Monday Madness From The Holyrood Team

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NO MONEY? AT LEAST WE CAN RICKROLL (Adrian)

Their country is in chronic debt and plagued with political infighting, but it’s not all bad news for the United States. Proving that they’re down with the kids – albeit a couple of years late – the White House has now joined the online craze of RickRolling by directing followers of a recent debate to a video of the classic Rick Astley tune Never Gonna Give You Up. The craze has been going for years, where people dupe other internet followers into clicking on a relevant link, only to be taken to a video of the 80s pop sensation. The practice has already led to more than 36 million people watch the YouTube video and even led to nefarious internet types hijacking the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2008 by voting Astley as the Best Act Ever. So now that Obama and the White House has joined the RickRoll revolution, has the craze finally jumped the shark? Here’s hoping…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14320229

COMPARING APPLES AND, ER, GOVERNMENTS (Scott)

Wags are already joking about the possibility of the United States of iMerica after it was revealed tech giant Apple now has more cash reserves than the the US government, thanks to the runaway success of its iPhone and iPad products. It seems the company, steered to greatness by Steve Jobs, has finally defeated its old nemesis, Microsoft.However, as this article points out, while Microsoft’s global dominance of the PC market earned it the nickname the Evil Empire, it still helped spread the wealth in an extraordinary way. While in Apple’s world only one company gets rich: Apple.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jul/31/apple-empire-growth-john-naughton

THE BURKHA EFFECT (Laura)

Two Muslim teenagers have been convicted of criminal damage after spray painting burkhas – the traditional female dress for Muslims – over the scantily clad models on Lynx billboards. The pair claims that their spray paint rampage was based on their religious beliefs, under Islamic laws it is a sin to look twice at a woman who is not covered and the two lads felt that the presence of semi naked women in their town was wholly against this. Whilst they don’t think they have committed a crime in covering up the billboard women, they have accepted that damaging another person’s property is illegal and so have been fined over £200 each. Is this another example of ‘religious extremism’, or have the duo made a point about the sexualisation which is prominently present in today’s advertising industry?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2020548/Muslim-teenagers-convicted-spraying-burkas-scantily-clad-Lynx-models.html

FROM CHIC TO GEEK – UNEARTHING THE DOCTOR’S EMBARASSING PAST (Adrian)

Poor David Tennant. Critically acclaimed in his on-stage portrayal of Hamlet, beloved by an army of Doctor Who fans and about to make a big splash in the upcoming re-make of infamous B-movie Fright Night. It would seem that he has the world at his feet. But some cruel-hearted soul clearly wants to subvert the Scottish actor’s new-found street-cred and has done so in spectacular fashion by uploading this video to YouTube. Behold a young Mr Tennant’s screen debut – in possibly the worst anti-smoking PSA in existence. Who would have thought that the lanky 16-year-old weegie surrounded by bemulleted children in a West Coast park would go on to become the world’s favourite Time Lord?  

http://io9.com/5826372/david-tennants-first-tv-role-was-in-the-worlds-worst-anti+smoking-psa

LIKE A BEAR WITH A SORE JAW (Scott)

There are few things as painful and distracting as a bad toothache. So when Walker, the UK’s only polar bear in captivity, suffered a bad dose of molar trouble, he was quite literally a bear with a sore head. When dealing with the world’s largest land carnivore, basic dentistry is out of the question. In this video, our pals at Deadline News caught the work involved to treat Walker’s painful abscess. Bet the team at Highland Wildlife Park are glad the two-year-old bear doesn’t need a scale and polish every six months. Floss anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/user/DeadlinenewsTV#p/a/u/0/QJGhlQHOhds