Israel sick of falafels and shwarma

In a surprise move this week, Haaaaaaaretz is reporting that the Israeli government has announced "we're fed up with falafel, hummus and shwarma, and we're moving on to pizza." Their arguments cover the fact that they've been eating chickpeas for 7,500 years (long before they were used in...

---

Earth Hour a huge success

Earth Hour this year was such a huge success, it's being expanded to Earth Year in 2010. "We've seen a lot of good come from Earth Hour with the international community embracing it this year, so we thought, 'Why not extend the positive effects?' Sure, we could have gone with Earth Day or Earth...

---

Going red

There's a new craze that's slowly been sweeping the country recently. Everyone is familiar with the concept of "going green" and the associated desire to take care of the environment. A group of people in Rhode Island decided they were tired of being forced to hear about "going green" everywhere...

---

UN stops Gaza support after getting attacked

dave submitted a link to a story about the UN pulling out of Gaza aid because their aid workers got attacked by Israel, and 2 of them were killed. Israel has been retaliating against rocket attacks from Hamas, though it seems like many civilians and aid workers are getting caught in the crossfire....

---

Bernie Mac passes away at 50

This is a major bummer...I knew Bernie Mac was in a Chicago hospital for pneumonia, but reports during the week seemed to indicate that he was improving. CNN is now reporting that he passed away due to complications related to the pneumonia. The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an...

---

Annoying postage increases

The post office is raising postage rates again. Oh, the humanity! Wait, they're only raising it one cent? That sounds kind of stupid...why not just wait a little longer and raise it something like 5 cents all at once, so we don't have lots of little transitions?" Could it be because they want to...

---

Heath Ledger dead at 28

I first heard this on the radio and was really surprised...apparently Heath Ledger died of a possible overdose on prescription sleeping pills this afternoon at the age of 28. It just seems so random and is kind of surreal considering how excited I am to see him as the Joker in the upcoming...

---

Late night shows return, kind of

Despite the ongoing writers' strike, nearly all late-night TV are returning within the first couple of weeks of January. Leno and Conan come back to air on Jan. 2nd without their writers, since the studios have already or will lay off the non-writing staff of those shows if they do not. Conan's...

---

Shows affected by the writers' strike

Looks like the fallout of the writers' strike is going to be seen right away, even on some pre-taped shows like The Office, 30 Rock, and many others because the writing or re-writes weren't finished, there's nobody to produce shows, cast members that are also writers are striking, and some actors...

---

Kids really shouldn't play with matches

Looks like police in California have determined the wildfire that has burned more than 38,000 acres and charred a total 508,000 acres was caused by a boy playing with matches. The Buckweed Fire began about 2 p.m. (5 p.m. ET) on October 21 in the Agua Dulce community. Authorities immediately...

---

New Illinois workzone cameras fine $375, then $1000!!!

Update (June 2009): As mentioned in the anonymous comment below this story, this information actually came from a press release from 2005! Due to the ambiguous wording with "Starting in July...", the information seems to resurface every June. See the original press release here:...

---

CNN's new beta site

CNN is going to make a major change soon to their site design, as well as start providing video for free (until now you had to subscribe to their Pipeline service). The new site is significantly cleaner looking and the lighter colors make it way easier to read. It also makes better use of...

---

The secret rules of journalism

It looks like a journalist has revealed what the secret rules of journalism are! Check out the article, and here's some of the good ones: "When deciding which tragedies deserve the most prominent coverage, use this simple math: 10,000 foreigners = one cute white American chick." "If the...

---

CNN's breath of fresh air

CNN International has got a new look to it, and hopefully the other news networks will take notice. Remember when they started adding more and more scrollers and popups and all sorts of nonsense to shove 30 blurbs in your face while reducing the main story to 3 square inches of screen space? Well,...

---

Man killed after making bomb threat on airplane

There's an AP story about a man who got shot after making a bomb threat once a plane had touched down in Miami coming from Columbia. A passenger who claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag was shot by a federal air marshal Wednesday on a jetway connected to an American Airlines plane that had...

---

Give the post office your 2 cents

dave submitted a link to a USA Today story about an increase in stamp prices. A 2-cent boost in the price of a postage stamp was approved Tuesday by the independent Postal Rate Commission. Under the recommendation, which now goes to the Postal Service's Board of Governors for final action, the...

---

FEMA shocker

In a major surprise to absolutely nobody, the Director of FEMA Mike Brown has resigned, citing the interests of the Bush administration and FEMA as reasons, according to Yahoo. His decision was not a surprise. Brown was abruptly recalled to Washington on Friday, a clear vote of no confidence...

---

Hurricane in New Orleans predicted, but Bush ignored data

dave points out an article on Salon.com which brings up a surprising point. "'No one can say they didn't see it coming' In 2001, FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush...

---

Gas expected to hit $4 a gallon

According to CNN/Money, "Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon but whether they stay there depends on the long-term damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina, oil and gas analysts said Wednesday. 'There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon,' Ben...

---

SUV driver kills gas station owner

dave submitted an article from CBS News describing a situation where an SUV owner filled up $52 worth of gas at a gas station, then attempted to drive off without paying. The gas station owner proceeded to try and stop him. "Police say Caddi, owner of the Fort Payne Texaco, was killed when he...

---