Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Mr. Potato

California: 16-Year-Old Girl Starts Solo Sail Around Globe

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© AP Photo/Richard HartogAbby Sunderland, 16, looks out from her sailboat, Wild Eyes, as she leaves for her world record attempting journey at the Del Rey Yacht Club.
A 16-year-old has set out to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone.

Abby Sunderland of Thousand Oaks sailed into the sunny Pacific Ocean on Saturday after being delayed a few days by a series of violent storms in California.

Her boat-builder father, Laurence, along with other family members and fiends, cheered at the Del Rey Yacht Club as they watched the 40-foot craft called Wild Eyes depart.

She plans to be at sea for five or six months. She will be alone but able to communicate via satellite telephone and a blog.

Frog

Little Lizards Make Big Money for Villagers

A tiny Indonesian lizard has become big business for impoverished villagers in Indonesia, where growing Asian demand for reptile-based traditional medicines has driven a boom in gecko farming.

Geckos -- the pale, soft-skinned lizard with a distinctive call -- are abundant in Indonesia and are believed by Chinese and Korean traditional medicine devotees to help cure cancer as well as skin and respiratory diseases.

In rural Banjarsawah village, on the eastern half of Java island, struggling farmers have discovered geckos make a surprisingly lucrative commodity.

Tohasyim, 32, a farmhand who earns 10,000 rupiah (about $1) a day feeding other people's cattle, now makes 1 million rupiah or about $110 a month hunting geckos in a local forest.

Mr. Potato

Flashback Front fell off

Ever wonder about the safety of those tankers that carry thousands of gallons of crude oil, then watch this. It's supposed to be a spoof..


Mr. Potato

Break In 911 Call

A man calls 911 when he gets stuck in a window while trying to break into a house.

Star

Comic: 'Our dream to deprive millions of healthcare is within reach'

Popular online comic Andy Borowitz often has his own farcical take on current events -- and today is no exception.

Turning his sights on the special election to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Borowitz suggests that a Republican victory will be a victory for healthcare reform defeat. In so doing, he creates invented remarks for Republican candidate Scott Brown, who has said he'll join a Republican-led filibuster of the Democrats healthcare overhaul in the Senate.

Writes Borowitz:
Boston (The Borowitz Report) - Firing up voters on the eve of the special election to fill the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat, Republican candidate Scott Brown spoke at a campaign rally today, proclaiming, "With your help, our dream of depriving millions of health care is within reach."

"Let's send a message, Massachusetts!" Mr. Brown exhorted the crowd. "Let's tell people across the country that if they want health coverage, they are shit out of luck!"

An aide to Mr. Brown said that internal polling reveals that the Republican's anti-healthcare message may be catching on: "Right now, Scott is showing a double-digit lead among people who describe themselves as douchebags."

Take 2

Stewart: Kennedy legacy losing to 'naked guy that owns a truck'

Democrats are concerned that they could lose the Senate race in Massachusetts to Republican Scott Brown because it might derail President Barack Obama's domestic agenda. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart wants to know why Democrats wouldn't be able to pass legislation with an 18-vote majority in the Senate -- which he notes is bigger than any congressional advantage former President George W. Bush ever enjoyed.

Stewart also poked fun at Brown, noting a statement in which he followed a statement announcing his candidacy with, "this is my truck," and that he posed nude for a magazine in 1982.

"So the Democrats are losing to Captain Freeball," Stewart remarks. "The Kennedy legacy goes down to a naked guy who owns a truck.

Mr. Potato

French Anti-piracy agency's logo broke copyright

Hadopi
© The TelegraphThe design agency Plan Creatif that created the Hadopi logo has now admitted it used the typeface by mistake
France's new internet agency set up to protect the rights of artists is facing legal action for using a copyrighted design for its logo.

The French government's web police force - called Hadopi - was set up to stop piracy and clamp down on illegal downloaders.

The agency's logo was unveiled this by French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand, who said that Hadopi "finally had a face".

But within hours of its launch, it was forced to apologise for using a typeface without permission that belonged to France Telecom.

Mr. Potato

North Carolina: Man Celebrates 77th Birthday by Biking 77 Miles

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© H. Scott Hoffmann / News & RecordCalvin Weimer points to his wife Susan as he rides Friday in Country Park.
When he reached the hill at Country Park, Cal Weimer pedaled faster as onlookers yelled encouragement Friday.

"Whoosh" went the sleek Specialized Sequoia road bicycle as it whizzed by. The staunchest supporter was Weimer's wife, Susan . She waved blue posterboard signs (she's a teacher, don't you know) with encouraging messages in neat, white block letters:

"Go Calvin."

"Happy Birthday."

"77 Years Young."

Not your typical birthday party. But Cal Weimer's not your typical guy.

Smiley

Take my cat instead!

cat in car
© Unknown
A man who failed to pay a police ticket offered bailiffs, as payment, his cat in Russia's Tomsk region.

However the offer was not accepted. The cat, named Barsik, wasn't highbred and was of no value, as the Federal Bailiff Service in the Zyryanskoye village later found out.

The man was inspired by the precedent that occurred in the Siberian Kemerovo region where Bailiffs issued an arrest warrant for a five-month-old sphynx kitten. The little feline, with an estimated market value of up to $500, was to go under the hammer at an auction, but its owners paid the debt and it was released.

The Tomsk Region bailiffs say they are happy that citizens are well informed and are following the news. In their turn, bailiffs promised to closely follow the fate of Barsik and will make sure its owner will pay the debt.

Smiley

A Message From Transport Canada