A coloring book titled We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom is drawing criticism from those who think the images of the burning Twin Towers are too intense for children and also from some Muslims, who say it promotes stereotypes.

But Wayne Bell, publisher of Really Big Coloring Books, says the book is a tribute, adding, “It is an informational piece to help educate children on the event on 9/11.”

Yet Dawud Walid, of the Council on American Islamic Relations, is particularly disturbed by references to jihadists as “freedom-hating radical Islamic Muslim extremists,” adding that almost all mentions of Muslims are accompanied by the words “extremist” and “terrorist.”

Mike’s Thoughts:  Okay, so it’s not a coloring book I’d buy for my kids, necessarily and given the subject matter it’s obvious something like this is going to draw some controversy.

My problem is this:  the people who blew up the world trade center WERE radical Muslim extremists.  Saying so does not make a person inherently bigoted and I disagree with the idea that saying so implicates ALL Muslims everywhere.  It doesn’t.  To ignore the realities of the situation is akin to telling half the story.  And if the point is information then it should be ALL the information.

(NEWSER) – Coral from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has yielded a compound that could put a lot of sunscreen makers out of business. Researchers discovered that algae living in the coral created a compound that acts as a sunscreen to protect both the algae and the coral from the sun’s rays. They say they are close to synthesizing the compound in the lab, and a pill to prevent both sunburn and eye damage could be on the market within 5 years, the Telegraph reports.

Early testing will be carried out on human skin obtained from cosmetic surgeons. “After taking the tablet you’d find the compound in your skin and eyes,” the lead researcher explains. “There would have to be a lot of toxicology tests done first, but I imagine a sunscreen tablet might be developed in 5 years or so. Nothing like it exists at the moment.” The research may also be used to develop sun-resistant crops, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Mike’s Thoughts:  As pale as I am, I can’t wait to find out just how many of these sunscreen pills I might need to eat in a given summer.  The number 11 million comes immediately to mind.

(NEWSER) – A 15-year-old Syracuse boy got the book thrown at him yesterday over a robbery that netted him all of seven cents. Judge William Walsh refused a defense request to sentence young Anthony Stewart, a Syracuse native, as a “youthful offender,” instead sentencing him as an adult to two to six years in juvenile detention and marking him as a felon for life, the Post Standard reports.

Stewart and an accomplice allegedly beat up a 73-year-old man, only to discover he had only spare change in his pocket. Both held guns, but Stewart says they were just BB guns. The judge said Stewart earned the harsh sentence by refusing to plead guilty, despite being identified by the victim. “Well, that cost you,” he said. His accomplice, 16, did plead guilty, and was sentenced as a youthful offender to 1.3 to four years in prison.

Mike’s Thoughts:  On the one hand, it seems extreme.  But keep in mind, sentencing in this country often has to do with the level of violence and intent associated with the crime rather than the fiscal benefits of the crime.  Anyone who’s randomly beating up a 70 year old man deserves to spend a significant amount of time behind bars even if he is only 15 years old.  Sad.

NEWSER) – It sounds like a joke, but sadly it’s not: Two grown Illinois children have spent the past two years suing their mother for “bad mothering” including, but not limited to, sending a birthday card her son didn’t like, not taking her daughter to a car show, failing to send college care packages, making her then-7-year-old wear his seatbelt, calling her daughter at midnight to ask her to come home after a homecoming celebration, failing to buy toys, and “haggling” over the price of a party dress. An Illinois appeals court finally dismissed the case last week, the Chicago Tribune reports.

It gets worse: The children, now 23 and 20 years old, were raised by their attorney father—who represented them in the case—in a $1.5 million home after their parents’ divorce in 1995. They wanted more than $50,000 for emotional distress, but the court found that none of their mother’s conduct was “extreme or outrageous.” Though the children’s father said in court papers that he tried to discourage the two from filing the lawsuit, their mother’s attorney says the lawsuit is actually the ex-husband’s attempt to “seek the ultimate revenge.” 

Mike’s Thoughts:  How in the world do these two 20 something children look themselves in the mirror every morning knowing how ridiculously sad their lives are?  No parent is perfect.  Get over it and get on with your life.

(NEWSER) – A German woman rocked her invisible guitar yesterday and walked off with top prize at the 16th Air Guitar World Championships—the first female to snag a medal there in seven years. Held in Oulu in northern Finland, the contest included wild fingerers like US champ Justin “Nordic Thunder” Howard and Veronica “Like Ever Gin” Mullerova of the Czech Republic, who took second and third, respectively. The winner: Aline “The Devil’s Niece” Westphal, who amazed judges with her high-energy Foo Fighters performance.

Mike’s Thoughts:  Anyone who has that high of an embarrassment thresh hold clearly deserves to win.

(NEWSER) – The mighty baseball bat could soon be brought low by bugs—unless a USDA plan to instigate some bug warfare succeeds. Meet the emerald ash borer, or EAB, a beetle that recently began infesting New York’s forests and feeding on its ash trees. And since roughly 50% of major leaguers use ash wood bats—a trend the commissioner’s office wants to encourage, because they shatter less than the maple variety—a supply shortage is “certainly a concern,” one MLB executive tells the Wall Street Journal.

Thankfully, the USDA has a plan to introduce two species of Asian wasp, the EAB’s natural foes, into the forests. When these wasps detect EAB larvae hiding in ash wood, they lay their own eggs—producing beetle-eating hatchlings. “This is Game 7 for these species,” one ecologist says. They won’t know if their plan has worked for about a year, but Louisville Slugger says its supply should be fine for at least five more years anyway. And if all else fails, Curtis Granderson quips, “Maybe we’ll go with aluminum.”

Mike’s Thoughts:  Hmm….introducing Asian Wasps into American forests in order to protect Major League Baseball?  Wonder what could possibly go wrong with this plan.  Here’s a better idea:  how ’bout we give Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens some big ol’ nets and make them go out and hunt the EAB Beetle?  See, I’m a solutions guy.

 (NEWSER) – The Pentagon has racked up a few late fees for metal containers it’s rented and failed to return on time. Nothing serious—just over $720 million during the past 10 years. Used for storage, building material, and shelter in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 20-foot containers can cost more than $2,200 each in late fees. “These are the kinds of things that happen when people are asleep at the wheel,” a defense analyst tellsUSA Today.

Why the tardy returns? Because officials thought these wars would end sooner, says defense policy analyst John Pike. Late fees for the containers cost the Pentagon $128 million in 2004, then dropped to $17 million four years later, and rebounded to $30 million last year due to the surge in Afghanistan. Under budgetary pressure, the Pentagon has at least made deals for lower late fees. But “this is real money,” says Pike. “And we’ve spent a lot of it on what amounts to fines for overdue library books.”

Mike’s Thoughts:  And yet elected officials continue to wonder why we, the American public, don’t take them seriously when they trot out their “time to tighten the belt” economics speeches every few years.  How about cleaning up your own house before asking us for more dough????

Costco is selling an engagement ring for one million dollars. 

The warehouse store is selling the 6.2-carat one-of-a-kind solitaire diamond ring, valued at $1,496,255 to members online…. for just $1 million.

Costco has received serious inquiries about its million-dollar ring. 

It would be their biggest sale ever… their biggest so far is an engagement ring that sold for close to $500,000.

Mike’s Thoughts:  What’s nice is if you buy the Costco diamond ring they’ll also throw in some lawn furniture, a set of snow tires, and a 9pack of giant ketchup for free.

(Newser) – Pretty much everyone seems to agree: A video love note Jim Carrey recorded for the actress Emma Stone, apropos of nothing, is creepy. An apparently serious Carrey tells Stone how beautiful she is and envisions the “chubby little freckle-faced kids,” not to mention the sex, they would have if only they could get married. But sadly, he is not an “appropriate age” for Stone, Carrey admits before signing off. (Carrey is 49; Stone is 22.) As Gawker notes, the video is difficult to get through (and near impossible to get through without cringing). But in New York, Kyle Buchanan writes that it is both “heartfelt and weird, sweet but creepy, a joke but also kinda 90% serious.”

Mike’s Thoughts:  Don’t all big time celebrities have a posse of handlers, managers, and publicists?  If so, why didn’t Jim Carey’s posse stop him from posting something as stupid, and creepy, as this?

THE FEW, THE PROUD, THE MARINES WHO DON’T FART AUDIBLY

US military leaders in Afghanistan have instituted several regulations on troops there—no swearing, no talking about volatile subjects like politics or girls.

And the latest?  Leaders have introduced a no farting rule.

According to the Military Times, the rule is no audible farts for downrange marines. 

Apparently, it offends the Afghans.

Mike’s Thoughts:  This is a joke, right?  Please tell me that no valuable strategic time was spent coming up with this new rule? 

Look, somethings will just always be funny…and virtually harmless.  And farting is one of them.

Any man or woman who is serving our country in its time of need deserves to rip one as loud as they want whenever they want.

I hereby declare the beginning of a new movement called FTF- Free The Farts!

Who’s with me?