Island appears in Lake Michigan

by Annie Scott on

There’s a new island in Lake Michigan.

Reports vary, but the island seems to have spontaneously appeared sometime between midnight and 8am on Sunday morning. Strange features on the island include a mysterious black smoke, several underground “stations” stocked with food and supplies from the 1970’s, and a bunch of actors with DUI’s in Hawaii.

There don’t appear to be any native people on the island, but no one is sure what year it is, and there have been several mentions of “ABC location scouting” and some guy named Henry Gale from Minnesota.

Neighboring island Mackinac Island says they are unsure what to do about the appearance of said island, but that they aren’t sure what year it is there either.

TSA to pilot new service – “Ship Hazardous Items in Transit”

by Scott Carmichael on

We’ve covered all the bad things the TSA has done in recent years – but we are not always anti-TSA. When the PR agency for the TSA contacted us about a new service they are currently testing at Las Vegas airport, we decided to prove we are not always on the lookout for bad TSA news.

The new service is called “Ship Hazardous Items in Transit” and aims to provide a secure and affordable way of returning your items that are not allowed to be carried on board your flight.

Some of the items that the TSA would normally confiscate are guns, knives, crack pipes, pot and oversized sex toys.

All these items can now be placed in a special express mail envelope, and shipped to your home for just $14. Guns require a special box with registered mail and cost $32 to ship home. Bubble wrap and packing tape will be available at the checkpoint at no additional cost.

A TSA spokesperson let us know that the agency is always looking for new and improved ways to help passengers, and that no passenger should have to give up their crack pipe or gun just because the excitement of air travel made them forget to leave it at home.

During the first week of the trial, 41 passengers took advantage of the new system. A total of 18 guns, 3 hand grenades and over $15,000 in drugs were shipped home instead of having to throw them away in the checkpoint trash container. If the program is a success, it will be expanded to other airports by the end of 2009.

Hero pilot who landed on Hudson turning into a real jerk

by Aaron Hotfelder on

[Please note: This was an April Fool’s post.]

Two months ago, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger became an American hero when he successfully landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River near Manhattan. Today, many of those closest to Sullenberger say that all the media attention that followed the landing has turned the pilot into “a real jerk.”

“He’s started geting impatient when people make even the smallest mistakes,” said Sullenberger’s wife of 33 years, Mary. “Just yesterday at Costco, the girl behind the counter gave him the wrong change and he yelled at her, ‘I can land an Airbus A320 on the Hudson River, and you can’t even give me the right change for a bottle of Coke!”

Sullenberger, who appeared on The Today Show, Oprah, and the Late Show with David Letterman just after the miraculous landing, has changed his wardrobe as well. According to his wife, he has begun shopping at expensive clothing stores such as Barney’s and Ralph Lauren after formerly only buying his clothes at big-box stores like Target. Sullenberger also recently got his ear pierced and has begun wearing a gold chain.

“My dad even made a Facebook page,” said Sullenberger’s daughter, Elizabeth. “On the ‘About Me’ section, he wrote that he was the ‘biggest hero America had seen in 50 years.’ He’s let this entire thing go to his head.”

Photo of the Day (01.04.2008)

by Martha Edwards on


This photo of Bondi Beach really speaks to me, you know? I love the scenery–the sand, the surf, the bright blue sky stacked above the perfectly tanned sand. It’s a perfect scene, particularly for those of us who are feeling the last remnants of winter.

Have another ‘perfect’ scene to share? Submit it to our Gadling Flickr Pool.

Mississippi places moratorium on Mississippi Mud Pies

by Jamie Rhein on

Appalled at Mississippi’s recent status as the least healthy state of all 50, the Mississippi’s State Department of Health, as part of the “Eat Right” initiative, has asked bakery shops and restaurants to remove Mississippi Mud Pies from their menus. When examining the reasons for Mississippi’s slide to last place, beating out Louisiana, last year’s loser, it became clear to state officials that Mississippians’ current health problems began as far back as right after World War II when women stopped following exact recipes as time saving measures.

Throwing cooked hamburger, frozen peas and diced potatoes together in a casserole dish willy nilly with dashes of salt and pepper as seasoning was one thing. Who would eat too much of that? But, when women began layering gooey chocolate cake with chocolate crumb crusts and ice-cream in any old amount, sweet tooths could not be stopped. Like the kudzu that grows thick in Mississippi’s countryside, chocolate has seemed to be taking over. It is not uncommon for even the most sophisticated of eaters to have at least a trace of chocolate on the corner of their mouths from time to time.

The health department is beginning with the Mississippi Mud Pie moratorium to see if that won’t curb some of the state’s chocolate fixation and cut down on obesity since Representative W. T. Mayhall’s bill to ban over-eaters from eating out in restaurants seemed excessive.

The state’s most upscale spas are asking if any unused chocolate could be sent their way as they are expecting a run on chocolate wrap body treatments as Mud Pie addicts attempt to detox. For tourists looking forward to the state’s signature dish, you can pick up complimentary recipe cards at tourist information booths off I-10, I-20 and I-55, but only if you’re leaving Mississippi. You will need to show a driver’s license to prove you are not a Mississippi resident.