No, it isn't the Weekly World News

Feeling Sexy? It Could Be Your Cat:

Want to make a special someone purr? Maybe you should give her a cat.

A study has shown that domestic cats infected with a parasite called toxoplasma gondii can actually alter the personalities of their human owners, turning women into “sex kittens" and men into “alley cats.”

“We found they [the infected women] were more easygoing, more warm-hearted, had more friends and cared more about how they looked. However, they were also less trustworthy and had more relationships with men,” Dr. Jaroslav Flegr, who conducted the study at Charles University in Prague, told London’s Sunday Times newspaper.

Here, kitty, kitty.

But there's a down side.

Infected men, on the other hand, became more aggressive, less well-groomed, undesirable loners who were more likely to be suspicious and jealous.

“They tended to dislike following rules,” Flegr told the Times.

Ruh Oh!

And while I haven't read the full study, the article's description makes it look like another instance where the researchers should have remembered that "correlation is not causation". Another doctor quoted later in the article says much the same thing.

It seems to be Zell Miller day

Once upon a time, the most successful Democratic leader of them all, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, looked south and said, "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished."

Today our national Democratic leaders look south and say, "I see one-third of a nation and it can go to hell."

From his book A National Party No More which is being excerpted in the Washington Times.

One liner time

Senator Zell Miller (D-Ga) weighs in on Pander Boy, Howie Dean:

Sen. Zell Miller (Ga.), speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," said yesterday that Dean "knows about as much about the South as a hog knows about Sunday."

Tinfoil beanie time!

Venezuela's Chavez Warns Costa Rica on 'Coup Plot':

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on Sunday accused Costa Rican government officials of backing his opponents in an alleged coup plot from San Jose to topple his leftist government.

Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, in September cut off crude supplies to the Dominican Republic during a diplomatic dispute over similar vague charges Chavez made against the government of President Hipolito Mejia.

Chavez, a fiery, outspoken former army paratrooper who often denounces conspiracies against him, did not provide details about how Costa Rican officials were involved.

For his next trick, Hugo will roll on the floor and chew the carpet.

How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm?

Dot.com millionaire weds Chinese president's girl:

In a sign of the ever closer relations between power and money in the new China, the daughter of its Communist president, Hu Jintao, was reported this weekend to have married one of its new millionaire internet tycoons.

Hu Haiqing, 33, married Mao Daolin - no relation to Mao Tse-tung - in Hawaii, according to the Asian Wall Street Journal.

But the marriage was kept secret, in line with the normal practice of the leadership to reveal as little of their family lives as possible.

Oh no, a capitalist tool!

But if you think that's a tad odd, how about this?

Chinese websites report that Miss Hu studied for eight years in the United States, living under a pseudonym, and that she applied unsuccessfully for a green card.

If true, she would not be the first princeling to have studied at capitalism's heart. Deng Zhifang, the youngest son of the former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, studied at the University of Rochester and his son is a US citizen.

Mr Mao himself did a masters degree at Stanford University. Also known by his western name Daniel, he used to be chief executive of sina.com, one of three internet companies that dominates China.

He remains on the board and his net worth has been put at $61 million. Shares in Chinese dotcoms, listed on the US Nasdaq market, have been among the highest risers in the world this year.

That high pitched whine is Chairman Mao spinning in his grave.

OK, who cleans out the cab?

Amtrak train hits empty cattle truck near Malta - that's Malta, Montana:

MALTA - A westbound Amtrak train struck an empty cattle truck about five miles east of here Saturday afternoon, breaking the locomotive's windshield and flinging manure into the cab.
...
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the crash delayed the Empire Builder for two hours. Amtrak borrowed a freight locomotive from Malta to lead the train westward because of the broken windshield on the engine.

No to mention the "difficult working conditions."

Today's Hoot!

Arrogant `king' reigned over corruption, Teamsters say:

But when he and the rest of the union's chain-smoking staff moved into a new union hall in 2002, they were told by local president Charles Crawley that the building would be smoke free.

Crawley, known among the membership as "King Kong Chuck," however, didn't outlaw chewing tobacco.

The cigarette ban, along with security cameras mounted in nearly every worker's office and a new telephone system that allowed Crawley to listen undetected to anybody else's phone calls, pushed the union employees to their limit, McCormick says.

But it was Crawley's dipping habit that sent them over the edge -- and into the arms of the FBI.

"We were not allowed to smoke in the building, but it was all right for him to dip and spit into Styrofoam cups," McCormick says. "And, then, he'd leave those cups all around for us to pick up. To be honest with you, it started over smoking."

The employees shared allegations with federal and union investigators that Crawley arranged kickbacks, embezzled union funds and tampered with ballots.

Lots of hijinks by following the link, but my favorite isn't even illegal:

The new $1.7 million union hall opened on Aug. 10 last year with a brisket barbecue and national notoriety.

The Chronicle reported the day before the grand opening that nonunion construction workers built the 16,246-square-foot structure because Local 988's leadership decided union contractors cost too much.

Ruh Oh!

Typical

Poppy pins banned in case people sue:

The Royal British Legion has stopped supplying pins with its poppies because it fears compensation claims from "injured" members of the public.
...
The legion, the largest charity for ex-servicemen, sells about 30 million poppies each year to mark Remembrance Day. Traditionally, buyers get a steel pin to attach the poppy to their lapel.

IQ's must have dropped while I wasn't looking - now people can't operate pins.

I'm waiting for the NY Times to start running disclaimers on the front page - "May be hazardous if shoved up your butt". Of course, I wouldn't mind if it was verified by a clinical trial amongst the staffers.

Limousine Liberalism Alert!

Michael Moore Enjoying Corporate High Life:

Moore was flown around California aboard a private jet, reports the San Francisco Chronicle, courtesy of media mega-corporation Time Warner.

And while he wasn't enjoying the corporate high life at 30,000 feet, he was tooling around the Golden State in the kind of vehicle anti-corporate environmentalists routinely decry as public enemy No. 1 - an SUV paid for by his publisher's corporation, Warner Books.

Moore's man-of-the-people image was further dented when it was revealed that he gladly accepted the protection of several bodyguards, who helped the left-wing crusader keep the unwashed masses at bay.

Asked if his new chairman-of-the-board lifestyle meant he was being hypocritical, Moore told the Los Angeles Times that the only reason he's feeding at the corporate trough is because it's there.

"I would never pay for this," he insisted.

I guess Mikey's only receiving what he believes is due to a "man of the people". I hope they had hydraulic lifts for the plane and SUV though.

Meanwhile, being a professional environmental "activist" is a good gig too - Fat of the land:

As a grass-roots conservationist from Oregon, Jack Shipley looked forward to his visit to Washington, D.C., to promote a community-based forest management plan. But when he stepped into the national headquarters of The Wilderness Society, his excitement turned to unease.

"It was like a giant corporation," Shipley said. "Floor after floor after floor, just like Exxon or AT&T."

In San Francisco, Sierra Club board member Chad Hanson experienced a similar letdown when he showed up for a soiree at one of the city's finest hotels in 1997.

"Here I had just been elected to the largest grass-roots environmental group in the world and I am having martinis in the penthouse of the Westin St. Francis," said Hanson, an environmental activist from Pasadena. "What's wrong with this picture? It was surreal."

Soon, Hanson was calling the Sierra Club by a new name: Club Sierra.

More than you want to know by following the link. Scare tactics, telemarketing, excessive spending on fund raising, fancy parties for big donors, and fat executive salaries. The best part is that these groups are also subsidized by tax dollars. Here's the punchline:

"This is a growth industry -- a huge growth industry," said Daniel Beard, chief operating officer at the National Audubon Society. "There is a lot of wealth that has accumulated in this country over the last 20 years. And people are wanting to do good things with it."

And be sure to include extra for handling. Because they love to handle it.

Don't tell PETA!

Hello, Kitty! Cat helps cops in stand-off. Sounds like a feline Rin Tin Tin, right?

Thursday night's incident was caught on home video and shows police trying to talk with 41-year old Greg Cook.

Police say Cook threatened to shoot the officers. They were able to arrest him after tossing his cat in the air to distract him.

It appears that Fluffy didn't exactly volunteer. Follow the link for a picture of Fluffy in midair.