Friday - October 29, 2010
Now that’s a real New York attitude
Ballot irregularities ( gee, that’s a surprise, right? ) forced the NYC Term Limits referendum question to the back side of the ballot. So to make sure people know about it, there is a new ad running on TV. Seeing how just about everyone wants to flip off the politicians these days, I think it’s going to be a success.
An odd trio of Conservative Party chairman Mike Long, New York Civic founder Henry Stern and billionaire cosmetics heir Ron Lauder gathered on the steps of City Hall today to start a campaign to make sure that once again local voters decide to institute term limits.
“The voters of the city of New York have voted twice for term limits,” Long said after the press conference. “Three strikes and you’re out- if you don’t listen to the people then you shouldn’t be in office,” he said referring to the previous two decisions.
The three are concerned that the placement of the term limit—on the flip side of the ballot—will mean that many voters ignore it.
“The difficulty is that it’s on the back of the ballot. If people are informed about it though, they’ll know to turn it over and vote yes to question number one,” Long said.
Stern said that he hopes voters recall that the city council overturned their previous expressed will in two citywide referendums.
“What we have here is a moral outrage,” Stern said. “The issue is that the people spoke out twice and the Mayor arrogated it twice.”
New Yorkers for Term Limits, a group financed through individual donations including reportedly million dollar donations by Lauder, created two 10-second television ads. The ads play on the anti-incumbency theme that has been so prevalent in this year’s races, saying “Politicians are so scared of bringing back term limits, they hid the question on the back of the ballot,” and telling voters to “Flip over the ballot. Flip off the politicians”.
Current NYC Mayor Bloomberg is said to be in favor of term limits too. Not that that stopped him from bending the rules for himself so that he could be the only 3 term mayor the city has ever had.
But the ballots themselves - or about half a million of them at any rate - are messed up. They have check boxes underneath the candidate’s area, but the printed instructions say to fill in the oval above or next to the candidate’s name. Guess they should have uses a non-union proofreader.
The Board of Elections said at an emergency meeting Friday that it will take action to avoid voter confusion about new ballots with misleading instructions.
Instructions on the paper ballots for the election on November 2 say that voters should cast a vote by filling in the oval above or next to the name of the candidate.
However, the ovals are actually below the candidates’ names.
“We are doing everything in accordance with the law. This is just the ballot the way it is and if you ask me if there is confusion? I don’t see any confusion,” said BOE Executive Director George Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said he does not anticipate a problem, but said there will be flyers inside booths clarifying how to vote and staff on hand to answer questions.
“This is the same ballot that was used in the September 2010 primary election. Over 400,000 cast their vote using this ballot. That specific issue was not brought to our attention,” said Gonzalez. “But again, to make sure that everything goes smoothly and minimal confusion for November 2, we’re taking every effort and step to take corrective action to minimize any possible problem the voter may have.”
BOE officials said it is too late to reprint the ballots for November 2, but they will correct the issue in future elections.
The ballot trouble is the latest mess to hit the Elections Board. Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the BOE’s performance on Primary Day a “royal screw-up.” Also, this week State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released a scathing report this week detailing the mistakes.
I think the real anger is yet to come. Most New Yorkers don’t know that the new term limits question exempts the top 33 elected officials. So they can all run again if they want. And leave everyone wondering if they’ll just ignore this iteration of the will of the people as well.
Goldstein is taking some heat himself over the ballot questions, specifically the one on term limits. It asks voters if they want to return to a two-term limit for city officials, but sitting lawmakers will be exempt from any change.
“When people learn about this exception being made for 33 elected officials, they’re outraged,” said Morgan Pehme of New York Civic.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/29/2010 at 06:20 PM
Filed Under: • Humor • Politics •
• Comments (3)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • eye candy … with much respect
loved this actress .... class act always.
SUSAN HAYWARD
It might look silly to some but ... I had a couple other pix to post here along with Hayward but .... they just didn’t do her justice and since she was one of a kind, I think I’ll leave BMEWS tonight with just this one photo of this great lady.
Cheers all.
Posted by peiper
on 10/29/2010 at 05:04 PM
Filed Under: • Eye-Candy •
• Comments (4)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Here we go again. McDonald’s sued in Brazil .. idiot judge finds against deep pockets of course.
Well here we go again. It’s not my fault I gained weight eating like a damn pig. No. It’s McD’s fault for feeding me. Jeesh.
The guy who sued isn’t actually stupid. It’s the court and judge in Brazil who bought this bogus story. Or maybe the guy split the little he got with the judge.
I think the judge in this case should be shot as a lesson to other idiot judges and the same for the slob who brought the suit. And his lawyer. Worthless blobs taking up space and using up oxygen.
McDonald’s ordered to pay ex-employee £10,000 after he claims their food made him fat
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:41 AM on 29th October 2010A former McDonald’s worker has won £10,000 compensation after claiming the free meals he ate during his 12-year employment made him fat and unhappy.
The unnamed man decided to sue after putting on four stone in weight.
A Brazilian court ruled this week that McDonald’s must pay the former franchise manager $17,500.
The 32-year-old said he felt forced to sample the food each day to ensure quality standards remained high, because McDonald’s hired ‘mystery clients’ to randomly visit restaurants and report on the food, service and cleanliness.
The man also said the company offered free lunches to employees, adding to his caloric intake while on the job.
The ruling was signed by Judge Joao Ghisleni Filho in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Ghisleni said McDonald’s could appeal the case, and the Brazilian headquarters of the chain said in an e-mailed statement Thursday it was weighing its legal options.
While even a cheeseburger Happy Meal can contain 630 calories and 23 grams of fat, McDonald’s noted that it offers healthier food choices as well.
‘The chain offers a large variety of options and balanced menus to cater to the daily dietary needs of its employees,’ the company said in the statement.
They now serve salad and fruit.
Posted by peiper
on 10/29/2010 at 03:50 PM
Filed Under: • Judges-Courts-Lawyers • Justice - LACK OF •
• Comments (3)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • more law and disorder and no justice but the left is no doubt happy ….
I don’t mean to offend any of our Brit friends and readers but I’m not saying anything that Brits themselves are not saying. The Criminal Justice System here is shit! It is screwed up beyond all belief and when you see these two stories ..... I believe you’ll agree.
I also think the first story below will sicken you. It did me. In light of this first story ... the second makes hardly any sense at all. And it shouldn’t considering the state of the criminal protective system in place here.
What justice? Thug who kicked terminally-ill man in attack walks free from courtBy Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 7:56 PM on 29th October 2010A drunken thug who attacked a terminally-ill grandfather and kicked his head ‘like a football’ has walked free from court.
Reece Kent, 19, repeatedly punched Ken Oliver in the head before kicking him on the floor after he mistakenly knocked on the 62-year-old’s door at 3.30am.
Cancer sufferer Mr Oliver - who has been given just three months to live - was left in a pool of blood on his doorstep with horrific injuries.
He spent a week in intensive care following the assault, with bleeding on his brain.
Kent admitted carrying out the unprovoked attack - which was filmed on a mobile phone by his friends - and pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm.
But Mr Oliver, a grandfather-of-three from Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, watched in disbelief as his attacker walked free from court last week with a six-month suspended sentence.
Today he said: ‘I would love to have seen him go away for a long, long time. I could quite easily have died. I was expecting him to go to jail. I am gutted.
‘Before I knew what was going on I was being punched and kicked. My head was used as a football and the whole attack was recorded on a mobile phone.
‘I am appalled at the sentence. They were swearing and laughing in my face. He should have been locked up for what he did.
‘His barrister said he feels remorse but when he turned up in court he just sneered at me. I hope he is ashamed for the rest of his life.’
wild and feral animals do not feel shame. they feel nothing but the need to indulge their desires of the momentUnbelievably, Mr Oliver said that he and his family had been forced to track down Kent after Hertfordshire constabulary told him it was unlikely they would catch his attacker.
He said: ‘Police told me that it was most likely just a case of happy slapping because the other lads were filming the attack.
‘But when I told my neighbours that the lad had asked for Molly, they remembered that a girl of that name had lived a few doors down and had moved away.
‘My son did some detective work and tracked down the family then worked out who my attackers were from there.
‘After going to all that trouble, I was looking forward to seeing him in court and justice being done.
‘I was disgusted when he walked free. I’m still living with the injuries. It makes you wonder what you have to do to get put behind bars these days.’
I read things like this and get so pissed off it’s a wonder I don’t have ulcers or worse. First of course I feel deeply for the victims and the lack of any real justice. And then again and again I read or hear about these god awful gun happy violent Americans with their high crime rate who also kill so many death penalty criminals in Tx and Az, that they run out of the stuff that puts the bad guys away for good. Some of the idiots here on the left actually write that kind of crap. That we’re executing criminals right and left every day. Oh if only. And then I continue to see things like these stories.
neighbour’ who stabbed a man to death for urinating through his letterbox is jailed for five years
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:53 PM on 29th October 2010A ‘good neighbour’ who stabbed a man he caught urinating through his letterbox on a yob-plagued estate was jailed for five years today after admitting manslaughter.
Michael Williams, 53, ‘just flipped’ after he caught father-of-one Anthony Kershaw, 25, high on drink and drugs, defiling his property.
The householder, who lived alone, had already suffered the same attack previously, and had paint thrown on his door, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Residents were too frightened to go out at night because of a gang of teenagers terrorising the sprawling Smallbridge council estate in Rochdale, it was said.
Williams, described by neighbours as ‘pleasant, friendly and keeps himself to himself’ heard a bang on the front door of his ground-floor flat, as if someone was kicking at it to break in.
He went to investigate, to see urine pouring through his letterbox, he told police.
Angry he went to his kitchen, grabbed a knife with a seven-inch blade and as Mr Kershaw urinated, swung open the door and in a ‘momentary intention’ stabbed his victim in the stomach.
He then closed the door and dialled 999 as friends of Mr Kershaw tried to attack Williams, smashing his windows and threatening to ‘burn him alive’ by torching the property.
Mr Kershaw died the next day in hospital from the knife wound to his stomach.
The court heard the estate in Rochdale had suffered years of anti-social behaviour from people drinking and taking drugs in communal areas and stairwells, and being ‘extremely abusive’ to residents.
Locals had ‘lost confidence’ in the authorities to do anything about the problem, the court heard, though Anti-Social Behaviour Orders had been handed out to some of the gang.
Good for Mr. Williams. I hope the bastard who pissed through his door suffered. I hope it wasn’t a quick death. He deserved it and who can fault Williams for what he did? I sure don’t.
But the punk who beat the hell out of that guy in the first story walks free .... Williams goes to jail as though there were no extenuating circumstances.
Punks who beat the crap out of an old man in yet a another story at the first link above, get anti social behavior orders. Oh woo-fuckin hoo. That really puts the fear of god in them as we all see.
But Americans are violent gun happy nutters.
Posted by peiper
on 10/29/2010 at 02:54 PM
Filed Under: • Crime • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Justice - LACK OF • UK •
• Comments (4)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • love springs eternal and in this case, it’s gross.
What a revolting image this is. GAK!
And what a self delusional jerk she is. If she’s 59 as the article says, then I’m a 25 year old rocket scientist who in my spare time discovered the cure for cancer
while solving the problems in the middle east.
According to the story, they actually went to bed together. Well why not? She surely couldn’t get a white guy (unless blind) into the sack. How gross both are.
And how could he possibly perform with that ... that .... old bag. Disgusting thought. Both of em.
The granny who wed a Gambian waiter 35 years her junior, then found he only wanted a British visa. Here, she tells how she’s taking delicious revenge
By Natasha Courtenay-Smith
The warning bells should have been sounding loud and clear. Just three weeks before Mary Cotnoir’s wedding day, her 25-year-old husband-to-be, Mr Demba Sanneh from Gambia, was denied a visa to visit her in the UK.
The Home Office said her fiancé had failed to give a ‘credible explanation’ for his trip and was deeply suspicious of his true motives.
So what did Mary, a 59-year-old grandmother, do? Did she take stock and accept that her toyboy lover — a man nearly 35 years her junior — was not entirely honourable? Did she even consider postponing her nuptials until she could be absolutely sure of him?
Not for one minute. Utterly smitten, she got on a plane to Africa and married him anyway.
It will, of course, come as little surprise that just eight days into their union everything fell apart after Mary discovered her husband was only interested in her money and the possibility of gaining a British visa.
This week, though, her story took a most unlikely twist. Mary, in an act of delicious revenge, announced she is refusing to divorce Mr Sanneh, so he cannot dupe another unsuspecting tourist into marriage — and bringing his dream of starting a new life in the UK to an abrupt halt.
Suddenly, this unassuming care worker from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, seems somewhat audacious; and it’s clear she is revelling in taking what she sees as a valiant stand.
‘It was just lovely to be with someone who was so caring, deeply religious — he was Muslim — and who didn’t drink. Two days before I left, we slept together for the first time, and it was so exciting. It had been so long since I’d been intimate with someone.
‘At some point during the week, Demba laid his cards on the table. He said he was offering love, sex and companionship, but in return he wanted my help. He said perhaps I could get him a laptop, then he could go to college and get a better job.
‘I thought: “Well, a laptop is nothing” — and I wanted to help him. He had nothing. He lived with 20 members of his family in a tiny place. His room was like a cupboard.’
By the time she left Gambia, Mary admits she was infatuated. She and Demba stayed in touch via email and text, and Mary returned to visit him for another fortnight in March, taking with her the promised laptop.
They stayed together in a hotel room paid for by Mary, and on the second day Demba proposed. He offered her a ring he’d had made by a local silversmith.
Lovestruck, she readily accepted.
more here but get barf bag first
Posted by peiper
on 10/29/2010 at 02:10 PM
Filed Under: • DIVERSITY BS • Stoopid-People •
• Comments (3)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • world reacts with outrage at desecration of bible by some muzzie yoots ..left condemns act.
Sure, you’re really gonna see that. In your lifetime? Don’t think so.
Anyone recall the paster (so called) who recently said he was going to burn the koran? Outrage around the world. The usual oh well, he’s an American what do you expect. That and the usual anti-American drivel, even home grown anti US rhetoric .
OK ... so where’s the outrage from the left on this one. What’s that I hear? Right. Nothin!
Muslim students in Malawi desecrate New Testaments
Muslim students attending a Catholic primary school in Malawi tore up New Testaments that were being distributed by the Gideons International organization, which promotes the distribution of Bibles.
“Although the school’s director had made it absolutely clear that no New Testaments were to be given to the Muslim pupils and that in no way was any student obliged to take a copy of the book, there was a subsequent uproar on the part of some Muslim youths, who tore up the New Testaments, threw them, howling at their teachers, and then threw the torn-up pages out onto the streets,” Aid to the Church in Need reported.
“The behavior of the youths has been an indicator of a danger in our midst,” said Father Medrick Chimbwanya, the parish priest. “Normally, the primary school youth in Malawi would not have the courage to tear up any book in the presence of their teacher, let alone a holy book. My conclusion is that there must be some awful training given to these youths which if left unchecked, means that we may have dangerous militants in Malawi in the near future.”
28% of Malawi’s 13.2 million residents are Catholic, according to Vatican statistics; 52% are Protestant, and 13% are Muslim.
Posted by peiper
on 10/29/2010 at 01:33 PM
Filed Under: • RoPMA •
• Comments (1)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Find The Real Boobs
Buffalo teachers left taxpayers on the hook for nearly $9 million worth of cosmetic surgery last year, according to the state-appointed authority overseeing public school finances.
The Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority found that last year’s costs for elective procedures such as chemical peels and other skin treatments were up $8 million over 2004’s $1 million tab for cosmetic surgery.
The procedures, provided under the teachers’ union contract, accounted for 9 percent of the district’s total spending on health benefits for employees and retirees, The Buffalo News reported Thursday.
About 10,000 school employees are eligible for the benefit. District officials said teachers or their dependents accounted for 90 percent of the approximately 500 people who received cosmetic surgery last year.
Barbara J. Smith, the district’s chief financial officer, said those 500 people represent less than 2 percent of those covered by health insurance through the district—a figure she estimated works out to an average of nearly $18,000 in elective procedures last year per employee who used the benefit.
The president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation said the union has agreed to give up the benefit in the next contract and said teachers may be simply rushing to use the benefit while they can.
Somebody tell me why elective cosmetic surgery was EVER in their health plan to being with. Talk about your “Cadillac care plans”! Horry clap. And this bennie was extended to all family members and retirees.
Sheesh. Your kid can’t read, but his teacher sure has a nice perky rack!
Throw them out. To hell with renegotiating a contract. Fire them all and start over. Union free. No unions for teachers, cops, firefighters, postal workers, or anyone else who works for the government.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/29/2010 at 12:00 PM
Filed Under: • Education • Corruption and Greed • Unions-Labor •
• Comments (0)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Out of the Black and Into the Blue
This is a one of a kind test aircraft made by Boeing called the Bird Of Prey. Once upon a time it was the blackest of black projects, but it was declassified and shown to the public back in 2002. It was built with as many off the shelf parts as possible to keep the project cost down $67 million. It could neither fly high nor fast, and was a handful to land. And it seemed to generate UFO reports whenever it flew. I wonder why?
From a 2002 news release: Named after a Klingon spacecraft in “Star Trek,” The Boeing Co. yesterday took the wraps off what was once one of its most classified “black” military airplane projects known as the “Bird of Prey.”
The Bird of Prey plane is 47 feet long with a distinctive 23-foot wing at the rear shaped like a “W.” The Boeing project ran from 1992 through 1999. The plane, which looks like something that should be flying—and probably once did—at the super-secret Area 51 Nevada test range, helped Boeing pioneer stealth technology and new and more-affordable ways to design and build airplanes. The classified project ran from 1992 through 1999, and Boeing said it decided to make the aircraft public because the technologies that were demonstrated have become industry standards.“With this aircraft we changed the rules on how to design and build an aircraft, and what we’ve learned is enabling us to provide our customers with affordable, high-performing products,” said Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems.
It was developed by the McDonnell Douglas Phantom Works organization, where many black, or secret, projects for the military ended up, just as they did at the famed Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.
The Bird of Prey incorporated a variety of stealth features to minimize radar, infrared, visual and acoustic signatures. The overall shape of the low profile, tailless, blended fuselage with sharply cranked aft-set wings contributed to an extremely low radar cross-section. Flexible covers concealed gaps between fixed structures and moveable control surfaces. Designers were careful to ensure edge alignment on the canopy, landing gear doors, wings and fuselage to minimize radar backscatter. To eliminate radar reflections from the engine compressor face, the powerplant was buried deep in the fuselage and hidden behind the canopy and a curved inlet duct. The engine exhaust mitigated the airplane’s acoustic signature. A paint scheme consisting of several shades of gray reduced the visual contrast of shadows from various parts of the airplane. All of these features would contribute significantly to the survivability of an operational combat airplane.
As the team learned the lessons of each flight, the test program proceeded at a leisurely pace. Only 38 missions were flown between September 1996 and April 1999, roughly one sortie per month.
A video is here.
Funny thing though ... all the articles out there keep saying the aircraft was built to pioneer stealth technology. In 1992. Even though the F-117 and B-2 stealth aircraft had been in the field since the early 80s, which means they’ve been around since probably the early 70s. So what’s the point of “pioneering” it in the early 90s? Well, take your pick:
a) it was pioneering work for Boeing, because the other stealth planes were built by Lockheed/Martin/Marietta and Northrop Grumman. So when Boeing bought out McDonnell/Douglas, who had started the project, they actually had no stealth experience themselves, so this was a prove-we-can-do-it project ... or
b) the real purpose of the project is still deep in the black. They only tell us it was a stealth demonstrator and a low performance flying testbed. Was this an early Aurora prototype? The truth really isn’t out there; we will never know for sure.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/29/2010 at 08:13 AM
Filed Under: • High Tech • History • planes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles •
• Comments (2)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Part of the cost
The same gang of leftists also demonstrate against their OWN western countries, not just against Israel. And they root for the other side to win in wars (Iraq, Vietnam, El Salvador, you name it). Being a leftist is often just self-hate.
That is why they love Islam, the ultimate enemy of—themselves.
Since Israel is the ultimate example of the Judeo-Christian world view that the Left despises and since Israel has to do battle with the Moslem enemy the Left adores, it is natural for the Left to hate Israel and act accordingly.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/29/2010 at 07:19 AM
Filed Under: • FREEDOM • Humor • Israel •
• Comments (0)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Thursday - October 28, 2010
Morning Funnies
5 DAYS AND COUNTING
Posted by Drew458
on 10/28/2010 at 11:24 PM
Filed Under: • Obama, The One •
• Comments (1)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Firsties?
Posted by Drew458
on 10/28/2010 at 10:51 PM
Filed Under: • Humor •
• Comments (0)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • He Does Exist!
Looks like old Ruddy was 100 years ahead of his time.
Back in 1902 Rudyard Kipling published his Just So stories for little children. Stories that are wonderful to read aloud to very small ones, and give good answers to questions of Why. Plus you get to do the silly voices, wave your arms around, and roll his alliterative phrases trippingly off your tongue, to the impression and delight of the tiny folk. Great moments in parenting. Plus there’s free poetry at the end. With luck you’ll kick-start a lifelong love of reading.
Some of us love Kipling. Others have never kippled. Stoke your own ‘satiable curtiosity if you haven’t, because you are missing something grand. Disney utterly destroyed The Jungle Book when they took it over. Gutted it. Took out all the blood and danger, two elements essential for any real children’s stories. The original printed tale that Kipling wrote is a different world.
The Elephant’s Child is one of tales that are Just So. It’s a story about a small one who asks questions endlessly. Perhaps you’ve known a two year old just like him?
IN the High and Far-Off Times the Elephant, O Best Beloved, had no trunk. He had only a blackish, bulgy nose, as big as a boot, that he could wriggle about from side to side; but he couldn’t pick up things with it. But there was one Elephant--a new Elephant--an Elephant’s Child--who was full of ‘satiable curtiosity, and that means he asked ever so many questions. And he lived in Africa, and he filled all Africa with his ‘satiable curtiosities. He asked his tall aunt, the Ostrich, why her tail-feathers grew just so, and his tall aunt the Ostrich spanked him with her hard, hard claw. He asked his tall uncle, the Giraffe, what made his skin spotty, and his tall uncle, the Giraffe, spanked him with his hard, hard hoof. And still he was full of ‘satiable curtiosity! He asked his broad aunt, the Hippopotamus, why her eyes were red, and his broad aunt, the Hippopotamus, spanked him with her broad, broad hoof; and he asked his hairy uncle, the Baboon, why melons tasted just so, and his hairy uncle, the Baboon, spanked him with his hairy, hairy paw. And still he was full of ‘satiable curtiosity! He asked questions about everything that he saw, or heard, or felt, or smelt, or touched, and all his uncles and his aunts spanked him. And still he was full of ‘satiable curtiosity!
One fine morning in the middle of the Precession of the Equinoxes this ‘satiable Elephant’s Child asked a new fine question that he had never asked before. He asked, ‘What does the Crocodile have for dinner?’ Then everybody said, ‘Hush!’ in a loud and dretful tone, and they spanked him immediately and directly, without stopping, for a long time.
By and by, when that was finished, he came upon Kolokolo Bird sitting in the middle of a wait-a-bit thorn-bush, and he said, ‘My father has spanked me, and my mother has spanked me; all my aunts and uncles have spanked me for my ‘satiable curtiosity; and still I want to know what the Crocodile has for dinner!’
Then Kolokolo Bird said, with a mournful cry, ‘Go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees, and find out.’
That very next morning, when there was nothing left of the Equinoxes, because the Precession had preceded according to precedent, this ‘satiable Elephant’s Child took a hundred pounds of bananas (the little short red kind), and a hundred pounds of sugar-cane (the long purple kind), and seventeen melons (the greeny-crackly kind), and said to all his dear families, ‘Goodbye. I am going to the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees, to find out what the Crocodile has for dinner.’ And they all spanked him once more for luck, though he asked them most politely to stop.
Then he went away, a little warm, but not at all astonished, eating melons, and throwing the rind about, because he could not pick it up.
[excerpt from later on in the story] Then the Elephant’s Child grew all breathless, and panted, and kneeled down on the bank and said, ‘You are the very person I have been looking for all these long days. Will you please tell me what you have for dinner?’
‘Come hither, Little One,’ said the Crocodile, ‘and I’ll whisper.’
Then the Elephant’s Child put his head down close to the Crocodile’s musky, tusky mouth, and the Crocodile caught him by his little nose, which up to that very week, day, hour, and minute, had been no bigger than a boot, though much more useful.
‘I think,’ said the Crocodile--and he said it between his teeth, like this--’I think to-day I will begin ... with Elephant’s Child!’
At this, O Best Beloved, the Elephant’s Child was much annoyed, and he said, speaking through his nose, like this, ‘Led go! You are hurtig be!’
and today in the news we have this:
This baby elephant was given quite a shock when the camouflaged crocodile gave a tug on its trunk while it went for a drink with its family.
...
The extraordinary scene was captured by amateur photographer Johan Opperman while taking pictures of a family of African Bush elephants grazing by a water hole and cooling down.Under the watchful eye of its family, the young elephant headed to the edge of the waterhole to grab itself a drink.
However, in what has been described by experts as very rare behaviour, a crocodile pounced on the youngster, hoping for a kill by locking its jaws around its trunk.
Hearing the baby’s distress calls, the herd of elephants, which are known for being very protective of their young, immediately came to its rescue, scaring off the croc by trumpeting and stamping around.
After the attack the herd stayed with the youngster. When the baby had been tended to and the herd decided all was well, they crossed the dam together, just metres from where the crocodile had been hiding.
So now, O Best Beloved, you have photographic proof for when your own ‘satiable Elephant’s Child turns into a Doubting Thomas. And you can find the great grey-green greasy Limpopo River on the map; it’s the border between South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. I’ve even given you a sign. Just so.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/28/2010 at 06:31 PM
Filed Under: • Animals •
• Comments (0)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Oops
Drill here, drill now ... drill what?
Oil prospectors at a remote Alaskan energy reserve have had their hopes of striking liquid gold dashed - after scientists discovered the vast plot contains just one tenth of the precious commodity they first thought.
The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA), which covers an area about one third of the UK in size, was believed to contain billions of barrels of oil, prompting major energy investors to buy up stakes there.
In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated the 23 million-acre reserve contained 10.6 billion barrels of oil.
The U.S. Geological Survey says a revised estimate for the amount of conventional, undiscovered oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska is a fraction of a previous estimate.
The group estimates about 896 million barrels of such oil are in the reserve, about 90 percent less than a 2002 estimate of 10.6 billion barrels.
The new estimate is mainly due to the incorporation of new data from recent exploration drilling revealing gas occurrence rather than oil in much of the area, the geological survey said.
“These new findings underscore the challenge of predicting whether oil or gas will be found in frontier areas,” USGS Director Dr. Marcia McNutt said in a statement. “It is important to re-evaluate the petroleum potential of an area as new data becomes available.”
The organization also estimates 8 trillion cubic feet less gas than a 2002 estimate of 61 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, conventional, non-associated gas—meaning gas found in discrete accumulations with little to no crude oil in the reservoir.
“Recent activity in the NPRA, including 3-D seismic surveys, federal lease sales administered by the Bureau of Land Management and drilling of more than 30 exploration wells in the area provides geological information that is more indicative of gas than oil,” the geological survey said.
The petroleum reserve in Alaska has been the focus of significant oil exploration during the past decade, stimulated by the mid-1990s discovery of the largest onshore oil discovery in the U.S. during the past 25 years, the organization said.
So gosh, what a coincidence. Suddenly we don’t have any oil up there, now that the guy who doesn’t want us to have use any oil is in charge. And you know what’s really sad? After two years of BS about “shovel ready jobs”, 10 years of being aware of the intense level of media bias out there, the utter erosion of any faith in science (thanks a lot you hockey sticks) and a steady stream of proven lies from both the government and the media ... after all of that, I don’t know if I believe them. How can we be sure this isn’t another case of accidentally missing a zero? We can’t. And it plays right into a certain socialist’s agenda. News, or lies? It’s not like I can run up there and put a dipstick in the ground.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/28/2010 at 06:06 PM
Filed Under: • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •
• Comments (2)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • eye candy and anthropology
Well now, not exactly archeology but science of a sort ....
And here I thought I was leaving for the night ...
Out of Asia? Ancient ancestor of modern man walked Sahara 39million years agoBy David Derbyshire
The human family tree may have to be rewritten after scientists found evidence that the ancient ancestors of humans, apes and monkeys evolved in Asia - rather than Africa - tens of millions of years ago.
The astonishing claim follows the discovery of four species of early primate in the Sahara desert, dating back 39 million years.
The creatures - or anthropoid primates - are unlike anything seen before in Africa from the same time period or before, suggesting that they evolved elsewhere.
Scientists say there is overwhelming fossil evidence that mankind evolved from ape-like creatures in Africa, two to three million years ago.
The last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees lived five to seven million years ago, while we split off from the gorilla branch of the family tree around 10 million years ago.
Many researchers have believe that the common ancestors of all apes, monkeys and humans also evolved in Africa.
But the new finding challenges that view.
‘If our ideas are correct, this early colonization of Africa by anthropoids was a truly pivotal event—one of the key points in our evolutionary history,’ says Dr Christopher Beard, of Carnegie Museum of Natural History and an author on the paper in today’s Nature journal.
At the time, Africa was an island continent. When these anthropoids appeared, there was nothing on that island that could compete with them, he said.
‘It led to a period of flourishing evolutionary divergence amongst anthropoids, and one of those lineages resulted in humans. If our early anthropoid ancestors had not succeeded in migrating from Asia to Africa, we simply wouldn’t exist.’
Although the researchers found only fossilised teeth at the Dur At-Talah escarpment - part of the unspoilt, remote Sahara in central Libya - they have a rough idea of their size and shape.
SOURCE, THE DAILY MAIL
Alicia Witt
Posted by peiper
on 10/28/2010 at 01:37 PM
Filed Under: • Eye-Candy •
• Comments (3)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Five Most Recent Trackbacks:
Once Again, The One And Only Post
(4 total trackbacks)
Tracked at iHaan.org
Thｅ advantage to having a guide with you is thɑt an expert will haѵe very first hand experience dealing and navigating the river with гegional wildlife. Tһomas, there are great…
On: 07/28/23 10:37
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We've Been Waiting For
(3 total trackbacks)
Tracked at head to the Momarms site
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We’ve Been Waiting For
On: 03/14/23 11:20
Vietnam Homecoming
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at 广告专题配音 专业从事中文配音跟外文配音制造，北京名传天下配音公司
专业从事中文配音和外文配音制作，北京名传天下配音公司 北京名传天下专业配音公司成破于2006年12月，是专业从事中 中文配音 文配音跟外文配音的音频制造公司，幻想飞腾配音网领 配音制作 有海内外优良专业配音职员已达500多位，可供给一流的外语配音，长年服务于国内中心级各大媒体、各省市电台电视台，能满意不同客户的各种需要。电话：010-83265555 北京名传天下专业配音公司…
On: 03/20/21 07:00
meaningless marching orders for a thousand travellers ... strife ahead ..
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at Casual Blog
[...] RTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPL [...]
On: 07/17/17 04:28
a small explanation
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at yerba mate gourd
Find here top quality how to prepare yerba mate without a gourd that's available in addition at the best price. Get it now!
On: 07/09/17 03:07
DISCLAIMER
THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.
Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
- Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
- Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
- Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.
Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner
Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
RSS 2.0 
Atom 
