the pavilion. Dress is casual. Maybe it's optional. I'm not really clear on that.
Here's a shot of what our own dearly departed tree looked like after the storm. Alas, poor Hawthorn, we knew him well.
I've never seen anything quite like this before. Watch the video of Faith, the two-legged dog.
The local health department and the Southwest Center for Independent Living had a pow-wow today over whether to allow Debby Rose's monkey to dine at local eateries with her.
Debby Rose says Richard, her bonnet macaque monkey, is a service animal that assists her with an anxiety disorder, which should be allowed according to the Americans With Disabilities Act, a federal law.
Service animals (defined here) are just that; trained to perform various tasks for their owners such as picking up dropped objects, turning lights off and on, opening the refrigerator , etc.
Richard, however, is not trained to perform any useful function.
Family members dispute that, saying Rose's anxiety is disabling. Without her monkey, she's less able to manage normal tasks, such as grocery shopping and dining out because of severe anxiety.
"I have seen the difference he makes," said Rose's grown daughter Tonya Brady. "She used to get to the point where she couldn't come to my kids' birthday parties. ... There were some days she couldn't even get herself dressed and out the door. He's aware of her emotions at all times."
(Does anyone else find it a little disturbing that a monkey is apparently a better companion than her family members?)
The catch is that all the lady has to say is that it's a service animal and she has to be allowed in with the damn thing, no questions asked.
Now if the monkey were a smoker, that'd be a different story...
Link: News-Leader.com | Local News.
Paris Hilton would play Mother Teresa.
Director T. Rajeevnath said of his search for the lead:
Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analysed thoroughly before she is chosen.
I'm sure that, once Mr. Rajeevnath has thoroughly checked out Ms. Hilton, he'll come to his senses.
I don't imagine the Book-of-The-Month Club will have these anytime soon.
...While human leather may be repulsive to contemporary society, libraries can ethically have the books in their collections if they are used respectfully for academic research and not displayed as objects of curiosity, says Paul Wolpe of the Center for Bioethics...
The New Year will get off to a bad start for this man.
Police in Berlin made their easiest arrest of the year at their annual Christmas party, after spotting a man rummaging through the pockets of their coats in the cloakroom.
Officers of the Federal Police criminal investigations unit said the unlucky pickpocket had not known that the revelers in a Berlin brewery were law enforcers.
The thief's problems have just begun. The Albanian man was found to have a forged passport and had other charges pending against him.
Link: Pickpocket seized at police Christmas party - Yahoo! News.
A Golden Retriever whelped a GREEN puppy in California. What would you call that, anyway? A Tarnished Retriever?
The other little canines in his litter born last weekend have blond fur -- but one pooch looks like he's Irish. The breeder is mystified- and named the puppy "Wasabi" after the spicy green mustard served with sushi.
The puppy does indeed look green in the picture.
Link: ABC7Chicago.com: Golden retriever gives birth to green puppy.
An elderly Florida man was detained at a tollbooth when the attendant saw a one-legged corpse stuck in the driver's windshield.
The 92-year-old man hit a pedestrian, throwing the unfortunate head-first through the driver's windshield. (The initial impact had severed the pedestrian's leg.) The Florida man kept on driving for approximately 3 miles, until he was stopped at the tollbooth.
The driver didn't know that he had been involved in an accident and thought that perhaps the body had dropped onto his car from an overpass.
Livermore, California had paid $40,000 to Ms. Alquilar for the large mosaic she created for the city library. Unfortunately, she misspelled several names in her creation: "Eistein," "Shakespere," "Gaugan," and eight others.
When asked to fix the mosaic, Ms. Alquilar had a temper tantrum and refused, saying that the screw-up was merely "words." She fixed her work after being paid an additional $6,000.
Link: Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird
Scientists have found a bowl of 4,000 year-old noodles in China.
Danish soldiers deployed in Iraq and Kosovo have been supplied with pillows that play relaxing music in an effort to relieve stress.
The pillows have been used successfully in Danish hospitals.
Greg Miller mortgaged his house and maxed out his credit cards to invest $500,000 in his invention--faux dog testicles.
Mr. Miller's efforts have not gone unrewarded. By selling over 150,000 Neuticles, he has more than doubled his money and was awarded an Ig Nobel from Harvard.
The Viennese "art" group, Gelatin, has installed an enormous pink rabbit on the side of Celletto Colletto Fava mountain in northern Italy.
Group member Wolfgang Gantner said: "It's supposed to make you feel small, like Gulliver. You walk around it and you can't help but smile."
And Gelatin members say the bunny is not just for walking around - they are expecting hikers to climb its 20 foot sides and relax on its belly.
The lay-about bunny is supposed to remain on the mountain until 2025.
At least he knows what his legacy will be now.
A Chinese company is honoring ex-president Bill Clinton by naming a new line of condoms after him - along with a companion line of condoms that will be named after his ex-girlfriend, Monica Lewinsky.
Hillary should be so proud.
Pay to have Stephen King kill you in his next book! The current bid is $18,000.
H/T bren rants
No, not me--lip synching, among other things.
H/T Basils Blog
Susan Torres's brain stopped functioning almost three months ago. This week, she gave birth to a Susan Anne Catherine Torres, who weighs in at 1 pound and 13 ounces.
Link: CNN.com - Woman on life support gives birth - Aug 3, 2005.
Virtue is it's own reward has it's rewards. "A UGANDAN member of parliament has pledged to reward girls for their
chastity by paying their university fees if they are virgins when they
leave school, a local newspaper said Wednesday." Virgins to get free university | The Other Side | Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au (21-07-2005).
A woman caught shopping in the buff was let go with just a warning by German police. She said she lost a spin-the-bottle contest. Woman caught shopping in the nude | The Other Side | Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au (21-07-2005).
No doubt the ACLU would have been hot on this one...
A German man sued the state for discrimination. His complaint? State health insurance covers the cost of wigs for women, but not rugs for men. The court reasoned that baldness is common in men and therefore accepted. This is not the case for women.
Yikes! In vitro meat, anyone?
Experiments for NASA space missions have shown that small amounts of edible meat can be created in a lab. But the technology that could grow chicken nuggets without the chicken, on a large scale, may not be just a science fiction fantasy.
I wonder what a similar U. S. poll would find? Read the poll results here: KVIA.com - French Men Poll (Resending).
Who needs terrorists when you have "Hybrid Man"?
Vin Suprynowicz: Send In The Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998
Robert Higgs: Opposing the Crusader State: Alternatives to Global Interventionism
Jacques S. Jaikaran: Debt Virus: A Compelling Solution to the World's Debt Problems
Andrew P. Napolitano: A Nation of Sheep
Judge Napolitano urges Americans to reject profoundly the satanic bargain that less freedom equals more safety. Less freedom equals slavery.
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