Topical Chat, August 20, 2007

Go see Superbad – you won’t regret it!

1. On a report that children are using new pre-paid 'credit cards' to buy alcohol and pornography and gamble online:
“It looks like Michael Jackson’s plan is working …”
http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/story/0,,2151915,00.html

2. On an Australian woman who was killed by a pet camel given to her as a 60th birthday present after the animal apparently tried to have sex with her:
“Just wondering how many ‘humping’ jokes can be made from this story …”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/19/world/main3181944.shtml

3. On a company called DMH Ingredients filing a federal lawsuit against Changzhou Kelong Chemical Co. Ltd., saying DMH found metal shavings in 11,200 kilos of aspartame artificial sweetener the Chinese company shipped in 2005:
“Ummmm … it may be a good time to stop shopping at Walmart at this point …”
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_230080400.html

4. On hundreds of people posing naked on Switzerland's shrinking Aletsch glacier on Saturday for U.S. photographer Spencer Tunick as part of a Greenpeace campaign to raise awareness of global warming:
“Inadvertently, they also began ‘raising’ awareness in pornography … if ya catch my drift.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKL1858183620070818?rpc=92

5. On a fatal fight between two employees at a gun store:
“This would probably come near the top of the ‘places where something bad can happen if a fight broke out’ list.”
http://lubbockonline.com/stories/081807/loc_081807045.shtml

6. On the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa being voted "most disappointing tourist attractions:”
“Is it a coincidence that both of these are located in France?”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=DTYCSSOF5ZYNNQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/08/17/ntourists117.xml

7. On Virginia’s tourism agency eliminating images of people making heart symbols with their hands in its upcoming advertising campaign because the gesture is also used by a violent street gangs:
“Come to Virginia …. Don’t forget your guns …”
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=bizarre&id=5581362

8. On city officials yanking hundreds of thousands of cars off Beijing's streets Friday to test whether a partial car ban could clear health-threatening smog and ease gridlock during next year's Olympic Games:
“Next, they’ll test whether killing millions of people will reduce the smog …”
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=bizarre&id=5578389