"It is not a bad idea to get in the habit of writing down one's thoughts. It saves one having to bother anyone else with them." - Isabel Colegate

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The Straight Dope: Are Americans dumber than Europeans? - "Besides, we apparently don't really need to know much about the rest of the world. According to Baylor University polling, 55 percent of Americans believe they have an advantage that surely outweighs any intellectual deficiencies: A guardian angel."

Pilot who paused to pray in emergency gets 10 years - "A Tunisian pilot who paused to pray instead of taking emergency measures before crash-landing his plane, killing 16 people, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Italian court along with his co-pilot... A fuel-gauge malfunction was partly to blame but prosecutors also said the pilot succumbed to panic, praying out loud instead of following emergency procedures and then opting to crash-land the plane instead trying to reach a nearby airport."
Unsurprisingly, this was an Italian court. Religious discrimination! Islamophobia

Porkgasm - Porktopia - "I was inspired by the famous Bacon Explosion and this cute little guy."
"Bacon strips, bacon sausage, ham sausage, ham slices, smoked pork sausage and roasted pork belly surrounded by ground sausage shaped into a pig, wrapped in bacon and roasted. Garnished with chili ears and tail."

Singlish: Building language the fun way! - "Accelerating Language & Learning Through Music, Visuals & Movement"

Both 13 started having sex with each other , they met online . - "ALTHOUGH she had actually been pregnant for seven months, an underaged girl wasn't aware that she was having a baby until her parents sent the 14-year-old for a checkup. On Tuesday, the father, also 14, was placed on one-year supervised probation by the Juvenile Court, after he pleaded guilty to two counts of carnal connection."
Strangely, the girl isn't under probation (since we lack a rolling age of consent). I doubt you'll see the feminists making noise about this.

Woman arrested after sending obscene video to friend - "Deputies say Caroline Willette videotaped herself having sex with two dogs and watching child pornography with a friend."

Headmaster: No Vampires At Our School - "Supposedly 3 students believe that they are vampires and today when a student was bitten the police were informed"

TNB gives assurance of power supply during Earth Hour - "Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has assured the public that electricity supply will not be switched off during the worldwide event, Earth Hour, this Saturday... TNB issued the statement in response to the numerous calls from concerned customers enquiring if electricity supply would be turned off for the Earth Hour from 8.30pm - 9.30pm."
Malaysia Boleh! I prefer the story about the National Phonographic Association, though.

Dear A.I.G., I Quit! - "[Not] more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P [were responsible]. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage... I was an integral player in the pending sale of its well-regarded commodity index business to UBS. As you know, business unit sales like this are crucial to A.I.G.’s effort to repay the American taxpayer. The profitability of the businesses with which I was associated clearly supported my compensation. I never received any pay resulting from the credit default swaps that are now losing so much money. I did, however, like many others here, lose a significant portion of my life savings... I have personally suffered from this controversial activity — directly as well as indirectly with the rest of the taxpayers... you also are aware that most of the employees of your financial products unit had nothing to do with the large losses. And I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us. I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations... None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house."

Jonathan Clements Says the Bonus Tax Creates a Disincentive to Work - "Like Bernie Madoff, I've got the government coming after my money. Unlike Madoff, I didn't do anything wrong... The House bill is akin to, say, penalizing the earnings of today's politicians because their predecessors failed to save us from the current economic debacle... by mid-October, I will hit $250,000 in total income -- and have no incentive to earn any more income in 2009. At that point, I plan to ask Citi for an unpaid sabbatical. Forget earning more income. There's no point. Instead, you will find me hunkered down at home, desperately trying not to spend money. This will make entire financial sense for the Clements household. What about the struggling economy? Not so much."