My Life - In 1,000 words or less

Kung Fu hillbilly

2009-05-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Start 'em when they're young!

2009-04-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

What the hell happened to separation of Church and State?!?!

2009-04-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

(AP) The Supreme Court has turned away a challenge from a death row inmate in Texas who claimed his constitutional rights were violated by jurors who consulted a Bible during deliberations.

Jurors reviewed a biblical passage relating that a murderer who used an iron object to kill "shall surely be put to death." They were deciding whether to impose a death sentence on Khristian Oliver for fatally shooting and bludgeoning his victim with the barrel of a gun.

The court previously has said that jurors should base their verdicts only on evidence presented in the courtroom.

But state and federal courts upheld Oliver's sentence, despite testimony that some jurors consulted the passage that described a killing similar to the one Oliver committed.

cbsnews.com

Molly the Cat meets the printer

2009-04-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

Kitties make their own spaces!

2009-04-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here's my girl Delia who has found her own little nest! She snuggled up in a mossy hanging plant basket on the patio.

And Harley-Joe can't take full responsibility for tearing up the underside of my mattress but he definitely takes pleasure in its "reconstruction".

Oh snap!

2009-04-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Animals in action

2009-04-16T07:40:00.001-07:00

More photos

Wow.

2009-04-13T11:36:00.002-07:00

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T11:36:00.001-07:00

Happy ending for sea turtle

2009-04-10T10:11:00.001-07:00

She has been swimming round in circles for most of her short life.

But after being fitted with a prosthetic fin, Allison the green sea turtle with only one flipper is back on the straight and narrow.

Scientists designed a special black neoprene suit with a carbon-fibre attachment to allow her to glide gracefully along with other turtles.

Allison, who is five and has a life-expectancy of 150, is believed to have lost her fliiper in a shark attack

She arrived at Sea Turtle Inc., a Texas rescue centre that rehabilitates injured sea turtles, in 2005 and was so badly injured staff feared she would not survive.

But she recovered and wormed her way into the hearts of her rescuers, who have tried to find a way of stopping her swimming in circles.

A team of scientists spent months trying to develop a prosthetic flipper but there was not enough of a stump remaining to attach prosthetics.

In the end they came up with the suit, which covers three quarters of her body, acts as a rudder and gives her stability.

Allison can change direction by varying the strokes of her front right flipper,

'The whole reason we're doing this is to improve her quality of life,' said Tom Wilson, a 21-year-old intern who thought up the suit using the physics of canoe paddling.

The scientists have developed equations that will allow them to tailor new suits and fins because Allison could grow to 600 pounds.

Curator Jeff George said turtles with only one flipper are usually put down because they would struggle to reach the surface for air.

Two-flipper turtles can be adopted by zoos and three-flipper turtles can be returned to the wild.

Even though Allison will never return to the sea, the groundbreaking work will make her an 'ambassador' for an endangered species, George said.

dailymail.co.uk

Pretty cool trick

2009-04-10T10:10:00.001-07:00

Cool bookshelves

2009-04-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

picocool.com

Awesomely horrible tattoo

2009-04-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Cat ambush

2009-04-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

Things no one really wants to see

2009-04-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

LOLcat of the day

2009-04-02T08:03:00.001-07:00

Lucky's funeral

2009-03-31T13:18:00.001-07:00

Best cat puking videos

2009-03-31T12:46:00.001-07:00

Best 11 Cat Puking Videos on the Internet

Wow, that's a big worm

2009-03-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

Aquarium staff have unearthed a 'giant sea' worm that was attacking coral reef and prize fish.

The 4ft long monster, named Barry, had launched a sustained attack on the reef in a display tank at Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium over recent months.

Workers at the Cornwall-based attraction had been left scratching their heads as to why the coral had been left devastated and - in some cases - cut in half.

Cool see-through canoe

2009-03-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

www.dornob.com

Gorillaz hologram from 2007 MTV awards

2009-03-31T08:53:00.001-07:00

Fundies say the darndest things

2009-03-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

This website is a collection of stuff found on Christian websites. My favorite quote: "Tonight as my husband and I were leaving our house to go into town, we noticed a very bright light. Looked up and saw the crescent moon and this huge light next to it. It was so big and bright we were not sure what it was, I got so excited that it might be Jesus getting ready to call us up that I got all excited. Alas.....it was just another hopeful moment, and beautiful sight. But the senses are going into full expectation that it will be soon, very soon. Halleluja!!!!" Read more here: www.fstdt.com

This is a video of dramatic readings of some entries on various fundamentalist Christian online forums.

www.fstdt.com

Flowchart of a dog's mind at a dog park

2009-03-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

I want one!!!

2009-03-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Beautiful nature photography

2009-03-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

thechive.com

Hot or not?

2009-03-26T09:31:00.001-07:00

Ha ha!!!

2009-03-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

buzzfeed.com

Here's her address. Write her and tell her you are outraged!

2009-03-26T08:50:00.001-07:00

Busy with social life, Boca Raton teacher lets her cats starve to death.

By Jerome Burdi
March 23, 2009

BOCA RATON — Two cats starved to death in a schoolteacher's apartment because, between work and her social life, she just didn't have time for them, police said.

The domestic cats were found dead Feb. 23 at a Boca Sol apartment and were taken to the county Animal Care & Control for necropsies.

The findings: They were left in the home of Congress Middle School special education teacher Allison Dinsmore without enough food and water for up to a month. They died a painful death caused by dehydration and starvation, officials said.

Police accused Dinsmore, 26, of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor, though she has not been charged. Police could not arrest her, Officer Sandra Boonenberg said, because "misdemeanors must occur in the officer's presence or be a 'misdemeanor exception,' which animal cruelty/neglect is not." The State Attorney's Office will decide whether to charge Dinsmore.

More than a month ago, a neighbor became suspicious and notified the Boca Sol property manager, who called Dinsmore. She said she had been feeding the cats at night, said Tina Alma, assistant manager of Boca Sol apartments in the 200 block of Northeast 20th Street.

Dinsmore could not be reached to comment, despite attempts by phone.

By mid-February, Dinsmore had not paid her rent. After a phone call to her was not returned, the manager went into her apartment Feb. 23 and found the dead cats. She called police.

According to the police report:

The cats left signs of their struggle.

"The apartment was completely upside down," Alma said. "They brought the ceiling down. These cats went crazy looking for food."

Neighbor Linda Paajanen, 54, said she'd see the cats in the window and noticed they were thinner.

"I was really devastated," Paajanen said about hearing the cats had died.

Dinsmore has worked at the Boynton Beach school since August 2007.

"She's an excellent teacher," said county School District spokesman Nat Harrington.

Dinsmore told police she had been working a lot and staying at a boyfriend's home in Greenacres. She could not recall the last time she returned to her apartment.

Write to Ms. Dinsmore and tell her what she did is NOT OKAY!

Allison Dinsmore
200 NE 20th Street
Boca Raton, Florida 33431-8054
(561) 347-0458

Palm Beach Post

Anti-teenager lights? Awesome! How about anti-asshole lights?

2009-03-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

British local councils have a new weapon in their arsenal of devices that collectively and indiscriminately punish teenagers simply for being young. The new tool is a pink overhead light designed to exaggerate acne, with the intention of making children so unhappy and insecure about their appearances that they go somewhere else (mind you, these councils are almost certainly also allocating funds to helping teenagers cope with low self-esteem and avoid the problems associated with it, such as depression and vulnerability of recruitment into violent activity).

Other weapons in the arsenal against youth include the "Mosquito" -- an annoying high-pitched tone that adults can't hear, that shopkeepers and councils have deployed against teens and kids (and, of course, any babies that happen to be in the area), and "anti-kid steps" that are supposed to prevent the menace of kids staying in one place, talking to one another.

BBC news

Nice image

2009-03-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

I'm so sorry for posting this

2009-03-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Ya can't make this stuff up

2009-03-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

This gentleman was arrested on Monday for attempting to strangle his wife. Bradley Gellert, of Apollo Beach, Florida, was indeed wearing the "I [heart] My Marriage" t-shirt at the time of the arrest. From WTSP:

The arrest report says that the couple were arguing over drugs, and during the fight at their home, Gellert screamed in his wife's face, threw things, grabbed her neck and strangled her, and knocked her to the ground.

Insensitive crosswalk sign

2009-03-24T11:33:00.001-07:00

See, I'm telling you, self esteem is NOT ALWAYS A GOOD THING!

2009-03-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hey, We Saw Your Mom During Spring Break - watch more funny videos

Poor piggy!

2009-03-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

LOL cat of the day

2009-03-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

Holy soap fail

2009-03-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Old school maze game that has a great finish!

2009-03-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

The Maze
The game that started all the hype! If you haven't played this game yet, you are missing out! Do not be fooled by imitators... this is the original.

www.winterrowd.com

Holy impalement, Batman!

2009-03-23T09:32:00.001-07:00

Mihir Kumar was celebrating the Holi festival in Ranchi, India, when the accident occured.

He slipped off the roof of his family home and landed on a the five foot-long iron rod that was left standing on a building site.

The pole punched through his rib cage and came out the other side.

His father said Mihir "endured terrible pain".

He was rushed to hospital where he underwent three-hour surgery at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences to remove the rod.

He is now recovering in hospital.

Dr Sandeep Agarwal, one of the three surgeons to operate on the boy, said he had miraculously escaped major internal injuries.

telegraph.co.uk

7 Phenomenal Wonders of the Natural World

2009-03-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

webecoist.com

WTF?

2009-03-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

target.com

Photo-Recognition Software Indentifies Tigers

2009-03-23T09:05:00.001-07:00

The stripe patterns on tigers are unique to the individual animal, but sufficiently similar that matching by humans is tedious and imperfect. The new software automates the process. The most obvious application is for tracing animals photographed with webcams or "camera-traps", but the data can also be used to match tiger hides offered for sale with known previously living animals to facilitate prosecution of poachers.

Users use coloured dots to indicate the position of the shoulder, hips and tail and the upper and lower margins of the image; the programme does the rest. It essentially unwraps the striped pattern from the tiger’s flank and works out how it would look if it were laid out flat. It then compares the new image to every existing one and gives them a score based on how similar they are. The software is freely downloadable.

scienceblogs.com

Killer Wabbit discovered!

2009-03-23T09:02:00.001-07:00

Homer Simpson clock - Doh!

2009-03-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

drinkstuff.com

Um, whoops. Oh, hey, cool!!

2009-03-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

LOLcats of the day

2009-03-20T16:32:00.001-07:00

Kids these days.

2009-03-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

Letter to Dr. Ruth

2009-03-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

My girl's a Mau!

2009-03-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe not 100% but she's definitely got Egyptian Mau in her. She even has some of the unique and distinctive attributes of the breed like:
"They are moderately active and often express their happiness by chortling in a soft melodious voice and wiggling their tails at great speed while treading with their forepaws."

That's funny

2009-03-19T14:07:00.001-07:00

Watch Hula Hoop Baby on CollegeHumor

Um, no thanks.

2009-03-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

More pictures you feel guilty for laughing at

2009-03-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

Meet Robo-Croc

2009-03-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

A 10-foot crocodile is recuperating in a Florida zoo after undergoing reconstructive surgery.

The ground breaking four-hour operation took place at Miami's Metrozoo facility yesterday.

The giant male predator, affectionately named Robo-Croc following the operation, had been close to death after having its head crushed by a car in the Florida Keys last year.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Karma's a bitch, baby!

2009-03-19T12:23:00.001-07:00

Those things have beaks and hurt like hell!

Pretty awesome

2009-03-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

LOL cat of the day

2009-03-19T11:55:00.001-07:00

Lost Dog

2009-03-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

Possibly the most beautiful woman ever - Brigitte Bardot

2009-03-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

More pictures at thechive.com

Caution - spoiler!

2009-03-18T12:53:00.001-07:00

LOLdogs of the day

2009-03-18T09:18:00.001-07:00

Beautiful dance images

2009-03-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

MORE PHOTOS AT ballet-dance.com

Pretty much sums it all up

2009-03-16T15:56:00.001-07:00

Britney Spears stole this!

2009-03-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

The song is "If You See Kay" by the Poster Children from 1992. Brit-Brit ain't so smart as she thinks she is.

This just made me choke on my soda laughing!

2009-03-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

Funny church signs

2009-03-16T15:33:00.001-07:00

MORE PHOTOS

Kinda the way I see it

2009-03-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

Dogs' destroying stuff

2009-03-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

MORE PHOTOS HERE

People you almost feel bad about making fun of ... almost

2009-03-16T13:16:00.001-07:00

No no, THIS is the best pic of the week!

2009-03-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Best pic of the week

2009-03-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Irony in 3..2..1....

2009-03-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

buzzfeed.com

Octomom costume - I assume everyone in the bar had to pay for her drinks

2009-03-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

buzzfeed.com

Now try this one

2009-03-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

"Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" - Tom Waits

Songs that are slaying me right now

2009-03-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

"Better Off Dead" - Elton John

"Please Call Me Baby" - Tom Waits

"The Great Nations of Europe" - Randy Newman

LOL cat of the day

2009-03-12T07:49:00.001-07:00

Hhhhhot boots by YSL

2009-03-11T12:01:00.001-07:00

YSL online

Humpty turtle

2009-03-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

How can you not love this story?

2009-03-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

Raising her trunk, three-legged Mosha salutes her new prosthetic limb, which means she can get back on the jungle trail.

The young Asian elephant lost her right front leg after stepping on a landmine aged only seven months old.

Close to death, she was rescued and brought to the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, where she became the first elephant in the world to be fitted with a prosthetic leg in 2007.

Now aged three, Mosha is growing at such a rate she has now been fitted with a second prosthetic leg.

Her home in the tropical jungle of northern Thailand, near the Cambodian border, is an orphanage for elephants.

The gentle giants are the new symbol of the fight against the banned weapons.

Thousands of Thais have been injured and killed due to landmines, with a recent survey estimating there are about 100 new mine casualties each year.

Mosha is a resident of the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand.

dailymail.co.uk

LOL cat of the day

2009-03-09T12:15:00.001-07:00

Nano Lopez' beautiful work

2009-03-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

I've seen some of these pieces in person and they are unbelievable. Today I started my "Gatin" account and I'll keep putting my pennies together to get the $1,700 to bring him to my home where he belongs!

Nano Lopez

Book from 19th century about foreign objects in orifices

2009-03-05T13:35:00.000-08:00

boingboing.net

Funny t-shirts

2009-03-05T08:59:00.001-08:00

snorgtees.com
tshirthell.com

Make your own album

2009-03-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

Yeah, kinda dorky but it's odd how the outcome is usually pretty cool. Here are the rules:

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit "random"
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on "explore the last seven days"
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

5 - Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" or "comment" and TAG the friends you want to join in.

Here are the ones I came up with. I had to cheat on one photo because the 3rd one was a .gif not a .jpg so I took the next one.

LOL cat of the day

2009-03-05T08:04:00.001-08:00

Beautiful art

2009-03-04T10:47:00.001-08:00

funtasticus.com

Salt of the earth?

2009-03-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

CRESAPTOWN, Md. (AP) - You've heard of kosher salt? Now there's a Christian variety.

Retired barber Joe Godlewski says he was inspired by television chefs who repeatedly recommended kosher salt in recipes.

"I said, 'What the heck's the matter with Christian salt?'" Godlewski said, sipping a beer in the living room of his home in unincorporated Cresaptown, a western Maryland mountain community.

By next week, his trademarked Blessed Christians Salt will be available at http://www.memphi.net, the Web site of Memphis, Tenn.-based seasonings manufacturer Ingredients Corporation of America.

It's sea salt that's been blessed by an Episcopal priest, ICA President Damon S. Arney said Wednesday. He said the company also hopes to market the salt through Christian bookstores and as a fundraising tool for religious groups.

Arney and Godlewski, 73, said a share of the proceeds will be donated to Christian charities, but neither would specify a percentage.

Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, kosher administrator for the Chicago Rabbinical Council, said marketing Christian salt as an alternative to kosher salt reflects, at best, ignorance about Jewish dietary laws. He said all salt is inherently kosher because it occurs naturally and requires little or no processing.

Certified kosher foods are not blessed by rabbis but examined by them to ensure that the food and its processing conform with Biblical passages regarding food preparation and consumption, Fishbane said.

He said coarse-grained kosher salt is named for the way in which it was traditionally used _ to draw blood from freshly butchered meat, because Jewish law prohibits consuming blood. Chefs often favor kosher salt because it's crunchy and easy to pinch.

Godlewski said his salt, packaged in containers bearing bright red crosses, has at least as much flavor and beneficial minerals as kosher salt _ and it's for a good cause.

"The fact is, it helps Christians and Christian charities," he said. "This is about keeping Christianity in front of the public so that it doesn't die. I want to keep Christianity on the table, in the household, however I can do it."

A one-time Catholic who now holds Bible studies in his home, Godlewski is a longtime entrepreneur. In 1998, he founded a kielbasa sausage business now run by a nephew. In 2000, he introduced the Stretch & Catch, a fishing gizmo that he says was copied and buried by foreign competitors.

If the salt takes off, Godlewski plans an entire line of Christian-branded foods, including rye bread, bagels and pickles.

Food industry consultant Richard Hohman, of Tampa, Fla., said Christian branding is a clever idea that could do well in the Bible Belt.

But Christine Johnson, managing editor of the trade journal Christian Retailing in Lake Mary, Fla., said marketing channels are limited. Although Christian scripture candy and Christian fortune cookies have won shelf space in some Christian bookstores, "there's a very, very small market for Christian-type foods," she said.

"As far as there being a market for salt, I cannot really see it" in Christian bookstores, Johnson said.

Rabbi Fishbane said he doesn't blame Godlewski for seizing a business opportunity, even one that plays on public misconceptions about kosher products.

However, "if it comes from a lack of knowledge on his end or, even worse, anti-Semitism, then I have an issue with that," Fishbane said. "I can't see anything good coming out of something like that."

Godlewski makes his aim clear: "There's no anti-Semitism. I love Jesus Christ and he was a Jew."

wtop.com

Interesting objects

2009-03-03T15:05:00.001-08:00

funtasticus.com

Beautiful insect pictures

2009-03-03T15:01:00.000-08:00

funtasticus.com

Funny animal sex pictures

2009-03-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

funtasticus.com

Photos I felt compelled to post

2009-03-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

fantasticus.com

Is this photo worse if these are her kids or if they're not?

2009-03-03T14:12:00.000-08:00

whipitoutcomedy.com

All that AND the bag of chips!

2009-03-03T11:16:00.001-08:00

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL-- A struggling single parent and real estate agent is trying to sell her house and find a husband. She's auctioning off both her home and herself in a package deal on eBay and Craigslist.

Single parent Deven Traboscia has been divorced for eight years. She had hoped to be remarried by now, so she is turning to the internet for help.

The real estate agent is auctioning off her Palm Beach Gardens home and herself on both Ebay and Craigslist.

In the ad, Traboscia writes:

"If you want to live the never ending dream and experience the real love, life and the romance you have always felt was a fairytale then this is the vibrant outstanding woman of your dreams! To sweep this European Loving Lady off her feet send in your application right now."

She goes on to say that her four bedroom, 2,000 square-foot home, that will be included in the deal, has "neutral colors, Berber carpet, and upgraded tile".
Traboscia says she has already been contacted by one man in Italy, who is arranging a trip to South Florida to visit her.

Her eBay auction ends July 2 and asks for a starting bid of 99 cents with a shipping cost of $500 thousand. The auction has not yet received any bids.

abcactionnews.com

They start so young these days...

2009-03-03T11:13:00.001-08:00

DENTON — Investigators are looking into how a young boy managed to slip out of a Denton day care center unnoticed, then cross two busy roads and end up a half-mile away at a Hooters restaurant on Tuesday afternoon.

The five-year-old boy walked out of the Imagination Station child care center in the 2300 block of San Jacinto Boulevard near Golden Triangle Mall.

He then crossed busy Dallas Drive to go to a RaceTrac gas station to purchase a soft drink and snacks.

After leaving the station, he ended up in the Hooters parking lot about a half-mile away.

The restaurant's general manager Brian Mason and his employees spotted the child shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"I was pretty impressed that he made it that way without getting hurt," Mason said. "He let us know that he looked both ways before crossing the road, stopped in the middle and then crossed again."

With no chaperone for the boy in sight, Mason called police.

"We kept him in the back coloring and kept him pretty occupied until the police showed up," he said.

Deborah Pugh, the day care owner, said the boy had asked to go to the bathroom before he disappeared. When his father arrived minutes later to pick up the child, workers said they realized the boy was missing.

Pugh said she believes he got out through a fire exit, which, by law, must remain unlocked.

"We are looking into the timeline," said Denton police spokesman Jim Bryan, "but I think the greater concern is the distance that this child went and the timeframe that he was not in the day care."

Despite what happened, some parents told News 8 they still trust the Imagination Station.

"She [Pugh] is a caring woman and I like how she takes the children," said Grace Shotayo, one of the parents. "She really cares for them."

Imagination Station is subject to state inspection every three to five months. According to records, the day care has been cited for at least eight violations since 2006. Two of the citations were for improper supervision; the most recent one was issued in April.

Pugh said this is the first time a child has disappeared while in her care since she opened Imagination Station 13 years ago. She said she plans to install an alarm at the emergency exit, and is now escorting all children to the bathroom.

The five-year-old has not been back to the day care since the incident.

State child care licensing workers and police investigators are looking into the case to determine whether they will take action against the center and its owner.

wfaa.com

Nerdy but cool

2009-03-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

superherostuff.com

Pee-Pee Puppy!

2009-03-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

LOL dog of the day

2009-03-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

Cool cardboard furniture

2009-03-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

apartmenttherapy.com

Beautiful tears

2009-03-03T06:17:00.000-08:00

This ballet made me cry. Sometimes you're struck with such beauty that there is nowhere for the spirit to go but out.

Here's the website for the company - Grupo Corpo

LOl cat of the day

2009-03-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

Naughty animals

2009-02-27T14:57:00.001-08:00