Recently in Culture Category

It's fairly predictable that when gay issues are in the news, the usual peripheral background stories appear. You know, the ones about a "gay gene", or the fluff pieces showing some gay couple raising a an apparently well-adjusted child, etc.

The ruling last week by the California Supreme Court on the state's gay-marriage ban has brought the "it's OK, monkeys and penguins do it" people out of the woodwork:

As gay couples celebrate their newfound right to marry in California and opposition groups rally to fight the ruling, many struggle with this question: Is homosexuality natural?

On this issue, Nature has spoken: Same-sex lovin' is common in hundreds of species, scientists say.

Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins at New York's Central Park Zoo, were a couple for about six years, during which they nurtured a fertilized egg together (given to them by a zookeeper) and raised the young chick that hatched.

According to University of Oslo zoologist Petter Böckman, about 1,500 animal species are known to practice same-sex coupling, including bears, gorillas, flamingos, owls, salmon and many others.

Animals also eat their own young and slaughter each other based on instinct, not morality or intelligent thought. Shouldn't we aspire to be a little better than that?

It's interesting that the biologist quoted in the article laments:

The funny thing is that people say homosexuality is unnatural, that non-humans don't engage in homosexual behavior, but that's not true. Then they'll say it's base and animalistic."

Can't imagine where they got that idea...

Quick, what's the title of this post referring to?

If you guessed you, have a cigar. I'm not a breakfast person, and I'm grateful I didn't have to hold down an omelet while reading this:

Since they first walked the planet, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest — dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain.

The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in this country 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.

Ick.

In a similar vein to the previous post, the town of Sitka, Alaska has its own nightmare:

Jason Alex Abbott, a gaunt 18-year-old with a shaved head, has been charged with four counts of murder, accused of using a dagger to kill his grandparents, an aunt and her fiance.

He's also charged with a single count of attempted murder for stabbing another aunt multiple times; she was the sole survivor of the March 25 slayings.

"It was a very horrific type of crime with a lot of blood," Police Chief Sheldon Schmitt said. "It was a very chaotic scene. There was a lot of blood in the home and on the street."

The last time a killing occurred in Sitka was 1996. Police don't have a motive, but this stands out from the story:

Three days before the killings, Jason Abbott was arrested for allegedly trying to punch his mother because she had orange and red colored items in her home. He said they were "evil colors," according to court documents.

From Waycross, GA:

WAYCROSS, Ga. - A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job and assigning children tasks including covering the windows and cleaning up afterward, police said Tuesday.

They were upset with the teacher because she fussed at a student for standing on a chair.

Can you imagine how the teacher felt when she learned about this? I bet it will be a long, long time before she turns her back on a class.

So, is this a sign of the times? I've been to Waycross - it's a sleepy little southern town, not an urban blight zone. Frightening.

Am I the only one who thought of "Children of the Corn" while reading this story?

Via Fox News:

Women, Want a Healthy Marriage? Marry Man Uglier Than You, Study Says

The best marriages are those where women marry men who are less attractive than themselves, research has found.

Psychologists who studied newlyweds found men who were better-looking than their wives were more likely to be unhappy and have negative feelings about their marriage.

In couples where the wife is more attractive, both partners tended to be very content.

Well, yeah - at least it works that way in my home. TB looks way better than me, and we're fairly happy.

Featured at the Bangkok International Fashion Week:

I'm sure Madonna will be grateful that this look is back in style. I'm not so sure anyone else will be.

I'll admit it - I like Starbucks. Not many of us righties do, mostly due to the reputation they have as a gathering place for liberals. I don't care. I like the coffee. That Starbucks is a lefty cultural phenomenon means little to me when I'm in the mood for an overly-roasted caffeine fix.

They used to have a really rich chocolate drink that TB really liked, but when they removed it from the menu she soured on Starbucks. So now I only go when I travel.

I almost always tip when I go - yes, the coffee is expensive, but that's hardly the fault of the baristas - they don't set the price. So naturally I was drawn to this headline yesterday:

Starbucks ordered to pay back tips

Could it be that the tip jars are emptied into Starbuck's coffers and the poor baristas are denied? No, it's even worse - the shift supervisor who slings venti drips and dry pastries right next to the lesser-paid baristas has been benefiting from the tip jar as well:

SAN DIEGO - A Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered Starbucks Corp. to pay its California baristas more than $100 million in back tips and interest that the coffee chain paid to shift supervisors.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Cowett also issued an injunction that prevents Starbucks' shift supervisors from sharing in future tips, saying state law prohibits managers and supervisors from sharing in employee gratuities.

I might have a little sympathy if the supervisors sat in the back office browsing the web while the baristas slaved over a hot espresso machine, and maybe in some places they do. But the stores I usually frequent have a small staff. From the outside looking in, supervisors appear to be baristas with additional duties. If someone out there who works as Starbucks has a different perspective, please feel free to chime in. I'm by no means unpersuadable.

But we all tend to draw on personal experience when possible, so here's where I come from. While I was still active duty in the USAF, I had a string of second jobs. One was pizza delivery - a job where the employee expects that much of their income will be derived from tips. On nights when we were shorthanded on drivers (or just plain swamped), the shift supervisor (and sometimes the manager) would fire up their Corollas and deliver as well. I don't recall any of the regular drivers whining about lost tips or asking for a share, and I never heard the boss offering to forgo tips.

Now, I know that it might be a little different than having a communal tip jar, but isn't the underlying principle the same? The customer at Starbucks expects the folks serving the coffee to share the tips, if the supervisor is serving alongside the baristas, why should he/she be excluded from the spoils? Isn't it possible that some of the tips were intended to reward service provided by the supervisor?

"...state law prohibits managers and supervisors from sharing in employee gratuities." This one has me curious as well - if, during a rush, a supervisor waits tables in a restaurant, does he have to refuse tips (or give them away to the "employees")? Or does this only apply when there's a tip jar? I can understand the intent to prevent supervisors from skimming tips they didn't earn, but can't there be some circumstances where the supervisor is entitled to tips he/she has directly earned?

I expect that the real harm done to Starbucks won't be the $100 million award. It will be from the supervisors who will now warm a chair in the back room instead of helping out at the counter. Service will suffer, and the baristas may have fewer tips as a result.

Added thoughts: What are baristas paid, anyway? Do they get 8-9 bucks an hour, or a sub-minimum "waitress wage"? Are their hours held back to a small number in order to avoid the baggage of full-time employees? And all the same questions about the supervisors as well. Would the answers change my view? Maybe - although the argument for supervisors to be less involved at the counter still gets stonger as sympathy for the baristas' claim to tips increases.

Welcome InstaPundit readers! And thanks again, Glenn. Are shift supervisors entitled to tips or just greedy? Feel free to join the conversation!

Clarification: The story specifies shift supervisors, not managers. If anyone stops by who knows otherwise, please chime in. But I assume that a shift supervisor is as I've observed - someone who's job description includes barista plus some additional duties, like locking up and putting away the money, etc. And what do you think of this kind of thing outside of California, where there may not be laws as specific? Are communal tips an entitlement for the lowest paid workers regardless of who provides the tippable service? Should a company be able to set rules regarding tips? Join in!

Here's a Chinese condom hat:

If I had seen the photo before I read the article, I'd have thought the same thing:

Police: Hershey candy looks like drugs

Someone has to be the one to ask - what kind of drugs was the designer of this packaging on?

From the "Funeral Collection" of Romania's Catalin Botezatu featured at the Bucharest Fashion Week last week:

Question - are these more appropriate for a funeral or one of Marilyn Manson's cocktail parties? And if it's the latter, do you find the above alluring or just plain creepy?

Call me old-fashioned, but when it comes to the "queen of the undead" look, I much prefer this.

Today's Wilmington News Journal features an editorial about Amazon's new Kindle book reader. The piece takes a wait and see approach to the device, suggesting that it will have to improve on the inherent simplicity and elegance of traditional ink and paper books to be successful.

It's certainly an attractive enough gadget, with features like fee-less wireless and a built-in keyboard for annotating and bookmarking:

I think economy is likely going to be a larger driver to success or failure, though. And it doesn't look like Kindle is ready for prime time yet.

The Kindle itself sells for $399.00, you'd have to be a voracious reader to make that up through the discounts Amazon offers on the Kindle versions of books. Even Amazon knows this and resorts to a little subterfuge with the numbers to make it seem more attractive. For example, on the main Kindle page, Amazon suggests that you would save $17.96 by reading "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court" by reading it electronically vs. the hardback edition. However, they use(disingenuously, I feel) list price as a comparison.

Amazon regularly sells the paper and ink version for $16.77 - so the real savings is only $6.78. In order to save money by using Amazon's device, you'd have to read 59 such books. How many hardback books do you buy in year?

But the real competition for Kindle isn't the hardback, but its cheaper cousin the paperback. Waiting the extra few months for the economy version of a book is the norm for most folks, and has the added bonus of feeling more, well, disposable. If I buy a hardback, I feel obligated to preserve and take up shelf space with it, I routinely give away paperbacks with no remorse. I don't care if they get dog-eared, worn, torn, kicked under the bed, or stained with coffee spills.

So what kind of savings will the Kindle provide against paperbacks? My lovely wife TB has a thing for J.D. Robb's work, so I checked out her titles to see. "Judgment In Death" normally sells for $7.99 in paperback, and the Kindle version sells for $6.39. Assuming similar savings for other titles, TB would have to read a staggering 249 books to make up the cost of the device alone. It would likely become worn out or obsolete first.

So do I think the Kindle is a total loser? No. Amazon will sell enough of them to keep the product alive for the near future at least. But I don't see any significant degree of market penetration. This is a product that's going to be popular with the hard-core gotta-have-the-latest-and-hippest-gadget-no-matter-what-the-price crowd. You know, the same crowd that stood in line for the iPhone, then whined because Apple dropped the price enough to diminish its exclusivity and ultimately, their bragging rights.

Perhaps that's all Amazon hopes to achieve.

This photo begs for a funny caption.

Santa is no longer free to say "Ho, Ho, Ho" in Sydney:

SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.

Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.

I don't recall ever being frightened by "Ho, Ho, Ho" when I was a child. This is political correctness stupidity.

"But they're going to do it anyway...."

It's the argument they used in Maine to give potentially harmful prescription drugs to girls who could benefit only if they were raped.

It's the argument used by the advocates of drug legalization, the pro-choice movement, the folks who give out condoms and oral sex lessons to junior-high schoolers.

It's been used countless times in the past 4 or 5 decades and each time the effect has always been the same - the continued downward definition of moral standards.

The "they're going to do it anyway" crowd is hallmarked by laziness, selfishness, or both. They are either unwilling to do the hard work necessary to address a problem, or actively seek the normalization of behaviors that they themselves desire to participate in.

What started this rant?

LONDON (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic bishop in the southern English port city of Portsmouth is backing a campaign to legalize brothels without in any way condoning them.

The Right Reverend Crispian Hollis supported the local branch of the Women's Institute which wants to license brothels.

How - wholesome.

When the Catholic Church starts using the same argument that leftists and some libertarians have made over the years to redefine behavioral standards down, we should all take notice - and be a little embarrassed at what we're becoming.

Even when you have legitimate concerns over copyrights, it's never a good idea to threaten your fans - particularly when you have so few left.

Turns out his kid sold the tape to National Enquirer for "A lot of money".

While panning provocative costumes for kids (a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with), Glenn Reynolds weighs in with this statement which appears to approve of slutty wear for adult women:

"I'm okay on slutty, but not for 9-year-olds."

This begs the question: Isn't it about time for another sweeps week? Your fans need pictorial examples.

Apparently, they take their fences much too seriously in OK.

When you see a link to a story titled:

Naked man arrested for concealed weapon

Don't click on it unless you really need to know. Ick.

Update: This must be the season for naked criminals (and waffles, too!):

Nude couple's feud ends at Waffle House

If you heard of a company:

- A large U.S. company.
- A company whose suppliers were almost all overseas.
- A company whose profit has increased at high levels for years.
- A company who, upon learning that of of it's third world supplier nations was attempting to increase wages for its impoverished workers, actively worked to block them in order to keep costs low.

What would you think? If you're on the left, you're might be thinking I'm talking about Wal-Mart. But you'd be wrong:

Starbucks, the giant US coffee chain, has used its muscle to block an attempt by Ethiopia's farmers to copyright their most famous coffee bean types, denying them potential earnings of up to £47m a year, said Oxfam.

The development agency said the Ethiopian government last year filed copyright applications to trademark its most famous coffee names - Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe. Securing the rights to these names would enable the impoverished African country to control their use in the market and allow farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price.

The move would have increased its annual export earnings from coffee by 25%.

But Oxfam said Starbucks, which enjoyed a 22% rise in annual global turnover to £7.8bn in the year to October, has acted to block Ethiopia's application to the US patent and trademark office.

Starbucks claims they pay an average of $1.28 / lb for coffee worldwide, but in Ethiopia, it's as low as 60 cents. No wonder they feature an Ethiopian blend on the Starbucks website.

Hmmm. I wonder if a price increase would affect its sustainability?

Considering their target demographic here in the US, you'd think Starbucks would be more sensitive. On the other hand, considering where the money goes, do ya think the left will even notice? Next time you enter a Starbucks, if you happen to pass a couple of forty-something women with unshaved legs and "Impeach Bush" bumper stickers on the lids of their laptops discussing the evils of Wal-Mart, smile and nod as you pass.

Most mothers don't get enough sleep

They needed a study for this? The lovely TB is eight years ahead of science on this one. They also discovered tired moms are less happy - who knew?

A convicted female drug dealer in Viet Nam gets pregnant while on death row, and police are befuddled:

The report said it was the first time that a death-row prisoner had become pregnant in Vietnam and that police were investigating how it had happened.

Someone should send 'em here. I'm sure they're old enough to let them in on the secret...

BA coddles Muslims and Sikhs but punishes Christians:

LONDON - A British Airways employee was suspended from work for refusing to remove a necklace bearing a Christian cross, a British newspaper reported Saturday.

Nadia Eweida, a check-in worker at Heathrow Airport, told the Daily Mail she was suing the airline for religious discrimination after being sent home for breaching BA's dress code.

"British Airways permits Muslims to wear a headscarf, Sikhs to wear a turban and other faiths religious apparel. Only Christians are forbidden to express their faith," Eweida was quoted as saying.

I hope she wins. Of course, BA could solve the problem by banning all religious wear, but won't. Anyone care to guess why?

In an earlier post, did I say weird? It's much worse than that. These are from a fashion show in Ukraine:

Leaving the plastic caps on was kinda wimpy, if you ask me. Lacks conviction.

Incidentally, I don't think those are balloons on her head. Her expression doesn't seem very festive for someone sporting a hairdo with a reservior tip, does it?

I like hot foods, but this is beyond my tolerance level:

DALLAS - A 62-year-old retired accountant from Nevada swallowed 247 peppers in eight minutes to win the Jalapeno Eating World Championship at the State Fair of Texas.

Richard LeFevre won $2,000 for prevailing in Sunday's contest, which was sponsored by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

At least AP asked a medical professional to weigh in on the wisdom of this behaviour:

Dr. Daniel DeMarco, a gastroenterologist and director of endoscopy at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, said the amount of jalapenos consumed in an eating contest is more harmful than the burn.

"It's really pretty stupid," DeMarco said. "Like any sort of abuse of your body, it doesn't make any sense."

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that the current crop of top fashion designers are just plain wierd?

Keep in mind that these are from the creator's "ready to wear" collection. ick.

Added (10/07/06 6:00PM) : I hope they paid this model in cash. She could use a hot meal soonest. It breaks my heart to see young people go hungry:

Update (10/10/06 4:43AM): Allahpundit on the emaciated waif shown above: Scary. And he has a bonus pic that isn't scary at all.

It seems that the Dixie Chicks have lost the hearts and minds of those “in” Dixie. They don’t appear to be doing well in their home state of Texas or the heartland of the country. They also seem to be able to find everything to blame except for themselves for the constant changing of their concerts and lack of ticket interest, sales and air time.

They should change their name to just “Chicks” or go for the name “Foot-n-Mouth” band because it looks like they lost a good portion of their fans or the fans aren’t ready to make nice either. In other words, the fans are putting new meaning to flipping someone the bird.

TB found this while surfing yesterday evening:

‘Dateline’ hidden cameras investigate cleanliness of America’s top 10 fast food chains

Fast food: It’s served fast and you eat it fast, maybe too fast to notice the restaurant is a little dirty. The fact is that no one has ever done a national survey looking at the cleanliness of fast food chains — until now. Recently, we took our Dateline cameras undercover for the first-ever investigation of whether America’s top 10 fast food chains are clean and safe. How did your favorite restaurant do?

This is one of the few areas that I think require more regulation and oversight. More frequent unannounced inspections combined with genuinely painful sanctions for frequent violators would help.

I was also shocked to learn that not all states require food handler's training and licensure. While I have no data (I'm still looking), I suspect that states that do have fewer problems.

$55.5 million on Friday. Wow.

Of course, we're going to go see it as well - but we'll wait until we don't have to wait in long lines to get in. We liked the first Pirates of the Caribbean so much we bought the DVD.

OK, I don't hunt. But I have nothing against it, either. I just wish hunters in general were more honest about why they do it. It does seem to me that this was a creepy and unsporting idea:

The idea was this: Hunters sign up on the web site and pay some $1,500 or more. They schedule a session, then log on at their appointed time to watch a feeding station on the computer screen. The animal that was ordered—from wild hogs to antelope—is in the area, and when it approaches the food, the hunter moves on-screen crosshairs into place. A click of the mouse fires a rifle to kill the animal.

The armchair hunter's trophy animal would then be mounted and shipped for display.

And I don't buy the notion that this was all for the handicapped, either. Not at $1500 a pop. On the other hand, this is going to curb some fashion trends:

"Responsible hunters know there's no sport in shooting an animal remotely while lying in bed and wearing camouflage pajamas," Markarian said in a statement today.

I guess there's no longer a reason to make your bedroom look like a hunter's blind anymore. It's just as well - too easy to lose the baby in all that camouflage.

From Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cable operator Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq:CMCSA - news) said on Monday it fired an employee who was caught on camera sleeping on a customer's couch after the video clip was shared all over the Web.

The homeowner videotaped the technician, put it to music and shared it with the world on YouTube.

Man, that's cold.

Ick.

In Vancouver, Washington, it's no longer a good idea to cruise for WiFi hotspots:

Wireless Freeloader Charged Because He Never Bought Coffee

A Vancouver, Wash. coffee shop tired of seeing a 20-year-old man mooch off their free wireless Internet access called the police, who charged him with "theft of services."

Brewed Awakenings employees dialed 911 after Alexander Eric Smith of Battle Ground, Wash. piggybacked off the shop's wireless Internet service for more than three months.

"He doesn't buy anything," Emily Pranger, the shop's manager, told KATU, a Portland, Ore. television station. "It's not right for him to come and use it."

Smith allegedly parked his truck in the parking lot to use Brewed Awakenings' wireless access.

County deputies charged Smith with theft of services after returning to the parking lot after they told him to stop. The crime, which covers such crimes as bypassing a utility meter, stealing cable, and leaving a restaurant without paying, has been used in the past to prosecute hackers who have accessed a computer or network without paying for it. "It's something that is borderline creepy," Pranger said to KATU.

The Clark County sheriff's office and its prosecutors are reviewing the case, the television station's Web site noted.

This was bound to happen sooner or later. Businesses offer wireless internet to attrack customers - it's not a gift.

However, it will be interesting to see if the creative charges hold. After all, the fellow was not taking up table space. In the end, it may have more to do with who owns the parking lot, and was it considered public.

Of course, ethically, the guy was dead wrong. He surely knows (or at least correctly assumed) that the coffee shop didn't welcome non-paying customers hooking up to their wireless, else he would have gone inside and sat at a table...

Anchoress finds an offbeat Folger's commercial, says it's growing on her. Ann Althouse gives it a thumbs up.

I don't know - maybe a little too cheerful for me. I do agree it's clever, though. I just wish they had hired Tim Burton to do it...

And I may or may not post much today depending on what TB and the kids have planned for me. All I know so far is that they created homemade Father's day cards, thanks to the fact that 4 year-olds have no sense of how far voices carry.

I hope all the Dad's out there have a terrific day!

That seems to be the response to 'Not ready to make nice' as the Dixie Chicks are cancelling some tour dates due to poor ticket sales.

Unsurprisingly, the shows cancelled so far include Oklahoma City, Memphis, and Houston.

However, they sold out in Toronto where a second date is being added. Go figure.

Via AP/Yahoo:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Truth proved to be stranger than fiction for a high school criminology class investigating a fake crime scene when the students discovered a real body during a field trip.

Teacher Sue Messenger had been creating mock crime scenes with fake skeletons and other evidence for more than 20 years to give students in her forensics courses a firsthand look at what crime scene investigators do.

On Monday, however, 29 students from St. Thomas Aquinas High School got more of a jolt they expected when they discovered the real body in Fort Lauderdale's Holiday Park.

"The first thing we thought was, 'That's a real good dummy she set up,'" said student Juan Cantor, 15.

"I think they kind of went into shock and disbelief," Messenger said. "What are the odds that we would be out here?"

Police on Tuesday identified the body as David Wayne Bodie, 45, a homeless man who apparently died of natural causes.

I don't think I would have been composed enough to talk to the media when I was that age. Hell, I would have been pretty traumatized.

I'll bet Ms. Messenger checks out her mock crime scenes more carefully in the future.

Via AP/Yahoo:

DENVER - A new study reinforces a tiny rodent's reputation as the mouse that roared, and that could block millions of dollars in development in Wyoming and Colorado if it hangs on to its endangered status.

For the second time, a study has found the Preble's meadow jumping mouse is distinct from other types of mice and deserves federal protection.

The 3-inch-long mouse has been at the center of a huge controversy in the West because its habitat includes prime undeveloped real estate, and protected status would put limits on what the owners could do with their land.

Why does this have to be so hard? The solution is pretty simple, and everyone wins:

Land owners in Wyoming and Colorado - capture a few dozen breeding pairs of the filthy little rodents. Take in enough stray cats to eliminate the rest of the mouse population (that's called natural selection, folks). Ship the breeding pairs out to families in danger of having their homes taken away by eminent domain (google to find out where they are - I can't be bothered with details). Once the mice are gone, you can do what you wish with your own land.

Eminent domain victims - Take good care of the breeding pair - cute little critters, aren't they? Once they have their first litter, release onto your property. Notify animal rights and conservation groups that you have an endangered species on your property, and they'll rush to court, protecting the cute little critters from the evil developers. Once the city has built the stadium or shopping center in another location, you're home free, and you can follow the instructions for land owners above to rid yourselves of the filthy little rodents.

The best part is the conservationists win, too, since you've all helped the species survive.

Next week, I'll outline my solution to the snail darter situation. Cheers!

I occasionally drive over to New Jersey - one of the quaint oddities to be found there is that the state doesn't allow self-service at gas pumps. Since I'm old enough to remember when it was that way in many more places, it brings back a few memories for me. I'm sure younger visitors probably find it just odd.

Evidently the folks in the garden state like it that way:

In New Jersey, motorists who need to fill 'er up haven't pumped their own gas in 57 years. But in the face of soaring gas prices, Gov. Jon Corzine came up with a novel plan last month to try to ease the pain: allow self-service at some stations along the New Jersey Turnpike and see if prices dip. He believed prices could drop 5 to 7 cents a gallon.

Corzine retreated after about 1,400 e-mails and calls poured in from a mostly outraged public. Concern about other state issues paled in comparison. A proposal to raise the sales tax by one cent, for example, received about 200 responses from the public, says Brendan Gilfillan, a spokesman for the governor.

Only in Jersey...

Via AP/Reuters:

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian restaurant was fined 688 euros ($855) for displaying live lobsters on ice to attract patrons, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually affecting to household pets.

A court in the northeastern city of Vicenza ruled the display was a form of abuse dooming the crustaceans to a slow death by suffocation.

"We're appealing," said Giuseppe Scalesia, who runs La Conchiglia D'Oro, or "Golden Shell," restaurant along with his brother Camillo.

"They said that the lobsters, laying on the ice, suffer... They compared them in court to other animals, like cats and dogs."

The case was brought by Gianpaolo Cecchetto, a former environmental activist, who took his two young children to the Vicenza restaurant in May 2002.

"They were shocked by the display," Cecchetto told Reuters, adding he immediately got in touch with the ENPA national animal protection entity. "ENPA took care of the lawyers and legal proceedings."

Italy has some of the world's toughest animal rights laws. The city of Rome in October banned goldfish bowls, seen as cruel, while Turin passed a law last year that would fine dog owners 500 euros unless they walked their canine friends at least three times a day.

Has the whole world gone nuts? These lobsters are intended for food - death followed by consumption by human beings is the desired result. Who the hell cares how they got to the table?

I have a lot more to say about this, but I've gotta run - I have an irresistable urge to go melt some butter...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A three-year investigation into drug use by Rush Limbaugh ended abruptly when the conservative commentator was booked on a single charge of prescription fraud in a deal his attorney says spares him a trial.

The charge will be dropped if Limbaugh continues treatment, attorney Roy Black said Friday.

My guess is that some of the hinge-less crowd will be unhappy that his life wasn't completely destroyed...

A followup to Thursday's post. The woman who was spanked at work was awarded 1.7 million from her former employer, Alarm One.