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In quite possibly the best news I have heard this year, Civilization 5 is slated to be released this Fall. Based on a new game engine, Civ 5 will feature a revolutionary hexagonal tile layout. Despite having my spirit crushed by the latest installments of my beloved SimCity and Railroad Tycoon franchises, I'm hopeful Civ 5 will stay true to form.

While "Iraqi officials reacted with fury" after this brazen fucking scam was shut down, the devices are still being used.

Previously.

Update: Here's a longer BBC report.

A development group has proposed building a male counterpart to the Statue of Liberty in Charleston Harbor.

The LA doctor who assaulted two cyclists with his car was sentenced to five in prison years today. While the previous link shows the doctor crying (presumably) at his sentencing, this article has a nice photo of the damage caused to his car by one cyclist's head.

In another recent high profile driver versus cyclist road rage case, the Asheville firefighter who shot at a cyclist--missing his head by less than an inch--received a four month sentence.

It is inevitable as we approach the end of the year there will many lists summarizing nearly everything. From here you can find several lists of this and that... a perfectly good waste of time.

A brewery has launched a low alcohol beer called Nanny State after being branded irresponsible for creating the UK's "strongest beer".
[...]
BrewDog founder James Watt explained on his blog: "Anyone who knows BrewDog, knows beer, or anyone has more common sense than a common (or garden) gnome will know that the scathing and unrelenting criticism we faced was pretty unjustified. If logic serves the same people who witch-hunted and publicly slated us should now offer us heartfelt support and public congratulations."
[...]
Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said of the new Nanny State beer: "This is a positive move which proves that low strength doesn't compromise quality.

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CNN anchor and Beijing correspondent John Vause was filming in Tiananmen Square, Beijing when he suddenly encountered a man holding an umbrella who won't step away from his cameraman's lens.

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And he's only 29 years old. A search for Desmond Hatchett on knoxnews turns up only one result: a birth announcement.

News followups rarely get any better than this:

A former mafia hitman turned informant looks like he may lose his federal protection in the witness protection program over a calzone. Joey Calco, the man who made a name for himself when he turned on the Bonanno crime family and ratted out consigliere Anthony Spero in 2001, has been living in Florida and running a pizza place under the name Joseph Milano. When he was arrested last month after being caught on tape beating down and pistol-whipping customers at Goomba's pizzeria who complained about a calzone, a Daytona paper matched his new identity to the man known as "Crazy Joe" as part of the "Bath Avenue Crew."

From Time Trumpet, clips of which I've been watching on youtube all day

Colin "look, I'm holding a vial of anthrax" Powell endorsed Obama today and in that interview also said the following quote (which doesn't appear to be getting much news coverage )

So I'm reading now that the gas shortage has spread from Nashville to east TN and parts of GA and NC. So what's it like back home? Are people rioting yet? Has the horse-drawn buggy made a comeback? Burning Fulmer effigies to stay warm?

No word on shortages here in southeast SC. Purely status quo as far as I can see. Well, except that temperatures have dropped into the 60s these last couple of days, and the natives are freezing...

A Memphis crack TV news team "discovered" that a porn video was shot in a local suburb's public park.

Photo of the recent eruption of Chile's Chaitén volcano. (More photos)