Story Link: Courier Post

Cartoon from Sid in the City

The story about drugs in our water supply is still in the news.
Philadelphia is at the top of the 24 cities reported.
The trace amounts, however, are being measured in 'parts per billion'.

The Philly Water Department has tried to put it in perspective by stating -
A resident would have to drink 8 glasses of water every day for 40,000 years
to equal the dosage in 1 over the counter pain pill.

Good news for some, maybe not for others...

Story Link: Drugs in the water

Cartoon from Sid in the City

Calling it cross-dressing might be stretching it a bit, though technically the term is correct.
The kids were taking part in a school function called Wacky Week.
The week before Wacky Week, the kids voted on how they should dress up each day.

The last day of Wacky Week, the vote was to dress as either Senior Citizens,
or have the boys dress as girls, and girls dress as boys.

It was Wacky Week, get it? A time for the kids to have fun.
It brought the whackos out instead.

Story Link: Playing dress-up

Cartoon from Sid in the City

Story Link: Earth Hour

Cartoon from Sid in the City

News Item:
Oscar winner says 9-11 attacks made up.

Ever heard of Marion Cotillard? Maye you have, and maybe you haven't. She recently won an Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in the film La Vie En Rose. Didn't see the flick? Neither did we, but it's a typical case of critics heaping praise on something the rest of us ignore. You will be seeing Ms Cotillard in the future though, she's slated to star opposite Johnny Depp in the upcoming big budget movie Public Enemy.

Chances are Public Enemy will be a pretty good gangster flick, so when you're watching the female lead on the screen, try to put it out of your mind that she believes the World Trade Center attacks were a hoax. The real reason the Twin Towers went down, according to her, was that the buildings needed a remodel. Yep, you read that right, she claims the buildings were outdated and needed an upgrade. Here's a quote...

"It was a money-sucker because they were finished, it seems to me, by 1973, and to re-cable all that, to bring up-to-date all the technology and everything, it was a lot more expensive, that work, than destroying them."

Her conclusion is that 9-11 is just another example of the US concocting horror stories for political ends. How politics and building remodels go hand in hand, we're not really sure, but that's her idea. She also believes no one ever landed on the moon. No joke, honest, that's what she said. Although she wasn't alive at the time, she has seen the documentaries, and views them as more Hollywood magic.

Now before you start shouting things like "Moron!", "Idiot!", and "Whacko!", Cotillard may not be any of those things. She is, however, an actress, and actors live in make-believe worlds. She was also, by coincidence, born and raised in France, and that explains a lot.

News Link: The Daily Mail

News Item:
Catholics, Muslims, ink pact

Catholic and Muslim leaders in South Jersy signed an agreement yesterday, pledging cooperation and understanding of each other. It was the second such signing in the US. The first occured in 2003 in Rochester, New York. If the effort will now migrate to other states across the nation, and what impact, if any, it will have, remains to be seen. It is an effort, however, so that's a good thing, but radical factions from either side were notably absent.

News Link: Courier Post

Cartoon from Sid in the City

News Item:
Danish police foil cartoon murder plot.

It's two years ago already that this cartooon

caused riots all over the Muslim world.

We thought the reaction was extreme, to say the least.
If, two years later, you think the foment has died down, you'd better look again.
Three suspects are, at present, sitting in a Danish jail cell, accused of plotting to murder the cartoonist. Not get mad at him, not call him names, not write him nasty letters, but cut off his head, with no qualms about it.

These individuals are described in the dictionary thusly -
rad·i·cal
adjective
1 - Marked by a considerable departure from the usual or traditional.
2 - Disposed to make extreme changes.

Concentrate on the extreme, because that's what these folks are.

It's not a religious issue here, has nothing to do with a belief in Allah, or Homer Simpson for that matter. It's about morons going off the deep end. It's about idiots still living in the Dark Ages. It's about grown men, real adults, actually believing that if they should die while committing murder for their cause, they'll be rewarded in heaven with 72 Virgins.

Now we're not here to mock anyone's religious beliefs, there's no point in that, but take a potshot at mental defectives like these? Oh yeh, we'll do that every time.

News Link: Bloomberg.com

Cartoon from Sid in the City

News Item:
US, Iraqis vow to avenge bombings---

Two bombs went off in Baghdad this past weekend, and you might be thinking "What's new?". Suicide bombings in Iraq hit the papers and tv screens with such regularity that it's not difficult to understand that for some the reaction is just a bit jaded. This latest attack orchestrated by Al Qaeda has to be a new low, even for those who revel in broadcasting live beheadings.

The two suicide bombers in this instance were women, and while rare, it's not the first time that's occured. What sets this incident apart, is that almost certainly the women involved were not your typical 'martyrs', and they did not 'blow themselves up'. The explosions were set off by remote control, by a courageous freedom fighter a safe distance away. The women were also recognized as street beggers in the area, and identified as mentally handicapped. Security photos taken at the market indicated the women most likely had Down Syndrome, and had no idea they were about to sacrifice themselves for the cause.

Disgusting doesn't begin to sum it up.

We should negotiate... some say.
Open a dialogue... some say.
We don't understand them... some say.
It's our own fault... others proclaim.

We say... Bull.

There's a lot more we could say, but this website is rated PG.

News Link: Washington Post

Cartoon from Sid in the City

'Nuff said...

Cartoon from Sid in the City

News Item:
Dozens in Texas Town Report UFO's

Worried about the housing slump, are you? Concerned that the economy is about to tank? Seeing terror cells in your back yard? Then maybe you should move to Texas, or some other state in the southwest, where the UFO sightings could take your mind off such things.

Yep, they're buzzing again, all over the place. Have been for a couple of weeks now. Mostly around a small town called Stephenville. County officials are seeing them. Pilots are seeing them. Just about everyone in the area, except the Air Force. The non-believers, of course, assume they're experimental aircraft, and go on about their daily chores. Others are seeing The End of Days. Maybe the military should just open up Area 51 to the public, and let folks see what really isn't there.

Silly idea, isn't it, because the place doesn't exist. It's just a big blank spot on the map. So don't go sending us pictures of some big military complex in the middle of the desert. We know it isn't there, and so do you.

News Link: MSNBC

Cartoon from Sid in the City

News Item:
Lunch Break Boob Jobs

You knew it was coming, didn't you... A scientific breakthrough amazes and astounds us, then someone says "Wait a miinute, first things first", and so it is with stem cells. A lot has been written, and argued about, the viability of the research. It holds promise to repair spinal cord injuries and grow organs for those needing transplants, but 'internal' organs aren't the only things the stem cells can grow, as evidenced by the latest from a California biotech company.

Their baby is called Celution [an obvious pun on 'solution']. In just about an hour, your local Glamour Doc can perform the procedure. All it involves is injecting what Celution calls a 'super-charged' fat mixture into the patient's breast tissue. Then you just sit back and wait, because over the next couple of months your boobs are going to grow, and grow, and grow.

This could of course be boon to cancer patients that have had a mastectomy, but where do you think the big bucks will come from? Well hey, it is a California company, so you can expect Boob Boutiques to be popping up all over the place in LA and Beverly Hills.

That's a place, by the way, Beverly Hills, it's not a woman's name, and has nothing to do with this article, so the first one that writes in saying they remember a stripper who called herself that, gets their internet privileges suspended.

News Link: The Daily Telegraph

Cartoon from Sid in the City

News Item:
Foul odor over South Jersey baffles officials

Last week, something smelly drifted over a few South Jersey towns, and it was strong enough to permeate some homes. One resident of Glendora said it smelled like a dozen dead skunks. Now wouldn't that be nice to wake up to...

The stench was first noted about 7:00am, and HazMat crews were in the area by 8:45. Even with the use of chemical sniffers, the components of the odor remained unidentified. The smell wasn't just an isolated incidence in the 'dozen dead skunks' neighborhood. Reports came in from Clementon, Pine Hill, Voorhees, Lakewood, Tom's River, and Manchester. That covers a whole lot of real estate. The straight line distance from Clementon to Tom's River is about 50 miles.

The odor lasted about a day, and then it was gone, with still no clue where it came from. Historically though, events of this kind tend to emanate from one central location.

News Link: Courier Post

Cartoon from Sid in the City

Camelback skiers, take note...

News Item:
Swiss using radar to catch speeding skiers.

Traffic is always a problem in big cities and on highways. More accidents obviously occur on congested roadways than in wide open spaces. Not too much of a stretch to figure that one out. In theory, the idea can prove true in almost any aspect of life. More shopping carts collide with each other in crowded grocery stores than empty ones. More coffee gets spilled in tight little coffee shops than big restaurants. Now the Swiss have found the same proves out on ski slopes.

Last year there were more than 70,000 skiing accidents in tiny little Switzerland. That's a whole lot of people getting in each other's way. The problem, according to the Swiss, isn't with the average skier out for a nice enjoyable shoosh down a mountain, but with those who think themselves Olympians, and rush down the slope at speeds in excess of their self-assumed talent. Add to these folks the ones that may have had a few too many hot toddies in the lodge, mix in the crowded conditions, and the result is the new 19 mph speed limit. That's 19, with a 1 and a 9.

Now I haven't been skiing in quite a few years, but there were occassions when I completed a run somewhat ski-less. It wasn't because I over-extended my limits, and if memory serves, I was more or less sober. There was one instance though, when my skis actually went by me, and I guarantee they were speeding.

News Link: Times Online

Cartoon from Sid in the City

News Item:
Huckabee ad shows Christian Cross

First off, let me clarify, this is not an endorsement for Mike Huckabee for President. Our selection for a presidential candidate will appear here in late spring or early summer. His name starts with an 'S' and ends with an 'id'.

Now then... the clamor about the Huckabee Cross is still in the news after two weeks, and as is the case with most items that make political headlines these days, it's much ado about nothing. If you somehow haven't seen the ad, or photos of it, here's a brief summary. Huckabee uses the spot to send out Christmas greetings to all, most likely because it was the week before Christmas. The camera pans slowly as he delivers his message, and an image begins to appear in the shot. It's a bookcase, or part of a bookcase, the area where the shelves come together, and to some it appears to be a cross. To other, less gullible folks, it looks like a plus sign, since the horizontal and vertical lines bisect each other in the middle. But that's besides the point. The 'cross' also appears to glow slightly, because it's softened, a result of photographic depth of field. You know how your kid's school photo, or most any portrait, always has a blurred background to center your focus on the subject? Same thing.

This is a political campaign that started two years in advance, which in itself is totally ridiculous. Real issues are already becoming 'old' news, and there's still 11 months to go before the election. For those 11 months, it seems candidates will not only have to be concerned with the message they put forth, but also about what appears on the screen behind them.

News Link: The National Ledger

Cartoon from Sid in the City

News Item:
Free Food

Here's the story...

Hartford Connecticut, a week before Christmas, a blizzard is raging outside. Shoppers at the local Whole Foods supermarket are stocking up for the holidays, their carts loaded to overflowing, and the power in the store goes out. None of the registers ae working, the computers are down, and the customers can't pay for the goods.

An assistant manager, without getting clearance from supervisors, makes a decision on the run. He goes up to the checkout aisles, and starts waving people through, wishing them a Merry Christmas while their groceries are bagged. Nobody got charged, they kept what food they had, and took it home for free, and that continued till the power came back on.

The assistant manager, by the way, did 'not' get fired. Nice...

News Link: Courant.com

Cartoon from Sid in the City