Unique security threats require unique security measures.

Acting Secret Service director Joseph Clancy on Wednesday testified before the House Judiciary Committee, where several lawmakers asked questions about a security breach in September that led to a jumper making his way into the White House.

Rep. Steven Cohen (D-Tenn.), after several questions about the security lapse, had a creative recommendation.

“Would a…moat—” Cohen began.

“Moat?” Clancy interrupted

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Representative Louie Gohmert Suggests Removing the White House’s Fence

In a congressional hearing yesterday, Rep. Gohmert suggested that the White House should consider removing its fence altogether. Here’s the exchange between the congressman and the acting director of the Secret Service, Joseph Clancy:

Rep. Gohmert: “Has there been any thought to just eliminating the fence around the White House, has Secretary Napolitano ever talked about that, maybe having a virtual fence, or electronic fences, has that been discussed at all?”

Mr. Clancy: “Sir, I’m not aware of any discussions in that regard.”

Rep. Gohmert: “Would you be in favor of removing the fence around the White House and having a virtual or electronic fence around it?”

Mr. Clancy: “Sir, my knee-jerk reaction that would be, ‘no sir,’ partly because of the number of tourists that come on Pennsylvania Avenue and come right up to that area and, you know, take pictures and whatnot. . .”

Rep. Gohmert: “Well you know the secretary has said, Secretary Napolitano, the fence was worthless: ‘You put a 10 foot fence up, somebody’s going to build a 12 foot ladder.’ So I would think if the administration is going to be consistent, it’s now time to remove the fence from around the White House, ’cause if it isn’t good enough for our border, it should not be good enough for the White House. So I would ask you to consider that consistency and also consider the fact that maybe there really is some real virtue in having a fence that slows people down. . .”

Mass murderer Charles Manson plans to marry a 26-year-old woman who left her Midwestern home and spent the past nine years trying to help exonerate him.

Afton Elaine Burton, the raven-haired bride-to-be, said she loves the man convicted in the notorious murders of seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate.

No date has been set, but a wedding coordinator has been assigned by the prison to handle the nuptials, and the couple has until early February to get married before they would have to reapply.

The Kings County marriage license, viewed Monday by The Associated Press, was issued Nov. 7 for the 80-year-old Manson and Burton, who lives in Corcoran – the site of the prison – and maintains several websites advocating his innocence.

Burton, who goes by the name “Star,” told the AP that she and Manson will be married next month.

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsA North Carolina man is working hard to get the most out of his Olive Garden Never Ending Pasta Pass.

Alan Martin was one of the lucky 1,000 people who in September raced to buy one of the all-you-can-eat passes.

Over the past six weeks, Martin has eaten at Olive Garden every day, twice a day, totaling up to 95 meals and ringing up $1,510 worth of food, according toFox 8 WGHP.

Now when he goes into the restaurant, Martin told WGHP that the waitstaff treat him “like a celebrity.”

The pasta pass, which Martin bought for $100, is good for all of the pasta, salad, bread and Coca-Cola drinks a person can eat during the seven week period, which runs until Nov. 9.

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Photo Credit: WikipediaIn college, it wasn’t rare to hear a verbal battle regarding artificial intelligence erupt between my friends studying neuroscience and my friends studying computer science.

One rather outrageous fellow would mention the possibility of a computer takeover, and off they went. The neuroscience-savvy would awe at the potential of such hybrid technology as the CS majors argued we have nothing to fear, as computers will always need a programmer to tell them what to do.

Today’s news brings us to the Neural Turing Machine, a computer that will combine the way ordinary computers work with the way the human brain learns, enabling it to actually program itself. Perhaps my CS friends should reevaluate their position?

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Photo Credit: Piotr Naskrecki Piotr Naskrecki was taking a nighttime walk in a rainforest in Guyana, when he heard rustling as if something were creeping underfoot. When he turned on his flashlight, he expected to see a small mammal, such as a possum or a rat.

“When I turned on the light, I couldn’t quite understand what I was seeing,” said Naskrecki, an entomologist and photographer at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology.

A moment later, he realized he was looking not at a brown, furry mammal, but an enormous, puppy-size spider.

Known as the South American Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi), the colossal arachnid is the world’s largest spider, according to Guinness World Records. Itsleg span can reach up to a foot (30 centimeters), or about the size of “a child’s forearm,” with a body the size of “a large fist,” Naskrecki told Live Science. And the spider can weigh more than 6 oz. (170 grams) — about as much as a young puppy, the scientist wrote on his blog. [See Photos of the Goliath Birdeater Spider]

Some sources say the giant huntsman spider, which has a larger leg span, is bigger than the birdeater. But the huntsman is much more delicate than the hefty birdeater — comparing the two would be “like comparing a giraffe to an elephant,” Naskrecki said.

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