March 21, 2009
Northern California resident David Blancarte was in a near-fatal motorcycle accident over twenty years ago and he has been a paraplegic ever since. Several months ago he was bitten by a poisonous brown recluse spider and rehabilitation was part of his recovery. While undergoing treatment, a nurse noticed Blancarte had a leg spasm. Further tests were conducted and five days later Blancarte is walking for the first time in twenty years.
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March 20, 2009
A Massachuettes company called Terrafugia’s Transition has created a flying car. Using simple unleaded gasoline it can travel up to 500 miles on a single tank of gas. It has wings that fold or unfold in just 30 seconds and it can fit in the average household garage. Flying cars are not a new concept. In 1917, Glenn Curtis tried to combine the Wright Brothers success with the automobile. And while other attempts have been made over the years, this appears to have real possibility.
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March 19, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reported today that three new words were added to the official Scrabble dictionary. The three words are ZA (a slang term for pizza), QI(describing a body’s life force), and ZZZ (indicating snoring). Die-hard Scrabble lovers don’t like these changes because they add monosyllabic words and make the highest point value tiles (Z and Q) more versatile.
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March 18, 2009
Legislators in Utah have passed bill 187 that makes sweeping revisions to the state’s liquor laws. Previously bars were private member clubs in which individuals had to pay for the privilege of membership to be allowed in to buy a cocktail. In restaurants, bartenders could not pass a drink directly to a customer. Instead they had to walk around a glass partition known as a “Zion Curtain” in reference to the state’s religious history as The Land of Zion. Despite these dramatic changes, restaurants will still have to mix drinks behind a wall out of the view of customers and patrons who appear to be under the age of 35 will have their ID’s scanned and the information will remain on file for 7 days.
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March 17, 2009
Over the weekend, details surfaced that insurance giant AIG (American International Group), which accepted $170 billion in bailout funds, will give $165 million in bonuses to the very executives that almost bankrupted the company. President Obama cited AIG’s “recklessness and greed” and vowed that his administration will do what it can to stop payment of these bonuses. AIG has stated that it is contractually obligated to pay these bonuses.
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March 16, 2009
Google announced a new ad-targeting system that tracks the cookies from websites visited and then displays ads that relate to the web surfer’s interests. The company characterizes these ads as being more relevant and useful for the viewer. For information on how to block Google’s tracking system, visit this Yahoo Tech blog.
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March 15, 2009
Victor Sokul, Principal at Exeter High School in New Hampshire, has taken a stance against the way teenagers dance. At the Valentine’s Day dance, Principal Sokul removed nineteen students from the dance because he believed they were grinding, when two dancers rub their bodies together. The March Madness dance has been canceled and Sokul formed a committee to determine the fate of future school dances.
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March 14, 2009
A 50-year-old truck driver was stopped at the entry point to Gallup, New Mexico to inspect his cargo. He said he was transporting fresh produce and cans of spinach. A State Motor Transportation Division officer noticed that most of the cans did not have labels and there was a significant variance between the printed ounces of the can and the actual weight. A can was opened and the officer discovered the “spinach” was actually marijuana.
(Author’s Note: The last line is for all you Popeye fans.)
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March 13, 2009
Bernard Madoff appeared in court today and pled guilty to eleven counts of fraud, perjury, and theft from an employee-benefit fund. The court deemed him a flight risk and Madoff was handcuffed and immediately placed in jail. Sentencing will occur in June, and Madoff could receive up to 150 years in prison.
(Author’s Note: the white whale references Herman Melville’s theme of humans fighting against things that are out of their control. Check out the Moby Dick wiki page for more.)
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March 12, 2009
On last night’s American Idol, a major new change was announced in the rules. Judges can now “save” a contestant that viewers did not support with enough votes. This can only be done once and it must be a unanimous vote of all four judges. On this episode, Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nunez were both on the chopping block and neither was rescued by the judges. (For those who did not watch the shows earlier this season, one polarizing contestant, Tatiana Del Toro, created quite a stir with her hysterics and non-stop chatter. She was a judge favorite, but was not voted into the Top 13.)
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