Archive for May, 2008
Hollywood out of ideas
Vikings
Kinda cool:
Although “Viking” literally means “pirate,” recent research has indicated that the Vikings were also traders to the fishmongers of Europe. Stereotypically, these Norsemen are usually pictured wearing a horned helmet but in a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE this week, Jørgen Dissing and colleagues from the University of Copenhagen, investigated what went under the helmet; the scientists were able to extract authentic DNA from ancient Viking skeletons, avoiding many of the problems of contamination faced by past researchers. Analysis of DNA from the remains of ancient humans provides valuable insights into such important questions as the origin of genetic diseases, migration patterns of our forefathers and tribal and family patterns.
and plus, we can get a remote island and create Viking Park!
The Nanny State Strikes
For those who aren’t aware British politicians have lost their minds in recent years and gone to trying to protect everyone from everything. To wit:
Lourdes Maxwell of Portsmouth, England has been told by the local council that her two-foot wading pool cannot be allowed, unless she acquires insurance and a lifeguard.
This is also the same country that looked at banning overhead street lights because they might fall and hurt someone. I worry that this kind of crap will come to the United States, which it already has to some extent (trans fat, anyone?).
Politicos – please stop protecting us from everything. People get hurt and die. It happens all the time. Otherwise we’ll end up in the movie Demolition Man and that movie stunk.
UN Strikes Again
A 13-year-old girl, “Elizabeth” described to the BBC how 10 UN peacekeepers gang-raped her in a field near her Ivory Coast home.
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‘Elizabeth’ tells the BBC about her abuse
“They grabbed me and threw me to the ground and they forced themselves on me… I tried to escape but there were 10 of them and I could do nothing,” she said.
“I was terrified. Then they just left me there bleeding.”
No action has been taken against the soldiers.
No action taken? Is it any wonder that people come running when they see US Marines and they go running when they see the UN blue helmets?
No action taken…pfft…They should be put under a prison or put into a prison in whatever country they happen to be in. You might only need to make an example of a couple of them before the rest shape up (but I’m probably wrong and they’ll need to make examples out of ALL of them)
Stupid
So, Warner Music is about to put out a site where you can buy a song for 10 cents but can’t download it (you have to play the song on the site – which is called Lala). That’s just great. When (not IF) the site goes belly-up you’ll basically have lost all your songs and all rights to them. Lest you think I’m exaggerating remember the Coke Music and MSN Music sites which did the same thing. BTW – neither of them are around anymore. Thanks for the money, now go away.
Morons
Who else grew up playing Little League? I did. Most of us had teams using MLB logos on our jerseys. Maybe you were the Cardinals or the Mets or the Cubs. You didn’t care because for a while you felt like you were a baseball player because you got to wear the same logo as the big guys.
Well, now MLB has threatened Little League teams to get rid of the MLB logos. What, do they need more money? Are they trying to run off ALL the new fans?
Get a clue – if MLB is dependent on licensing from Little League teams they’re in worse trouble than I thought.
“We sort of stretched the facts”
Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) on why those Democrats didn’t end the Iraq war : “That wasn’t true. But you know, the temptation to want to win back the Congress…”
In other news : sky blue, water wet
One mystery solved
The answer to something I’ve always wondered about :
the origins of Pink Floyd’s giant inflatable pig.
100% Wind-powered
From this link, the town of Rock Port, MO is now 100% wind-powered thanks to four large wind turbines installed on rural lands. Now it may only be a small town but it’s one town that’s not sucking down oil and kissing up to the Saudis. Keep this in mind when all the liberals whine about not wanting wind turbines because it blocks their precious “view”. Personally, I think they look pretty neat.
