02 January 2009
Unusual image from a Sarah Palin website
This comes from Sarah Palin for America; it is one of about five images that rotate in the banner. It is not "her" site, but was created to support her (and/or to raise money for the webmaster...)
The red color is understandable, as is the ghostly pachyderm (although the choice of a "red star" in the center might be questioned on symbolic terms).
Technically the map coverage is correct, in that Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and the Caribbean islands are all part of "America," although it would not have been hard to include more of the U.S. than just the "red states" in the imagery.
Presumably the centering on the Gulf of Mexico is designed to emphasize that there is a hurricane heading for the Gulf Coast.
Thousands of shoes block a Miami expressway
Jan 2nd, 2009 | MIAMI -- State troopers are looking for a charity to take thousands of shoes that were dumped on a Miami expressway, tying up rush hour traffic...
There were no signs of a crash and no one stopped to claim them...
Workers using a front-end loader and a dump truck were able to quickly clear at least one lane by sweeping all the shoes to shoulder, but delays were expected until they could all be removed.
(I'm sure there's a political joke hiding in this story, but I can't come up with the punch line. I'm just glad there were no feet in the shoes.) (Image credit to FoxNews)
How (not) to tow a car past a security barrier
You can stop the video after the first 30 seconds, which contains the whole (predictable) event. (Found at Nothing to do with Arbroath)
"Thank God we got penitentiaries"
I was reminded of the famous Richard Pryor skit after reading this in the WaPo:
[Sean Hawkins Jr.] was charged with assault. Hawkins was taken to the jail in Upper Marlboro, where he appeared before a court commissioner and was released on personal recognizance.In the embedded 6-minute sketch, the late Richard Prior details his opinions of criminals, Nazis, and hate groups. Those who remember him will know that the language that is NSFW (but your friends at work probably use the same language...)
Hawkins then walked out of the jail and, according to police, carjacked a Toyota 4Runner in the parking lot. Arrested in Suitland a short time later, Hawkins told police that he carjacked the vehicle "because he needed a ride home from jail..."
Hawkins, 19, had been arrested by county police on accusations that he assaulted his mother by yelling at her and spitting on her. Once released, about 7 that evening, Hawkins, who is 6-foot-6 and weighs more than 300 pounds, yanked the driver out of the sport-utility vehicle and roared out of the jail parking lot...
01 January 2009
Amazing trees
Minnesota Federal court to hear case about voodoo
The "pro se litigant" system allows citizens to have their cases heard by a Federal judge without a need to have a lawyer. A Cameroon woman will be using the system to try to get her husband back. Mary Nabila Muma did not know where to turn. She believed a woman was using voodoo to steal her husband and ruin her life...Reportedly about 10% of the federal caseload consists of such "pro se" cases brought by individuals. She will not be using a lawyer:
Over the past several years, Muma has spent thousands of dollars on her wandering ex-husband. She said he claims not to know her now because he is under the love spell of another woman. Muma, a devoutly religious woman, said she prayed for an answer. God told her to seek justice in court...
What, exactly, can a judge do in her case? For starters, she said, the judge could deport the other woman to Cameroon. Then the judge could put her ex-husband in jail. "I am ready for him to go to jail," Muma said. "Then this girl will stop the voodoo and he can come back to normal."
"I have a lawyer," she said, pointing upwards. "My lawyer is Jesus, without a doubt."
Ancient Celtic treasure includes... scissors
A Celtic village has been discovered in Poland, dating from the 3rd century B.C. The Celts migrated out of the Krakow area probably around the 2nd to the 1st century BC, likely joining a great Germanic migration that took place at that time. They left behind pieces of bracelets and glass beads imported from other Celtic tribes living in the south, as well as iron tools - among which was one of the oldest pair of scissors.It's curious how one reflexly thinks of scissors as a "modern" invention, but in fact they do date back to pre-Christian times. Those earliest contrivances were "spring scissors" like the one pictured here, not the "pivoted" scissors we use today.
Before we leave the subject, one bit of language trivia; each blade of a scissors is a "scissor." That's why we refer to a "pair of scissors."
(image credit here. This is a modern reproduction, not the scissors found in Poland)
Retailers bribe customers to leave positive feedback
One of the interesting customer service trends of 2008 has been corporate pandering to customers who leave negative feedback on Amazon.com or company sites... It all started with TheCellShop.net, who was willing to give you $5 in credit if you left a 10/10 review... MyGearStore, a seller on Amazon.com, made the first real step into feedback bribery by offering a partial refund if a customer increased his otherwise neutral review of their product...Here's the latest example, from Ritz Camera:
Dear Melissa,(More details and discussion at the link)
Thank you for providing an opportunity to be of assistance. This is with regard to your order number 2229816.
We understand that you are quiet upset as the order was canceled. We just need another chance so that we can reinstate your confidence in us by providing a good customer service and excellent online shopping experience...
We request you to remove the negative feedback posted on Amazon and we will be more than happy to offer a $20.00 Gift Certificate to you...
Nukuoro Atoll, Micronesia
This is one of the "top ten" photos taken by astronauts on the International Space Station. (There are some other images there worth viewing - auroras and various terrestrial landforms.
...this classically-shaped atoll is part of the Caroline Island chain, which stretches northeast of Papua New Guinea... Nukuoro is one of 607 islands that make up the Federated States of Micronesia... About 900 people live on the atoll whose lagoon is 6 kilometers in diameter. The image shows the sandy atoll with 42 distinct patches of vegetation. These patches are located on the northeast and east portions of the atoll that face the dominant Easterly winds.Click to enlarge to wallpaper size if you want to do some virtual beachcombing...
Unusual locomotion by a worm
I'll start the New Year by blogging two worm videos; I found the upper one posted this morning at Arbroath. It appears to be a terrestrial annelid (rather than an insect larva or flatworm), but the curious aspect is the creature's locomotion. Worms typically move by expanding their anterior body segments while the posterior ones are contracted and grip the ground. In this specimen the extension is quite remarkable, and it give the appearance of an extensible inner sheath, or a body protected by a "foreskin."
Judging by the voices of the narrators, the video was probably filmed in Australia, which is home to the Giant Gipsland Earthworm (see lower video). Perhaps this is a small one of those?
While searching for info on this worm, I encountered a relevant blog - Worms of Endearment. I've left a query there; perhaps the blogger can help us out if the Aussies on the board don't have the answer.
p.s. - it's definitely not a Mongolian Death Worm.
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