The state of Iowa has decided to tax jack-o-lanterns this year.Do I really need to give you a rant?  I'm tired.  *you can insert your own rant here* Hey, Mr. Taxman!  Why not just go ahead and put a tax on FUN?  Hmph.

For your Halloween entertainment, I give you . . . *drum roll, please*. . . PUMPKINS!Extreme Pumpkins is a website with some rather unusual jack-o-lanterns.   Fantasy Pumpkins is a showcase of some amazing works of pumpkin art.  The

This sounds rather bad!Here is a blurb:University graduates will have to hand over almost half their salaries to the taxman within five years, according to a report which shows the escalating financial burdens facing young people. The “IPOD&r

Heavy farm equipment + a distinctive dance form + precision choreography = today's funny video of the day!  Enjoy!   

Well, hating the Ivies is easy (and, as the article from the Chronicle of Higher Education says, it's fun too).And sometimes...but only sometimes...the Ivies deserve it, I'm sorry to say. Still, I prefer to think of them as battlegroun

"And the nominees are..." Think about these awards as a kind of Taiwanese version of the Oscars. Ang Lee, as usual, is a big name with his new film "Lust Caution," set in 1940s wartime Shanghai and advertised as an "erotic

No, really! I'm not making this up!Take a look:"A GOVERNMENT investigation into a series of unexplained fires in fridges, televisions and mobile phones in an Italian village has concluded that the responsibility lies with 'aliens testing

You all know that I think nationalized health care is a terrible idea in practice.  ON PAPER it looks good, and it all works in theory.In practice, though?News reports like this one will not convince me that a bloated, inefficient government sch

Fabulous! I wonder too if this will drive those crazy "Da Vinci Code" fans and conspiracy theorists into an absolute foaming frenzy as they look for more "clues." 

Here is a photo tour of the recent 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. Gentlemen, start your engines! (Oh, and ladies too. Who says only gentlemen like cool cars?)

Here are the facts:Che Guevara was a murderous thug.Hugo Chavez is a current thug.Chavez erected a monument in honor of Che.Within 2 weeks, vandals destroyed Chavez's Che monument. Mad Minerva giggles.  She does NOT approve of the destructi

A museum of romantic relationships that went horribly wrong? Oh, my! 

Congratulations to the South Africa Springboks for their victory! This post is dedicated to a dear friend of mine with South African roots who first taught me about the Boks a few years ago and brought a lovely green Boks shirt and hat as a souvenir

Yes, gentle reader!Come and take a look into the exotic, exciting, splendidly glittering and glamorously cool life of a young academic on campus during exam-time!What have I been doing all weekend?   Hmmm...Buying groceries (triple-coupons

Have you ever heard of Bobby Jindal? You may not have.Have you ever heard of Barack Obama? Of course you have.Both these politicians are young, of ethnic heritage, intelligent, and have much potential for the future. One is adored a

No, really! I'm not making this up!The Famous Wild Boar Hotel in Cumbria (the Lake District) will now serve squirrel meat Peking duck-style. Errr....Can I just have Peking duck? Apparently the chef says squirrel tastes lik

It's sound advice, I think.Here's how the article starts: "I'm distressed by the tendency of so many Americans to assume that everything that goes on in China and everything about the treatment it gets is exotic and unusual."By

Hilariously funny!Fake headline: "Gore Wins Nobel Prize, High Court Gives It To Bush." Oh, this is such a brilliant shot at the ongoing leftist moaning about the "stolen" election of 2000...and the ever-witty Scott Ott also uses h

Two words only:Sooooooooooooooooooo tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired.*collapses on keyboard*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Or, as my keyboard says, "rkfvhuufkjfhgrkfu78byryufig7trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrf..."

Well, somehow this isn't such a big surprise after my previous post. Look, a company is making a new shopping cart for your next trip to the market. A computer on the cart will tell you the environmental impact of the food items that you b

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!This is a joke, right?  Each of these terms by itself is already a joke.I didn't need another reminder that the "elite transnational culture" is made up of self-absorbed, sanctimonious fools.   

A "samurai diet"? Banzai, gentle reader!

According to a new entertainment survey, Sting is the world's worst lyric-writer.  Really? I will confess to a teeny-tiny itsy-bitsy amount of savage glee and Schadenfreude because -- well -- I'm still mad at Sting for writing a son

This is crazy yet cool.  This is a T-shirt that can look for wireless Internet!  No, really! The link comes courtesy of (who else?) my technophile Sibling.  The Sibling also advises that you should not wear this shirt to the airport, s

Looking for ways to shorten the time you need to finish a PhD ?YES.YES, PLEASE.FASTER, PLEASE.So why does a PhD take sooooooooooooo long to finish?  Well, I'll tell ya!  HORRIBLE QUALIFYING EXAMS.  HORRIBLE COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS.&nbs