Lights Out: Happy Nyan Year!
[prguitarman.]
Archive for December, 2011
Supercut of the Day
Dec. 31, 2011
Supercut of the Day: Montrealer Stoo of StooTV spent the past two years meticulously splicing scenes from 30 different classic fims spanning over half a century to recreate the intro to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and then put together this shot-by-shot comparison.
Because, really — what else is there to do in Canada?
[waxy.]
Year In Review of the Day
Dec. 31, 2011
Year In Review of the Day: Satirist Charie Brooker sums up the “end-of-season finale for all of mankind” better known as 2011 with the hour-long review program, Charlie Brooker’s 2011 Wipe.
See Also: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
[videosift.]
This Is Important, You Should Know About It of the Day
Dec. 31, 2011
This Is Important, You Should Know About It of the Day: President Obama today quietly signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, which contains controversial provisions requiring military custody for any non-citizen suspected of terrorism and affirming the president’s authority to indefinitely detain any supporter of al-Qaeda “or associated forces, irrespective of citizenship.
In a signing statement, the President said he had “serious reservations” about the bill, and criticised lawmakers for interfering with the work of counterterrorism professionals.
“Moving forward, my administration will interpret and implement the provisions described below in a manner that best preserves the flexibility on which our safety depends and upholds the values on which this country was founded,” the statement said.
The Obama administration was successful in striking down a provision that would have removed the ability of the executive branch to override the military custody requirement. Additionally, US citizens and legal immigrants may not be subjected to military custody under the revised bill.
However, an amendment to explicitly exclude American citizens and lawful residents from indefinite detention was rejected by Congress.
“My administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens,” Obama said. “Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation.”
The President’s personal stance aside, in addition to creating myriad difficulties for counterterrorism agents working with suspected terrorists to gain information, the NDAA provisions leave the door wide open for future presidents to indefinitely detain American citizens without trial.
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Copy & paste this:
Winter What-the?-land of the Day
Dec. 31, 2011
Winter What-the?-land of the Day: A mysterious foam-like substance has coated the waters in Cleveleys near Blackpool, Lancashire, causing some anxiety among locals who fear hazardous pollutants may be to blame.
An Evironment Agency spokesperson sought to quell concerns by noting that no traces of polluting detergents were found in early samples.
“[W]e think it could be the combination of decomposing algal matter churned with the tide and the westerly wind which is causing the foam,” said the rep.
Still, the source of the sporadic occurance continues to elude experts.
“We know it happens occasionally and can disappear again quite quickly,” the spokesperson said, “so we will be looking further into what triggers it.”
[metro / video: accuweather.]
Life’s Little Victory of the Day
Dec. 31, 2011
Life’s Little Victory of the Day: The Isle of Wight’s mythical Vending Machine Threefer, spotted at the Ryde Pier Head Wightlink station.
[reddit.]
Eats Meat And Leaves of the Day
Dec. 31, 2011
Eats Meat And Leaves of the Day: A wild panda was recently caught on camera in the Laohegou forest area of China’s Sichuan Province chowing down on some carrion and looking decidedly uncuddly.
Though their diets consist nearly entirely of bamboo shoots, pandas in the wild have been known to consume animal flesh.
“The reason why pandas eat meat is because it used to eat meat millions of years ago,” said Pingwu County Forestry Department deputy director Chen Youping. “Now they mainly eat bamboos, but we occasionally see bones of dead animals in pandas’ excrement during our years of field work.”
Et tu, Sweetie?
[telegraph.]
The SkyCam Is Falling of the Day
Dec. 31, 2011
The SkyCam Is Falling of the Day: ESPN’s signature SkyCam cut loose during last night’s Insight Bowl, and came crashing to the field, just missing Iowa receiver Marvin McNutt.
“First, I looked: What is it that fell from the sky?” McNutt said after his team’s loss to Oklahoma. “The next thing I know, the camera kind of scratched me a little bit. It was just pulling me and I knew I didn’t want to keep going with it.”
McNutt joked that someone on Oklahoma’s staff was trying to kill him but he was probably dead serious.
[ap via stltoday.]
