It's raining here in Boston, which is better than snow, so I've no complaints. I'm actually a pretty big fan of rain, so color me happy. Luckily, this is a digital edition of News Watch and, therefore, will not be soaking wet, waiting for you on your doorstep.
I can guarantee a Schiavo-free edition of News Watch. That's right, there's other things going on in the world and I'm here to give you the lowdown. So, let's begin ....
Hot 5 Stories of the Week
1>Sumo World Says 'No Thanks' to Pants(Reuters via myway.com)
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050324/2005-03-24T140051Z_01_T69714_RTRIDST_0_ODD-ODD-JAPAN-PANTS-DC.html
For once I find myself agreeing with the Sumo World. Yes, it's not just Daylight Savings Time being debated in Japan ... it's "pants in Sumo" as well. Sumo, for those of you uninitiated, is two fat guys in thongs trying to push each other out of a large circle. How pants could improve the "sport" is beyond me.
That said, I would not want to tangle with a Sumo wrestler as he'd most likely beat me senseless or at the very least eat me. One can liken this debate to the Spiderman base covers debate that raged on in Major League Baseball last summer. The traditionalists against the new generation. Will Sumo last ? With unintentionally hilarious quotes like this one from a Sumo spokesman, it has to :
Quote:
The sport's professional body, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai, however, has made clear that it will not allow wrestlers in pants to take part in youth tournaments at the venerable national stadium in Tokyo, the paper said.
"The national stadium has its rules and ways of doing things," the paper quoted a Sumo Kyokai spokesman as saying. "We have no intention of allowing children in pants into the ring."
2>NASA Details Cash Prizes for Space Privatization (space.com)
http://www.space.com/news/050323_centennial_challenge.html
I'll admit it. I've taken quite a bit of heat for my frothing anti-NASA stance. One local astronomy teacher called me a "menace to the community" and several telescope shops refuse to allow me to their monthly meet 'n' greets for fear I will again turn it into a 2 hour rant on why NASA is awful.
Therefore, I will bring to you a more promising NASA story this week, but one that is par for the course with the much maligned space agency. Yes, NASA realizes that it cannot get the job done. They've thrown in the towel. The war is over.
The "best and the brightest" have decided, since they cannot evolve and continually ruin their own hard work, to award prizes to those who can do the job they are supposed to do. How do you like that ? I wish I was dubious enough to think of such a concept. Look for NASA to somehow find a way to botch the actual delivery of the prize.
Quote:
The prizes, which mark a subtle but important turning point in how NASA does business, are designed in part to help meet the ultimate goal of returning Americans to the Moon by 2020 and then sending them on to Mars under a vision laid out last year by President Bush.
"We need to reach out and find innovation wherever it can be found," said Brant Sponberg, the Centennial Challenges program manager.
3>Monster swine 'Hogzilla' was real, experts say (AP via msnbc.com)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7264865/?GT1=6305
The greatest hog beast that there ever was, this side of King Kong Bundy, 'Hogzilla' gets his moment in the sun. Some enterprising crew went out and filmed a whole documentary on the amazing beast captured a few years back.
Sadly, the guy who nailed 'Hogzilla' claimed that it was 12 feet long. Experts who exhumed the pig said it was actually 8 feet long. The debate rages to this day. The veracity of the beast's amazing size is not up for debate, it was true. Now if only someone would turn to something a little more important, like the Bigfoot.
And the town that birthed 'Hogzilla' is now participating in a time old American tradition ... merchandising. The yokels in Hogtown have decided that 'Hogzilla' is the pig that laid the golden eggs and everyone wants a serving. Expect the Mayor of Hogtown to be meeting with the Mayor of Roswell any day now.
Quote:
Despite the dispute, this town 180 miles south of Atlanta has already adopted Hogzilla as its own. It went with a Hogzilla theme for its fall festival, with a parade featuring a Hogzilla princess, children in pink pig outfits and a float carrying a Hogzilla replica.
“Our insides were just bubbling,” said Darlene Turner, who hosted a party to watch the documentary Sunday night.
4>One Recipe for Happiness? Run 262 Miles (reuters via myway.com)
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050324/2005-03-24T141010Z_01_N18511006_RTRIDST_0_ODD-LEISURE-ULTRAMARATHON-DC.html
As a former distance runner, this is an amazing story. Somehow, someway, this dude ran 262 miles. Is he insane ? Probably. A genetic freak ? Possibly. Coast worthy ? Definitely.
This guy, Dean Karnazes started running and then added more mileage onto his distance. He kept adding. Then adding. Finally getting up to 262 miles ... 10 marathons. He has no real motivations other than he wants to push the limits of his body.
I'd be interested in seeing if he could make 1000 miles, but I don't want to give him any zany ideas. He claims he orders pizza and eats it on the road while running and his 262 mile journey took 75 hours. A fantastic story.
Quote:
Next a 199-mile race, which he has now completed 10 years in a row and which is normally a relay for teams of 12 runners. In 2004 Karnazes ran 63 miles to the start and then completed the race, making a total of 262 miles, or 10 marathons.
"The estimate was I burned somewhere around 35,000 calories," he said. Typically he will eat a mix of power bars, salty snacks, pizza, cheese cake and gallons of water.
5>At War With Their Bodies, They Seek to Sever Limbs (NY Times via Infowars.com)
http://www.infowars.com/articles/science/at_war_with_bodies_sever_limbs.htm
Easily the most quoted story, by me, all week. Insane. Simply insane. I'd thought I'd heard it all when the kids were all slicing their tongues and wearing those studs in their ears. But ... amputation ?
Apparently, it's hip in some people's minds. Those people confuse doctors, who obviously do not want to remove working parts. So, these folks head down to Mexico or some other nefarious country and get the job done on the sly. The shrinks who work with these people compare it to transexuality, but that seems downright taciturn compared to this bizarre state of mind.
Quote:
When the legless man drove up on his own to meet Dr. Michael First for brunch in Brooklyn, it wasn't just to show Dr. First how independent he could be despite his disability.
It was to show Dr. First that he had finally done it - had finally managed to get both his legs amputated, even though they had been perfectly healthy.
Future News Now
Employers Relying On Personality Tests To Screen Applicants (Washington Post via rense.com)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A4010-2005Mar26?language=printer
Better not quit your job just yet. Looks like those of us who live outside the mainstream just got squeezed out just a bit more. All you fans of "The Surreal Life" and people who enjoy Billy Crystal movies just got taken off the list of promising new jobs.
With the advent of computers and "experts as Gods" mentality of the mainstream, expect personality tests to be a potential new workplace hazard along with fingerprinting and smoking tests. A useful tool to better recruit potential employees ? Or a new weapon in screening out those without the "hive mentality" ? Time will tell, but history suggest potential misuse of this new methodology as technology evolves and security paranoia grows.
Quote:
Psychologists have long debated whether personality can be reduced to a set of numbers, like a person's weight, shoe size or eyeglasses prescription. But that has not stopped people from trying. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which measures four qualities of a person -- introversion/extroversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, judging/perceiving -- is often used to help match people up with careers. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, which attempts to measure propensity for substance abuse or other pathologies, is regularly used to assess candidates for sensitive positions in police departments, banks, nuclear plants and the like. The Neuroticism, Extroversion and Openness Personality Inventory breaks personality down into five characteristics that some companies use to assess traits such as management potential.
Noory Stories
Kudos to FAZER who busted out the T-Rex DNA story on the Streamlink board and was discussed by Art Bell on Saturday night's show. Templar covered the Prozac / school shooting connection that was touched on by Noory and Alex Jones on Friday night. If I missed anyone, let me know and I'll adjust it.
Think you know Noory ? How about Bell ? Find the story that one or the other will talk about that night and post in the Current Events folder either here or on the US of E Current Events folder to receive proper credit.
Late kudos to sideshow and Raven who posted about the 8.7 Earthquake in Indonesia today. Noory will definitely talk about it tonight, as it is major news.
I am considering tallying the number of hits each person has so far in 2005 and awarding a prize at some point in the future. Details next week.
Jackson Schmackson
Somehow, someway, the Jackson trial was not the big news of the week, as MJ and his purported predilections were trumped by the Schiavo saga. Fear not, good readers, your creepy pal was still on the case and was keeping his watchful eye on the trial. (Without the help of the E! series, which was moved permanently to 9 PM, conflicted with my many other programming concerns. Why E! cannot run it again at midnight or 2 AM is beyond me.)
The trial took a backseat to many outside dramas and also due to a lack of a "star" witness. Monday, some no name comedian claimed the accuser's father solicited money from her, further muddying the waters of the accusor's families motivations. Ironically, the comedian also related a humorous story about fellow comedian George Lopez and the accuser's father over a purportedly stolen wallet. Lopez, star of a self titled sitcom on ABC, will be called as a witness this coming week.
The judge threw out porno evidence found on "the gloved one's" computer, which was a victory for the defense. And in another win for them, one of the prosecution's strongest witnesses was just arrested for numerous armed robberies. That just about negates his credibility with the jurors.
The other noteworthy story coming out of the week was a forensics expert testifying about fingerprints. If you are like me, you'll find it boring and the jurors probably did too. How each side spins the story of how the fingerprints arrived on the magazine will make or break it as possibly damning evidence.
The biggest watershed moment in the trial may be coming up on Monday when the judge will decide if prior accusations against Jackson can be used in the trial. If he decides to let them in, the Jackson team is in big trouble. If not, the prosecution takes a huge hit. High stakes, people.
And, in a story that would make any C2C fan proud or ashamed, Michael Jackson claimed he is the victim of conspiracy. Yes, the shadowy invisible hand is working against Michael. We can only hope he will enlist one of C2C's finest to help him root out this conspiracy. The only question remains ... Ed Dames or Sean David Morton ?
The Jackson Scale : 67 (Last Week : 50)
Comment : Total Push this week. The result of Monday's decision will swing it 10 points at least.
A scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being nearly certain, I will deduce the odds of Jackson being found guilty and going to jail. This is not an opinion of his guilt, just a barometer of the potential outcome of the trial.
Editorial
The Real Oil Crisis
"It's about the oil !", the children scream at me when they throw their pithy barbs and rotten eggs. I try to defend my position that oil is but one pawn in the game used by the elite illuminated forces aligned to control the planet, but by then I'm soaked in rotten eggs and told my work is too "wordy". Suffice it to say, in some ways it is about the oil.
The world is growing. China wants more oil. The good ol' US of A obviously needs lots of oil. India needs more oil by the day. The demand is high and some, like Michael Ruppert and a sea of voices, say that the supply is peaking. Others decry this as nonsense, citing abiotic oil theories and secret supplies hidden off the Gulf of Mexico.
Irregardless of where we are on the cycle of oil use, the price for gas is going up for the average Joe and Jane. With that gas hike comes an overall increase in prices for just about anything that gets shipped, most notably food. The "run for cover" folks will have you think that you'd best get a gun and stock up on stewed tomatoes to make it through an impending oil crash.
Hogwash. There is no oil crash. Not in the sense that they would have you believe. Yes, the gas price will go up. This will continue at a steady rate throughout our lifetimes. One must not forget the exorbitant decadence with which your average middle class American lives. Their fancy schmancy SUVs and newfangled big trucks guzzle gasoline like I guzzle coffee, i.e. a ton. Those of us in the esoteric world are smart enough to have seen this entire over-reliance on gasoline for quite some time. Most are ready and prepared to deal with it.
The real oil crisis, sadly, lies in the massive mainstream who is obviously too dumbed down to do anything about it till it is far too late. They refuse to do the research, refuse to ask the questions, refuse to fund an answer. They will be our downfall when the gas prices go through the roof and they all flip out. The procrastination of the human race in general with regards to oil is the cause of the problem, not the liquefied remains of dinosaurs and fern trees.
Should there be no eminent end of oil, we are still held under the thumb of the handful of corporations who control the spigot. Should the oil run out, we're essentially screwed. It's how the morons react that we have to worry about.
End Notes
Booyah, we are finished with the news for another week. I now commence to the part some of you love and some of you loathe : binnallofamerica.com plugs. If you are following the Terri Schiavo story, and how could you not be with the media circus surrounding it, you'll be pleased to know that we've posted an all new feature article titled "I Cry For Schiavo" @ binnallofamerica.com.
Meanwhile, tomorrow @ the big site, we're rolling out the first of 4 weeks of special Tuesday "The Road to X-Conference" columns. This week, the infamous story of how I ran Stanton Friedman's slide projector at last year's X-Conference. Hilarious and poignant, look for it on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday a big contest / prize giveaway begins @ binnallofamerica.com related to X-Conference, so be there for that one if you plan on attending the festivities in D.C.
And all the usual madness plus some surprises, so visit and check it out already.
Until next week when I don my old bowler hat, complete with "Press" tag on it, be safe, be real, and be prepared.
