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Just as students head back to college and families finish summer vacations comes the latest bad news from pest control companies: Bedbug infestations are getting worse and becoming more common in some places, including dorms, hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, office buildings, and schools and day-care centers. According to a survey released Wednesday by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky, pest control companies say there has been double-digit growth in infestations in the past year. About 54 percent of pest companies reported treating bedbugs in college dorms, compared with 35 percent in 2010; 80 percent reported treating...

(And you wonder why Britain is in trouble ....) After just one day of classes at her summer school of choice, Emily Birkenshaw had already learned a crucial lesson: how to "go floppy" when facing arrest. "You're heavier then, so you can't be carried," she said, with the genuine delight of a new recruit. The 24-year-old been practising by linking arms with her classmates and singing loudly at a pretend policeman. "It just felt really empowering," she said. "If that happened [in real life] – and I hope it wouldn't – I'd know how to do it without getting hurt."...

It’s summer time, which (hopefully) means vacations and lazy days at the beach or in the hammock. Here’s DogWatch’s list of some dog-related summer reading to help you pass the time!

"Some of my friends tried to stop him by talking to him. Many people thought that it was a test ... comparing it to how it is to live in Gaza." Eyewitness statement the day of the shooting. (ABC News) The day of the Norway shooting, I was blindsided by one of the survivor's statements to the press immediately after the shooting (see above). It was so outside the box, I thought it was the kneejerk response of an anti-semite in shock. I didn't blog on it because I thought it anecdotal, badly anecdotal. But the more that is revealed...

Link only - Biden's White House Influence Seen From Stimulus to Debt Talks

At 5:20 PM EST(4:20 local time), 7-11-2011, the Weather Underground website showed the heat index in Paducah, KY, to be 153 degrees (99 degrees with a 92 degree dew point). I've never seen it like this. (I'm in another part of the state, where the heat index is a paltry 111...I feel like a piker). Post your astounding summer weather reports here...how hot is it where you are?

When it comes to movies, let’s just call this the summer of “bad.” It’s not just grown-ups behaving badly – though there is plenty of that. From Jennifer Aniston as a rapacious dentist in “Horrible Bosses,” which opens Friday, to Cameron Diaz as every student’s nightmare in “Bad Teacher,” to the projectile body functions in “Bridesmaids” and “Hangover 2,” multiplexes are awash in R-rated adult comedy. But this is also a record summer for just plain bad movies – doing very well. Roundly panned films such as “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “Green Lantern,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On...

It's Summertime, Summertime - The Jamies; A Summer Song - Chad and Jeremy; Beach Baby - First Class; Coney Island Baby - Julien Neel; Feelin’ Hot, Hot, Hot – Buster Poindexter; Gimme Dat Ding - The Pipkins; Girl from Ipanema - Astrud Gilberto / Stan Getz; Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles; Hawaii Five-O Theme; Heat Wave - Martha and the Vandellas; Hot Fun in the Summertime - Sly and the Family Stone; In the Good Old Summertime - Julien Neel; Kokomo - The Beach Boys; Love Letters in the Sand - Pat Boone; In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry;...

<p>Totally Fried Kool-Aid is the latest rage in all things awful to eat. Making its debut at the San Diego County Fair (better known as the Del Mar Fair to locals), the Kool-Aid ball has seemed to capture the country’s insatiable urge for making their meals as processed and fake and fattening as possible. Well done, us!</p>

IEA asks for release of emergency oil reserves NHK has learned that the International Energy Agency is finalizing talks to release emergency oil reserves of its oil-consuming member nations to help stabilize crude oil prices. The autonomous organization of 28 major oil consuming countries, including Japan and the United States, is said to be close to securing agreement for the coordinated operation. The release operation, the first of its kind since 2005, is being planned ahead of an expected rise in gasoline use in the northern hemisphere during the summer holiday season. Rising crude oil prices since January, due mainly...

What Happened to the White House's "Summer of Recovery"?By Elizabeth MacDonald Published June 17, 2011 | FOXBusiness **SNIP** June 17, 2010 -- The White House declares: "This summer is sure to be a Summer of Economic Recovery" Summer 2010 -- Summer of Job Losses "The point of my talking to you today is that, although more people are going to be put to work this summer" -- Vice President Joe Biden, June 17, 2010. The job losses came in as follows, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: June: -192,000 July: -49,000 August: -59,000 September: -29,000 Job Creation "The pace...

THE ECONOMIC ICE AGE 10 June 2011 by Cullen Roche Some pretty interesting thoughts here from Societe Generale on the economic “ice age”. This is what their analysts refer to as the period after a bubble bursting has occurred. They’ve used the same Japan analogy that I am fond of. Pretty pessimistic thoughts (more so than mine), but I think they’ve got the macro situation understood better than most: “In the aftermath of last week’s stunningly weak economic data the market is now beginning to acknowledge that, without a further round of QE a relapse back into economic stagnation or...

Were all the great summer songs written decades ago? Click back for what's a mostly nostalgic sonic step into the sweltering season—with songs from The Drifters, Dolly Parton, the B-52's, and yes, The Fresh Prince. The Lovin' Spoonful: "Summer in the City" (duh!) The Drifters: "Under the Boardwalk" Martha & The Vandellas: "Heat Wave" "Summer Lovin'" from Grease! Sly & the Family Stone - Hot Fun in the Summertime Bananarama: "Cruel Summer" DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince: "Summertime" Dolly Parton: "Sweet Summer Lovin'" The B-52's: "The Summer of Love" Janis Joplin: "Summertime" The Who: "Summertime Blues" Sha Na...

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries did not reach a new agreement on oil production quotas at Wednesday's meeting in Vienna. Oil prices rebounded in New York and London after the news. Oil prices had been declining in anticipation that OPEC members might work out a deal to boost production. The OPEC nations pump about 40 percent of the world's oil, and the organization's quotas officially limited members to producing a bit less than 25 million barrels a day. Some OPEC members have said the international energy markets are well-supplied with oil, and blame high prices on "speculation"...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Oil prices breached the $100-a-barrel mark Wednesday after OPEC said it could not reach an agreement about raising crude production. U.S. crude jumped $1.70, or 1.7%, to $100.81 a barrel. Oil prices were trading down about $1 just before the OPEC announcement. The price of brent crude - the European benchmark - rose 1.2% to $118.20 a barrel. OPEC's quarterly meeting was widely watched by analysts. The cartel had been under intense pressure to raise production as oil prices approached $120 a barrel last month. But cartel members were unable to reach a decision to do...

Mauna Kea, the highest island mountain in the world, is cloaked with snow--a sight you don't normally see during the early summer months. Video at the link

No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent. Seventeen months before the next election, it is increasingly clear that President Obama must defy that trend to keep his job. Roughly 9 percent of Americans who want to go to work cannot find an employer. Companies are firing fewer people, but hiring remains anemic. And the vast majority of economic forecasters, including the president’s own advisers, predict only modest progress by November 2012. The latest job numbers, due Friday, are expected to provide new cause...

As the summer travel season approaches, airline industry experts predict that soaring fuel prices and a sharp pickup in passenger demand will push airfares up 15% over a year earlier — to levels not seen since before the economic downturn. Fare hikes have already begun, with six of the nation's largest airlines each raising rates at least five times since Jan. 1 for nearly all routes. By the time the peak summer travel season rolls around, travel industry experts predict, domestic airfares may reach an average of nearly $390, up from a low of $302 two years ago.

Joe Biden update: Now, he takes lead on budget talks too; what's left for Obama?Political commentary from Andrew Malcolm March 3, 2011 | 2:54 am What isn't Joe Biden in charge of these days? For someone who was brought on board the presidential train in 2008 to lend some experienced gravitas to the ex-state senator savior's ticket and add a humorous effing gaffe here and there, the vice president seems to be running most everything these days for this Democratic White House. Everyone remembers Biden's crucial congressional role in smoothing the way for the vast stimulus spending bill two years...