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Everybody's workin' for the weekend ... except me. Because it's day 3 of a 3 day weekend for me. Meaning cold pizza, late sleep, and more precious hours to spend up to my armpits in esoteric tomfoolery.
If you haven't been to binnallofamerica.com yet, I hate you. There, I said it. Now go there. We redesigned the site to be more user friendly. We welcome feedback. We have snacks.
But wait ... before you go explore ... it's ... News Watch :
Hot 5 Stories of the Week
Geez, one European sells Pope Benedict's car and now everyone wants a piece of the action. Yes, it seems there is yet another "Pope Car", but this one has more street cred for it was Pope John Paul's car. And, the owner wants to sell it. Only problem is, his dad thinks he owns it. Who would have thought that the Pope's car would bring such chaos to this family ?
The redeeming part of this story was that when they bought the car originally, they went to the Vatican and PJ II gave them the keys himself. That's a story for your grandkids. I wonder if he had to first retrieve all his Steeley Dan albums before handing it over.
The Illinois judge ordered the humble blue 1975 Ford Escort returned to Jerome Rich from Kruse International, the Indiana rare automobile museum and auction house where his son, Jim, originally bought it.
2>Actress jailed for prostitution (Reuters via myway.com)
File Under : Paris Hilton of Asia. I sometimes see other countries' forms of "justice" and am in awe of how well they run things. This woman essentially pulled a Paris Hilton, rose to fame and fortune and then their government arrested her for her porno film. Good times.
That created a scandal but led to her being offered a role in a film about the love affairs of Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War.
3>NASA seeks oxygen source on moon (CNN)
But first they'll have to find an oxygen source for their brains. Ka-Ching. Yes, I'll be here all week ... okay just today.
NASA, my beloved punching bag, has announced yet another in their long line of "Do Our Jobs for Us" contests. This time they want someone to find oxygen on the moon. I thought my tax dollars were going towards getting answers like this years ago. I thought that is why we sent a man to the moon ... 35 years ago ! Repulsive and sad, you are, NASA. You have made precious little advancement since your peak so long ago.
The competition is the latest in NASA's "Centennial Challenges" series, which aims to stimulate the development of technologies useful to space exploration. Before I get all Alex Jones on you, relax. I'm actually in agreement with the cops on this one. Yes, Virginia, the cops were right here. One of the reasons we have cops is to police morons. A moron who won't take off his ridiculous "Grinch Mask" deserves to be arrested. This is not a case of "police state" antics, more of "moron meets cop".
Police say Gray took the mask off and asked why he couldn't wear it. After officers told him that wearing masks in public is illegal, he reportedly put the mask back on and said he didn't believe it.
Gray was then arrested and the mask confiscated. I'll admit I do my fair share of railing on parents for not doing their job of raising their kids, but this goes too far. It's a strange Big Brother meets Dr. Phil meets Richard Simmons and that's just sad. Parents, living their lives through their offspring, are now tracking what their kids eat.
Now, as a red blooded American male, I'm all in favor of our teenage girls aspiring to fill the hot pants of Britney Spears, but I can't help but feel for them being under the watchful eye of their "Desperate Housewife" mother who wants them to look "hot" more than they do. Good luck.
"That's about 150 extra calories a day. It's one thing if she did it occasionally, but she was getting in the habit of buying it every single day on top of lunch because her friends are drinking it," Eddleman said. "They drink it down like a Coke."
Eddleman talked to her daughter, who has since switched to buying a bottle of water instead.
Future News Now
Duh. The Illegal Alien Problem has become so bad it is all capitalized now. Rumours persist that Southwest US and Northern Mexico will soon merge and I'm not joking. The Minuteman project may have been the last vestige of hope in keeping the borders properly patrolled. This also shines a light on the farcical "War on Terror". Remember when you lose your job that the middle class was killed by stories like this.
For the FDIC to encourage lawlessness because of what they call "the growth of the market" being a compelling incentive for "U.S. banks to enter this largely untapped market," has got to be the most insane psychobabble I have ever heard in my life. These criminals (illegal aliens) who break the law to enter this country have no rights and are subject to immediate deportation, not bank loans.
This Week's Point Getters : 5 weeks remaining. Big points scored this week. I just listened to the 1st headlines of the night, so if I missed your story, contact me.
Streamlinkers : Mirage scored big time this week with 3 big stories : "Mysterious Murder of Yet Another Top Scientist", "Massive Blackour Paralyzes Moscow", and "Increase in 'Dead Zones' Starving World's Seas".
theUSofE.com : baemark scored with "Japanese WWII soldiers still hiding in the Philippines". baemark scored again with "King Fahd in Hospital". He scored a 3rd point with : "Viagra makes you go blind !" was read by Noory on Friday. I believe Noory talked about the nuke blast mapper, which was a story posted by Degataga. "Hackers holding Computer Files Hostage" was posted by Oscar.
Notes : Contact me if you think I missed your story.
Current Standings as of 5.30.5 : Oscar (12), mirage (11), Templar (9), Baemark (9), Degataga (7), Dennis (6), Jerikai (4), FAZER (3), Valkryie (2), SomeAverageJoe (2), SimpleComplexities (2), TxStarGazer (2), Raven (2), shanesq1 (1), jerseyred (1), Dustminer (1), afeent1 (1), crimsonadam (1), sideshow (1), outuvbody (1)
The Rules : Score 1 point for posting a news story that gets read by Noory or Art Bell on the show. If you are not credited by me in News Watch, YOU are responsible for letting me know that I missed it. You can ONLY post your news stories in either the Streamlink message board "Current Events" folder or the U.S. of E. message board "Current Events" folder (News Stories posted in individual episode folders or "Anything Goes" do not count) The WINNER is the person with the most Noory Story points (cumulative) in the July 4th Edition of News Watch. Subsequently, there will be a 2nd competition for the 2nd half of 2005, culminating on 1.2.2006. The 1st PRIZE is a $40 dollar shopping spree @ the official binnallofamerica.com store. Any questions / comments can be sent to tbinnall@hotmail.com This contest is REAL. No wagering, please.
The vaunted Jackson Defense team wrapped up its case this past week, moving the trial nearer to its conclusion. Much of the talk this week was on the two big celebrities to take the stand for the Defense : Jay Leno and Chris Tucker. Leno was a total bomb for the Defense and he seemed to contradict what the Defense Team claimed he would say. Meanwhile, Tucker was pretty positive for Jackson, so it may be a bit of a wash.
Another entire realm of speculation was over whether or not Jackson would take the stand. He did not. The Defense Team implied he would, which could hurt them. They instead chose to run the video he made in reaction to the Martin Bashir video that started this whole mess. The Defense then rested.
In a surprise, both Prosecution and Defense teams chose not to have rebuttals and Closing Statements may begin as early as the end of the week. Given that, I may break in mid-week for an ultra-rare Jackson Schmackson Final Analysis. Stay tuned.
The Jackson Scale : 70 (Last Week : 65)
Comment : The short defense, while telling of a side which seems to think it's won, was poor. Jackson not taking the stand hurt big time.
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
France Fries EU Constitution
The biggest news of the weekend, nay perhaps the month of May, was the refusal by French citizens to adopt the EU Constitution. Sadly, to your average yokel on the street, they'll make some derisive remark about France and then move on without even considering the worldwide implications of this vote. Yes, the EU Constitution Vote in France matters.
Firstly, it is a sign of rejection of the EU by France, which is one of the big players in the EU. They are the lynchpin that holds the thing together along with the rest of the "classic" European countries. Now, with France rejecting the Constitution and rumours of other nations where the vote may turn out the same, we are seeing a schism within the EU. Look for who adopts the Constitution and why and you'll see who the players are.
It's no secret that a Union of European States is one of the pillars of any New World Order, so having one of its nation states unstable is a good thing for any freedom loving freak. Will they have to draft a new Constitution ? Will the EU boot out France ? Are they ever going to bring back the Lira ?
The news I watch here is Fox News. Sorry, but I do. And the way they spun it was that this means curtains for Jaques Chirac. Of course, they'll say that whenever a story comes across the wires with "France" in the title. That said, I expect Chirac to go soon, as he's been ridiculed by the American Media to the point that France needs someone new to represent them.
Should Chirac go, a quick prediction. A stronger, more "American-friendly" Prime Minister who will strong arm the EU Constitution through.
I have looked into this "EU", briefly and what I see disgusts me yet again. We start with 25 member states !? 25 ?! How one expect to unify those diverse countries into one body is beyond me. Didn't Napolean try that ? I believe Hitler tried. Both failed.
So I don't see how peace will yield unity and, more often than not,
annexation is favored over sharing. I see a civil war emerging in Europe that will ultimately result in a formal, European Union. This isn't like "metric v. English", it's more like "you're in or you're out".
Despite all this talk of the EU Constitution and I cannot seem to find an actual draft of it anywhere despite minimal searching. Only summaries, interpretations and what have you. How sad.
I used to think the EU was like the UN, all loathsome and boring. But now I find it rather interesting, not unlike a well-done spinoff of the US. We have American Idol and they have Pop Idol. We have goofy George Bush and they have goofy Tony Blair. That only means that somewhere out there, there's a "binnall of France". Be afraid, I am.
There. That just about does it. I have to go take a bath after thinking of my French doppleganger. While I'm in the tub, feel free to peruse binnallofamerica.com. Have I mentioned we redesigned it ? Oh.
Until next week, when all we have is an ugly little "2 day weekend" , be safe, be prepared, and be real.