Video: Jesse Jackson Jr. blames iPad for killing jobs

Jesse Jackson Jr., the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 2nd congressional district and admitted iPad owner, made a bizarre presentation to the House of Representitives. Jackson claimed the iPad was “probably responsible for eliminating thousands of American jobs.” Not only that, but he continued on to link it to the bankrupcy of Border's Books and the future demise of the textbook industry. Huhhh???

"A few short weeks ago I came to the House floor after having purchased an iPad and said that I happened to believe, Mr. Speaker, that at some point in time this new device, which is now probably responsible for eliminating thousands of American jobs. Now Borders is closing stores because, why do you need to go to Borders anymore? Why do you need to go to Barnes & Noble? Buy an iPad and download your newspaper, download your book, download your magazine."

Let's put this in perspective. The printed paper products, whether books, newspapers or magazines are basically on a slow road to extinction, but just how fast is anyone's guess. Is this a bad thing? All technological changes create job displacement. Modernization in factory production cost many, many jobs, yet are there any among us that would like to go back to the good old pre-technology days and live without modern technology, such as electricity, medicine, clean water and safe food? I suppose there are a few out there, and certainly the Taliban would cast a vote in that direction, but most of us enjoy the longer lifespans and relative comfort that modern technology has brought us.

Interactive graphic of the civil war battles and deaths

Attention civil war buffs. Have look at this interactive map by the Washington Post and watch as the civil war grows as do the casualties. The war resulted in the deaths of 620,000 soldiers and an undetermined number of civilians. Many believe the war was caused by opposing beliefs regarding slavery, but the truth is that economic and state's rights issues topped the list. Click on the graphic to go to the interactive version.

Related articles

• Was It Really All About Slavery? (whatthefluffy.wordpress.com)
• Painful history (bbc.co.uk)
• In southwest Va., as more need help, aid organization has less to give - The Washington Post (policyabcs.wordpress.com)

Video: GE creates its own sun; hopefully will not bill us for the sunshine

General Electric's motto used to be "We bring good things to life" and what better thing is there than sunshine. In the remarkable video, captured by 24 cameras, GE scientists actually do re-create a miniature version of the sun.  Now just wait until they figure out a way to bill us for the sunshine. From GE:

"The sun. It gives us heat, light, food and the air we breathe. But have you ever thought about just how powerful it really is or the potential scale of what it can do for us? GE is turning the world's oldest energy resource into its newest one through their latest solar panel innovation. Watch and find out how much energy the sun can produce and what it means for our future."

Infographic: The secret of Donald Trump's hair

Image via Wikipedia

Have you been wondering how millionaire, reality TV star and possible Republican candidate (I'll believe that when it happens) Donald Trump achieves that snappy looking hair-doo?

Vanity Fair writer Bruce Handy has this to say about Trump's hair:  "My baldly-stated thesis: this could be evidence of a rarely-sighted, possibly unprecedented “double comb-over.” It looks as if a length of hair growing from the part on the left side of Trump’s pate has been combed left-to-right over the crown of his head, while a second length of hair, growing from the back of his head, has been combed back-to-front over the first length of hair. Salon-strength hair products likely play a role in the final construction of this lattice-like structure—which could also explain the “ship’s prow” look one sometimes sees in side views of Trump."

Time online has created this fun inforgraphic to show you just how it's done. 

Click on the graphic to go to the Time site.

Vegan magazine found to be passing off photos of meat as vegan

Image via Wikipedia

No passign this one off as vegan!

VegNews, the the U.S.'s leading vegan magazine, has found itself in a wee bit of a meaty controversy. It appears they have been passing off images of meat dishes, purchased from stock photo agencies, such as iStockphoto, as vegan dishes, in some cases even cropping out the bones showing in the photos. The charges come from blogger quarrygirl.com, who said, "The pictures we've been drooling over for years are actually of MEAT!" To support her claim she posted images directly from the photo agency, which described the photos as meat dishes and compared them to recipes shown VegNews, which describe the same images as showing a vegan dish. "Get your barf bags ready!" quarrygirl.com wrote.

The magazine admitted in a letter to readers, "Yes, from time to time, after exhausting all options, we have resorted to using stock photography that may or may not be vegan. In an ideal world we would use custom-shot photography for every spread, but it is simply not financially feasible for VegNews at this time. In those rare times that we use an image that isn’t vegan, our entire (vegan) staff weighs in on whether or not it’s appropriate. It is industry standard to use stock photography in magazines—and, sadly, there are very few specifically vegan images offered by stock companies. In addition, it’s exceedingly challenging to find non-stock imagery that meets the standard necessary for publication. We would love nothing more than to use only vegan photography shot by vegan photographers, and we hope to be there soon."

They certainly are not the first or last to get burned using stock imagery. Just this week, the U.S. Postal Service found itself in the middle of a controversy, when a keen-eyed citizen noticed their new stamp , showing a closeup of the Statue of Liberty, was actually a closeup of the fiberglass and Styrofoam replica at a gambling casino in Las Vegas. The image was sourced from a stock photo agency.

Last two speakers of dying language refuse to speak to each other

Image by Eyesplash viaFlickr

There are just two people in the world who can speak the language Ayapaneco fluently: Manuel Segovia, 75, and Isidro Velazquez, 69. They live 500 metres apart in the village of Ayapa in Mexico, and they refuse to speak to each other. No one is quite sure why they don't converse;  whether it is a deep buried grudge or a matter of simple dislike.


"They don't have a lot in common," said Daniel Suslak, a linguistic anthropologist from Indiana University. Suslak is involved with a project to produce a dictionary of Ayapaneco. Segovia, he says, can be "a little prickly" and Velazquez, who is "more stoic," rarely likes to leave his home, according to the Guardian.

Of the 68 different indigenous languages in Mexico, Ayapaneco is the one in the greatest danger of extinction. It has survived Spanish conquest, wars, revolutions, famines and floods and in now it appears it will face extinction as the last two speakers sit silently within spitting distance of each other.

Read more in the Guardian. 

Man creates fake U.S. Army unit - parades them in LA

Image by The U.S. Army via Flickr

They don't call it "lala land" for nothing. Yupeng Deng, 51, was arrested for creating a fake U.S. army unit and recruiting immigrants to join his bogus squad. He apparently gave his recruits military uniforms and marched them around a Los Angeles suburb. As well, he took them to an aircraft carrier, albeit one the happens to be in a museum in San Diego.


Deng isn't completely crazy. He told his recruits that they would become U.S. citizens if they joined his squad and charged them between $300 and $450 to join his wayward brigade. They were allowed to buy higher ranks with cash. According to prosecutors, the recruits were provided with fake documents and phony military identification cards.


"Called to duty, boots on the ground"

Related articles

• Chinese migrant held in California over 'fake army unit' (independent.co.uk)

Graphic: Retirement and life expectancy worldwide

We spend most of our lives working, with childhood and hopefully retirement, providing the bookends. Just how much retirement can you expect? VisualNews has put together this excellent graphic showing what the expectations are worldwide. Envy the Austrians, pity the Mexicans, who can't see to buy a break these days.

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Scary photo of an Edwardian ventriloquist and his dummy

I've always been freaked out by ventriloquist's dummies. They are bizarre and downright scary. If it were up to me, I would round them all up, along with the clowns, as ship them to Somalia, where they have even scarier things to worry about. The history of this image is unknown, so I'll let it speak for itself.

 See more dummies here.

First ever Gaza Marathon - watch for Hamas snipers

The Gaza strip happens to be almost exactly the length of a marathon – 42 kilometers from north to south. In what has to be one of the craziest ideas I've ever heard, they are actually holding a marathon there on May 5.

“The idea is that it’s a fundraising for the Gaza summer games. We supply these games each summer for up to 250,000 children – we have sporting activities, cultural activities and remedial activities for children there because the situation is so terrible for them in Gaza,“ United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees spokesman Chris Gunness told the Jerusalem Post.

The marathon will pass areas such as “Wadi Gaza,” where large amounts of raw sewage sits in the open air – posing what Gunness calls “a serious health risk“ that “really does stink.” He goes on to say that there are "no other war-related risks".

The Cry Baby is not a marathoner, but I have to think this would be the very, very last marathon on my list if I was. No word on how the Hamas feels about this sport, but they could always lob and missile or two into the mix to pick up the speed.

Related articles

• "Justin Bieber Disputes Reports About Meeting With Israeli Prime Minister" and related posts (wnyc.org)

Video: How Steven Sasson invented the digital camera in 1975

Steven Sasson invented the digital camera in 1975. His invention began as very broad assignment from the Eastman Kodak Company : "Could a camera be built using solid state electronics, solid state imagers, and an electronic sensor that gathers optical information?" The 8-pound, toaster-size prototype captured an image of a lab technician, at a resolution of .01 megapixels, took 23 seconds to record onto digital cassette tape and another 23 seconds to read off a playback unit onto a television.  We can thank these modest beginnings for the modern digital cameras we have today. 

Photographer David Friedman created this mini-documentary about Sasson and his invention.


Inventor Portrait: Steven Sasson from David Friedman on Vimeo.

Video: Justin Bieber hits paparazzi with scooter on Israel trip - barely

Image via Wikipedia

Justin Bieber just can't buy a break on his trip to the Holy Land. The president of Israel is refusing to meet the Biebs after Bieber refused to meet up with some kids who escaped a bus bomb blast. My guess is that the Bieber's handlers were just trying to keep him away from any situation that might be political.

He's been hounded  non-stop by paparazzi, and now he gets a little vengeance (perhaps) when he slightly hits one of the lensmen with his scooter. Fame has its price I suppose. Oh Ward, don't be to hard on the Bieber.

Video: President of Czech Republic Václav Klaus "steals" pen

President of Czech Republic Václav Klaus has been accused of stealing a pen during his official visit in Chile. The President's spokesman Radim Ochvata said it was a gift. "We at the Prague Castle always give such a pen to delegations, along with a notepad," presidential spokesman Radim Ochvat told Reuters. Maybe, but that doesn't quite explain the sneaky hand action involved in pocketing the pen. CNN is reporting that a Facebook page has been created in the Czech Republic dedicated to raising money to by Václav Klaus pens, who evidently finds them in short supply. Watch the video and see for yourself.

Japanese mafia supply earthquake aid in time-honoured tradition

Image via Wikipedia

Inagawa-kai crest

Hours after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, twenty-five trucks filled with diapers, instant noodles, flashlights, drinks, and other goods arrived in the Tohoku region and were distributed to people in need. The people behind this charity were the Inagawa-kai, one of the largest organized crime groups in the country.

The Japanese mafia, known in the country as the "yakuza", have a long history of supplying aid in times of need. After the Kobe earthquake in 1995, the Yamaguchi-gumi crime organization was one of the first groups supplying aid to local people affected by the quake. They seek no credit for their humanitarian actions, and there is an unspoken agreement with police that they will be unmolested during these activities.

There are about 80,000 members in the various yakuza organizations in Japan. They derive their income chiefly protection payoffs, security services, financial fraud, stock manipulations, gambling, blackmail, prostitution, and loan sharking.

Read more on this fascinating crime culture on the Daily Beast, in this great article by Jake Adelstein.

Muppets breaking bad – Jim Henson made violent Muppet commercials before Sesame Street

We all know the Muppets as those lovable creatures, but they had a history before Sesame Street; a violent history. Between 1957 and 1961 Muppet creator Jim Henson produced commercials for Wilkins, a coffee company, featuring  Muppets named Wilkins, looking like a malformed Kermit, and Wontkins, a deformed Telly monster.

In the commercials, Wilkins pitches Wilkins Coffee to Wontkins and then murders him. An interesting combo of Itchy & Scratchy meets Sesame Street.

Very funny video: That "crazy nastyass Honey Badger" doesn't give a ...

Maybe you've seen this, maybe not. It has 4,575,657 views on YouTube, and is the funniest thing the Cry Baby has watched in a long time. Enjoy. "There is no other animal in the kingdom of all animals, as fearless as the crazyass Honey Badger. Nasty as hell, it eats practically whatever it wants. Randall is disgusted."

Safes, cash wash up on shore in Japan after tsunami - earthquake

Credit: U.S. Navy Imagery

In a problem that is certainly unique to Japan, safes and wads of cash are washing up on shore, after the tsunami swept them away in March. Many elderly people in Japan keep their savings in cash at home. The Japanese even have a word for this: : "tansu yokin," or "wardrobe savings." It's estimated that the hoarding has taken  $350 billion yen out of circulation.

In most places, if people found wads of cash they would consider it a gift from heaven. In Japan, people finding the cash and safes are turning the booty over to police, who are trying to find the rightful owners.


"At first we put all the safes in the station," said Noriyoshi Goto, head of the Ofunato Police Department's financial affairs department. "But then there were too many, so we had to move them."

"I spent my career trying to convince them to deposit their money in a bank," said Yasuo Kimura, a former bank employee. "They always thought it was safer to keep it at home."

Related articles

• Safes, Cash Wash Up On Japan Shores After Tsunami (huffingtonpost.com)
• Japanese citizens turning in cash found in tsunami zone (cnn.com)

The hottest chillies in the world

A farm in Australia is growing what appears to be the hottest chillies peppers in the world. Chili potency is measured on the Scoville scale. A jalapeno pepper, contains about 5,000 Scoville heat units – the "Trinidad Scorpion Butch T" clocks in at a whopping 1.46 million units. Make no mistake, this is a vegetable that should be labeled a lethal weapon.

Asked for advice on how to use the chillies, grower Marcel de Wit advised,''Very sparingly.''

Read more here.

Watch the "Trinidad Scorpion Butch T" being consumed:

Tasering animals outlawed in Alaska - still Ok to shoot them I guess

Image by Al_HikesAZ via Flickr

Under the category of "who knew":  The Alaska Board of Game just passed a law making it illegal to Taser wildlife, except in cases of self-defence.

“The department recognized the lack of authority to regulate the use of [Tasers] on wildlife and brought the concern to the Board of Game,” the press release for the Game Board stated. “Restricting the use of [Tasers] will reduce the risk of improper or unethical use on wildlife by the public or other agency personnel who are unfamiliar with the potential effects and hazards.”

“Conceivably someone could Tase a moose or bear, go up and get a picture taken with it, shut the [Taser] off and then release the animal,” biologist Larry Lewis said.

Well, I guess I'll just have to use an old fashioned rifle if I make up to Alaska.

Video: Canadian soldier show how to make coffee under combat conditions in Afghanistan

"Making Coffee101 in the F-ing Field." Canadian soldiers show what to do when there is no Tim Hortons in sight ....