Bits n Pieces

Just a few things that piqued my interest this week.

1. Google goes dark - Google users would have noticed that they "turned the lights out" on the Google.com homepage as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. How many of you out there heard the message?

2. The Pregnant Man - when I first heard of this I was hoping that this was going to start a trend as I think men should have equal opportunities to experience the delights we women share (just jesting you serious people). However it wasn't that straightforward after all - find out how it happened as reported on the Huffington Post.

3. Want to work out what volume of traffic your favourite sites get (or your competition for that matter)? Just go to Trafficestimate. com and key in whatever site you want to know about. It's kind of interesting and scary at the same time. For example, I checked a few of the 'big blogger' sites. The volume Perez Hilton gets is just astounding. Um, this site doesn't rate a mention, apparently my relatives don't bring me that much traffic.........

4. I know that you want to know how to find an easy way to cut your ferret's toenails or how to put a condom on properly or how to hide a key effectively or even how to have a beer in the shower without it getting wet. Seriously, along with these must haves, there is a lot of great information on a site called Instructionals - the world's biggest DIY and How to show & tell site . The site is not the most sophisticated of designs, but there are some useful tips on here if you are willing to search for them.

5. Well the week doesn't go past without lots of political stories which we now just shrug our shoulders about. However, there was one simple line of text that caught my eye and left me speechless. Vice President Dick 'Haliburton' Cheney was asked about the Iraq war US military casualty numbers which are now 4,000. He said that these soldiers were volunteers and knew the risks. Therefore, without saying it, does he want us to believe these deaths are acceptable because these soldiers 'volunteered' and therefore understood the consequences? I see it a bit differently. They were not aware of the real risks were they, because they were deceived. They were conned into protecting their countries with a whole bunch of lies. Many of these soldiers from low socio economic areas were enticed to go to War with the promises of great things and a whole bunch of slick marketing. They get to go to war to eat McDonalds plus risk their lives. Just like home

Cheney sounds like just another Sociopath to me. Seriously. If we cannot believe the Governments paid to serve us what hope is there in the World? He is excusing these deaths in the same way that - a murderer may say his victim is to blame because everyone knows the dangers in going out alone at night, or a rapist who says that his victim asked for it, or the Internet fraudster who says that his victim shouldn't have been hanging around the Internet believing his lies, or the abusive spouse who claims that their partner is to blame because they shouldn't express their opinion. Or the big corporate players who lie to their shareholders then claim the stakeholders should have known better when the company collapses. Sophisticated Con Artists that's all a core band of our politicians are. Preying on vulnerable people. No consciences. They are no different, in this context then any other criminal but a whole lot more evil because of the sheer global impact of their crimes. And yet they will not be the ones paying for their crimes. End of rant.

6. To finish up on a more positive note here are some highlights from the Best of China Fashion Week. All our clothes seem to be made in China these days so its good to know what they are designing for themselves. Not sure I have the figure that can wear these clothes but they certainly are different from the Paris catwalks and lots of fun. Click here