MercuryNews.com | 12/31/2005 | Dave Barry’s year in review

a California jury acquits Michael Jackson on all charges of everything, including any crimes he may or may not commit in the future. “We simply felt that the prosecution did not prove its case,” states the jury foreman, Robert Blake. Jackson announces that he no longer feels welcome in the United States and will move to another dimension.

In disturbing medical news, a new study of 1,000 Americans finds that obesity in the United States has gotten so bad that there actually were, upon closer scrutiny, only 600 Americans involved in the study.

Dave sure has an interesting take on what happened this fine year… check it out!

WSJ.com - Many Americans Still Believe Hussein Had Links to al Qaeda

Sizeable minorities of Americans still believe Saddam Hussein had “strong links to al Qaeda,” a Harris Interactive poll shows, though the number has fallen substantially this year.

About 22% of U.S. adults believe Mr. Hussein helped plan 9/11, the poll shows, and 26% believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded. Another 24% believe several of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis, according to the online poll of 1,961 adults.

However, all of these beliefs have declined since February of this year, when 64% of those polled believed Mr. Hussein had strong links to al Qaeda and 46% said Mr. Hussein helped plan 9/11. At that time, more than a third said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and 44% said several of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis.

As awful as that sounds, at least it’s an improvement…

Instant Notoriety for a Rap Video From Saturday Night Live - New York Times

On the evening of Dec. 12, the four wrote a song about “two guys rapping about very lame, sensitive stuff,” as Mr. Samberg described it. They recorded it the following night in the office Mr. Samberg shares with Mr. Schaffer and Mr. Taccone at “SNL,” using a laptop computer that Mr. Taccone bought on Craigslist.

Then, while their colleagues were rehearsing and rewriting that Saturday’s show, the group spent the morning of Dec. 15 shooting their video with a borrowed camera, using the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Chelsea to stand in for a multiplex cinema and Mr. Taccone’s girlfriend’s sister to play a convenience-store clerk. Mr. Schaffer spent the next night - and morning - editing the video and working with technicians to bring it up to broadcast standards. Finally, at about 11 p.m. on Dec. 17, the four learned from Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of “SNL,” that “Lazy Sunday” would be shown on that night’s show.

Talk about a compressed timeline!

Phew! I drove 240 miles today. I never realized Stockton was so far!

I have new found respect for my former coworker who used to commute 4 days a week from Stockton.

Some fliers fly extra to keep elite status - Yahoo! News

Thousands of U.S. road warriors this month are making “mileage runs” - year-end air trips for the sole purpose of retaining their elite status in frequent-flier programs.

But some big airlines are quietly allowing good customers to buy the last miles they need to secure their preferred status through 2006.

Among the deals:

• No. 1 American has notified some of its AAdvantage frequent-flier program members that they can buy the extra miles to boost them to Platinum or Executive Platinum membership. The fee is $499 or $599, depending on miles already flown this year.

Click the link to read more. Woot! Mileage runs!

Would you go on one?

HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - Treo 700W Launch/Info/Reviews…………………………

Well as you guys already know from my past info the 700W is expected to launch on 01-05-06 to all channels. The 700W will be a much sought after device that will give you the compatibility of a Windows based device with the form factor of a Treo. Well enjoy folks.

Well, that’s what the rumor mill is saying… very interesting.

This article I saw today cracks me up - because it is so true. Let’s just say that where I lived, there was a Kosher Chinese restauarant:

Chinese Food Popular During the Holidays - Yahoo! News

- It’s not exactly chestnuts roasting on an open fire. But for many people, Moo Goo Gai Pan or maybe even the Pu Pu Platter are traditional dishes for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and throughout the holidays, Chinese restaurants do some of their briskest business of the year.

“As the years went on, we became busier and busier during the holidays,” said Stanley Wong, whose family has owned the Kowloon restaurant in Saugus for more than a half century.

Jewish customers account for much of Wong’s business this time of year. Chinese food has long been a popular destination for Jews on Christmas, when few other restaurants are open.

“Chinese restaurants, Asian-owned restaurants, those owners tended to be the only folks who didn’t have Christmas, too,” said Rabbi David Kay of Congregation Ohev Shalom in Orlando, Fla.

[snip]

Actually, in college I took a course called the “Anthropology of Food” (one the best classese I took at Hopkins) and among the many things I learned was that there is a very long and intertwined relationship between Jews and Chinese Food in American history. Fascinating stuff.

An interesting video about India, hosted by Thomas Friedman (you know, the World Is Flat guy):