Stupid Canadian Link of the Day

Official Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart

50° Fahrenheit (10° C)
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
Canadians plant gardens

35° Fahrenheit (1.6° C)
Italian Cars won't start
Canadians drive with the windows down

32° Fahrenheit (0 ° C)
American water freezes
Canadian water get thicker.

0° Fahrenheit (-17.8° C)
New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.
Canadians have the last cookout of the season.

-60° Fahrenheit (-51° C)
Mt. St. Helens freezes.
Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door

-100° Fahrenheit (-73° C)
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Canadians pull down their ear flaps.

-173° Fahrenheit (-114° C)
Ethyl alcohol Freezes.
Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg.

-460° Fahrenheit (-273° C)
Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops.
Canadians start saying "cold, eh?"

-500° Fahrenheit (-295° C)
Hell freezes over.
Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

Letter from a Marine

Letter from a Marine

Dear Dad,

A funny thing happened to me yesterday at Camp Bondsteel (Bosnia): A French army officer walked up to me in the PX, and told me he thought we (Americans) were a bunch of cowboys and were going to provoke a war in Iraq. He said if such a thing happens, we wouldn't be able to count on the support of France. I told him that it didn't surprise me. Since we had come to France's rescue in World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and the Cold War, their ingratitude and jealousy was due to surface at some point in the near future anyway.

I also told him that is why France is a third-rate military power with a socialist economy and a bunch of faggots for soldiers. I additionally told him that America, being a nation of deeds and action, not words, would do whatever it had to do, and France's support was only for show anyway.

Just like in ALL NATO exercises, the US would shoulder 85% of the burden, as evidenced by the fact that this French officer was shopping in the American PX, and not the other way around.

He began to get belligerent at that point, and I told him if he would like to, I would meet him outside in front of the Burger King and whip his ass in front of the entire Multi-National Brigade East, thus demonstrating that even the smallest American had more fight in him than the average Frenchman.

He called me a barbarian cowboy and walked away in a huff. With friends like these, who needs enemies?


Tell Mom I love her.
Your loving daughter,
Mary Beth Johnson LtCol, USMC

Why not French?

An officer in the Marine Corps was attending a conference that included admirals in both the US and the French navies. At a cocktail reception, my friend found himself in a small group that included an admiral from each of the two navies. The French admiral started complaining that whereas Europeans learned many languages, Americans only learned English.

He then asked. "Why is it that we have to speak English in these conferences rather than you having to speak French?"

Without even hesitating, the American admiral replied. "Maybe it is because we arranged it so that you did not have to speak German."

The group became silent.

Hollywood 1940 vs 2003

Hollywood 1940 vs 2003

The Entertainers of 2003 have been in all of the news media lately. it seems newspaper, television and radio have been more than ready to put them and their message before the public.

I would like to remind the people of what the entertainers of 1943 were doing, (60 years ago).

Most of these brave men have since passed on.

Alec Guinness (Star Wars) operated a British Royal Navy landing
craft on D-day.

James Doohan ("Scotty" on Star Trek) landed in Normandy with
the US Army on D-day.

Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape) really was a RAF pilot who
was shot down, held prisoner and tortured by the Germans.

David Niven was a Sandhurst graduate and Lt. Colonel of the
British Commandos in Normandy.

James Stewart flew 20 missions as a B-24 pilot in Europe.

Clark Gable (Mega-Movie Star when war broke out) was a waist
gunner flying missions on a B-17 in Europe.

Charlton Heston was an Army Air Corps Sergeant in Kodiak.

Ernest Borgnine was a US Navy Gunners Mate 1935-1945.

Charles Durning was a US Army Ranger at Normandy.

Charles Bronson was a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps.

George C. Scott was a US Marine.

Eddie Albert (Green Acres TV) was awarded a Bronze Star for his
heroic action as a US Naval officer aiding Marines at the horrific battle on the island of Tarawa in the Pacific Nov. 1943.

Brian Keith served as a Marine rear gunner in several actions against the Japanese on Rabal in the Pacific.

Lee Marvin was a Marine on Saipan when he was wounded. He served with a fellow Marine we came to know later as Captain Kangaroo a.k.a. Bob Keeshan.

John Russell was a Marine on Guadalcanal.

Robert Ryan was a US Marine who served with the O. S. S. in Yugoslavia.

Tyrone Power (an established movie star when Pearl Harbor was bombed)
joined the Marines, was a pilot flying supplies into, and wounded Marines out of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Audie Murphy, little guy from Texas, Most Decorated serviceman of WWII.

I wish I had room to tell you more about Actor Sterling Hayden and an
actor by the name of Peter J. Ortiz (Twelve O'clock High, Rio Grande and The Wings of Eagles), but this would turn into a book.

There is quite a huge gap between the heroics and patriotism in 1943 and the cowardly despicable posturing of the Hollywood crowd of today . . . many of which smack of sedition and treason.

Useful Military Warnings

Useful Military Warnings

"Aim towards the Enemy."
- Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher

"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend."
- U.S. Army

"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are guaranteed to always hit the ground."
- U.S.A.F. Ammo Troop

"If the enemy is in range, so are you."
- Infantry Journal

"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit."
- Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.

"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed."
- U.S. Air Force Manual

"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo."
- Infantry Journal

"Tracers work both ways."
- U.S. Army Ordnance

"Five-second fuses only last three seconds."
- Infantry Journal

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid."
- Col. David Hackworth

"If your attack is going too well, you're probably walking into an ambush."
- Infantry Journal

"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection."
- Joe Gay

"Any ship can be a minesweeper ... once."
- Anon

"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do."
- Unknown Army Recruit

"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you."
- Your Buddies

(And lastly) "If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him."
-- U.S.A. Ammo

How to survive a Nuclear War -Survival Skills

Here is something everybody should read at least once, you never know....

The Reality Clock Site

The Reality Clock offers a broad range of real-time statistics that reflect the issues facing society and the world today, from the most serious to the mundane and the absurd.

Phyllis Diller Injures Head, Neck in Fall

LOS ANGELES - Comedian Phyllis Diller injured her head and neck after falling out of bed at her Brentwood mansion, her manager said Thursday.

"She has a big bruise on her forehead," Milt Suchin said. "I think she blacked out. ... She just awoke and a housekeeper came in and found her on the floor."

Diller, 87, was hospitalized after the accident early Monday, Suchin said. She was undergoing diagnostic tests, including tests on her pacemaker that was inserted in 1999.


Diller recently released a book about her life called "Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse."

Cojocaru Discusses Transplant on Oprah

A Law Dogs Would Write, if They Were Lawyers...

ROME (Reuters) - Dog owners in Turin will be fined up to 500 euros ($650) if they don't walk their pets at least three times a day, under a new law from the city's council.



People will also be banned from dyeing their pets' fur or "any form of animal mutilation" for merely aesthetic motives such as docking dogs' tails, under the law about to be passed in the northern Italian city.

"In Turin it will be illegal to turn one's dog into a ridiculous fluffy toy," the city's La Stampa daily reported.


Italians can already be fined up to 10,000 euros and spend a year in prison if found guilty of torturing or abandoning their pets, but Turin's new rules go into much greater detail.


Dogs may be led for walks by people on bicycles, the rules say, "but not in a way that would tire the animal too much."

Italy considers itself an animal-loving nation and in many cities stray cats are protected by law. Still some 150,000 pet dogs and 200,000 cats are abandoned in Italy every year, according to animal rights groups.


To enforce the law, Turin police would rely largely on the help of tipsters spotting cruel treatment by their neighbors, La Stampa reported.


It said the 20-page rulebook gives Turin the most stringent animal protection rules in the country. It even bans fairgrounds from giving away goldfish in plastic bags.

Triumph -The Insult Comic Dog

the Official site of the one and only Triumph.....But of course I Keed....

>Triumph goes to Visit Jane Fonda, arrives at her house ,goes into her fancy living room, proceeds to sit on the expensive couch...."why Thank you Jane for having me in your Home it's Perfect...FOR ME TO POOP ON!!!!!

Things Only Gothics Will Have To Worry About In Old Age

• 
  

1. Children joking at funny (yet attractive) senior fashions, though hip in our times.
2. Vampire Teeth Dentures
3. The demented stories we tell our grandchildren for a cheap kick.
4. Relatives will have us commited to senior homes as disturbed individuals early on.
5. The interesting conversations with McDonalds cashiers whilst ordering Senior Citizen Discount Coffee. "In my days we actually had a rebel yell."
6. Gothics on Rascals (scooter thingys, gonna have to draw that out one day).
7. Mortician and relatives trying to figure out what was your favorite outfit.
8. Radio stations playing the classics (And now here's a blast from the past, Testure by the Skinny Puppy) as if.
9. At Halloween children will call our house "the house where the mean old witch lives."
10. Explaining what those tatoos where suppose to be. (Take pictures now)

The GOTH NET

A good place to check out, if you are thinking of going GOTH , or you are a Creature of the Night!!!!!>..oh,what beautiful music they make....

Militants Say Downed Iraq Helicopter

OMG, in the words of Starbuck: "FRACKING ANIMALS", My husband sent this to me, and he had some words too, but I'm not gonna post those here, or just use your imagination and change some letters in FRACK ,um ok...

Lists of Best-Selling Books

WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLERS



FICTION


1. "True Believer" by Nicholas Sparks (Warner Books)


2. "The Mermaid Chair" by Monk Kidd (Viking)


3. "A Stroke of Midnight" by Laurell K. Hamilton (Ballantine Books)


4. "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown (Doubleday)


5. "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" by Matthew Stover (Del Rey)


6. "Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception" by Eoin Colfer (Hyperion Miramax Books)


7. "No Place Like Home" by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster)


8. "Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment" by James Patterson (Little, Brown)


9. "Ya-Yas in Bloom" by Rebecca Wells (HarperCollins)


10. "Saturday" by Ian McEwan (Doubleday)


11. "Two-Dollar Bill" by Stuart Woods (Putnam)


12. "Honeymoon" by James Patterson, Howard Roughan (Little, Brown)


13. "Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom (Hyperion)


14. "The Broker" by John Grisham (Doubleday)


15. "With No One As Witness" by Elizabeth George (HarperCollins)





NONFICTION

1. "Winning" by Jack Welch and Suzy Welch (HarperBusiness)

2. "And One More Thing Before You Go" by Maria Shriver (Free Press)

3. "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century" by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

4. "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown)

5. "The Purpose-Driven Life" by Rick Warren (Zondervan)

6. "My Life So Far" by Jane Fonda (Random House)

7. "Slim and Sexy Forever" by Suzanne Somers (Crown)

8. "Your Best Life Now" by Joel Osteen (Warner Faith)

9. "On Bull" by Harry G. Frankfurt (Princeton University Press)

10. "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner (William Morrow)

11. "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder" by Michael Savage (Nelson Current)

12. "South Beach Diet" by Arthur Agatston, M.D. (Rodale Press)

13. "Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes" by Giada De Laurentiis (Clarkson Potter)

14. "One Solider's Story" by Bob Dole (HarperCollins)

15. "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke" by Suze Orman (Riverhead)

The Wall Street Journal's list reflects nationwide sales of hardcover books during the week ended last Saturday at more than 2,500 Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton, Bookland, Books-a-Million, Books & Co., Bookstar, Bookstop, Borders, Brentano's, Coles, Coopersmith, Doubleday, Scribners and Waldenbooks stores, as well as sales from online retailers Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

USA TODAY BESTSELLERS

Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback

1. "True Believer" by Nicholas Sparks (Warner Books) (F-H)

2. "The Purpose-Driven Life" by Rick Warren (Zondervan) (NF-H)

3. "And One More Thing Before You Go" by Maria Shriver (Free Press) (NF-H)

4. "The Mermaid Chair" by Monk Kidd (Viking) (F-H)

5. "Winning" by Jack Welch and Suzy Welch (HarperBusiness) (NF-H)

6. "A Stroke of Midnight" by Laurell K. Hamilton (Ballantine Books) (F-H)

7. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) (F-P)

8. "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century" by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) (NF-H)

9. "Star Wars Revenge of the Sith" by Matthew Woodring Stover ( Del Rey) (F-H)

10. "Nighttime Is My Time" by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster) (F-P)

11. "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown (Doubleday) (F-H)

12. "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown (Pocket Star) (F-P)

13. "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown) (NF-H)

14. "Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception" by Eoin Colfer (Hyperion Miramax Books) (F-H)

15. "No Place Like Home" by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster) (F-H)

16. "Your Best Life Now" by Joel Osteen (Warner Faith) (NF-H)

17. "My Life So Far" by Jane Fonda (Random House) (NF-H)

18. "R Is For Ricochet" by Sue Grafton (Putnam) (F-P)

19. "Full Bloom" by Janet Evanovich Charlotte Hughes (St. Martin's Paperbacks) (F-P)

20. "Blind Alley" by Iris Johansen (Bantam ) (F-P)

21. "Therapy " by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine Books) (F-P)

22. "Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment" by James Patterson (Little, Brown) (F-H)

23. "Slim and Sexy Forever" by Suzanne Somers (Crown) (NF-H)

24. "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" by Patricia C. Wrede (Scholastic) (F-P)

25. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams (Del Rey) (F-P)

26. "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square Press) (F-P)

27. "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin) (F-P)

28. "The Last Juror" by John Grisham (Dell) (F-P)

29. "The Codex" by Douglas Preston (Forge Books) (F-P)

30. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon (Vintage) (F-P)

31. "Almost a Bride" by Jane Feather (Bantam ) (F-P)

32. "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay Books) (NF-P)

33. "Ya-Yas in Bloom" by Rebecca Wells (HarperCollins)(F-H)

34. "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks (Warner Books) (F-P)

35. "Saturday" by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese) (F-H)

36. "The Paid Companion" by Amanda Quick (Putnam) (F-P)

37. "On Bull" by Harry G. Frankfurt (Princeton University Press) (NF-H)

38. "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder" by Michael Savage (Nelson Current) (NF-H)

39. "Because of Winn-Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press) (F-P)

40. "The South Beach Diet" by Arthur Agatston (Rodale) (NF-H)

41. "Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook" by Shel Silverstein (HarperCollins) (F-H)

42. "Two-Dollar Bill" by Stuart Woods (Putnam) (F-H)

43. "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary" by James Luceno (DK Publishing) (F-H)

44. "Approval Addiction: Overcoming Your Need to Please Everyone " by Joyce Meyer (Joyce Meyer Trade) (NF-H)

45. "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams (Del Rey) (F-P)

46. "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner (William Morrow) (NF-H)

47. "Deception Point" by Dan Brown (Pocket) (F-P)

48. "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom (Hyperion) (F-H)

49. "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano (Knopf) (NF-H)

50. "Honeymoon" by James Patterson, Howard Roughan (Little, Brown)(F-H)

Contributing Booksellers: Barnes & Noble Inc., Books-A-Million and Bookland, Books & Co. (Dayton, Ohio), Borders Books & Music, Bookstar, Bookstop, Brentano's, Crown Books, Davis Kidd Booksellers (Tennessee), Doubleday Book Shops, Hawley-Cooke Booksellers (Louisville), Joseph-Beth Booksellers (Lexington, Ky.; Cincinnati), Little Professor Book Centers, Powell's Books (Portland, Ore.), Ruminator Books (St. Paul, Minn.), Scribner's Bookstores, Tattered Cover Book Store (Denver), Waldenbooks, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, B. Dalton Bookseller, Barnes & Noble.com.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST SELLERS

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. "True Believer" by Nicholas Sparks (Warner Books)

2. "The Mermaid Chair" by Monk Kidd (Viking)

3. "Star Wars Revenge of the Sith" by Matthew Stover (Del Rey/LucasBooks)

4. "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown (Doubleday)

5. "A Stroke of Midnight" by Laurell K. Hamilton (Ballantine Books)

6. "No Place Like Home" by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster)

7. "Ya-Yas in Bloom" by Rebecca Wells (HarperCollins)

8. "Saturday" by Ian McEwan (Doubleday/Talese)

9. "Two-Dollar Bill" by Stuart Woods (Putnam)

10. "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom (Hyperion)

11. "Honeymoon" by James Patterson, Howard Roughan (Little, Brown)

12. "The Broker" by John Grisham (Doubleday)

13. "With No One as Witness" by Elizabeth George (HarperCollins)

14. "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer (Houghton Mifflin)

15. "The Rising: Before They Were Left Behind" by Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins (Tyndale House Publishers)

NONFICTION/GENERAL

1. "The Purpose-Driven Life" by Rick Warren (Zondervan)

2. "And One More Thing Before You Go" by Maria Shriver (Free Press)

3. "Winning" by Jack Welch and Suzy Welch (HarperBusiness)

4. "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown)

5. "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century" by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

6. "My Life So Far" by Jane Fonda (Random House)

7. "Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential" by Joel Osteen (Warner Faith)

8. "Slim and Sexy Forever" by Suzanne Somers (Crown)

9. "On Bull" by Harry G. Frankfurt (Princeton University Press)

10. "The South Beach Diet" by Arthur Agatston, M.D. (Rodale)

11. "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder" by Michael Savage (Nelson Current)

12. "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner (William Morrow)

13. "Star Wars Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary" by James Luceno, Robert E. Barnes, John Goodson, Alexander Ivanov (DK Children)

14. "Everyday Italian" by Giada De Laurentiis (Clarkson Potter)

15. "French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure" by Mireille Guiliano (Knopf)

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS

1. "Nighttime Is My Time" by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster)

2. "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown (Pocket)

3. "R Is for Ricochet" by Sue Grafton (Berkley)

4. "Therapy" by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine)

5. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams (Del Rey)

6. "Full Bloom" by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes (St. Martin's)

7. "Blind Alley" by Iris Johansen (Bantam)

8. "The Codex" by Douglas Preston (Forge)

9. "The Last Juror" by John Grisham (Dell)

10. "The Paid Companion" by Amanda Quick (Jove)

11. "Almost a Bride" by Jane Feather (Bantam)

12. "The Prince of Beverly Hills" by Stuart Woods (Putnam Publishing Group)

13. "Deception Point" by Dan Brown (Pocket)

14. "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks (Warner)

15. "Digital Fortress" by Dan Brown (St. Martin's)

TRADE PAPERBACKS

1. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead)

2. "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin)

3. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon (Vintage)

4. "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square Press)

5. "Can You Keep a Secret?" by Sophie Kinsella (The Dial Press)

6. "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay)

7. "Good Grief" by Lolly Winston (Warner)

8. "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi (Random House)

9. "The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks (Warner)

10. "Bad Cat: 244 Not-So-Pretty Kitties and Cats Gone Bad" by Jim Edgar (Workman)

11. "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger (Harcourt/Harvest)

12. "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams (Del Rey)

13. "30-Minute Get Real Meals: Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes" by Rachael Ray (Clarkson Potter)

14. "Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life" by Queen Noor (Miramax)

15. "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter (Warner)

Mo. Man Spits Tobacco Juice at Jane Fonda

Way to go Dude!

for further Fonda commentary check out "THE PICKLE" >in the links.....

Abdul says odd behavior not drug-related

Well that certainly explains a few things....

Exceptional Whale Fossil Found in Egyptian Desert

a fascinating read, have a look....

Experts Solve Mystery of Unpopped Popcorn

By RICK CALLAHAN, Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS - Eat your way to the bottom of almost any bag of popcorn and there they are: the rock-hard, jaw-rattling unpopped kernels known as old maids.

The nuisance kernels have kept many a dentist busy, but their days could be numbered: Scientists say they now know why some popcorn kernels resist popping into puffy white globes.


It's long been known that popcorn kernels must have a precise moisture level in their starchy center — about 15 percent — to explode. But Purdue University researchers found the key to a kernel's explosive success lies in the composition of its hull.


Unpopped kernels, it turns out, have leaky hulls that prevent the moisture pressure buildup needed for them to pop and lack the optimal hull structure that allows most kernels to explode.

"They're sort of like little pressure vessels that explode when the pressure reaches a certain point," said Bruce Hamaker, a Purdue professor of food chemistry. "But if too much moisture escapes, it loses its ability to pop and just sits there."


The findings may help popcorn breeders select the best varieties — or create new ones — with superior hulls that yield few, if any, unpopped kernels. But for now, there's no way to screen out potential old maids before they end up in bags of popcorn.


Hamaker and his associates compared the microwave popping performance of 14 Indiana-grown popcorn varieties and examined the crystalline structure of the translucent hulls of both the popped kernels and the duds.


In the varieties popped, the percentage of unpopped kernels ranged from 4 percent in premium brands to 47 percent in the cheaper ones.

The findings could be good news for people who savor the snack and those who grow the 17 billion quarts of popcorn sold each year in the United States.


Wendy Boersema Rappel, a spokeswoman for the Chicago-based Popcorn Board, said popcorn processors are always looking for ways to improve their product, including reducing the number of old maids.


"It's one of life's annoyances — it's not rocking anyone's world, but our members always like to improve their product," Rappel said.


Hamaker said two popcorn manufacturers have already expressed interest in Purdue's findings.


The research, funded by Purdue's Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, which Hamaker directs, has been published online and will appear in the July 11 edition of the journal BioMacromolecules.


___


On the Net:


The Popcorn Board: http://www.popcorn.org/

Geyser Microbes May Point to Mars Life - Study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A "weird" community of microbes living in a hot, acid geyser in Wyoming's Yellowstone Park may help scientists know what to look for in seeking life on Mars and elsewhere in space, researchers said on Wednesday.



They found the new species of algae and bacteria living in a green-colored layer of sandstone in Yellowstone's Norris Geyser Basin. It was not a place where one would normally expect to find life thriving, said Norman Pace of the University of Colorado at Boulder's biology department and Center for Astrobiology.


"The pores in the rocks where these creatures live has a pH value of one, which dissolves nails," Pace said in a statement.


"This is another example that life can be robust in an environment most humans view as inhospitable."


The microbes seemed to fossilize well, and perhaps researchers could compare their fossils to rocks from Mars and elsewhere to see how much they resemble one another.


One asteroid from Mars found in Antarctica is being studied extensively to see if it carries fossilized remnants of tiny bacteria.


"Remnants of these communities could serve as 'biosignatures' and provide important clues about ancient life associated with geothermal environments on Earth or elsewhere in the Solar System," the researchers wrote in their report, published in the journal Nature.


The waters of Norris Geyser Basin, one of the hottest in the world, are rich in sulfuric acid, metals and silicates.


Similar kinds of geothermal environments may once have existed on Mars. Robotic rovers are searching the planet's surface for evidence of them.


"This is the first description of these microbial communities, which may be a good diagnostic indicator of past life on Mars because of their potential for fossil preservation," said Jeffrey Walker, who helped write the study.


"The prevalence of this type of microbial life in Yellowstone means that Martian rocks associated with former hydrothermal systems may be the best hope for finding evidence of past life there," he said.


Walker said he found the new microbe community in 2003 after breaking apart a chunk of sandstone-like rock.


"I immediately noticed a distinctive green band just beneath the surface," he said. "It was one of those 'eureka' moments."


Genetic analysis determined the green band was caused by a new species of photosynthetic Cyanidium algae.


Living among them were a new species of Mycobacterium, a group of microbes best known for causing human illnesses such as tuberculosis and leprosy, Walker said.


Other species of bacteria also living in the rock, and only a few were the "extremophile" species usually found in such environments, the researchers said.


Pace described the new life forms as "pretty weird." "It may well be a new type of lichen-like symbiosis," said Pace, who won a MacArthur Fellowship, or "genius grant," in 2001.





"It resembles a lichen, but instead of being comprised of a symbiosis between a fungus and an alga, it seems to be an association of the Mycobacterium with an alga."