Frequent masturbation may help men cut their risk of contracting prostate cancer, Australian researchers have found. It is believed that carcinogens may build up in the prostate if men do not ejaculate regularly, BBC News reported on Wednesday. The researchers surveyed more than 1,000 men who had developed prostate cancer, and 1,250 men who had not. They found that men who had ejaculated the most between the ages of 20 and 50 were the least likely to get cancer. Men who ejaculated more than five times each week were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer.
Man: Doctor, I'm worried about prostate cancer.
Doctor: Jack off.
Man: Excuse me?
Doctor: Go wank. Pull your pud. Whip your wire. Milk the anaconda. Give yourself a helping hand. Go out on a date with Rosy Palm. Choke the chicken. Play Pocket Pool. Spank the monkey. Masturbate, man, masturbate!
Man: Doctor, I think you need help. Seriously.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Volcano Blogging: Krakatoa?
April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia raised its alert for Anak Krakatau, successor to the volcano that blew up the island of Krakatau in 1883, and Ibu to the second-highest level after the two began spewing ash.
Anak Krakatau, in the Sunda Straits between Java and Sumatra, and Ibu, in the Moluccan Islands in eastern Indonesia, were placed on ``orange'' alert in the four-step color code, the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources said yesterday. It recommended people not come within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the volcanoes.
The explosion 125 years ago of Krakatau, also known as Krakatoa, left two-thirds of the island under water, generated 130-foot waves and killed an estimated 36,000 people. It blasted enough debris into the atmosphere to lower global temperatures for several years.
It killed thousands in the resulting tsunamis, also. If I were a villger on the coastline I'd be seriously packing up and preparing to get the hell out of Dodge.
Anak Krakatau, in the Sunda Straits between Java and Sumatra, and Ibu, in the Moluccan Islands in eastern Indonesia, were placed on ``orange'' alert in the four-step color code, the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources said yesterday. It recommended people not come within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the volcanoes.
The explosion 125 years ago of Krakatau, also known as Krakatoa, left two-thirds of the island under water, generated 130-foot waves and killed an estimated 36,000 people. It blasted enough debris into the atmosphere to lower global temperatures for several years.
It killed thousands in the resulting tsunamis, also. If I were a villger on the coastline I'd be seriously packing up and preparing to get the hell out of Dodge.
Fastest Yacht In The World?
A wind-powered hydrofoil?
Is it a boat? is it a plane? No - it's something in between, that also happens to be very, very fast. Ian Stafford goes flying on the quickest yacht in the world
"This is not a boat, nor a plane either. This is a magical flying carpet,2 says Alain Thébault, the man behind the Hydroptère, the world's fastest yacht.
This extraordinary trimaran is the result of 20 years of research, engineering and design, plus substantial backing from Swiss banker Thierry Lombard.
It's a yacht made from carbon fibre and titanium that rises up on to "wings".
Instead of ploughing through the waves, it glides over them.
Once up to speed, only one of two hydrofoils at the end of each outer keel actually touches the sea. The drag is almost negligible. This is why it has already set two world speed records, over a nautical mile and 500m, and why it'll continue to redefine yachting speeds as we know them this summer. Watch out for the reports.
Sailing conditions are good, with a blue sky, healthy winds and light waves. It takes winds of only 12 knots (14mph) to allow the boat to "take off".
A speedometer reveals that we are picking up speed, from 30 knots to 35 and finally 40. Thébault lets out a series of high-pitched screams of delight, as spray covers fellow crew members Jacques Vincent, an eight-times round-the-world yachtsman, and Adrien Lombard, son of the Swiss backer.
As mentioned, two world speed records belong to Hydroptère: 41.69 knots (48mph) on average over a nautical mile, and 44.81 knots (51.5mph) over 500m.
In a car around 50mph may not seem all that fast, but sitting on a distant extremity of a yacht you feel as if you're aboard a powerboat on full throttle.
The question for me is: How seaworthy is it? Is it something that can survive in heavy seas, or is it just a fair-weather sort of boat?
Is it a boat? is it a plane? No - it's something in between, that also happens to be very, very fast. Ian Stafford goes flying on the quickest yacht in the world
"This is not a boat, nor a plane either. This is a magical flying carpet,2 says Alain Thébault, the man behind the Hydroptère, the world's fastest yacht.
This extraordinary trimaran is the result of 20 years of research, engineering and design, plus substantial backing from Swiss banker Thierry Lombard.
It's a yacht made from carbon fibre and titanium that rises up on to "wings".
Instead of ploughing through the waves, it glides over them.
Once up to speed, only one of two hydrofoils at the end of each outer keel actually touches the sea. The drag is almost negligible. This is why it has already set two world speed records, over a nautical mile and 500m, and why it'll continue to redefine yachting speeds as we know them this summer. Watch out for the reports.
Sailing conditions are good, with a blue sky, healthy winds and light waves. It takes winds of only 12 knots (14mph) to allow the boat to "take off".
A speedometer reveals that we are picking up speed, from 30 knots to 35 and finally 40. Thébault lets out a series of high-pitched screams of delight, as spray covers fellow crew members Jacques Vincent, an eight-times round-the-world yachtsman, and Adrien Lombard, son of the Swiss backer.
As mentioned, two world speed records belong to Hydroptère: 41.69 knots (48mph) on average over a nautical mile, and 44.81 knots (51.5mph) over 500m.
In a car around 50mph may not seem all that fast, but sitting on a distant extremity of a yacht you feel as if you're aboard a powerboat on full throttle.
The question for me is: How seaworthy is it? Is it something that can survive in heavy seas, or is it just a fair-weather sort of boat?
Bugged By Bunnies
Rabbits are running amok in France.
And the French, being, well...French, are unwilling to declare war on the bunnies.
And the French, being, well...French, are unwilling to declare war on the bunnies.
"It's Full Of What Seems To Be Schoolgirls Giggling."
The British Library Reading Room has relaxed its standards, causing howls of outrage among the "serious" authors who try to work there.
When Karl Marx created the tenets of Marxism in the British Library’s Reading Room and Charles Dickens worked at one of its desks, they did not have to endure queues, a lack of chairs and tables, and rooms closed by crowd control.
Two years after one of the world’s greatest libraries opened its doors to undergraduates and anyone working on research, high-profile writers and academics say that the struggle to find a desk is now intolerable. Library directors stand accused of increasing visitor numbers to boost funds and performance bonuses.
Although there are 1,480 seats in the library, the author Christopher Hawtree was last week forced to perch on a windowsill while the historians Lady Antonia Fraser and Claire Tomalin have swapped horror stories of interminable queues. Library users complain that the line to enter the new building in St Pancras, central London, has recently been extending across its enormous courtyard.
Speaking to The Times yesterday, Lady Antonia said: “I had to queue for 20 minutes to get in, in freezing weather. Then I queued to leave my coat for 20 minutes [at the compulsory check-in]. Then half an hour to get my books and another 15 minutes to get my coat. I’m told it’s due to students having access now. Why can’t they go to their university libraries?”
Ms Tomalin described the crowds as intolerable: “It’s full of what seem to be schoolgirls giggling. I heard one saying, ‘I’ve got to write about Islam. Can I have your notes?’ It’s what you expect to hear in a school.”
Of the long queues she said: “It is absurd. It’s access gone mad. Access has many good points, but making the British Library, which was for specialist readers, into something for general readers seems to me terrible.”
The historian Tristram Hunt said that it was a scandal that it was impossible to get a seat after 11am when students were there. Many people travelling from outside London complain that they cannot get to the buidling any earlier. “Students come in to revise rather than to use the books,” he said. “It’s a ‘groovy place’ to meet for a frappuccino. It’s noisy and it’s undermining both the British Library’s function, as books take longer to get, and the scholarly atmosphere.”
The British Library does not deny that there is overcrowding. It has even produced leaflets listing other recommended libraries. But Phil Spence, its director of operations and services, said: “There are currently no plans to restrict the numbers of users.”
He confirmed that the library’s directors received performance bonuses depending on the number of visits.
Ha! So that's the reason that they let the proles in!
When Karl Marx created the tenets of Marxism in the British Library’s Reading Room and Charles Dickens worked at one of its desks, they did not have to endure queues, a lack of chairs and tables, and rooms closed by crowd control.
Two years after one of the world’s greatest libraries opened its doors to undergraduates and anyone working on research, high-profile writers and academics say that the struggle to find a desk is now intolerable. Library directors stand accused of increasing visitor numbers to boost funds and performance bonuses.
Although there are 1,480 seats in the library, the author Christopher Hawtree was last week forced to perch on a windowsill while the historians Lady Antonia Fraser and Claire Tomalin have swapped horror stories of interminable queues. Library users complain that the line to enter the new building in St Pancras, central London, has recently been extending across its enormous courtyard.
Speaking to The Times yesterday, Lady Antonia said: “I had to queue for 20 minutes to get in, in freezing weather. Then I queued to leave my coat for 20 minutes [at the compulsory check-in]. Then half an hour to get my books and another 15 minutes to get my coat. I’m told it’s due to students having access now. Why can’t they go to their university libraries?”
Ms Tomalin described the crowds as intolerable: “It’s full of what seem to be schoolgirls giggling. I heard one saying, ‘I’ve got to write about Islam. Can I have your notes?’ It’s what you expect to hear in a school.”
Of the long queues she said: “It is absurd. It’s access gone mad. Access has many good points, but making the British Library, which was for specialist readers, into something for general readers seems to me terrible.”
The historian Tristram Hunt said that it was a scandal that it was impossible to get a seat after 11am when students were there. Many people travelling from outside London complain that they cannot get to the buidling any earlier. “Students come in to revise rather than to use the books,” he said. “It’s a ‘groovy place’ to meet for a frappuccino. It’s noisy and it’s undermining both the British Library’s function, as books take longer to get, and the scholarly atmosphere.”
The British Library does not deny that there is overcrowding. It has even produced leaflets listing other recommended libraries. But Phil Spence, its director of operations and services, said: “There are currently no plans to restrict the numbers of users.”
He confirmed that the library’s directors received performance bonuses depending on the number of visits.
Ha! So that's the reason that they let the proles in!
He's Not Like The Other Pervs.
He's an honest perv.
GREENSBURG, Pa., April 21 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania authorities said one of two men charged with soliciting sex with young girls online described himself as "an honest perv."
State Attorney General Tom Corbett said Scott Buckles, 37, was arrested Friday and charged with propositioning an undercover agent who was posing as a 14-year-old girl in an Internet chat room, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Monday.
Corbett said Buckles wrote in a message to the agent that other people in the chat room would "try and trick ya. I'm an honest perv -- I'm up front about it."
Just an honest perv, trying to live a quiet existence, get a little underage poontang, but Hey! he's up front about it, unlike all those other pervs...
GREENSBURG, Pa., April 21 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania authorities said one of two men charged with soliciting sex with young girls online described himself as "an honest perv."
State Attorney General Tom Corbett said Scott Buckles, 37, was arrested Friday and charged with propositioning an undercover agent who was posing as a 14-year-old girl in an Internet chat room, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Monday.
Corbett said Buckles wrote in a message to the agent that other people in the chat room would "try and trick ya. I'm an honest perv -- I'm up front about it."
Just an honest perv, trying to live a quiet existence, get a little underage poontang, but Hey! he's up front about it, unlike all those other pervs...
Eine Kleine Nachtblogging
Since I spent most of the day playing EverQuest, I'll catch up a bit here at work.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Why Your Flu Shot Didn't Work Very Well
Apparently deciding which flu variants to make vaccines for is something of a crapshoot, and the dice rolled wrong this year.
Still, 44% effective is much better than lottery odds.
Still, 44% effective is much better than lottery odds.
Leave Dem Pirates Alone
Britain doesn't want to abridge the human rights of pirates.
Since this blog is called The Drawn Cutlass and features a picture of Blackbeard standing in for myself, I can only thank them for their civilized attitude.
Arrr!
Since this blog is called The Drawn Cutlass and features a picture of Blackbeard standing in for myself, I can only thank them for their civilized attitude.
Arrr!
An Island Comes Out Of Mothballs
Governor's Island, NY.
Within NY harbor, it's sort of forgotten, but only for a little bit longer. There's probably lots of places like this in the US, many of them US Government property, military bases.
Within NY harbor, it's sort of forgotten, but only for a little bit longer. There's probably lots of places like this in the US, many of them US Government property, military bases.
Colt M4 Carbine: Good enough?
Some people, including Senator Tom Coburn (R-Ok) want to replace the Army's M4 carbines, which they say are not reliable in combat.
If you listen to Barack Obama, presumably Sen. Coburn would conduct new tests by shooting abortionists...
If you listen to Barack Obama, presumably Sen. Coburn would conduct new tests by shooting abortionists...
Saturday, April 19, 2008
NY Times Smears Military Analysts.
In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded “the gulag of our times” by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure.
The administration’s communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.
To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.
Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.
The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.
Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized.
Another smear by the Times, obviously. I'm not qualified to Fisk this thing properly, but I'm sure it will get the attention it deserves in the next week or so. It will be the typical nine days' wonder, with the left and right blogospheres warring over what it all means, with accusations hurled back and forth, with loudmouth congressional leaders calling for investigations. Same old crap that I am basically getting tired of reading about week in, week out.
The administration’s communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.
To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.
Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.
The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.
Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized.
Another smear by the Times, obviously. I'm not qualified to Fisk this thing properly, but I'm sure it will get the attention it deserves in the next week or so. It will be the typical nine days' wonder, with the left and right blogospheres warring over what it all means, with accusations hurled back and forth, with loudmouth congressional leaders calling for investigations. Same old crap that I am basically getting tired of reading about week in, week out.
Why Is This A Problem, Exactly?
Enrique Iglesias can't understand why tennis start Anna Kournikova won't marry him after three years of cohabitation.
1. This doesn't need public airing.
2. Count your blessings, dude. Not married = no divorce to look forward to.
3. Anna Kournikova is willingly sleeping with you, what more do you want, for chrissake?
1. This doesn't need public airing.
2. Count your blessings, dude. Not married = no divorce to look forward to.
3. Anna Kournikova is willingly sleeping with you, what more do you want, for chrissake?
Why...
...does it take a UK tabloid like The Daily Mail to publish a wonderfully even-handed story on Shirley Temple in celebration of her 80th birthday?
She didn't self-destruct with drugs, she stayed married to the same man for 55 years, she loved the US, even served her country as an ambassador to the UN...
Happy Birthday, Shirley Temple Black.
She didn't self-destruct with drugs, she stayed married to the same man for 55 years, she loved the US, even served her country as an ambassador to the UN...
Happy Birthday, Shirley Temple Black.
Pooch Rescued From Gilligan's Island!
Well, that's what I call it. You can call it "tiny Fanning Island" if you want to, as far as I'm concerned, it's Gilligan's Island.
You notice that Mr. Howell is spending the money to rescue the pooch and the parrot?
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
You notice that Mr. Howell is spending the money to rescue the pooch and the parrot?
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Putin's GF
OK, you all know the story by now, Russian President Putin apparently has a gymnast girlfriend half his age.
The interesting part of this story is that, in the old KGB fashion that he spent most of his life with, the newspaper that reported the story has been closed down:
The question followed the publication on Thursday of an unusual article in Moskovsky Korrespondent, a Moscow newspaper owned by a former Soviet intelligence officer, which said that Mr. Putin, 56, planned to marry Alina Kabayeva, 24, an Olympic gold medalist in rhythmic gymnastics who has been voted in polls as one of Russia’s most beautiful women. Interfax reported Friday evening that publication of Moskovsky Korrespondent had been suspended “for financial reasons,” according to its parent company, National Media Company.
And at the bottom of the story is this hilarious closer:
The evening news broadcast on the state-influenced television station NTV did not cover the rumor or Mr. Putin’s remarks. Instead, it devoted extensive coverage to Yuri M. Luzhkov, Moscow’s irrepressible mayor, visiting a factory that makes fertilizer from cow manure.
Subtext: It's all bullshit!
The interesting part of this story is that, in the old KGB fashion that he spent most of his life with, the newspaper that reported the story has been closed down:
The question followed the publication on Thursday of an unusual article in Moskovsky Korrespondent, a Moscow newspaper owned by a former Soviet intelligence officer, which said that Mr. Putin, 56, planned to marry Alina Kabayeva, 24, an Olympic gold medalist in rhythmic gymnastics who has been voted in polls as one of Russia’s most beautiful women. Interfax reported Friday evening that publication of Moskovsky Korrespondent had been suspended “for financial reasons,” according to its parent company, National Media Company.
And at the bottom of the story is this hilarious closer:
The evening news broadcast on the state-influenced television station NTV did not cover the rumor or Mr. Putin’s remarks. Instead, it devoted extensive coverage to Yuri M. Luzhkov, Moscow’s irrepressible mayor, visiting a factory that makes fertilizer from cow manure.
Subtext: It's all bullshit!
Trucknutz?
Apparently the beginning of the next stupid craze.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., April 18 (UPI) -- A Florida lawmaker is proposing a $60 fine for motorists who display "Trucknutz" -- plastic and chrome replicas of testicles -- on their vehicles.
State Sen. Carey Baker of Eustis says the ornaments are offensive to many drivers who wind up driving behind them. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said Friday that Baker tucked the fine proposal into a larger transportation bill.
A Virginia state legislator sponsored a bill several months ago to ban the decorations after a constituent called to complain his 6-year-old daughter had spotted a pair on the back of a pickup truck and asked what they were.
You can see some Trucknutz here.
If you want to buy them, I guess you can go here.
Be the first on your block....
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., April 18 (UPI) -- A Florida lawmaker is proposing a $60 fine for motorists who display "Trucknutz" -- plastic and chrome replicas of testicles -- on their vehicles.
State Sen. Carey Baker of Eustis says the ornaments are offensive to many drivers who wind up driving behind them. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said Friday that Baker tucked the fine proposal into a larger transportation bill.
A Virginia state legislator sponsored a bill several months ago to ban the decorations after a constituent called to complain his 6-year-old daughter had spotted a pair on the back of a pickup truck and asked what they were.
You can see some Trucknutz here.
If you want to buy them, I guess you can go here.
Be the first on your block....
You Can't Ban Me, I'm Boycotting You!
Supermodel and anger management problem Naomi Campbell, who was recently banned from British Airways after spitting on a BA employee, is "boycotting" the airline.
Which is just as pathetic as saying to an employer, "You can't fire me, I QUIT!"
Which is just as pathetic as saying to an employer, "You can't fire me, I QUIT!"
It Resembles A Sherlock Holmes Story
The following news story reminded me of one of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, can you guess which one I'm thinking of?
It was a crime mystery combining elements of the films Ocean's Eleven, The Third Man and the 1979 heist movie Sewers of Gold, also known as The Great Riviera Bank Robbery.
Police in Naples had been baffled for months. Six times they were on the verge of capturing would-be bank robbers in the act —- and six times the gang vanished, apparently into thin air.
Three of the aborted raids were even on the same bank, the Antonveneta in the Galleria Umberto I, a smart, wrought-iron-and-glass, art deco shopping arcade opposite the San Carlo Opera House.
Their technique was allegedly the same in every case: they rented ground-floor rooms next to the banks and when the bank employees had departed, dug tunnels at nights and weekends into the vaults containing safe deposit boxes.
The robbers' plan, which nearly came off, was to ensure that their tunnels connected to the sewer system so they could use it as an escape route. They even used a computer to create a model of the intricate network.
In the last raid on the Antonveneta in February the police, acting on a tip-off, were waiting inside the bank as the robbers emerged - but the gang leapt back into the tunnel and disappeared into the drains.
“No one knows more about underground Naples than Oliva,” a police spokesman told Il Mattino, the Naples newspaper. “He could navigate it with his eyes closed. He knows where all the drains are: the water mains; the dangerous electrical cables.”
It was a crime mystery combining elements of the films Ocean's Eleven, The Third Man and the 1979 heist movie Sewers of Gold, also known as The Great Riviera Bank Robbery.
Police in Naples had been baffled for months. Six times they were on the verge of capturing would-be bank robbers in the act —- and six times the gang vanished, apparently into thin air.
Three of the aborted raids were even on the same bank, the Antonveneta in the Galleria Umberto I, a smart, wrought-iron-and-glass, art deco shopping arcade opposite the San Carlo Opera House.
Their technique was allegedly the same in every case: they rented ground-floor rooms next to the banks and when the bank employees had departed, dug tunnels at nights and weekends into the vaults containing safe deposit boxes.
The robbers' plan, which nearly came off, was to ensure that their tunnels connected to the sewer system so they could use it as an escape route. They even used a computer to create a model of the intricate network.
In the last raid on the Antonveneta in February the police, acting on a tip-off, were waiting inside the bank as the robbers emerged - but the gang leapt back into the tunnel and disappeared into the drains.
“No one knows more about underground Naples than Oliva,” a police spokesman told Il Mattino, the Naples newspaper. “He could navigate it with his eyes closed. He knows where all the drains are: the water mains; the dangerous electrical cables.”
An Injustice
WASHINGTON — After both his brothers were killed serving in Iraq, Spc. Jason Hubbard left the Army under the “sole survivor” rule and moved back to California near his parents’ home.
But when he applied for transitional health care and other veterans benefits, he was denied for ending his military tour a year earlier than he had promised.
Army officials also kept his last paycheck, claiming they were recouping some of his $6,000 enlistment bonus for not fulfilling his contract. “I couldn’t believe they were doing this to a family that had sacrificed so much already,” he told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday. “I’m the last one in my family. I didn’t feel like we had more to give.”
On Wednesday, lawmakers introduced new legislation forcing defense and veterans affairs officials to prevent separation penalties and award full benefits to troops who leave the service under the sole survivor rule, calling it an issue of fairness and recognition of their loss.
This is typical of bureaucratic inhumanity. I wish I could stop reading stories like this about servicemembers.
World's Oldest Photograph?
Similar to the story of the "world's oldest recording" that I wrote about here.
Story here.
The phone call was routine, the kind often made before big auctions. Sotheby’s was preparing to sell a striking rust-brown image of a leaf on paper, long thought to have been made by William Henry Fox Talbot, one of the inventors of photography. So the auction house contacted a Baltimore historian considered to be the world’s leading Talbot expert and asked if he could grace the sale’s catalog with any interesting scholarly details about the print — known as a photogenic drawing, a crude precursor to the photograph.
“I got back to them and said, ‘Well, the first thing I would say is that this was not made by Talbot,’ ” the historian, Larry J. Schaaf, recalled in a recent interview.
“That was not what they were expecting to hear, to say the least.”
In the weeks since Dr. Schaaf’s surprising pronouncement was made public, “The Leaf,” originally thought to have been made around 1839 or later, has become the talk of the photo-historical world. The speculation about its origins became so intense that Sotheby’s and the print’s owners decided earlier this month to postpone its auction, so that researchers could begin delving into whether the image may be, in fact, one of the oldest photographic images in existence, dating to the 1790s.
Story here.
The phone call was routine, the kind often made before big auctions. Sotheby’s was preparing to sell a striking rust-brown image of a leaf on paper, long thought to have been made by William Henry Fox Talbot, one of the inventors of photography. So the auction house contacted a Baltimore historian considered to be the world’s leading Talbot expert and asked if he could grace the sale’s catalog with any interesting scholarly details about the print — known as a photogenic drawing, a crude precursor to the photograph.
“I got back to them and said, ‘Well, the first thing I would say is that this was not made by Talbot,’ ” the historian, Larry J. Schaaf, recalled in a recent interview.
“That was not what they were expecting to hear, to say the least.”
In the weeks since Dr. Schaaf’s surprising pronouncement was made public, “The Leaf,” originally thought to have been made around 1839 or later, has become the talk of the photo-historical world. The speculation about its origins became so intense that Sotheby’s and the print’s owners decided earlier this month to postpone its auction, so that researchers could begin delving into whether the image may be, in fact, one of the oldest photographic images in existence, dating to the 1790s.
Treasure Blog
It looks like the name of the shipwreck that was salvaged off the coast of Portugal last year is the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas, which sunk in 1804.
Spain is fighting in court for a share of the treasure; since the shipwreck occurred in international waters and was over 200 years ago, I don't see how their claim will stand.
I think that this is the wreck that John Edwards had a financial investment in.
Spain is fighting in court for a share of the treasure; since the shipwreck occurred in international waters and was over 200 years ago, I don't see how their claim will stand.
I think that this is the wreck that John Edwards had a financial investment in.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The Chinese Want...
...a full frontal kowtow from Jack Cafferty.
Forehead to the floor until you have a callus, like Ayman Al-Zawahiri does:
Forehead to the floor until you have a callus, like Ayman Al-Zawahiri does:
Most Baffling Story Evah!
Tunable metamaterial zips 'terahertz gap'
(fair use be damned, I'm reproducing this whole story so you can wallow in its impenatrability for yourselves!)
BOSTON, April 17 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've created a unique metamaterial that can be tuned over a range of frequencies in the so-called "terahertz gap."
The team of researchers from Boston College, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Boston University said they incorporated semiconducting materials in critical regions of tiny metallic split-ring resonators that interact with light in order to tune metamaterials beyond their fixed point on the electromagnetic spectrum.
The researchers said their landmark achievement opens such devices to a broader array of uses.
"Metamaterials no longer need to be constructed only out of metallic components," said Boston College Physicist Willie Padilla, the project leader. "What we've shown is that one can take the exotic properties of metamaterials and combine them with the unique proprieties of natural materials to form a hybrid that yields superior performance."
The study that included David Shrekenhamer, Hou-Tong Chen, John O'Hara, Abul Azad, Antoinette Tayler and Richard Averitt appears in the online version of the journal Nature Photonics.
Everybody get that?
I don't know whether to be scared or overjoyed.
(fair use be damned, I'm reproducing this whole story so you can wallow in its impenatrability for yourselves!)
BOSTON, April 17 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've created a unique metamaterial that can be tuned over a range of frequencies in the so-called "terahertz gap."
The team of researchers from Boston College, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Boston University said they incorporated semiconducting materials in critical regions of tiny metallic split-ring resonators that interact with light in order to tune metamaterials beyond their fixed point on the electromagnetic spectrum.
The researchers said their landmark achievement opens such devices to a broader array of uses.
"Metamaterials no longer need to be constructed only out of metallic components," said Boston College Physicist Willie Padilla, the project leader. "What we've shown is that one can take the exotic properties of metamaterials and combine them with the unique proprieties of natural materials to form a hybrid that yields superior performance."
The study that included David Shrekenhamer, Hou-Tong Chen, John O'Hara, Abul Azad, Antoinette Tayler and Richard Averitt appears in the online version of the journal Nature Photonics.
Everybody get that?
I don't know whether to be scared or overjoyed.
Hysterical Scientist Alert!
Cats. Feral cats. Millions of them. Hungry.
Now's your chance to get in on the ground floor of the new environmental hysteria. Become world famous, win the Nobel Prize! Be the Al Gore of feral cats!
update: Welcome, Ace of Spades HQ Morons!
Now's your chance to get in on the ground floor of the new environmental hysteria. Become world famous, win the Nobel Prize! Be the Al Gore of feral cats!
update: Welcome, Ace of Spades HQ Morons!
Volcano Blog: Mount Papandayan
Not erupting, but giving signs that it might.
This follows an eruption of nearby Mt. Egon. I have to theorize that in some instances, activity at one volcano might mean generalized volcanic activity in the same area, as if the same magma chamber or conduit to the Earth's mantle is at work. For example, when Mt. Pelee erupted in 1902, there was also minor volcanic activity at the Soufriere volcano on neighboring St. Vincent.
This follows an eruption of nearby Mt. Egon. I have to theorize that in some instances, activity at one volcano might mean generalized volcanic activity in the same area, as if the same magma chamber or conduit to the Earth's mantle is at work. For example, when Mt. Pelee erupted in 1902, there was also minor volcanic activity at the Soufriere volcano on neighboring St. Vincent.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Drool, Britannia
A leftist teenager shows his contempt for Conservative leader David Cameron by wiping snot down his back.
I'd have decked the little SOB myself. Jail and televisions be damned.
I'd have decked the little SOB myself. Jail and televisions be damned.
Supreme Court: Lethal Injection Constitutional
Here.
And by a 7-2 decision, with only Souter and Ginsburg dissenting. That's got to make Roberts happy, since he likes the consensus stuff.
And by a 7-2 decision, with only Souter and Ginsburg dissenting. That's got to make Roberts happy, since he likes the consensus stuff.
We'll Trade You An Obama For A Sarkozy
In the US, Barack Obama is skewered for being a snob and and elitist; in France, Nicolas Sarkozy is condemmed for not being a snob and an elitist.
Maureen Dowd: Bitter?
Since Maureen Dowd has this week's column turned on Hillary and Obama, I can actually enjoy reading it.
Take-away line: "The last few weeks have not been kind to Hillary, but the endless endgame has not been kind to the Wonder Boy either. Obama comes across less like a candidate in Pennsylvania than an anthropologist in Borneo."
Take-away line: "The last few weeks have not been kind to Hillary, but the endless endgame has not been kind to the Wonder Boy either. Obama comes across less like a candidate in Pennsylvania than an anthropologist in Borneo."
Prediction
We'll be reading an AP "Exclusive" in the next few days:
Reporter: How I Was Tortured By The US Army.
Reporter: How I Was Tortured By The US Army.
Isn't This Racist?
Daily Mail headline and story:
Brown to challenge Mbeki at U.N. over his 'softly softly' handling of Zimbabwe election crisis.
Gordon Brown will risk a showdown with South Africa by insisting Robert Mugabe has been defeated and should step down.
He will go eye-to-eye with Thabo Mbeki at a special session of the UN Security Council in New York at the start of a three-day visit to the US.
The Prime Minister will publicly question the controversial "softly softly" approach adopted by the South African leader over Zimbabwe in front of other African leaders.
The entire quote comes from an African proverb "Softly, softly, catchee monkey." It was popularized by the founder of the Boy Scouts, Lord Baden-Powell. I guess it's in common usage in UK, but here in the US would be seen as racist when used to refer to a black man (Mugabe).
I guess I'll put this under learn something new every day.
Brown to challenge Mbeki at U.N. over his 'softly softly' handling of Zimbabwe election crisis.
Gordon Brown will risk a showdown with South Africa by insisting Robert Mugabe has been defeated and should step down.
He will go eye-to-eye with Thabo Mbeki at a special session of the UN Security Council in New York at the start of a three-day visit to the US.
The Prime Minister will publicly question the controversial "softly softly" approach adopted by the South African leader over Zimbabwe in front of other African leaders.
The entire quote comes from an African proverb "Softly, softly, catchee monkey." It was popularized by the founder of the Boy Scouts, Lord Baden-Powell. I guess it's in common usage in UK, but here in the US would be seen as racist when used to refer to a black man (Mugabe).
I guess I'll put this under learn something new every day.
Lots of Trash...
...on the world's beaches.
And presumably in the world's oceans, as well:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The world's beaches and shores are anything but pristine. Volunteers scoured 33,000 miles of shoreline worldwide and found 6 million pounds of debris from cigarette butts and food wrappers to abandoned fishing lines and plastic bags that threaten seabirds and marine mammals.
A report by the Ocean Conservancy, to be released Wednesday, catalogues nearly 7.2 million items that were collected by volunteers on a single day last September as they combed beaches and rocky shorelines in 76 countries from Bahrain to Bangladesh and in 45 states from southern California to the rocky coast of Maine.
"This is a snapshot of one day, one moment in time, but it serves as a powerful reminder of our carelessness and how our disparate and random actions actually have a collective and global impact," Vikki Spruill, president of the Ocean Conservancy said in an interview.
The most extensive cleanup was in the United States where 190,000 volunteers covered 10,110 miles - about a third of the worldwide total - and picked up 3.9 million pounds of debris on a single Saturday last September, according to the report.
That's 390 pounds of trash per mile, among the highest rates of any country, although the high number also reflects the large number of U.S. volunteers who took part, said Spruill. By comparison, volunteers in neighboring Canada collected 74 pounds per mile and those in Mexico, 157 pounds per mile, said the report. About 65 pounds of trash were collected per mile in China and 46 pounds per mile in New Zealand. Volunteers covered one mile in Bahrain and found 300 pounds of trash.
And presumably in the world's oceans, as well:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The world's beaches and shores are anything but pristine. Volunteers scoured 33,000 miles of shoreline worldwide and found 6 million pounds of debris from cigarette butts and food wrappers to abandoned fishing lines and plastic bags that threaten seabirds and marine mammals.
A report by the Ocean Conservancy, to be released Wednesday, catalogues nearly 7.2 million items that were collected by volunteers on a single day last September as they combed beaches and rocky shorelines in 76 countries from Bahrain to Bangladesh and in 45 states from southern California to the rocky coast of Maine.
"This is a snapshot of one day, one moment in time, but it serves as a powerful reminder of our carelessness and how our disparate and random actions actually have a collective and global impact," Vikki Spruill, president of the Ocean Conservancy said in an interview.
The most extensive cleanup was in the United States where 190,000 volunteers covered 10,110 miles - about a third of the worldwide total - and picked up 3.9 million pounds of debris on a single Saturday last September, according to the report.
That's 390 pounds of trash per mile, among the highest rates of any country, although the high number also reflects the large number of U.S. volunteers who took part, said Spruill. By comparison, volunteers in neighboring Canada collected 74 pounds per mile and those in Mexico, 157 pounds per mile, said the report. About 65 pounds of trash were collected per mile in China and 46 pounds per mile in New Zealand. Volunteers covered one mile in Bahrain and found 300 pounds of trash.
Volcano In Indonesia Erupting.
KUPANG, Indonesia (AFP) — Hundreds of Indonesians have fled their homes after a volcano erupted spewing ash and smoke thousands of metres into the air, authorities said Wednesday.
Breathing masks and clean water have been rushed to the eastern island of Flores where the 1,703-metre (5,587-foot) high Mount Egon erupted late Tuesday, they said.
Indonesia's vulcanology office said 600 people from a village near the crater had been evacuated, but a local official said 23,000 were living in the danger zone.
Authorities were thrown into confusion by the eruption, which came at around 10:15 pm (1315 GMT) as they prepared for district elections Wednesday.
Breathing masks and clean water have been rushed to the eastern island of Flores where the 1,703-metre (5,587-foot) high Mount Egon erupted late Tuesday, they said.
Indonesia's vulcanology office said 600 people from a village near the crater had been evacuated, but a local official said 23,000 were living in the danger zone.
Authorities were thrown into confusion by the eruption, which came at around 10:15 pm (1315 GMT) as they prepared for district elections Wednesday.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Nice Tribute To Charlton Heston...
...by Stanley Fish in the New York Times.
Well written. Marred by some of the reader comments, naturally.
Well written. Marred by some of the reader comments, naturally.
Photos: Space Junk
Computer generated, but interesting photos.
I often think that a new idea for a Star Trek series would be the tale of a "space junk collector" or tinker, who collects and re-uses this sort of stuff, travelling from star system to star system.
I often think that a new idea for a Star Trek series would be the tale of a "space junk collector" or tinker, who collects and re-uses this sort of stuff, travelling from star system to star system.
Madonna: Space Alien?
A huge vein has appeared on Madonna's forehead after an extremely intense physical workout:
Astrobiologists suspect that Madonna is not really human, but is in fact from Talos IV:
It would certainly account for a lot of the strange behavior.
Astrobiologists suspect that Madonna is not really human, but is in fact from Talos IV:
It would certainly account for a lot of the strange behavior.
Learn Something New Every Day
YONGES ISLAND, S.C. (AP) -- During centuries of isolation on the Carolina sea islands, the short-legged, sway-backed marsh tacky horses became perfectly suited for toiling long hours in the swamps and oppressive humidity.
But their wild looks and workhorse reputation - their name comes from the old English word meaning "common" - didn't exactly make them prized among horse lovers. Today, only about 150 of them remain.
Now, breeders are coming together to save the tacky, whose ancestors were left by colonial Spanish explorers.
Those who know the tackies say there's plenty to love about them.
They can take hunters into woods and marshes that can't be reached by foot or four-wheelers. They don't flinch when a rider fires a gun from the saddle. Their deep, narrow chests give them more stamina than quarterhorses over long distances, and their hind ends slope downward, allowing tight turns in cane breaks and woods where other horses might have to back out.
Intelligent and superbly adapted to the Southern humidity and coastal marshes, tackies can be broken quickly and prove docile for even the youngest riders. They can survive on marsh grass and forage other horses won't eat - farmers and owners simply kept them tied up in their yards over the years.
"We haven't found anything they are not good at," said Jeanette Beranger, a program manager with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. "They jump like rabbits, have a lot of endurance and can thrive on nothing."
The tackies' colonial Spanish strain comes from the same ancestors as cracker horses in Florida and bankers from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. But DNA testing has found that the tackies are a separate breed, with unique characteristics thanks to their relative isolation.
I knew about the Outer Banks ponies, but this is the first time I've ever heard of Tackies or even Cracker Horses, and that last embarrasses me as a Florida native.
But their wild looks and workhorse reputation - their name comes from the old English word meaning "common" - didn't exactly make them prized among horse lovers. Today, only about 150 of them remain.
Now, breeders are coming together to save the tacky, whose ancestors were left by colonial Spanish explorers.
Those who know the tackies say there's plenty to love about them.
They can take hunters into woods and marshes that can't be reached by foot or four-wheelers. They don't flinch when a rider fires a gun from the saddle. Their deep, narrow chests give them more stamina than quarterhorses over long distances, and their hind ends slope downward, allowing tight turns in cane breaks and woods where other horses might have to back out.
Intelligent and superbly adapted to the Southern humidity and coastal marshes, tackies can be broken quickly and prove docile for even the youngest riders. They can survive on marsh grass and forage other horses won't eat - farmers and owners simply kept them tied up in their yards over the years.
"We haven't found anything they are not good at," said Jeanette Beranger, a program manager with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. "They jump like rabbits, have a lot of endurance and can thrive on nothing."
The tackies' colonial Spanish strain comes from the same ancestors as cracker horses in Florida and bankers from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. But DNA testing has found that the tackies are a separate breed, with unique characteristics thanks to their relative isolation.
I knew about the Outer Banks ponies, but this is the first time I've ever heard of Tackies or even Cracker Horses, and that last embarrasses me as a Florida native.
Jail A Fashion Designer?
My first reaction is to approve.
PARIS (AP) -- The French parliament's lower house adopted a groundbreaking bill Tuesday that would make it illegal for anyone - including fashion magazines, advertisers and Web sites - to publicly incite extreme thinness.
Fashion industry experts said that, if passed, the law would be the strongest of its kind anywhere. Leaders in French couture are opposed to the idea of legal boundaries on beauty standards.
Conservative lawmaker Valery Boyer, author of the law, argued that encouraging anorexia or severe weight loss should be punishable in court.
It would give judges the power to imprison and fine offenders up to $47,000 if found guilty of "inciting others to deprive themselves of food" to an "excessive" degree, Boyer said in a telephone interview before the parliamentary session.
It doesn't address the other end of the spectrum, that of obesity, so I guess that will be next. Seems a bit extreme to take this to the level of law, but French fashion houses have been very reluctant to make changes voluntarily.
PARIS (AP) -- The French parliament's lower house adopted a groundbreaking bill Tuesday that would make it illegal for anyone - including fashion magazines, advertisers and Web sites - to publicly incite extreme thinness.
Fashion industry experts said that, if passed, the law would be the strongest of its kind anywhere. Leaders in French couture are opposed to the idea of legal boundaries on beauty standards.
Conservative lawmaker Valery Boyer, author of the law, argued that encouraging anorexia or severe weight loss should be punishable in court.
It would give judges the power to imprison and fine offenders up to $47,000 if found guilty of "inciting others to deprive themselves of food" to an "excessive" degree, Boyer said in a telephone interview before the parliamentary session.
It doesn't address the other end of the spectrum, that of obesity, so I guess that will be next. Seems a bit extreme to take this to the level of law, but French fashion houses have been very reluctant to make changes voluntarily.
Lileks Waxes Profound
Here.
I’ve been trying to find the right words for a certain theory, and I can’t quite do it yet. It has to do with how a candidate feels about America – they have to be fundamentally, dispositionally comfortable with it. Not in a way that glosses over or excuses its flaws, but comfortable in the way a long-term married couple is comfortable. That includes not delighting in its flaws, or crowing them at every opportunity as proof of your love. I mean a simple quiet sense of awe and pride, its challenges and flaws and uniqueness and tragedies considered. You don’t win the office by being angry we’re not something else; you win by being enthused we can be something better. You can fake the latter. But people sense the former.
Well said.
I’ve been trying to find the right words for a certain theory, and I can’t quite do it yet. It has to do with how a candidate feels about America – they have to be fundamentally, dispositionally comfortable with it. Not in a way that glosses over or excuses its flaws, but comfortable in the way a long-term married couple is comfortable. That includes not delighting in its flaws, or crowing them at every opportunity as proof of your love. I mean a simple quiet sense of awe and pride, its challenges and flaws and uniqueness and tragedies considered. You don’t win the office by being angry we’re not something else; you win by being enthused we can be something better. You can fake the latter. But people sense the former.
Well said.
Colombian Volcano Wakens, Erupts
It's the Nevado del Huila volcano.
The volcano, about 180 miles southwest of Bogota in the northern Andes, erupted at 11:08 p.m. Monday (0008 Eastern Tuesday), according to the Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining.
The volcano, about 180 miles southwest of Bogota in the northern Andes, erupted at 11:08 p.m. Monday (0008 Eastern Tuesday), according to the Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Ruination Day
If you're a Gillian Welch fan, you know what today is:
Ruination Day
And the sky is red
I went back to work
Back to bed
Then the iceberg broke
And the Okies fled
And the Great Emancipator
Took a bullet in the back of the head.
April 14th. Lincoln was assassinated; the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank; and Black Sunday, the worst day of the Dust Bowl drought.
Fittingly, it's also the day before Tax Day.
Ruination Day
And the sky is red
I went back to work
Back to bed
Then the iceberg broke
And the Okies fled
And the Great Emancipator
Took a bullet in the back of the head.
April 14th. Lincoln was assassinated; the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank; and Black Sunday, the worst day of the Dust Bowl drought.
Fittingly, it's also the day before Tax Day.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Guitar Hero? Bah! I'd Rather Conduct.
In a rudimentary way, it's already possible.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Wave the baton too slowly and the orchestra arrayed on the screen plays the "William Tell Overture" at a crawl. Wave it too fast and the music gallops away.
But would-be Leonard Bernsteins who wave the remote control correctly as they try out "UBS Virtual Maestro" can experience a small part of what it's like to be a conductor.
"There's an educational component to it. But it's also a lot of fun. We think it's sort of like the orchestra version of 'Guitar Hero,' the video game," said Peter Dillon, who handles corporate sponsorships in the United States for Swiss banking giant UBS.
Two "UBS Virtual Maestro" exhibits have been appearing in concert-hall lobbies across the country since November as part of a project created by UBS, which often sponsors classical music events and organizations, to increase interest in classical music. Organizers hope to take the project to Europe in the summer.
For now, the game can be played only at concert halls on its tour itinerary. Nakra hasn't decided whether to pursue a commercial version. She said she doubted virtual conducting would ever be as popular as "Guitar Hero."
But Philadelphia Orchestra spokeswoman Katherine Blodgett said "UBS Virtual Maestro" seemed to be accomplishing its mission of sparking interest in classical music. During a weekend event for children, more than 100 lined up to try it out, she said.
"You can have someone in their 70s. You can have children. I think it just goes to show that everyone wants to be a conductor," Blodgett said.
I think that's correct; everyone wants to be a conductor, at least all classical music fans. And I think that everyone has one piece that, above all others, they'd like to conduct; for me, that piece is Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity from Gustav Holst's The Planets.
What would your choice be?
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Wave the baton too slowly and the orchestra arrayed on the screen plays the "William Tell Overture" at a crawl. Wave it too fast and the music gallops away.
But would-be Leonard Bernsteins who wave the remote control correctly as they try out "UBS Virtual Maestro" can experience a small part of what it's like to be a conductor.
"There's an educational component to it. But it's also a lot of fun. We think it's sort of like the orchestra version of 'Guitar Hero,' the video game," said Peter Dillon, who handles corporate sponsorships in the United States for Swiss banking giant UBS.
Two "UBS Virtual Maestro" exhibits have been appearing in concert-hall lobbies across the country since November as part of a project created by UBS, which often sponsors classical music events and organizations, to increase interest in classical music. Organizers hope to take the project to Europe in the summer.
For now, the game can be played only at concert halls on its tour itinerary. Nakra hasn't decided whether to pursue a commercial version. She said she doubted virtual conducting would ever be as popular as "Guitar Hero."
But Philadelphia Orchestra spokeswoman Katherine Blodgett said "UBS Virtual Maestro" seemed to be accomplishing its mission of sparking interest in classical music. During a weekend event for children, more than 100 lined up to try it out, she said.
"You can have someone in their 70s. You can have children. I think it just goes to show that everyone wants to be a conductor," Blodgett said.
I think that's correct; everyone wants to be a conductor, at least all classical music fans. And I think that everyone has one piece that, above all others, they'd like to conduct; for me, that piece is Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity from Gustav Holst's The Planets.
What would your choice be?
Reuters Snarks On Itself
In an article on sport fishing in Iraq, a Reuters reporter has fun at the news organization's own expense:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - It's early on a Sunday morning and the fish aren't biting, but Warrant Officer Stormy ("like the weather") Ripley is enjoying a moment of calm as she casts her line into a lake encircling Saddam Hussein's former palace.
Welcome to the weekly gathering of the Baghdad Angler's Club and School of Flyfishing.
This week's lesson is being taught by Warrant Officer Leslie "Scott" Henry, a 19-year veteran helicopter pilot who investigates air crashes as Aviation Safety Officer when he isn't wrangling feisty asp with his Kastmaster lure.
For some of the U.S. troops stationed at the giant complex of bases built around Saddam's lush marble palaces on the western edge of Baghdad, Sunday morning fishing has become a weekly ritual, a way to unwind and think about home.
The club has a Web site -- baghdadflyfishing.com -- filled with photos of troopers and their fish. In nearly all of them the soldiers are grinning ear to ear.
Fishing stories, like war stories, are more convincing when backed up by proof.
"You need that photo, or if you say you caught a 24-inch asp no one's going to believe you," says Henry.
There are two kinds of fish to catch: carp, which feed on the bottom and are best caught by dangling bait, and asp, a predator best caught by casting a lure near the surface.
But pretty soon the group is casting sleek mirrored lures in an effort to snag an asp. It takes skill to reel in the mirrors so that big fish mistake them for tasty smaller fish.
The Reuters correspondent catches one that thrashes frantically on the hook, but it leaps back into the lake before a photo can be taken. So you'll just have to take Reuters word for it: it was as big as the reporter's arm.
You mean you didn't have a Reuters photographer there to Photoshop a monster fish into the photo? Shame on you.
Good story, though. Well done.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - It's early on a Sunday morning and the fish aren't biting, but Warrant Officer Stormy ("like the weather") Ripley is enjoying a moment of calm as she casts her line into a lake encircling Saddam Hussein's former palace.
Welcome to the weekly gathering of the Baghdad Angler's Club and School of Flyfishing.
This week's lesson is being taught by Warrant Officer Leslie "Scott" Henry, a 19-year veteran helicopter pilot who investigates air crashes as Aviation Safety Officer when he isn't wrangling feisty asp with his Kastmaster lure.
For some of the U.S. troops stationed at the giant complex of bases built around Saddam's lush marble palaces on the western edge of Baghdad, Sunday morning fishing has become a weekly ritual, a way to unwind and think about home.
The club has a Web site -- baghdadflyfishing.com -- filled with photos of troopers and their fish. In nearly all of them the soldiers are grinning ear to ear.
Fishing stories, like war stories, are more convincing when backed up by proof.
"You need that photo, or if you say you caught a 24-inch asp no one's going to believe you," says Henry.
There are two kinds of fish to catch: carp, which feed on the bottom and are best caught by dangling bait, and asp, a predator best caught by casting a lure near the surface.
But pretty soon the group is casting sleek mirrored lures in an effort to snag an asp. It takes skill to reel in the mirrors so that big fish mistake them for tasty smaller fish.
The Reuters correspondent catches one that thrashes frantically on the hook, but it leaps back into the lake before a photo can be taken. So you'll just have to take Reuters word for it: it was as big as the reporter's arm.
You mean you didn't have a Reuters photographer there to Photoshop a monster fish into the photo? Shame on you.
Good story, though. Well done.
In Local News...
...a garage owner was murdered.
My sister, who works at Napa, knew the murdered man, since he was a customer of hers. She says that he probably refused to return a car because of an outstanding bill for repairs, and was murdered for that. Since the Charlotte police are asking for tips to help solve the case, I'll let her know about it, maybe she can help them locate the murderers.
My sister, who works at Napa, knew the murdered man, since he was a customer of hers. She says that he probably refused to return a car because of an outstanding bill for repairs, and was murdered for that. Since the Charlotte police are asking for tips to help solve the case, I'll let her know about it, maybe she can help them locate the murderers.
Hitch Explains About Lesbians
Christopher Hitchens, who called Andrew Sullivan a lesbian and told him to "get on with it" during a Tim Russert interview last week, offered an explanation for his choice of words:
The internet has since exploded with speculation, mystification and more than a little anger regarding Mr Hitchens's use of the L-word.
In an email to The Independent on Sunday, the commentator wrote: "Don't know what came over me: the dear boy did suddenly seem extremely sapphic, yet I think my intuitions must have been scrambled all the same, since what I was actually thinking was: 'Andrew really wants to have Barack Obama's fucking child'. Clearly some confusion of categories on my part."
*laughs uproariously*
h/t Instapundit
The internet has since exploded with speculation, mystification and more than a little anger regarding Mr Hitchens's use of the L-word.
In an email to The Independent on Sunday, the commentator wrote: "Don't know what came over me: the dear boy did suddenly seem extremely sapphic, yet I think my intuitions must have been scrambled all the same, since what I was actually thinking was: 'Andrew really wants to have Barack Obama's fucking child'. Clearly some confusion of categories on my part."
*laughs uproariously*
h/t Instapundit
Saturday, April 12, 2008
You Want Mine? Give Me Yours.
grandmother from Merseyside has submitted a planning application to bulldoze the luxury home of Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy - because his firm wants to flatten her house for a new supermarket.
Angry Dot Reid, 58, paid £265 to submit the plans to knock down Sir Terry's £1.6 million mansion in leafy Cuffley, Hertfordshire.
Her own £80,000 housing association end-terrace home would be demolished by his firm who plan to build a huge new shop and a new stadium for Everton FC, in Kirkby, on the outskirts of Liverpool.
She said: "My property is being threatened to be knocked down. It is not a slum clearance, it is only 15 years old.
"Here comes Tesco's again trying to take over the world.
"We want our voices to be heard. How would he like it if his house was flattened?"
Mrs Reid said she did not know of the details of Sir Terry's house - but looked it up on Google Earth.
She added: "It's massive - you would be able to put Everton's new stadium on his land."
Good for you. It's nice to know that Britons are finding their spines again after all these years of Labour abuse.
Angry Dot Reid, 58, paid £265 to submit the plans to knock down Sir Terry's £1.6 million mansion in leafy Cuffley, Hertfordshire.
Her own £80,000 housing association end-terrace home would be demolished by his firm who plan to build a huge new shop and a new stadium for Everton FC, in Kirkby, on the outskirts of Liverpool.
She said: "My property is being threatened to be knocked down. It is not a slum clearance, it is only 15 years old.
"Here comes Tesco's again trying to take over the world.
"We want our voices to be heard. How would he like it if his house was flattened?"
Mrs Reid said she did not know of the details of Sir Terry's house - but looked it up on Google Earth.
She added: "It's massive - you would be able to put Everton's new stadium on his land."
Good for you. It's nice to know that Britons are finding their spines again after all these years of Labour abuse.
Surprise! Underwater Volcano Off Iceland's Coast
Bubbling hot underneath 1,500 meters of water, a volcanic caldera (the lava spitting mouth of a volcano) measuring 10 kilometers in diameter simmers sinisterly. Scratching their heads, a group of Icelandic scientists wonder how it got there in the first place.
Volcanologist Ármann Höskuldsson from the University of Iceland and a team of scientists recently discovered a giant volcano off Reykjanes peninsula, southwest Iceland, almost as large as the peninsula itself.
Apparently, however, if this particular volcano erupts the most it will do to mainland Iceland is maybe cause a couple of earthquakes which should be fine since though Icelandic houses are not “lava proof” they are as a rule “earthquake proof.”
Though this new volcano probably (fingers crossed) won’t cause as much damage as the one back in 1973, it is still pretty intimidating.
The damage such a volcano can cause vary according to the volcano type of lava that is supplied via the magma chamber. Liquid lava, which typically forms shield volcanoes (think Hawaii) is destructive only to things which are burned by the lava itself. Thick, viscous lava, full of gases (think Mt. St. Helen's) can be quite destructive in a variety of ways. The danger from the present volcano comes from the possibility of tsunamis triggered by associated earthquakes.
Volcanologist Ármann Höskuldsson from the University of Iceland and a team of scientists recently discovered a giant volcano off Reykjanes peninsula, southwest Iceland, almost as large as the peninsula itself.
Apparently, however, if this particular volcano erupts the most it will do to mainland Iceland is maybe cause a couple of earthquakes which should be fine since though Icelandic houses are not “lava proof” they are as a rule “earthquake proof.”
Though this new volcano probably (fingers crossed) won’t cause as much damage as the one back in 1973, it is still pretty intimidating.
The damage such a volcano can cause vary according to the volcano type of lava that is supplied via the magma chamber. Liquid lava, which typically forms shield volcanoes (think Hawaii) is destructive only to things which are burned by the lava itself. Thick, viscous lava, full of gases (think Mt. St. Helen's) can be quite destructive in a variety of ways. The danger from the present volcano comes from the possibility of tsunamis triggered by associated earthquakes.
Spain Arrests Treasure Hunters
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Twenty people accused in the plunder and sale of thousands of archaeological items have been arrested and their suspected booty - including Roman and Stone Age pieces - seized, police said Friday.
The suspects and used metal detectors at archaeological sites throughout Spain, often selling their finds on the Internet, police said in a statement.
Roman swords, 12,000 coins, stone and metal axes and more than 10,000 paleontological pieces were among the artifacts seized, police said.
Wonder if they object to solo treasure hunters on beaches, too?
The suspects and used metal detectors at archaeological sites throughout Spain, often selling their finds on the Internet, police said in a statement.
Roman swords, 12,000 coins, stone and metal axes and more than 10,000 paleontological pieces were among the artifacts seized, police said.
Wonder if they object to solo treasure hunters on beaches, too?
Friday, April 11, 2008
New Volcano To Form Off Oregon Coast?
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off the central Oregon Coast.
Scientists don't know what the earthquakes mean, but they could be the result of magma rumbling underneath the Juan de Fuca Plate - away from the recognized earthquake faults off Oregon, said geophysicist Robert Dziak of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ore.
There have been more than 600 quakes over the past 10 days in a basin 150 miles southwest of Newport. The biggest was magnitude 5.4 and two others were more than magnitude 5.0, OSU reported. They have not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks, and few have been strong enough to be felt on shore.
It looks like what happens before a volcanic eruption, except there are no volcanoes in the area, Dziak said.
On the hydrophones, the quakes sound like low rumbling thunder and are unlike anything scientists have heard in 17 years of listening, Dziak said. Some of the quakes have also been detected by earthquake instruments on land.
The hydrophones are leftover from a network the Navy used to listen for submarines during the Cold War. They routinely detect passing ships, earthquakes on the ocean bottom and whales calling to each other.
Well, I for one wouldn't be surprised by a new volcano forming off the coast.
Scientists don't know what the earthquakes mean, but they could be the result of magma rumbling underneath the Juan de Fuca Plate - away from the recognized earthquake faults off Oregon, said geophysicist Robert Dziak of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ore.
There have been more than 600 quakes over the past 10 days in a basin 150 miles southwest of Newport. The biggest was magnitude 5.4 and two others were more than magnitude 5.0, OSU reported. They have not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks, and few have been strong enough to be felt on shore.
It looks like what happens before a volcanic eruption, except there are no volcanoes in the area, Dziak said.
On the hydrophones, the quakes sound like low rumbling thunder and are unlike anything scientists have heard in 17 years of listening, Dziak said. Some of the quakes have also been detected by earthquake instruments on land.
The hydrophones are leftover from a network the Navy used to listen for submarines during the Cold War. They routinely detect passing ships, earthquakes on the ocean bottom and whales calling to each other.
Well, I for one wouldn't be surprised by a new volcano forming off the coast.
Well...Damn.
The New York Times, not satisfied with disclosing national secrets, is now disclosing native Florida secrets.
IT’S a warm late-winter afternoon in northern Florida, and three young women are gingerly descending a half-dozen wooden stairs to a mouthwash-blue pool of translucent water ringed with cypress trees. Yesterday, they paddled the Ichetucknee River, a clear, narrow stream fed almost exclusively by nine major springs. Today, at this popular swimming hole in the town of High Springs, they want full immersion.
Visit the natural freshwater springs of northern Florida, and you may find it impossible to resist plunging in, or at least riding along the surface in a kayak or tube. Typically surrounded by trees and lush vegetation, the springs are often an eerily beautiful blue or green. Some are so clear that kayakers photographed on them appear as if they were floating on air. The purity of the water at Ginnie Spring has attracted the Coca-Cola Company, which has a permit to extract up to 600,000 gallons a day from a deeply placed well there and bottles some of it as Dasani water. And with water temperatures a cool 68 to 72 degrees, these alluring springs are unlikely spots for a nervous Northerner’s meeting up with an alligator, or so their aficionados insist.
At least eight billion gallons of water a day gush up out of the Floridan aquifer, according to the United States Geological Survey, mostly in northern and central Florida, which has one of the largest concentrations of springs in the world. “It is one of the few places where you can actually look down into an aquifer,” said Harley Means, a geologist with the Florida Geological Survey, in the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The region’s limestone substrate is so permeable, and the water table so close to the surface, that water readily works its way up from the ground. Besides generating rivers, the springs create, in effect, windows and doorways into the aquifer itself.
While long overshadowed by the state’s theme parks and beaches, the springs are well known locally. Floridians use these waters for swimming, diving, snorkeling, canoeing, kayaking and tubing.
So much for Floridians enjoying their springs this year.
IT’S a warm late-winter afternoon in northern Florida, and three young women are gingerly descending a half-dozen wooden stairs to a mouthwash-blue pool of translucent water ringed with cypress trees. Yesterday, they paddled the Ichetucknee River, a clear, narrow stream fed almost exclusively by nine major springs. Today, at this popular swimming hole in the town of High Springs, they want full immersion.
Visit the natural freshwater springs of northern Florida, and you may find it impossible to resist plunging in, or at least riding along the surface in a kayak or tube. Typically surrounded by trees and lush vegetation, the springs are often an eerily beautiful blue or green. Some are so clear that kayakers photographed on them appear as if they were floating on air. The purity of the water at Ginnie Spring has attracted the Coca-Cola Company, which has a permit to extract up to 600,000 gallons a day from a deeply placed well there and bottles some of it as Dasani water. And with water temperatures a cool 68 to 72 degrees, these alluring springs are unlikely spots for a nervous Northerner’s meeting up with an alligator, or so their aficionados insist.
At least eight billion gallons of water a day gush up out of the Floridan aquifer, according to the United States Geological Survey, mostly in northern and central Florida, which has one of the largest concentrations of springs in the world. “It is one of the few places where you can actually look down into an aquifer,” said Harley Means, a geologist with the Florida Geological Survey, in the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The region’s limestone substrate is so permeable, and the water table so close to the surface, that water readily works its way up from the ground. Besides generating rivers, the springs create, in effect, windows and doorways into the aquifer itself.
While long overshadowed by the state’s theme parks and beaches, the springs are well known locally. Floridians use these waters for swimming, diving, snorkeling, canoeing, kayaking and tubing.
So much for Floridians enjoying their springs this year.
Medium Secure Patient On The Loose
Doesn't sound so bad, does it? Well, medium secure patient is, in this case, referring to a serial rapist.
Now are you a bit more worried?
In this case, over-sensitivity got in the way of public safety.
Let me give a movie analogy:
Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a High Secure Patient, has escaped from a treatment facility in Tennessee. Dr. Lecter was the cause of several unfortunate accidents during his escape and the public should be wary of him, as he has an eating disorder that may be detrimental to the health of those he encounters.
Now are you a bit more worried?
In this case, over-sensitivity got in the way of public safety.
Let me give a movie analogy:
Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a High Secure Patient, has escaped from a treatment facility in Tennessee. Dr. Lecter was the cause of several unfortunate accidents during his escape and the public should be wary of him, as he has an eating disorder that may be detrimental to the health of those he encounters.
Vaults of Library of Congress To Open
I like this news:
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Library of Congress will open its vaults to the History Channel in a deal to bring the library's vast public collections to a larger audience.
The History Channel and its numerous sister channels will draw from the historical content preserved by the Library of Congress for original specials and documentaries. An official announcement of the partnership is to be announced Monday.
Billington said there are over 138 million items in the library's collections, meaning plenty of fodder for historical stories previously untold. Such items include a Gutenberg Bible, George Washington's copy of the Constitution, the first United States map and the contents in Abraham Lincoln's pockets the night he was assassinated.
In contrast to an exclusive deal made in 2006 between the Smithsonian Institution and CBS's Inc.'s Showtime Networks, the History deal is non-exclusive, meaning all items will still be publicly available.
Ideally items like this should be scanned and digitalized for downloading from the Library of Congress website, too.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Library of Congress will open its vaults to the History Channel in a deal to bring the library's vast public collections to a larger audience.
The History Channel and its numerous sister channels will draw from the historical content preserved by the Library of Congress for original specials and documentaries. An official announcement of the partnership is to be announced Monday.
Billington said there are over 138 million items in the library's collections, meaning plenty of fodder for historical stories previously untold. Such items include a Gutenberg Bible, George Washington's copy of the Constitution, the first United States map and the contents in Abraham Lincoln's pockets the night he was assassinated.
In contrast to an exclusive deal made in 2006 between the Smithsonian Institution and CBS's Inc.'s Showtime Networks, the History deal is non-exclusive, meaning all items will still be publicly available.
Ideally items like this should be scanned and digitalized for downloading from the Library of Congress website, too.
Followup: Beware The Orthodox!
Original post here.
The body of the artist has been found.
BERLIN (AP) -- Berlin police have found a body that is probably that of a missing Russian artist who had been condemned by the Orthodox Church for an exhibit in her homeland. The death was an apparent suicide, police said Friday.
Anna Mikhalchuk, who moved to Berlin in November, has been missing for three weeks. She created a stir in Russia with an 2003 exhibition that the church considered blasphemous, and was tried and acquitted by a Moscow court on charges of inciting religious hatred.
Police said a body found Thursday in a section of the Spree River running through central Berlin is "in all probability" that of Mikhalchuk.
"Apparent suicide."
cue the theremins...
The body of the artist has been found.
BERLIN (AP) -- Berlin police have found a body that is probably that of a missing Russian artist who had been condemned by the Orthodox Church for an exhibit in her homeland. The death was an apparent suicide, police said Friday.
Anna Mikhalchuk, who moved to Berlin in November, has been missing for three weeks. She created a stir in Russia with an 2003 exhibition that the church considered blasphemous, and was tried and acquitted by a Moscow court on charges of inciting religious hatred.
Police said a body found Thursday in a section of the Spree River running through central Berlin is "in all probability" that of Mikhalchuk.
"Apparent suicide."
cue the theremins...
Thursday, April 10, 2008
I Can't Imagine It; It Must Be A Delicacy
Coffee at $100 a cup, from beans excreted by civet cats.
Proving once again that the rich will consume anything if it's priced high enough and believe it's rare.
(Drudge link)
Proving once again that the rich will consume anything if it's priced high enough and believe it's rare.
(Drudge link)
The Last English-Style Butcher In Barking and Ilford...
......is just a little too loud for his neighbors.
LONDON, April 10 (UPI) -- An outraged British butcher said he may move his business after authorities ordered him to stop chopping meat before 8 a.m. because it is too noisy.
Brian Clapton, 51, who said he is "the last English-style butcher" in his area of east London, has been ordered by city officials to stop chopping meat in the morning because he is disturbing locals, The Daily Mail reported.
How on earth, exactly, do you chop too loudly?
LONDON, April 10 (UPI) -- An outraged British butcher said he may move his business after authorities ordered him to stop chopping meat before 8 a.m. because it is too noisy.
Brian Clapton, 51, who said he is "the last English-style butcher" in his area of east London, has been ordered by city officials to stop chopping meat in the morning because he is disturbing locals, The Daily Mail reported.
How on earth, exactly, do you chop too loudly?
The Unhappy Battle Over Steve Irwin's Legacy
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin's father Bob Irwin has accepted a compensation package in return for disassociating himself from Australia Zoo.
It was probably inevitable that Bob Irwin and Steve's widow Terri would butt heads over Steve's legacy.
It was probably inevitable that Bob Irwin and Steve's widow Terri would butt heads over Steve's legacy.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
The John Holmes...
...of woodpeckers.
A woodpecker with a freakishly long beak was spotted eating from a domestic garden feeder in Rosedale, near Pickering, North Yorkshire.
The bird looks like a cross between cartoon character Woody the Woodpecker and Pinocchio.
Experts today claimed the beak was the biggest they had ever seen and are surprised it can fly, let alone feed.
A woodpecker with a freakishly long beak was spotted eating from a domestic garden feeder in Rosedale, near Pickering, North Yorkshire.
The bird looks like a cross between cartoon character Woody the Woodpecker and Pinocchio.
Experts today claimed the beak was the biggest they had ever seen and are surprised it can fly, let alone feed.
UK Stupidity Of The Day
UK Muslims who happen to be pedophiles or other sex offenders are demanding Get Out Of Jail Free Cards because treatment programs violate their faith.
*shakes head in disgust*
*shakes head in disgust*
First Catch Your Peacock
The Daily Mail tells you which girls are likely to want to have a one-night stand.
Doe-eyed girls like Charlize Theron, Lindsay Lohan or Christina Ricci.
Gee, that helps a whole lot, doesn't it?
Doe-eyed girls like Charlize Theron, Lindsay Lohan or Christina Ricci.
Gee, that helps a whole lot, doesn't it?
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
UK Paintball Game Targets Arabs.
Muslim leaders in Britain are outraged about a new game that calls for camouflaged players to shoot BBs at "enemy" players dressed in traditional Arab headdresses, or shemaghs.
The game's creators, however, say using the shemaghs is the "easiest way to tell who the enemy are," according to a report in the London Daily Mail.
"Any sort of game that associates guns and violence with a particular culture is clearly wrong," said Mokhtar Badri, executive member of the Muslim Association of Britain.
*cynical laughter*
Maybe there's a few of our Brit cousins that still have spines after all.
The game's creators, however, say using the shemaghs is the "easiest way to tell who the enemy are," according to a report in the London Daily Mail.
"Any sort of game that associates guns and violence with a particular culture is clearly wrong," said Mokhtar Badri, executive member of the Muslim Association of Britain.
*cynical laughter*
Maybe there's a few of our Brit cousins that still have spines after all.
Medal Of Honor Awarded
Posthumously, to Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor.
SAN DIEGO — President Bush on Tuesday awarded the nation's highest military tribute to a Navy SEAL who was killed when he threw himself on a grenade in Iraq to save his comrades.
The president, blinking back tears, recognized the bravery of Michael A. Monsoor, who was part of a sniper team in Ramadi when he died on Sept. 29, 2006. Bush presented the medal to Monsoor's parents, Sally and George Monsoor, before about 250 guests, including some of his fellow soldiers, in an East Room ceremony.
Rest in peace, warrior.
SAN DIEGO — President Bush on Tuesday awarded the nation's highest military tribute to a Navy SEAL who was killed when he threw himself on a grenade in Iraq to save his comrades.
The president, blinking back tears, recognized the bravery of Michael A. Monsoor, who was part of a sniper team in Ramadi when he died on Sept. 29, 2006. Bush presented the medal to Monsoor's parents, Sally and George Monsoor, before about 250 guests, including some of his fellow soldiers, in an East Room ceremony.
Rest in peace, warrior.
Fashion Designers Are Misogynistic.
Gee, hoodah thunkit?
Update: Welcome, Ace of Spades Morons! Sorry, one more click for the droopy boobies!
Update: Welcome, Ace of Spades Morons! Sorry, one more click for the droopy boobies!
Metamorphosis, Scientist To Artist, Cause: Dementia
NY Times story here.
It's an interesting story, with paintings made by the scientist-artist. Apparently composer Maurice Ravel suffered from this disease, and former Arizona senator Pete Domenici has a form of it.
And no, the dementia doesn't cause artists to become scientists. I knew you'd ask.
It's an interesting story, with paintings made by the scientist-artist. Apparently composer Maurice Ravel suffered from this disease, and former Arizona senator Pete Domenici has a form of it.
And no, the dementia doesn't cause artists to become scientists. I knew you'd ask.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Your Punishment Is To Fondle Me Boobs!
Even by BBC queen of mean Anne Robinson's standards whose withering put-downs are her stock in trade, it was an outrageous request.
The Weakest Link stunned viewers by asking a contestant to feel her breasts sparking a BBC investigation.
The upfront invitation from the 63-year-old left contestant and professional wine taster Olly Smith red-faced in front of the cameras.
Is that your final answer, then?
The Weakest Link stunned viewers by asking a contestant to feel her breasts sparking a BBC investigation.
The upfront invitation from the 63-year-old left contestant and professional wine taster Olly Smith red-faced in front of the cameras.
Is that your final answer, then?
Assault With A Hedgehog?
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A New Zealand man has been accused of assault with prickly weapon - a hedgehog.
Police allege that William Singalargh picked up the hedgehog and threw it several yards to hit a 15-year-old boy in the North Island east coast town of Whakatane on Feb. 9.
"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," police Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins said Monday. The teen did not need medical treatment, he added.
Police chiefs are worried that hedgehogs could become "the weapon of choice" among street criminals, and are thinking of arming their own men with hedgehogs. They are also asking members of Parliament for new laws regulating ownership of hedgehogs, and an outright ban on assault hedgehogs, saturday-night hedgehogs, and hedgehogs with "cop-killer" spines.
"They serve no legitimate purpose," said Police Chief Harold Smith of Hastings. "We must get these hedgehogs off the streets where they can't be a menace to the public, especially the children."
David Rawlings of the New Zealand Hedgehog Association took umbrage with Smith's statement. "He's throwing out the baby with the bathwater," he said. "It's obvious that this new set of laws is aimed at legitimate hedgehog owners, and that confiscation of hedgehogs is what the Government plans, leaving the populace defenseless against criminals armed with hedgehogs. After all, criminals won't turn in their hedgehogs."
Eunice McGuire contributed to this article.
Police allege that William Singalargh picked up the hedgehog and threw it several yards to hit a 15-year-old boy in the North Island east coast town of Whakatane on Feb. 9.
"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," police Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins said Monday. The teen did not need medical treatment, he added.
Police chiefs are worried that hedgehogs could become "the weapon of choice" among street criminals, and are thinking of arming their own men with hedgehogs. They are also asking members of Parliament for new laws regulating ownership of hedgehogs, and an outright ban on assault hedgehogs, saturday-night hedgehogs, and hedgehogs with "cop-killer" spines.
"They serve no legitimate purpose," said Police Chief Harold Smith of Hastings. "We must get these hedgehogs off the streets where they can't be a menace to the public, especially the children."
David Rawlings of the New Zealand Hedgehog Association took umbrage with Smith's statement. "He's throwing out the baby with the bathwater," he said. "It's obvious that this new set of laws is aimed at legitimate hedgehog owners, and that confiscation of hedgehogs is what the Government plans, leaving the populace defenseless against criminals armed with hedgehogs. After all, criminals won't turn in their hedgehogs."
Eunice McGuire contributed to this article.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Muslim Graves Desecrated In France.
A cowardly act, as the dead are beyond caring.
If you wish to do something constructive, confront the "youths" who burn cars in the banlieus.
If you wish to do something constructive, confront the "youths" who burn cars in the banlieus.
Rainland?
Iceland is a place where definite changes from global warming can be seen.
"I don't think it's even a question," said Asta Gisladottir, asked whether the freak weather was caused by global warming.
"We're so close to the North Pole," the 36-year-old hotel worker said. "It's just in our backyard."
Gisladottir recalled winters during her childhood in the village of Siglufjordur, on the island's north, as very different. Then there was snow from November to April.
Now, it is mostly rain.
Geophysicist Johannesson, who has studied climate change since the early 1990s, said the evidence was not just anecdotal.
"What we see here is an overall warming from a rather cold 19th century," he said. "As a general rule, this is sufficient for us to have many significant changes in the environment."
I linked this one because I lived briefly in Iceland in the late 1980's.
"I don't think it's even a question," said Asta Gisladottir, asked whether the freak weather was caused by global warming.
"We're so close to the North Pole," the 36-year-old hotel worker said. "It's just in our backyard."
Gisladottir recalled winters during her childhood in the village of Siglufjordur, on the island's north, as very different. Then there was snow from November to April.
Now, it is mostly rain.
Geophysicist Johannesson, who has studied climate change since the early 1990s, said the evidence was not just anecdotal.
"What we see here is an overall warming from a rather cold 19th century," he said. "As a general rule, this is sufficient for us to have many significant changes in the environment."
I linked this one because I lived briefly in Iceland in the late 1980's.
Charlton Heston, 1924-2008: R.I.P.
Charlton Heston has died.
I always enjoyed Chuck in a film. He was all ham at times, but always fun to watch. He was ferociously principled, with old-fashioned notions about virtue. He always enjoyed dying in a film, considered it the most dramatic thing an actor could do.
Here's a photo of Chuck from The Omega Man, dead at the hands of a mutant:
I think that The Omega Man sort of encapsulated Chuck's later career: out of touch with the Left, fierce advocate of gun ownership, and self-reliant always.
He married early and stayed married, for over 64 years, to his beloved Lydia, who survives him.
Here's the trailer from The Omega Man:
Thank you for all the wonderful moments, Chuck. I'll miss you.
Update: I've been reading news stories for the last hour or so and want to quote Xan Brooks in the UK Guardian:
To his detractors, Heston could be an inflexible, monolithic presence, weighed down by his own mantle of heroism and pious sense of virtue. Others took a more charitable view. Assessing the actor's cultural impact, the critic Pauline Kael hailed him as "a god-like hero, built for strength. He is an archetype of what makes Americans win. He represents American power - and he has the profile of an eagle."
That just totally encapsulates the man. Good writing, there.
Update 2: Welcome, Instapundit readers!
I always enjoyed Chuck in a film. He was all ham at times, but always fun to watch. He was ferociously principled, with old-fashioned notions about virtue. He always enjoyed dying in a film, considered it the most dramatic thing an actor could do.
Here's a photo of Chuck from The Omega Man, dead at the hands of a mutant:
I think that The Omega Man sort of encapsulated Chuck's later career: out of touch with the Left, fierce advocate of gun ownership, and self-reliant always.
He married early and stayed married, for over 64 years, to his beloved Lydia, who survives him.
Here's the trailer from The Omega Man:
Thank you for all the wonderful moments, Chuck. I'll miss you.
Update: I've been reading news stories for the last hour or so and want to quote Xan Brooks in the UK Guardian:
To his detractors, Heston could be an inflexible, monolithic presence, weighed down by his own mantle of heroism and pious sense of virtue. Others took a more charitable view. Assessing the actor's cultural impact, the critic Pauline Kael hailed him as "a god-like hero, built for strength. He is an archetype of what makes Americans win. He represents American power - and he has the profile of an eagle."
That just totally encapsulates the man. Good writing, there.
Update 2: Welcome, Instapundit readers!
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Survivalism Story In The New York Times.
Believe it or not.
Done from a fairly balanced standpoint, too. Hurricane Katrina is mentioned specifically as a trigger for this phenomenon.
Done from a fairly balanced standpoint, too. Hurricane Katrina is mentioned specifically as a trigger for this phenomenon.
Tom Cruise Can't Get No Respect.
A blend of medical marijuana called "Tom Cruise Purple" may bring legal action from the actor, the New York Daily News reports.
Cannabis clubs in Northern California allegedly are selling vials of the marijuana with a picture of Cruise laughing hysterically, the Rush & Molloy column reports.
Cannabis clubs in Northern California allegedly are selling vials of the marijuana with a picture of Cruise laughing hysterically, the Rush & Molloy column reports.
Motivations?
An incomplete news story from Florida about a man and wife coming to blows over hot dogs.
Why did he grab the plate of hot dogs from her? What caused this fight? The best part of the story is left unwritten, as if it had been copied from a police blotter.
Why did he grab the plate of hot dogs from her? What caused this fight? The best part of the story is left unwritten, as if it had been copied from a police blotter.
Viking Treasure!
MARSTA, Sweden, April 4 (UPI) -- Swedish archaeologists said they have uncovered a horde of Viking-era silver coins near Arlanda airport in the country's Uppland region.
450 silver coins, some from Baghdad and Damascus, proving that the Vikings really did get around in those days.
Unfortunately, laws in Europe mostly are written so that any such horde becomes the property of the state, instead of the finder.
450 silver coins, some from Baghdad and Damascus, proving that the Vikings really did get around in those days.
Unfortunately, laws in Europe mostly are written so that any such horde becomes the property of the state, instead of the finder.
Gold In Them Thar Hills
With gold still over $900 an ounce, people have begun prospecting for it again.
You see? There are hard, backbreaking jobs that Americans still want, as long as it is profitable enough!
I'm reminded also of the fence-painting scene in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer where Twain notes that anything a body is obliged to do is work, and that anything a body is not obliged to do, no matter how hard, is play.
You see? There are hard, backbreaking jobs that Americans still want, as long as it is profitable enough!
I'm reminded also of the fence-painting scene in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer where Twain notes that anything a body is obliged to do is work, and that anything a body is not obliged to do, no matter how hard, is play.
NY Times: It's The White Guys!
New York Times columnist Gail Collins notes that the Pennsylvania Democrat primary is coming down to who the working-class white guys want. She rather disapproves that they still have so much power; they should have been thoroughly marginalized by now. She also hasn't a clue as to what they want.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Tanzanian President: Stop Killing Whitey!
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete has condemned witchdoctors who kill albinos and harvest their body parts in the hope it will bring prosperity.
"Sometimes, word spreads around that body parts of people with certain physical attributes like bald people or albinos contribute greatly to attaining quick prosperity," Kikwete said in a monthly state of the nation speech late on Wednesday.
"These killings are shameful and distressing to our society," he added.
Reports that the witch doctors had been watching tapes of Barak Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright were unconfirmed as of this writing.
"Sometimes, word spreads around that body parts of people with certain physical attributes like bald people or albinos contribute greatly to attaining quick prosperity," Kikwete said in a monthly state of the nation speech late on Wednesday.
"These killings are shameful and distressing to our society," he added.
Reports that the witch doctors had been watching tapes of Barak Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright were unconfirmed as of this writing.
Deceptive News Headline Of The Day
"Baby is born, then dies in school bathroom."
Which should actually read "Baby Is Born, Then Is Killed By Inhuman Monster Who Gave It Life."
Which should actually read "Baby Is Born, Then Is Killed By Inhuman Monster Who Gave It Life."
Brit Gun Control Update.
Well, we took away your right to defend yourself, so only criminals have guns now, and robberies have gone through the roof. What's that? Someone invented a bulletproof hoodie? No, we can't allow that. People would think Britain has a crime problem, or something.
And we can't have that.
And we can't have that.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Wounded Vets Find Healing...At Guantanamo.
Apparently combat veterans who have had limbs amputated are being treated with scuba dive therapy. This makes sense, the near-weightless environment of underwater would make it easier for a handicapped vet to function.
Slideshow here.
Slideshow here.
Argentina Makes a Falklands Noise
Story here.
Funny how this comes up not long after large reserves of oil were discovered in the Falklands.
Funny how this comes up not long after large reserves of oil were discovered in the Falklands.
Red For Straight, White For Gay, Rosé For Bi?
ROME, April 3 (UPI) -- An Italian winemaker and philosopher has created three wines he claims can help a person identify his or her true sexuality or ambiguity.
And I suppose drinking Greek Retsina means you take it up the...uh...never mind.
And I suppose drinking Greek Retsina means you take it up the...uh...never mind.
Talk About Deceptive Titles.
"France Says English Disease Should Be Brought To A Full Stop."
I thought that this was a reference to syphilis, since the English and the French traditionally each blame the other for its spread in Europe in medieaval times. Nope; France just wants to save the semicolon.
I thought that this was a reference to syphilis, since the English and the French traditionally each blame the other for its spread in Europe in medieaval times. Nope; France just wants to save the semicolon.
Annual Hurricane Predictions
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The noted Colorado State University forecast team expects an above average Atlantic hurricane season and may raise its prediction of 13 tropical storms and seven hurricanes when it updates its outlook next week, the team's founder Bill Gray said on Wednesday.
Hey, even this is right twice a day:
Hey, even this is right twice a day:
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