Monthly Archives: August 2014

Random Humor

Random humor for your start to the weekend…

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Mystery of gaping holes at ‘end of the world’ possibly solved

This frame grab made July 16, 2014, shows a crater in the Yamal Peninsula of Siberia.AP Photo/Associated Press Television

Huge, mysterious gaping holes in Northern Siberia may not be such a mystery anymore. One scientist has pinned down a cause and, spoiler alert, it’s not aliens or weapons testing, as had been theorized.

The first hole discovered in the Yamal Peninsula, which is 260 feet wide, is likely a sinkhole caused by melting ice or permafrost, University of Alaska geophysicist Vladimir Romanovsky tells LiveScience.

But rather than swallowing the earth as it opened up, he speculates, the hole “actually erupted outside,” tossing dirt around the rim. (One caveat: Romanovsky hasn’t seen the holes himself, but he has spoken to Russian colleagues who have, notes PRI.) He suspects natural gas caused pressure to build as the water collected in an underground cavity, and the dirt—which is reportedly piled more than 3 feet high around the edge of the crater—was eventually expelled.

Plants around the crater suggests the hole is several years old, but closer inspection is needed to determine the exact age. Romanovsky thinks climate change played a role, which means “we will probably see this happen more often now,” he says.

But questions remain, notes LiveScience: Where did the natural gas come from, and why is the hole so even and round? (Click to read about a burning crater that’s been on fire for more than 40 years.)

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Rare whale fossil pulled from California backyard by sheriff’s search-and-rescue team

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Aug. 1, 2014: Members of the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department Search and Rescue team stand around a 16-17-million-year-old fossil lodged in a rock weighing about 2,000-pounds after it was lifted out of a hole in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.AP

A search-and-rescue team pulled a rare half-ton whale fossil from a Southern California backyard Friday, a feat that the team agreed to take on as a makeshift training mission.

The 16- to 17-million-year-old fossil from a baleen whale is one of about 20 baleen fossils known to exist, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County paleontologist Howell Thomas said. Baleen is a filter made of soft tissue that is used to sift out prey, like krill, from seawater.

The fossil, lodged in a 1,000-pound boulder, was hoisted from a ravine by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department search-and-rescue volunteers. Using pulleys and a steel trolley, crews pulled the fossil up a steep backyard slope and into a truck bound for the museum.

Gary Johnson, 53, first discovered the fossil when he was a teen exploring the creek behind his family’s home.

At the time, he called another local museum to come inspect the find, but officials passed on adding it to their collection. In January, a 12-million-year-old sperm whale fossil was recovered at a nearby school, prompting Johnson to call the Natural History Museum.

“I thought, maybe my whale is somehow associated,” said Johnson, who works as a cartoonist and art director.

Thomas wanted to add the fossil to the county museum’s collection of baleen whale fossils, but was puzzled over how to get the half-ton boulder from Rancho Palos Verdes, located on a peninsula about 25 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.

The sheriff’s department search-and-rescue unit declined to send a helicopter, but offered to use the fossil recovery as a training mission. The volunteer crew typically rescues stranded hikers and motorcyclists who careen off the freeway onto steep, rugged terrain, search-and-rescue reserve chief Mike Leum said.

“We’ll always be able to say, `it’s not heavier than a fossil,”‘ Leum said.

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Cute Dogs for Your Monday Blues

Cute dogs to cheer up the beginning of your work week.

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Federal workers admit watching porn at work out of boredom

The Washington Times says it learned of several porn-craving government employees after requesting investigative records under the Freedom of Information Act.

According to the records, one Federal Communications Commission worker was spending up to eight hours each week viewing online porn in the office. He admitted to investigators that he perused the smut “out of boredom.”

An FCC spokesman declined to tell the Times what action the agency took after the FCC inspector general conducted an investigation. The spokesman said only that the agency disciplines employees based on Office of Personnel Management guidelines.

“This is apparently something that’s a pervasive problem throughout several federal agencies.”- Pete Seep, executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union

The records also show that a Treasury Department worker viewed more than 13,000 pornographic images at work during a six-week span.

“He stated he is aware it is against government rules and regulations, but he often does not have enough work do and has free time,” investigators said, referring to the Treasury worker.

The Times said investigative memos turned up similar cases at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Commerce Department and the General Services Administration. The memos show the cases rarely lead to criminal prosecutions for time and attendance fraud.

At the GSA, investigators nabbed an employee who surfed the web two hours a day looking at pornography and dating sites. The agency’s inspector general reported that the employee “sometimes became bored during these long hours at the computer and would often use the computer for personal uses to pass the time.”

“This is apparently something that’s a pervasive problem throughout several federal agencies,” Pete Seep,  executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union, told MyFox DC, adding that it could “mean millions of dollars of wasted money.”

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Scientists: Ship found buried at New York’s World Trade Center predates American Revolution

  • Ground Zero Buried Ship-1.jpg

    FILE- In this July 27, 2010, file photo, a pair of archeologists begin dismantling the remains of an 18th century ship at the World Trade Center construction site in New York. Columbia University scientists say this week they have determined wood used in the ship’s frame came from a Philadelphia-area forest in 1773, before the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)The Associated Press

  • Ground Zero Buried Ship-2.jpg

    (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)The Associated Press

  • Ground Zero Buried Ship-3.jpg

    (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)The Associated Press.

    Researchers say a ship unearthed at the site of New York’s World Trade Center predates American independence.

Columbia University scientists say they’ve determined wood used in the ship’s frame came from a Philadelphia-area forest in 1773 — three years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence and start of the Revolutionary War.

Researchers say they’ve tentatively identified the ship as a Philadelphia-built sloop, a ship designed by the Dutch to carry passengers and cargo over shallow, rocky water.

After sailing for two or three decades, pieces of the ship were used as landfill to extend lower Manhattan.

A 32-foot piece of the vessel was found four years ago about 20 feet under a street during construction of the new One World Trade Center. The research was published in July.

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US tourists in Italy call cops after being charged $50 for ice cream

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Outraged tourists called the cops after being charged more than $50 for ice cream.iStock

They screamed for ice cream, then screamed for the cops.

American tourists James and Marian Luciani and a friend were so surprised to get their £33 (more than $50) bill for just three ice creams and a bottle of water in Rome’s Bar Il Caffe, they called the police.

The restaurant, just steps from the Trevi Fountain, charges 13 euro, or $17, for each gelato.

“We’ve been careful in watching out for pickpockets in Rome, but I never thought I would get scammed here,” James Luciani, told the English language paper, The Local. “We had just paid 59 euros for our entire dinner, including a liter of wine, and then were charged 42 euros for gelato!” he said.

On Wednesday, after getting the ice cream, Luciani  begrudgingly paid the bill, but then came back the next day with a police officer. But the group got a frosty reception from the cops who said the prices were correct and were actually listed on the menu, the paper reported.

A manager at the cafe blamed the tourists for not checking the prices and said the gelato was worth the hefty  price tag because it could serve as a meal in itself.

Last year, four British tourists were charged $84 for four ice creams, sparking outrage.

Bottom line: When in Rome, make sure you read the menu and double-check the price of everything.

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Cosplay Pictures for Your Saturday

Cosplay pictures for your enjoyment!  If you have not tried costume+play=cosplay, then you are missing out.  It is basically having fun with friends, going to cool events and dressing up like you did for Halloween as a kid.  Have fun, get out there, don’t miss out!

 

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Random Humor

Random humor to start your weekend off right…

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