It's funny (funny in an interesting way, not a humorous one) how things seem to run in cycles. Latest example: yesterday I posted something about strange events related to flying. Today I ran across another such case. Cue the Twilight Zone music...
Airport customers were left in shock after graphic porn scenes starting playing out over a big TV screen as they collected their luggage.
The incident was caught on camera by one passenger in Lisbon Airport who whipped out his mobile phone to record the bizarre moment.
Of course, it then didn't take long before the clip was posted to YouTube and circulated around the internet. (don't worry - it's SFW)
According to Portuguese media, the incident occurred on October 19 at Terminal 1 of the airport building as baffled passengers waited at the baggage carousel.
It is thought the pornographic video broadcast lasted for several minutes.
A spokesman for Lisbon Airport said: "At 3:00 a.m. on October 19, along one of the luggage mats from Lisbon Airport, a TV was tuned (to a channel) which at the time ran a soft porn movie.
"An airport employee noticed the program that was being issued, so those images flashed momentarily on the TV set.
"The situation was corrected promptly. There were no complaints. We will ensure that these situations are not repeated."
"There were no complaints."
Of course not. It made waiting for your luggage more enjoyable...
Whenever possible, I prefer driving over flying. There are many reasons, but here's a few I haven't experienced ... yet...
One of my biggest pet peeves about flying is when the inconsiderate asshole in front of you reclines his/her seat all the way back. I don't mind giving up a little bit of room, but I'm 6' 1" with two bad knees. The last thing I need is some bozo further reducing the already ridiculously small amount of available legroom. I usually counter this intrusion into my space by 'accidentally' bumping the seatback and then apologizing by saying "I'm sorry, but it's just so cramped back here that I every time I shift position I can't avoid hitting your seatback." They usually get the message sooner or later.
I've never gone as far as this guy, but I can't say I've never been tempted.
A Southwest Airlines jet was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing at LAX after a male passenger allegedly began choking a woman because she reclined her seat, witnesses said.
Flight 2010, bound for San Francisco, turned around late Sunday night about 30 minutes into the journey because of a “rapidly escalating situation involving passengers who were not traveling together,” the airline said in a statement.
"Flight 2010, declaring an emergency," the pilot says in audio from the flight. "Evidently we've got two passengers that are in a physical altercation."
Witnesses reported the woman said a man sitting behind her tried to strangle her because she put her seat back...
The unidentified man was detained by Los Angeles Airport Police, but no arrests have been made...
The remaining passengers boarded another flight and arrived in San Francisco five hours late.
That flight was delayed because of human nature. But Mother Nature can also get into the act.
A thousand uninvited guests tried to board a flight from Texas to Germany – delaying the flight for more than an hour.
A massive swarm of bees were found beneath the wing of an American Airlines plane at Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport just before take-off.
According to reports, the pilot said that the queen bee had flown into the airliner’s wing while it was waiting to depart.
It was the second incident in one day at the airport.
In a statement to INSIDE EDITION, American Airlines said: “We had an issue at DFW with a swarm of bees yesterday afternoon, not once, but twice.
“A 767 came in from LAS and when the Fleet Service started unloading the aircraft, they noticed a lot of bees under the wing and stopped unloading the plane. We called a bee keeper out to deal with the situation. He captured the queen and the swarm and we finished unloading.”
As for the flight that was delayed, thankfully, the bees never entered the passenger cabin and were just in the cargo area.
American Airlines also told INSIDE EDITION: “Unfortunately, not long after the bee keeper left, another swarm decided to visit the same aircraft that we were using for flight 70 to Frankfort, Germany. So, the bee keeper came back and recaptured the swarm.
"We were able to finish loading the cargo and bags shortly after 4:30 p. The flight took off for Frankfort at 4:48 p, about 1:13 minutes past its scheduled departure time. Not your usual everyday situation, but certainly something that our DFW team was able to handle.”
I wonder how the bees got past TSA screening...
Of course, no collection of flying stories would be complete without a "Take this plane to Cuba!" reference. In this case, it's a college professor (of Sociology, naturally) who was the scofflaw.
She said, “I apologize to the passengers if I caused any fear.”
Fifty-two-year-old Karen Halnon is also expressing regret to Penn State University, where she's an Associate Professor of Sociology.
“I do apologize for any harm that I have done to Penn State,” she said.
Halnon was asked, “Why did you light a cigarette on a plane when you know that's illegal?”
(Her answer) is a little kooky. Basically she says it was to show solidarity with her idol - and who's her idol? None other than Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro!
When asked, “What about those people who think, this sounds really wacky?” she replied:
“Anyone who is speaking out for social justice, it is the usual situation that most people will think they're crazy,” she replied.
Halnon was charged with disorderly conduct.
Hey, I can understand Castro's appeal. In my younger days I was a big fan of Cuba Libres...
I tweaked something in my back last week. The earliest I could get a doctor's appointment was Monday morning, so I self-medicated with ibuprofen and adult beverages as needed throughout the weekend.
Monday morning I went to hop in the truck and head into town to see the sawbones. Naturally, my truck had a flat tire. My wife was already gone, so I did my best imitation of a NASCAR pit crew and changed the tire in record time (which, incidentally, didn't help my back at all).
Off I roared, planning to make up the lost time on the road. Said road is a twisty two-lane country road, with very few opportunities to pass. Of course, I got stuck behind some sweet old granny who was merrily putting into town at about 25 MPH below the posted speed limit.
However, I know this road like the back of my hand. We were approaching one of the few places where it's safe to pass, so I sped up, got close behind her, and was ready to floor it when we rounded the bend...
... right where the flag man was stationed, closing off our lane while road construction was underway. We sat there for about five minutes (which seemed more like five hours) before it was our turn to proceed.
That did, however, give me time to call the doctor's office and let them know I was running late. They cheerfully informed me that the doctor was booked solid all day, but they would try to squeeze me in. After waiting a couple of hours I finally got to spend five minutes with the guy, only to be told to take it easy for a few days, let any swelling and inflammation settle down, and come back next week.
I've got no problem with taking it easy. It's the come back next week - on a Monday, natch - that worries me...
You may have seen this video of what has to be a liberal trying to reason with a bear. If not, invest 2 1/2 minutes of your time. It's a damn good illustration of how liberals see the world.
Speaking of bears:
A Russian scientist and a Czechoslovakian scientist had spent their whole lives studying the majestic grizzly bear. Each year they petitioned their respective governments to allow them to go to Yellowstone to study these wondrous beasts. Finally, their request was granted.
They immediately flew to Yellowstone. They reported to the local ranger station and were told that it was the grizzly mating season and it was much too dangerous to go out and study the animals. They pleaded that this was their only chance. Finally the ranger relented.
The Russian and the Czech were given cell phones and told to report in each day. For several days they called in, and then nothing was heard from the two scientists. The rangers mounted a search party and found the scientists' camp completely ravaged. There was no sign of the missing men.
They then followed the trail of a male and a female bear. They found the female and decided they must kill the animal to find out if she had eaten the scientists, because they feared an international incident. They killed the female and cut open the bear's stomach and, sure enough, found the remains of the Russian. One ranger turned to the other and said, "You know what this means, don't you?"
"Of course," the other ranger nodded. "The Czech is in the male."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
How do you catch a polar bear?
First dig an ice hole. Then put a whole bunch of little green peas on the outside. When the polar bear comes to take a pee you kick him in the ice hole.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
One day in the great forest a magical frog was walking down to a water hole. This forest was so big that the frog had never seen another animal in all his life. By chance today a bear was chasing after a rabbit to have for dinner. The frog called for the two to stop.
The frog said, "Because you are the only two animals I have seen, I will grant you both three wishes... Bear, you go first."
The bear thought for a minute, and being the male he was, said "I wish for all the bears in this forest, besides me, to be female."
For his wish, the rabbit asked for a crash helmet, and immediately put it on. The bear was amazed at the stupidity of the rabbit, wasting his wish like that.
It was the bear's second turn for a wish. "Well, I wish that all the bears in the next forest were female as well."
Rabbit asked for a motorcycle and immediately hopped on it and gunned the engine. The bear was shocked that the rabbit was asking for these stupid things, after all, he could have asked for money and bought the motorcycle.
For the last wish the bear thought for a while and then said, "I wish that all the bears in the world, besides me, were female."
The rabbit grinned, gunned the engine, and said "I wish that the bear was gay..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
There once was a kingdom ruled by a giant bear named Shardik. The only way to become a knight in Shardik's empire was to apply for a personal interview with the bear. This had its drawbacks. If he liked your audition, you were knighted on the spot--but if you failed, Lord Shardik was quite likely to club your head off your shoulders with one mighty paw.
Even so, there were many applicants--for the peasantry were poor, and if a candidate failed for knighthood, his family received, as a booby-prize, a valuable sheepdog from the Royal Kennels.
This consoled them, for truly it is written, "For the mourning after a terrible knight, nothing beats the dog of the bear that hit you."
Regardless of the outcome of the first democrat debate last night, I am scared.
Yes, hillary's poll numbers are dropping faster than my bank account. But that's because she is a detestable old hag with more baggage than my wife on vacation. It is not a repudiation of her policies.
In fact, a major reason for Bernie Sander's rise in the polls is that his socialist agenda is resonating with a large number of Americans. That's what I find scary.
We are transitioning from a nation of people who believed in being independent and self-sufficient, in earning what you get, in taking responsibility for their actions, and in personal liberty trumping government paternalism.
Today, however, many believe that the government should take care of them (subsidized housing, subsidized health care, food stamps, overly-generous unemployment benefits, obamaphones, etc.). At the same time, they demonize those who make enough money to pay for their handouts (the evil rich, income inequality is bad, the rich don't pay their fair share, etc.)
Couple that with the fact that the republican candidates are either unelectable outsiders or establishment puppets, and I worry that the democrats will win the presidency again.
Jennifer Connell sued in Bridgeport Superior Court for $127,000, saying the little boy did not behave reasonably when he leapt into her arms at his 8th birthday celebration.
“The injuries, losses and harms to the plaintiff were caused by the negligence and carelessness of the minor defendant in that a reasonable eight years old under those circumstances would know or should have known that a forceful greeting such as the one delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff could cause the harms and losses suffered by the plaintiff,” the lawsuit claims.
Really? An eight-year-old is expected to 'reasonably' know that jumping into his aunt's arms could cause harm and loss? GMAFB.
And exactly what harm and loss did the woman suffer?
“I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvre plate..."
Fortunately, the jury tossed the case. But there might be a few awkward moments at the family's Thanksgiving dinner this year ... especially if hors d’oeuvres are served.
In other news, another aspect of my youth is no more.
Playboy will no longer publish photos of nude women...
The change, to take place in March, represents a major shift for the magazine, which broke new ground when Hugh Hefner created it and featured Marilyn Monroe on its debut cover in 1953...
Notice the price in the upper right-hand corner.
Of course, I only bought it for the stories anyway...
Finally, what would any collection of absurd stories be without a contribution from the obama administration?
Inmates will no longer be pigging out on ham or bacon after the Obama administration removed pig products from federal prison menus...
It's bad enough to be locked up, but to be denied bacon?!? That's cruel and unusual punishment. And, of course, controversial.
The decision was based on a survey of prisoners’ food preferences that found most inmates don’t like the taste of the “other white meat,” prison officials said.
On the other hand:
The National Pork Producers Council, which represents the nation’s hog farmers, said it was outraged by the decision and planned to mount an effort to reverse it. “I find it hard to believe that a survey would have found a majority of any population saying, ‘No, thanks, I don’t want any bacon...'"
So who is in favor of the pork ban?
A national Muslim civil rights organization has praised the move...
I don't know if people today are crazier than ever, or if we are just made more aware of madness thanks to the ubiquitous Internet. I suspect it's a combination of both, but for whatever reason the news is filled with stories that just make me shake my head and reach for another adult beverage.
The campaigns say the federal holiday honoring Christopher Columbus — and the parades and pageantry accompanying it — overlook a painful history of colonialism, enslavement, discrimination and land grabs that followed the Italian explorer’s 1492 arrival in the Americas. The indigenous holiday takes into account the history and contributions of Native Americans for a more accurate historical record, activists have argued.
I don't think it was Chris who colonized, enslaved, discriminated, and grabbed land during the centuries following his 1492 voyage. But since when do facts matter to progressives?
Columbus Day supporters say the holiday celebrates centuries of cultural exchange between America and Europe, commemorates an iconic explorer and honors Italian-Americans, a group that has endured its own share of discrimination.
Oh, what the hell, let's just go all in on demonizing Columbus Day.
Last year, “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (whaaa?) produced a show...
...which includes images of Americans binge-drinking and throwing up in public as it describes Columbus inaugurating “a long tradition of obnoxious white people visiting Caribbean islands and acting like they own the place.” (The bit closes by describing “America’s least favorite holiday” as dedicated to “a murderous egomaniac whose most famous discovery was a case of getting lost and refusing to ask directions.”)
Forget the courage and dedication it took to outfit and undertake an expedition intended to sail off the edge of the earth. Let's totally overlook any positive aspects and just concentrate on the negative ones.
In other news, the opposition to allowing concealed carry on college campuses (I just love alliteration!) has come up with a catchy campaign - Cocks, not Glocks.
Sex toys to replace guns at UT-Austin campus carry protest
Hundreds of students at the University of Texas at Austin will protest a new law that will allow more guns on campus not with signs or sit-ins, but by "strapping gigantic swinging dildos to our backpacks."
Their mantra? #CocksNotGlocks
Jessica Jin, who set up the "Campus (DILDO) Carry" event on Facebook, invokes the argument that allowing more guns on campus will make students safe is a fallacy. She's urging students to send campus leaders that message by strapping on the plastic phalluses.
"'You're carrying a gun to class? Yeah well I'm carrying a HUGE DILDO,'" Jin says in the group's description. "Just about as effective at protecting us from sociopathic shooters, but much safer for recreational play."
Let me get this straight (sorry, I just couldn't resist!). These moonbats seriously believe that an artificial penis is as useful for self defense as a Glock?!?
Scientist Takes First-Ever Photo of Rare Bird, Then Kills It in the Name of Science
When Chris Filardi, director of Pacific Programs at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, was finally holding the elusive Guadalcanal moustached kingfisher, he told Slate writer Rachel Gross, it was like finding a unicorn.
Filardi had been searching for the orange, white, and brilliant-blue bird for more than 20 years, when on a field study in the high forests of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, he finally heard the “ko-ko-ko-ko-kiew” sound of what he described as the unmistakable call of a large kingfisher.
After days of tracking, he and his colleagues captured a male moustached kingfisher in a mist net.
“When I came upon the netted bird in the cool shadowy light of the forest I gasped aloud, ‘Oh my god, the kingfisher,’ one of the most poorly known birds in the world was there, in front of me, like a creature of myth come to life.” Filardi wrote in a Sept. 23 blog post.
The team snapped the first-ever photos of the remarkably photogenic bird and made the first-ever recordings of a male variety of the species (a female was described back in the 1920s).
Then the team killed it.
Well, why not? It fits in with the rest of the madness that characterizes today's world.
Besides, killing that poor bird reduced its carbon footprint, thereby reducing the probability of global coolingglobal warmingclimate change weather.
A lengthy post today, but IMO a worthwhile one. Grab another cup of coffee and read away...
I am flabbergasted - no, make that gobsmacked - by the magnitude of obama's failure in the Middle East, and the corresponding lack of media coverage concerning what IMO has great potential to lead directly to a catastrophic nuclear exchange. The latest flash point is Syria.
The Syrian Civil War is entering a third and potentially very dangerous phase in its continuing evolution. It began as a purely domestic crisis, became steadily internationalized as other countries intervened, and it now risks becoming a full blown Russian-American cold war proxy conflict. This is a conflict that could turn hot very quickly given the proximity of American and Russian military forces in the same theater of operations.
The civil war started as an Arab Spring sparked revolt by elements in the Syrian military, under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, against the Assad government...
The civil war quickly became internationalized. Iran rushed to support its Syrian ally. Other Arab Sunni governments, led by Saudi Arabia and Turkey, fearful of the growing spread of Iranian influence in the Middle East and recognizing that the Assad government was a linchpin in Tehran's Shiite "arc of influence" that stretched across Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza, also intervened with supplies and money for Assad's opponents.
The emergence of the Islamic State, first in the chaos of Syria and then its expansion into the Sunni triangle of Iraq, raised the stakes even higher. Until then, the United States had largely stayed out of the Syrian Civil War. The threat of IS destabilizing Iraq raised new complications, created both political and strategic problems for the Obama administration, and prompted an American intervention...
Up until then, the Russian government had been supplying weaponry, financial, and diplomatic support to the Assad government but had not been otherwise directly involved...
Over the month of September 2015, Russia disclosed that it had transferred two squadrons of Sukhoi fighter jets to the Basel al-Assad military base in Latakia, Syria... The presence of fifteen Mi-17 and Mi-24 attack helicopters were also confirmed as well as the arrival of two tank transport ships. Those ships were believed to each be carrying 25 Russian tanks, approximately 500 naval marines as well as assorted heavy artillery and transport including armored personnel carriers.
On September 30 (two days after obama and Putin had a face-to-face meeting), Russia began an air campaign over Syria targeting a broad array of anti-Assad groups. Although the Kremlin continued to insist that its primary target was Islamic State militants ... the bulk of its attacks were directed against ... groups that were being supported by the U.S. and its Arab allies.
On Friday October 2, President Barack Obama declared that the conflict in Syria was not a "superpower chessboard contest." White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest went on to add that the Obama administration was exercising "strategic patience." A longtime critic of Washington's Mid-East policy, a former, high ranking, Carter administration official, translated "strategic patience" as "we're clueless."
On Oct 3 and 4, as if to deliberately underscore Washington's impotence, Russian aircraft twice violated Turkish airspace... Russian pilots are highly trained professionals, they simply do not accidently violate neighboring air space unless they have an equipment malfunction or are deliberately told to do so.
On October 5, the Kremlin disclosed that "Russian volunteers" would be allowed to go to Syria and fight on behalf of the Syrian government. Subsequently, the Kremlin denied that additional Russian troops would be deployed in Syria and, just to make sure that the West recognized the linkage of the Ukrainian crisis with the one in Syria, that the "Russian volunteers" might be coming from those currently in the Ukraine.
Two days later, On October 7, Syrian army units, supported by Russian air power and a cruise missile bombardment from Russian ships in the Caspian Sea, began a ground offensive...
...in shoring up the Assad government Moscow is sending a clear message to the Middle East and to the rest of the world that it is prepared to stand by its allies and to commit its military forces to insure their survival. That lesson will not be lost on countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or elsewhere in the Gulf that are growing uncertain about the reliability of American guarantees. (emphasis added)
Moreover, Russia's military presence in Syria now gives it the ability to intervene elsewhere in the Middle East...
Additionally, by aligning itself with Iran and the rest of the "Shiite bloc," Russia is accelerating the growing realignment of Mid-East politics around a Sunni-Shia pole. In doing so it is also leveraging its influence and taking advantage of Iranian proxies in the region to further isolate American influence and expand its own.
Secondly, although Russia is not a member of OPEC, despite repeated attempts to join, its role in Syria gives it valuable bargaining chips in its dealings with that organization and with Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies. Oil is critical to Russia's future. Natural gas and petroleum exports are responsible for 68% of Russia's export revenues and 50% of the government's budget. Simply put, the future of Russia rises and falls with the price of hydrocarbons.
Russia needs higher energy prices, so too, for that matter, do the Saudis and their Gulf partners. The ability of the Saudis and their allies to tolerate low oil prices exceeds that of Russia, however, especially a Russia that is subject to economic sanctions from Europe and the United States. Concessions on oil pricing and production might well be a quid pro quo for some role for the Saudi backed Syrian rebels in whatever negotiated solution emerges.
Thirdly, and most significantly, Russia needs relief from the sanctions imposed by the EU and the United States. Russia's potential ability to stem the flood of refugees leaving for Europe could turn out to be a valuable bargaining chip in the Kremlin's quest for sanctions relief. So also will its role in combating jihadist violence in Syria and in helping to curtail the flow of jihadists into Europe. The Kremlin has made a point of underscoring the links between resolving the crisis in Ukraine and resolving the one in Syria.
Finally, there is the ongoing issue of Ukraine and the general issue of NATO's eastern expansion and the buildup of NATO and U.S. sponsored military assets in Eastern Europe. The potential tradeoffs of Western support for Kiev against Russian concessions in Syria is not lost on Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko who has expressed his concern that European and American support for his government may get sacrificed as part of a larger deal with Russia over Syria. East European governments, privately, have been expressing the same concerns fearful that their long-term security and NATO support may be traded for Russian concessions elsewhere.
The United States now finds itself in a difficult position in Syria. American supported rebels are coming under direct attack by Russian military forces. If the U.S. challenges Russian planes it risks a potential escalation and a military incident between American and Russian forces. Worse, it risks being branded as the aggressor and the party responsible for escalating the Syrian conflict into a dangerous new level. (emphasis added)
For the last several years, the Obama Administration's policy in Syria has been little better than a poorly thought out PR campaign. Spread a few billion dollars here and there, drop some supplies to a few rebel groups, launch a lackluster air campaign, and continue to declare that you are winning. Critics of that strategy, admittedly it is a bit of a stretch to call it a strategy, were summarily dismissed by an administration that continues to believe they are the smartest guys in the room and that anybody that disagrees with them is hopelessly deficient. (emphasis added)
On Oct. 7, Russian warships in the Caspian Sea fired 26 high-tech cruise missiles at rebel targets in Syria—a staggering 1,000 miles away.
The missiles in question, which the Pentagon calls SS-N-30s, were mostly unknown to the outside world before the Oct. 7 raid. Even close watchers of the Russian military were surprised to see them. The missile attack was also highly visible. In many ways, it was an announcement to the world, and America in particular, that the once-dilapidated Russian navy is back in action—and that Putin’s missileers are now among the planet’s most advanced.
The SS-N-30 obviously boasts a much greater range than its predecessors and can also strike targets on dry land. That makes it broadly similar to the American Tomahawk missile, which the U.S. military traditionally fires in large numbers from ships and submarines in order to wipe out enemy air defenses before conducting aerial bombing campaigns. The U.S. Navy fired Tomahawks to hit the most heavily defended ISIS targets at the beginning of the American-led air war over Syria in September 2014.
Very few countries posses Tomahawks or similar munitions—and only the United States and Great Britain have ever successfully used them in combat. Now Russia has joined that exclusive club of global military powers. And that should worry the Pentagon, Wertheim said: “It should be a wakeup call that we don’t have a monopoly on the capability.”
What’s particularly striking is that Moscow has been able to build this long-range naval strike capability with much smaller vessels than anyone thought possible. In the U.S. Navy, large destroyers, cruisers, and submarines carry Tomahawk cruise missiles—and those vessels are typically at least 500 feet long and displace as many as 9,000 tons of water.
The four brand-new warships that launched the SS-N-30s were much, much smaller—ranging in length from 200 to 330 feet and displacing no more than 1,500 tons of water. “Small ships, big firepower,” Wertheim commented.
That matters because, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia’s shipbuilding industry suffered a long period of deep decline that the Kremlin has lately struggled to reverse. That has had a profound effect on the Russian navy. “There are relatively few new warships in service at present and the ones that have been commissioned in recent years are all relatively small,” Dmitry Gorenburg, from Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, wrote in a recent analysis.
But the October barrage proves that even the small warships that Russia is building can strike hard and far—something that, once upon a time, only the United States and its closest allies could do. Moscow’s missile raid helps re-establish Russia as a global military power. “They’re very serious about this,” Wertheim said.
In the meantime, obama and his cronies continue to whittle away at our Navy, and in fact our entire military.
But there is a small ray of sunshine in this otherwise gloomy atmosphere.
Shortly after Russian warships in the Caspian Sea launched a reported 26 cruise missiles toward Syria on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu appeared on television to celebrate the success of the attack.
Shoigu announced that all 26 of the missiles struck within three meters of their intended targets, and he claimed that no civilian buildings were damaged.
In televised comments, Putin added, “The fact that we have launched precision-guided weapons from the Caspian at a range of around 1,500 km and hit all the targets indicates the good status of defense industry and the good skills of the personnel.”
However, reports began to trickle out on Thursday that perhaps not all of the Russian missiles had actually made it into Syria. A report from the town of Takab, which is directly under the flight path of the Russian missiles as revealed by maps released by the Kremlin, detailed how a massive explosion at around 6 a.m. rocked the rural area on Wednesday.
The “unidentified flying object” exploded several hundred meters outside Takab, close enough to shake buildings and frighten residents.
It also killed “several head of cattle,” according to the report.
On Thursday, U.S. intelligence officials told reporters that as many as four of the Russian missiles had crash landed in rural Iran...
Well, at least we don't have to worry about those terrorist Iranian cows anymore...
We just 'upgraded' our 15 year old home entertainment system. We're now the proud owners of audio and visual equipment that is smarter than I am. Like I say about cable TV - 250 channels, and nothing good is on...
Cable TV is now evenly divided between shows about preparing food and shows about losing weight.
- Andy Borowitz
I may have made a lot of bad decisions in life, but at least I don't watch daytime television.
- Andy Borowitz
Television is a device that permits people who haven't anything to do to watch people who can't do anything.
- Fred Allen
Television is a medium because anything well done is rare.
- Fred Allen
In California, they don't throw their garbage away - they make it into TV shows.
- Woody Allen
Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn’t have in your home.
- David Frost
I saw this advertisement on Craigslist that said: “Television for sale, $10, volume stuck on full.”
I thought, “I can’t turn that down.”
Over the last few months I've been saving various images that caught my fancy. Because I have neither the time nor the motivation to create a coherent, well thought out post, I have decided now is a good time to share them with the world.
Top brass at a Colorado Army post are all smiles after a 2-year-old girl interrupted a general's speech to dash across the room and hug her dad, who had just come home from a nine-month deployment.
Fort Carson spokeswoman Dani Johnson says "everyone thought it was awesome" when 1st Lt. Daniel Oglesby's daughter Karas gave him a knee-high embrace during the homecoming ceremony Tuesday.
Oglesby was standing in formation with other members of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team when his daughter galloped toward him, arms outstretched.
Johnson says everyone in the room laughed, including Maj. Gen. Ryan Gonsalves, the post commander, who was welcoming the soldiers home at the time.
Oglesby hugged and kissed his girl and sent her back across the room to her mom and sister.
"She was excited. She spotted me from a couple rows back, and she couldn't contain herself. I wasn't gonna tell her no," Oglesby told KKTV of Colorado Springs.
Little girl runs to dad
Best video of the day! A little girl couldn't wait for a homecoming ceremony to end at Fort Carson before she ran to her Daddy! KKTV photojournalist Pedro Laumbach captured this awesome moment. We know you'll "like" it as much as we do in our newsroom. http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/homecoming-331034542.html
Posted by KKTV 11 News on Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Russia and Syria unleashed a coordinated assault by land, air and sea on Wednesday...
Moscow said it had fired 26 cruise missiles on Syrian targets from naval vessels in the Caspian Sea, 900 miles away...
The bombardment appeared to be severe in some places. One video showed white smoke rising above a village’s minarets, while another appeared to show at least a dozen explosions — the person filming described the weapons as rockets — in less than five minutes.
At certain points in Wednesday’s fighting, rebels fired advanced TOW antitank missiles, supplied covertly by the C.I.A., at Syria’s Russian-made tanks, leaving the impression of a proxy war between Russia and the United States...
Gee, I think we all know who's gonna win that one.
Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 63rd birthday Wednesday, amid a controversial bombing campaign in Syria, a weakening economy and tensions with the U.S. and its Western allies. The Russian leader made a point of taking it all in stride — including adulation from his fans.
...he was shown taking part in a hockey game, playing alongside Russian stars of the National Hockey League.
Putin's fans arranged tributes, including a song by a pair of popular Russian rappers... The song calls Putin "a tough superhero."
The theme of Putin as a superhero was also promoted at a small art gallery in Moscow's Arbat district, hosting an exhibition called "Putin's Universe."
It features paintings depicting Putin as various leaders and heroes, from Alexander the Great to Batman...
Portraits are displayed of Putin as the god Thor, as Che Guevara and as the Brazilian soccer star Pele — kicking a ball drawn with the face of President Barack Obama.
Putin is portrayed as a peace hero, too — as Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha.
"Here is Vladimir Putin presented like Martin Luther King," Kojic says. "He was the most famous fighter for human rights. Also, Vladimir Putin is a fighter for human rights and he is protecting his people..."
Just like Muhammad Ali.
I'm not a big Putin fan, but you've got to admit that when push comes to shove we're in trouble.
Harper has a post up about a friend of hers who recently passed away after a short, brutal battle with brain cancer. It resonated with me because a friend of ours recently lost her battle with the same vicious disease. Regi was a wonderful, valiant woman who will be sorely missed by all who knew her. (As an aside, she escaped from East to West Berlin back in the day when there was a Wall. That should give you some idea of the kind of person she was.)
A poker buddy was recently diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer (wtf is going on with all these brain cancer cases?), and another friend of ours just got the news she has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Long story short - count your blessings and keep things in perspective. All this political crap going on right now might consume us, but it's nowhere near as important as friends and family.
Now please excuse me. I'm going to honor my friends by sacrificing the best part of a bottle of single malt.
I'm only going to post a short excerpt here from a somewhat lengthy article that advocates a new way of reducing gun violence. Please don't let that "somewhat lengthy" bit dissuade you from reading it in its entirety. It's "somewhat lengthy" in Internet terms. In real life, that means it takes five minutes or less to read.
It highlights an approach that I've never heard of, but that seems to be producing promising results in limited trial runs. It's also an approach that should be agreeable to people on both sides of the gun-control argument. So pour yourself another cup of coffee, settle back, and click on the link.
How can we prevent future tragedies like the shooting that took place in Roseburg, Ore., on Thursday?
Some doctors believe that the key to preventing this kind of violence is to literally treat it like disease. One is Gary Slutkin, an epidemiologist who spent a decade fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and cholera in Asia and Africa.
After returning to the U.S. in the 1990s, Slutkin had a realization. The patterns of violence he saw in U.S. cities looked eerily similar to how he had seen infectious disease spread in communities around the world. He went on to found a group called Cure Violence, which advocates treating violence with the same public health approaches that are widely used to fight disease.
This model is being used to prevent community violence in 15 U.S. cities and seven countries, the group says. But Slutkin believes that it has a much bigger role to play in helping to the U.S. address the tragedy of mass shootings, like the one that occurred in Roseburg.
. . .
If you go beyond thinking about violence as a moral problem and instead try to understand it as a health issue, many things that were previously unexplainable can be explained...
Arguably the most important thing that we do in public health is change behavior, such as eating, smoking, exercise, sex.
The end game here is really to understand and change the behaviors. And we’ve been able to show that you can drop the amount of shootings and killings very fast by using health-based detection and behavior change methods.
Go to the link and read the rest. My first impression was that this seemed a little touchy-feely, but if the reported results are valid it just might work.
Of course, it won't be easy, but what we're doing now sure as hell isn't working...
