Ancient Olympic competitions tested not only athletic skills but creative, intellectual, and rhetorical powers, as well. Poetry, music, and eloquence were just three of the “events” contested at the ancient Games.*

The modern-day Games are supposedly devoted to testing athletic prowess exclusively, though many surprising events have found their way onto the Olympic docket, primarily in the earliest Games – in Athens in 1896, Paris in 1900, St. Louis in 1904, and Athens again, site of the Interim Olympic Games in 1906. The following events have since been removed from the Olympic program, often after one appearance and usually with good reason.

• Live pigeon shooting (1900). This is the only event in Olympic history in which animals were killed intentionally. Leon de Lunden of Belgium won the gold medal, with 21 birds killed, one more than Frenchman Maurice Faure bagged.

• A 100m freestyle swim that was open only to members of the Greek navy (1896).

More found HERE.

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Pavement drawings…

This man is awesome! Go to his page NOW (click on the graphic to enter and see his work)

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Goodbye, IQ Tests: Brain Imaging Predicts Intelligence Levels – Slashdot.

Hong Kong chokes under ‘worst’ air pollution.

The one that got away – higher temperatures change predator-prey relations.

Study finds link between women in power, sexual harassment.

New chemical sensor makes finding landmines and buried IEDs easier.

Eleven Year Old Kid Shows That Modern Airport Security Is Not As Secure A You Think | Techdirt.

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Now this is true!

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Mike Malloy goes bonkers over Americans flocking to support Chick-fil-A. Seriously bonkers. And I loved it!

CONTENT WARNING – OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com – a few more appreciation days and the entire “progressive” left may implode

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The intolerant left knows no bounds. Jonathan Capehart, a writer for the Washington Post and MSNBC contributor, says that Chick-fil-A wants to do harm to gay people, both socially and legislatively, and advises other intolerant lefties on-air to BULLY anyone affiliated with Chick-fil-A so they’ll put pressure on Chick-fil-A:

Via Townhall.

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Geesh….someone should find out why this crap happens! And fire everyone who authorized these payments!

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service may have delivered more than $5 billion in refund checks to identity thieves who filed fraudulent tax returns for 2011, Treasury Department investigators said Thursday. They estimate another $21 billion could make its way to ID thieves’ pockets over the next five years.

The IRS is detecting far fewer fraudulent tax refund claims than actually occur, according to a government audit that warned the widespread problem could undermine public trust in the U.S. tax system. Although the IRS detected about 940,000 fraudulent returns for last year claiming $6.5 billion in refunds, there were potentially another 1.5 million undetected cases of thieves seeking refunds after assuming the identity of a dead person, child or someone else who normally wouldn’t file a tax return.

In one example, investigators found a single address in Lansing, Mich., that was used to file 2,137 separate tax returns. The IRS issued more than $3.3 million in refunds to that address. Three addresses in Florida, the epicenter of the identity theft crisis, filed more than 500 returns totaling more than $1 million in refunds for each address.

In another troubling scenario, hundreds of refunds were deposited into the same bank account — a red flag for investigators searching for ID thieves who may be filing for refunds for multiple people. In one instance, the IRS deposited 590 refunds totaling more than $900,000 into one account.

“We found multiple reasons for the IRS’s inability to detect billions of dollars in fraud,” J. Russell George, the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration, in a statement. “At a time when every dollar counts, these results are extremely troubling.”

Topping the list of concerns is the IRS’s lack of timely access to third-party information it needs to verify returns and root out fraud.

Many Americans are struggling to pay their bills and the IRS takes pride in processing returns and issuing refunds promptly. But taxpayers can start filing their returns in mid-January, while employers and financial institutions don’t have to submit withholding and income documents for taxpayers to the IRS until the end of March. That means the IRS often issues refunds long before it can confirm the veracity of what’s listed on taxpayer returns.

Thieves are also exploiting vulnerabilities in the way the IRS delivers refunds, investigators found. Of the 1.5 million undetected cases of potential fraud, 1.2 million used direct deposits, including pre-loaded debit cards. Thieves often prefer those methods to a paper check, which require a physical address to receive the check and photo ID matching the taxpayer’s name to cash it.

IRS officials said the growth of identity theft-related fraud is one of its biggest challenges. Already this year, the agency has stopped almost $12 billion in confirmed fraud, it says. And it says its criminal investigators are actively pursuing those who perpetrate fraud — including the previously undetected cases identified by the audit.

“If the IRS determines a refund has been issued improperly, we will attempt to recoup the funds,” said IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge.

But IRS officials disputed the notion that $21 billion in fraudulent returns could be issued over the next five years, arguing that the estimate didn’t take into account the IRS’s stepped-up compliance and prevention efforts.

“We’re going to continue to monitor the IRS in this area until we see some improvement,” Michael McKenney, the acting deputy inspector general for audit, told The Associated Press.

Investigators went back through a sample of the 1.5 billion undetected cases to see why the IRS never flagged them as fraudulent. In 49 of 60 returns, investigators said, the return didn’t score high enough on the IRS’s fraud filter to merit a closer review. In eight of the 11 cases where the IRS did perform an additional review, it never verified the income and withholding on the return.

http://news.yahoo.com/irs-missing-billions-id-theft-164707999.html

Repeal the 16th amendment and get rid of the IRS.

From HERE.

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1954 Buick Wildcat II Concept

Written by Bill Bowman

The 1954 Buick Wildcat II concept, designed by Harley Earl’s design team, made its public debut at the 1954 General Motors Motorama in New York City. Built of fiberglass and mounted on a 100-inch wheelbase, the 1954 Wildcat featured radical new front fender styling that exposed the underside of the fender and the chrome plated front-end suspension. The fenders were lined with large chrome panels containing air scoop louvers. Buick Skylark wire wheels were used.

The car was only 170-inches long and 35-inches high at the cowl. Headlamps were mounted on the cowl with parking and directional signal lights on the front end underneath the fender shroud. Bumpers were shaped with two big torpedo-like guards; know in those days as “Dagmar” bumper guards, a name taken after a sexy celebrity with a good size bosom.

Wildcat II was powered with a standard 322 C.I.D. V8 engine boosted to 220 horsepower through the use of four carburetors.

Originally the car was painted a bright blue with a white leather interior but later was repainted dark tan with a two-tone tan leather interior. The Wildcat II now resides at the Alfred P. Sloan Museum in Flint, Michigan where it was restored to its original bright blue finish.

The 1954 Wildcat II was the second of three concept cars introduced in consecutive years to wear the Wildcat badge.

Source: history.gmheritagecenter.com | seriouswheels.com | carstyling.ru

(they should bring this car back and put it on sale. I would buy one!)

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Two great actors!

Yul & Steve in The Magnificent Seven, 1960

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WTF????

Taxpayers lost $833 million over the last decade on the food and beverages supplied by Amtrak, which managed to spend $1.70 for every dollar that received in revenue.

“Over the last ten years, these losses have amounted to a staggering $833.8 million,” said Rep.John Mica, R-Fla., in a statement previewing a House hearing today.  “It costs passengers $9.50 to buy a cheeseburger on Amtrak, but the cost to taxpayers is $16.15.  Riders pay $2.00 for a Pepsi, but each of these sodas costs the U.S. Treasury $3.40.”

Amazon.com is currently selling 24-packs of 12 ounce Pepsi cans for $8.94 — which averages to about 75 cents per can.

more

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Found HERE.

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And down in Houston, Texas we have this:

David Wheaton, 49, refused to pull over for cops on a highway in Houston yesterday morning, instead leading them on a low-speed, rather adorable car chase.

Driving a Smart Cabriolet that looks like a Blackberry charger, Wheaton led cops along highways around western and northern Houston, at one point reaching 92 mph, the official limit for the micro-vehicle. Eventually Wheaton drove all the way to his driveway, where police arrested him without fuss.

Police say Wheaton was charged with evading arrest and his third driving while intoxicated offense.

While a smart car may seem like an unlikely fit for a heavy drinker who weighs “about 240 lbs,” as his neighbor estimated, it may have seemed like a perfect fit to Wheaton, a morning drinker with two DUIs who wanted to draw as little negative attention as possible on the highways. A smart car driver always seems like a goody-two-shoes; until he’s being chased down the highway at 92 mph. Then he just seems like misbehaving six year-old in a rogue bumper car.

From HERE.

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Take a peek at the Kennedy Space Center with Google Street View.

Meet the guys who build robotic, taxidermy deers that are used by cops to track down those that hunt illegally.

From Quora: What facts about the United States do foreigners not believe until they come to America? Too funny.

Yes, Olympic swimmers pee in the pool.

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POV footage of the WORLD’S FASTEST ROLLER COASTER! 149 MPH in 4 seconds! Located at Ferrai World in Abu Dhabi.

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Need More Reasons To Realize The MSM Sucks?

Wednesday was Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, and Americans flocked to the fast food restaurant in response to criticism of COO Dan Cathy’s opposition to same-sex marriage (as well as threats from the mayors of some major cities). The photos of long lines and traffic jams reveal the extent of the restaurant’s support–for some it’s about traditional values and for others it’s about freedom of religious exercise and speech in the face of government intimidation. There are even rumors that Chick-fil-A set a new world record for sales in a single day, though the company has yet to release any sales numbers.

But you wouldn’t know anything about the national phenomenon by reading the front pages of most of the country’s leading newspapers

HERE

Found HERE.

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“There is an explosion waiting to happen in this country. People are fed up, and this is a sign,” he said. “I’ll tell you what’s gonna happen on November 6th. Obama’s gonna get Chick-fil-A’d himself.”

He being Rush Limbaugh.

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