NYC hands out 10,000 dildos today from hot dog carts -

NYC hands out 10,000 dildos today from hot dog carts - 



Trojan is planning a publicity stunt in NYC today wherein they are handing out 10,000 top of the range dildos from two hot dog carts.
The company plans to give out over half a million dollars in dildos – $540,000 to be precise – in the month of August to strengthen their campaign to bring sex toys into the mainstream. The use of the hot dog carts is an attempt to show that, y’know, things that you stick in your vagina (or up your butt) are totally mainstream. Just wait until you get home to use them.
This being New York City, I can only hope that this becomes a regular thing and that years from now there’s a third generation dildo salesman getting up at the crack of dawn to push his dildo-cart out into the streets. His young boy pulls at his father’s dildo-apron strings. “Papa! Papa! Will you bring back enough money for my operation?” the child will cough and look into his father’s eyes. The mustachioed dildo salesman will look back at his son and well up, before rubbing his son’s head and telling him to run along. Then he will stand in the street, with his cart full of fake penises, and he will bellow “Dildos! Dildos here! Get your dildos!”
One can hope, anyway.

Read more -
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/186835/nyc-hands-out-10000-dildos-today-from-hot-dog-carts/

Emails show Geithner behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 retirees at Delphi because they were not union -

Emails show Geithner behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 retirees at Delphi because they were not union - 



Emails obtained by The Daily Caller show that the U.S. Treasury Department, led by Timothy Geithner, was the driving force behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 salaried retirees at the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company.

The move, made in 2009 while the Obama administration implemented its auto bailout plan, appears to have been made solely because those retirees were not members of labor unions.

The internal government emails contradict sworn testimony, in federal court and before Congress, given by several Obama administration figures. They also indicate that the administration misled lawmakers and the courts about the sequence of events surrounding the termination of those non-union pensions, and that administration figures violated federal law.

Delphi, a General Motors company, is one of the world’s largest automotive parts manufacturers. Twenty thousand of its workers lost nearly their entire pensions when the government bailed out GM. At the same time, Delphi employees who were members of the United Auto Workers union saw their pensions topped off and made whole.

The White House and Treasury Department have consistently maintained that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) independently made the decision to terminate the 20,000 non-union Delphi workers’ pension plan. The PBGC is a federal government agency that handles private-sector pension benefits issues. Its charter calls for independent representation of pension beneficiaries’ interests.

Former Treasury official Matthew Feldman and former White House auto czar Ron Bloom, both key members of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry during the GM bailout, have testified under oath that the PBGC, not the administration, led the effort to terminate the non-union Delphi workers’ pension plan.

“As a result of the Delphi Corporation bankruptcy, for example, Delphi and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation were forced to terminate Delphi’s pension plans, which means there are Delphi retirees who unfortunately will collect less than their full pension benefits,” Feldman testified on July 11, 2012.



Read more - 
http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/07/emails-geithner-treasury-drove-cutoff-of-non-union-delphi-workers-pensions/

Avatar Border Agent Screens Commuters At Arizona Post – a virtual border guard -

Avatar Border Agent Screens Commuters At Arizona Post – a virtual border guard - 



U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a new officer working in Arizona.
He’s hardworking, bilingual, a bit mechanical and not very social with other employees, but he doesn’t complain about long hours or troublesome commuters.
That’s because unlike his flesh-and-bone counterparts this worker is something straight out of a science fiction film. Once given to the realm of films like Blade Runner and the Terminator, this CBP worker is an avatar – a virtual border guard who resides in a kiosk created by researchers at the University of Arizona to help expedite certain border crossings.
Located at the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in Nogales, Arizona, the avatar, who sports a clean-cut look of thick black hair and a striped gray tie, is part of an expansion of the CBP’s Trusted Traveler Program. The idea behind the program is to “provide expedited travel for pre-approved, low-risk travelers through dedicated lanes and kiosks,” the CBP stated.
The Trusted Traveler program was created after the 9/11 attacks, as security ramped up and became longer. To qualify for the program, travelers must undergo a thorough background check against criminal, law enforcement, customs, immigration, agriculture, and terrorist as well as have biometric fingerprint checks and a personal interview with a CBP Officer following their avatar questioning.
As of now, the avatar is monitored by a live and breathing CBP officer who takes cues via an iPad tablet, which they can then use in a follow-up interview. Using speech recognition and voice anomaly-detection software, the avatar will flag any questionable responses for a CBP officer to follow up on, Scientific American reported.

Read more -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/08/06/avatar-border-agent-screens-commuters-at-arizona-post/?test=latestnews

Chemotherapy can backfire, sustain tumour growth, and resistance to further treatment -

Chemotherapy can backfire, sustain tumour growth, and resistance to further treatment - 




Cancer-busting chemotherapy can cause damage to healthy cells which triggers them to secrete a protein that sustains tumour growth and resistance to further treatment, a study said Sunday.
Researchers in the United States made the "completely unexpected" finding while seeking to explain why cancer cells are so resilient inside the human body when they are easy to kill in the lab.
They tested the effects of a type of chemotherapy on tissue collected from men with prostate cancer, and found "evidence of DNA damage" in healthy cells after treatment, the scientists wrote in Nature Medicine.
Chemotherapy works by inhibiting reproduction of fast-dividing cells such as those found in tumours.
The scientists found that healthy cells damaged by chemotherapy secreted more of a protein called WNT16B which boosts cancer cell survival.
"The increase in WNT16B was completely unexpected," study co-author Peter Nelson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle told AFP.
The protein was taken up by tumour cells neighbouring the damaged cells.
"WNT16B, when secreted, would interact with nearby tumour cells and cause them to grow, invade, and importantly, resist subsequent therapy," said Nelson.
In cancer treatment, tumours often respond well initially, followed by rapid regrowth and then resistance to further chemotherapy.
Rates of tumour cell reproduction have been shown to accelerate between treatments.
"Our results indicate that damage responses in benign cells... may directly contribute to enhanced tumour growth kinetics," wrote the team.
The researchers said they confirmed their findings with breast and ovarian cancer tumours.
The result paves the way for research into new, improved treatment, said Nelson.
"For example, an antibody to WNT16B, given with chemotherapy, may improve responses (kill more tumour cells)," he said in an email exchange.
"Alternatively, it may be possible to use smaller, less toxic doses of therapy."


Read more -
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/chemotherapy-backfire-boost-cancer-growth-study-164516832.html

Amtrak’s own employees are likely stealing between $4-$7 million annually -

Amtrak’s own employees are likely stealing between $4-$7 million annually - 




A report by the Government Accountability Office has revealed that taxpayer-funded Amtrak has lost more than $800 million in food and beverage sales over the last ten years, largely due to waste, theft, and a lack of proper oversight.


The New York Times has more information:


The railroad’s food and beverage service has never broken even since it was required by Congress to do so in 1981. The losses were the focus of a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on Thursday that reflected partisan views over how Amtrak should be run. Republican lawmakers suggested that food services should be privatized. Democrats questioned the need for the hearing, saying the railroad was dealing with the losses.
Joseph H. Boardman, president and chief executive of Amtrak, confirmed the losses but said the railroad was taking steps to address the problem.  “We are still looking for ways to improve our cost recovery,” he said.
According to audits by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, and the railroad’s own inspector general, Amtrak loses about $80 million a year selling food. Since 2002, Amtrak’s food service has lost $834 million.
Amtrak said it was increasing the use of credit cards for food sales to cut down on cash thefts by employees, reducing staff, creating a better system to track inventory and to collect revenue. It has also set up a three-person loss-prevention unit.
“It’s an outrageous cost to taxpayers,”  said John L. Mica, a Florida Republican and chairman of the House committee. “There has to be a better way. We can’t keep on paying this subsidy.”  

So how is the subsidized rail line managing to lose more than $800 million dollars in food and beverage sales in just ten years?


According to the report, Amtrak’s own employees are likely stealing between $4-$7 million annually, or $40-$70 million over ten years.


Similarly, while the line sells soft drinks for $2, they actually cost the taxpayer $3.40.  Hamburgers sell for $9.50, but cost the taxpayer a whopping $16.  Therefore, even if Amtrak sold 100% of their inventory, it would still be impossible for them to turn a profit.


One Amtrak employee defended the unsustainable budget, saying: “You may just see us handing out hamburgers, but we do other things.”


Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) held a press conference with a $1 burger from McDonald’s to demonstrate that if the private company can turn a profit with $1 burgers, a taxpayer-funded “Soviet-style” rail line selling $16 burgers should be able to at least break even.


“You may even see me on an Amtrak train with a sign that says, ‘Don’t eat the food, it adds to deficit spending,’” Mica joked.


But he’s serious about cutting taxpayer liabilities with Amtrak.


“They’re violating the law,” he said, “and I may look at some legal recourse to stop them from doing it.”


Read more -
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/outrageous-amtrak-employees-likely-stealing-between-4-and-7-million-dollars-per-year/

FAIL = Justin Bieber - tells world he is Aboriginal ...and as such they all — get free gas in Canada -

FAIL = Justin Bieber - tells world he is Aboriginal ...and as such they all — get free gas in Canada - 






Justin Bieber can hit the high notes and make a gaggle of screaming girls swoon, but the Canadian-born singer seems to know very little about First Nations heritage.


After the 18-year-old pop star told Rolling Stone magazine that Aboriginal peoples — from whom he claims he is descended — get free gas in Canada, a national group has corrected his misconception and offered to help him trace his ancestry.


“Mr. Bieber’s comment that Aboriginal people are entitled to free gas is simply not true,” said Betty Ann Lavallée, national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, in a statement.


“These kinds of remarks are another example of what Aboriginal peoples in Canada struggle with every day. It promotes the misconception that we are somehow getting a free ride. This simply is not the case and we are concerned that many people may believe what he said.”



Bieber, who was born in Stratford, Ont., appears on the cover of the August issue of Rolling Stone. Inside, he claims his Aboriginal heritage means he can fill up his car’s tank for free.


“I’m actually part Indian,” he tells the magazine. “I think Inuit or something. I’m enough percent that in Canada I can get free gas.”


The comment prompted mockery and outrage online over the singer’s ignorance of Aboriginal rights and ways of life in Canada. Some, including First Nations human rights activist Ellen Gabriel, called on Bieber to apologize for what he said.


Read more -
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/03/group-offers-justin-bieber-a-lesson-in-native-history-after-singers-free-gas-remarks/

Bees Delay Flight At Pittsburgh International Airport -

Bees Delay Flight At Pittsburgh International Airport - 


At Pittsburgh International Airport, the buzz is all about bees on a plane.


Wednesday night, a Delta commuter flight loaded with passengers and about to take off for New York, was delayed.


“They were getting ready to fuel and they came around the corner of the plane and right there on the wing is a cluster of honeybees,” Master beekeeper Stephen Repasky of Meadow Sweet Apiaries said. “It was a shocker to a lot of people.”


Swarms of bees are actually nothing new at the airport. Last May, 25,000 to 30,000 landed on the Taxiway-C light.



“At the airport, this would be the fourth swarm that we’ve caught this year out there,” he said.




Repasky scooped them into a box for later release. The Delta bees are now safely in his Dormont backyard.


Swarms form when colonies become too large. The queen leaves with half of the bees to find a new home.


“So it could be a tree 40-feet up, it could be the wing of a jet liner,” Repasky explained.


He suspects that there’s a wild honeybee colony somewhere on airport property. They are a protected species, meaning you can’t kill them. They must be moved.


“Specifically, the airport authority have gone through great lengths to make sure that honeybees receive special attention.”


Hopefully, Hollywood is listening because it sounds like a perfect plot for a “B” movie.



Read more - 
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/08/02/bees-delay-flight-at-pittsburgh-international-airport/

In a quarterly filing with the SEC Facebook said that as many as 83 million of its accounts are fake -

In a quarterly filing with the SEC Facebook said that as many as 83 million of its accounts are fake - 


Facebook's share price dipped below $20 on Thursday after reporting slowing growth and an admission of an alarming number of fake accounts.


In a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the social media company said that as many as 83 million of its accounts are fake.


It also reported that as many as five percent of its active users have duplicate accounts.


Facebook members grew to 955 million this year.


It says 1.5 percent of its accounts are likely spam or accounts set up for other malicious activity.  The fake accounts are concentrated in developing markets, according to the filing.


It also blames people who set up accounts for non-human entities, such as pets.


There are "inherent challenges" in measuring usage," the social network said.


"We are continually seeking to improve our ability to identify duplicate or false accounts and estimate the total number of such accounts, and such estimates may be affected by improvements or changes in our methodology," the filing continued.


The number of real users is important for Facebook as it seeks to sell advertising.






Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19180366/facebook-admits-millions-of-accounts-are-fake

New Jersey man finds Pythons in yard TWICE in 4 days -

New Jersey man finds Pythons in yard TWICE in 4 days - 


Summer vacation has been anything but routine for a New York City social studies teacher who lives in northern New Jersey.
James Geist has spotted pythons twice within days in his West Milford yard.
Geist, 46, was reading on his deck when he thought he saw a branch move on July 23. He soon realized it was a snake.
Police arrived with two snake handlers who told Geist the branch was a 15-foot albino python.
"Dispatch told me to stay away, and I’m not a fan of snakes so I wasn't going to go near the thing," Geist told The Bergen Record.
Geist tells The Record newspaper the snake was huge, thick and docile. Two snake handlers who arrived on scene with police, estimated the snake worth about $8,000, The Record reported.
Four days later, Geist saw another snake. This time it was a 10-foot python.
Animal control believes the tropical snakes were released by someone who had moved from the neighborhood.
"I would rather face a black bear than a python," he told the paper.




Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/02/nj-man-finds-pythons-in-yard-twice-in-4-days/?test=latestnews

The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Staff Warned To Stop Surfing Porn Sites... -

The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Staff Warned To Stop Surfing Porn Sites... - 


The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency warned its employees and contractors last week to stop using their government computers to surf the Internet for pornographic sites, according to the agency’s executive director.
In a one-page memo, Executive Director John James Jr. wrote that in recent months government employees and contractors were detected “engaging in inappropriate use of the MDA network.”
“Specifically, there have been instances of employees and contractors accessing websites, or transmitting messages, containing pornographic or sexually explicit images,” James wrote in the July 27 memo obtained by Bloomberg News.
“These actions are not only unprofessional, they reflect time taken away from designated duties, are in clear violation of federal and DoD and regulations, consume network resources and can compromise the security of the network though the introduction of malware or malicious code,” he wrote.
Individuals identified as violating the rules face referral for “appropriate” disciplinary action, he wrote. They put “their security clearances in jeopardy, and are subject to suspension and removal from federal service or MDA sponsored contracts.”
Agency spokesman Rick Lehner said in an e-mail that the memo was written in response to “a few people downloading material from some websites that were known to have had virus and malware issues.”


Read more -
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-01/missile-defense-staff-warned-to-stop-surfing-porn-sites.html