Coffee and Provocation

Texas Monitors Dogs to Track Chagas Disease
Chagas disease is an infection caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted by the bite of the blood sucking triatomine insect. Because chagas causes a chronic infection of the heart, nervous system and digestive system, and knows no borders, its spread in the southern U.S. could be quite serious. Chagas can be hosted inside all kinds of animals, and dogs are particularly susceptible to the disease, as they are outdoors a lot and commonly exposed to triatomines. A 2009 study in Texas found large numbers of triatomine insects around kennels, and more than half of the dogs tested were found positive for chagas infection. A survey of dogs in Texas shelters found the prevalence of chagas infection ranged from 6.7% to 13.8%.

Dog Food and Whiskey
That expensive boutique dog food you shell out big bucks for at the pet store is almost certainly made in a big anonymous factory owned by Menu Foods, Diamond, or some other massive corporation that make the cheapest stuff that can be cranked out through an extruder and shoved into a bag.  But what of your expensive craft whiskey? Yep, it too is a likely fraud, cranked out of an old Seagram's factory in Indiana.

Know When to Say When?
With coffee, it's nonsense, as every coffee cup size is different, and every cup is made differently too.  This is not a standardized product.

Rabbit Poop Flame Thrower
How to build a flame thrower with rabbit poop.  One of the greatest titles ever.  You are welcome.

Massive Jump in Battery Life?

It's just around the corner, and it will impact everything from your cell phone to your next car.  It's all about the ions.

The NRA's Top Lawyer is a Convicted Murderer

He shot his girlfriend's mother three times at close range.

Support Mental Health or I'll Kill You

A psychiatric patient who was angry that Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital had a "gun free zone" policy, decided the appropriate response was to pull out a gun and starting shooting everyone. When Richard Plotts, age 49, pulled out a gun and started firing, his psychiatrist pulled out his own gun and fired back, and never mind the violation of the gun-free-zone policy.  Both men ended up wounded, but psychiatrist Dr. Lee Silverman stopped Plotts from shooting anyone else and is being praised as a hero. 

Why Italy Is Not as Warm as You Think

Rome is north of Chicago. Venice is north of Minneapolis. London is north of Calgary. Paris is nine miles south of the U.S.-Canada border.

A Corpse Was Left Under a Motel Bed for 5 Years

This has to be the worst cleaning crew ever.

Americans are Fat Because Their Refrigerators are Too Big

This actually sounds right to me.

McDonalds Is Going to Have to Rethink Everything 

The National Labor Relations Board has just ruled that the McDonalds is a “joint employer” with all of its franchisees, making the fast-food giant responsible for working conditions, including pay, at over 14,000 restaurants. McDonald's and other chains have repeatedly said their franchisees are responsible for wages and working conditions, not them. But the NLRB says McDonald's controls the terms of the operations of its restaurants.  This was not a hard call in my opinion; franchise agreements control every part of an operation, from parking lot size to the brand and amount of butter on the bun. The Mother Ship corporation doesn't determine wages and working conditions too?  Nonsense.

The "Quit Lawyering" Job 
Apparently being a lawyer is so boring and soul-sucking that most lawyers would rather have their cars repossessed and their kidneys taken out involuntarily than read the small type on any contract.