Unusual News
Parents Sue School District for Teaching Kids Yoga
The National Center for Law & Policy (NCLP) sued in San Diego Superior Court to suspend the yoga program already instituted in half the district’s schools. They claim it promotes Hinduism and teaches religious doctrine in place of state-required physical education.
Russell Case of Jois Foundation said, “We’re good Christians that just like to do yoga because it helps us to be better people.” read more
Surprise: Studies Show Rich People are more Unethical than Poor People
Overall, 12.4% of drivers cut in front of other vehicles and 34.9% failed to yield to a pedestrian. But rich drivers broke the law at a far greater rate: they cut off other cars 29.6% of the time and failed to yield 46.2% of the time, while lower class drivers did so only 7.7% of the time and not at all, respectively. read more
Study of Tweet Words Ranks Happiest and Unhappiest Cities and States
Hawaii was found to be the happiest state in the country. Next in line were Maine, Nevada, Utah and Vermont. At the other end, Louisiana was ranked at the bottom, just ahead of Mississippi, Maryland, Delaware and Georgia.
Among cities, Napa, California, came in first in terms of bliss, followed by Idaho Falls, Idaho; Longmont, Colorado; San Clemente, California; and Simi Valley, California. read more
Marijuana Users in Arizona can be Prosecuted for DUI even if They are not “Under the Influence”
In 2010, Hrach Shilgevorkyan was stopped for speeding. A blood test revealed the presence of carboxy-THC, an inactive substance that stays in the body for up to four weeks after the smoking of marijuana, but which does not impair normal capabilities.
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Court Gives Wiccans a Chance at Getting Chaplains in Prison
Gary Friedman, a spokesman for the American Correctional Chaplains Association, told the Associated Press, “There are certainly enough Wiccan prisoners to merit their own chaplain."
Wiccan minister Patrick McCollum puts the number at 2,000. Hartmann claimed there are at least as many inmates practicing the Wiccan religion in the Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla as there are practicing Jewish, Muslim and Catholic inmates.
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Academy Awards 2013—Documentary Shorts
Three of this year’s five documentary short nominees have connections with New York. Three of them were produced by HBO and a fourth premiered on HBO. If there is an underlying theme to all five, it is that with all of the negativity in the world, there are still a lot of unheralded heroes out there who are trying to help others just because it’s the right thing to do.
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Academy Awards 2013—Animated Shorts
This year produced a relatively weak bunch of nominees skewed towards animators with big studio experience.
Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare” (USA)
Madge drops off Maggie to spend the day at the Ayn Rand School for Tots. A bit of background for those who are unfamiliar with Ayn Rand: Rand (1905-1982) was an atheist philosopher whose ideas have attracted such supporters as Rep. Paul Ryan, ex-Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. read more
Postal Service to Close Budget Gap by Launching High-Tech Clothing Line for Men
It’s not the first time that the Postal Service has dabbled in the apparel industry. During the 1980s it launched a retail line of T-shirts, neckties and mugs. However, it was forced to abandon the enterprise after Congress received complaints from lobbyists that it was competing with private businesses. read more
Mississippi Finally Officially Ratifies Anti-Slavery Amendment
Dr. Ratjan Batra, who was born in India and became a U.S. citizen in 2008, noticed an asterisk next to the name of Mississippi on USConstitution.net that explained about the oversight. He contacted Ben Sullivan of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, who called the office of Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who then sent a copy of the 1995 resolution to the Federal Register. On February 7, Mississippi ratification was officially recorded. read more
Is There a Market for “Used” Ebooks, Apps and Digital Music?
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Amazon the patent (“Secondary Market For Digital Objects”), giving the company the ability to set up a marketplace for the transfer of used digital objects, whether they are sold, rented, loaned, traded or gifted.
Amazon’s effort has raised the question of how digital products become “used,” which is more easily understood with hardware or physical retail items.
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The Battle over Nipple Exposure in North Carolina
Filed January 31, the bill clarifies the state’s indecent exposure law by redefining “private parts,” to include “the nipple, or any portion of the areola, of the human female breast.” If the exposure is determined to be “for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire,” the woman could be charged with a felony, while non-sexual exposure would be a misdemeanor worth up to 30 days in jail, and “incidental” exposure during breastfeeding would remain exempt. read more
Chubby Checker Sues over Name of Penis Size Guessing App
Ernest Evans (Checker’s real name) says the “Chubby Checker” app was produced made available in 2010 without first getting permission from him to use the name. The downloadable application “enables women to estimate the size of a man’s penis [Chubby] based on his shoe size,” according to the lawsuit. Actually, the Chubby Checker app sold only 84 downloads before it was removed from Palm and Hewlett-Packard listings in September 2012. read more
Obama’s Biggest Fan of His Drone Assassination Policy: Dick Cheney
There isn’t much to like about President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, says Dick Cheney, except for when it comes to killing terrorists with drones.
In an interview with CBS, the former vice president said that Obama’s drone program was the only part of Obama’s overseas strategy that he agrees with. Cheney went so far as to say it was a “good policy.”
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Iowa Republicans Introduce Bill Criminalizing “Murder” of Zygotes
GOP Representative Rob Bacon and eight other Republicans introduced legislation that would amend the definition of a person in murder cases to “an individual human being, without regard to age of development, from the moment of conception, when a zygote is formed, until natural death.”
The term “zygote” refers to a cell that is created when a sperm fertilizes an egg.
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Biggest U.S. Market for Drones May Be…Farmers
“Spraying, watering—there’s a whole market for precision agriculture, and when you put that cost-benefit together, farmers will buy [drones].”
Companies are ready to meet this new demand if it develops. CropCam manufactures lightweight GPS-driven gliders (for $7,000) for farmers to obtain aerial views of crop fields. Others say drones could help farmers identify crop diseases and locate lost livestock.
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FDA Set to Approve First Bionic Eye
The Steve Austin part involves surgically implanting an artificial retina in patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disorder that causes retinal degeneration.
The Star Trek (NG) portion resembles the special glasses that the show’s character, Geordi La Forge, wore to help him see. In the case of the Argus II, advanced lens technology will wirelessly transmit signals to the implant, allowing patients to view the world once again.
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