Volume 13, Number 26, June 29, 2008

(Check out my blog at: http://jpdave.blogspot.com/ and feel free to join the crowds and leave a comment - at least a couple have poured in! Please take a look and see what’s happening; there’s no telling what you might find.)

Greetings, and thanks for joining me for another week. Starting us off are a few news stories you may have missed. First, eat ‘em up! A noteworthy chef once wrote, "If you're going to kill the animal, it seems only polite to use the whole thing." Recently, as if to prove his words right, several restaurants specializing in such "nose-to-tail" cuisine have opened in several cities. The hamburger at New York City's Tasting Room includes cow heart, liver, bone marrow, tongue, flatiron (I looked this up and couldn’t find an appropriate reference – readers?), brisket, shank and clod (ditto my last parenthetical comment). New York's Casa Mono features dishes of lamb's tongue, duck hearts and the red combs on top of the rooster's head. San Francisco's Incanto serves lamb necks, pig trotters and venison kidneys. Said Incanto's executive chef, "It's about viable cuts of meat that we have thrown into the trash can for years. When it comes to food, we (have been) very wasteful." (Not as wasteful as it would be if I found out I had been eating some of that stuff!) [National Post]

Next, no matter what I choose to do, of it goes wrong, it’s someone else’s fault. A few days after professional skier Stoil Popow was killed while kite-surfing in the rough winter waters off of Connecticut's Long Island Sound back in 2004, his widow told a paper that she had "begged" her husband not to go out "because it's January." Nonetheless, in November 2007, she filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court, charging that her husband's tragic demise was actually caused by the town of Stratford, Conn., which was negligent in not posting warning signs along the stretch of beach used by Popow (of "hazardous and unsafe conditions") and for not having lifeguards on duty (in January? A lot of merit to that suit, I do say). [Connecticut Post]

Finally, from Ananova, where do we draw the line? A mum who wanted a cheeky picture of her son as a bouncing baby on his 21st birthday cake was told it was 'pornographic'. Gail Jordan has thought the old photo of David showing his bare bottom was the perfect decoration for the cake. But staff at Asda, who she asked to transfer the print, refused to help unless she agreed to censor the picture, reports the Daily Telegraph. They claimed that the photograph could be pornographic, and insisted on covering his bum with a strategically-placed star. Gail said: "They said it could be anyone's child so it could be deemed pornographic. But I was asking to have it printed on a 21st birthday cake, so surely it was pretty obvious that it was my son. It's ridiculous - I understand they have rules, but there ought to be a place for common sense as well." A spokesman for Asda said: "We have a policy, as do many other retailers, of no nudity, whatever the age of the subject. In this case we offered a number of alternatives including enlarging and cropping the photo, increasing the border size or applying a strategically placed star to save his blushes." Thoughtful of them. Hey, doesn’t a bakery make and sell buns? That in itself is pretty pornographic to me!

Even the best laid plans…. Also from Ananova, a depressed man tried to do away with himself by getting run over by a train in Italy - but lay down on the wrong set of tracks. Martin Rapos, 31, settled onto the rails at Deiva Marina waiting for the express train to Genoa to hit him at more than 100 mph. Instead he watched it tear past him at high speed on another set of tracks beside him. The train driver spotted Slovakian-born Mr Rapos and called police who picked him up and took him to a hospital where he is being treated for depression. A police spokesman said: "He had planned his suicide very carefully and knew exactly when the train was due - he just mixed up the tracks." This Bit is unbelievable – I mean a train that runs on schedule???

Looking for something to celebrate? (1) June 30 is Meteor Day. (2) July 1 is Build a Scarecrow Day. (3) July 2 is Visitation of The Virgin Mary Day. (4) July 3 is Stay Out of the Sun Day and (ooh, a bonus!) Compliment Your Mirror Day. (5) July 5 is Workaholics Day.

Well, power is good especially to do good… isn’t it? From BBC News, the UN Security Council has said it deeply regrets Zimbabwe's decision to go ahead with the presidential poll. It said conditions for a free and fair election did not exist, but stopped short of saying it was illegitimate (ya gotta admire the bal…, uh guts of the UN). President Robert Mugabe is assured of victory after opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted the poll (like he had a legitimate chance). Votes are now being counted (yeah, right). A top African Union diplomat said African leaders could find a credible solution to Zimbabwe's problems. (You know, if “they” want change, it can happen. Unfortunately, the UN may take the Ooh-I’m Trembling-in-my-Boots step of passing a resolution. Oooh, no, anything but that!”)

Yahoo Sports put things in perspective. Here I am worrying about how to pay for health insurance and oil next winter and…. The Gatorade-stained shirt worn by Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers as the team won its first NBA championship in 22 years has been auctioned for $55,000. An anonymous bidder bought the shirt, autographed by Rivers and Celtics star Paul Pierce, and the accompanying Gatorade bucket at a charity auction on sports radio WEEI-AM's Web site. The proceeds will benefit the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. The foundation said the high bid of $35,000 came from an anonymous bidder. Gatorade and a second anonymous donor each pledged $10,000 to bring the total to $55,000. Celtics managing partner and foundation president Steve Pagliuca offered a personal donation of $35,000 to the charity if the winning bidder would share the shirt at certain times for display. No word yet on whether the bidder will accept the offer. (Hey, I gotta idea! Anyone want to buy a food stain short I’ve worn?)

Phoenix’s East Valley Tribune carried an interesting Bit: A 24-year-old woman who was clocked speeding by Loop 101 photo enforcement cameras 22 times in less than two months was arrested and placed in jail (finally). Jennifer Bitton, of Las Vegas, described by authorities as a "habitual speeder," was arrested by Department of Public Safety officers at her parents' home in north Scottsdale and booked into the Scottsdale City Jail on suspicion of two counts of criminal speeding, reckless driving and one count of endangerment, DPS announced Tuesday. Bitton told officers she "didn't know cameras were there." She was pictured 22 times in a 45-day period beginning in mid-May. The fastest speed she was clocked at in her Ford Mustang was 92 mph, according to the agency. If convicted of the criminal speeding, Bitton would face mandatory jail time and have to pay several thousand dollars in fines for all the tickets, according to Bart Graves, spokesman for DPS.

Finally, ya gotta love it! This happened with some radioactive materials a couple of years ago; it’s good to see some things never change. A Japanese customs officer exercising his sniffer dog at Tokyo's Narita airport put a 5 oz. bag of marijuana into an unsuspecting traveler's suitcase after it arrived from Hong Kong. "The dog couldn't find it," a customs spokeswoman admitted. Worse, "the officer also forgot which bag he put it in" and it was delivered to baggage claim. Using a real customer's luggage to train drug dogs is against regulations, the spokeswoman explained, and the officer has been reprimanded. "If by some chance passengers find it in their suitcase, we're asking them to return it," she added. Customs officials valued the missing pot at $9,500. (That’s just under $2,000 an ounce. I don’t know what the going rate is today, but that seems awfully high – no pun intended).(London Times)

Later.