All these years, and I still had no idea why St. Blaise’s day is celebrated today by blessing throats. So I looked on Google. It’s because on his way to being beheaded, St. Blaise (an Armenian physician) is said to have healed a kid with a fish bone stuck in his throat. (His own throat wasn’t in very good shape after that, though.)
Russia may be the only country in the world where people take these questions this seriously.
Russian stabbed to death for preferring prose to poetry (via AFP)
A dispute between two Russians over the respective merits of poetry and prose ended up with one of them, a former teacher, stabbing his friend to death, investigators said Wednesday. The two friends were having a drinking session in the city of Irbit…
See, I still can’t do this!
I think about this sometimes. So many people using donor eggs, in-vitro fertilization — so many people who will be biologically related to each other and won’t even know it!
Where the astrologers showed up to worship the baby Jesus! Sitting here waiting for my epiphany, so far haven’t got one. Guess I’ll take the decorations down instead.
What if we are really in a “Matrix”-like simulation? (via Pando Daily)
By Adam L. Penenberg On December 30, 2013 Even in a “lost year for tech” there have been great gains, as John Gruber at Daring Fireball points out. For one, smartphones have become commodities, and more than 1.5 billion people worldwide tote full…
Who hasn’t thought of doing this?
The guy sounds desperate. This being America, he’s probably right — the publicity will probably net him a job:
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) – December 1, 2013 (WPVI) — A 29-year-old Minnesota man who says he was trying to spread holiday cheer by tossing 1,000 dollar bills over an upper floor railing at the Mall of America has been cited for disorderly conduct.
Serge Vorobyov, of Apple Valley, admitted throwing his “last $1,000” from the fourth floor on Friday as a choir performed “Let it Snow.” Vorobyov said he also kept tossing cash as he continued down the escalator.
Vorobyov said he’s going through a divorce, lost his car hauling business and hoped the positivity of throwing the money would come back to him.
“I wanted to do some sort of pay it forward kind of thing,” Vorobyov said Sunday.
He invited his estranged wife to try to win her back but she didn’t show up, he said.
Instead, Vorobyov was cited by Bloomington police and released at the scene. He also was ordered not to go into the mall for a year.
Vorobyov had stamped the bills with his YouTube address and on his Facebook page he called the event a publicity stunt. When asked why he wanted the publicity, he said he wanted his cat back from his estranged wife.
Mall of America spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said it’s the first time anyone has ever done something like that in the mall. She said Vorobyov disrupted the performance and could’ve caused a serious situation.
I’v actually wondered why potatoes are sold in such huge bags. Now I know!
Pennsylvania potato farmers across the state are cheering in unison for state Sen. David Argall this week.
Senator, this spud’s for you.
The state is one step closer to liberating potato sales from long held weight restrictions on the sale of taters. Currently, potatoes can only be sold in in bags that total less than three pounds or in exact weights of three, five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50 or multiples of 100 pounds.
That’s right: It’s illegal to sell potatoes in quantities that equal say four pounds, or seven, or 22.
Following the state House’s approval to lift the weight restrictions by a vote of 197-0 on Thursday, it’s apparent that lawmakers aren’t teetering on tubers and Argall declared Pennsylvania “one step closer to repealing this obsolete restriction and allowing the market to dictate potato packaging.”
An Amtrak train en route to New York City from Harrisburg made a wrong turn last week and got lost in the Philadelphia suburbs, officials say.
According to CBS’ Philadelphia affiliate, the train left Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, apparently missed a signal and accidentally wound up on tracks used by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
The train, with 130 passengers on board, stopped at a train station in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., where local crews helped the crew return to Philadelphia. Passengers were put on a different train and arrived in New York several hours later.
