Our Troops Send Holiday Wishes For Peace, Goodwill, And Body Armor

From The Onion News Network (ONN):

Chop Shop

Chop Shop is a 2007 film which was nominated for a couple Independent Spirit Awards. This second feature from director Ramin Bahrani is a tough, eye-opening look at life on society's margins. Twelve-year-old street orphan Alejandro (Alejandro Polanco) lives and works amid the mass of auto shops and junkyards known as the "Iron Triangle" in Queens, New York. When his teenage sister (Isamar Gonzales) arrives, the ambitious boy is inspired to make life better for them both.

The Shanghai Restoration Project

The Shanghai Restoration Project is a contemporary electronic music band formed by Chinese-American producer Dave Liang. The group's first eponymous release, inspired by the Shanghai jazz bands of the 1930s, combines traditional Chinese instruments with modern hip-hop and electronica. The release gained recognition globally, rising to the top 10 in several electronic charts, including Amazon, iTunes, and MSN Music.

Joost App for the iPhone and iPod touch

Joost is an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa). And now – with the Joost App for the iPhone and iPod touch – you have thousands of hours of top TV shows, music videos and music at your fingertips – on the go!

YouTube videos are pulling in serious money

The International Herald Tribune article by Brian Stelter: One year after YouTube, the online video powerhouse, invited members to become "partners" and added advertising to their videos, the most successful users are earning six-figure incomes from the Web site. For some, like Michael Buckley, the self-taught host of a celebrity chatter show, filming funny videos is now a full-time job...

Sport Pilot TV

Sport Pilot TV is a weekly program that puts you in the flying seat of all kinds of aircraft - conventional, sport pilot category, and experimental. See interviews with the best companies and aviators around the country to learn insights about their aircraft, engines and flying techniques. Witness flight planning and execution on trips throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. Along the journey, we will visit some of the best fly-in destination resorts and locations. You will also learn what it takes to become a pilot and to upgrade your license. You can follow along as builders construct and fly their own airplanes from one of the many kits or fast-build programs that are now available. Watch entire episodes on-line at FlyingTV.org.

Mile High Club

The official website of the Mile High Club -- the exclusive club that pilots, flight attendants and daring airline passengers have been whispering about since early flight.

Pearl Harbor in Retrospect

The Atlantic Monthly article by Sherman Miles: "Wherever or whenever Washington may have thought the Japanese cat would probably jump, Hawaii's primary mission was to meet it there if it came. Yet both the Army and Navy commands there acted as if there were no chance of a Japanese overseas attack on them. What they actually did and did not do, simply spelled 'It can't happen here.'"

Caveat Donor

The Atlantic Monthly article by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee: A street brawl in India brings down a global kidney-transplant ring. In a country where 300 million people live on less than a dollar a day, Amit Kumar—nicknamed “Dr. Horror” by the Indian media after his arrest last winter for heading an illicit global kidney-transplant ring—had little trouble finding homegrown organ donors...

China's Andy Rooney Has Some Funny Opinions

The Onion News Network (ONN) International report: China's Andy Rooney Has Some Funny Opinions About How Great The Chinese Government Is

Scrapped

The Atlantic Monthly artcle by Adam Minter: For the last decade or so, scrap metal has been the largest volume export from the United States to China. But with the economy in a tailspin, unclaimed scrap metal is starting to pile up at China's ports.

Wartime Presidents and the Rule of Law

Last week on the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with political commentator Glenn Greenwald about the Bush administration’s assertion of expanded presidential powers and the prospect that Barack Obama may renounce them in favor of a traditional American vision of the rule of law. Read the full transcript of Bill Moyers Journal for December 12, 2008.

Does Viagra gives athletes an advantage?

The International Herald Tribune article by Jere Longman: The Marywood study does not involve the bedroom, but the playing field. It is being financed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is investigating whether the diamond-shaped blue pills create an unfair competitive advantage in dilating an athlete's blood vessels and unduly increasing oxygen-carrying capacity. If so, the agency could ban the drug...

10 Lies Pinhead Legislators Believe About the Auto Industry

Car & Driver article by Steven Cole Smith: Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the automotive crisis is not so much the specter of impending financial doom, overcrowded bread lines, or the end of Automotive Life As We Know It. No, it’s the up-close and too-personal look at the men and women who run our country, and, by extension, at some members of the mainstream media who report stories now and ask questions later, if at all. Public-spirited citizens that we are, let us detail for you 10 lies that pinhead legislators—and, by extension, the mainstream media—believe about the car industry...

Japan's Most Exclusive Clubs

NPR's On the Media producer Mark Phillips reports from Tokyo: To be a reporter in Japan is to navigate the unique and often troubling system of Press Clubs - known there as Kisha Clubs. With thousands of them attached to everything from government agencies to corporations, many argue the Kisha Clubs foster a dangerously close bond between reporters and those they cover.

Fuel efficient or market efficient?

The Atlantic Monthly column by Megan McArdle: One thing is clear about the bailout: congress intends to use it to push GM et. al. into manufacturing more fuel efficient cars. This means cars that are either a) smaller, b) more expensive, or both. When gas prices were high, a lot of people blamed Detroit's troubles on the fact that they hadn't learned to make awesome small cars. But Toyota isn't so successful in the US because of the Yaris and the Corolla; its core business, like Honda's, is American-sized sedans, station wagons, luxury cars, and so on...

An Act of Civil Disobedience amidst the Economic Crisis

Last week's JOURNAL reported on the laid-off Chicago workers who successfully occupied their shuttered former workplace, Republic Windows & Doors, for several days to procure money and benefits. Bank of America had eliminated Republic's credit line because the company was unable to operate profitably in the current economic climate. In the face of political and public pressure following broad media coverage of the workers' sit-in, Bank of America restored Republic's credit to cover the severance and benefits to which the workers are legally entitled. Bill Moyers talked with legal and economic scholar Emma Coleman Jordan about the federal government's bailout efforts and asked her about the workers' actions in Chicago. Read the full transcript of Bill Moyers Journal for December 12, 2008.

Large is the new Grande

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer article by Andrea James: McDonald's has erected a billboard in sight of Starbucks headquarters declaring, "four bucks is dumb." Another billboard slogan jabs, "large is the new grande." The two phrases are displayed on 140 billboards in Western Washington, some of them near Starbucks cafes...

New Filter Promises to Save Oil and Money

The Wall Street Journal article by David Patton: The microGreen oil filter from SOMS Technologies is a new design that is similar to the paper oil filters used in most passenger cars and trucks but also includes a second filter... Steve Kirchner, SOMS' chief operations officer says the filter still needs to be changed every 6,000 miles, but the oil can remain in the engine for as much as 30,000 miles...

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

The Onion News Network (ONN) report: Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Obama: Don't stock up on guns

Chicago Sun-Times article by Abdon M. Pallasch: As gun sales shoot up around the country, President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that gun-owning Americans do not need to rush out and stock up before he is sworn in next month...

Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?

The Onion News Network (ONN) In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?

The Next Financial Bubble?

AFP story "Investor fear drives US Treasury yields to near zero": The panic in global financial markets has sparked an unprecedented rush into safe US Treasury securities, driving yields on short-term government notes down to almost zero... Sal Guatieri, economist at BMO Capital Markets, acknowledged that "investors are throwing money at Uncle Sam with the same conviction that they bought houses and dot-com stocks in their heydays..."

SUVs at altar, Detroit church prays for a bailout

Reuters article by Kevin Krolicki and Soyoung Kim: With sport-utility vehicles at the altar and auto workers in the pews, one of Detroit's largest churches on Sunday offered up prayers for Congress to bail out the struggling auto industry...

Hiking near Ellenville, New York

The Village of Ellenville is within the Town of Wawarsing. The village is located at the junction of NY 52 and US 209 and is bisected by the recently-designated Shawangunk Scenic Byway. Ellenville lies in the Rondout Valley, at the western base of the Shawangunk Ridge, which is listed as one of the "Last Great Places on Earth," and the eastern base of the Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.

GM, Chrysler May Accept Bankruptcy to Receive Bailout

Bloomberg story by James Rowley and Linda Sandler: The Democrats’ goal of preserving a U.S. auto industry is not doable without a bankruptcy, said Lynn LoPucki, who teaches bankruptcy law at Harvard University and the University of California at Los Angeles. “A workout requires everybody’s agreement,” LoPucki said. “If I own bonds, GM can’t force me to take less than 100 cents on the dollar outside of bankruptcy court. Bankruptcy is the only thing that can work because GM and the government need the ability to force people to go along with the plan. Paying everyone in full is prohibitively expensive...”

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is an annual tradition in New York City's Rockefeller Center, and is lighted in early December or late-November. The tree, usually a Norway spruce 75 to 90 feet (23 to 27 meter) tall, has been put up every year since 1931.

Waterfall Tours: Big Bastard

This was another one of Iguana Mama Eco - Adventure Tours. They provide you with a shorty wetsuit, climbing harness and a helmet. I wore my NRS water shoes instead of sneakers, but made the mistake of not wearing a long sleeve rash guard. The tour starts with the "Magic Mushroom" section of the canyon and goes on to the "Bavarian Fighter" (18 meter/56 feet jump) and the "Big Bastard" (22 meters/70 feet jump). Abseiling/rappelling is an option for both of the high jumps.

Besides the two big ones there are a number of smaller jumps too. The natural surroundings are breath-taking and secluded, adding to the unique blend of tranquility and excitement. Narrow walls, technical stretches, high jumps, beautiful abseils in a lush landscape make this one of our most stunning tours. An intermediate 30 minute climb/hike brings you back to civilization. This tour is rated advanced, so some prior knowledge is required, and reasonable fitness and swimming skills.

This was planned as a group trip, but everyone else cancelled at the last minute, so this ended up being just me and the guide. Because it was just the two of us, we managed to complete what was a full day tour in about three hours. Unfortunately I have no photos from this trip due to the fact that I did not have a waterproof camera that can handle the abuse of this trip.

Playa Grande

Playa Grande is an unusually beautiful parcel of about 2,000 acres on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic, straddling the towns of Rio San Juan and Cabrera. The property has great topography, with hills and cliffs and 5 miles of exposure to the Atlantic Ocean, including a wide, mile-long beach. It is lush and undeveloped, with old trees and Royal Palms. On the western coast, Robert Trent Jones built his final golf course, cut into the cliffs over the sea. Underground springs supply abundant fresh water, and the neighboring land is small farms and forest.

San Felipe de Puerto Plata

San Felipe de Puerto Plata, often referred to as simply Puerto Plata, is the capital of the Dominican province Puerto Plata. It has a population of 130,000. The city is famous for resorts such as Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, located east of San Felipe de Puerto Plata. The fortification Fortaleza San Felipe, which was built in the 16th century and served as a prison under Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship, lies close to the port of Puerta Plata.

Mountain Biking: Downhill Cruise

Based on my cycling skill level I choose the Iguana Mama Eco - Adventure Tours half day mountain biking downhill cruise through the interior of the Dominican Republic. The minivan ride from Cabarete into the mountains was about 40 minutes. After breakfast at the summit of the Cibao Valley, we cycled down winding mountain roads through Dominican villages into one of the most lush valleys in the world.