"Nothing can so alienate a voter from the political system as backing a winning candidate." - Mark B. Cohen

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Left 4 Dead 2's Frying Pans Kill a Tank 3 Times Faster than Shotguns

Basics - Another Challenge for Ethical Eating - Plants Want to Live, Too - "The more that scientists learn about the complexity of plants — their keen sensitivity to the environment, the speed with which they react to changes in the environment, and the extraordinary number of tricks that plants will rally to fight off attackers and solicit help from afar — the more impressed researchers become, and the less easily we can dismiss plants as so much fiberfill backdrop"

PR stunt gone wrong? - "Several 'acts of vandalism' carried out on SingPost mailboxes over the past few days, attracting public attention, now appear to be an attempt by SingPost to drum up publicity - and the police have stepped in... "Police will be taking the matter up with SingPost as this whole episode has caused unnecessary public alarm and wasted valuable resources""
Die mauer im kopf is like der Polizist im Kopf. We can get rid of the policemen on the streets, but never the policeman in our heads

Simon Koh Yong's Braised Abalone - "Incidentally, it doesn't mean that the bigger the abalone, the better. Size is a matter of personal taste and the 'head count' - that is, 10-head or 15-head, etc, simply refers to the number of abalones that make up a kati of weight (600 gm). The smaller the abalone, the younger it is, and as it takes years to grow to a large size, it's generally agreed that the bigger and older the abalone is, the better the taste."

New scanners break child porn laws - "The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British airports threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the creation of indecent images of children"
Under-aged suicide bombers, here we come!

Save the trees, say NO to junk mails from SingPost - "These fliers are delivered by our friendly postmen who are able to unlock the anti-junk locking devices on our letterboxes, junk mail seep through. This defeats the entire purpose of HDB installing these devices. Singaporeans wonder why because they do not know their postmen have colluded with the spammers and that Admail is an auto opt-in subscription."

KFC accused of racism over Australian advertisement - "An outnumbered white cricket fan handing out pieces of fried chicken to appease a dancing, drumming and singing group of black West Indian supporters... "The ad was reproduced online in the US without KFC's permission, where we are told a culturally-based stereotype exists, leading to the incorrect assertion of racism"... some commentators [are] accusing Americans of "insularity"... the association between fried chicken and ethnic minorities was a distinctly US issue: "They have a tendency to think that their history is more important than that of other countries""
Let's hope no one in Singapore makes an advertisement about "Jap food"

i.Saw - The World's First USB-powered Chainsaw

Newark terminal locked down; search continues for man - ""I just saw one woman pleading with a gate agent, saying that she had two small children and a heart condition -- that she simply could not take this," Cho said. "But of course, there will be no exceptions.""
Perhaps one day we'll find that security measures kill more people than terrorism

What Israeli security could teach us - "US airport security remains obstinately focused on intercepting bad things -- guns, knives, explosives. It is a reactive policy, aimed at preventing the last terrorist plot from being repeated... things don't hijack planes, terrorists do... But because federal policy still bans ethnic or religious profiling, US passengers continue to be singled out for special scrutiny mostly on a random basis. Countless hours have been spent patting down elderly women in wheelchairs... time that could have been used instead to concentrate on passengers with a greater likelihood of being terrorists... It is not racism or bigotry to argue that the prevention of Islamist terrorism necessitates a special focus on Muslim travelers, just as it is not racism or bigotry when police trying to prevent a Mafia killing pay closer attention to Italians"

How to nap - "A short afternoon catnap of 20 minutes... you can drink a cup of coffee before you nap. Caffeine requires 20 or 30 minutes to take effect, so it will kick in just as you're waking"

The 30 Most Disturbing Twilight Products - "Bella's Womb Well, it was bound to happen, someone was bound to make a felt version of Bella Swan's womb... wait WHAT. HER WOMB? SOMEONE FELTED HER WOMB? WITH THE MUTATED BLOOD-CRAVING ADULT BABY RENESMEE INSIDE? TELL US WHY. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THIS?? TwiCrotch: Edward Panties Who doesn't need panties where the crotch faces INSIDE. Yeah, mull that one over, fans.... The Vamp: The Sparkly Dildo"

25kg of cocaine hits Spanish supermarket shelves - "Drug smugglers in Spain are at least 25 kilos of cocaine short after boxes of bananas in which they'd hidden the Bolivian marching powder ended up on supermarket shelves."

Amazon.com: Daniel A. Koblosh's review of Denon AKDL1 Dedicated Link Cable - "After I took delivery of my $500 Denon AKDL1 Cat-5 uber-cable, Al Gore was mysteriously drawn to my home, where he pronounced that Global Warming had been suspended in my vicinity... One heck of a cable. Didn't notice any improvement in audio quality though. The $800 Apple iCable is clearly superior."

Ten Psychology Studies from 2009 Worth Knowing About - "1. If you have to choose between buying something or spending the money on a memorable experience, go with the experience 7. If someone is trying to sell you something, be extra careful to keep your psychological distance 10. If you’re a man and find yourself in an argument with your significant other, choose your words very carefully... Women may just be better at communication, or just luckier in this particular biological lottery"

Explosives planted on man to test airport security - "Irish police have released a man held over an explosives find, after Slovakian authorities admitted planting them in his luggage."
They could've framed him for drugs also

Sex doesn't sell in mainstream cinema, study says - "Crunching data from 914 films released between 2001 and 2005, researchers Dean Keith Simonton from the University of California, Davis, and independent Vancouver-based researcher Anemone Cerridwen discovered sex and nudity have a negligible impact on the box office... On average, the less sex and nudity, the higher the gross... "I think it reflects and reinforces sexism in society, in general. Even if the performer genuinely doesn't mind having to do this stuff as a condition of employment, it creates a hostile environment for the rest of us: other women on camera, behind the camera, in acting classes, plus women, in general""
Chanting "get your rosaries off our ovaries" creates a hostile environment for Catholics.
Someone: "stinky men next to me on the train creates a hostile environment for me"