Cool Video Shows Selfies Teen Took Every Day For Seven Years

One of thousands of selfies this guy took of himself
over more than seven years. It's all now compiled on video.  

Hugo Cornellier of Montreal is either one of the world's biggest narcissists or one of the most patient people with an idea.

Or maybe both.

Every day, from the age of 12 to 20, Cornellier took a selfie. Every. Single Day. For more than seven years. That, by my calculation, is more than 2,500 selfies.

He compiled them all in what is now a viral YouTube hit.

It's fascinating to watch Cornellier turn from a boy to a man.

Watch:

Dad Has Interesting Way Of Watching The Kids

This dad was put in charge of watching the kids
See how he does.  

The camera angle in the video you'll see is perfect, so it's probably just a set up.

But supposedly, it's a camera set up by a mom, so that grandma can see the kids remotely while they're playing.

One day, again, supposedly, dad was watching the kids, and got this peek at how he takes care of them.

I nominate him Dad Of The Year. It's awesome:

How Not To Kill A Spider At A Gas Station

Here's why you don't kill a spider crawling across
your gas cap on your car with a cigarette lighter
while you're pumping gas.  

So a guy pulls up to a gas pump near Detroit, Michigan and starts filling up.

Unfortunately, a spider starts to walk across the car, right across where the gas was pouring into his tank.

Like many people, our hero HATES spiders. Detests them. Is scared of him. The spider Has. To. Die.

So what does this guy do? He whips out his cigarette lighter, and decides to set fire to the spider, Which is on the gas intake on the car. While he is pumping gas, reported Fox 2 News Detroit. 

You'll never guess what happens next.

But you did, didn't you!!!

Luckily, nobody got hurt. Except maybe the spider. Information is sorely lacking on the spider's fate.

But the gas pump was destroyed. And our hero will forever be known as an almost Darwin Award nominee.

Luckily, the gas station attendent was on the ball, and shut off the flow of gasoline as soon as she saw the flames.

The car, believe it or not, suffered just light damage. And the guy came back the next day to finish filling his gas tank. This time, there were no spiders, so things went OK.

Watch for yourself if you really want to watch dumb:

Little Girl Catches Big Fish With Little Barbie Fishing Pole, We All Smile And Cheer

Little Avery is joyous after landing a five pound
bass with her little pink Barbie fishing pole.  

This viral video making the rounds this week is going to be one of those classic videos of all time that people will remember, kinda like Rainbow Guy, Susan Boyle's Britain's Got Talent audition and "Leave Britney Alone!"

Here, a little girl named Avery manages to haul in a big fish with her tiny pink Barbie fishing pole, as her dad offers encouragement.

It's just the sweetest moment and no wonder the video is viral and all the media outlets, including my little micro media patch here, is featuring it.

Heres the video in case you missed it. You'll smile all weekend after watching it. I promise.

This Blog Goes To The Dogs Again

The Fort Worth Dog Train in action  

Being a dog lover, you have to put up with me offering dog news every now and again.

But dog news is almost always fun.

Case in point: A guy named Eugene Bostick, 80, owns a horse barn on a dead end street around Fort Worth, Texas.

People sometimes abandon dogs there, and he kindly takes them in and offers them food and shelter.

Bostick knows dogs need activity and fun, so he likes to take them to a nearby creek. But how to get them there.

Well, all aboard the doggie train! Here's the video from 2013, and then there's one more great doggie video to share after that:



In the other bit, a man named Scott Moore said at first, he kept his new baby away from beagle, named Buddy, because he didn't want either to get hurt.

But finally it was time for the kid and Buddy to have a meeting.

See for yourself, but it looks like this first meeting went well. Awwww!!!!

Oklahoma Teacher Thinks 4-Year Old Is Satan Because He Is Left Handed

The smiling kid in this photo is not Satan. But it's possible
he's a little devil at times like most kids.
But his left-handedness does not make him evil.  

Zayde Sands, 4, just started pre-school a couple months back.

Congratulations Zayde!

Not so fast, actually.

Zayde's mom. Alisha Sands learned from a teacher from the school that her child is possibly satanic.

Why?

He's left handed.

According to television station KFOR in Oklahoma City, Zayde came home the other day and was doing a wriing assignment with his right hand.

Which was odd, since his mom said he was always a lefty.

She asked Zayde what was going on, and the kid told his mom the teacher said the left hand was bad.

So, Alisha Sands did what every parent would do. She contacted the school and asked what was going on.

The teacher responded by sending Alish a note with an article that called left-handedness "unlucky" and "evil" and "sinister", KFOR reported. The article also noted, "for example, the devil is often portrayed as left handed."

By the way, the teacher took the article out of context.  The article in question was by Donna D'Alessandro, Professor of Pediatrics at Universioty of Iowa Children's Hospital.

D'Alessandro was just giving the historical context of left handedness. The good doctor was not saying being left handed was bad. Or good for that matter. She was just saying it happens and it's no big deal. Duh!  .

In any event, Alisha Sands was NOT happy with the teacher, that's for sure. "It breaks my heart for him because someone actually belives that, believes my child is evil because he's left handed, it's crazy," she told KFOR.

The mom said went to the superintendent. No luck there. She says the teacher wasn't even punished for this.

KFOR reached out to the school, but the superintendent wasn't in and the principal isn't talking.

So, Alisha Sands has no choice but to disrupt the kid's early education by pulling him out of that school, away from the teacher who says Zayde is evil, and find another school.

Hopefully one in which the teachers aren't nutcases.

Of course, this left hand is evil business might be why evangelicals in particular seem to hate President Obama.

He's a lefty, too.

So not only is he a Kenyan Muslim, he's the devil incarnate and occupying the White House

EEK!!

Personally, I'm right handed, but maybe I'll train myself to be left handed. In solidarity with Zayde. Maybe I'll even use an obscene gesture with my left hand and aim it at the kid's (former) zany teacher.

Lady Gaga Gets Serious In Her Provocative New Song and Video

A still from the video for Lady Gaga's new
song, "Till It Happens To You."

I've always been a fan of Lady Gaga.

Yeah, people would snicker at me as I enjoyed the weirdness of her early hits with her outlandish outfits, even more outlandish videosand singing that was in part just sound effects.

Remember "Bad Romance"?  And these deep lyrics:

"Rah rah ah ah ah
Ro ma ro ma ma
Gaga oh la la 
Want your bad romance"

Sounds like a baby on acid.

But I loved the song, and all her music. Even in her weirdest stages, she has the goods, the pipes. She really can sing. And she could put on quite a show

Then Lady Gaga did a 180 and formed an unlikely but winning partnership with Tony Bennett. They made beautiful music together, definitely.

Now she's back, with something that is decidedly not beautiful, but is important and excellent and serious. No weirdness here. Just a raw, in your face message.

Lady Gaga's new song is  called "Till It Happens To You."

The song is the theme for the campus rape documentary "The Hunting Ground."

The video is really a PSA about rapes on college campuses. There's even a warning at the beginning of the video to say it's graphic. Some of the images are disturbing, but they do get their point across.

We understand a portion of the proceeds for this song will go to survivors of sexual assault.

Lady Gaga is one of those artists that change and grow and alter themselves at the drop of a hat, it seems. When she does that for good reasons, good causes, you can only admire her more.

Here's the video:

Scottish Bagpiper Does What's Necessary On A Pleasant Afternoon

Bagpiper, in blue shirt, ends the street preacher's ugly
rant and preserves a nice day in Scotland.  

Recently, residents and visitors in St. Andrews, Scotland enjoyed a lovely, sunny early autumn afternoon.

That is until one of those obnoxious "street preachers" invaded the main town square.

He ranted and raved incoherently, something about how gay marriage was ruining the economy. Something that nobody noticed except for our "street preacher."

Scots have their own way of preserving decorum, and so it was on this afternoon. People were disturbed that their gorgeous afternoon was being ruined by this jerk. So, a bagpiper came to the rescue.

Love the cheers from the bystanders. Watch:

Lousy Guy Dumps 8,500 Tons Of Trash In National Forest

Some of the trash Benjamin Yoho dumped
in a Colorado National Forest.  

My least favorite person of the week award goes to Benjamin Yoho, 41, of Telluride, Colorado.

He dumped 8,500 pounds of trash into the Uncompahgre National Forest in Colorado.

For his efforts, he got six months in prison for the crime.

People do drop litter along hiking trails all the time, ignoring the rule that if you take it in, you take it out.

It's unclear why Yoho dumped all this trash in the forest. It took 48 volunteers to haul the trash out of the forest via helicopter last May.

Yes, I get it. Yoho didn't exactly commit the ultimate crime against humanity. There are plenty of people doing much worse things in the world today. Murder, war, corruption, theft, you name it.

But dumping this much trash in a pristine forest seems such an affront to me. There might have been a hoarding disorder going on with him. The judge ordered Yoho to undergo mental health counseling.

But still, they should have made Yoho clean up this mess all by himself. During a heat wave. Without water.

I hope he doesn't trash his jail cell. Loser.

This Woman's Revenge On Cheating Boyfriend Makes ME Hurt

A woman in Australia burned her cheating
boyfriend's penis with a hair straightener.  

A sad reality in life is that sometimes, when one partner cheats on another, things get ugly. And I mean uglier than the fight and breakup you'd expect in such a situation.

So it was in Australia, where a woman caused third degree burns on each side of a man's penis with a hair straightener because she was mad she cheated on him.

Oh, OUCH.

I'm not laughing, really, because this is a serious assault. Doctors said he needs two years of treatment to heal, and even then he will be scarred and his penis won't function properly.

The woman, Bronwyn Joy Parker, only received a suspended jail sentence.

Be forewarned. Do not go to Australia and date this woman. Especially if you're the cheating kind.

Group Called The Surreal McCoys Have An Awesome Zepplin/Johnny Cash Mashup

The Surreal McCoys.  

A group called The Surreal McCoys are described as a cowpunk band, kind of a country/punk combination. I noticed them just lately and am getting intrigued.

They describe their sound as "Johnny Clash"

Their new album, "The Howl And The Growl" drops today, but give a listen to this really cool mashup: It's The Surreal McCoys combining Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" with a Johnny Cash standard.

It's called "Whole Lotta Folsom"

It's so cool. The video isn't actually a video, but plays their song. Listen and enjoy:

Muslim "Clock Kid" Gets Encouragement From Everybody Except His School

Ahmed Mohamed, 14, being arrested at his school
for bringing a homemade clock into the building.
Because anything a Muslim builds is a bomb,
if you want to believe the morons running the school.  

UPDATE:

Well, the school doesn't like him, and his town's police department isn't thrilled with him, either, but Ahmed Mohamed seems to be rocking the rest of the world.

Police dropped the idea of charging Mohamed with bringing a "hoax bomb" to school, when it was onl a clock he made that he wanted to show off.

I guess Irving, Texas police and the community's school district are not afraid of bullying a 14 year old kid because he's Muslim and likes to tinker, but are deathly afraid of bad pubicity, which they got big time.

President Obama doesn't seem too afraid of Mohamed and his clock, inviting him to the White House to show it off. Hilary Clinton Tweeted her support.

Huffington Post reported that Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn carried a clock around Capitol Hill Wednesday in support of Mohamed. Ellison is the first Muslim member of Congress.

And, while Mohamed was being interviewed by MSNBC's Hayes, another guest appeared on the show. It was MIT astrophysicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who told Mohamed that he was exactly the "kind of student we want at places like MIT and Harvard."

By the way, the more news that comes out about how the school and police treated this kid, the worse it gets. The Daily Beast said Mohamed was denied access to his parents while being questioned, which violates Texas law.

School officials, including the principal, tried to coerce Mohamed into signing a statement that would easily have led to terrorism charges had he complied. He ended up writing. "I built a clock. The police think it's a bomb." Smart kid for writing his statement exactly that way.

So, the Irving School District really isn't into encouraging kids to succeed, especially if they're not white, most of the rest of the world is ahead of the game and does encourage bright young kids like Mohamed, who we are sure to need desperately in the future.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

A 14 year old kid in Irving, Texas likes to tinker and build things, and was proud of one little invention. It was a digital clock he made by himself.

For his ambition and effort, the kid was arrested. The leading theory as to why he was arrested is his name: Ahmed Mohamed.

Because as you know, anytime a kid with an Arabic name brings anything to school, especially if it's unusual, it' a bomb.  Because all Arabs and Muslims want to launch terrorist attacks on this great nation, don't you know.

Mohamed said he showed a couple teachers his clock, and later in the day was brought into the principal's office.

There, he said, police officers interrogated him, and said he could not call his father until they finished questioning him.

Says the Dallas Morning News:

"So the 14-year-old missed the student council meeting and took a trip in handcuffs to juvenile detention. His clock now sits in an evidence room. Police say they may yet charge him with making a hoax bomb - though they acknowledge he told everyone who would listen that it's a clock."

That's the incredible part right there: He told everyone his device is a clock. Anyone who looks at it can see it's a clock. But they still might charge him with making a "hoax bomb"

And he's been suspended from school for three days. All because he was proud of learning something. What a way to encourage a kid, huh?

Sorry, but if this were a white kid, this would have completely gone away by now.

Yes, I get it. Schools, and everyone else need to be careful. It wouldnt' have been a problem at all if somebody at the school asked to see Mohamed's clock to make sure it wasn't anything weird. Even get a cop to look at it.

The clock isn't elaborate to begin with. Mohamed threw it together in 20 minutes. It's a circuit board wired to a digital display, all inside a case with a tiger hologram in the front, Dallas Morning News reports. 

But the fact this is dragging on, and it seems the school and police aren't acknowledging they made a mistake, means something more is going than just caution.

The Dallas Morning News says there's more than a whiff of anti-Islamic sentiment in Irving, Texas anyway. Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne fueled rumors in speeches that Muslims are plotting to usurp American laws,

This whole thing has become a cause celebre now.

Mohamed has got a fast rising number of suppoers. The hashtag #StandWithAhmed was a top trending topic on Twitter this morning.

Rallies are planned at the school.

Still, this is yet another example of an American school system that, instead of encouraging a smart kid to do great things, makes sure instead that he is reluctant to achieve.

And you wonder why America is falling behind in achievement and scientific advancement?

Door-To-Door Salespeople Get The Best 'Go Away!' Ever

This door knocker packs a punch.  

Door to door salespeople are not nearly as common as they once were.

But they're still a pain.

Which makes me wish this video from Energy Online, a New Zealand gas and electric company, was real.

In it, salespeople use a door knocker and get the scare of their lives.

I want to buy one of those knockers for my front door.

Watch, with a hat tip to Tastefully Offensive:

Your Day Will Be Horrible If You Didn't Buy All That Stuff In Late Night Infomercials

This woman has a disaster with a toilet plunger
as she incompetently gets through her day
in infomercials. 

I don't stay up late to watch infomercials.

But I love the actors in them and how terribly they struggle until they get the perfect product in the ad. But wait! There's more!!

I love these people because they seem so incompetent at life.

They can't handle the most simple tasks without creating a disaster and a mess. These people are fun to watch, but aren't you glad you don't have to live with them?

Here's a great compilation to show how difficult the entire daily routine is for the people in these ads. I'm SO glad life really isn't this hard.

Here's the video. It's hilarious!!

Least Romantic And Sexy Couple Ever

Kimberly Jackson's mugshot. She thought
it would be a splendid idea to screw
her passed out boyfriend in a public parking lot.  

Yesterday, I attended a beautiful wedding with wonderful people in a gorgeous setting.

It was one of the most romantic, perfect things I've ever seen and I'll have more on that later.

However, I'm groggy this early Sunday morning, so I'm going to start with the least romantic thing I've seen. Thank goodness I wasn't there.

A woman was arrested for having sex with her passed-out boyfriend in the middle of a busy parking lot in Norfolk, Virginia.

While people at the wedding I attended politely sipped a bit of Champagne, and acted with absolute charm, the couple in Virginia.....well, let's say I won't be attending their wedding, if they have one.

So, why were our Norfolk couple having sex in the parking lot, near a day care center and several shops?

"I was in the mood, and that's basically what happened," Kimberly M. Jackson, 36, said of her participation in the parking lot pornography, reports television station WTKR in Norfolk. 

The mood - Surprise! -- was brought on by booze.

Jeff Palmer, the unconscious guy, told WTKR Jackson didn't really do anything wrong, even if he was out cold when the gal did her deed.

"I'm here trying to clear her name and let them know I consented to that, I just didn't finish the job as you could say," Palmer said.

Asked why they would do the nasty in the middle of a public parking lot, Palmer said. "Everyone wants to do something spontaneous. I'm not being disrespectful to you. Have you ever done anything spontaneous?"

Ah romance!

Thank goodness I was at that much more pleasant wedding on Saturday!

Man Does Double The Speed Limit To Go To Court To Battle Speeding Ticket

Police said Seth Tichenor was caught
driving almost double the speed limit
in Vermont on his way to court Add caption

Up here where I live in Vermont, we've had a rash of arrests and citations of people doing more than 100 mph on our Interstate highways, most of which  have a posted speed limit of 65 mph.

When I'm driving along the Interstate, I'm constantly seeing cars whizz by me at breakneck speeds.

One of the latest incidents takes the cake.

Vermont State Police said on September 9. they caught Seth Tichenor, 33, of West Hartford, Connecticut driving at 112 mph in a 65 mph along Interstate 89 in Royalton, Vermont.

He caught the cops' attention because several other motorists called 911 to report him zipping along at 100 mph or more and weaving in and out of traffic.

The kicker is why Tichenor was traveling so fast. Apparently, the Connecticut resident was driving up into Vermont to take care of a prior speeding ticket. He was late for his court date, apparently.

Now, Vermont Police say, he has another court date on October 27 to answer charges of excessive speed and negligent operation.

Let's just hope Tichenor isn't late for his October 27 court appearance

Found This Old Russian "The Voice" Audition And Am Blown Away

Nargiz Zakirova wows 'em on the Russian
version of "The Voice" back in 2013  

While sick and bored a few weeks ago, I idly browsed YouTube videos, and found the gem you'll see below.

I'm one of those silly reality contest show fans. Well, I like some of them. A lot of them are stupid.

I do like "The Voice," especially the auditions, when the judges, all singers and musicians, can't see the performer, but decide whether they like them based only on the singing voice they hear.

The judges sit in chairs with their backs to the performer. If the judges like what they hear, they push a button, their chair swings around 180 degrees, and the judges then see the performer.

The new season of "The Voice" starts on September 21 in the United States, so that's good for me.

Many of these shows, including "The Voice," have franchises in many, many countries.

Including Russia.

A heavily tattooed, badass looking woman named Nargiz Zakirova in 2013 auditioned in The Voice Russia by singing the power ballad rock anthem "Still Loving You" by the Scorpions.

I really like that song, but Zakirova does it MUCH better than even the Scorpions. I hope we get some talent as good as this in the United States version of the show this year.

Watch:

Moving Business Has A Moving Side Project

The real men and women of Meathead Movers
help domestic violence victims escape their abusers.  

I'm really glad I'll never have to hire Meathead Movers.

It's not that I have anything against them, just the opposite. The California moving company founded by former student athletes sounds like a wonderful and reliable outfit.

The reason I'm glad I'll never hire them is one of the things they do is help victims of domestic violence move away from their abusers.

They work directly with Good Shepherd, a local nonprofit that helps abused women and offers them moving services at no cost.

According to LA Weekly:

"We know how hard it is to piack up someone's life and move it to a new location - but it's unimaginable to think about a woman and her children trying to pack up all their belongings and flee before the abuser returns home," said Aaron Steed, President and CEO of Meathead.

So here's a cheer to the real men who help women victimized by guys who are anything but real men.

Chill Dog Lets Bird Collect His Fur For Nest Building

If you look closely, you can see a bird collecting
fur from this dog's butt for nest building. Whatever.  

In this newly published video, a bird needs some material for a new nest. Dog fur is perfect for the job.

So the bird goes to the nearest dog, and just starts collecting. The dog is too chill to even worry about it. It's just a tiny bit of fur anyway, right?

Let's just hope one of those enormous flocks of starlings don't get near this dog. We don't want the pooch to go bald. Watch:

Great Summer End: Calgary Pools Go To The Dogs

Dogs enjoy a frolic in Alberta, Canada swimming pools
on the day after they close to the public in the fall.  

In early September, the public pools in Calgary, Alberta, Canada close for the season, but the closing goes out with a furry grand finale.

Dogs are normally not welcome at public pools. The hair, the risk to swimmers, all that.

But the pools are now closed, and they have to be drained and cleaned for the winter anyway.

So they let the community's dogs take to the water, which gives the dogs a chance to frolic, and raises money for the local animal shelter.

I hope this idea spreads to other municipal pools.

You can see it's a lot of fun, as you can see from this video via the CBC:

Best Football Touchdown Celebration EVER Was Done By A Canadian Jackrabbit

This jackrabbit showed his football skills during a
Canadian Football League game in Calgary over the weekend. 

It's football season in North America!

The National Football League in the U.S. is gearing right up, and the Canadian Football League is pretty much in full swing, too.

So it was over the weekend when the Calgary Stampeders defeated the Edmonton Eskimos 16-7 before a hometown crowd at Calgary's McMahon Stadium.

The highlight of the game, though, was not completed by an Eskimo or a Stampeder.

During a lull in the action a new, fast player entered the field, and seemed to score a touchdown, then celebrated said victory.

Here's the video as proof:

Woman Casually Gets Out Of Car On Busy Highway, Lets Car Roll Away, Crash

A woman casually gets out of a moiving car
and causes a strange vehicle crash in California.  

I confess when I first saw the video you'll watch at the bottom of this post, I thought it was totally fake.

It's not.

It's a dash cam taken by somebody driving along a fairly busy highway near San Bernardino, California.

At first, everything is normal. The music inside the dash cam car is a little odd, but that's OK.

Then the Hyundai directly in front of the car with the camera comes to a screeching halt and camera car comes THIS CLOSE to rear-ending the suddenly stopped car.

A woman casually gets out of the car and starts to walk down the median. The stretch of highway here goes down a hill, so the Hyundai rolls down the highway, crosses the median into oncoming traffic and causes a pretty nasty crash.

The woman who got out of the car, Jasmine Lacey, 22, of San Bernardino, was taken to a hospital for what police said was a "non injury related reason," reports the San Bernardino Sun newspaper. 

Read between the lines. "Non injury" must mean driving under the influence or a mental health problem.

Apparently, Lacey is pretty much almost going to get away with this. The San Bernardino Sun says Lacey was arrested for driving under the influence, but was later released from custody due to insufficient evidence to support a criminal complaint.

Hmmm.

Still, the video demonstrates why I worry so much about the crazies out there on the roads. Judging from what I see, there's lots of them, and their numbers seem to be increasing all the time.

Heres the video:

Surprisingly, I'm On Jan Brewer's Side As She Considers Lawsuit

A couple of the dubious web ads that
were placed using images of former Arizona
Gov. Jan Brewer. She's threatening to sue.  

I can't say I've ever been much of a fan of Jan Brewer.  But now she's threatening to sue an advertiser, and I'm totally rooting for her.

Brewer, you might remember, came under fire  (and was praised in other quarters) when she signed into law that required police to determine people they encountered whether they were in the United States illegally.  

She turned into a lightning rod with that one. But she later did not seek re-election and had largely faded from the spotlight.

Brewer cropped up again as the face on one of those annoying snake oil ads that appear on so many web sites.  Some show doctored "before and after" photos of Brewer after she'd gotten the purported company's wrinkle removing doohickey or whatever.

Brewer is 70 years old, and lives in sunny Arizona, so you don't expect her to look like a 20 year old.

Worse, Brewer never agreed to be the model for the ads. They company or ad agency just swiped the photos from the Internet.

The ad that pictures Brewer said she got the "revenge makeover" after her husband dumped her because she had gotten so "ugly"

"Divorced For Being So 'Old'" reads the ad's headline.

In reality, Brewer and her husband John have been happily married for nearly 50 years now.

Brewer told the Arizona Republic "It's obviously a very distorted and unflattering photo, and it's hurtful and it's wrong....I want whoeer is behind the use of this image to cease and desist and do so immediately, or it will leave me no option but to pursue legal recourse against them."  

I'm not linking to the Arizona Republic ad because of the hoops you have to go through to get to it, and because there's an autoplay, but the paper said RevContent and Content.ad placed the advertisements.

RevContent said it is not the orignator of the ad.

Content.ad said it is investigating the circumstances of the ad's placement, but will stop running it.

We'll see if there is eventually a Brewer lawsuit, but I'm behind her on this one.

It's one of many examples of advertisers using a person's likeness to peddle their (sometimes dubious) products, and it DOES have to stop.

Yes, Web Sites Need To Make Money But Stop With The Horrible Ads Already

Does on-line advertising make you want to do this?  

For another blog post, I was going to link to an article in the Arizona Republic newspaper

But I couldn't justify putting you, my dear readers, through all the hoops to read the article in question.  Let's just say I fail at Guantanamo style torture.

To see the Arizona Republic article, you first had to answer three survey questions about cars.

Then, the article would open up, but you immediately get an obnoxious autoplay ad. Then before you have a chance to finish reading the article, a pop up comes on, urging you on to another piece of work by the Arizona Republic.

Before you say that I'm expecting something for nothing, a free lunch, I think there SHOULD be advertising, or some sort of fee structure to pay to see articles.  See, I'm not a mooch.

The reporters at the Arizona Republic and pretty much every other online publication deserve to be paid a fair wage. The businesses they work for should have the opportunity to make a profit. If I benefit from reading an article some hard working journalist wrote, then I should pay for it.

Really, though. Publications have got to find a better way to make money. I know that's easier said than done, but what most of 'em are doing now ain't working.

Now, if I want to read a certain publication frequently, I could just subscribe. Just like buying magazines at a newsstand. But instead, I would just pay online for X dollars a month or whatever. No problem.

Like most people, though, I want to read a particular online sites only occasionally,  if I see they have a particularly interesting article.

A lot of them ask me to fill out a survey first. Like, are you going to buy a car this year? What kind? My paranoia goes skyward when I see these. Big Data will follow me, pestering me to buy a car. And it will just add to what I'm sure is an already immense marketing dossiere every ad agency has on me. And everybody else.

Everybody also hates auto play. If you want to attract eyeballs, annoying people is not the way to do it. I've asked this question over and over,  and never gotten an answer. The question is: How is it that advertisers think that if they annoy us, we will buy that product? I run to the hills instead.

Speaking of extreme irritation, how about those banner ads that follow you as you scroll through a web page?

With that thought, Surprise!!! Ad blockers are getting more and more popular.

Google, in its Chrome browser,  is starting to block ads that use Adobe's Flash. Apple is going to have software for iPhones and IPads that will let us install apps that block ads from popping up on their Safari browser.

People like me who whine about ads, and there are many of us, have a dirty little secret. We actually like ads. But only good, clever, interesting ads.

So why don't advertisers make more of these?  There certainly are creative people out there who can do this. When an ad appears that grabs me, I sit through it without clickiing on "skip" or just exiting out of the web site.

This seems to be a simple solution - just make compelling ads.

The Kim Davis Anti Gay Bigot Hypocricy Train Rolls On. Sigh.

The mug shot of jailed idiot Kentucky county
clerk has the right wing inflamed, and the rest
of us thinking about how tedious she and her friends are.

I know I've maybe written quite enough of Kim Davis, that idiot county clerk from Kentucky who decided to go to jail rather than issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.

I also know I won't change the minds of the people who inexplicably support her, but really, I'm one of zillions of people who MUST vent about her.

In the grand scheme of things, she's not all that important, but I still always worry when people hijack politics and policy in an attempt to force the nation to embrace their toxic "religion."

There are a lot of villians here besides Davis, that's for sure. It's amazing the creative ways find to justify this bigotry.

Some of this bigotry is just downright hilarious.  Rich Wiles, an End Times nutcase, suggested China and Russia might launch nuclear strikes against the United States in retaliation for jailing Davis and supporting the "Homosexual Gaystapo."

Um, right.

The most common trope I've seen is with the jailing of Davis, the government is rounding up Christians because of their beliefs. "The federal government has started to incarcerate Christians," Todd Starnes of Fox News breathlessly Tweeted.

No, the jailing of one person for failing to uphold the oath of an elected office after failing to follow orders of the court.

I'm being Captain Obvious here, but nobody is being jailed for their religious beliefs. Davis can say whatever she wants. And if we're rounding up Christians for proclaiming their beliefs, then why isn't Davis' fourth husband in jail as he has been very publicly supporting her beliefs.

Because the First Amendment is still solidly in place, that's why.

We'd better hope presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is never elected, as he obviously wants to turn this nation into a theocracy. Here's his Tweet: "Kim Davis in federal custody removes all doubts about the criminalization of Christianuty in this country."

Presidential candidate Ted Cruz basically said the same thing. And on the bright side, Huckabee's planned "Free Kim Davis" rally next week at the jail she's being held at ought to be a hoot

So it's OK for the government to deny services to the public because of the government official's religion?

Of course, the goverment was giving Davis some religious accommodation. She could have stepped aside and let a deputy issue marriage licenses, but she would not let anybody in her office do that.

Says German Lopez at Vox:

"So when people like Huckabee and Cruz come to Davis's defense, they're not standing for religious liberties They're advocating for someone's ability to use her role as a government official to impose her religion on others, including people on her own staff in a way that discriminates against same sex couples. If that doesn't violate the separation of church and state enshrined in the Constitution, I'm not sure what does."

Huckabee and his ilk are just rewriting history. If you don't like the facts, change the "facts" to suit your ideology.

For instance, faux historian and evangelical David Barton said the Founding Fathers "made it real clear that the laws of God are higher than the laws of man."

So that whole separation of church and state thing was just put in there as a joke then?

Some people are comparing Davis to civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

One insightful, sarcastic Tweet I saw written by Kip Manley puts that idea to shame. "Kim Davis is the bus driver, unjustly prevented from being able to force Rosa Parks to sit in the back."

The hypocricy among the Davis crowd is something else. One classic example was cited by the JoeMyGod blog yesterday. A flight attendant who is a recent convert to Islam is suing because her newfound religious fervor makes it a moral issue to serve alcohol to people on planes.

Over at the very conservative site Brietbart, Pam Geller is having none of it, asking why the Muslim would want to be a flight attendant in the first place if it involves serving alcohol. And what about the right of passengers to be served alcohol, which is completely legal in the United States. And the flight attendant is asking for special rights, which is unfair, Geller said.

All possibly valid points, really. So why doesn't it apply to Davis?

As Joe Jervis of JoeMyGod writes:

"Brand new religious fervor? Check. Won't do the job she was hired for? Check. Demand for special exemption? Check. Public denied totally legal service? Check. But hey - this time it's not a godly white Christian woman, therefore very suddenly (and only-this-one-time-plus-for-all-other Muslims) separation of church and state is an actual THING."

All these threats to civil and religious liberties that Davis thinks she is "protecting" is reason to worry, of course. We need to counter their silly arguments even as we know we won't convince people like Davis, Huckabee and the Right Wing Nut Brigade.

Still, we need to laugh, too.

To celebrate our contempt for Davis, here's a nice ditty Sandy and Richard Riccardi wrote and posted about her, called "Shut Up And Do Your Motherfucking Job"

As you can tell by the title, there is some NSFW language in here, but it is FUN!
Watch:

Leave Megan Kelly Alone Even If You Don't Like Megyn Kelly

If Trump supporter want to criticize Megyn Kelly of Fox
News, fine. Just leave Megan Kelly, 24, of Pittsburgh alone  

There's a woman named Megan Kelly who I'm sure you've never heard of. She's 24 years old, and a project manager for a marketing company in Pittsburgh.

Sounds fine, but she ain't famous.

However: This is a public service announcement to all you Donald Trump fans who don't like Megyn Kelly.

Megyn Kelly, the Fox News host, pissed off Trump and his supporters weeks ago when she asked some Trump blunt questions during the Republican debate. Trump is still going after Megyn Kelly over that, and so are his supporters.

Which brings us back to Megan Kelly, the Pittsburgh project manager. She's been getting a TON of nasty emails from Trump supporters. They're apparently confusing Megan with Megyn, says Gawker. 

Stop it!  I don't know what Megan Kelly's opinion of Trump is, but it's surely spiraling downhill now that she's getting all those mistaken nastygrams from the Trump contingent.

Gawker notes that it's hard to understand how the Trump crowd got Pittsburgh Megan Kelly's email address anyway. It's not obvious, so logical guesses probably didn't work. But then again, many of Trump's supporters aren't particularly logical.

Also, Gawker points out the obvious. It's very easy to Google Megyn Kelly the Fox News person, and obtain the correct spelling of her name. It would also be easy through Google to obtain  her email address.

But a hallmark of Trump and many of his supporters is unfocused rage, so why focus their anger on the right person? When any Megan Kelly would do.

Crazy Ants Revolve Around A Ringing iPhone

Who knew? A ringing phone makes ants weird

It kinda drives me crazy when I'm in the middle of something and the phone rings.

That seems to be true for ants, too. Watch the video below of ants milling around an iPhone, and watch what they do when the phone rings. Totally weird!

According to 7News in Australia:

"'It's an unavoidable consequence of their communication systems,' said biologist Simon Robson, a social insect specialist at James Cook University. 'Having the ants together like that, the shape of the phone may have something to do with it and the vibration might get them a bit more excited, but a lot of ants will do it even without the phone.'"

Still, this is pretty cool. Watch:

Fired Law Professor And Jerk Says U.S. ISIS Policy Critics Are Treasonous. Ugh.

William Bradford thinks people who criticize
the War on Terror or military actions
are guilty of treason. So much for the 1st Amendment

West Point law professor William Bradford is now a former West Point law professor.

He was found to have exaggerated his academic achievements.

But that's not what's really infuriating about Bradford.  I don't know bow a scary guy like this got into the position of teaching law to West Point cadets.

Here's the deal: Basically, he's saying anyone who criticizes U.S. policy toward ISIS is treasonous.

According to The Atlantic, academic scholars who disagree with Bradford's views on the terrible terrorist group ought to be arrested because they are somehow aiding and abetting the terrorists.

It's not that the professors Bradford targets like ISIS. They hate those awful people, like most of us do. They just don't completely agree with all of the "war on terror" policies the United States has had in the past decade or so.

Bradford's language as to how these scholars are guilty of treason are straight out the McCarthy Red Scare tactics of the 1950s. The supposed pro-ISIS scholars, who are anything but, are guilty of "professional socialization, pernicious pacifism and cosmopolitanism."

So apparently it's treason for these professors to socialize with each other, call for peace and tend not to be particularly nationalistic.

Bradford calls the academics he opposes the "fifth column." The Atlantic says Bradford actually believes the scholars should be treated as "unlawful enemy combatants" which would theoretically open them, the schools they work at, their homes, and even  journalists who quote them to a military attack.

Well, then. There goes the First Amendment! And let's combat ISIS by becoming as militaristic, fundamentalist and lacking in human rights as they are! That'll teach 'em!

Luckily, Bradford is out of West Point now, and presumably there are more sane law professors teaching our fine young men and women there.

However, as The Atlantic puts it: 

"But it leaves unanswered the question of how he got hired there in the first place, given his checkered past and allegedly exaggerated credentials. And it also fails to explain how a scholar pushing these ideas seems not to have raised red flags any earlier."

Indeed!

Josh Daniels Finally Brings Simon Cowell To His Emotional Limit On X-Factor

On X-Factor Josh Daniels,  left, turned in such
a good audition that he made Simon Cowell cry.  

I usually don't watch the singing talent/reality show X-Factor, but one contestant caused a HUGE stir this week with his audition.

The most telling reaction was a silent one from the show's longtime curmudgeon Simon Cowell.

Josh Daniels, 21 performed the song "Jealous" by Labrinth. He reinterpreted the lyrics to sing about the jealousy he has that his best friend, who died a couple years ago, is happy in heaven and left Josh here on earth.

Daniels' performance was breathtaking, and he more than deserved the vote to move on to the next round.

Simon Cowell, for once, was speechless, and overcome with emotion. His mother recently died, so that was surely a factor.

Any singer like Daniels who can move an audience for any reason deserves success. See for yourself with this clip:

Gorilla And Toddler Have Fun Together

A toddler and a baby gorilla have a fun day with
each other recently at an Ohio zoo.  

This viral video has been on a lot of the news sites, but I can't resist putting it here, too.

It shows a baby gorilla playing hide and seek with a toddler.

The gorilla is on one side of a glass enclosure, the kid is on the other side.  This was at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio.

But they form a nice, quick bond, proving that all kids love playtimes. The video will make you smile.

Watch: