Singulair linked to suicide, depression

Since last October, Singulair allergy and asthma medication labels have warned that the drug is linked to, “suicidal thinking and behaviour.” The Wall Street Journal reports:

Singulair, made by Merck & Co., is approved to treat asthma and allergy symptoms such as sneezing and stuffy noses, as well as to prevent exercise-induced asthma. The FDA said in a so-called early communication that it is reviewing postmarketing reports of behavior and mood changes, suicidal thoughts and actions, and actual suicides by patients who took Singulair. The regulator also asked Merck to look at its own database for signs of trouble. read more

Is Wal-Mart helping you “live better?”

Your tax dollars are still subsidizing Wal-Mart’s health care crisis. Your good jobs are still being shipped overseas so Wal-Mart can import over 70% of its goods from communist China. Your neighbors are still earning poverty-level Wal-Mart wages so America’s richest family can line their pockets with Wal-Mart’s $12 billion in profits.

Are you living better yet?

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Exquisite underground temple of Damanhur

An ornate and beautiful underground temple was discovered in secret in the hills of northern Italy in November of last year.

. . . the ‘Temples of Damanhur’ are not the great legacy of some long-lost civilisation, they are the work of a 57-year-old former insurance broker from northern Italy who, inspired by a childhood vision, began digging into the rock.

damanhur hall of mirrors

It all began in the early Sixties when Oberto Airaudi was aged ten. From an early age, he claims to have experienced visions of what he believed to be a past life, in which there were amazing temples. read more

Lindsay Lohan mimics Marilyn Monroe before suicide

Referring to the cover of New York magazine’s 25 February issue:

At play . . . is a commercialism that is . . . creepier and more compelling: a picture of a nude Lindsay Lohan, less than a year out of her third go at rehab.

The image is causing a ruckus in the blogosphere, and not because her nipples can be ogled through the thin triangle of pink chiffon she clasps with her mouth like a schnauzer. The photo and eight more inside the magazine mimic, frame for frame, a handful of the fabled and ubiquitous pictures known as “The Last Sitting” that the photographer Bert Stern took of Marilyn Monroe in 1962, six weeks before she died of an overdose. read more

Cheaters’ wives ‘smile for the camera’

Hello Great American Public. I would like to introduce you to my wife of 25 years, on whom I’ve cheated for at least 17 of those years. Or is that 18? Well, no matter. The point is, that she never knew. And I didn’t cheat on her with anyone worth while. I didn’t have sex with one woman that I could have loved. All of them were nameless prostitutes.
 
Amazing figures with fantastic faces, a sense of style that’s out of this world, legs that never end and all of them had bazongas out to . . . look . . . here [puts hands about a foot in front of his chest]. But no names. And no love. Honestly, I didn’t even sleep with them. We “took care of business,” and then just shook hands and said goodbye.   read more

Dolphin rescues stranded whales

Moko the dolphin came to the rescue on Wednesday of a whale and her calf in New Zealand who were in danger of death. The pygmy sperm whales beached themselves several times while rescue personnel tried to find a way to guide them safely back out to sea.

“They kept getting disorientated and stranding again,” said Smith, who was among the rescuers. “They obviously couldn’t find their way back past (the sandbar) to the sea.”
Then along came Moko, who approached the whales and appeared to lead them as they swam 200 yards along the beach and through a channel out to the open sea. read more

Reviewers spoof toy airport security checkpoint

On Amazon.com reviewers have a lot to say about the Playmobil Security Checkpoint toy.

Loosenut writes

I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger’s shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger’s scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said “that’s the worst security ever!”.

D. Forest adds read more

New stove design fights global warming

Bob Crosby is putting years of experience in mechanical engineering and appropriate technologies to good use. He’s going to build a wood-burning stove that helps fight global warming …

Crosby said his stove will produce heat while providing fuel for cars, fertilizer for gardens and electricity for its own bellows.

A key fact scientific fact makes this possible.

Wood itself doesn’t burn. When exposed to extreme heat, wood gives off biogas, which subsequently burns. While these two occurrences typically happen in conjunction, this doesn’t need to be the case. read more

Get more gas when it’s cool out

In a comment on this article fenria14 wrote:

Gas stations sell a gallon of gasoline based on standard weight at a temp of 60 degrees F. As the temp rises, gasoline starts to evaporate into it’s vapor form, so if you’re buying a gallon of gas when it’s 80 degrees F outside, you’re paying for a full gallon but are instead getting less than a gallon of gas and gas vapor.

. . . if you live anywhere it regularly gets over 60 degrees F, (most of the US), you’ll get more for your money buying your gas at night or in the early morning when it’s close to 60 degrees F. read more

US watch list shuts down English travel sites

A NY Times article reports that Steve Marshall does not understand “how Web sites owned by a British national operating via a Spanish travel agency can be affected by U.S. law.” Worse, he said, “these days not even a judge is required for the U.S. government to censor online materials …” Steve Marshall lives in Spain, and operates a travel agency which serves a European clientele and books vacation trips to locations including Cuba.

In October, about 80 of his Web sites stopped working, thanks to the United States government. … read more