Movies In Real Life

This story sounds like something out of a Beautiful Mind.

[Colleen Nestler] accused the host of using code words, gestures and "eye expressions" to send her messages since she began sending him "thoughts of love" after his Late Show programme began in 1993.

But it's all ok now that she says "the public knows that this man cannot come near me".

O_o

Right. Unstable much?

Diamonds, Kilts, and Penguins

Stranger leaves diamond ring behind for a man that left his vehicle door unlocked last week. The ring has been appriased at fifteen thousand dollars. The man who found the ring in his vehicle says he'll gladly return the ring if the giver steps forward. A note left behind details, "Merry Christmas. Thank you for leaving your car door unlocked. Instead of stealing your car I gave you a present. Hopefully this will land in the hands of someone you love, for my love is gone now." Awww. :'( Well now America loves you for your generosity.

Baby Penguin kidnapped. The Amazon World zoo of England's Isle of Wight is missing one three month old baby penguin, Toga. Keepers are frantic over the bird's health as it doesn't accept food from human hands and is likely dehydrated. What a cruel thing to do, cruel to do to a human baby that still relies on the bottle and the same goes for a penguin. There is an eight thousand dollar reward for Toga's return. I refuse in this light to make a joke about the common name of that species of penguin.

Teens Can't wear Kilts- according to a Jackson, Missouri high school. Nathan Warmack pieced together a kilt and formal jacket to wear to a dance in November. He presented the idea to faculty that joked he should have something underneath, to which Nathan agreed. Night of the dance while posing for pictures, Principal McClard refused Warmack entry to the dance unless he put pants on. Needless to say, many Scottish organizations and families are stepping forward on the issue and subsequent remarks to demand apology and confront the issue.

Warmack said he’s concerned that school officials are just waiting for the situation to blow over, and that the policy won’t be changed.

“This has picked up a lot of steam,” he said, “but it hasn’t really gotten anywhere.”

Twists Me

Happy news first, Surgeon refuses to treat patient that smokes. According to the article, Mr. Smith has a 15 smoke a day habit and complains of cold legs that pain him. Surgeon tells him to kick his habit first because that is possibly what began his problem. Otherwise the surgery could end up with Mr. Smith minus some legs if it doesn't work- the leg equivilant of an angioplasty. The patient is furious that he is "being bullied" into stopping his habit. Some people are really dense.

Now for the things that make me mad- Kellogg getting rid of trans fats by introducing genetically modified soy oil early next year. As if soy products didn't twist me up enough, they are messing around with the genes of it all as well. Haven't these people heard of techniques like grafting and pollen transfer?

Truthfully, there is a problem with research on things like food/flavor additives (MSG included), alternative diets, and genetically modified food products. That would be that most people have to rely on the internet for their supplimental materials. Unfortunately, there are many people that in turn write the articles with limited sources of information that could be either false, misleading, or incomplete. I'm not saying all articles are suspect and bunk, but how do we find out how much good and bad are in things like soy? How do we know if a vegan diet is truly healthy?

Another glaring problem is that the FDA allows for a certain amount of fudging-

Provides exceptions for spices, flavorings, and colors not required to be certified under specified provisions.

-1990 Food Labeling says basically if you want to hide your secret sauce's kick, you put it as natural flavorings or organic spices and the FDA just wants to make sure that is is natural and organic. They don't care about what exactly the 'flavorings and spices' are. What does a manufacturer need to hide that they put cumin, tumeric, and oregano in their ketchup?

Much research on food products are back pocket affairs. Research is an expensive proposition, and a lot of funding can end up coming from unexpected sources. For example- a soy farmer co-op sponsoring the research on a 'boca-burger-look-a-like' product being good for cancer prevention and reduce the rate of cell oxidation. This can be done if there is significant research that a chemical in the product has been linked to possibly reducing the risk of a commonly researched disease/condition in the USA. But they have to also say the FDA didn't say that it does.

One of the most important things I learned from my science and math classes is that it can be very easy to mislead with the right kind of data or data-less layout. How can consumers make appropriate decisions on what they eat when data is skewed in the manufacturers' favor? The FDA has its guidelines, yes, but many times I have found them to be full of loopholes. There is no regulation on things like herbal supplements. A lot of diet food is regulated simply that it doesn't make false claims or contains snake oil so to speak. If it has a new ingredient in it that the FDA hasn't seen in some form before, it must have enough documentation to show that it won't pose a health risk. Meanwhile, it can have empty calories, enough sugar to rot teeth, and make you crave to eat more of it. Try picking up a 'health food bar' and write down any six of the ingredients you find. Look them up on sites that don't claim their benefit or lack therof. Look up how they are made. That alone should clue you in to the nature of how healthy a product is.

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Soy lechitin -

Lecithin is the gummy material contained in crude vegetable oils and removed by degumming. Soybeans are by far the most important source of commercial lecithin and lecithin is the most important by-product of the soy oil processing industry.

You can find this in almost every kind of food product. Chcolate chips, cakes, snack bars, cookies. All the sources say the same thing, after they extract the soy oil from the edamame (soybeans) they press more out of the leftover matter into cakes and treat it. What is expelled is a tan or dark brown fluid or gummy mass that is treated into a useable texture. I don't think it would be far off to say that it is what is left over in the pipes after they are done pressing for oils. Amazing, two products out of one vegetable. Ugh.

I take with a grain of salt the addition of calling articles that don't promote a specific brand of product and show both sides of an arguement scientifically as not being labeling. Skewed facts and lobbying anyone?

is displayed or presented, or is displayed or presented with other such items on the same subject matter, so as to present a balanced view of the available scientific information on a dietary supplement

I just don't think there is enough being done to check on the throughness and integretify of product research. The sources of funding is sometimes compromising to the purpose and can promote long term heath risks. Why else do we have such high profile cases on things like Vioxx and Viagra? Cover ups, incomplete research, improper use, improper labeling- spanning years. The FDA isn't all to blame, its a large awkward body. Manufacturers, patients, pharmacists, doctors all make their choices. But we trust in a common law system to be the safety net for us.

On Macs- I disagree with this reasoning "Macs don't crash". So help me, when I was going to school to learn Maya, they yanked out the Sun computers, solid little linux machines to put a Mac lab in. We could do networking, we could use Shake, and Photoshop. They did not like Maya. The two months in that lab was hell with how the computers would randomly crash. Let's not speak of attempts to render.

She gets a CoverGirl contract - OMG SHE HAS NO BREASTS!America's Next Top Model Winner Nicole Linkletter. Poor poor girl. She could go around topless and no one would notice when she would go to the men's restroom.

Before My Time But a Part of It

Lennon Quiet Revolution

We don't just remember Lennon now. We remember how we remember him, what we feel now about our own feelings when we first heard a song or saw him in concert... or wondered what he was up to, what the next album might be and what it meant. No answers, then or now.

I think its best to remember rather than dwell on endings, this article accomplishes that best. All the rest digs at the legacy that has inspired so many artists to accomplish true soulful melody and art.

For all the rest, there is an MSNBC mini-portal.

AIM Worm & Cat-Monkey Critter

I'd call this pretty serious. AIMBot Worm

IM.Myspace04.AIM, [sends] instant messages that state: "lol thats cool" and include a URL to a malicious file "clarissa17.pif." When ... users ask [the bot] if [it's] a virus: "lol no its not its a virus" [The Worm] disables security software, installs a backdoor and tweaks system files. Then it starts sending itself to contacts on the victim's buddy list, that the infected user cannot see.

Aimdes.E targets AIM users and arrives with the message: "The user has sent you a Greeting Card, to open it visit:" followed by a link. Once the target clicks on the link, the worm installs itself on the system. It opens a backdoor on the computer and sends itself to contacts on the buddy list.

Ah for the limited days of the Irish Virus

Greetings, You have just received the "IRISH VIRUS". As we don't have any programming experience, this Virus works on the honour system. Please delete all the files on your hard drive manually and forward this Virus to everyone on your mailing list. Thank you for your cooperation.

Pokemon?

WWF caught two images of the animal, which is bigger than a domestic cat, dark red, and has a long muscular tail.

Local people, the WWF says, had not seen the species before, and researchers say it looks to be new. "The photos look most like a lemur," [they] told the BBC News website. "But there certainly shouldn't be lemurs in Borneo."

Hopefully it's nobody's lost pet lemur.

Smells Like Change

Not Asking Much

“Children of all ages have to behave and use their indoor voices.”

To [Dan McCauley], it was a simple reminder to parents to keep an eye on their children and set some limits. But to some parents... the sign may as well have read, “If you have kids, you’re not welcome.” It’s not about the kids,” said McCauley, the 44-year-old owner of A Taste of Heaven cafe. “It’s about the parents who are with them. Are they supervising and guiding them?"

Personally, after having worked retail for a little bit I've seen that parents try their best in many cases to take advantage of having a child. Whether that be to come to the front of a line, herd people, having the kids run and get extra items, or beg that an item be taken back for cash instead of exchange. I've seen all of those examples in action. So seeing "the rights of one don't cancel out the rights of another" scores in my mind.

Too often, though, our cultural emphasis on freedom and individual rights gets taken to the extreme, becoming “a kind of selfish entitlement that undermines our ability to function as a civil community,” said George Scarlett, a professor of child development at Tufts University in Boston. “The rights of any one individual — whether he or she be a parent, child or stranger — do not negate the rights of others.”

I don't have anything against parents. I recognize that I don't have the capability to be a parent 24/7 no vacations or weekends, I have the same expectation of my peers. Its insulting to see a woman pregnant and with four other kids around her tearing down candy aisles, opening food packages, screaming in the floor while the 'mother' does nothing. Expects no respect of herself or her children, or asks them to behave.

My husband and I have some good friends we visit now and then. A family with six and two year girls. Both are beautiful and smart, and undeniably mischievious. They both test their limits, but in the end they respect their parents. The few times we have all gone out together I have never seen the girls act up. I think that is all McCauley is asking for, and what is wrong with that?

In other topics, I love how here in Florida we can breathe easily while we eat. No smoking where food is served! I wish it had been like that in Tennessee, it was absolutely awful having to walk through smoking areas of restaurants. Now apparently Westin hotels are stepping up to that bat and the new year will ring in their efforts to have really clean hotel rooms. Westin to fine $200 to smokers in rooms

Westin Hotels & Resorts is banning smoking indoors and poolside at all 77 of its properties in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

Except for designated smoking areas, any smell, butts, or ciggarette ash will result in a $200 fine to help cover deep cleaning and air purifying costs. What a sweet smell!