In the News (or Snooze) 02-12-07

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI had more than 300 weapons and laptops lost or stolen in just under four years, and some of the computers contained sensitive or classified information, the U.S. Justice Department inspector general said on Monday in a highly critical report. Fewer had gone missing than before a 2002 report in which Inspector General Glenn Fine's office reported 354 FBI weapons and 317 laptops lost or stolen over the previous 28 months, but he said the bureau had done too little to address the problem.

Once again, how can we ever trust an agency to keep track of criminals and terrorists when they cannot even keep track of their own equipment. These bastards treat every American citizen with suspicion yet, in a very dangerous irony, it becomes they who we need to be watching. Frankly, I think all police agencies suffer from a nasty case of arrogance. Then again, maybe it's a blessing they really are as stupid as they appear. The downside of stupid government is that it becomes a horrible mix of cruelty and unchecked power. If only police agencies kept as good a handle on their weapons as they do our reading material. Fucking fascists!

CHICAGO (AP) - Office nappers now have the perfect excuse: New research shows that a little midday snooze seems to reduce the risk of fatal heart problems, especially among men.In the largest study to date on the health effects of napping, researchers tracked 23,681 healthy Greek adults for an average of about six years. Those who napped for about half an hour at least three times weekly had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from heart attacks or other heart problems than those who did not nap.

Save this article for your boss when you are caught, once again, asleep at your desk. The study also showed, though did not publicize, that people who never wasted time going to work or killing themselves for the greed of others had a 90% lower chance of heart disease. I sneak off in the summer months into the warehouse for a ten or fifteen minute nap. I simply set the alarm clock on the cell phone and doze off. That little power-nap is a lifesaver and gets me energized for the balance of the day. I suspect the boss knows and says nothing. I am not sleeping 'on' the job, I am sleeping 'for' it!

(AFP) Chimpanzees from West Africa were cracking nuts open using stone tools in prehistoric times, according to a study that suggests some chimp populations may have been using this kind of tool technology for thousands of years. Researchers have speculated that the tool-using behaviour seen in some chimp populations might stretch back to ancient times, and this study provides the first solid proof to support that theory. The evidence comes from the world's only known prehistoric chimpanzee settlement in the Tai rainforest of Ivory Coast.

Chimps have now evolved beyond hammer wielding nutcrackers and transformed into the Bush Administration. Yet, the hammer hasn't been forgotten. As Mark Twain remarked "To the man with a hammer, the whole world appears as nails." The sudden demise of this hammering chimp tool-culture apparently coincided with an increased outsourcing of hammer production and importation of low wage nutcracking labor from neighboring jungles.

Peace!