Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii
A New Zealand judge has removed custody of a nine year old girl from her parents so that her name — Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii — can be changed. A few others that got flagged:
Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter “and tragically, Violence,” he said.
national optimism
Are you happy with the direction your country is headed?
China — 86 percent content
Australia — 61 percent content
Russia — 54 percent content
Spain — 50 percent content
Jordan — 49 percent content
Poland — 42 percent content
India — 41 percent content
Egypt — 40 percent content
South Africa — 36 percent content
Germany — 34 percent contentAnd some other favorites:
France — 29 percent content
United States — 23 percent content
Lebanon — 6 percent content
the 100-billion dollar note
Zimbabwe has introduced a 100-billion dollar note in an attempt to combat 2.2 million percent inflation.
In January, a 10-million-dollar note was issued, then a 50-million-dollar note in April. In May, notes for 100 million and 250 million dollars were issued, swiftly followed by those for five billion, 25 billion and 50 billion.
The southern African nation, currently gripped by a post-election crisis, has been ravaged by hyperinflation which shot up from 165,000 percent in February to 2.2 million in June.
Independent economists however believe the official inflation figure is grossly understated, estimating it could be running between 10 million and 15 million percent.
Perhaps they are the least happy nation.
McCain Advocates Phil Gramm Surge
“My friends — and I truly think of all of you as friends — listen up,” Mr. McCain told supporters and press. “The U.S. will withdraw from Iraq only after victory is achieved. We will achieve that victory by pounding the terrorists as if they are economical cuts of flank steak.”
“I have the military and foreign policy experience to make statements like that,” he continued in a strident, nasally voice, “even if I clearly can’t tell the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni.”
the worst building in history
An Egyptian company has resumed construction on what has been called the worst building in history (alternately known as the hotel of doom) in North Korea. The building was begun in 1988 as a response to development in South Korea spurred by its involvement in the Olympic games.
As the North’s economy took a deeper turn for the worse in the 1990s the empty shell became a symbol of the country’s failure, earning nicknames “Hotel of Doom” and “Phantom Hotel.”
Bruno Giberti, associate head of California Polytechnic State University’s Department of Architecture, said the project was typical of what has been produced recently in many cities trying to show their emerging wealth by constructing gigantic edifices that were not related in scale to anything else around them.
“If this is the worst building in the world, the runners up are in Vegas and Shanghai,” said Giberti.
Touche.
InBev Buys Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have endured troubled times lately,” said InBev CEO Carlos Brito, “but that will change now that they have joined our corporate family. A little tweaking, some layoffs — there is no limit to what we can achieve together.”
“We often make our expansion decisions based on brand equity,” Mr. Brito added. “However, in this particular case the first thing we will do is change those incredibly stupid company names.”
Close shave as stolen goat found
The thieves had shaved his beard off to try to avoid detection but the owner has confirmed that it is definitely Billy and he is now back at home and comfortable.
Female Afghan Olympian Is Missing
The only Afghan woman competing in the Beijing Olympic games has gone missing.
Mehbooba Andyar’s choice to compete in a head scarf and full-length, body-covering running suit could not spare her from Taliban taunts and threats. The Afghan middle-distance runner nonetheless trekked on and was on the verge of realizing her Olympic dream. But now Andyar — slated to be the only female Afghan athlete at the Beijing Games — has gone missing from her training site just weeks before the opening ceremonies.
the most ridiculous commute
A Swedish dude who drove 650 feet to work each morning and then a few hundred feet more to lunch has won a bicycle as prize for a “most ridiculous commute” contest his girlfriend signed him up for.
snake venom accents
The chemical makeup of snake venom can change based on geography and age for the same species of snake, thus rendering some antivenoms inconsistent.
The new study compares the protein chemistry of the deadly lancehead pitviper from two geographically isolated populations from the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Costa Rica. The researchers also analyzed venom from adult and newborn snakes.
The researchers “found major differences in the venoms collected from the two regions,” they report in the August issue of the Journal of Proteome Research.
They also found distinct differences in proteins of venom collected from newborns and adult snakes, “indicating that the requirement for the venom to immobilize prey and initiate digestion may change with the size (age) of the snake.”
pictures of the San Fermin running of the bulls
Comme Si De Rien N’Etait
Carla Bruni — married to France’s right-wing President, Nicholas Sarkozy — is hurt by negative reviews of her 60s flavored third album.
“All those breathy notes just become annoying: you feel like telling her to have a good cough and give up smoking.”
&
“First lady… of schmaltz,” headlined the Independent newspaper, which said the former supermodel came across as “simpering and weedy”.
The Times dryly noted that it “may be the best album ever made by the wife of a head of state.”
I hope Laura comes out with an album.
Heck of a Job, Asshole
The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”
He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.
Iran Launches Oil Barrels into Persian Gulf
Tehran, Iran — The global petroleum market threw up a little in its throat Thursday as Iran commenced a second consecutive day of test firing oil-filled surface-to-surface missiles.
Determined to prove its courage, fortitude, and earnest resistance to common sense, the radical Islamic republic launched an estimated five hundred fully laden medium- and short-range Shahab-3, Scud-C, and Hoot missiles into the Straits of Hormuz, gateway to 40% of the world’s fuel supply.
I misheard
all of the lyrics to Kyu Sakamoto’s “Ue wo muite arukou” (released as “Sukiyaki” in the United States, where for three weeks in 1963 it was at the top of Billboard’s Pop chart).
Great video.
A sad aside: Kyu Sakamoto was a passenger on Japan Airlines Flight 123 on August 12, 1985. Flight 123 crashed into Osutaka Ridge outside Tokyo; all members of the crew and all but four of the 509 passengers died. The crash remains the deadliest single-aircraft disaster ever.
Nadal conquista Londres (Esplendor en la hierba)
Nadal mira el trofeo tras romper la racha de Federer de cinco títulos consecutivos. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNIS
El español ha conseguido coronarse por fin en Wimbledon, destronando al hasta ahora indiscutible rey de la hierba, Roger Federer, por 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7 y 9-7.
G8 Kind of Sucks
Japan, Russia, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and the United States—the current G8—bear heavy criticism for possessing 90% of the world’s wealth, consuming 93% of its resources, controlling 85% of its military assets, and producing 97% of its reality-TV programs.
Each of these most powerful nations holds an adequate food supply, although much of it is contaminated, e.g., tomatoes or ground beef, or otherwise toxic, e.g., all fast food. Poorer countries cheerfully subsist on scant rations of rice, maize, sorghum, and cardboard.
Anti-Terrorist Drill in Shangdong
(via autoblog)
Generation Kill
David Simon, creator of The Wire, has a new 7 part mini-series about the first 40 days of the Iraq War to air July 13 on HBO.
How much for that dead mosquito in the window
A Chinese man sells dead mosquitoes online.
Nin sells his mosquito corpses for six yuan — about 45p — each. His ad reads: “Truly killed by human hands. Can be used for science studies, decoration, and collection.”
square watermelons
Grow your own square watermelons just like they have in Japan. There is a lesson to be learned here.
the geography of happiness
Denmark is the happiest country and Zimbabwe the least.
the google sari
(thanks, Dave)
North Korea Better Off with Nuclear Reactors
An Editorial — Bitterness, disagreement, and animosity characterize U.S.-North Korea relations, but the long decades of name calling and saber rattling could be nearing an end.
President George W. Bush formally removed North Korea from America’s list of regimes that sponsor terrorism, and declared the former rogue state to be “kind of annoying, but no longer eligible for the Axis of Evil.”
Recent diplomatic breakthroughs aimed at reducing nuclear proliferation appear, on the surface at least, to benefit the world’s peace and security. Are these changes truly positive?
Dear George
I think you should watch The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.