Is Ginkgo Biloba Still Good?

And two more health fads bite the dust. I think the garlic thing was only helpful if you were dating a vampire, but that's just me.

Grenade Found in Sack of Potatoes

I know that spud-launchers have become popular and are part of a new recreational arms race, but this is ridiculous.

El Niño Dead, Long Live La Niña

According to the NOAA, El Niño is over, and La Niña will be taking over very soon. La Niña is usually responsible for milder springs in the Northeast, droughts in the Plains, and more hurricanes for the southeast. Let's see how quickly all these climate events get blamed on global warming, when no climate model in the world has successfully described CO2 radiative warming in conjunction with El Niño and La Niña. Of course, the debate is over, so no sense doing any more research about it, which means all those scientists should stop receiving grants and focus on their speaking engagement careers. But that's not crushing dissent, is it?

The Avian Secret of the Chinese Stock Market Plunge

No, it wasn't bird-flu, but remote-controlled pigeons! The Chinese researchers successfully controlled the birds' flights, but unfortunately crossed some signals and crashed the birds into the stock exchange's powerlines! And we know what happened next... Seriously, I like the last sentence of the Reuters article: "The report did not specify what practical uses the scientists saw for the remote-controlled pigeons."

Taiwan Still Panda Lorn

Yeah, good luck with that, Taiwan: "Oh, Taiwan, so sorry, the Ministry for Zoological and Happy Thoughts Concerns is still offering the pandas named PRC Rox and ROC Sux, but only if you agree not to change their names. Maybe your facilities will be ready next year."

A Personal Protest

The protest culture has really changed since the 1960's, when movements were predicated on an exchange of ideas and not personal animus. The best way to see the change is just look at the different signs used in the marches. And now that politics is all about the personal, since the authenticity of one's argument is based on the strength of emotions evoked, the signs' messages are all about the best put-downs. But just take a look at that sign to the very right and remember: never underestimate geek power.

Halp!

Just look at the damn picture, and laugh your "ise" off!