Advertising Ruse

Aussie and I got an envelope in the mail today with STATEMENT ENCLOSED stamped on it, so Aussie opened it to discover that it was from GEICO, a company we do not do business with. On the top of the letter above the fold was printed: "Please review your summary statement". Aussie being curious as to how we could have a bill from GEICO opened the letter out to read the following:

STATEMENT: At GEICO, we will strive to give you an outstanding
customer service experience. We will support you online and by
phone and help you...

The Statement continued for several lines, then was signed Ted Ward who is of course the Vice President.

Add this ruse to the fact that I hate that lizard with his fakey accent which IS NOT AT ALL Australian, we will never ever buy anything whatsoever from GEICO.

No Pork on the Menu

Because this tigeress was born in captivity and nursed for four months by a pig at a zoo in Thailand, the piglets have thankfully lost their place in her food chain!

More really cute photos here.

British Hotel Bans F-Word

A British hotel, Linthwaite House Hotel in the picturesque Lakes District, is offering football-free breaks for "soccer widows" desperate to escape wall-to-wall coverage of the World Cup. Any guest who overhears a member of staff mentioning the f-word ("football") will be given a free glass of champagne. The sport supplements are being taken out of daily newspapers and, instead of blanket TV coverage of the big games, guests will be offered a string of romantic movies on DVD such as Dirty Dancing and Pretty Woman. According to the hotel manager, the bookings are starting to stream in. The World Cup finals in Germany start on June 9, with the final in Berlin on July 9.

Dutch Pedophilia Political Party

Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party, the Charity, Freedom and Diversity party, to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals.

"A ban just makes children curious," Ad van den Berg, a party founder, told a newspaper. "We want to make pedophilia the subject of discussion. We want to have a voice. Other politicians only talk about us in a negative sense, as if we were criminals."

The Netherlands, which already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution and gay marriage, was shocked by the plan. Eighty-two per cent of the public polled wanted the Government to do something to stop the new party.

The party supports allowing pornography to be broadcast on daytime television, with only violent pornography limited to late evenings. It also said people should be allowed to go naked in public and promotes legalizing all drugs and free train travel for all.

Lost in Translation

British music producer Adam Kidron has come up with the idea of a Spanish-language version of the US national anthem. Here is the English translation of “Nuestro Himno,” the Spanish-language version.

The day is breaking, do you see it? In the light of the dawn?
What we so acclaimed at nightfall?
Its stars, its stripes,
flew yesterday
In the fierce battle
in a sign of victory,
The glow of battle, in step with liberty
At night they said: It’s being defended!

Chorus:
Oh say!
The voice of your starry beauty
is still unfolding
Over the land of the free
The sacred flag?

Its stars, its stripes,
Freedom, we are equal
We are brothers, in our anthem.
In the fierce combat in a sign of victory
The glow of battle, in step with liberty
My people keep fighting
It’s time to break the chains
At night they said: It’s being defended!
Oh say! Your starry beauty is still unfolding.

Compared with the actual version below, the Spanish language version seems to have misplaced the point of the anthem. It did manage to get the "stars and stripes" and an "Oh say" included in the lyrics.

Here's the words to the REAL national anthem of the United States of America, "The Star- Spangled Banner":

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Houston's Loo with a View

From the outside,
one-way glass.
From the inside,
no one can see you
in there, but it looks
like you are sitting in
a clear glass box.


Would you use it?

"No Dope Smoking" Signs For Sale

After these "no dope smoking" signs were installed as street signs in Amsterdam on Feb 1st, so many of them were stolen that the local council has decided to sell them, profits going to charity. Over 400 of the "no joint" signs have been sold for $A145 so far. The council said that about 75% of the requests come from the US, but adds that there is interest from Australia, Singapore, and Germany as well.

Gay Penguins' Rights Defended

Gay rights groups had responded furiously to attempts by a German zoo in Bremerhaven to mate ten of its pengins by introducing females for breeding. The zoo flew in female humboldt penguins to bring the males to mate and produce young as the species is near extinction. But the males are not interested. The gay rights groups accuse the zoo personnel of trying to "turn" male humboldt penguins who have shown strong preference for the company of other males and have formed couples among themselves. In defense of their efforts, the zoo personnel issued this statement: "We will be delighted if the penguins form even one heterosexual couple and manage to produce first an egg and then a little one. But of course, we accept the male couples that have formed and we are not trying to enforce heterosexuality..."

Crikey, Mate!

First, get a pigeon. Then strap to its back a miniature backpack filled with a GPS satellite tracking receiver, air pollution sensors, a basic mobile phone, and a miniature camera. Hook it up to an interactive map on a website. What do you have? A pigeon blogger

Read this.

This Just In, uh Out

When Di Peel read on the internet that there was a woman selling her "breast art", she decided to have a go herself. She now has a budding business opportunity in front of her. She "paints" with her breasts and signs each work of art with a nipple. Resembling abstract flowers her art is selling for $90 a painting. Quite uplifting!

True Tale

Englishman Chris Taylor lived happily in Leeds with his girlfriend and Ziggy, his pet African grey parrot. Since the parrot was a talker and a mimic, Chris didn’t take note when the parrot started calling, “Gary”. But when Ziggy began “I love you Gary” in a voice identical to his girlfriend's, Chris realized that the parrot was trying to tell him something. Then the parrot added to his repertoire saying “Hello Gary” every time Chris’s girlfriend’s mobile phone rang. Ziggy and the girlfriend had never gotten along, so Chris put it all together and confronted his girlfriend. She admitted that she was seeing Gary and had even had Gary in the flat for secret liaisons. Feathers flew! Now the girlfriend has moved out, and Ziggy as well. It seems Chris couldn’t stand constantly hearing “I love you Gary” in his girlfriend’s voice. Source

Southern California Storm Damage

With all the news on TV lately about the subzero weather in Minnesota and snow that the east coast and upstate NY areas are experiencing, we shouldn't forget that Southern California has its share of devastating weather conditions. The attached photo illustrates the damage caused to a home from a west coast storm that passed through the Southern California area yesterday. It really makes you cherish what you have and reminds us not to take life for granted!

Warning: The attached picture is quite graphic and may not be suitable for sensitive viewers. Click here

Crikey, Mate #3

Evolution of Dogs: Modern science tells us that the DNA makeup of wolves and dogs is almost entirely identical. That poodle sitting in your lap is the product of 14,000 years of natural selection and artificial selection. Some scientists think the natural selection involved wolf pups that were better at begging food from humans. Others argue that the rise of the human refuse dump helped wolves domesticate themselves as they stayed within proximity of humans to feast at their food wastes. Either way, it seems all that was selected for was that one trait - to ability to eat in proximity to people.

Lipstick Personality Test

OK, girls...Get out your lipstick, twist up the tip and look at the shape. Then go here to determine if the personality assigned to your shape really does fit who you are.

For you guys...Notice the shape of the lipstick tip of a woman you are interested in, then go here for a sneak peak at her personality.

I'm a "sharp angled tip", #3. According to friends and family, the match is perfect for my personality.

How did it work for you?