"Strong clothing"

Strong clothing was a rather euphemistic term used to describe certain forms of restraint used in late 19th century asylums. While chains, strait-jackets (known as strait-waistcoats) and similar garments were outlawed during the ‘non-restraint’ movement of the 1840s and ’50s, other methods of ‘mechanical restraint’ were permitted by the Commissioners in Lunacy (the government body who inspected and licensed asylums for much of the 19th century). The intention of strong clothing (including strong dresses and padded gloves) was to protect patients, both preventing self-inflicted injury and the destruction of their clothing.

 “Strong dresses,” as described by Bethlem Superintendent George Savage in 1888, were “made of stout linen or woollen material, and lined throughout with flannel. The limbs are all free to move, but the hands are enclosed in the extremities of the dress, which are padded. …There are no strait-waistcoats, handcuffs, or what may be called true instruments of restraint in Bethlem”. Savage claimed that, by avoiding recourse to the use of sedatives or padded cells for violent or destructive patients, many “were thus really granted liberty by means of the slight restraint put upon them”. 

The embedded photo is by Jane Fradgley, who photographed a collection of strong clothing housed at the Bethlem Royal Hospital Archive & Museum, Beckenham, Kent.  Her photos are currently on display at Guy's Hospital.  Details at Morbid Anatomy.

When will terrorists get drones?

Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert cartoons, raises this thought-provoking question.

In my book The Religion War, written ten years ago, I predicted a future in which terrorists could destroy anything above ground whenever they wanted. They simply used inexpensive drones with electronics no more sophisticated than an Android app...

So what happens when the drone attacks start happening in volume? Let's game this out. My assumption is that the coming inevitable wave of hobby-sized suicide drones will be unstoppable because they will fly low to their target and be so numerous that no defense will be effective. I predict it will be too dangerous to live above ground in Israel within ten years unless the trend is reversed. But what could stop the trend?

His question focuses on Israel, but of course it could be applied to any other place in the world. 

Via The Dish.

"Camper cabins"

For those who want to camp out, but don't want to sleep in a tent, some of Minnesota's state parks offer an enticing compromise, as explained at the StarTribune:

Filling a niche between tents and RVs, the camper cabins typically have bunks, heat and light but not water or a bathroom.

They appeal to people who don't want to pitch a tent and prefer to have a roof over their heads. But because they have neither kitchens nor bathrooms, the camping challenges of building fires, cooking outside and walking outside to a restroom remain part of the experience.

There are now 84 cabins in state parks -- 74 with heat and electricity, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This year the rental rate was for $45 for the nonelectric cabins and $50 for those with heat and lights...

Some are people who have had their fill of sleeping on the ground. Another group is people new to camping who want to give the cabins a try to see if they like the experience before they buy a lot of gear. "It's a low-risk way to dip your toe into the overnight activities in the state park."

I have read about these for years, but have never had a chance to try one.  The problem is they are so popular that you have to reserve them way ahead of time, which means planning a trip months in advance.  But the price is certainly right.  And the other nice thing is that because they are small and don't have plumbing, they can be built in choice spots in less-frequented parts of parks.

Family photograph

Credit to Martin Bennett of Swindon, Wiltshire, England, via Neatorama.

Brazil ascendant

Excerpts from an eye-opening article in the Washington Post:

Brazil is expected next year to dethrone the United States as the world’s largest producer of soybeans. With so much land available for cultivation, that status will probably become permanent...

As the result of a 2009 WTO ruling, Brazil now receives about $17 million in monthly payments from U.S. taxpayers — money being used to advance the Brazilian cotton industry with research on best practices, pest management and other issues...

State-backed research since the 1970s has turned the Cerrado — once considered unproductive scrubland — into a vast farm belt. Still mostly unplanted, and comfortably distant from Brazil’s environmentally sensitive Amazon region, the Cerrado has become a new frontier in the green revolution that made U.S. farmers the most productive in the world. Just as the vast plains of the American Midwest helped keep down world food prices for the last half of the 20th century, the Cerrado may do the same in the 21st... 

Of seven new factories that John Deere said it plans to build worldwide, two are in Brazil — with three in China and one each in India and Russia. “It is a tricky issue,” said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. “U.S. companies are doing all this investment in an agriculture superpower that is a huge competitor...

Farmers here say the major constraint — a notoriously slow and expensive transportation network — can be fixed over time. Compared with this country’s unlocked potential... “the U.S. is at its limits.”  

A supercut of "right behind me" scenes

YouTube link. 

I generally enjoy supercuts of movie scenes, but I clicked off this one midway through.  There's nothing wrong with the compliation per se, but it started to remind me of how derivative Hollywood movies can be.

Somewhat better (because of the variety of behavior) is this supercut of temper tantrums.

Here's how much we spend at gas stations

13 cents of every dollar expended on retail sales is spent at gasoline stations.  Certainly not all of it pays for gas, since junk food etc may be included, but the figure is still amazing.

The article at the Wall Street Journal notes that this proportion has leveled off in recent years, and notes that the rise of e-commerce may be one of the reasons.

In the third quarter, e-commerce sales continued to surge, according to the Commerce Department. More than five cents of every dollar spent at retailers in the July-to-September period was spent online. That share has basically quintupled in the past decade, and while growth slowed slightly during the recession, it has continued to steadily march upward. The more goods people can get online, the less time they need to spend in the car traveling to brick-and-mortar retailers.

Show of power

I have previously expressed my reservations about the use of elaborate motorcades as a show of pomp during presidential travel.  Now it appears the "imperial presidency" accoutrements have been extended to generals as well:

Then-defense secretary Robert M. Gates stopped bagging his leaves when he moved into a small Washington military enclave in 2007. His next-door neighbor was Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, who had a chef, a personal valet and — not lost on Gates — troops to tend his property...

Of the many facts that have come to light in the scandal involving former CIA director David H. Petraeus, among the most curious was that during his days as a four-star general, he was once escorted by 28 police motorcycles as he traveled from his Central Command headquarters in Tampa to socialite Jill Kelley’s mansion...

The commanders who lead the nation’s military services and those who oversee troops around the world enjoy an array of perquisites befitting a billionaire, including executive jets, palatial homes, drivers, security guards and aides to carry their bags, press their uniforms and track their schedules in 10-minute increments. Their food is prepared by gourmet chefs. If they want music with their dinner parties, their staff can summon a string quartet or a choir...

When he was at the Pentagon, Gates wanted to trim some of the perks but ran into resistance. It was, he said, the “third rail” of the Defense Department. “You don’t need a cadre of people at your beck and call in an age of austerity, unless you are a field commander in Iraq or Afghanistan,” a former top aide to Gates said on the condition of anonymity.

Further information at the Washington Post.

Jamie Sadlowski can drive a golf ball 288 yards. With a putter.

Youtube link. 

As noted in the video, he has recorded a long drive of 455 yards, so in theory at least, he would be capable of achieving a triple eagle.

It is an impressive video.  I have never seen anyone take a driver so far past horizontal on the backswing.

Images from an Australian rainforest

Four photos from Rainforest Country by Kaisa and Stanley Breeden, depicting the colorful flora and fauna of a northern Queensland rainforest, via Australia Geographic, which has another dozen images.

Top to bottom:  A Boyd's rainforest dragon (Hypsilurus boydii), an adult, male Cairns birdwing (Ornithoptera euphorion), colourful stones where the rainforest meets the beach, and a rainforest dwelling pygmy possum.  The image that impresses me the most is the one of the beach gravel; it's hard to believe that those have not been enhanced in some artificial way.

Goodbye to Congressman Ron Paul

This week Ron Paul gave his final speech on the floor of the House of Representatives (he retires at year's end after a 23-year career.)  A video of his speech is posted at The Atlantic. 

I admired the man when he spoke out on budgetary and geopolitical matters that others were too timid or too ill-informed at address, but ultimately he encompassed too many fringe positions for me to be happy with the total package.  Recognizing that you can't create a politician by ordering from a menu with some items from column A and some from column B, I will nevertheless list below a selection of questions he raised in his final speech:

• Why are sick people who use medical marijuana put in prison?

• Why can't Americans decide which type of light bulbs they can buy?

• Why is the TSA permitted to abuse the rights of any American traveling by air?

• Why should there be mandatory sentences--even up to life for crimes without victims--as our drug laws require?

• Why have we allowed the federal government to regulate commodes in our homes?

• Why is it political suicide for anyone to criticize AIPAC ?

• Why haven't we given up on the drug war since it's an obvious failure and violates the people's rights? Has nobody noticed that the authorities can't even keep drugs out of the prisons?

• Why does changing the party in power never change policy? Could it be that the views of both parties are essentially the same?

• Why did the big banks, the large corporations, and foreign banks and foreign central banks get bailed out in 2008 and the middle class lost their jobs and their homes?

• Why do so many in the government and the federal officials believe that creating money out of thin air creates wealth?

• Why can't people understand that war always destroys wealth and liberty?

• Why is there so little concern for the Executive Order that gives the President authority to establish a "kill list," including American citizens, of those targeted for assassination?

• Why should anyone be surprised that Congress has no credibility, since there's such a disconnect between what politicians say and what they do?

And here are some additional quotes from a column at Salon:

“Everyone claims support for freedom.  But too often it’s for one’s own freedom and not for others.  Too many believe that there must be limits on freedom. They argue that freedom must be directed and managed to achieve fairness and equality thus making it acceptable to curtail, through force, certain liberties."

“Humanitarian arguments are always used to justify government mandates related to the economy, monetary policy, foreign policy, and personal liberty.  This is on purpose to make it more difficult to challenge.  But, initiating violence for humanitarian reasons is still violence. "

“The immoral use of force is the source of man’s political problems.  Sadly, many religious groups, secular organizations, and psychopathic authoritarians endorse government initiated force to change the world.  Even when the desired goals are well-intentioned—or especially when well-intentioned—the results are dismal.  The good results sought never materialize.  The new problems created require even more government force as a solution.  The net result is institutionalizing government initiated violence and morally justifying it on humanitarian grounds.”

"Piano juggler" - updated

YouTube link. 

Interesting skills (once you get beyond that mask he wears as a hat).

Addendum:  Note there is also an element of fakery, in that the"keyboard" doesn't really have any keys, as explained in a New York Times article in 2007 :

All he’s doing is triggering a pre-programmed MIDI sequence. If you look closely, you’ll see that the keyboard doesn’t even have individual keys—only lines painted on a broad touch panel.

In other words, it doesn’t make any difference what keys his balls hit; each ball strike triggers the next note in the pre-written MIDI file. All the juggler has to do is worry about the rhythm; the rest is automated.

Double hat tip to reader Mark for noticing the deception and finding the NYT link.

"Dumb Ways to Die"

YouTube link. 

A clever Australian public service announcement re train safety.  The individual segments are available as gifs.

Trophy

Bicycle Taxidermy will take your old handlebars and mount them for you on a plaque with an engraved epitaph. 

Via Inhabitat and Neatorama.

Antarctic sea ice in 2012 has reached record levels. Record HIGH levels.

The information and the image come from NASA's Earth Observatory, which also offers this scatter plot depicts the relevant data from the past 30 years:

It's likely that this information will be used, rightly and wrongly, in the debate about climate change.  Here's an excerpt of the discussion at the NASA link:

Two weeks after a new record was set in the Arctic Ocean for the least amount of sea ice coverage in the satellite record, the ice surrounding Antarctica reached its annual winter maximum—and set a record for a new high... The yellow outline shows the median sea ice extent in September from 1979 to 2000. Sea ice extent is defined as the total area in which the ice concentration is at least 15 percent.

The graph of NSIDC data shows the maximum extent for each September since 1979 in millions of square kilometers. There is a lot of variability from year to year, though the overall trend shows growth of about 0.9 percent per decade...

“The year 2012 continues a long-term contrast between the two hemispheres, with decreasing sea ice coverage in the Arctic and increasing sea ice coverage in the Antarctic,” Parkinson added. “Both hemispheres have considerable inter-annual variability, so that in either hemisphere, next year could have either more or less sea ice than this year. Still, the long-term trends are clear, but not equal: the magnitude of the ice losses in the Arctic considerably exceed the magnitude of the ice gains in the Antarctic.”