Newsbits and Opinion

Spooky: I love Halloween. I have ever since I was a kid. What other holiday is expressly not about warm fuzzy feelings, but about getting your pants scared off? Well, yeah, scared out of your wits in a safe way — but that’s what so great about Halloween. Spooky, creepy, scary, but ultimately safe. Here’s something fun and different for the spookfest: a 10-room, 10,000 square foot haunted house made of... balloons! I usually abhor cutsy Halloween kitsch, because its supposed to be scary, but sheer scale and creativity trumps traditionalism in this case. [via ABCNews] Geeky: Readers (hello? anyone out there?) may know I like environmentalism. Here’s a guy who put $150,000 of his money where his mouth is: solar panels, a hydrogen-powered car, and the hydrogen even comes from his own electrolyzer. He has his setup powering a hot-tub and a big TV, and all the other goodies. Who says off-grid living has to be spartan? Heartbreaking: Regarding the discovery this week of more remains at the World Trade Center, and that “The discovery of bones angered family members, who want answers about why remains are still turning up five years after the attacks.” I know the grief of these families is real, and to say that they miss their loved ones is a gross understatement, but why is this a surprise? Like everyone else on the planet with access to a TV that day, I watched the collapse over and over, and I’m surprised that people aren’t still discovering remains in Brooklyn, let alone the WTC site. To the grieving families: The rescue and recovery workers at the WTC site can’t be both heroes and incompetent at the same time. They risked their lives and their health to find your loved ones. They are human, and should be forgiven for not finding every single particle of remains. Please don’t validate Ann Coulter’s hateful opinion.