Tales of Interest

[TravelGal]

I'm going to take a chance and post this. I haven't seen this topic mentioned on our pages so if it's too political or out of line, feel free to unceremoniously zap.

New York - August 8, 2013: IsramWorld, and its wholly owned subsidiary, europe too, are suspending tour operations forthwith to the Russian Federation, says A. Ady Gelber, President and CEO of the New York-based tour operator. The suspension comes in the wake of the Russian government's recent open declarations of anti-gay sentiment and the enactment of regulations that could endanger or discriminate against gay travelers or travelers who "exhibit a tolerance for the LGBT lifestyle."

"In the 21 century, we cannot turn a blind eye to a circumstance whereby our clients' welfare can be jeopardized by who they are, or who they might appear to be," declared Gelber, "or, even more ominously, by their purposefully or inadvertently engaging in what the Russian government characterizes as the 'propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.'"

IsramWorld has a long history of taking political stances to protect its clients and, in Gelber's words, "to put what is right ahead of what might be profitable."

"As 21st-century Americans, we have to take a stand against archaic prejudice and reprehensible bigotry," says Gelber, "and, as a child of the Holocaust, I am painfully aware that had international corporations acted en masse with a conscience during the 1930's, the history of the 1940's might have turned out very differently."

Commenting on Russian reports that no gay or "seen-to-be-gay" athlete will be discriminated against during the 2014 Winter Olympics, Gelber observed that this was a haunting replay of the cynical removal of anti-Jewish signs and placards during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

[cameraman]

Makes sense. If some gay couple on one of their tours gets arrested and sent off to the gulag for the crime of being gay in Russia then the company is in for all manner of horrid publicity and quite possibly could get sued for civil damages on top of it all. Any tour company with an ounce of self-preservation should do the same.

[TravelGal]

Makes sense. If some gay couple on one of their tours gets arrested and sent off to the gulag for the crime of being gay in Russia then the company is in for all manner of horrid publicity and quite possibly could get sued for civil damages on top of it all. Any tour company with an ounce of self-preservation should do the same.

I hadn't looked at it that way. The lawsuit is not as probable as being thrown in the klink. People have already been arrested for wearing pastel colors, which the officers took to be "gay" colors and therefore in violation of the law.

[Andrew Longman]

Frankly any company that does business in Russia are probably thinking the same. If I am, say an energy company, and I send a geologist to buttrubbistan to explore some reserve or Moscow to close some deal and he gets picked up for not being quite enough heterosexual then that company is in a world of hurt.

Granted doing any business in Russia is risky and if you've already decided that's ok and/or it is ok to lower that risk by bribing people, then this new risk may be no big deal.

[Gnam]

Just market it as an adventure vacation.

[Gnam]

47-Story Skyscraper in Benidorm, Spain, Lacks an Elevator

The skyscraper was originally intended to be 20 stories tall, but later, builders extended it to 47 stories. It means that the elevator only goes to the 20th floor, leaving out the other 27, according to the paper.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/237769-intempo-47-story-skyscraper-in-benidorm-spain-lacks-an-elevator-video/
http://gizmodo.com/the-builders-of-this-spanish-skyscraper-forgot-the-elev-1065152844

http://s16.postimg.org/4kmlmw25h/ku_bigpic.png

[cameraman]

Okay how do you put 27 stories on top of a building without completely redesigning the lower 20 stories. There is no way that a 20 story building is designed heavily enough to have an additional 27 placed on top without crushing it. I'd like to know the full story behind this idiocy.

[SurfaceUnits]

Pink alien planet is smallest yet to be photographed with an orbit around a sun

Nasa believes the planet, GJ 504b is a magenta colour, based on infrared data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii
The pink planet orbits its star at nearly nine times the distance Jupiter orbits the sun to challenge theoretical ideas of how giant planets form
GJ 504b is about four times the mass of Jupiter and its star can be seen without a telescope in the constellation Virgo

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/09/article-2387647-1B36B8A0000005DC-516_634x318.jpg


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2387647/Pink-alien-planet-smallest-photographed-orbit-sun.html#ixzz2bVHjK700
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[cameraman]

Okay then, now we have the Egyptian military calling in an Israeli drone strike in the Sinai...


I suppose it is a good thing in terms of getting the missile launcher-armed bad guys and it is nice to see the two cooperating on something but it still rates a :saywhat:

http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-israel-egypt-drone-strike-20130809,0,7774620.story

[Gnam]

Dogs and cat living together...mass hysteria! [/pressdog]

[Gnam]

I'd like to know the full story behind this idiocy.
This story seems to indicate that the elevator shaft does actually go to the top floor, but the cars and electric motors are too small for the taller building.

http://www.inquisitr.com/895561/intempo-47-story-skyscraper-no-elevator-benidorm/

[TravelGal]

Subarus's gots telescopes? :tony:

[SurfaceUnits]

You tweeters have been actualized:

Now it is legit. MLA has announced proper form for citing tweet in an academic paper.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BQyNMvwCcAAXmf_.jpg

[cameraman]

Subarus's gots telescopes? :tony:

Turns out that it has nothing to do with the car company. Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades. And it seems to mean something more if you are Japanese...

The name for the telescope was chosen by the Japanese public.

Okay then, this is utterly strange. It seems that Subaru the car company was names for the stars. A few years ago the car company joined with an anime producer to make a 4 part mini-series of six minute shorts called "Wish Upon the Pleiades"

I really don't understand the Japanese or their anime but here is the sub-titled series, maybe you can make some sense of it...

Pt 1
zmR3cqgoldU

Pt 2
DMvrukJrrDU

Pt3
DpUi8XMeqrE

Pt4
2BU2ayif4cs

Seriously that stuff just pegs my wtf meter...

[TravelGal]

Turns out that it has nothing to do with the car company. Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades. And it seems to mean something more if you are Japanese...

The name for the telescope was chosen by the Japanese public.

Okay then, this is utterly strange. It seems that Subaru the car company was names for the stars. A few years ago the car company joined with an anime producer to make a 4 part mini-series of six minute shorts called "Wish Upon the Pleiades"

I really don't understand the Japanese or their anime but here is the sub-titled series, maybe you can make some sense of it...

Seriously that stuff just pegs my wtf meter...

ITA. It pegs mine to the point that I'm not gonna watch although I found the sequence of events fascinating. Starting with the fact that I was making a joke worthy of Tony George (can I type that name in full on this forum? We'll see) and his incredible lack of awareness. Then it turns out the car company really does have some link to the telescope in a sort of a way. Six degrees, or less, of separation. THAT is amazing.

[SurfaceUnits]

I was making a joke worthy of Tony George (can I type that name in full on this forum? We'll see)

Yes, we're all friends now
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRUwUPrCMAE-Wy-.jpg

[SurfaceUnits]

Wag the Dog?


In Yemen, some government officials are dubious about the threat posed to U.S. facilities. A Yemeni official claimed earlier this week that the country had thwarted an al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula plot to take over cities and oil and gas installations in the eastern province of Hadramawt.

Yet other Yemeni government spokespeople, noting that the Islamist group maintains a foothold in the province, publicly pushed back against such claims. They said that the militant group lacks the intention or capability to launch such a plot.

A high-ranking Yemeni security official speaking on the condition of anonymity told McClatchy that the claims of a foiled plot had no basis in fact. That source bemusedly attributed media reports about imminent terror strikes to a single official’s comments, which he cast as a misguided attempt at shifting public opinion in the face of increasing and unpopular American drone strikes.

Indeed, Yemen has remained at a relative normal – except for increased security measures that sent spy planes over the skies of Sanaa and flurry of apparent drone strikes to points farther afield. The most recent drone attack killed at least two suspected militants in the southern province of Lahj Saturday evening.

U.S. officials suggested the threat on its facilities was timed to coincide with the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims refrain from eating from sunrise to sunset. The last 10 days of the month are particularly sacred to Muslims. They believe some time during this period the Prophet Mohammed received the first revelations from the angel Gabriel.

Throughout much of the Islamic world Sunday, Muslims continued to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. While the religious period of celebration ended Saturday, many government buildings in Cairo and elsewhere remained closed until Monday.


Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/08/11/199052/us-embassies-in-muslim-world-reopen.html#storylink=cpy

[TravelGal]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23536914 Moser lights. Just read an article on this. Any downsides?

edit: I use the "link" icon and it still looks the same as if I had typed it. :scratch head:

[Gnam]

Interesting solution. Sailing ships used something similar for light on the lower decks.

http://s12.postimg.org/x8aie7z5p/deck_prism_info.jpg

[TravelGal]

But this has bleach. Doesn't that eat through the plastic eventually? I barely passed chemistry so..... :confused:

[cameraman]

Not enough bleach to eat away at the plastic. PET is relatively resistant to UV degradation so I suppose that those bottles will last. It probably would be a really bad idea in a place that drops below freezing:eek:

[SurfaceUnits]

NYT TAKES DOWN CLINTON FOUNDATION...

'Ran multimillion-dollar deficits, despite vast amounts of money flowing in'...
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100231113/the-new-york-times-takes-down-the-clinton-foundation-this-could-be-devastating-for-bill-and-hillary/

NYT Website knocked offline..

http://www.nytimes.com/
Http/1.1 Service Unavailable

[cameraman]

You need to adjust your tin foil hat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/us/politics/unease-at-clinton-foundation-over-finances-and-ambitions.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0


Soon after the 10th anniversary of the foundation bearing his name, Bill Clinton met with a small group of aides and two lawyers from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Two weeks of interviews with Clinton Foundation executives and former employees had led the lawyers to some unsettling conclusions. The review echoed criticism of Mr. Clinton’s early years in the White House: For all of its successes, the Clinton Foundation had become a sprawling concern, supervised by a rotating board of old Clinton hands, vulnerable to distraction and threatened by conflicts of interest. It ran multimillion-dollar deficits for several years, despite vast amounts of money flowing in.

And concern was rising inside and outside the organization about Douglas J. Band, a onetime personal assistant to Mr. Clinton who had started a lucrative corporate consulting firm — which Mr. Clinton joined as a paid adviser — while overseeing the Clinton Global Initiative, the foundation’s glitzy annual gathering of chief executives, heads of state, and celebrities.

The review set off more than a year of internal debate, and spurred an evolution in the organization that included Mr. Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, taking on a dominant new role as the family grappled with the question of whether the foundation — and its globe-spanning efforts to combat AIDS, obesity and poverty — would survive its founder.

Now those efforts are taking on new urgency. In the coming weeks, the foundation, long Mr. Clinton’s domain since its formation in 2001, will become the nerve center of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s increasingly busy public life.

[Gnam]

Tales of INTEREST. Not political tales. Not pony tails or cotton tails, or even duck tales. ;)

http://cdn.tauntr.com/sites/default/files/userfiles/Ali.jpg

[Gnam]

When is a sink, not just a sink?

geeky space stuff explained, sort of. (http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/25876/)

I've never heard of "white holes".

(if you're typing up a smartass response to that ^^^ and deciding whether to post it or not, it's probably best if you choose "not" :D)
I knowed I'd heard of a white hole before. :D

TxWN8AhNER0

[SurfaceUnits]

You need to adjust your tin foil hat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/us/politics/unease-at-clinton-foundation-over-finances-and-ambitions.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0


New York Times Website, Apps Knocked Offline
By Chloe Albanesius
August 14, 2013 12:28pm EST

NY Times website down

The website and mobile apps for The New York Times went offline Wednesday morning, with the nytimes.com domain serving up a "service unavailable" message.

"The New York Times Web site is experiencing technical difficulties. We expect to be back up shortly," the paper said via its @nytimes Twitter feed.

The Times did not elaborate on what caused the outage. Fox Business tweeted that a source said it was a cyber attack, but the paper has yet to confirm that.

I'll try to find a rumour

Back with a rumour: Owners of Blue BMWs are the most aggressive drivers on the road

[SurfaceUnits]

$33 Billion up in Smoke

So the Fed is returning more than thirty million hundred-dollar notes and demanding its money back, Felix wrote. Another thirty billion dollars’ worth of paper sits in limbo awaiting examination, and Fed officials have informed the bureau that they will not accept any hundred-dollar notes made at the Washington, D.C., facility until further notice.



August 13, 2013
A Blunder at the Money Factory
Posted by David Wolman

For the past few years, the Federal Reserve has been preparing to introduce a redesigned hundred-dollar bill into circulation. It will have a Liberty Bell that changes color, a new hidden message on Ben Franklin’s collar, and tiny 3-D images that move when you tilt the bill this way or that. But delay has followed delay. And now again: The New Yorker has learned that another production snafu has taken place at one of the country’s two currency factories, according to a document from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

The cause of the latest blunder is something known as “mashing,” according to Darlene Anderson, a spokeswoman for the bureau. When too much ink is applied to the paper, the lines of the artwork aren’t as crisp as they should be, like when a kid tries to carefully color inside the lines—using watercolors and a fat paintbrush.

Anderson said this happens “infrequently.” Still, this foul-up is only the latest embarrassment for the bureau. The redesigned hundred-dollar bill was meant to be released in early 2011, but has been delayed for the past two years because of a massive printing error, separate from the recent mashing problem, in which some notes were left with a blank spot.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/08/blunder-at-the-money-factory.html

[SurfaceUnits]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcRfMhuoUak

[SurfaceUnits]

The Washington Post was hacked Thursday morning by the Syrian Electronic Army, the paper announced in an editor's note. Some users visiting the newspaper's site reading certain stories were being redirected to the hacker group's site:

"The Washington Post Web site was hacked today, with readers on certain stories being redirected to the site of the Syrian Electronic Army. The group is a hacker collective that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Post is working to resolve the issue," the note said.

Yesterday the New York Times website went down for several hours, though the paper said it was related to a system outage and not hacking.

[SurfaceUnits]

Your iPhone uses more energy than a refrigerator
And smartphone energy consumption is only going to increase

How much energy does it take to power your smartphone addiction?

The average iPhone uses more energy than a midsize refrigerator, says a new paper by Mark Mills, CEO of Digital Power Group, a tech investment advisory. A midsize refrigerator that qualifies for the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star rating uses about 322 kW-h a year, while your iPhone uses about 361 kW-h if you stack up wireless connections, data usage, and battery charging.

http://theweek.com/article/index/248273/your-iphone-uses-more-energy-than-a-refrigerator

[SurfaceUnits]

The Washington Post was hacked Thursday morning by the Syrian Electronic Army, the paper announced in an editor's note. Some users visiting the newspaper's site reading certain stories were being redirected to the hacker group's site:

"The Washington Post Web site was hacked today, with readers on certain stories being redirected to the site of the Syrian Electronic Army. The group is a hacker collective that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Post is working to resolve the issue," the note said.

Yesterday the New York Times website went down for several hours, though the paper said it was related to a system outage and not hacking.

Washington Post reported Thursday NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds


The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.

Most of the infractions involve unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, both of which are restricted by statute and executive order. They range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. e-mails and telephone calls.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-broke-privacy-rules-thousands-of-times-per-year-audit-finds/2013/08/15/3310e554-05ca-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html

[nrc]

I'm calling something fishy on this abduction case. Too much contact with this guy prior to these events and she seems unphased by her mother and brother's death. Not saying she was involved in their murder but I'm not sure that she went with this guy unwillingly.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57598826/hannah-anderson-sent-james-lee-dimaggio-letters-warrants-reveal/

[SteveH]

I'm calling something fishy on this abduction case. Too much contact with this guy prior to these events and she seems unphased by her mother and brother's death. Not saying she was involved in their murder but I'm not sure that she went with this guy unwillingly.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57598826/hannah-anderson-sent-james-lee-dimaggio-letters-warrants-reveal/

I agree, something isn't right here. Of course, nothing will ever be 'right' with this story but now there are some really strange details surfacing.

[cameraman]

Ya know if the NSA is going to be reading everything out there why don't they do something useful and track down the spammers, get the info to the CIA and put a bullet in their heads.

[G.]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57598610/at-seattles-annual-hempfest-police-to-hand-out-doritos/

Cops with a sense of humor. :thumbup:

[SurfaceUnits]

2013 is a record low year for U.S. tornadoes
Posted on August 19, 2013 by Anthony Watts

Normally through this date, we’d see 1221 tornadoes in the USA, so far for 2013, only 716 have been reported.

http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/ptorngraph1.png?w=640

So far, we are about 200 tornadoes below this time last year, and last year was also a low event year.

When looking historically at where we are, we find that 2013 has slipped below the historical minimum, setting a new record for the ~60 years in the tornado database.

[Gnam]

ShamRockAway motorhome

Made from three 1962 Buick station wagons by J. Dennis McGuire of Alma, Michigan. It featured a custom unique steering gear box that allowed all four front wheels to turn, power plant from an Electra 225 Buick, 401-cubic inch-displacement V-8 engine, Dynaflow transmission, two gas tanks.
Weight: 9,960 lbs
Length: 28 ft.

[He] also put in an altimeter, a CB radio, vacuum gauges, auxiliary battery switch and an unusual horn—a bicycle bell to ring when people waved or kids that thought he had an air horn. How people would smile!!!!

It was spotted at Watkins Glen State Park in 1976 and Conneaut, OH in 1977.

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/06/07/just-saw-noahs-ark-details-emerge-on-the-shamrockaway-motorhome/

http://s22.postimg.org/sfg40fte9/Sham_Rock_Away_03_700_700x429.jpg

[SurfaceUnits]

Are political scientists real scientists and is "We're pretty sure" empirical evidence?


Why HAS global warming slowed?
Scientists admit they don't know why -
but are '95% sure' humans are to blame for climate change

[nrc]

Are political scientists real scientists and is "We're pretty sure" empirical evidence?

Random quotes without citation are difficult to discuss. I do appreciate you not pasting the entire article, though.

[cameraman]

Just because Ohio lucked out this year in terms of the hot and cool spot lottery doesn't negate the continued global warming trend.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/map-percentile-mntp/201301-201307.gif

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/map-blended-mntp/201301-201307.gif

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/map-percentile-prcp/201301-201307.gif

And that cool spot had the extra benefit of reducing thunderstorms which are linked to temperature, the cooler the season the fewer the thunderstorms.

[KLang]

Pretty pictures.


I think what SurfaceUnits is referring to is the leaked IPCC report showing global temperature rise has slowed considerably the last 15 years.

[cameraman]

Pretty pictures.


I think what SurfaceUnits is referring to is the leaked IPCC report showing global temperature rise has slowed considerably the last 15 years.

Except the report says the exact opposite.


A leaked early version of a major forthcoming report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations-affiliated panel of scientists that is often cited as the world's top authority on global warming, is grabbing headlines this week.

The New York Times reported on what it called the report's "near certainty" that humans are responsible for the rising temperatures of recent decades and its warning that sea levels could rise by more than three feet by the end of the century.

The draft IPCC report also dismisses a recent slowdown in global warming, attributing it to short-term factors. (See "Rising Seas" in National Geographic magazine.)

The leaked document is only a draft, and still has to be approved by the several hundred scientist-members of the IPCC, who are scheduled to meet in Stockholm next month.

IPCC spokesperson Jonathan Lynn said in a statement Monday that it "is likely to change in response to comments from governments received in recent weeks and will also be considered by governments and scientists at a four-day approval session at the end of September. It is therefore premature and could be misleading to attempt to draw conclusions from it."

But experts say the contents of the draft report are unlikely to change substantially, based on the IPCC's past efforts. Whether it changes much or not, all this week's attention on the leaked version speaks to the huge role the once-every-five-years-or-so report has come to play among scientists, the public, and governments around the world.

Nat Geo news (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130820-global-warming-leaked-report-ipcc-ar5-climate-change/)

And while the rate of increase may have slowed it hasn't stopped increasing.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/lo-hem/201307.gif

[datachicane]

Facts 'n' numbers and stuff are so BOOORING.
What's a bunch of scientists against a juicy worldwide conspiracy theory?
:rofl:

[nrc]

Except the report says the exact opposite.

Well, except it doesn't. What it says according to your quote is that they've decided to dismiss what the data shows. I think that was SUs point.

[KLang]

Well, except it doesn't. What it says according to your quote is that they've decided to dismiss what the data shows. I think that was SUs point.

:thumbup:

This stuff reinforces my opinion that man just isn't smart enough yet to understand a system this complex. The man-made models predicting doom and gloom just aren't correct.

[cameraman]

Well, except it doesn't. What it says according to your quote is that they've decided to dismiss what the data shows. I think that was SUs point.

They are not dismissing the data, they are dismissing the incorrect assertion that the slowing means that global warming isn't happening. The last 15 years is fully incorporated in their models. What they are saying is that people who look at the chart and say "Oh look it is slowing that means the warming must be a short term cycle and everything will be just fine." are flat out wrong. That is a conclusion that has absolutely no support beyond wishful thinking.

[SurfaceUnits]

You have to wonder about a theory that covers everything that happens even when it goes against your theory - the Theory of Everything

Now you get to pay for Chelsea Manning's gender reassignment therapy

[KLang]

They are not dismissing the data, they are dismissing the incorrect assertion that the slowing means that global warming isn't happening. The last 15 years is fully incorporated in their models. What they are saying is that people who look at the chart and say "Oh look it is slowing that means the warming must be a short term cycle and everything will be just fine." are flat out wrong. That is a conclusion that has absolutely no support beyond wishful thinking.

I don't see anyone here disputing warming. It's been warming since the end of the last ice age. The cause is in dispute.

[SurfaceUnits]

Mother Nature is actually able to take care of Herself (Gaia)

Global warming causes the sea ice to expand in the Antarctic, which one day will precipitate global cooling Al Gore and the UN IPCC need not apply.

The problem is with humans who think that once they get that widescreen TV mounted on the wall, nothing should ever change.

The folks in Greenland are enjoying the warm up it's becoming green again


Inside the Arctic Circle, a chef is growing the kind of vegetables and herbs – potatoes, thyme, tomatoes, green peppers – more fitted for a suburban garden in a temperate zone than a land of northern lights, glaciers and musk oxen. Some Inuit hunters are finding reindeer fatter than ever thanks to more grazing on this frozen tundra, and, for some, there is no longer a need to trek hours to find wild herbs.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/greenland-reaps-benefits-of-global-warming-8555241.html

[cameraman]

And then there is this...

yRhesBaRCME

That one pegs the holy **** meter.

[Gnam]

Another tree falls victim to giant Louisiana sinkhole

Less than 12 hours after the giant Louisiana sinkhole in Assumption Parish swallowed a section of land covered in trees, another tree has fallen victim to the slurry.

Work was ceased at the sinkhole site after a burp was reported Wednesday night.

Burps occur when air and gas from deep in the sinkhole bubbles up. It can cause debris to float to the top and, in the past, has caused more trees to be swallowed into the slurry.

http://www.wafb.com/story/23222524/giant-louisiana-sinkhole-burps-again-work-ceased

[Elmo T]

before the Internet - Phillies and Eagles had to share the porn....
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/08/22/the-phillies-and-eagles-had-a-blue-chest-of-pornography-stored-in-veterans-stadium/

[SurfaceUnits]

And then there is this...

yRhesBaRCME

That one pegs the holy **** meter.

You'll have some fun when Yellowstone roars

[Gnam]

before the Internet - Phillies and Eagles had to share the porn....
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/08/22/the-phillies-and-eagles-had-a-blue-chest-of-pornography-stored-in-veterans-stadium/
What a stadium. The visiting teams were caught peeping through holes in the walls of the cheerleaders' locker room.

http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/10357197

[SurfaceUnits]

Australia's Shane Watson flays England debutants Woakes and Kerrigan
• Australia 307-4 v England

So is 307-4 like 1-0 in futbol

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/aug/21/australia-shane-watson-england-woakes-kerrigan

[Gnam]

aGrEPZ6mrBE

[SurfaceUnits]

Slowest Start To A Hurricane Season On Record
Posted on August 24, 2013 by stevengoddard

As we approach the end of August, there have been no Atlantic hurricanes. By this date in the year 1886, there had already been seven hurricanes – including three major hurricanes, one of which wiped the city of Indianola, Texas off the map.

http://stevengoddard.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/screenhunter_359-aug-24-09-46.jpg
A kinder, gentler natural(not manmade) hurricane from 1886

[Gnam]

Mystery of the Traub Motorcycle

In 1967, a plumber doing renovations of an apartment building outside Chicago tore down a brick wall and found what would prove to be a baffling mystery to vintage motorcycle enthusiasts - a one-of-a-kind motorcycle bearing 1917 plates and the name "Traub". The building’s elderly owner admitted that his son had stolen the bike before going off to WWI, never to return. But where the bike came from and who made it remains a unknown to this day.

http://www.heavy.com/moto/2012/04/mystery-of-the-traub-motorcycle/

[cameraman]

The Rim Fire from space

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/946xvariable_height/public/california_a2013237_1845_250m.jpg?itok=A7zS4B89

[SurfaceUnits]

http://www.reutersgallery.com/ddf?type=v&id=4630





A sign explaining the rules of a new sex drive-in is pictured during an open day, west of Zurich August 24, 2013. A year after voters backed the plan to ban street street walkers from the city centre in a bid to make prostitution safer for both sex workers and customers, a sex drive-in will be officially opened August 26. After passing a check-in gate drivers, who must be alone in their vehicles, follow a marked route, negotiate a rate with one of the 40 prostitutes stationed there and drive on to one of nine partially enclosed wooden booths to have sex. The facility includes a social room, toilets and showers for the working women, who have to buy a 'worker ticket' each evening. Panic alarms are also installed in the wooden sheds.

[SteveH]

What? The tree is off limits?

:laugh:

[Gnam]

Must have a car. No scrubs. :laugh:

[SurfaceUnits]

No Brits allowed.
Left seat drivers only.

[SurfaceUnits]

OK

Teen Suspect: Murdered 88-Year-Old Vet a Crack Cocaine Dealer
by Dan Riehl 27 Aug 2013, 8:42 PM PDT post a comment
As if the horrific beating death of 88-year-old Delbert Belton wasn't despicable enough, one of the teen suspects and his father, a convicted drug dealer in his own right, are intent on making it worse.

"Prosecutors said one of the two suspects has suggested that the victim, 88-year-old Delbert Belton, was selling crack cocaine outside the Eagles Lodge and shorted them."

Sixteen year-old murder suspect Kenan Adams-Kinard’s father, Steven Kinard—who apparently has his own history of cocaine use—is backing up his son's claim. He claims Belton was well known in the cocaine dealing community. "He’s far from the World War II hero he’s been portrayed as... He poisoned the country and poisoned our kids,” Steven Kinard said.

[Gnam]

Rim Fire from space at night.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/08/yosemite-fire-suomi-npp/?mbid=social11221034&pid=11661
http://s15.postimg.org/7l24b404r/1414v1_20130823_Rim_Fire_annot.jpg


Rim Fire from space at night, with Yosemite park boundary.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=81930
http://s7.postimg.org/h2x4yccqz/rimfire_vir_2013235_238.jpg


C-130 Hercules from the 146AW Channel Islands Air National Guard working the Rim Fire.
That fire is HUGE.

c_eGiGG1B-Q

[SurfaceUnits]

'Earth has gained 2.2 million km² of sea ice since this date last year, wiping out the previous record gain of 1.1 million km² in 1994.

69% Increase In Arctic Ice Since Last Year’

Mildest US Summer In A Century: ‘This summer, the US has experienced the fewest number of 100 degree readings in a century’

[cameraman]

How would you figure out whether global warming is real, part 1 (http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/08/28/how-would-you-figure-out-whether-global-warming-is-real-part-1/)

So let’s play pretend for a moment. Let’s pretend the following:

1. We’ve never heard of this problem before,
2. We’ve never heard anyone else’s opinions — political, scientific or otherwise — on this matter before,
3. There are no other concerns such as politics, economics, energy or pollutants, and
4. We actually care about the two questions of whether the Earth is getting warmer and, if it is, whether humans are the cause of it.

This is going to be a three-part post, but sometimes, getting it right takes time. So let’s take the rest of this week to take that time. Here we go!


How would you figure out whether global warming is real, part 2 (http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/08/29/how-would-you-figure-out-whether-global-warming-is-real-part-2/)

We last left off with Venus, the hottest planet in our Solar System. Despite being twice as far away from the Sun as Mercury, receiving only one-fourth the Solar output per-unit-area, and absorbing only about 10% of the Sun’s energy (as opposed to 88% for Mercury), it’s still hotter than Mercury by far. With an average temperature of 735 Kelvin (462 °C / 863 °F) regardless of whether it’s day or night on Venus, this is entirely due to the Venusian atmosphere. The way it works is absolutely remarkable. It all starts with the Sun...

And tomorrow I'll post up part three. They are very good straight up science, you should check them out.

[SurfaceUnits]

Is anybody attending the first ever first annual 2013 rising seas conference

[SurfaceUnits]

Here's something else to obsess about



Hubble telescope spots 'cosmic caterpillar' that's six TRILLION miles long, formed by harsh winds from some of our hottest stars

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/30/article-0-1B8818FB000005DC-436_634x399.jpg

I will be going on tour warning everybody about the dangers of this cosmic caterpillar

And then I can tell everyone about it becoming a cosmic butterfly and how that wil end civilization as we know it

[cameraman]

Mildest US Summer In A Century: ‘This summer, the US has experienced the fewest number of 100 degree readings in a century’

And if you were to drive 20 hours west on I-80


Salt Lake City has reached 95° for the 52nd time in 2013. This breaks the all-time record (most since 1874).

[Don Quixote]

I will be going on tour warning everybody about the dangers of this cosmic caterpillar

And then I can tell everyone about it becoming a cosmic butterfly and how that wil end civilization as we know itIf you mock Mothra, you do so at your own peril.

[Gnam]

Mothra my ***. That's Galactus, devourer of worlds.

http://s21.postimg.org/4870c2p4n/fhd007_FRT_Galactus_001.jpg

[cameraman]

And here we have part three.

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/08/30/how-would-you-figure-out-whether-global-warming-is-real-part-3/

I love gifs...

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2013/08/Escalator_2012_1024.gif

[SurfaceUnits]

What tattoos do Chinese get

http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/story/random_photos_english_words_translated_for_eastern _tattoos.html

[Insomniac]

And here we have part three.

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/08/30/how-would-you-figure-out-whether-global-warming-is-real-part-3/

I love gifs...

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2013/08/Escalator_2012_1024.gif

Some people see:

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/images/vostok_co2_ch4_from_bubbles.jpg

And say with or without man the globe cools and heats. (I'd prefer it if we not accelerate things personally.)

[SurfaceUnits]

Awe-Inspiring Images of Star Formation Collected

http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/New-Star-Born-Detected-by-ALMA-Array-650x458.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2PgyqO4-pco


http://guardianlv.com/2013/08/awe-inspiring-images-of-star-formation-collected-video/

[cameraman]

Some people see:

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/images/vostok_co2_ch4_from_bubbles.jpg

And say with or without man the globe cools and heats. (I'd prefer it if we not accelerate things personally.)

And there you go, cherry picking the data again. Those graphs end in 1950. That is 60 years ago. You think that just maybe something has happened in the last 60 years?

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2013/08/Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr.png

[SurfaceUnits]

It is against Michigan state law to tie a crocodile to a fire hydrant.

[SurfaceUnits]

Grand-er Canyon Discovered Under Greenland Ice Sheet
Hidden beneath the ice sheet that covers much of Greenland is a vast canyon half a mile (800 m) deep and 470 miles (750 km) in length. By comparison, the Grand Canyon, though deeper, is just 217 miles (349 km) long. The hidden gorge, which has never been seen by human eyes, was discovered by chance as scientists researching climate change mapped Greenland's bedrock. Now covered by an ice sheet that is 2 miles (3 km) thick at points and is so heavy it causes the entire island of Greenland to sag in the middle, the canyon was likely carved millions of years ago by an ancient river.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23866810

Help save Greenland, melt the ice sheet

[Andrew Longman]

It is against Michigan state law to tie a crocodile to a fire hydrant.

I believe it is still illegal to fly a kite in DC. Nothing to do with the Talban. They just don't want kites hung up on the nonexistent trolley wires

[Insomniac]

And there you go, cherry picking the data again. Those graphs end in 1950. That is 60 years ago. You think that just maybe something has happened in the last 60 years?

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2013/08/Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr.png

Calm down. I wasn't cherry picking. I'm sorry the graphs Google image search prefers stop at 1950. I said "I'd prefer it if we not accelerate things personally."

Your graph covered 1970 to 2013, that's not cherry picking, or was it only a joke?

I think the evidence is obvious, but I can also see where people see that data and see earth has heated and cooled without man. Some people believe that is all there is to it and the CO2 spike is nothing to be concerned about.

[cameraman]

You're not the one who made the graph and when you found it on Google I doubt that you noticed that it ended in 1950. You were looking for the cycling graph and you found it. The graph isn't actually cherry picking as they lost the first ~40 years of ice building the drilling rig to collect the ice cores. The graph shows the entire collected data set from that experiment. Thing is it is one experiment and it doesn't tell the whole story. The abnormal part of the current CO2 spike just happens to have begun almost exactly when that graph ends. Thus purely by happenstance, we end up with a graph that makes everything look absolutely normal when the current state of the atmosphere is anything but normal. I have seen that graph used on just about every single anthropomorphic CO2-denying web site on the internet, it's their holy grail. It is factually correct but doesn't cover the most important section of data. For 400,000 years the CO2 levels have varied between 180 and 280 ppm. This spring we broke the 400 ppm threshold. The increases track perfectly with the increases in human activity.

A ten year old graph shows it clearly.

http://www.klimanotizen.de/2004.12.04_1KYrsofChg_150.jpg

The graph is current to 2004. The 2012 numbers for CO2 would be 395 ppm and 10 Gt C (billions of metric tons of carbon/year)

Over the last decade people have gone from putting 8 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere per year to 10 billion tons. And that time period included a massive global economic slowdown but the number still jumped 25%.

The laws of physics and chemistry demand that as the CO2 concentration increases this planet will get warmer and the oceans will acidify. There is no avoiding it or explaining it away.

And before anyone brings it up, all the volcanoes in the world have a total carbon output of 100 million metric tons of carbon a year. That would be 1% of what people put into the atmosphere this year. Every time somebody brings up the volcano canard I about have an aneurism.

[cameraman]

And it really is amazing how growth in this country has followed the Interstate system. It has been around for 50 years but look at the map of human activity and picture where the Interstates are.

http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/files/vulcan_usa_emisions.gif

[Insomniac]

You're not the one who made the graph and when you found it on Google I doubt that you noticed that it ended in 1950. You were looking for the cycling graph and you found it. The graph isn't actually cherry picking as they lost the first ~40 years of ice building the drilling rig to collect the ice cores. The graph shows the entire collected data set from that experiment. Thing is it is one experiment and it doesn't tell the whole story. The abnormal part of the current CO2 spike just happens to have begun almost exactly when that graph ends. Thus purely by happenstance, we end up with a graph that makes everything look absolutely normal when the current state of the atmosphere is anything but normal. I have seen that graph used on just about every single anthropomorphic CO2-denying web site on the internet, it's their holy grail. It is factually correct but doesn't cover the most important section of data. For 400,000 years the CO2 levels have varied between 180 and 280 ppm. This spring we broke the 400 ppm threshold. The increases track perfectly with the increases in human activity.

A ten year old graph shows it clearly.

http://www.klimanotizen.de/2004.12.04_1KYrsofChg_150.jpg

The graph is current to 2004. The 2012 numbers for CO2 would be 395 ppm and 10 Gt C (billions of metric tons of carbon/year)

Over the last decade people have gone from putting 8 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere per year to 10 billion tons. And that time period included a massive global economic slowdown but the number still jumped 25%.

The laws of physics and chemistry demand that as the CO2 concentration increases this planet will get warmer and the oceans will acidify. There is no avoiding it or explaining it away.

And before anyone brings it up, all the volcanoes in the world have a total carbon output of 100 million metric tons of carbon a year. That would be 1% of what people put into the atmosphere this year. Every time somebody brings up the volcano canard I about have an aneurism.

I see 4 groups:

Climate change, human influenced, act now or very bad things will happen
Climate change, human influenced, not sure what will happen but should do something
Climate change, human influenced, doesn't matter because earth will do whatever regardless
Climate change, not human influenced


I'm in between 1 and 2. I feel we're in new territory here and don't know exactly where we're heading, but it doesn't look good.

On volcanoes, it seems like the bigger concern isn't CO2, but that an eruption that is violent enough could fill the atmosphere with enough ash and particles to block out the sun for an extended period of time. If the warming is sending us closer to that event, that's a very big problem.

[cameraman]

I see 4 groups:

Climate change, human influenced, act now or very bad things will happen
Climate change, human influenced, not sure what will happen but should do something
Climate change, human influenced, doesn't matter because earth will do whatever regardless
Climate change, not human influenced


I'm in between 1 and 2. I feel we're in new territory here and don't know exactly where we're heading, but it doesn't look good.

On volcanoes, it seems like the bigger concern isn't CO2, but that an eruption that is violent enough could fill the atmosphere with enough ash and particles to block out the sun for an extended period of time. If the warming is sending us closer to that event, that's a very big problem.

I'm in the warming is absolutely happening, once we cleared ~ 2 gigatons of carbon a year we were causing it, and we don't have the will or technical ability to do much of anything about it camp. Reducing carbon anyway we can will help slow making it any worse but getting the human race back below 2 gigatons a year isn't going to happen, ever. I doubt very much that we can even reduce the increases to keep global emissions to a flat 10-12 gigatons a year. The industrial west is holding almost flat but the rest of the planet is burning carbon as fast as they possibly can. Humans have really managed to **** things up and are not even remotely close to having their **** together to an extent that could slow down this runaway train.

[SurfaceUnits]

The people who feel humans are a problem should sacrifice themselves for mother earth
I have decided to forgo my personal 707 jet and my 50 SUV caravan for all my travel and nights out

[emjaya]

It is against Michigan state law to tie a crocodile to a fire hydrant.

If all this global warming stuff is right, you may actually have a need for that law. The croc's are moving further south every year over here.

You are so lucky to have such forward thinking politicians. :gomer:

[SurfaceUnits]

Walkie Scorchie melted my Jag



THE WALKIE Talkie skyscraper in the City has caused extensive damage to a Jaguar parked on a nearby street – as other drivers come forward to say it has also melted parts of their vehicles.

As revealed in City A.M. last week, the building’s unusual shape is reflecting an ultra bright light onto Eastcheap, with those unlucky enough to park below finding the beam is causing serious damage.

Martin Lindsay, director of a tiling company, said he was distraught to see the warped panels along the side of his high-spec Jaguar XJ.

He said: “They’re going to have to think of something. I’m gutted. How can they let this continue?”

He parked his Jaguar at 12.45pm on Thursday afternoon but when City A.M. visited an hour later there was a smell of burning plastic and some panels were beyond repair.

The building – dubbed the Walkie Scorchie after it began reflecting the ray of light that has left passers-by shielding their eyes – has also badly damaged a van parked nearby.

http://www.cityam.com/article/1378091289/exclusive-walkie-scorchie-melted-my-jag?utm_source=website&utm_medium=TD_article_grids_homepage&utm_campaign=TD_article_grids_homepage

[SurfaceUnits]

Atlantic returning to a 1950's weather pattern due to the cooling of the Pacific. There's your 1950's.
Look for later season storms.

[SurfaceUnits]

Alaska thanks SLC for taking all the heat

Record Cold in the Northern Interior
A cold airmass and clear skies allowed for temperatures to plunge to record low levels in the northern Interior.

Most notably, Bettles recorded a low of 15ºF Saturday morning. This is by far the lowest temperature of record at Bettles in August. The previous record at the Bettles in August was 22ºF on August 30, 1969. At old Bettles, about four miles downriver from the current townsite, a low of 20ºF was measured on August 24, 1948.

Other low temperatures included 17ºF at both Chandalar DOT and Coldfoot DOT and a chilly 13F at the Norutak Lake RAWS west of Bettles. These are close to record low temperature for the month of August in the state.

[datachicane]

It is against Michigan state law to tie a crocodile to a fire hydrant.

Not that attribution, accuracy, or context seem to be germane to your posts recently, but that's, well, the opposite of true. Passing off old wive's tales and random innerweb rantings as knowledge seems to be the fad around here lately, though, so don't let me harsh your buzz. :thumbup:

[SurfaceUnits]

New Zealand man 3D prints an Aston Martin DB4

New Zealand enthusiast Ivan Sentch is in the process of 3D printing a 1961 Aston Martin DB4. Engadget reports that he bought a $499 Solidoodle 3D printer and has been working on this project since December 2012.


http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/file/1215_new%20zealand%20man%203d%20prints%20an%20asto n%20martin%20db4.jpg

[SurfaceUnits]

The next time you head down to the river




http://www.reutersgallery.com/ddf?type=v&id=4750



Dustin Bockman is pictured with his record setting alligator, weighing 727 pounds (330 kg) and measuring 13 feet (3.96 m), captured in Vicksburg, Mississippi on September 1, 2013 and released to Reuters on September 3, 2013. Dustin Bockman, a 27-year-old UPS driver, and his crew spotted the mammoth creature in the Mississippi River and trailed it for two hours before getting close enough to spear it. It took another two hours to hook it with a second line and noose its neck. Eventually, Bockman had to shoot the alligator.

It took another two hours and two extra men to hoist the gator on the boat, capping a grueling hunt that had Bockman's girlfriend understandably nervous.

"I had sent him a text message at four in the morning, asking him, ‘Are you alive?'" said Amy Parsons. "I was afraid. I hadn't heard from him all night and he hadn't come home."

[emjaya]

What was the point of that? :yuck:

He has a tic-tac. :rolleyes:

[cameraman]

What was the point of that? :yuck:

He has a tic-tac. :rolleyes:

They sell them for the meat, at least that is what the professionals do. Although the professionals don't have four hours to waste once they have a line on a gator. They pull them in, shoot them, haul them onboard and move on.

[Elmo T]

A local tale of interest.

My PD were requested to respond to a home for unwanted subjects. The complaintant was the bank. The house was a $1.5M+ house in foreclosure. The strange part - the unwanted people were squatters who had taken up residence.

When PD arrived, the occupants showed him paperwork they "found on the internet" that said they were taking ownership of abandoned property AND that they were sovereign citizens - our laws do not apply to them. The PD contacted the district attorney's office who said give them 24 hours to vacate or arrests will be made.

They were out there this AM - place was vacant and the bank changed the locks (again).

I checked around and this is not an unusual occurrence.

'Sovereign citizen' claims family’s home as his own (http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/temecula/temecula-headlines-index/20130903-temecula-sovereign-citizen-claims-familys-home-as-his-own.ece)

Burglary Suspects Claim Sovereign Citizenship Gives Them Right to Occupy Foreclosed Waldorf House (http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Burglary-Suspects-Claim-Sovereign-Citizenship-Gives-Them-Right-to-Occupy-Foreclosed-Waldorf-House-212547621.html)

:saywhat:

[Gnam]

:shakehead:

I would accept their claim of sovereign citizenship, present them with a declaration of war for invading the US, offer them a choice of unconditional surrender or death, demand war reparations, and then deport them to a country of my choice via parachute at night.

It would be more fun to make the bank prove they own the house by producing the deed.

[Napoleon]

. . . AND that they were sovereign citizens - our laws do not apply to them.

If I was a judge and one of those nuts appeared in front of me I would max out the punishment on them. They are basically terrorist without bombs and guns.

[Gnam]

I thought "tic-tac" was some southern hemisphere slang for alligator, but I think emjaya was talking about the plastic Aston Martin DB4. :D

[Andrew Longman]

If I was a judge and one of those nuts appeared in front of me I would max out the punishment on them. They are basically terrorist without bombs and guns.I am pretty convinced that about 30% of American are similarly unglued-paranoid-isolationist-faux libertarian-Free speech says I will fart in public if I want to-I read it on the Internet wackos. Maybe I am just spending too much time in Texas. :gomer: