So this is what happens to recycled rechargeable batteries!

And this is the heartwarming story of what happens to unused paint!

And... this is what happens when a tanker catches fire and destroys some Bay Area highways.

when did comfort = exploitation?

I know there are even more hideous stories around the world, but somehow the thought of 50,000 to 200,000 "comfort women" (what an outrageous euphemism) enslaved by Japan's military in the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan during and after WWII, and the explosive popularity of their services amongst American troops during the occupation is the most abhorrent thing I have read in a while. Those women could hardly have fought for themselves, considering the culture they came from and the obligations they must have felt to their impoverished families. Even recently, not a single Japanese woman felt justified or unembarrassed enough to step forward and claim an official apology and compensation from the Asian Women's Fund, which was just closed. But just take a look at the attempts male authorities made at justification: "Sadly, we police had to set up sexual comfort stations for the occupation troops," recounts the official history of the Ibaraki Prefectural Police Department, whose jurisdiction is just northeast of Tokyo. "The strategy was, through the special work of experienced women, to create a breakwater to protect regular women and girls."

British town of 1,500 bans plastic bags

Breaking news: Over 70% of people who read newspaper articles online about towns banning plastic bags would support a ban on plastic bags in their own towns. Wowsers!

Great way for a tiny town to get its name on the international news, now that I think about it.

Is it any surprise that a Dutchman built a new Noah's Ark? Perhaps it is a surprise, however, that a creationist should inadvertently draw more international attention to global warming.

Lois Poppema, visiting from California, said she thought the Netherlands was exactly the right place for an ark.

"Just a few weeks ago we saw Al Gore on television ... saying that all Holland will be flooded" by rising sea levels, she said.

"I don't think the man who made this ever expected that global warming will become (such an important) issue -- and suddenly having the ark would be meaningful in the middle of Holland."
...
[Dutch creationist Johan] Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where churchgoing has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years. He also plans to visit major cities in Belgium and Germany.

Doesn't this sound like an article out of an old DOS version of Sim City?

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Families victimized by tainted spinach and peanut butter put a human face Tuesday on a recent string of high-profile outbreaks of foodborne illness..."

A better headline, and unexpected: House passes legislation to increase math and science teachers. For real?! I didn't know our legislators were educated enough to realize that this might be important. Perhaps my opinion was recently lowered when somebody told me recently that only about a third of legislators actually possess American passports. *shudder*

I also want to express my excitement about the ambitious and highly worthwhile local startup campaign Critical Brisk Stroll. The cry for help: "I am looking for volunteers to help me organize this event. I propose that we schedule and promote a brisk stroll from the Village Gate to a bar in the South Wedge, occuring at some point within the next month, starting at precisely 7 PM."

Although if pressed, I am likely to admit that I would gladly run any pedestrians off the pavement if I felt the need to cycle on the sidewalk.

the dark side of the tech boom

China continues to crush free speech and as Internet users we're all complicit.

In other news, traveling gourmet dinner parties of strangers in the Bay Area. Something to add to the list of "things I want to visit before I die" list that I started on Tuesday's extra studio class. That list began with "One of the regional 'P.O. Boxes' to which IRS tax forms are sent each April." I envision several warehouses exploding with envelopes arriving by the truckful on the due date rather than your normal cubbyhole-in-the-wall. I don't understand why I never thought to start such a list before. Perhaps even before I learned the news of Virginia Tech, covered surprisingly thoroughly on Wikipedia as John brought to my attention, I had mortality on the mind.

rabbit liberation or massacre?

Five thousand rabbits blocked a highway in Hungary on Monday, tying up traffic after the truck that was carrying them collided with another vehicle and overturned. Neither driver was hurt, but some 500 rabbits were killed. 4,500 were gathered up, and the remaining 100 will run/hop/skip/jump free forever in the Hungarian fields.

real news

Ozzy Osbourne: New album first I've done sober. He didn't want his life to go to "pieces."

In other news of the retarded, a guy tried to yoink an ATM but was unsuccessful because his prosthetic leg fell off.

Yet other mildly thought-inducing stories:
Have spatula, will travel describes the joy of learning to cook local cuisines while traveling. I think this is great, but unless you have the luxury of traveling a lot, would't you want to spend more time exploring the places and enjoying the local food as a restaurant customer?

The Navy has used dolphins to protect harbors for a long time. I had no idea that our government employed marine mammals and gave them retirement benefits. What are the terms of their contracts and benefits?

Although they found a way to not return Ingrid's money to me (quel outrage), the SNCF deserves some credit for setting the world record train speed of 574.8 km/h (357 mph). Hello, Amtrak?

EDRT

The UR has an "Emotionally Disturbed Response Team?" I know the article isn't something to laugh at. But really, is this a typo?

Also typoed: In Brussels, the homeless have had to spend a first night on the streets."

Sometimes the gap between average and CEO salaries can be supersized American-style the other way around -- leave it to Google. You'd think the guys were Belgian (as Wendy's boyfriend assumed). Josh Wolf is finally free after 226 days in jail, 58 more than the last record-setting journalist for refusing to hand over information. Damn.

In terms of public health, New Mexico gets an A and Arizona gets an F.

april fools

Nerdly humor explained.

world record alcohol concentration?

Some Belgian headlines are exciting today. More Flemings are cycling to work and school and whatnot, and more people in Antwerp cycle to work or school than use public transport. While the latter is not so important or exciting in itself, it reflects an attitude towards cycling as the preferred method of transportation that you won't find even in the bike-friendliest American city.

Others are just plain bizarre and/or misleading. "No animals in pet shops," for example. Or "Increase in stalking." Best of all must be "Nieuwpoort man sets record" for the highest blood-alcohol concentration measured, 4.66 % (it is not explained whether this is a national or world record). I enjoy the judge's wit: "Congratulations! You're still alive. You hold the record. Blood-alcohol levels of 4 percent and higher have been measured, but that is usually during a post-mortem." A helpful comparison is also supplied: "A blood alcohol level of 4,66% is equal to drinking a barrel of beer and two bottles of wine in close succession." Could even the Poles or Russians top that?

math that's durned big as Manhattan

Lie group E8: "An international team of mathematicians says it has cracked a 120-year-old puzzle that researchers say is so complicated that its handwritten solution would cover the island of Manhattan."

I didn't know Wikipedia was so groovy about amplitude modulation.

The Germans can't possibly be serious. Limit speed on the autobahn?

It's not only North Carolina that still has funny laws about personal life (and maybe public life as well?) still on the books. Ireland's High Court is doing some spring cleaning after 1,000 years.

Are we better off without our emotions?

Sad and disturbing as it is, innocent fluffy white sheep being spray-painted (ooh a verbed noun!) with swastikas by miscreant German youths is also terribly funny. As is the feigned bemusement of the German authorities, who told the media, "Exactly why the group behaved toward these good-natured beasts in this way is unclear." I am tangentially reminded of Donald Barkin, who addressed his "Writing Portraits" seminar (into which I failed to gain admission) in 2003: "People see being a poet as like being a shepherd. They respond, 'Oh, are there still poets around? Why?'"


The swastika hasn't always been T3h Evil. To give one of many examples, in Buddhism it's a vegetarian symbol. Happy post-St. Patrick's Day!

Finally, something to remedy my aging brain's seive-like memory: exercise!