‘If there’s a sadder commentary on the state of American society, we can’t think of it — we’ve grown so fat we sink the boats of It’s A Small World.
According to Miceage, the boats routinely bottom out under the weight of super-sized riders, bringing the popular ride to a grinding — literally — halt. That’s increased the wear and tear on the fiberglass boats, which have been in use since the ride opened during the 1964 World’s Fair, when Americans, on average, weighed 25 pounds less than we do today. [..]
Employees — Disney calls them “cast members” — have been aware of the issue for some time now and so discretely leave empty seats in boats carrying heavy riders. But backups persist, and in some cases no one realzes there’s a problem until boats stop emerging from the ride.’
‘A study of more than 5000 youngsters in Switzerland has found those who smoke marijuana do as well or better in some areas as those who don’t.
But the same was not true for those who used both tobacco and marijuana, who tended to be heavier users of the drug, said the report by Dr J.C. Suris and colleagues at the University of Lausanne.
The study did not confirm the hypothesis that those who abstained from marijuana and tobacco functioned better overall, the authors said.
In fact, those who used only marijuana were “more socially driven … significantly more likely to practice sports and they have a better relationship with their peers” than abstainers, it said.’
‘WINK News Now obtained a confidential memo sent around the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. What it showed, sent a shockwave of disgust through our staff.
The question now is, is the new way to get high described in the memo, really being used in Southwest Florida. WINK News Now investigates.
It’s called Jenkem – the ingredients may shock you. [..]
Basically, the new drug is a mixture of solid human waste and urine, turned into a gas that can be huffed. [..]
When our crews asked some students about the drug, they said they never heard about it, and would not be interested in trying it.’
‘The sight of a blind-drunk young woman being assaulted by a Big Brother housemate in what may be the most public rape ever has turned the stomachs of millions of television viewers.
[..] Bezuidenhout lay down next to the comatose young woman and penetrated her vagina with his fingers. He carried on despite the pleas of another female housemate for him stop. Under the law in South Africa – where, on average, a woman is sexually assaulted every 40 seconds – such an act constitutes rape.
Bezuidenhout, who is married, finally desisted and went off to sit by himself while drunkenly sniffing his fingers. At this point the producers of the show did intervene, sending paramedics into the house and cutting the live feed.
Bezuindehout, defending his sexual behaviour in a show that has featured copious nudity, recently told his housemates, “Well, this is Africa.”‘
‘Australia’s 2007 Toy Of The Year, Bindeez, was being pulled from shelves after it was revealed the product’s “magic beads” contain a chemical that when swallowed converts into the toxic illegal drug fantasy.
Two NSW children have been hospitalised over the past 10 days suffering seizures after eating the beads, while a two-year-old boy from Toowoomba in southeastern Queensland was flown to a Brisbane hospital after swallowing Bindeez beads. [..]
Testing by scientists in NSW found the chemical link to the drug gamma-hydroxy butyrate (GHB) – also known as fantasy or Grievous Bodily Harm – which can also cause drowsiness, coma and can lead to death. [..]
Sydney-based poisons specialist Dr Naren Gunja said the list of Bindeez’s ingredients supplied by the manufacturer said it should contain the non-toxic chemical known as 1,5-pentanediol.
“What we’ve found in the beads from testing done … by our hospital scientists is that it contains 1,4-butanediol,” Dr Gunja said, adding this chemical was metabolised by the body into GHB.’
‘When the military decides to get weird, it’s gets REALLY weird
It all started in the Fourteenth Century. We have a record of a “pre-tank” machine, called “Fighting Unicorn”.’
Also, Strange Tanks, Part 2.
‘Guests at the Berghof, Hitler’s private chalet in the Bavarian Alps, must have endured some unpleasant odors in the otherwise healthful mountain air.
It may sound like a Woody Allen scenario, but medical historians are unanimous that Adolf was the victim of uncontrollable flatulence. Spasmodic stomach cramps, constipation and diarrhea, possibly the result of nervous tension, had been Hitler’s curse since childhood and only grew more severe as he aged. As a stressed-out dictator, the agonizing digestive attacks would occur after most meals: Albert Speer recalled that the Führer, ashen-faced, would leap up from the dinner table and disappear to his room.
[..] Strangely, Hitler was unfazed by the fact that this high-fiber diet was having the opposite effect on his digestion than what he had intended: His private physician, Dr. Theo Morell, recorded in his diary that after Hitler downed a typical vegetable platter, “constipation and colossal flatulence occurred on a scale I have seldom encountered before.”‘
‘A teenager carried out a sex act and then simulated sex on a pavement after drinking a half bottle of vodka while on medication, a court has heard.
Steven Marshall, 18, of Woodstock Avenue, Galashiels, admitted the offence in his home street on 17 June.
Selkirk Sheriff Court heard he got into a press-up position on the pavement and started simulating sexual intercourse.
Sentence was deferred on Marshall, who takes medication for arthritis. He was put on the sex offenders register.’
‘A lottery scratchcard has been withdrawn from sale by Camelot – because players couldn’t understand it. [..]
To qualify for a prize, users had to scratch away a window to reveal a temperature lower than the figure displayed on each card. As the game had a winter theme, the temperature was usually below freezing.
But the concept of comparing negative numbers proved too difficult for some Camelot received dozens of complaints on the first day from players who could not understand how, for example, -5 is higher than -6. [..]
The 23-year-old, who said she had left school without a maths GCSE, said: “On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn’t.
“I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher – not lower – than -8 but I’m not having it. [..]’
‘A toddler born with eight limbs and believed by some to be the reincarnation of the multi-limbed Hindu goddess Vishnu, is set to undergo a 40-hour operation to remove half of her limbs.
Lakshmi Tatma was born joined to a ‘parasitic twin’ and will go under the knife at the hands of 30 surgeons to remove two of her useless arms and legs.
The headless ‘twin’ is joined to Lakshmi at the pelvis and has its own spinal column and kidney. [..]
Her mother Poonam Tatma said she believed her daughter was “a miracle, a reincarnation” of Vishnu.’
‘Police say a Milton-Freewater man died after jumping from a vehicle driven by his wife while their two young children were in the back seat.
It happened when the couple was northbound on Oregon 11 Friday night, and the SUV was doing 40 to 50 miles per hour.
Police say alcohol was a contributing factor but gave no other explanation.
Raydel Gutierrez was 24. He was a passenger in the SUV driven by his 24-year old wife, whose name was not released.
Lieutenant Greg Sherman says the couple’s two children, ages 4 and 7, were in the rear seat.
Sherman says Gutierrez intentionally jumped out of the passenger side and landed on the highway.’
A cop asks the important questions whilst frisking a man on the street.
(1.4meg Flash video)
see it here »
There’s now more than 5,000 images on the image site. Hooray for arbitrary large, round numbers.
The image stats are now a little more advanced now and there’s a few new features on the image pages too. Nothing too exciting tho. 🙂
It’s still taking my time away from this site as I make some improvements to the code behind the scenes. I’m also working on a new site which hopefully should be by up the end of the year. More details to follow.
Fun stuff. 🙂
If you’re the worlds fastest speed walker and a group of samurai charges at you whilst you’re training, do you walk away or do you run?
(13.8meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘<third_planet> The other night my friend had some pot and wanted me to smoke it with him, but we had nowhere to smoke it because both our parents were home.
<third-planet> So we drove around looking for a place to park so we could smoke in the car.
<third-planet> We eventually settled on a Wendys parking lot..
see it here »
‘Space is limited
In a haiku, so it’s hard
To finish what you’
she has one friend, he lives next door
they’re listening to the weather
he knows how many freckles she’s got
(10.0 and 10.1meg Flash videos)
see it here »
‘Salt Lake police say even a taser wasn’t enough to subdue a man who was wandering naked at a Super 8 Motel.
Employees called police when Michael Ellis repeatedly exited his room naked.
When officers arrived, Ellis refused to cooperate and resisted arrest. Police say they tasered him, struck him with batons, and then still had to wrestle him to the ground.’
‘In the preservation of animal specimens for study, animals are usually preserved using formalin where the whole body would be immersed in the posture in which it is supposed to stay permanently because it will be hardened. The ratio of formalin to carcass must at least be 12 to 1 to ensure a good fixation.
Here is a series of great specimens of animals submerged in formalin with 31 more pics after the jump.’
‘London’s police force was found guilty Thursday of endangering the public during a frantic manhunt for four failed suicide bombers that led to the killing of an innocent Brazilian man on a subway train [..]
The manhunt unfolded with the British capital already on edge after four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters two weeks earlier.
The officers watching the building trailed Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, out of the apartments, suspecting he was one of the bombers. They followed him onto two buses, into a subway station and finally into a train. There, officers, believing he was a bomber, shot him seven times at close range in front of morning commuters.
On Thursday, a jury found police guilty of breaking health and safety laws. Judge Richard Henriques ordered the Metropolitan Police to pay a total of $2.1 million for breakdowns in the operation.’
‘New UC Irvine research is among the first to demonstrate that neural stem cells may help to restore memory after brain damage.
In the study, mice with brain injuries experienced enhanced memory – similar to the level found in healthy mice – up to three months after receiving a stem cell treatment. Scientists believe the stem cells secreted proteins called neurotrophins that protected vulnerable cells from death and rescued memory. This creates hope that a drug to boost production of these proteins could be developed to restore the ability to remember in patients with neuronal loss.
“Our research provides clear evidence that stem cells can reverse memory loss,” said Frank LaFerla, professor of neurobiology and behavior at UCI. “This gives us hope that stem cells someday could help restore brain function in humans suffering from a wide range of diseases and injuries that impair memory formation.”‘
