Archive for the ‘Humor’ Category
Pic of the day
A young grizzly bear hitches a ride on his mum’s back in a bid to prevent his paws getting cold as his mum hunts for food in the freezing snow. Steve Hinch photographed the pair from a safe distance in the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
Portrait of Rick Santorum made entirely from gay pr0n
Choose 60 days in jail or 30 days of apologizing on Facebook?
Photographer Mark Byron was so bothered by his pending divorce and child visitation issues that he blasted his soon-to-be ex-wife on his personal Facebook page…That touched off a battle that resulted in a Hamilton County judge ordering Byron jailed for his Facebook rant — or, to avoid the jail sentence, to post on his page an apology to his wife and all of his Facebook friends, something free-speech experts found troubling…
Hanni Fakhoury, a staff lawyer with the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the rulings are unique and “raise quite a few” free-speech issues…”There haven’t been a lot of cases that have dealt with this particular issue,” he said.
Mark and Elizabeth Byron had a son in July 2010, but their marriage soon became troubled. She accused him of verbally abusing her, threatening her with his fist and threatening to “end” her life. While Mark Byron, who has done freelance photography for The Enquirer, was exonerated of criminal allegations, a civil protective order was issued instructing him to stay away from his wife…
“… if you are an evil, vindictive woman who wants to ruin your husband’s life and take your son’s father away from him completely — all you need to do is say that you’re scared of your husband or domestic partner… , ” he wrote on Facebook.
Elizabeth Byron learned of the post — even though her husband had blocked her from viewing his page — and thought it violated a previous protective order that prevented Mark Byron from doing anything to cause his wife “to suffer physical and/or mental abuse, harassment, annoyance, or bodily injury…”
Domestic Relations Magistrate Paul Meyers found Mark Byron in contempt and ordered him jailed for 60 days beginning March 19 — or to post for 30 days on his Facebook page an apology to his wife, written by Meyers, if he wanted to avoid jail. He also had to pay her $1,156 in back child support and her lawyers’ fees…
“I didn’t think I had an option,” said Mark Byron, who has been posting the apology on Facebook for a week.
Har. The free speech question is an important one. Having a husband who’s an ego-smitten fool – and possibly dangerous – is another.
You can RTFA for the content of his new posting.
Dachshund who thinks he’s a shark!
A dachshund dives into a pool to retrieve a tennis ball. Photographer Seth Casteel spent hours underwater in Los Angeles, taking pictures of dogs swimming and retrieving objects
Beaucoup photos from Casteel around the Web, this week. This is a favorite of mine.
Barack Obama, the Secret Service, and the plane full of grass
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission
A pair of F-16s were scrambled to divert a Cessna aircraft after it entered the airspace of Marine One, the military helicopter ferrying the American president during a trip to California.
The small plane was forced to land at Long Beach airport, just south of Los Angeles at around 11am, where it was met by police.
A search of the aircraft uncovered 640 ounces of cannabis, the Associated Press reported, a motherlode worth around $160,000.
The unfortunate pilot and at least one passenger were handed to over to local police after being interviewed by US federal agents. The pilot has not been identified and it is not known whether they have been charged with any crime.
What do you think?
The US Secret service said Mr Obama was never in any danger during the incident.
Not even a contact high. American presidents never inhale.
The president was on the West Coast for a string of fundraising events ahead of November’s election…
…and a speech at Boeing Aircraft, today, on rebuilding America’s manufacturing business especially technology. Pretty good speech actually. Unlike Republican candidates for his job he doesn’t think this requires more tax breaks for wealthy corporations.
Speed Limit — sort of
WTF?
Lost Pet found!
Thanks, Ursarodinia
Police in Colombia are hard at work training bomb-sniffing rats
At a Colombian National Police base in the outskirts of Bogota, the nation’s capital, a new recruit is being trained.
This new recruit is unlike any other. It stands on four legs, has white hair all over its body and weighs slightly less than a pound. Its name is Rattus Norvegicus — but it’s more commonly known as a lab rat.
During a recent training session, trainers set the white rat on a patch of grass where they had hidden an explosive device underground. It took the rat less than a minute to find it. The rodent was showered with praise. Its trainers also gave it its favorite reward, a treat.
Though safer than a decade ago, Colombia is a country where landmines and car bombs are still a threat. Earlier this month, six people were killed by a car bomb targeting a police station in the town of Villa Rica in the southern province of El Cauca. The day before the February 2 bombing, nine people were killed and 70 were injured by another explosion in the neighboring province of Narino…
In the past, Colombian police used bomb-sniffing dogs; but the dogs’ weight would often trigger the explosives. That’s not a problem for lab rats that weigh slightly less than a pound.
And according to the trainers, their sense of smell is just as good as a dog’s…
Ramirez says that the only disadvantage he can think of about using rats is their short life span.
“These animals live only three to four years, which is a relatively short period of time from a human perspective. On the other hand, they’re very prolific. They reproduce themselves exponentially in a very short time,” Ramirez said.
So far, the rats have been trained to detect seven different kinds of explosives including ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, gunpowder and TNT…
Mendez also says the rats are much more cost-effective than their canine counterparts. “With the money it takes to feed a dog per day, you can feed seven rats for seven days,” Mendez said.
The money-savings alone is enough roll this project along. Nothing makes a bean-counter bureaucrat happier than saving a whole lot of 9′s. Having obedient rats instead of lovable dogs would be a plus, as well.
Gifts for this Valentine’s Day
My favorite – strolling handwarmer
Lots more over here.
$9 million in “stolen” jewels found in drawer
Dawn and Roland back in the day…
Five years after their disappearance, jewels thought stolen from the wife of the US ambassador to the Netherlands in 2006 have been found in the Hague.
Dawn Arnall realised her $9.3 million in gems were missing months after staying in a Dutch hotel.
Unknown to her, the jewellery had been found and was held for safekeeping by the hotel, AFP reports, before being given to an employee as unclaimed. The employee, assuming the items were costume jewellery, forgot about them.
Only after she recently found them in a drawer and took them to a jeweller for valuation did their true worth emerge. They were then handed in to police and have since been returned to the US.
Mrs Arnall, whose husband Roland was the US ambassador to the country prior to his death in 2008, had received an insurance payout for her loss.
No one knows if the honest employee who turned in the jewels – has received a reward.
Shall we reflect for a minute or two upon the class of political hacks who are rewarded for their fundraising tasks by appointment to Holland or somewhere else [is there a sliding scale?] as a reward. People so fracking rich it takes them months to notice they mislaid $9 million worth of jewelry!
