This is too good (no, it's not from The Onion:

US man charged for shooting mower
A 56-year-old man from the Midwestern US state of Wisconsin has been arrested after shooting his lawn mower in his garden because it would not start.

Keith Walendowski was charged by police in Milwaukee with disorderly conduct and possession of a sawn-off shotgun.

He could face a fine of up to $11,000 and a maximum prison sentence of six-and-a-half years if convicted.

Police officers said Mr Walendowski had told them: "It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want."

Police found the shotgun, a handgun and a stungun, as well as ammunition, when they detained Mr Walendowski in the basement of his house.

Witnesses told police that he appeared to have been drinking.

The lawn mower was found sitting outside Mr Walendowski's house, which he shares with his mother, with the rubbish on Friday.

A local retailer said that Mr Walendowski might now have difficulty getting his lawn mower repaired.

"Anything not factory recommended would void the warranty," said Dick Wagner, of Wagner's Garden Mart in Milwaukee.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7526628.stm

Published: 2008/07/26 03:44:40 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

Oh my God, he voided the warranty. I bet now he wishes he wouldn't have done it.

From the BBC:

'Allah meat' astounds Nigerians
Diners have been flocking to a restaurant in northern Nigeria to see pieces of meat which the owner says are inscribed with the name of Allah.

What looks like the Arabic word for God and the name of the prophet Muhammad were discovered in pieces of beef by a diner in Birnin Kebbi.

He was about to eat it, when he suddenly noticed the words in the gristle, the restaurant owner said.

A search of the kitchen's meat revealed three more pieces which bore the names.

The meat was boiled and then fried before being served, owner Kabiru Haliru told newspaper Weekly Trust.

"When the writings were discovered there were some Islamic scholars who come and eat here and they all commented that it was a sign to show that Islam is the only true religion for mankind," he said.

The restaurant has kept the pieces of meat for visitors to see.

Thousands of people have already gone to the restaurant to see them since they were discovered last week.

A vet told the newspaper the words "defied scientific explanation".

"Supposing only one piece of meat was found then it would be suspicious, but given the circumstances there is no explanation," Dr Yakubu Dominic said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7520149.stm

Published: 2008/07/22 16:54:57 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

Perfect. My favorite part:

"When the writings were discovered there were some Islamic scholars who come and eat here and they all commented that it was a sign to show that Islam is the only true religion for mankind," he said.

Of course! How else could one interpret this clear and obvious sign from God, oops, I mean Allah?

Take that all you heathens who saw (or thought you saw) Jesus in a potato chip or "the Virgin Mary" on a bagel. Losers! Islam is the one true religion for mankind! Until, wait, what's this I see in the dirt pattern on my living room carpet. It looks like... It is! It's George Carlin!

Figure out for yourselves what that means.

Quoting from the book I most recently finished:

"By the time the general public realized the extent of the war, the depth and totality of it all, then the rationale in Washington would change, it would become Support of our boys out there. At first the critics were told that they should not be critics because it was not really going to be a war and it would be brief, anyway; then, when it became clear that it was a war, they were told not to be critics because it hurt our boys and helped the other side."

You know what the subject is here, right? Here's a little more:

"All of which would work for a while. Johnson had successfully co-opted the Congress and to a large degree the press."

Substitute the name Bush for Johnson in that passage and it sounds about right too, doesn't it? Although the press of the Vietnam era was absolutely tenacious compared to the bend-over boobs of today.

In any case, yes, the book was about the Vietnam era, "The Best and the Brightest", by David Halberstam. I recommend it. For GW especially.

Is this coming soon to the USA?:

Dutch smoking ban goes into force
A tobacco smoking ban has come into effect in cafes, bars and restaurants in the Netherlands.

The country is following a growing trend across Europe and the world of bans on smoking in public places.

Pro-smoking lobbyists say the ban will lead to a drop in business, but others say any losses will be made up by non-smokers going out more.

Patrons of cannabis cafes will still be allowed to smoke marijuana as long as it is not mixed with tobacco.

Possession of cannabis is illegal in the Netherlands, but holders of small amounts are not prosecuted. Smoking cannabis is permitted in licensed cafes.

Rotterdam cinema handed out free cigarettes on Monday night, hours before the ban came into force on Tuesday.

One hospitality industry forecast said there has been an increase in the number of businesses up for sale ahead of the ban, as owners anticipated slower business because of smokers staying away from restaurants, cafes and bars.

But other studies suggested that their numbers would be replaced by non-smokers going out more to enjoy a night out in a cleaner environment.

Any businesses caught allowing customers to smoke would be warned and repeat offenders would face escalating fines, Chris Krikken, a spokesman for the Food and Wares Authority charged with enforcing the ban, told the Associated Press.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7482571.stm

Published: 2008/07/01 01:09:24 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

The best line of the whole story: "Patrons of cannabis cafes will still be allowed to smoke marijuana as long as it is not mixed with tobacco."

I love it. Which one's the "evil weed"? I won't say marijuana is good for you but I don't recall ever hearing of one death being directly attributable to marijuana smoking.

The obligatory "business will suffer" line is quoted and is being dutifully rebutted/ignored. If anybody wants to debate whether or not this is a factor that should be given consideration, make your case and I will be happy to share my thoughts on why it should not be.

I do wonder why there can't be such a thing as a tobacco cafe (since they have Marijuana cafes) but maybe there will be (though there is no mention of such and I would think there would be if there was going to be).

The answer I have taken to giving when people complain that their "right" to smoke is being taken away is "sorry but you never had the right to smoke up my/everybody's air, you just thought you did". Or, another way, "yes we do mind if you smoke" (not that most smokers ask, I know I never did).

To my still smoking friends who are reading this: please quit already, you know you want to.

This from another blog:

"There is no oil shortage, not yet at least. That doesn't mean we're not quickly sliding towards Peak Oil. We probably are, but that has nothing to do with today's gas prices. The reason oil has skyrocketed to nearly $140 per barrel is because of speculation; rampant, "unregulated" speculation. The peak oil doom-sayers are simply confusing the issue. This is not about shortages or scarcity; it's about gaming the system to fatten the bottom line. The whole scam is being executed by the same carpetbagging scoundrels who engineered the subprime fiasco; the investment bankers. The Wall Street Goliaths are using the futures market to recapitalize their flagging balance sheets after sustaining massive losses in the mortgage-backed securities boondoggle. That's the whole thing in a nutshell. Now they're on to their next swindle; distorting the futures market with humongous leveraged bets on food and oil."

If you want to read more of this the link is at the bottom.

Here's just a bit more:

"There's no shortage, no scarcity.(Not yet, at least) In fact, oil is being deliberately kept off the market to keep prices high. Consider this: if supply isn't keeping up with demand then why aren't there any lines at the gas stations like there were during the '70s?

Because it's all a fabrication. Prices are up because of speculation, that's all."

If this is all true (and he devotes much of his post to citing numerous sources, including King Abdullah, saying the same thing), then this is basically another "bubble" which will eventually "burst". When it does, "investors" holding futures contracts will be obliged to pay more than current market price to meet their obligations, they'll have to pay, say, 140 dollars per barrel, but they won't be able to sell it for more than, what? 90 dollars per barrel? It was much less than that fairly recently (sorry, I have no numbers, or maybe I should say, you're welcome). And they're already over-producing and withholding product.

Commodities investors can't really sit on product, can they? At the time that the "call" comes, in addition to paying, don't they have to accept delivery? So they have to sell, right? Or pay somebody to store it (adding even more to the cost, which they already can't recoup because the price is down).

This will suck, for them. There are probably some super-shrewd bastards that have a way to insure themselves against this, at someone else's expense of course, but much money is going to be lost here. You don't suppose that these investments (oil futures contracts) have been packaged and sold as "securities" to some poor unsuspecting schmucks, do you?

The question is, what does this all mean for, well, me? If people can't pay will the flow be interrupted?

One more question. If there is already surplus production and an artificially high price, what happens if we reduce consumption/demand by, say, 15%? Or even ten?

And how 'bout let's.

Could be interesting.

Link: http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/15474