Sound Research - WSJ.com

The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to gauge activity in 18 people's brains as they listened to obscure 18th-century symphonies. The team found that activity in the regions of the brain associated with paying attention, making predictions and updating events peaked during the short periods of silence between movements.

Politics/Opinion

Stimulus Shouldn't Be an Excuse for Pork - WSJ.com
A group of the nation's mayors got together and decided their wish-lists are now "vital infrastructure projects" that they need government bailout money for.


A Japanese General Rewrites the Past - WSJ.com
World War Two didn't happen the same way in everyone's history books.

Most Presidents Ignore the Constitution - WSJ.com
Yup, it's true.


America's Other Auto Industry - WSJ.com
Yeah, the profitable, popular, successful one. You know which one.


If this Isn't Terrorism, What Is? - WSJ.com
The BBC shows itself afraid of giving offense to anyone by refusing to call the massacre in Mumbai a terrorist attack, terrorists terrorists, and refusing to even mention one of the targeted sites as being a Jewish center. It was randomly chosen, they said.


Georgia Acted in Self-Defense - WSJ.com
It seems like everyone accepts Russia's version of events...but actually, Georgia is the one that was playing by the rules. It was Russia that issued passports to citizens of another country, without them residing in Russian territory or being Russian citizens. It was Russia that invaded Georgia's airspace. And what Georgia did was not illegal - the places it "invaded" were Georgian territory. Its government was trying to prevent the country from being broken up. I am sure you are aware that America did the same in the South during the Civil War, and that was perfectly fine (unless you're an old-time Southerner).

And now, for some fun things.

WELCOME TO SLANGUAGE.COM
It claims to teach you how to speak like the locals in cities around the world. It falls short of that claim, but it does have some good slang and pronunciation cues.


Plain Language Humor: High Tech Humor
This is how engineers write the world. The story of Little Red Riding Hood is nearly unrecognizable. I like it.


Over-used Buzz Words & Buzz Phrases
Exactly what it says. Connect four in a row to see if you've got management potential!



Amazon.com: Down and Dirty (Viking Time-Travel): Sandra Hill: Books
Yeah, it's what it says it is. It's about a time-traveling Viking princess who falls in love with a Navy SEAL. There is more than one book in the series. Can romance novels get any better?


TopatoCo: Telegraphed Revolution BLACK Shirt
A shirt proudly proclaiming that "The Revolution will not be Telegraphed." It features a betop-hatted man.

It's been a long time. So let's get started!

Oil Creation Theory Challenged by Fuel-Making Fungus | LiveScience
It's fungus that makes fuel, and makes it very well.


Conspiracy theories blossom in tumultuous times:
That's surprising, isn't it?

Amazon.com: Kyle Weber "K-Web"'s review of Trojan Magnum XL Extra Large Latex Condoms...
This is certainly the best condom review I have read yet! Apparently, using extra-large condoms makes one more "manly" - even if they don't fit. I really hope this is a joke, and that people are not actually this stupid:

The best condom for a huge dong.,

November 14, 2008

By	Kyle Weber "K-Web"

If you're a real man, this is the rubber for you.

The only downside to these is that I bought a 3 pack and for some reason they all slip off; I must have gotten a defective pack.

Can anyone spot the problem? Heheh.


Lastly, I have two videos for you. In the first one, there is a girl who is fairly good at accents. I enjoyed the old movie/broadway style one that people don't use anymore.

Lastly, have you ever wanted to become absurdly rich writing boy-band songs? Well, someone has sung up a template for you, so that you can write even the most complicated of boy-band songs!

Taiwan gangsters warn "morning clappers" to keep quiet, or else
People clap "for their health." Now, if they want to stay healthy, they'll stop clapping. Maybe gangsters are irritated because they don't want the clap?
That pun was well past its expiration date, I know.

Ghost Towns and History of the American Old West,Ghost towns indexed by state
This is incredibly extensive. They even listed one near my old home that doesn't exist anymore! (Zeniff, Az)


Hillbilly Housewife
Cookin' for cheap. Looks useful.

Taipei Times - Those who helped break the oppressors’ back
Even some foreigners fought against Taiwan's police state. Now there's a book about them.

Drug found to cure alcoholic rats

A nat­u­ral chem­i­cal sharply re­duced lab rats’ de­sire for al­co­hol and pre­vented their re­lapse in­to al­co­holic be­hav­ior, ac­cord­ing to re­search that sci­en­tists say sug­gests a po­ten­tial treat­ment for hu­man al­co­holics.

Pretty cool, though it doesn't affect all pleasurable things - just alcohol, and only if it's injected in the right part of the brain. Still, it's not hard to get excited about this if you know any alcoholics.


Insects as Food, by Gene DeFoliart; Home Page
This is a man's work in progress on insects as food. I almost wrote incest as food. That's...even less appealing.
Anyway, it seems pretty thorough. He's been at it for a long time, and he's getting pretty old, so I hope he'll be able to finish.
Bugs are nutritious, cheap, and plentiful - and are more efficient at converting food into body mass than any animal. So that leaves us with a problem - if they're so great, how exactly do you get people to eat them?

Sunrise Land Shrimp
I really like this. It's really clever. I especially like that they're bold enough to have a picture of a cricket, and tag it with "Mmm. That's good Land Shrimp!"
I wish I'd done this. It vaguely occurred to me before a couple times (I forget things), but I didn't know what to do with it since I didn't particularly want people to eat bugs. But these guys are clever - and they have something to sell. Also, I probably would've hidden what it was, but they're right out in the open with it, and I think that's probably the way to go.
It sounds silly, but calling it a different name really does make it seem tastier. You probably know about Patagonian Toothfish - it's kind of ugly, and the name isn't real appealing. But someone clever decided to call it Chilean Sea Bass, and now it's one of the most popular fish around. Heheh.

Killers from Outer Space

It was really strange the other day - on one channel, there was something like "Greatest hits of Gospel" followed by...
"KILLERS FROM OUTER SPACE."
It was so incongruous that it got my attention. I had to see what it was. And you know what? Thanks to the glories of the Internet, and expired copyrights, now you, too, can see!

Government!

Real Katrina hero? Wal-Mart, study says - MSN Money
Unsurprisingly, they outperformed the government.


Passengers Air Grievances on TSA Blog - MSN Travel Articles
There's finally a way to complain about the TSA...that someone in the TSA might actually read. And then they'll decide to give you "Softer lighting, soothing music and a quieter atmosphere" because they want "you to be a little more relaxed before they run you through the airport screening process."
Oh, hooray.


Most sweeping changes since Great Depression - Stocks & economy- msnbc.com
Yeah, so, since the Fed already failed to do what it was supposed to do, they should be given more power with which to fail. Good planning, there.
These sorts of economic busts occur regularly - they're part of the natural cycle. Just leave them alone. Of course it'd be nice to mitigate the effects of these things, or avoid them entirely - but the amount of regulation and top-down control you'd need would be stifling. It'd have to be a planned economy, and we know those don't work.
Just let those who made poor decisions pay for it, and the rest of us will do what we have to until things get better. If you allow things to proceed naturally, they will get better. It's when you start interfering that you get things like Japan's Lost Decade or the Great Depression.
It's nice that I'm not the only one who thinks so:
Why Fed reform won't work. - By Nomi Prins - Slate Magazine
And Hillary doesn't appear to understand her proposed policy would lead us to emulate Japan. Hillary's Bad History - WSJ.com



And speaking of Hillary...
The real harm Hillary Clinton inflicted on Bosnia. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
Ok, Mr. Hitches is not exactly the most...even-tempered, maybe. But, as he puts it, there was a promise by Pres. Clinton to oppose the genocide in Bosnia in 1992. Nothing was done, of course, until years later. Why?

"The key factor in Bill's policy reversal was Hillary, who was said to have "deep misgivings" and viewed the situation as "a Vietnam that would compromise health-care reform."

Well, that health-care reform sure was worth it, huh? Thank you, Hillary, for allowing genocide to continue.



The Supreme Court gives habeas corpus a swirly. - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine
If you happen to be an American citizen held by American forces anywhere that isn't America, guess what? You don't have habeas corpus. Swell.


U.S. expats fight their soaring tax burden - International Herald Tribune
If you were taxed twice on your income - and not just a little, but taxed fully twice, you would be angry, right?
If you are an American living abroad, that is exactly what happens to you. Naturally, foreign employers, and American companies overseas, do not want to hire Americans since they have to pay so much more for them.



Microsoft’s Bill Gates asks for more visas - U.S. business- msnbc.com
If even Bill Gates is saying that our visa system doesn't work, there may be a problem. There are not enough visas, and even though we train a lot of foreign students, if they want to stay here to work, we make it hard on them - it's absurdly hard to get permission to stay here - and so they go home, and we lose their talent. Who does that benefit?

Economics

Zimbabwe’s $10 Million Bread | Newsweek International | Newsweek.com
Robert Mugabe has ruined his country. Inflation is kicking their ass - when the article was written, it cost $10 million for one loaf of bread. Printing money doesn't make things better, in case you were wondering. Neither does mandating prices.


Rising rice prices spark concerns - World business- msnbc.com
Rice isn't the only thing rising in price, but it's one of the most important things. Just as has happened with wheat, countries that grow a lot of it are either having bad weather, or are not selling their rice on the world market in order to keep prices cheap at home. So, people will probably starve.


China facing renewed fuel shortages - Oil & energy- msnbc.com
Because once again, government knows what's best for you, even if it kills you in the process of saving you from yourself. (Price controls strike again!)


Governmental Wisdom!

U.S. warhead error adds to troubled history - Deep Background - msnbc.com
"Deep Background" is a joke - the level of detail and insight you'd expect is just not there, not in any of the articles they write. And their background picture is incredibly lame - yes, repeating 1s and 0s, combined with words like "FEDERAL GOVERNMENT", "TOP SECRET", and "OPERATION" make it look very professional indeed. The whole missile parts thing is pretty funny, though, but unfortunately, it is not a joke.


Nipple rings cause airport security issue - News- msnbc.com
Because, you know, you could potentially yank them out and stab someone with them. Or, even more threatening, in the process of removing them in order to stab someone, someone may inadvertently glimpse your breast and either be paralyzed with disgust or lust, whichever best suits them, and be unable to perform their duties, like flying the plane. Truly, nipple rings are a terror.


Science

The nose knows: Smell sharpens during danger - More health news- msnbc.com
Who knew? Or should I say, who nose? (hahah. Yeah, this isn't too surprising, I know, but the setup for the bad pun was too good.)


Experts find oldest voice recording - Science- msnbc.com
It was made about 17 years before Edison made his famous recording of Mary Had a Little Lamb - by a French guy. Before anyone starts cheering or jeering or getting snooty, though - there was no way to play it back. Edison is still the first to reproduce sound.


Neuroscience may explain the Dalai Lama - Science- msnbc.com
Meditating can make you more empathetic and benevolent.


Assorted!

Kting Voar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is a possibly real jungle cow that eats snakes.

Also see -
Gaur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is a gigantic jungle cow. Males can get up to 12 feet long and 7 foot high at the shoulder.


Japan appoints cartoon ambassador - Asia-Pacific - msnbc.com
Yes, they really did. It's Doraemon. He's going to promote anime. So, it looks like there soon will be no place on Earth where I can go to not see that cat.
Look, a Doraemon!