Finally some helpful legislation... 9:49 AM

Congress is trying to pass very important legislation... no, not health care... They want to limit the volume of TV ads.... Maybe you wont have to hit mute or lunge for the remote on commercial breaks anymore...

Under a proposal to be taken up Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission would squelch ad volumes to the average decibels of the TV show during which they appear.

Currently, TV ads can't be louder than the loudest peak in a show, said David Perry, the chairman of the broadcast production committee of the American Association of Advertising Agencies in New York. Ads often seem louder to viewers, he added, because a program's volume peak rarely comes just before an ad.

the ad agency association's spokesman on the matter, agreed that broadcasters should set their own loudness standards.

"Congress will inevitably make it more messy than it needs to be," he said. "It's like going after a fly with a pistol."

Britain set similar restrictions on loud ads last year.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Summer Reading 8:39 AM

Dan Brown is the literary equivalent of Coldplay. This is indeed a compliment to Coldplay.... Seriously have some standards. If you want to read something entertaining and not necessarily overly written there are plenty of crime/thriller writers who can and have written much better books than Dan Brown.

For anyone who says Dan Brown is a good writer, tell me why all his international characters sound exactly the same on the page?

Anyway what about Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, Ian Rankin, Clive Barker, Lawrence Block, Jeff Lindsey.... These are just thrillers....

Anyone who lives in New York or is in relationship or has a pulse should read

Sylvia by Leonard Michaels

Kafka, Beckett, Camus, Bukowski, Welsh, Baer, Charlie Huston are some of my favorites for fiction but lets say you like twilight....

While I haven't read it so I can't automatically put it in the crap pile I will say that


Susanna Clark's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

is brilliant.
Seriously brilliant. Coming from someone who doesn't like the Charlotte Bronte, I seriously enjoyed this novel page to page. The format/tone is deceiving. Clark uses the social novel in an almost satirical way and really sucks you in to a fully realized world and lets you swim around in her words.
So jump in and get soaked in good writing.



Stephen King's Dark Tower Series comprises a total of 7 books (plenty of books to keep the story going without becoming redundant for copious amounts of summer/beach entertainment. ) that in my opinion outdoes any other series out there. Sorry JK Rowling but you write for a different audience. The Dark Tower series is part fantasy, part spaghetti western, part horror, part thriller, with allusions to pop culture, myth, and all pulled together by GASP... good writing.




"I can't believe that someone could write such trite and expository dialogue" said Shane gasping with exasperation.

Urban Dictionary Fun 9:06 AM

So when you get home from rehearsal at 1am and are killing time waiting to fall asleep, try looking up your name at urban dictionary.com


Here is the definition of shane
1. Shane

A word derived from a Greek "San" one of three of the modern day symbols considered obsolete in the Greek language. The name was given to the children of those who were considered "criminally genius". Also considered to be one of the few names that can effect the owner's personality over their lifetime in a aesthetically pleasing but deeply malicious way. Perceived by the Romans to be the only name "combining good and evil to create balance and perfection."

"Shane... it flows off the tongue like silk."
"When you scream "Shane!" it vibrates your body right down the middle... wow try it."

2.An English derivitive of the irish name sean, which is an Irish form of John meaning "God's gracious gift."

Shane is a very popular variant of the name Sean in Northern Ireland in memory of Shane O'Neill whose forces won notable victories over the armies of Queen Elizabeth 1st in the sixteenth century.
his name is Shane

Shane is God's gracious gift


.....
AND NUMBER 10

10. A pastey white bitch.


They cant all be good.....


Back to serious news tomorrow...

Get angry when hungry? Blame low serotonin 10:52 AM

Read full article here

Brain chemical is key for keeping aggression in check, study finds

LONDON - Serotonin, the brain chemical linked to mood, plays a key role in regulating emotions such as aggression, British researchers said on Thursday.

Serotonin, the nerve-signaling chemical targeted by many antidepressants, appears to keep aggressive social responses in check, Molly Crockett, a psychologist at the University of Cambridge and colleagues reported in the journal Science.

The chemical’s precise role in impulse control has been controversial but this study is one of the first to actually show a causal link, Crockett said.
“Because we directly manipulated serotonin levels and observed an effect on behavior we can say there is a causal link between serotonin and aggressive responses,” Crockett said in a telephone interview.

Their research also helps explain why some people become combative or aggressive when hungry because the essential amino acid needed for the body to create serotonin is only obtained through diet.

The team used this knowledge to manipulate serotonin levels in 20 healthy volunteers who were then asked to play a situation game that tested their responses to fair and unfair offers of money.

People with lower serotonin levels were far more likely to deprive other players of money, even though they lost out as well, as a way to punish the person who made the offer, the researchers said.
“It is an anger-driven response,” Crockett said.

This knowledge could help doctors treat people with depression and anxiety disorders by teaching them ways to regulate emotions during decision making, especially in social situations, she added.

PIRATE PRESIDENT IN 08? 8:32 AM

Swedish pirates capture EU seat


OHHHHHHHH that kind of pirate.... well those women selling dvds in grand central deserve a voice too I guess....

Sweden's Pirate Party has won a seat in the European Parliament.

The group - which campaigned on reformation of copyright and patent law - secured 7.1% of the Swedish vote.

The result puts the Pirate Party in fifth place, behind the Social Democrats, Greens, Liberals and the Moderate Party.

Rickard Falkvinge, the party leader, told the BBC the win was "gigantic" and that they were now negotiating with four different EU Parliamentary groups.

"Last night, we gained political credibility," said Mr Falkvinge.

"People were not taken in by the establishment and we got political trust from the citizens."

The profile of the Pirate Party and issues surrounding copyright law have dominated headlines in Sweden over the past few months.

Rallying cry

In April, a court in Sweden sentenced the four men behind The Pirate Bay, the world's most high-profile file-sharing website, to a year in jail and ordered them to pay $4.5m (£3m) in damages.

Mr Falkvinge said it had played a significant role in getting them the vote.

“ Many people just don't see illegal file-sharing as a crime, however hard the media industries try to persuade the public that it's just as bad as shoplifting ”
Rory Cellan-Jones BBC technology correspondent

"The establishment is trying to prevent control of knowledge and culture slipping from their grasp.

"When the Pirate Bay got hit, people realised the wolf was outside the front door.

"That happened one month before the ballot opened, so it had quite a rallying effect," he said.

Parties within the European Parliament tend to join one of the big voting blocs, otherwise their MEP can become marginalised.

Mr Falkvinge said they were still considering their position.

"We're looking at four different EU Parliament groups," he said.

"However, we're probably going to join either the Green block or the ALDE group."

The biggest loser in Sweden's election was the eurosceptic June List party, which saw its share of the vote fall by more than 10 points to 3.6% of the vote. The Left Party also saw its vote halved to 5.6%.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/8089102.stm

Published: 2009/06/08 11:24:36 GMT

© BBC MMIX

Gay Penguin Pair Raising Chick 8:58 PM

So it seems that mother nature and science didn't get the memo about bringing about the end of civilization.... hmmmm maybe anyone who argues that Gay marriage isn't natural should change the definition of natural from occurring in nature to uh... well what occurs in nature that's convenient to our belief system...

Males incubated abandoned egg for a month and continue to care for chick
Image: Male penguin parents
Focke Strangmann / AP
Two male Humboldt penguins cautiously guard the entrance to their cave in the "Zoo am Meer" zoological park in Bremerhaven, northern Germany.


BERLIN - A German zoo says a pair of gay male penguins are raising a chick from an egg abandoned by its parents.

Bremerhaven zoo veterinarian Joachim Schoene says the egg was placed in the male penguins' nest after its parents rejected it in late April. The males incubated it for some 30 days before it hatched and have continued to care for it. The chick's gender is not yet known.

Schoene said the male birds, named Z and Vielpunkt, are one of three same-sex pairs among the zoo's 20 Humboldt penguins that have attempted to mate.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

Homosexual behavior has been documented in many animal species.

The zoo said in a statement on its Web site Thursday that "sex and coupling in our world don't always have something to do with reproduction."

Just A Little Reminder... 8:02 PM

Some People's Daily Mission Is
Simply To
P*SS YOU OFF.