Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Operation Dead Mouse Drop?


Ok, here's where at least 8 million dollars in our tax dollars will be headed;

A group of 2,000 dead mice equipped with cardboard parachutes have been airdropped over a United States Air Force base in Guam in order to poison brown tree snakes.

In this photo taken on Feb. 5, 2013, a brown tree snake is held by U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife specialist Tony Salas outside his office on Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. The U.S. government is planning to drop toxic mice from helicopters to battle the snakes, an invasive species that has decimated Guam's native bird population and could cause billions of dollars of damage if allowed to spread to Hawaii. (Eric Talmadge/AP)

Operation Dead-Mouse Drop


It may sound like the plot to an animated movie starring the vocal talents of Gilbert Godfried, but we assure you this is actually happening.

NBC News reports that the dead mice were pumped full of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. The hope is that the snakes, which are invasive to the area and cause harm to exotic native birds and the island's power grid, will be drawn to the toxic rodents, eat them, and then croak. Other animals face minimal risk, reports the Air Force Times.

Dan Vice, the Agriculture Department's assistant supervisory wildlife biologist for Guam, told KUAM that the mice are dropped in a time sequence from low-flying helicopters. Each rodent is strung up to a tiny parachute made of cardboard and tissue paper.

Via NBC News:

"The cardboard is heavier than the tissue paper and opens up in an inverted horseshoe," Vice said. "It then floats down and ultimately hangs up in the forest canopy. Once it's hung in the forest canopy, snakes have an opportunity to consume the bait."

So how will workers know if the plan is working? After all, it's not like the mice can radio back to base. Or can they? The workers behind the plan stated that some of the mice will have data-transmitting via radios.

The mission is part of an $8 million program from the Interior and Defense departments,Phys.org reports.  If the mission is successful, experts may expand it to other parts of Guam. In other words, maybe a sequel is forthcoming.



Oh, snap! Facebook is implementing an unfollow button



This very important news just came across my radar and I had to post it ASAP! So, please share this with all of your Facebook friends and remember, you heard it here first.

It looks like Facebook is going the way of Twitter and Instagram. Soon users will be able to unfollow friends whose comments and updates they'd like to remove from their News Feed, according to a Facebook spokesperson.

Yes, that's right folks! Now, if you're not a fan of Suzy Q's droning on about Cyber Monday or Larry's love for his kitty cats or Amy's insufferable photos of the latest adorable thing her daughter did, you can just nix them from your News Feed with the quick click of a button.

The new phrasing will replace the existing "hide all" button, which is available to users in the drop-down on posts in the News Feed.

The best part is that users will not be notified if they've been unfollowed, thus keeping your social circle intact and avoiding any hard feelings. The functionality ultimately allows you to avoid news you're not interested in, without actually "defriending" someone and shrinking your social presence.

"The goal of this change is to help people curate their News Feed and see more of the content that they care about," a Facebook spokesperson wrote in a statement given to Mashable.

The new language lines right up with other applications like Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter, which all use follow and unfollow to indicate whose news and posts you have access to.

What do you think,  readers? Will you be using the new unfollow button when it launches?

Weird News Wednesday

Good morning friends and happy Wednesday! I guess this is starting to be a trend but I've been getting so much weird but true news from all over the globe that I just have to pass it on to you!

Denver council gives initial OK to ban on open pot smoking
The Denver City Council on Monday gave initial approval to banning smoking marijuana on private property if visible from the street or sidewalk.
The council voted 7-5 in favor of the provision that effectively would prohibit pot smoking on Denver's publicly visible lawns, porches and balconies.
The final vote is set for Monday.
"I really believe (that if) the front of your property is open, it is public," said Councilwoman Jeanne Robb, who offered the amendment. "It does set the standard. I am trying to balance the rights of those who consume marijuana and those who want to protect some enjoyment of their own property."
The vote came after an hour of public testimony by 26 people and another hour of discussion among council members.
For several weeks, the council has tried to write a law that would establish where people can smoke marijuana when they are on private property. The city is trying to put rules in place before legal
sales of recreational marijuana to adults begin Jan. 1.
"Many of our citizens don't know what the rules are," said Councilman Charlie Brown, who voted against the amendment. "We need a proactive campaign to let them know what the rules are. We have 40 days to do it."
Regardless of whether the law passes, Denver Police Chief Robert White said enforcement would be the police department's lowest priority.
"Our primary (goal) would be compliance," he said.
If the alleged offender was no longer on the porch or smoking marijuana when officers arrive, "that would be the end of our action," White said.
Public testimony was both strongly supportive of forbidding marijuana smoking on front lawns and strongly against the measure.
"This is embarrassing," said Robert Reginelli, who said the city will look foolish to the rest of the nation, which is watching how Denver adapts to legalized marijuana. "This clearly violates the will of the voters."
Ashley Ebert, 23, said she smoked medical marijuana because she had cervical cancer and it helped her deal with the pain from chemotherapy.
"It is insane to not allow people to use it on their front porch," she said. "You should teach your children what is OK and what is not."
Christine Walravens, a physician at Children's Hospital Colorado, said she often sees young mothers who say they have been smoking marijuana throughout their pregnancy. She said the council should do anything it can to prevent children from being exposed to marijuana smoking.
"This is not the Denver that I grew up in," she said.
Sandra Hagen Solin spoke on behalf of Smart Colorado — a group working on marijuana policy — and said her group is "holding the line" on this issue.
"As parents, we are taking responsibility to talk to our children, but we need your support," she told the council before the vote.

Whether you are an advocate or not my friends, history is being made in Colorado regarding marijuana laws. I plan on keeping up with this story and Ill keep you updated.

Giant prehistoric toilet unearthed

Coprolites exposed at latrine

A gigantic "communal latrine" created at the dawn of the dinosaurs has been unearthed in Argentina.
Thousands of fossilised poos left by rhino-like megaherbivores were found clustered together, scientists say.
The 240-million-year-old site is the "world's oldest public toilet" and the first evidence that ancient reptiles shared collective dumping grounds.
The dung contains clues to prehistoric diet, disease and vegetation says a study in Scientific Reports.

"It's a warning to predators. If you leave a huge pile you are saying: 'Hey! Watch out!'

Elephants, antelopes and horses are among modern animals who defecate in socially agreed hotspots - to mark territory and reduce the spread of parasites.
But their best efforts are dwarfed by the enormous scale of this latrine - which breaks the previous record "oldest toilet" by 220 million years.

Fossil "coprolites" as wide as 40cm and weighing several kilograms were found in seven massive patches across the Chanares Formation in La Rioja province.
Some were sausage-like, others pristine ovals, in colours ranging from whitish grey to dark brown-violet. "There is no doubt who the culprit was," said Dr Lucas Fiorelli, of Crilar-Conicet, who discovered the dung heaps.

"Only one species could produce such big lumps - and we found their bones littered everywhere at the site."
The culprits were dicynodonts - ancient megaherbivores
The perpetrator was Dinodontosaurus, an eight-foot-long megaherbivore similar to modern rhinos.

These animals were dicynodonts - large, mammal-like reptiles common in the Triassic period when the first dinosaurs began to emerge.
The fact they shared latrines suggests they were gregarious, herd animals, who had good reasons to poo strategically, said Dr Fiorelli.

"Firstly, it was important to avoid parasites - 'you don't poo where you eat', as the saying goes.
"But it's also a warning to predators. If you leave a huge pile, you are saying: 'Hey! We are a big herd. Watch out!"

The predator in this case was the formidable Luperosuchus, a crocodile-like carnivore up to 8m in length. But the dung patches were equally intimidating.
Diversity of coprolite shapes and sizes from several communal latrines
A museum of poos has been created by the researchers

A density of 94 poos per square metre was recorded by the researchers. And the excrement was spread across patches 900 square metres in size. Prehistoric coprolites are nothing new, but it is extremely rare to find an accumulation as old and substantial as this one - because faeces degrade so easily.

A sheet of volcanic ash has preserved the ancient dung piles "like Pompeii", said Dr Fiorelli.
The coprolites are like time capsules.
"When cracked open they reveal fragments of extinct plants, fungi, and gut parasites," said Martin Hechenleitner, a fellow author on the study. "Each poo is a snapshot of an ancient ecosystem - the vegetation and the food chain.

"This was a crucial time in evolutionary history. The first mammals were there, living alongside the grandfather of dinosaurs. "Maybe with these fossils we can glimpse into the lost environment which gave rise to the dinosaurs."

YAWN!. I know. Sorry.

The Marvels of Science

The notorious white separatist Craig Cobb is currently soliciting like-skinned people to move to his tiny town of Leith, N.D. (pop. 16) to create a deluxe Caucasian enclave, but at the urging of a black TV host submitted to a DNA test in November to “prove” his lineage--and turned up 14 percent black (“Sub-Saharan African”). (He has vowed to try other DNA tests before confirming those results.) Bobby Harper (previously, Leith’s only black resident) was gleeful: “I knew there [had to be another] black person in town.” (In mid-November, Cobb was charged, along with an associate, with seven counts of terrorism for walking menacingly through Leith wielding a long gun.)

A racist is someone who wakes up every morning with the same mission, to show the world just how stupid they really are.

Wasteful Government Spending?

The U.S. government has engaged in some legendarily wasteful projects, but leaders in China’s Yungai village (pop. 3,683), in Hunan province, have surely raised the bar for epic squander after borrowing the equivalent of $2.4 million and building an impressive seven-story government headquarters--but with 96 still-unlooked-out front windows because there is no activity beyond the first floor. According to an October London Daily Telegraph report, the only occupants are the village government’s eight employees.

Informal Georgia Sobriety Tests

Rachel Gossett blew a .216 alcohol reading in Loganville, Ga., in November, but that was probably a formality after an officer witnessed her attempt to put a cheeseburger from a Waffle Shop onto her foot as if it were a shoe. And Rashad Williams, 38, was charged with DUI in Atlanta in October after he crashed through the front of a Walgreens drug store and then, according to a witness, calmly exited his vehicle (which was sticking halfway into the building) and resumed drinking next door at the Anchor Bar.

Chutzpah!

 Sheriff’s deputy Darrell Mathis of Newton County, Ga. (30 miles east of Atlanta), a five-year veteran, was arrested in September and charged with selling marijuana locally--from his squad car, in uniform, and apparently without inhibition. A confidential informant, unnerved by Mathis’s alleged brazenness, convinced FBI agents in April 2013 to do a by-the-book sting (with which Mathis of course naively cooperated, according to Bureau affidavits). (In their final meeting before the arrest, for example, Mathis took pains to assure the agents: “Don’t worry. I’m on your side,” he said. He was reportedly enthusiastic about the sting’s plan to run marijuana and cocaine from Alabama to North Carolina.) 

Edward William Bright Stabs Brother Over Argument About Silverware: Cops

Edward William Bright

Guess they determined what silverware they're not using.
Edward William Bright, 47, allegedly stabbed his brother repeatedly following an argument over which silverware to use for dinner, ColaDaily.com reported.
Deputies were called to Bright's home in Richland County, S.C., around 6 p.m. Sunday, according to NBC 26. According to the sheriff's report, the argument over silverware led Mr. Bright to grab a steak knife and stab his brother multiple times in his torso.
The brother's injuries were not life-threatening. Bright was charged with second-degree assault and battery, according to the Associated Press.

Westboro Baptists Will Picket Paul Walker's Funeral

Westboro Baptist 'Church' will be picketing Paul Walker's funeral, because harassing grieving people is just part of their creed.
After the 'Fast And The Furious' star tragically died in a car accident at the age of 40, WBC tweeted:
"The furious God cut off Paul Walker! Thank God for His condign wrath!"

WBC regularly pickets the funeral of soldiers, and they now seem to be targeting celebrities too. Their problem with Walker appears to be that he "taught a nation to be fast & furious."

It takes all kinds to make up this big ol' world I suppose, some are a little bit weirder than others, and this is my look at just a few of them posted right here for you. Thanks for reading!!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

35 Things NOT to Say to a Cop if You're Stopped


1. I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer.

2. Sorry officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in.

3. Aren't you the guy-from the Village People band?

4. Hey, you must have been doing 125 to keep up with me. Good job.

5. I though you had to be in relatively good physical shape to be a police officer.

6. I was going to be a cop, but I decided to finish high school instead.

7. Bad cop, no donut.

8. You're not going to check the trunk are you?

9. Gee, that gut sure doesn't inspire confidence.

10. Didn't I see you get your butt kicked on COPS?

11. Wow, you look just like the guy in the picture on my girlfriends night stand.

12. Is it true that people become cops because they're too dumb to work at McDonalds?

13. I pay your salary.

14. So uh, you on the take or what?

15. Gee officer, that's terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning.

16. Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us knows.

17. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there are no other cars around, that's how far ahead they are.

18. What do you mean, "Have I been drinking?" YOU'RE the trained specialist.

19. Well officer, when I reached down to pick up my bag of crack, my gun fell off of my lap and got lodged between the brake and the gas pedal, forcing me to speed out of control.

20. Hey, is that a 9mm? That's nothing compared to this 44 magnum.

21. Hey, can you give me another one of those full cavity searches?

22. No, YOU assume the position.

23. I'm surprised you stopped me, Dunkin Donuts is having a 3 for 1 special!

24. If I bend over, will I still get a ticket?

25. No, offi, offic, lucifer...I'm not as think you are drunk I am. I swear to dog.

26. No, I don't know how fast I was going. The little needle stops at 110mph.

27. Back off Barney, I've got a piece.

28. But officer, I've got 2 different drivers licenses from 2 different states! Pick ONE!

29. I know I was weaving, but I was trying to hit all the little green men!

30. On the way to the station, let's get a six pack, oh and don't forget the cigs.

31. Come on, write the stupid ticket, the bars close in 20 minutes!

32. Hey, wasn't your daughter a porn queen?

33. How long is this going to take? Your wife is expecting me.

34. So that's what those yellow flashing lights in the school zone mean?

35. What do you use those rubber gloves for anyway?


Man Sues His Wife For Giving Birth To An Ugly Baby


A Chinese man divorced and then sued his ex-wife for giving birth to what he called an extremely ugly baby girl.

Initially, Jian Feng accused his wife of infidelity, because he was so sure that he could never be the father of such an ugly child.

When a DNA test proved that the baby was his, Feng’s wife came clean on a little secret — before they met, she had undergone about $100,000 worth of cosmetic surgery in South Korea.


Feng filed for divorce and sued his wife on the grounds of false pretenses, for not telling him about the plastic surgery and duping him into thinking she was beautiful. The kicker? He won. A judge agreed with Feng’s argument and ordered his ex-wife to pay him $120,000.

“I married my wife out of love, but as soon as we had our first daughter, we began having marital issues,” he said in an interview. “Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me.”

Man Shoots Nail into His Brain

ORLAND PARK, Ill. — Gail Glaenzer still can’t believe that her fiance unknowingly shot a nail into his skull, let alone that he posted a picture of the X-ray on Facebook during his ambulance ride between hospitals for surgery.

But she was joking about the circumstances Friday, a day after doctors successfully removed the 3.25-inch(8.25-centimeter) nail from Dante Autullo’s brain.

“Dante says, ‘I want it, to make a necklace out of it,’” Glaenzger said.

Glaenzer sat Friday in the lobby of Advocate Christ Medical Center, where Autullo, 32, was listed in fair condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit. She was still trying to process just how lucky the father of her four children was.

“He feels good. He moved all his limbs, he’s talking normal, he remembers everything,” said Glaenzer, 33. “It’s amazing, a miracle.”

Autullo was in his workshop using the nail gun Tuesday when it recoiled near his head, Glaenzer said.

He felt what he thought was the point of the gun hit his head. But what really happened was that when the gun came in contact with his head, the sensor recognized a flat surface and fired, she said.

“I looked at it when he got home, and it just looked like (his head) was cut open,” she said.

With nothing to indicate that a nail had not simply “whizzed by his ear,” as Autullo explained to her, she cleaned it with peroxide.

Neither thought much about it, and Autullo went on with his day, even plowing a bit of snow. But the next day when he awoke from a nap, feeling nauseated, Glaenzer sensed something was wrong and suggested they go to the hospital.

At first Autullo refused, but he relented after the two picked up their son at school Wednesday evening.

A couple hours later an X-ray was taken, and there in the middle of his brain was a nail. Doctors told Autullo and Glaenzer that the nail came within millimeters of the part of the brain that controls motor function.

Hospital spokesman Mike Maggio said the surgery took two hours, and the part of the skull that was removed for surgery was replaced with a titanium mesh. The surgeon didn’t want to put that part of the skull back in place, fearing it might have been contaminated by the nail, he said.

Yikes.

Man Accused of Having Sex With Teddy Bear

Once, twice, three times a lady. But four times with a teddy bear?

Charles Marshall of Cincinnati is accused of having sex with a teddy bear for the fourth time in the past two years, according to the Smoking Gun.

Marshall was arrested Wednesday after employees at a health clinic saw him masturbating with a teddy bear in an alley, according to a police report obtained by the Smoking Gun.

Marshall has three previous convictions for either public indecency or disorderly conduct with a teddy bear. This latest time he was hit with a disorderly conduct charge.

The Daily Mail notes that it’s unclear whether Marshall used the same teddy bear on each occasion.

Cracked explains that people who are aroused by teddy bears can be diagnosed with Ursusagalmatophilia.

“This is also known as Plushophilia in some circles, although this term includes any stuffed animal and is not specific to teddy bears,” Cracked notes.