Times Of London Ranks Us Presidents, Pts 3 & 4

I blogged Part 1 here.

I blogged Part 2 here.

Part 3 of 4 parts.

21. James Monroe
20. George H.W. Bush
19. Grover Cleveland
18. Ulysses S. Grant
17. William McKinley
16. John Quincy Adams
15. James Madison
14. Andrew Jackson
13. John Adams
12. Lyndon Johnson
11. John F. Kennedy

Part 4 of 4 parts.

10. Woodrow Wilson
9. James K. Polk
8. Ronald Reagan
7. Harry S Truman
6. Dwight Eisenhower
5. Theodore Roosevelt
4. Thomas Jefferson
3. Franklin Roosevelt
2. George Washington
1. Abraham Lincoln


I'd have flipped 2 and 1 myself, but Washington just doesn't have the romance of Lincoln.

Robinson Crusoe's Campsite Found

Not Crusoe himself, since Crusoe was a fictional character, but the man upon whom Crusoe was based: Alexander Selkirk.

Selkirk was a member of an English privateering expedition that was charged with harassing Spanish shipping on the Pacific coast of America, and to capture the famed Manila Galleon, which woud result in a fortune for all who took part in the capture. Selkirk, a rather obnoxious individual, fell out with his captain and was put ashore on an island that is now part of the Juan Fernandez group, off the coast of Chile. Selkirk remained there for five years, hunting (and buggering) the native goat population. He was picked up by another privateer expedition captained by Woodes Rodgers.

Novelist and pamphleteer Daniel Defoe was inspired by Selkirk's adventures to write the novel Robinson Crusoe.

UK: Marine Receives George Cross, Already Has Victoria Cross

Although technically the Victoria Cross is his girlfriend's name, not the UK's highest decoration for valor while facing the enemy.

Lance Corporal Croucher received the George Cross, which actually is given for acts fully as valorous as those for which the Victoria Cross is given, but the George Cross does not require the act to occur while facing the enemy. Lance Corporal Croucher dived onto a live grenade to save his comrades, but took the precaution of interposing his backpack between the grenade and his body; the backpack absorbed much of the blast, sparing Lance Corporal Croucher's life.

Anyway, here's a pic of Lance Corporal Croucher receiving his George Cross from Queen Elizabeth II:

Times of London Ranks US Presidents

Second of four parts, I blogged the first part here.

Story.

32. Jimmy Carter
31. John Tyler
30. (None, tie)
29. (Tie) William Howard Taft
29. Benjamin Harrison
28. Zachary Taylor
27. Rutherford B. Hayes
26. Calvin Coolidge
25. Gerald Ford
24. Andrew Johnson
23. Bill Clinton
22. Chester A. Arthur

Apparently the Times had quite a few comments about Jimmy Carter not being further toward the bottom of the list. *laughs*

Solution: Quieter Wars

London Times story of hearing loss among UK troops in Afghanistan.

The off-duty blasting of heavy metal and rap music into the ears via Ipods can't be helping much, either.

UK: "Armed Forces Day" Instituted As Annual Event

Not made a "bank holiday" (federal holiday to US readers), but it's a good start.

It's part of a series of measures in the UK to foster better relations between the military and the civilian populace. Military personnel in the UK are typically treated with less respect than in the US.

Assault By Centipede

A Malaysian man has been arrested and charged with assault after he put centipedes in an enemy's bed.

A few centipede species are potentially lethal, many more will leave you requiring medical attention.

Sort of a Dr. Phibes scenario, I'd say.

US Navy Assisting With Anti-Piracy Efforts In Gulf Of Aden

Using firehoses to repel boarders, among other tactics.

I don't know what sort of firehoses merchant ships carry, but US Navy ships have hoses with heavy brass nozzles that can be set for either a "fog" effect or a "straight stream." Normal firefighting technique calls for the hose to be set for "fog" much of the time, but "straight stream" would result in a high-pressure blast of salt water that would make a formidible deterrant. In fact, the "straight stream" firehose setting is used in Navy hazing ceremonies such as the initiation for crossing the Equator: typically the unitiated, called pollywogs or just wogs, are bathed in a vat of kitchen garbage (the "royal bath"), then blasted across the non-skid deck with firehoses set to "straight stream" (the "royal shower). This results in the wogs being abraded by the non-skid surface, which, combined with the salt water from the firehoses, makes for some discomfort for a day or so.

Anyway, a firehose set to "straight stream" could easily knock a pirate off a ladder and prevent him from boarding a ship. It could even result in injury if the hose-wielder manages to hit the pirate in a sensitive spot, e.g., the goolies.

Shipwreck Blog: Unidentified, Gulf of Mexico

Story.

Shipwreck was found in deep water off the coast of Louisiana. Artifacts found include cannons and chests of weapons. Wreck is said to be a schooner or sloop of 1808-1820 vintage, so it could have been involved in the US War of 1812.

Copper Fixtures To Kill Hospital Germs?

Story.

If true, it's a promising solution to a growing problem.

Hinnies

While reading an article from the Charlotte Observer just now, I came across a new word (to me, at least): hinnies.

Intrigued, I looked it up on Wikipedia. I discovered that a Hinny is a horse/donkey hybrid resulting from the mating of a male horse and a female donkey. (The opposite cross, male donkey/female horse is, of course, a mule.) Being a city boy I'd never sat down and thought out interspecies breeding variations like this.

I did read, once upon a time, that our first President, George Washington, after his retirement was amused by the sexual antics of the mules at Mt. Vernon and wrote to friends describing their prowess.

*laughs*

Anyway, file this under...

I May Have Said This Before...

...but if the man who designed the Okidata Microline 184 dot-matrix printer was ever in my presence, I'd kick him in the nuts so hard that he'd be gargling balls for a week.

That is all.

Shipwreck Blog: Queen Anne's Revenge, NC USA

An important artifact has been found at the site of the presumed Queen Anne's Revenge wreck site: a coin.

Coins are important in pinpointing the date of a shipwreck. For instance, if you were out boating and tragedy struck, and you drowned with your sinking boat, and 100 years later the boat was discovered, if the divers found a coin from your pocket dated 2008 but none from 2009, they could then make an educated guess that your shipwreck dated from 2008.

So it is with the Queen Anne's Revenge. Historians know when the ship went down, so if they find coins or other objects that date the shipwreck at a date later than the sinking, then the ship is not Queen Anne's Revenge.

For those not familiar with Queen Anne's Revenge, she was one of several ships owned by the pirate Blackbeard.

Arrr.

Shipwreck Blog: HMS London

I blogged about HMS London here.

Here is a follow-up story.

THE wreckage of a 17th century warship, which lies off the Southend coast, has been given official protection.

Culture Secretary Barbara Follett has officially designated the wreck of HMS London.

This bans any interference with the wreck by drivers.

The move to designate the wreck was recommended by English Heritage, which feared the rediscovered warship would be plundered of valuable artefacts. HMS London blew-up and sank in the Thames Estuary in March 1665, as she was being brought up the river from Chatham, in Kent, killing more than 300 people.

Historians say the ship blew up accidentally, possibly as the gun crews reloaded old cartridge papers with gunpowder.

Wessex Archaeology and the Port of London Authority, which regulates the river, use 3D survey equipment to locate the wreck.

The site is off the coast of Southend, but its exact location will not be revealed.

Archaeologists. Once upon a time they wanted to bring artifacts to museums so that everyone could see them, now they just want them to rot, seen by no one.

Times Of London Ranks US Presidents

From the worst to the best, stretched out over several days.

Today's list:

42. James Buchanan
41. Franklin Pierce
40. Martin Van Buren
39. William Henry Harrison
38. (none, 37 was tie)
37. (tie) Richard Nixon
37. (tie) George W. Bush
36. Herbert Hoover
35. (none, 34 was tie)
34. (tie) Warren G. Harding
34. (tie) James Garfield
33. Millard Fillmore


I'm not fond of tie votes, the panelists should have been required to resolve tie votes. I naturally expected to see George W. Bush down here, but Jimmy Carter should be down here, as well. His post-presidency shouldn't be counted as part of his dismal presidential performance.

Want A Zombie Pinup Calendar?

Looks like someone is making one.

Here's Miss September:



I just thought of a joke about this photo, but sadly it's too obscene for a family blog like this.

*laughs*

"Hope" You Enjoy Lawsuits

British film-makers are making a Lord of the Rings-inspired movie titled Born of Hope without the permission of the Walt Disney Corporation, which owns the film rights to the book.

Good luck with that. Disney will sue you so that torture by Sauron the Dark Lord would be pleasant in comparison.

Here's their concept of an orc:


Also Named In Suit.

Descendants of Ernest Shackleton To Recreate Antarctic Trek

Six descendents of the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team are preparing to recreate their trek to the South Pole, exactly 100 years after the first attempt.

The British adventurers, including Shackleton's great-grandson, will mark the centenary of the failed Nimrod expedition by tackling the same 900 mile route, a journey which should take them 80 days.

Shackleton set off on the challenge in 1908, but was forced to abandon it in January 1909 because of icy blizzards and a lack of rations.

Hopefully this time they won't go in for the insane "man-hauling" of supply sledges that doomed both the Shackleton and Scott expeditions.

Kabbalah Water?

What the hell is Kabbalah water?

And why would you fill a swimming pool with it?

MSM Notices Increased Gun, Ammo Sales

Story.

Mostly stories like this will be understated, as the MSM has a vested interest in not stirring gun owners up this close to the election.