The SmodSquad Pod - Episode 6 - A SmodSquad XXXmas

We hope you enjoy a special 2 hour edition of the SmodSquad Pod but first I'd like to wish a happy holiday season to Kevin, Jay, Jen, Jordan, James, Meghan, Alan, Mike, Ming and all the SIR Crew. Without you there wouldn't be this podcast assembled by this ragtag group of misfits.

All the best of the season to Tyson, Jenn, Sean and Angelo: The Squad! I may be a taskmaster at times but your hard work and time does not go unappreciated. Here's to more in the New Year!

Finally, to the rest of the SMod Squad out there. Thanks for listening! Happy Life Day, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Festivus or whatever crazy fucked up thing you do at this time of year. We'll see you in 2012 as we all await the rapture!

Regards,
The Bus Driver

PS: This podcast closes with a special holiday tune from Courage My Love. Thanks to the band and Nicole for allowing us to end the show with a kick ass version of Do You Hear What I Hear? NET PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THIS SONG WILL BE DONATED TO WWW.WARCHILD.CA. Please donate to a worthy cause.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 6

In 2011, the Smodcast Internet Radio network was formed by a group of online broadcasting entrepreneurs lead by Kevin Smith. In the weeks to come shows like Plus One Per Diem, Jay and Silent Bob Get Old and Tell 'em Steve Dave attracted a loyal following. Coming from all walks of life and spanning the globe these people download, Tweet and inform . They are musicians and artists. They are programmers and clerks. Most of all, they are fans. These are the men and women of...The Smod Squad.

Beginning with a special Christmas Carol and ending with a new holiday tune by Courage My Love the Squad is stuffing your stocking for a very merry XXXmas podcast. In Epiosde 6 they sit by the fire, sip egg nog and warmly reminisce over Christmases of yore. Nawww, fuck that! We got gay robot elves, douchebag Santas, piss races and sploshing. The Squad puts their naughty spin on a Rankin/Bass classic, play odd Christmas songs and discuss hookers, Aspergers and Justin Bieber. SIR Fan and exhibitionist missbetty9 joins us to ring in the holidays right: naked and with a Hitachi Magic Wand! To all a good night!

Kev and Co. have the SIN Bin...we've got the SMosh Pit! Here's some linky-links to what we talked about this week:

-Baby It's Cold Outside
-@missbetty9
-The Partridge Family
-Coffee Talk with Linda Richman
-Thunder Punch He-man
-Atari 2600.com
-She-Ra: Princess of Power
-Tom Waits
-Gremlins (1984)
-HOLLYWOOD BABBLE-ON #64
-Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
-Girl threatens to kill Santa and cook his reindeer if he doesn’t deliver Justin Bieber on Christmas
-Kim Jong Il: Death of a Dictator
-Team America: World Police (2004)
-Thunderbirds (TV series)
-Leslie Nielsen
-Rankin/Bass
-Blazing Saddles (1974)
-Frankie Laine
-Labyrinth (1986)
-Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
-Hitachi Magic Wand
-Christy Canyon
-The Three Stooges
-Escort Ad Says Bring Toy For Charity, Get Extra Hour
-Wet and messy fetishism
-Bad Santa at Logan Hyperdome taunts family of autistic, Aspergers children
-Justin Bieber Ft. Busta Rhymes - Little Drummer Boy
-JASON AND THE STRAP-TONES - I Found The Brains Of Santa Claus
-Dr. Demento
-"Weird Al" Yankovic - Christmas At Ground Zero
-Weird Al Yankovic - The Night Santa Went Crazy
-Bob and Doug Sing 12 Days of Christmas

The Bus Stop will be back with new updates on January 2nd. To cap the year off here's a little video I did up to the tune of Christmastime is Here.

Bus Stops - December 23

School bus driver leaves a legacy of service (TBO) 

(Kandi Burnham was raised on school buses. Her grandmother drove a bright yellow bus for the Hillsborough school district for six years. Then her mother and two aunts got behind the wheel. Burnham and her sister and brother grew up playing inside the mammoth vehicles parked in the front yard of their rural east Hillsborough County home. With the engine off, of course.)

Police: Shooting outside Lansing bus station leaves 31-year-old man dead; suspect sought (The Republic) 

(Police say a shooting outside a Lansing bus station has left a 31-year-old man dead. The Lansing State Journal reports (http://on.lsj.com/rDUE1X) the man was shot Tuesday afternoon outside the Capital Area Transportation Authority facility. He has been identified as Desmond Dorris. Police say it's not clear what sparked the shooting. A suspect is being sought.)

Kids Safe After School Bus Crash (WPTZ) 

(Vermont State Police say there were no injuries when a school bus carrying children slid down an icy hill and came to rest with the front section of the bus hanging over a guardrail above a brook. Police say that 21-year-old Corey Vincelette was driving the bus at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday when he lost control of the Fairfax town bus. At the time, it was raining and the road was iced over.)

Girl Swept Away in Indian Ocean Tsunami Shows Up 7 Years Later (Fox News) 

(An eight-year-old girl who was swept away in the Indian Ocean tsunami has been found alive -- almost seven years to the day the giant wave hit her Indonesian village, Antara news agency reported Thursday. The 15-year-old, known as Wati, was feared dead after she was separated from her mother and two siblings when the devastating tsunami engulfed Ujong Baroh, in West Aceh, the day after Christmas in 2004.)

Chloe Boyce, 9-Year-Old Girl, Stranded For Five Hours Over Southwest Mix-Up (Huffington Post) 

(A 9-year-old Tennessee girl heading to New York City to spend Christmas with her grandparents was left stranded in the Baltimore airport for five hours. Chloe Boyce, of Clarksville, was put on a Southwest flight by her mother, Elena Kerr, on Tuesday, to New York's LaGuardia airport with scheduled stops in Columbus and Baltimore, Nashville's WKRN reports. She was supposed to be picked up by her aunt and cousin at the airport, but when Boyce didn't deplane when the flight arrived at LaGuardia, her frantic aunt called Kerr, asking, "Were you going to call and tell me she was going to be late?")

Vader takes on 'Hitler' in historical rap battle (CNN) 

(It's not every day that you see actors portraying Darth Vader and Adolf Hitler battle it out, in rhyming form. On YouTube, however, it has now happened twice. Nice Peter (Peter Alexis Shukoff) and EpicLLOYD (Lloyd Ahlquist) have been delivering these "Epic Rap Battles of History" for more than a year now on YouTube, and the start of their new "season" of rap battles sees a rematch between Vader and Hitler, the first of which received well over 45 million views. (Warning: All these videos include strong language that might be offensive to some viewers). Thus far, Nice Peter and "Epic Rap Battles' " YouTube accounts have a grand total of 360 million page views.)

Girls get probation in feces-frosted cake prank (Philly Burbs) 

(I've tasted some crappy cakes in my day, but nothing like the cake four Avon Grove High School students from Avondale gave to a classmate last March, which featured a feces-based frosting. According to this Delco Times story, Mayra Flores, 19, Ana Mireles, 18, and Sandra Ortiz, 18, along with a fourth student - a juvenile - gave the cake to a fellow female student and kept trying to get her to eat a piece of it in front of them, which the girl eventually did.)

Busty model caught with cocaine implants at Rome airport (Asia One) 

(Italian airport police eyeing up a busty Spanish model's curves made a startling discovery on Wednesday -- 2.5 kilograms of pure cocaine stashed as implants in her bust and backside. The 33-year-old woman arriving in Rome from Sao Paulo in Brazil was wearing tight-fitting clothes to enhance her voluptuousness, hoping that her looks might distract the attention of border police, ANSA news agency reported.)

Man Discovers 100-Year-Old Letter to Santa Written By His Mother (My Fox NY) 

(An Irish man received an early Christmas present Wednesday -- discovering that a 100-year-old letter to Santa found at a house in Dublin was written by his mother. Victor Bartlem's mother, Hannah "Annie" Howard, wrote the letter before Christmas 1911, when she was 10 years old, the Irish Times reported.)

US man wins Lamborghini, crashes it hours later (AP) 

(A truck driver who won a Lamborghini worth about $300,000 in a convenience store contest crashed the sports car six hours after he got it, and he now plans to sell the 640-horsepower convertible because he can't afford the insurance or taxes. "I already had offers on it. I'm going to sell it," David Dopp said Wednesday. "I have bills more important than a Lamborghini. I've got a family to support." Dopp, a 34-year-old truck driver for Frito-Lay, spun out of control just a few hours after taking the keys to the Murcielago Roadster that he won in a "Joe Schmo to Lambo" contest sponsored by Maverik convenience stores.)

Mobile Mayor Sam Jones holds intruder at gunpoint; man says God sent him (AL.com) 

(Mobile Mayor Sam Jones held an intruder at gunpoint Tuesday night until police arrived, after the Mississippi man broke into his garage, officials said. James Harvey Wilkerson, 47, was arrested and charged with third-degree burglary and breaking and entering into a vehicle. Wilkerson is from Moss Point, according to an address given by police.)

Naked, roaring man arrested after sleeping in stranger's home (Bozeman Daily) 

(A 31-year-old Bozeman man was arrested on suspicion of sleeping naked in a Dier Lane garage and then roaring at officers trying to capture him. Thomas Lehman Manley was arrested Tuesday on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing, resisting arrest and obstructing an officer. He was initially ordered held in the Gallatin County jail on $855 bond.)

Girl Scouts' Inclusion Of Bobby Montoya, 7-Year-Old Transgender Child, Prompts Troops To Disband (Huffington Post) 

(A Colorado-based Girl Scouts troop's decision to admit a 7-year-old transgender child this fall has prompted three leaders to resign and dissolve their troops. As The Christian Post is reporting, all three of the troop leaders were affiliated with the Northlake Christian School in Covington, Louisiana. Susan Bryant-Snure, one of the leaders who resigned, told The Baptist Press that the Girl Scouts' action is "extremely confusing" and an "almost dangerous situation" for children. "This goes against what we [Northlake Christian School] believe," said Bryant-Snure, who has three daughters among the 25 girls who had been active scouts there.)

‘Ninja Cow’ beguiles Nebraska town (Yahoo) 

(It didn't happen overnight, but residents of Plattsmouth, Nebraska have finally outsmarted a deceptive, wayward bovine known as the "Ninja Cow." "It sounded like hoofs on the pavement, and by the time I could focus on it, all I could see was the rear end of whatever it was," local computer programmer Kevin Moon told the Wall Street Journal. Wayward livestock can pose serious threats to human and other animals. Even a small deer can destroy a car, seriously injuring the occupants in a collision. Still, for months, the Ninja Cow eluded police and locals, making late night appearances on private lawns, leaving behind only cowpies as evidence of its existence.)

‘See ‘Jay & Silent Bob Get Old’ in Edinburgh (Prunderground) 

(Catch cult American film maker Kevin Smith and movie star sidekick Jason Mews as they bring their ‘Jay and Silent Bob Get Old’ show across the pond to Edinburgh. The pair are known around the globe as their alter egos Jay and Silent Bob who feature in films such as ‘Clerks’, ‘Mallrats’ and their own feature film, ‘Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’, but are actually childhood friends who have created a live show/podcast around tales from their early days.)

Breakthrough in Treatment to Prevent Blindness (Xenophilia) 

(A UCSF study shows a popular treatment for a potentially blinding eye infection is just as effective if given every six months versus annually. This randomized study on trachoma, the leading cause of infection-caused blindness in the world, could potentially treat twice the number of patients using the same amount of medication. “The idea is we can do more with less,” said Bruce Gaynor, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Francis I. Proctor Foundation for Research in Ophthalmology. “We are trying to get as much out of the medicine as we can because of the cost and the repercussions of mass treatments.”)

Scientists Invent Painless Dental Filling Process—Uses Plasma Toothbrush (Gizmodo) 

(Rejoice! Scientists at the University of Missouri have invented a way to apply fillings that is completely painless. It uses a new plasma brush that disinfects and cleans out cavities, killing bacterias and forming a better bond for the fillings. And it does it in less than 30 seconds! According to the scientists, "the chemical reactions involved with the plasma brush actually change the surface of the tooth, which allows for a strong and robust bonding with the filling material.")

Is Fear of Divorce Keeping People From Getting Married? (Time) 

(Marriage, it is sometimes argued, is a feminist institution, put in place to offer legal protection to women from being abandoned by men who wish to sow their seed in ever greener pastures. It’s a slightly antique (and misandrous) view, formulated at a time when home and hearth were a woman’s horizons. Plus, as a new study suggests, it is often women, rather than men, who view marriage as a trap.)

Oil Spill Off Nigeria Likely Worst in Decade (Time) 

(An oil spill near the coast of Nigeria is likely the worst to hit those waters in a decade, a government official said Thursday, as slicks from the Royal Dutch Shell PLC spill approached the southern shoreline. The slick from Shell's Bonga field has affected 115 miles of ocean near Nigeria's coast, Peter Idabor, who leads the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, told The Associated Press. Idabor said officials expect the slick to reach beaches in Rivers state by Thursday afternoon.)

Boxer Mayweather Gets 90 Days for Battery (Time) 

(Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to reduced battery domestic violence and harassment charges before a Las Vegas judge. The 34-year-old Mayweather also was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and pay a $2,500 fine.)

N Korea Cites Mysterious Glow Just Before Kim Death (Salone) 

(North Korea says a fierce snowstorm paused and the sky began glowing red above sacred Mount Paektu just minutes before leader Kim Jong Il’s death. State media say the ice on volcanic Lake Chon at the mountain in the far north cracked with a load roar.)

Bus Stops - December 22

Former NH bus driver faces new abuse charges (Boston.com) 

(A former New Hampshire school bus driver already indicted on federal charges involving the sexual exploitation of children has been indicted by the state on 15 new charges alleging he sexually abused a local child and filmed the incidents on a school bus. When he was arrested in September, 45-year-old John Allen Wright of Milton was a driver for special needs children in Kittery, Maine, Rochester and other areas.)

Manhunt continues for shooter in bus station killing (Lansing State) 

(A potential suspect in a fatal shooting at the downtown Lansing bus station was taken into custody Tuesday evening after police say he fired a gun at them while he fled. But Lansing police Capt. Ray Hall said later Tuesday he questions whether the man is the suspect wanted in connection with the bus station shooting. Police were continuing to search for the man who shot and killed a 31-year-old Lansing man outside the Capital Area Transportation Authority facility at about 3:30 p.m.)

Scare for people on Regina bus when man believed to have gun utters threats (CP) 

(People on a Regina bus had some tense moments when a man believed to have a gun was talking about harming people. But the man didn't have a weapon and police arrested him without incident. Lara Guzik with the Regina police says they got the call about 11:30 a.m. and were able to track down the bus. The No. 13 bus stopped at 12th Avenue and Smith Street just a block north of City Hall and police stopped traffic. No one was injured in the incident.)

Prosecutors approve arrest of school bus driver responsible for accident killing 15 students (Xinhau Net) 

(Prosecutors in east China's Fengxian county, Jiangsu province, have approved of the arrest of the school bus driver responsible for a road accident that left 15 students dead and another eight injured. The People's Procuratorate of Fengxian County approved of the arrest of Hong Xu, the 30-year-old driver of the school bus that was carrying 29 students when it veered into a roadside ditch and overturned, killing 15 students and injuring eight others. Hong's improper operation caused the accident, according to local prosecutors.)

Kardashians accused of using slave labor (Mercury News) 

(We're happy to report that the Kardashians are in today's news. Whew - it was feeling like we didn't have any air there for a while. Today's big story is a claim that the family turns a blind eye toward the slave-labor conditions used to produce some of their merchandise, according to TMZ. A human rights group is investigating claims that Chinese workers as young as 16 are working in squalid conditions to manufacture merchandise for the K-Dash by Kardashian label, the Kris Jenner Kollection and ShoeDazzle, according to a Star Magazine investigation.)

Santa Delivers! Returning Soldier Surprises Her Kids At Mall (WTAE) 

(Army Reserve Capt. Dawn McCracken-Bruce spent nine months in Iraq and Kuwait. Husband Scott took their sons, Dominic, 4, and Tyson, 2, to see Santa Claus at the Mall at Robinson so they could tell him what they wanted for Christmas -- their mom -- and that's when she showed up and surprised them. After the emotional reunion, she got a surprise herself when the band from alma mater Chartiers Valley High School played the national anthem.)

Boy disciplined after waving gun-shaped pizza slice (WKRN) 

(For the rest of the semester, a Rutherford County elementary student has to eat lunch at the "silent table" for allegedly waving around a slice of pizza some say resembled a gun. Nicholas Taylor attends David Youree Elementary School in Smyrna, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. School leaders say the 10-year-old threatened other students at his lunch table with a piece of pizza with bites out of it so it looked like a gun and when asked about it was initially not truthful.)

Woman danced naked as corpse lay on sofa (News AU) 

(SWEDISH police searching for a missing man found his rotting corpse on a woman's sofa - as she danced naked around her apartment. The dead man was reported missing in September but the unnamed 52-year-old woman, who he was known to spend time with, told police she did not know where he was, the Aftonbladet newspaper reported overnight.)

Cocaine found on nine out of 10 public baby changing tables (SF Gate) 

(Attention cocaine users of the world: Parents everywhere would like you to know that changing tables are generally covered in baby poop, and we’d appreciate it if you’d think of that the next time you’re looking for a place to snort a line. According to an informal study out of the United Kingdom, 92 percent of the more than 100 public changing tables were coated with trace amounts of cocaine.)

Brazilian baby 'born healthy with two heads (Daily Mail) 

(A Brazilian woman who has given birth to a baby with two heads, admitted she had initially expected twins. Maria de Nazare, gave birth by caesarean at a hospital in Anajas, in Brazil's northern Para state, with her newborn weighing 9.9lbs. And in a tribute to the religious celebrations at Christmas, she has decided to call the pair Emanoel and Jesus.)

China tells off "Batman" star Bale for "creating news" (Reuters) 

(China slammed Hollywood actor and "Batman" star Christian Bale on Wednesday for "creating news" after he was roughed up by security guards as he attempted to visit a blind legal activist whose detention has sparked a domestic and international outcry. Bale and a camera crew from CNN were last week jostled by men in plainclothes in Dongshigu village in eastern Shandong province, where activist Chen Guangcheng has been under house arrest for 15 months.)

Batman fans struggling to hear Bane (UKPA) 

(Christopher Nolan is reportedly unperturbed by fans' complaints that they cannot understand villain Bane in The Dark Knight trailer. The first trailer for the highly-anticipated Batman movie arrived online this week along with a Dark Knight prologue screened ahead of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol in Imax cinemas. But the film blogs and Twitter are abuzz with complaints from viewers claiming they can't understand what Bane, played by Tom Hardy, is saying. Bane's super-power comes from a drug that he continuously inhales. The trailer shows him wearing a mask that covers his nose and mouth, muffling his speech.)

Canadian-developed HIV vaccine approved for human testing (The Globe and Mail) 

(Researchers at the University of Western Ontario announced Tuesday that they are beginning clinical trials next month for the first HIV vaccine being developed in Canada, using a groundbreaking technique that relies on the entire virus. Preliminary toxicology tests show that the vaccine, SAV001, can produce strong immune responses, said the team lead by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang, a professor of virology at UWO’s medical school.)

Scientists say Turin Shroud is supernatural (Independent UK) 

(Italian government scientists have claimed to have discovered evidence that a supernatural event formed the image on the Turin Shroud, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. After years of work trying to replicate the colouring on the shroud, a similar image has been created by the scientists.)

Earth Has a Second Moon, Astronomers Say (Gizmodo) 

(In a research paper called "The population of natural Earth satellites", astronomers say that Earth has a second moon at any given time. While these moons are small, the scientific implications of this discovery are phenomenal. Think about it: instead of having to send crews to asteroids, now we know that they come to us—they orbit Earth and we can intercept them to learn more about the origins of our solar system. All with a small price tag.)

Talking Twin Babies, Nyan Cat among YouTube's top videos of 2011 (LA Times) 

(Citizens of the Internet: We salute you. Your taste in YouTube videos is, for the most part, awesome. On Tuesday, YouTube published its annual list of its most watched videos. If you haven't watched them yet, we suggest you carve out 20 minutes of your day today to see the videos the world Facebooked, tweeted, emailed and watched with co-workers this year. It's a pretty big spread, from a talking dog listening jealously to stories of the meat his owner just ate, to a Volkswagen commercial starring a little Darth Vader, to two kids covering a song by Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes.)

Twitter Reveals When We're Happiest (Live Science) 

(They may be short but the 140-character messages posted on Twitter can tell researchers something about the state of mind of English-speakers around the world. Using values assigned to words contained in 4.6 billion messages, also known as tweets, posted from Sept. 9, 2008, to Sept. 18, 2011, researchers were able to track how levels of happiness rose and subsided.)

Mystery buyer acquires vatican.xxx web address (Odd News) 

(The Vatican said on Wednesday an unknown buyer had snapped up the internet address vatican.xxx, a domain combining its name with an extension reserved for pornographic content. "This domain is not available because it has been acquired by someone else, but not the Vatican," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Vatican radio. It was not clear from his statement if the Vatican had tried to acquire the domain in order to prevent future misuse and had been beaten to the punch by the unknown buyer.)

A Brief History of Eggnog (Time) 

(Eggnog really makes you wonder: How did humans first think chugging a spiced and spiked egg-yolk-and-milk mixture was a good idea? It’s a bit like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast: “Now that I’m grown, I eat five dozen eggs, so I’m roughly the size of a barge!” Yet despite its “love it or hate it” fame, eggnog has charmed drinkers for nearly a millennium. While culinary historians debate its exact lineage, most agree eggnog originated from the early medieval Britain “posset,” a hot, milky, ale-like drink. By the 13th century, monks were known to drink a posset with eggs and figs. Milk, eggs, and sherry were foods of the wealthy, so eggnog was often used in toasts to prosperity and good health.)

Japan Releases 40-Years Nuke Cleanup Plan (Time) 

(Japan released a lengthy roadmap Wednesday to clean up and fully decommission a nuclear plant that went into meltdown after it was struck by a huge tsunami, a process the government said would take as many as 40 years. Nuclear crisis minister Goshi Hosono acknowledged that decommissioning three wrecked reactors plus spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was an "unprecedented project," and that the process was not "totally foreseeable.")

Bus Stops - December 21

‘That bus is her life’ (The Telegram) 

(It’s doubtful there’s anyone on Bell Island with a ride as sweet as Nichole Lahey’s. The 21-year-old Wabana resident sports around the community in a grey 1998 Chevrolet 3,500 Series bus tricked out with her picture on its licence plate and “Nichole’s Ride” written in big gold letters on the front and back.)

London bus workers demanding extra money for working the Olympics (Coach Broker) 

(London bus workers are demanding an extra £500 each for working over the Olympic Games this summer. The union, Unite have written a letter on behalf of the 28,000 workers who say they should be paid £500 extra because their buses will be extremely busy during the three weeks while the Olympics Games is in the capital.)

SMRT suspends bus driver as coma victim's condition worsens (Channel News Asia) 

(Bus operator SMRT has suspended the driver who was said to have braked abruptly and caused a passenger to fall on Sunday. The victim, 54-year-old Madam Ding Weibo, has since slipped into a coma and her condition has apparently worsened. Mdm Ding's husband, Mr You Bujia, said: "There are now complications with her lungs, and she has started to develop a fever. Her urinary tract is also infected. Her brain has also started to swell, so that's not good news. When my daughter heard the news, she almost fainted.")

Aide accused of leaving 3-year-old on bus for 5 hours (Miami Herald) 

(A Hillsborough County school aide left a 3-year-old with special needs unattended on a school bus for five hours Friday before the little girl was discovered, authorities said.Sarah Thomas, 61, of Riverview was arrested Monday and faces a child neglect charge. She also was fired.She was working as a caregiver for students on a school bus Friday when the 3-year-old girl boarded the bus in Seffner about 7:20 a.m., sheriff's deputies said.)

Vision of Jesus... or just a colourful imagination? Mother who melted toddler's crayons discovers wax image of Christ (Daily Mail) 

(A woman who prayed for a sign from Jesus got a little more than she bargained for when his image emerged out of some melted crayons. Tara Gomez and her son put a few colourful sticks in the oven as part of an arts and crafts project they wanted to try out. After cooling the mixture in the freezer, Ms Gomez was startled to discover Jesus's face had emerged out of the swirling pattern at her home in Blue Springs, Missouri.)

Man says he drove 225 miles with dead wife (MSNBC) 

(A 71-year-old Canadian man told authorities he drove about 225 miles with his dead wife next to him after she fell ill and passed away in the car while the couple were vacationing, the Wenatchee World reports. The man, whose name was not released, said his 75-year-old wife began suffering from a medical condition while the couple were on vacation in Oregon, Tonasket Police Chief Robert Burks said. They started to head home to Oliver, British Columbia, but she died near Pasco, in south-central Washington state, Burks said.)

Vince is world's shortest firefighter (The Sun UK) 

(DWARF Vince Brasco is the world's smallest firefighter at just 4ft 2in tall. The 19-year-old has been manning the hoses at a station in Pittsburgh, USA, for your years. Tough Vince works out to keep fit for the demanding role and can bench press more than three times his 6st 3lb body weight.)

Tucson teen shot in penis with BB gun (AZ Star Net) 

(A 15-year-old Tucson boy has "significant" injuries after a friend shot him in the penis with a BB gun Monday morning. The two boys were playing with BB guns on the northwest side and the shooting was accidental, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a spokeswoman for the Pima County Sheriff's Department. Crews from Mountain Vista Fire District responded to the call near West Cortaro Farms and North Shannon roads, said Capt. Grant Cesarek a spokesman for the department. The teen was taken to University of Arizona Medical Center with injuries Cesarek said described as significant, but not life-threatening.)

Swallowed pen still works 25 years later (MSNBC) 

(The pen is said to be mightier than the sword. But an unusual case report has shown that a pen may be mightier than stomach acid. The case, which appeared in the British Medical Journal Case Reports, described a 76- year-old British woman sent to a GI specialist because of weight loss and diarrhea.)

Shower blunder left blondes with hair green (Newslite) 

(A group of Swedish blondes have been left with green hair after a problem with the showers in new homes in Anderslöv. When the blondes saw their hair take a turn for the green it was thought that water supplies to the homes could have high copper levels. But after tests were conducted it was discovered that the water delivered to the houses was fine, but that copper levels shot up overnight.)

Dutch Television Hosts to Eat Each Other’s Flesh on Live TV (oddity Central) 

(It’s crazy what people will do on TV for ratings. Now , TV hosts on a Dutch channel are going to eat each other. Literally. Just to see what human flesh tastes like. This might just be the first time cannibalism is broadcast on Live TV. Guinea Pigs is a show on the Dutch TV channel, BNN. Valerio Zeno and Dennis Storm, the hosts, are going to have their flesh extracted surgically from their sides and buttocks. And then the meat will be served to each of them. Gross!)

Japan's former 'Batman' captain retires (AFP) 

(Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japan's captain at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, announced his retirement Monday to take up a course to become a sports executive, in a bid to lift the status of Japanese football. The 34-year-old defender, who played for Austria's Salzburg in 2007 and 2008, said he would retire by turning down offers from several sides including his current J-League club Kobe Vissel and a team in Thailand for next season.)

Skin Factorys Baby Donors (German Herald) 

(A secret laboratory growing new human skin from baby foreskins has been hailed a medical breakthrough by scientists at Europe's biggest research organisation. The process - dubbed the Skin Factory at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart, Germany - takes cells from foreskins donated to the project and grows swatches of skin for use in testing cosmetics and other consumer products.Its creators claim that one day their process could replace all animal testing, explained project spokesman Andreas Traube.)

Can Loving a Robot Lead to Divorce? (Huffington Post) 

(A secret laboratory growing new human skin from baby foreskins has been hailed a medical breakthrough by scientists at Europe's biggest research organisation. The process - dubbed the Skin Factory at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart, Germany - takes cells from foreskins donated to the project and grows swatches of skin for use in testing cosmetics and other consumer products.Its creators claim that one day their process could replace all animal testing, explained project spokesman Andreas Traube.)

Bus Stops - December 20

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Bus Stops - December 19

Batteries stolen from Van Dyke buses, classes canceled (WXYZ) 

(Van Dyke Public Schools were closed Friday due to battery thefts from school buses. They say 14 buses had batteries stolen, there are three batteries for each bus. "These are people who knew what they were doing," says Superintendent Joe Pius. However, he says the thieves actually did them a favor. "They actually didn't cut the cables which would have cost us more money. They actually unbolted every single one of the batteries," says Pius.)

I won’t sit at the back of the bus (Y NET NEWS) 

(Until yesterday, I was sure that I live in a free country. I was certain that a person’s dignity and freedom are supreme values in our diverse society. Indeed, there are calls against one group or another, but people, whoever they are, regardless of religion, creed or gender, will be respected, because this is the kind of society I grew up in. These are the values I learned.)

4 juveniles in custody after attack on bus (JS Online) 

(Sheriff's deputies have taken four 12- to 14-year-olds into custody in connection with an attack on a 24-year-old mother on a Milwaukee County bus. The juveniles were taken into custody Friday, and the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department recommended felony charges of battery to a transit passenger, the Sheriff's Department said Saturday. Two other juveniles were taken into custody Thursday. The detention of the juveniles comes as assaults at bus stops and in Milwaukee County Transit buses have been gaining more attention.)

Box office report: 'Sherlock Holmes' tops ho-hum weekend with $40 mil (Entertainment Weekly) 

(Hollywood’s autumn blues continued as the box office trailed 2010 for the fourth week in a row. Thanks to the surprisingly soft debuts of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, this weekend’s top dozen movies earned about 13 percent less than last year’s. Luckily, next week brings us The Adventures of Tintin, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, We Bought a Zoo, and the wide expansion of Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol. If those movies can’t lift the business out of the gutter, then Hollywood better start revising its New Year’s resolutions.)

Matt Damon turns into Damon Claus for his cause (CBS) 

(Matt Damon dons a Santa suit and transforms into Damon Claus to promote the gift of clean water for his foundation Water.org. The kids piling up onto Damon Claus' lap ask to meet Justin Bieber or want a Darth Vader mask for Christmas, but Damon suggests a Water.org water bottle instead. The kids don't take that option so well.)

Toddlers’ ‘Twinkle sign’ ban (Sun UK) 

(TODDLERS have been banned from making a sign while singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star — because it could be offensive to the deaf. The gesture, which children use when singing "like a diamond in the sky", is similar to "vagina" in sign language. Parents at the Sure Start mother and toddler group in Acomb, North Yorks, slammed the move.)

Tomas Bautista accused of having sex with roommate's 3-year-old Chihuahua (WPTV) 

(An Oakland Park man accused of getting a little too friendly with his roommate's 3-year-old Chihuahua mix is due in court Friday morning to face an animal cruelty charge. Tomas Bautista, 40, was arrested in February after his roommate found him passed out with his pants down in the backyard of their home on the 300 block of Northwest 42 Street, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. The dog, Mimi, had just let out a loud yelp and was running from Bautista when the roommate went outside to investigate.)

Bad Santa at Logan Hyperdome taunts family of autistic, Aspergers children (NEWS AU) 

(MEETING Santa Claus for the first time was meant to be a jolly experience for Cameron Sleeth, 6. But the excitement of meeting St Nicholas turned into a nightmare his mother wishes she could forget.)

Even the Grinch can't top this: Mrs. Claus sacked from Las Cruces mall for 'bad publicity' (LCSUN) 

(It's been quite the blue Christmas for Mrs. Claus. First, her trusty Subaru SUV was stolen Saturday from the Mesilla Valley Mall while Claus - a.k.a. Gail Larkin, who plays the jolly queen of the north - was presiding over a Santa Breakfast for area kids. Then, this morning, just a day after the story about the theft was published in the Sun-News, she was fired by Candy Allen, who has been general manager at the mall since 1998.)

Oh no! Gifts are gone after mom of three puts $700 worth of Christmas presents in wrong car (WXYZ) 

(An Ypsilanti mother of three can't blame the Grinch for stealing $700 worth of Christmas presents. Linda Gipson gave them away accidentally by putting them into the trunk of a gray Ford Focus that looked just like hers. It happened yesterday at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi in aisle ten outside Macy's at about 3:00 p.m. Halfway through her shopping spree, Linda dropped off some gifts.)

Louisiana warns of brain-eating parasite in tap water (RAW Story) 

(Officials in Louisiana warned this week that a brain-eating parasite known as Naegleria fowleri might survive in some of the state’s tap water, cautioning that if residents use the common cold remedy known as a neti pot, they should thoroughly boil their water first. Neti pots work by injecting a hot water/salt solution into users’ sinuses, flushing out mucus and clearing the nasal passages. Although Naegleria fowleri is most commonly found in pond water, lakes and rivers, officials said that two people in Mississippi recently fell victim to to the amoeba, seemingly after they used tap water in their neti pots. The two male victims, both killed by their infection, were ages 20 and 51.)

Baby, baby, baby, no: Pay up or be forced to listen to Justin Bieber (Sun Times) 

(For someone who isn’t a fan of teen idol Justin Bieber, being forced to listen to one of his songs over and over again could be considered cruel and unusual punishment. At Evanston Township High School this week, they called it a fund-raiser. To motivate their fellow students to donate money for a struggling cafe/arts center popular with ETHS kids, seniors Charlotte Runzel and Jesse Chatz persuaded administrators to let them blast Bieber’s hit “Baby” over the school’s loudspeaker system at the end of each class period — and not stop playing the song until Runzel and Chatz had met their goal.)

Two Santas get into holiday dust-up at North Van pub (Vancouver Sun) 

(Two Santas may have drunk a little too much eggnog at a North Vancouver pub last night. Two men in full Santa garb got into a fight with another man and fled – it is unknown whether a sleigh was involved – after police were called. The fight happened around 11 p.m. at the Rusty Gull Pub in Lonsdale. When police arrived they found one man with minor injuries after suffering from one of Santa’s haymakers.)

George Herrera, Curfew-Breaking Teen, Gets Stuck In Stockton Chimney (Huffington Post) 

(A California teenager has learned the hard way that he's no Santa Claus. The Stockton Record reports 18-year-old George Herrera got stuck in a chimney while trying to sneak into his house Thursday. Art Ray of the Stockton Fire Department says the teen was breaking curfew and trying to get inside his home.)

Pop teen beats Steve Jobs in Google's 2011 popularity contest (The Register) 

(Google has acknowledged the global dominance of arch-rivals Apple as the Chocolate Factory's 2011 Zeitgeist chart shows Apple placed not just once but three times in the internet popularity contest. Measuring the fastest rising search terms by popularity, the Zeitgeist charts track topics that got Google's global users into search frenzies in 2011.)

Last U.S. Troops Leave Iraq as War Ends (Time) 

(The last U.S. soldiers rolled out of Iraq across the border to neighboring Kuwait at daybreak Sunday, whooping, fist bumping and hugging each other in a burst of joy and relief. Their exit marked the end of a bitterly divisive war that raged for nearly nine years and left Iraq shattered, with troubling questions lingering over whether the Arab nation will remain a steadfast U.S. ally.)