Libraries fight privatization with really dumb video

Libraries in Camarillo, Santa Clarita and Ventura (California) are being targeted for privitization. I'm not condoning or condemning this, but this is a really dumb video:

Click here to go to their website.

Laid off steel workers burn company executive to death

Norm from Cheers

Layoffs are always difficult and emotional. We've all heard the stories or disgruntled workers coming back to seek vengeance after being fired. In India, it appears, handing out those pink slips is even more dangerous. After learning they were laid off at a steel factory, a mob of fired workers burned a senior executive to death. The mob apparently attacked the exec's Jeep, doused it with gasoline and set it on fire. Police are detaining two people in the case. 

They might just want to think about hiring Norm from Cheers to give the bad news next time.

Charlie Sheen is paid to tweet

This from AdFreak.com:  "As you may have noticed, Charlie Sheen just set a new Guinness World Record for being the fastest person ever to reach 1 million Twitter followers....  But he's not just on Twitter for kicks—or to impress more people with the ramblings of his newly enlightened self. He's on it to make money by endorsing products. As GQ reports, Sheen's handlers reached out to Los Angeles-based digital company ad.ly, which set up his Twitter account. Ad.ly specializes in marketing partnerships with celebs, getting folks like Snoop Dogg and Kim Kardashian (and now Sheen) to recommend products and services in exchange for cash (in Kim's case, supposedly $10,000 per tweet). Sheen confirms to TMZ that it's all about the money. ("I'm unemployed!" he points out.) He has yet to make an overt pitch through the account (unless Tigerblood is his forthcoming soft drink), and it remains to be seen whose products he'll endorse. Presumably he will start by peddling his own fragrance. UPDATE: More details here from Brian Morrissey. "We want to be top of mind if they think about monetizing it," says ad.ly CEO Arnie Gullov-Singh. "He may never think of monetizing it.""

How NASA recovers the rocket boosters from the Shuttle

I have always wondered what happened to those rocket boosters that are expelled by the Space Shuttle (RIP) during takeoff. Here's a series or photos from NASA shwoing ust how they recover them from the ocean.

From NASA "The shuttle’s two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after every launch by Liberty Star and Freedom Star. The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown."

 Credit: Frank Michaux, Ben Smegelsky/NASA

Click here to see more

Sirius XM launching radio station devoted to Charlie Sheen

The feeding frenzy continues. Sirius XM is launching "Tiger Blood Radio" devoted to all things Charlie Sheen. The station will be totally devoted to "breaking news, facts, fallout and career implications of the Charlie Sheen controversy," according a company statement. It will broadcast for 24 hours beginning March 5 at 6 a.m. until March 6 at 6 a.m. 

Sheen declared he had "Tiger Blood" in interviews this week  and it has gone on to become a Twitter trending topic this week.

For the first time I am happy not to have satellite radio!

The new Viagra: Banana spider bite will cause four hour erection

Image via Wikipedia

This is one of those good news/bad news stories. The venom from the Banana Spider, also know as the Wandering Spider, will cause a four hour erection. That's the good news. The bad news is that the condition,called priapism, is actually a painful condition where erections last four hours or more and require medical attention. More bad news: It can also cause loss of muscle control, severe pain, difficulty breathing and death due to oxygen deprivation.

A little more good news, though: Scientists in Brazil have managed to isolate the toxin in the venom that causes priapism and believe it may lead to a new drug for ER (erectile dysfunction for those of you that don't watch TV).

For the moment I would avoid that trip to the banana plantation you might be planning.

Chocolate factory in controlled by iPhone app

This is very cool. This chocolate factory uses an iPhone app to control most of of its manufacturing processes. Willie Wonka would be impressed.  Have a look:

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Man must pay $2,000 every time he smokes a cigar in his home

Image via Wikipedia

This has got to be one of the craziest legal settlements ever.

The New York Post reports that Harry Lysons, 70, of Manhattan has to pay $2,000 every time he lights up a cigar in his home. He must pay his neighbors, Russell and Amanda Poses, $2,000 every time he smokes a cigar in his apartment. If he doesn't pay within 15 days, he will have to pay another $1,500. His neighbours were suing him for $2 million, so this is a bit of a deal, I suppose.

The neighbours claim that the smell from the cigars created "foul and noxious odors ... that the strong [odor] was so pungent that you can't eat dinner." The Poses also alleged that the cigars created  breathing problems and ear infections for their children.

Lysons' attorney Jeffrey Marcus said that his client had no plans to quit smoking cigars. That-a-boy Harry!

Funny Commercial: McDonald's Shamrock Shake 1983

The McDonalds website says, "It all began with a little girl, a football team, and a visionary doctor."

The Shamrock Shake was developed in 1970, according to McDonald's. Delish.com, however, is reporting that Harold Rosen, who owned a McDonald's in Connecticut, claims he invented the popular holiday drink in 1966. Whatever. The drink has raised enough money to buy a four-story house which was the first Ronald McDonald House Charity.

This just gives The Cry Baby a reason to show you this very funny commercial from 1983:



Also see Sexy Japanese McDonald's Commercial

Sexy Japanese McDonald's commercial

It's just not fair. We get stuck with that dumbo clown Ronald McDonald and the Japanese get this!



Also see McDonald's 1983 Shamrock Shake commercial