Mystery repairman fixes broken W.Va. traffic light

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) — A malfunctioning traffic light that was a constant source of complaints has finally been fixed, but not by the government. A mystery repairman got the light working on Friday, three days before the state Division of Highways workers showed up to repair it.

"Listen, kid, we're all in it together."

Gas Powered Barbie Cars, FTW

A Bigger Backside Can Be Better For Your Health

You've probably heard "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

New research suggests a plump apple bottom might do the same.

FOX 10's Diane Ryan takes a closer look at why a big backside may mean better health.

If that is true, Vida Guerra will probably live for ever.

Confirm the research by watching Vida on Living the Low Life on the Speed Channel.

First time on the course and golfer hits a hole-in-one

Unni Haskell, a 62-year-old native of Norway who moved to St. Petersburg last year from Stamford, Conn., took two months of golf lessons and decided she was ready to hit the course.

She stuck her tee in the ground, teed up a Top Flite range ball and took aim on the 100-yard first hole at Cypress Links, a nine-hole, par-3 course in St. Petersburg. Haskell swung as hard as she could with her purple Wilson ProStaff 12 degree driver. The shot went about 75 yards, avoided the bunker on the left, bounced onto the green and rolled in the hole.

First hole of her life. First swing on a course. Hole-in-one.

I don't play golf but that is kinda cool.

Slain Neo-Nazi Wanted to Build a "Dirty Bomb"

02/25/2009 - A Maine man who was shot and killed by his wife last December had some of the components and instructions to build a dirty bomb, according to a leaked Washington, DC, law enforcement intelligence report.

The report from the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis reports that the FBI found "radiological dispersal device components and literature and radioactive materials" at the Dublin, Maine, home of 29-year-old, James Cummings, who may have had ties to white supremacist groups.

WikiLeaks, a popular Web site that leaks confidential government documents, posted the document online January 19.

Killed by his wife? Presidential pardon?

Two Teachers Accused of Having Sex With Same Student, Utah style

Two junior high school teachers in Utah have been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting the same 13-year old boy, according to a newspaper report.

The inappropriate student-teacher relationships involved Utah studies teacher and cheerleading adviser Linda R. Nef, 46 and Valynne Bowers, 39, a math teacher, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Yes your read that correctly, TWO teachers. This kid's "street cred" just went in to the legendary category.

That's kinda funny in an ironic sort of way, if you think about how Utah is automatically associated with the Morman church.

What do these women think is going to happen when they do this? We have queeried in the past about this being a self esteem issue or now I'm thinking it could be self destructive behavior.

Obama to sign spending bill, push for new rules

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama plans to sign a massive spending bill to keep the federal government running, even though it is stashed with the very kinds of pet projects that the campaigning Obama promised to resist.

Obama could sign the $410 billion spending package as early as Wednesday, although he remains "troubled" by the so-called earmarks in the bill that Republicans and moderate Democrats have assailed as unworthy pork-barrel spending. The president planned to use the signing ceremony to announce earmark reforms.

NPR reported this morning that, "There are thousands of earmarks in the spending package."

So while Obama is signing the bill, and then telling us how he wants to reform the earmarks process, look for the legislators and lobbyists in the back snickering.

The country is bleeding jobs and cash and the fat cats in Washington still think money grows on trees or we can just print more. This is not the time for this type of crap. There has to be a direction and it must be toward recovery. This country must learn to get together on this, especially in dangerous times like today.

Come back this time next year when earmarks are not in the public focus and see if anything ever got done about it.

Message in Lincoln's watch true

WASHINGTON – For nearly 150 years, a story has circulated about a hidden Civil War message engraved inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch. On Tuesday, museum curators confirmed it was true. A watchmaker used tiny tools to carefully pry open the antique watch at the National Museum of American History, and a descendant of the engraver read aloud the message from a metal plate underneath the watch face.

The actual engraving reads "Jonathan Dillon April 13-1861 Fort Sumpter was attacked by the rebels on the above date J Dillon April 13-1861 Washington thank God we have a government Jonth Dillon."

"My gosh, that was Lincoln's watch," he said, "and my ancestor put graffiti on it!"

How freakin' cool is that? Well it's pretty cool if you are a history nerd. Yay nerds.

Less might be more

WASHINGTON – Using heavy layers of armor to keep troops safe from bullets and bombs is making the Marine Corps too slow on a battlefield where speed and mobility are critical, a senior military leader said Tuesday.

With 8,000 Marines about to be sent to Afghanistan to quell rising violence, Lt. Gen. George Flynn cautioned members of Congress against wrapping them in so much protective gear they can't hunt down more agile insurgents who use the country's rugged peaks and valleys to their advantage.

I'm right there with them. Less might be more, but once you've been saved by wearing armor I wonder if you might have a overly cautious attitude.

Thank you for your service.

Mass. governor pondering so-called "Hummer Tax"

The Governor of Massachusetts is backing a new state proposal to tax larger gas-guzzling vehicles each year when drivers register them. The so-called "Hummer Tax" would be the first in the nation, and it is designed to directly discourage ownership of SUVs and pickups. To further chill ownership of larger and more inefficient vehicles and steer buyers towards the small cars, the plan includes provisions to discount fees for owners with lighter and more miserly cars.

Excellent. Why not just charge people who buy Nike and New Balance athletic shoes more money because they will be using them for exercise? That way people can be encouraged to buy flip-flops, because they pollute less.

How the US forgot how to make Trident missiles

PLANS TO refurbish Trident nuclear weapons had to be put on hold because US scientists forgot how to manufacture a component of the warhead, a US congressional investigation has revealed.

The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) "lost knowledge" of how to make a mysterious but very hazardous material codenamed Fogbank. As a result, the warhead refurbishment programme was put back by at least a year, and racked up an extra $69 million.

Awesome. These are the same management problems all large bureaucracies have. I'd like to bash my employer but what would be the point? The idiots that cause these problems don't know how to log in to their computers to read internet news.

Somewhere there is a middle management guy out there saying, "I told them this would happen in that memo I wrote in 1996, when Bob told me he was the last guy in the known universe that knew how to make that stuff. We all had a big laugh and went back to cooking."

Revenge Of The Nerds - Not

Via Steven Levitt there's a new study showing that it pays to be popular in high school.

"They find that each extra close friend in high school is associated with earnings that are 2 percent higher later in life after controlling for other factors. While not a huge effect, it does suggest that either that A) the same factors that make you popular in high school help you in a job setting, or B) that high-school friends can do you favors later in life that will earn you higher wages."

Well that wasn't the case in my high school. While the "quarterback" went on to medical school and success as an anesthesiologist, he was arguably not a popular kid in high school. As for the popular kids in my graduating class, I have to say "the nerds" or the seemingly less popular were more successful.

Now, the study says "each extra close friend in high school is associated with earnings that are 2 percent higher later in life". The commenter of the article implies that NERDS did not have lots of friends. I had LOTS of close friends when I left high school AND I was a nerd, a band nerd to be exact. And I added even more friends when I went on to college. So maybe it was the socially popular nerd that succeeded the most? Who knows.

Pentagon says Chinese vessels harassed U.S. ship

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon said Monday that Chinese ships harassed a U.S. surveillance ship Sunday in the South China Sea in the latest of several instances of "increasingly aggressive conduct" in the past week.

During the incident, five Chinese vessels "shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity to USNS Impeccable, in an apparent coordinated effort to harass the U.S. ocean surveillance ship while it was conducting routine operations in international waters," the Pentagon said in a written statement.

I say we sink one of their ships...just for fun. I think the world should be happy I'm not a dictator or president of a country with a powerful navy.

You talkin' to me? Film quotes stir passion

Sometimes, when you need just the right thing to say, it's good to let the movies do the talking.
Whether it's daring someone to "Show me the money!" before sealing a deal, proclaiming "Houston, we have a problem" when something goes wrong or shouting "I'm the king of the world" on a particularly good day, there's a simple pleasure in using those instantly recognizable nuggets of dialogue.

I used this line just this last Saturday to describe and argument between two of my friends. "What we have here is failure to communicate." - Cool Hand Luke