Consider the plight of aging garments separated into heaps: this one for fixes, this one for donation, this one for auction in Beverly Hills...
The signature dress worn by Judy Garland in the film, The Wizard of Oz, has been auctioned, bringing $480,000. If that raises an eyebrow, consider this: A similar dress, worn only in tests, last year brought almost twice that -- $910,000.
How are your eyebrows now? Still holding up OK? Think they might un-arch and relax by New Year's? The explanation raised for the price difference is that only a couple test dresses were made, while there were at least seven made for use in the film.
Alex Baer: Penny Wise and Million-dollar Foolish
Japan nuclear plant on fault line may be next Fukushima, says geologist
Japan’s only working nuclear power plant sits on what may be a seismic fault in the earth’s crust, a geologist has warned, saying it is “very silly” to allow it to continue operating.
Mitsuhisa Watanabe says the earth’s plates could move under the Oi nuclear plant in western Japan, causing a catastrophe to rival last year’s atomic disaster at Fukushima — although some of his colleagues on a nuclear advisory panel disagree.
Alex Baer: Toilet Traumas & the Republican Flush-O-Ramas
No matter how much we would like it to be so, not every news story in the known world can be about the entire nation bounding off budgetary bluffs and buttes, en masse.
Every once in a while, the news universe requires a massage of more than one or two of the Four Humours. Take the lesser known of these, Potty Humour.
Oh, I know -- but it's been a dreadful week, reeking of stale politics, dank backroom deals, and damp gym shoes from being on the constant run. So, kick back, let your socks air out, and give vent to a short, spleeny foray -- what the hey.
Noam Chomsky: The Soul-Crushing Cruelties Perpetrated by America's Number 1 Ally
Even a single night in jail is enough to give a taste of what it means to be under the total control of some external force.
And it hardly takes more than a day in Gaza to appreciate what it must be like to try to survive in the world’s largest open-air prison, where some 1.5 million people on a roughly 140-square-mile strip of land are subject to random terror and arbitrary punishment, with no purpose other than to humiliate and degrade.
Such cruelty is to ensure that Palestinian hopes for a decent future will be crushed, and that the overwhelming global support for a diplomatic settlement granting basic human rights will be nullified. The Israeli political leadership has dramatically illustrated this commitment in the past few days, warning that they will “go crazy” if Palestinian rights are given even limited recognition by the U.N.
4.3 magnitude earthquake reported in Kentucky
The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting that an earthquake centered in Kentucky also rattled other nearby states.
The USGS website says the epicenter of the 4.3 magnitude earthquake on Saturday afternoon was about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Whitesburg. Residents in nearby Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and Georgia also reported feeling the temblor.
TVNL Comment: Once again, earthquake activity is reported in a region where hydraulic fracfking for natural gas is taking place. The connection between fracking and earthquakes has been established by many studies. But it will take a major disaster for people to wake up.
Federal agents charge 34 white supremacists
Federal agents arrested dozens of members of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood of Texas on Friday and charged them with murder, kidnapping, racketeering and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine.
A 43-page federal indictment unsealed by the Justice Department names 34 members of the violent organized crime group who have been charged, including four of its senior leaders.
Prairie2: A map of Red to hide the Blue
Drudge.com has a map on their web page that shows the US as 99% Red. The typical dim bulb who follows them will assume that somehow this means Acorn stole the election for Obama.
The reality is, of course, that most of the 'Red' counties (small in population) weren't 'red' by all that many votes, depending on the concentration of 'trailer trash'. In fact, the 'Blue' voters don't bother in areas where there isn't any point in voting. Combine that with the tens of millions who don't know what the 'left' is really saying about a 'right' that sees them only as potential dog food. Confronted with the actual 'reality,' their vote would be different.
Alex Baer: Never Look into a Street Sweeper's Ashcan
There is a bizarre irony involved for members of the clean-up crew, tracing the long street and avenue routes after a parade featuring elephants. Oddly enough, crew members find themselves shoveling the same material from the back of the parade route as the GOP politicians were shoveling onto the crowds, up front.
Figuratively, figuratively. At least, one hopes that is the case. So, please bear with us while we keep sweeping up around here, trying to get all this... this... stuff off the streets and off our agendas.
China's economy to overtake US in next four years, says OECD
China will overtake the US in the next four years to become the largest economy in the world, says a leading international thinktank.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said China's economy will be larger than the combined economies of the eurozone countries by the end of this year, and will overtake the US by the end of 2016.
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