Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Yeetle Box - More Amazing Than A Wall STreet Meltdown

A Chinese man has managed to pull a car while walking on eggs without breaking a single egg.

More than that, he pulled the car 20 metres!

With his ears!

The 38-year-old drew a big crowd while pulling the car in Dehui, Jinli.The onlookers were astonished by the man's performance.

Zhang says he started learning the stunt when he was only 8 years old.

Another amazing thing Zhang can do is pick up a 25 kg bicycle with his mouth while, of course, standing on eggs.
What can you do while standing on eggs?

The YeetleMaster

Yeetle Box - Erectile Dysfunction

Phillip Seaton, 61, and his wife, Deborah Seaton, are seeking unspecified compensation from Dr. John M. Patterson and the medical practice that removed his Mr. Seaton's penis without consent during what was planned as a circumsion.

Mr. Seaton is suing for “loss of service, love and affection.” The Seatons also are seeking unspecified punitive damages from Patterson and the medical practice, Commonwealth Urology.


The Seaton’s attorney, Kevin George, who specializes in penile malpractice, said the doctor’s post-surgical notes show the doctor thought he detected cancer and removed the penis.

“It was not an emergency,” said George. “It didn’t have to happen that way. Clearly, a man's penis can be handled in many ways, but this was extreme.”

The lawsuit filed earlier this month in state court claims Patterson removed Seaton’s penis without consulting either Phillip or Deborah Seaton, or giving them an opportunity to seek a second opinion. Dr. Patterson refutes this, saying, "In addition to detecting cancer, I opined to Mrs. Seaton that the penis size was such that it rendered the penis non-functional."

The couple also sued the anesthesiologist, Dr. Oliver James of Shelbyville, claiming he used a general anesthesia even though Seaton asked that it not be administered. Dr James was unable to respond.

The YeetleMaster

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Yeetle Box - The Debate That Almost Wasn't










John McCain and Barack Obama came to their first debate with clear missions - to knock the hell out of each other, and, in doing so, win the hearts and minds of the American electorate.

McCain's strategy was to paint his rival as naive and inexperienced; Obama's was both to prove McCain wrong on that front and to tag his rival as a participant in eight years of failed Bush administration policies at home and abroad.

With the country facing an unresolved financial crisis as big as any since the Great Depression and the two candidates running in a highly competitive race for the White House, this was obviously a debate with enormously high stakes for both McCain and Obama. By the time it was over, it was evident just how large the differences were between them on many of the biggest national security issues that will await the next president -- and some domestic ones as well.

After the tumult of the week in Washington and on Wall Street, it was questionable whether any event could compete in terms of drama, excitement and possibly significance. McCain's high-risk gamble of suspending most campaign activity and returning to Washington to inject himself into negotiations over an economic rescue package threatened either to delay the debate or at a minimum overshadow it.

But, at 9:00 pm EST, the debate was on!

Here are the highlights.

Assault

The debate began with the Assault - McCain stood on a platform and fired a gun that shot tennis balls at Obama. Obama demonstrated great agility as he dodged McCain's tennis balls and hid behind strategically placed barriers. While Obama missed several attempts to send McCain flying into the air, he did manage to reach the end of the course, proving himself adept at dodging balls and frustrating McCain.

Decision - Obama

Atlasphere

In the Atlasphere round McCain and Obama eachg entered a giant metal caged ball, then moved the spheres by pushing on the inside of the ball and running like a hamster in a cage. Their goal was to maneuver their sphere into a scoring pod. McCain's arm, stiff and not as limber as Obama's left little doubt that Obama was the more agile of the two in this debate sequence.

Decision - Obama

Breakthrough & Conquer

Breakthrough & Conquer proved just how manly they were. Obama started on a 15-yard field and ran from one side to the other, attempting to outmaneuver McCain. Obama slipped, and McCain wrestled the Illinois Senator to the ground.


Decision - McCain

Joust

The Joust, considered one of McCain's strongest suits, gave a little medieval flavor to the debate. Each candidate took turns battling the moderator, Tim Lehrer. The candidate and Leherer each have their own pedestal to stand on and a pugil stick used to try and push the Lehrer off their pedestal. McCain showed hitherto unknown balance as he battled well with Lehrer, but, at the last second, taking his eye off of Lehrer and snearing at Obama, McCain was sent into the deep waters below where Sarah Palin paddled up in a canoe and dragged him to safety.

Obama, on the other hand, balanced and blessed with a larger wingspan, pummeled Lehrer, who followed McCain into the waters below.

Decision - Obama

Powerball

In the last segment of the debate, Powerball, each candidate started on opposite sides of the field with only 45 seconds to see how many balls they could put into the scoring cylinders while news analysts tried to stop them from scoring. Controversey reigned as the McCain camp accused analysts of being less aggressive with Obama than with him.

Decision - Tie

We can only hope the remaining debates will be as entertaining as this one!

The YeetleMaster

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Yeetle Box - Wisconsin Tooth Fairy

A Sheboygan County, Wis., man has been sentenced to six years in prison after he was convicted of breaking into a home and stealing from a piggy bank.

Prosecutors said Ryan Mueller, 30, broke into a Wilson, Wis., home and took $20 from the piggy bank of a sleeping 2-year-old girl.

Mueller was linked to the scene of the crime by blood found at the home, investigators said. His prison sentence will be followed by an additional six years for an unrelated robbery, authorities said.

According to Mueller's attorney's, Mueller was wronfully discharged from his job as the Wisconsin Tooth Fairy after it was discovered the girl's tooth was extracted by a dentist, and, therefore, does not fall under the purview of the Tooth Fairy, according to union agreements with State and Federal representatives.

"Such a circumstance is not covered under the contract for the American Federation of State and Federal Mythological Beings (AFSFMB)," noted a union representative. "We are certain the 2-year old girl was aware of this, and was merely trying to save for a Play Station."

The 2-year old girl had no comment.


The YeetleMaster

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Yeetle Box - Bush Takes the Bear By the Horns

Eager to show that he feels people’s pain, President Hoover, I mean, Bush, scuttled a political fundraising trip Thursday to tell the country his administration is working feverishly to calm turmoil in the financial markets - the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression.

And there's no Steinbeck alive to write about it, either.“The American people are concerned about the situation in our financial markets and our economy,” Bush said. "

And I share their concerns. I have money invested as well, you know. I feel your pain. Today, we are all Steinbecks.”

In brief formal remarks outside the Oval Office, Bush sought to show that the administration is moving swiftly and aggressively by taking “extraordinary measures.” Even superhuman measures, such as

  • taking over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

  • rescuing American International Group Inc. from bankruptcy by granting an emergency $85 billion loan that gives the government an 80 percent stake in the company

  • convincing the Securities and Exchange Commission to tighten rules on short selling, the practice of betting that a stock will fall

  • pumping $55 billion in temporary reserves into the markets after coordinated action with the central banks of other nations


“The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets and improve investor confidence,” the president said. "As we continue to take over the financial markets, the government will create a universal financial markets bureacracy at the taxpayers' expense, thereby stengthening and stabilizing investor confidence while destabilizing consumer confidence."


Bush did not specify what those steps might be. White House press secretary Dana Perino said she could not comment on them, either. “That’s something I’m not at liberty to talk about,” she said - which was odd since one would think, in this writer's opinion, that since American taxpayers now own the financial markets, we should know what those steps. Well, at least, for now.

The president plans to meet with Treasury Secretary Henry "Pat" Paulson Thursday and stay in regular touch with other economic advisers. The White House gave no other detail of how Bush is spending the day - just a meet and greet, beer, chips, and talk of the trickle down economics.

What Bush called “serious challenges” facing the markets have placed the White House in crisis mode - a mode the White House has mastered over Bush's two terms.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Yeetle Box - Personal Regret

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday expressed "personal regret" for recent U.S. airstrikes that killed only three Afghan civilians, and pledged more accurate targeting in future - predicting entire villages would be eliminated in the future.

After meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other senior government officials, Gates said at a news conference, "As I told them, I offer all Afghans my sincere condolences and personal regret for the recent loss of innocent life as a result of coalition airstrikes. Past losses are bridge under the water. But, today, we are all Afgans."

Gates said the U.S. military takes extraordinary precautions to avoid civilian casualties. "We even have radar!" But added, "It is clear that we have to work even harder. Re-train our troops. Build better coalitions. We have to retool our radar systems and broaden our range." He told Afghan officials that he would be discussing the issue with American commanders and pilots on Wednesday, then winked at the cameras.

Later, Gates flew to Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, and received a briefing on procedures for using air power. "As I told President Karzai this morning, we are very concerned about this," Gates told reporters after the briefing. "It's a very high priority for us - higher than most priorities and even higher than defeating the Taliban."

On the heels of Sen. John McCain's pledge to form a 9/11 type commission to study what went wrong on Wall Street earlier this week, Gates agreed to an Afghan government proposal to create a permanent joint investigative group to probe any incident involving civilian casualties, rather than assigning investigators to individual cases as they arrive, according to Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. "In this way, we can create efficiencies in processing."

Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of international forces in Afghanistan, said earlier that a shortage of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is forcing commanders to rely more on air combat, which can cause more civilian deaths. The attacks that have angered and embarrassed the U.S.-backed Afghan government.
More embarrassed than angered.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Yeetle Box - Vetting Sarah

Sarah Palin voluntarily told John McCain's campaign about her pregnant teenage daughter and her husband's 2-decade-old DUI arrest during questioning as part of the Republican's vice presidential search. The Alaska governor also greatly detailed the dismissal of the state's public safety commissioner that has touched off a legislative investigation - and McCain still selected her, much to the surprise of everyone other than those within the McCain campaign headquarters.

Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., the lawyer who conducted the background review, said that Palin underwent a "full and complete" background examination before McCain chose her as his running mate - a background which yielded results that would disqualify Ms. Palin for most entry-level positions in most industries within the United States.

Asked whether everything that came up as a possible red flag during the review already has been made public, Culvahouse said: "I think so. Yah, I think so. Correct. You betcha! Yup! Yes, sir! No problems here. Everything's good!"

A campaign-issued timeline said McCain initially met Palin in February, then held ONE phone conversation with her last week before inviting her to Arizona, where he met with her a SECOND time and offered her the job Thursday. That's oneth by phone, twoeth by land!!! (None by sea.)

Then came the campaign's disclosure that Palin's unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was pregnant. McCain had few intelligble comments, but did note that at least the daughter had no intentions of aborting the child - and that went in Palin's favor as his running mate and as a firm right-to-life proponent. Bristol had no comment. The father, Levi Johnston, who was a hockey player at Bristol's high school, told local newspapers that Bristol was "hot."

If that were not enough, the campaign also disclosed that Todd Palin, husband to Sarah Palin, then age 22, was arrested in 1986 in Alaska for driving under the influence of alcohol - just like George W. Bush.
At several points throughout the vetting process, McCain's team warned Palin that the scrutiny into her private life would be intense and that there was nothing she could do to prepare for it - that she would be treated no better nor worse than a terrorist subject.

Culvahouse disclosed details of his examination.

First, a team of some 25 people working under Culvahouse culled information from public sources for Palin and other prospective candidates without their knowledge. For all, news reports, speeches, financial and tax return disclosures, litigation, investigations, ethical charges, marriages and divorces were reviewed. They also ran her name through several search engines such as Google, Ask Jeeves, and Yahoo.

For Palin specifically, the team studied online archives of the state's largest newspapers, including the Anchorage Daily News, but didn't request paper archives for Palin's hometown newspaper. "I made the decision that we could not get it done and maintain secrecy," Culvahouse said. "Besides, if it wasn't online, who would know?"

Among the details McCain's campaign found: Palin had once received a citation for fishing without a license. They laughed heartily.

Palin, like others on the short list, then was sent a personal data questionnaire with 70 "very intrusive" questions, Culvahouse said. Those questions, which she answered all by herself, included:

  • Do you sleep nude or in pajamas?
  • Do you fantasize about older men?
  • Much older men?
  • Vietnam POWs?
She also was asked to submit a number of years of federal and state tax returns, as well as any controversial articles she had written or interviews she had done. The campaign also checked her credit. Then, Culvahouse conducted a nearly three-hour-long interview. Three hours! Holy smokes! That's a long job interview. Almost as long as an interview with a big box retailer!

He said the first thing she volunteered was that her daughter was pregnant, and she also quickly disclosed her husband's DUI arrest. (Phew. Dodged a bullet. I remember when I disclosed in a job interview at a small factory that I once took LSD. They said I was a "bad fit.")

Early on, the public search unearthed details of the investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that Palin ordered the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.

Culvahouse said that he asked follow-up questions during the interview, and "spent a lot of time with her lawyer" on the matter. Follow-up questions, too? Wow!


"We came out of it knowing all that we could know at the time," he said. "Now, that doesn't mean we came out of it knowing everything. Just all we could know at the time! You know, time is an ever-flowing river."

As for the financial records review, Culvahouse said: "It was very clean. We had no issues there. Overall, we have conluded that Ms. Palin is hot!"

Some day someone might disclose that Ms. Palin was nearly recalled as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska for firing the Police Chief and Library Director for not supporting her in her 1996 race for Mayor.

Oops!

Monday, September 01, 2008

Yeetle Box - Large Hadron Collider Rap

Kate McAlpine is a rising star on YouTube for her rap performance — about high-energy particle physics.

Her performance has drawn a half-million views so far on YouTube.

The 23-year-old Michigan State University graduate and science writer raps about the Large Hadron Collider, the groundbreaking particle accelerator that has been built in a 17-mile circular tunnel at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland.

McAlpine raps that when the collider goes into operation on Sept. 10, "the things that it discovers will rock you in the head" - a reference to amazement and awe at what science has accomplished and will accomplish.

The $3.8 billion machine will collide two beams of protons moving at close to the speed of light so scientists can see what particles appear in the resulting debris.

"Rap and physics are culturally miles apart," McAlpine, a science writer at CERN, wrote to the Lansing State Journal in an e-mail last week, "and I find it amusing to try and throw them together."

Others, including physicists, also find it amusing.

"We love the rap, and the science is spot on," said CERN spokesman James Gillies.

McAlpine received permission to film herself and friends dancing in the caverns and tunnels where the experiments will take place.

"I have to confess that I was skeptical when Katie said she wanted to do this, but when I saw her previous science rapping and the lyrics, I was convinced," Gillies said. "I think you'll find pretty close to unanimity among physicists that it's great."

McAlpine honed her physics rapping skills at Michigan State's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, where she was part of a student research program two years ago.




Snoop Dog and Eminem and Dr. Dre were unavailable for comment.

The YeetleMaster