02 Dec 2009
Internet and journos fertilise scrotum-ripping drug panic

The headline alone demanded a post, but this may also be considered as indicative of the general silliness of modern civilization.

Google just returned me 4390 hits for mephedrone scrotum.

Durham police are finding out the hard way about the power of the internet to mislead, distort and amplify, as a relatively measured warning about a legal high gallops towards Snopesian urban myth status as the tale of a drug that makes you rip your bollocks off with your bare hands.

(link) [The Register]

20:57 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Rural America more prosperous than expected

Insanity. These fellows need to take a road trip outside Urbana-Champaign once in a while. Or perhaps just learn how to set criteria for their studies correctly. It's tough to have a high dropout rate when you don't have any kids. It's tough to have income inequality when better than half your citizens are on Social Security.

For many people "rural" is synonymous with low incomes, limited economic opportunity, and poor schools. However, a recent study at the University of Illinois found that much of rural America is actually prosperous, particularly in the Midwest and Plains.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

20:38 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link