George Kresge, now known as The Amazing Kreskin - remember him? - has floored us with yet another startling prediction for this year of 2009. He tells us:

There will be a growing movement in the US to follow in the steps of England, and that is to restrict, discourage, or even ban cell phones in restaurants.

Reader John Michalski, a science teacher at East Hanover Middle School, NJ, writes to say that it’s

Good to have thinkers in the media, wherever we can find them.

Of course, we at JREF agree with John, who sends us to this site to learn that Stephen Whitty, the movie critic for the Newark (NJ) Star Ledger, gave a “science fiction" rating to "Expelled

Available in bars and liquor stores for $12/shot or between $50 and $250/bottle

A few months ago, when the promotional video for Crystal Head Vodka was first released, there was some doubt about whether or not it was a real product and whether or not Dan Aykroyd had totally flipped his cheeseburger.

All I can say is: Aykroyd's cheeseburger was flipped long ago – he is a lifetime member of and consultant for MUFON. He also hosted the television show Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal which, though it was a scripted drama, earned him the Snuffed Candle Award from CSI.

So the vodka he helped create is, of course, also insanely woo. And I mean insanely.

It's year end again, and about now I always get an extra annual load of junk mail. This particular batch is from companies who attempt to deceive small business owners into paying for unnecessary services that appear to be a legal requirement.

I received a typical solicitation today. Corporations are required to keep certain records, including the recorded minutes of shareholder meetings. In my case, once a quarter I type a sentence or two detailing any important decisions I made regarding my podcast, and I stick it in a file. This is a legal requirement, and it takes me ten minutes to comply.

Today's solicitation was from a company offering to store it for me, for $175, if I mail it to them. Nothing wrong with that. Probably not worth it, but certainly there's nothing wrong with offering such a service.