Pat’s Picks: July 27

Written by Pat's Papers | UPDATED: Tuesday, 27 July 2010 10:44 AM

The stories on Pat’s Picks are evolving throughout the morning as we make our final selections. At about Noon ET we lock down the list and send out our free e-mail summary.

Fight Right to Save Your Marriage

Fight Right to Save Your Marriage

According to the Wall Street Journal, it’s not about whether we fight with our spouses—it’s about how we fight with them. Experts say that couples who grow used to criticizing each other, rolling their eyes at each other or leaving a room to end an argument are the ones that end up getting divorced.

 
BP Chief Shipped Off to Siberia

BP Chief Shipped Off to Siberia

You really can’t make it up any better than this: The New York Post reports that Tony Hayward will resign as CEO this fall to run BP’s Siberian business. Yes, that right. But he’s not exactly going into exile. Under a great photo of Hayward hiding from onlookers, the Post says he’ll receive “millions in severance and pension payments” to take the job in Siberia.

 
New Jersey Launches Campaign to Fix Soiled Image

New Jersey Launches Campaign to Fix Soiled Image

The “Jersey Shore” juggernaut has gotten so out of control that it’s prompted the launch of an official face-saving campaign says the Philadelphia Inquirer. Called “Jersey Doesn’t Stink,” it’s attempt to reclaim the Garden State’s maligned public image, one that, according to historians, has been ridiculed since colonial times.

 
Kings of Leon ‘Pigeongate’ Blamed on One Bird

Kings of Leon ‘Pigeongate’ Blamed on One Bird

I guess Kings of Leon should be happy it’s not a widespread sentiment in the pigeon community. According to Verizon, it was one rogue bird that caused “pigeongate.” The band abruptly stopped their show in St. Louis last Friday after complaining that they were being showered with guano says the Post-Dispatch. The band’s bassist claims the last straw was when some of the pigeon poop got into his mouth. VIDEO

 
Cup of Cat Poo Coffee

Cup of Cat Poo Coffee

It costs $30 a cup and tastes like crap. But it’s supposed to says the New York Daily News. “Cat poo coffee,” otherwise known as “Kopi Luwak,” is made from beans that are eaten and then excreted by small cat-like mammals called civets. In Indonesia and the Philippines, it’s considered a delicacy. VIDEO

 
Continental Airlines Tests Self-Boarding

Continental Airlines Tests Self-Boarding

Continental is the first US airline to try “self-boarding,” reports USA Today. It’s really not that big a change, but passengers at the airline’s hub in Houston are now scanning their own boarding passes at a turnstiles before walking down the ramp to their flight. The newspaper says it’s similar to what riders do when swiping their Metrocard on the New York City subway.

 
Photo Catches Willis Ave. Bridge Passing Under Brooklyn Bridge

Photo Catches Willis Ave. Bridge Passing Under Brooklyn Bridge

There was a spectacular Associated Press photo picked up in several of the papers this morning. It’s of a replacement for the Willis Avenue Bridge being moved to its new home. The New York Post says the 300-plus foot structure passed under both the Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridges as it made its way (slowly) uptown on the East River.

 
Iowa Lake Dries Up Virtually Over Night

Iowa Lake Dries Up Virtually Over Night

Imagine living on a lake and then waking up one day to find it’s disappeared. About 900 homes ring Lake Delhi and until yesterday, they all shared spectacular views of the 450-acre lake in Eastern Iowa. Over the weekend a dam broke, sending water levels plummeting. The New York Times says only two days later, all that’s left is a nine-mile track of mud.

 
Country’s Oldest Farm For Sale

Country’s Oldest Farm For Sale

For 378 years, it’s been passed down from generation to generation. Until now. The Boston Globe says the country’s oldest working family farm is up for sale in New Hampshire. Tuttle Farms’ current owner says he hasn’t turned a profit since the recession. According to federal estimates, 41 million acres of American farmland have been lost since 1982.

 
The Uncool Side of Air Conditioning

The Uncool Side of Air Conditioning

If you’re watching your weight, you may want to turn off your air conditioner.  The Star Tribune says living in air conditioning can affect a person’s ability to burn calories. And a new book on the subject says that by spending most of your time in air conditioning, your body actually becomes less able to deal with hot temperatures. In 1960, only 12 percent of American homes had AC. Now, it’s 85 percent.

 
Jailbreaking iPhones Now Legal

Jailbreaking iPhones Now Legal

About 4 million iPhones and other Apple devices have already been altered to run on systems other than AT&T’s network; the LA Times says T Mobile has authorized so many iPhones it now offers technical support for them. But now, it’s actually legal to jailbreak your iPhone.

 
Official Party Crashers

Official Party Crashers

They’re state-sanctioned party crashers. The Las Vegas Review-Journal says the police department has created a special unit to deal with teen parties. Officials claim the task force is necessary because teens have gotten so good at planning alcohol-laden events. One technique to elude the authorities is to send out a fake address via text. When partygoers arrive, they pay a fee and are given the real address.

 
Family Tries for 100 Days on Whole-Foods Diet

Family Tries for 100 Days on Whole-Foods Diet

My kids are pretty healthy eaters but like many parents I can’t imagine a world with no Goldfish on hand. The Charlotte Observer profiles one family that’s put themselves on a strict whole-foods diet. For 100 days, they are saying no to “refined sugars, fast food, deep-fried foods or refined grains.” And at day 62, the family says many of their kids health problems have vanished, as has 10 pounds from around dad’s waist.

 
Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is so good at what he does that it’s easy to chalk up his ability to some otherworldly phenomenon. But a highly detailed article in today’s Washington Post says the real reason the 22-year-old is so good is that he’s “a genius at moving energy through his body, never making a motion too early or too late, never creating an angle in his body that’s too acute or obtuse.”

 
Don’t Paint a Bird in Michigan

Don’t Paint a Bird in Michigan

Don’t try throwing a snowball in Michigan. Avoid using a white cane in public, unless you’re blind. And whatever you do, refrain from painting any birds to sell later as a parakeet.  The Detroit Free Press says it can be funny to look at the old laws still on the books. Funny, until they’re actually enforced. The paper talks to a man who received a ticket for violating a 100-year-old obscene speech law after he fell out of his canoe.

 

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