The Great Separation

Fire Alarm with Silent Alarm.

Smell this - Here's a cool device that some Japanese lab coats are working to wake hearing impaired people in the event of a fire.

It looks like this could actually be a pretty good fire alarm. But I wonder how the scent is changed in the presence of an actual fire?

Cracked Fortune Cookie, v8.1.

You'll need good luck after that meal. - One of my great small pleasures (yes, I know that's an oxymoron) is that sometimes stale cookie that comes at the end of a Chinese meal. Or rather it isn't so much the cookie as it is the little writing in its pinched center.

Here's one that makes me snicker.

That's not necessarily a positive cookie fortune, now is it? ;-)

Quickie: Spiritual Bottled Water. Ahhh!!!

Say it ain't so! - I wish I could.

But apparently there is a company out there that thinks it's a wonderful idea to market and sell bottled water with religious pictures and a prayer on them.

I guess the idea is to read the prayer before drinking it and therefore you will receive a blessing.

My dad forwarded the link to me. At first I thought it was some kind of satirical joke, but low and behold the company has indeed been written about in such papers as The New York Times and NewsWeek.

Spicy Thai Peppers Shut Down City Blocks.

My Mouth is Watering! - Now this is one of those stories that is both funny and sad at the same time.

From Ananova:

A Thai restaurant's spicy chilli sauce sparked fears of a chemical attack and led police to evacuate a busy London street.

Police closed off three roads and evacuated homes as a mysterious cloud of acrid smoke hovered over Soho for three hours, reports The Times.

As the ambulance service sent in its Hazardous Area Response Team Unit, firefighters wearing specialist breathing apparatus entered the deserted streets to seek out the source.

They broke down the door of the Thai Cottage restaurant - to emerge later carrying a huge cooking pot containing about 9lb of smouldering dried chillies.

It's sad because we live in such times that something like this would be considered and justifiably so as a chemical attack. Funny because it's just a Thai restaurant preparing what I don't doubt was some really good hot sauce. I'd like to try some. Which reminds me. I think I have a few peppers out on the bush out back ready to be picked.

Disney Gets Tipsy with Tinker Bell.

When will Walt stop spinning? - If you've been a reader of The Great Separation for some time you know that I have been greatly disappointed with the direction that Disney has taken. Sex sells, and Disney knows it.

So it's no surprise to me that Tinker Bell has been undergoing enough of a transformation to make her reminiscent of certain Bunnies.

This became obvious to me when I picked up the paper today and spied Tinker Bell sitting seductively on the edge of a full martini glass.

The image is called "Tinkertini" and is an "art" poster by California artist Mike Kungl commissioned by Disney.

ContraCostaTimes.com reports:

The Walt Disney Co. has rediscovered the old favorite, designed after actress Margaret Kerry and introduced in 1953 to Disney audiences in the animated film "Peter Pan." With multiple new lines of T-shirts, toys and other products already out or on their way, Disney is capitalizing on the notion that Tinker Bell's spunky persona, mysterious back story and pinup-girl looks give her an appeal to Disney's usual safe-for-families market -- and a little beyond.

Tinker Bell is hot.

That "little beyond," I guess is the $595.00 poster and a host of adult sized Tinker T's and apparel that sport Tinker in different poses with mischievous sayings. Like one where she's taking a bubble bath bubble bath.

Did You Know You Could Overdose on Coffee?

Sadly I did know. - Here's a Monday oddity for you today. You can O.D. on coffee.

Fact is you can O.D. on practically anything. Water is a good example.

But, back to coffee.

The Daily Mail is reporting about a young teenager who needed to be rushed to the hospital because she had way to much caffeine in her system. Something I know from first hand experience is a bad thing.

Teenage girl rushed to hospital after overdosing on coffee:

The 17-year-old downed seven double espresso coffees while working in the family's sandwich shop and was left "burning up and hyperventilating".

Student Jasmine Willis, who thought the coffees were single measures, said the effects of the espresso were so severe her actions left customers bewildered.

Her condition sounds much more dire than my over doing the Joe back in my college days. Thankfully, a hospital visit wasn't needed in my case. Just some rest and a cold washcloth. So I didn't get to close to what might be termed an overdose.

Anyway, word to the wise, it's a wonderful drink. Just take it slow and easy.

40+ Bananas Won't Expel a $1,000 Necklace.

It's hard to move some jewelry - Well, I guess this Monday is just a gross-out oddity Monday when I consider the last oddity in relation to this oddity.

It seems a common thief stole a woman's $1,115.00 gold necklace. I guess his bright dim idea was to swallow the evidence.

Police X-rayed him and could plainly discern the goods.

So their cure was to make him eat over 40 bananas to hurry along the recovery of the jewels.

Sadly, that didn't seem to work. So the police turned to chicken, rice, and bread. That did the trick.

I love this quote:

"Bananas were good enough for another thief who had swallowed an ornament a few months ago, but Mohsin was definitely a tough cookie," said one clearly impressed police constable.

100,800 Snails is Slicker than...

Rhymes with sought. - This will likely be a gross out oddity for most.

A new record in the world of cuisine queasiness has been set at an annual French snail-crunching festival:

Hordes of French gourmets joined forces at an annual snail festival at the weekend to munch their way through a record 100,800 gastropods, organisers said Monday.

Over 1,100 pounds of butter went into the prep of the escargot.

I'm sorry I missed it.

UN Says it Can't Feed the World.

Translation: Give Us More Money. - The pursuit of different fuel sources is apparently putting the squeeze upon the United Nations's World Food Program.

Javier Blas and Jenny Wiggins report for the Financial Times: UN warns it cannot afford to feed the world:

Rising prices for food have led the United Nations programme fighting famine in Africa and other regions to warn that it can no longer afford to feed the 90m people it has helped for each of the past five years on its budget.

One of the factors that is raising the price of food has something to do with the pursuit of biofuels.

So in one way, world leaders have created a food shortage by claiming we have to get away from using fossil fuels and pursue other fuel sources.

Of course, the solution would be to spend money and teach the world to farm instead of just handing them food. I know that's probably oversimplifying the dynamics of international politics, but it seems to me that all these food give-aways only encourages the criminal leaders of some of Africa's countries to further oppress their people and extort countries that care about the world's starving.

News Items To Note.

What's going on? - I seem to be occupied of late with items drawing me away from posting here this week in a regular fashion.

But this morning, with the aid of some Dove Dark Chocolate and two cups of Joe, I sat and perused the news. So here are the interesting items I hit upon. I round them up here for you to cogitate upon.

Chinese honey now reported among import dangers: The stuff is apparently laced with a dangerous antibiotic. Oh, joy.

People born homosexual, say local school officials: minus any evidence from scientists or doctors a school district in Maryland has made the decision to start teaching school children that people are born with the genetic preposition to have sexual relations with same sex partners. If they have the ability to make such a "leap of faith" I believe that someone should lobby to teach a class on the fact that humans are born sinners and how God the Father in His love made a provision to put to death that nature in man granting man a new nature.

Hindu Prayer Will Open Senate Session in July: not all that unexpected from a group of men and women who stand for their wish-washy selves and not upon the absolutes of Christ and the Father in heaven.

Karnataka, a priest and four Christians are beaten: interesting to see this report after reading the report about the Hindu prayer in the Senate. These Christian brothers were in a medical waiting room waiting to get a checkup when a group of Hindus attacked them. Here's a snippet:

While they were waiting, the five were subjected to insults from four Hindu nationalists, who accused them of attempting to convert the local population to Christianity by illegal means. The accusations passed to violence when the assailers grabbed Fr. Pereira by the throat and threw him down a flight of stairs. They then jumped on him, kicking and punching him.

Finally - "America's Rabbi" Warns: "Enormous, Humanic and Historic Upheaval" Rapidly Approaching: Christian leaders aren't the only folk worried that God is disappointed with the debased American culture and what judgement might be brought upon us.