A true tip of the hat to whatwas_i_think for alerting me to sıɥʇ lnɟɹǝpuoʍ looʇ.
Tag: wtf
In conclusion, evolution tested to be mathematically improbable.
Writing about the Science Fair last week, I commented about one project that included the words, “In conclusion, evolution tested to be mathematically improbable.” Today, an article in USA Today takes that one better.
According to the article, a museum that tells the Bible’s version of creation opened in Petersberg KY over the weekend. The museum features high-tech exhibits designed by a theme-park artist, including animatronic dinosaurs and a wooden ark at least two stories tall, plus a special effects theater and planetarium. Some exhibits show dinosaurs aboard Noah’s Ark and assert that all animals were vegetarians until Adam committed the first sin in the Garden of Eden.
Some articles leave you speechless. Some leave you going “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”. This does both. Dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?
Even more surprising, but then again, perhaps not so, is that the privately funded museum had more than 4,000 guests on opening day. I mean, I know it is possible to come up with a reconciliation of belief and science; Orthodox Jews do this quite well. But dinosaurs aboard Noah’s Ark? That’s as likely as dinosaurs swimming during the great flood.
Better check that Piggy Bank!
Thanks to ixixlix to bringing this to my attention.
It appears that FUD is alive and kicking in the Dept. of Defense. So what strikes fear into the heart of the DoD? What is so scary that children in the street will keel over, and will win the war for our enemies.
Specifically, the Canadian Poppy Quarter. According to the AP, this coin was the culprit behind a U.S. Defense Department false espionage warning earlier this year about mysterious coin-like objects with radio frequency transmitters. This silver-coloured quarter features the red image of a poppy — Canada’s flower of remembrance — inlaid over a maple leaf. The coin has a conventional protective coating the Royal Canadian Mint applied to prevent the poppy’s red color from rubbing off. The mint produced nearly 30 million such quarters in 2004 commemorating Canada’s 117,000 war dead.
So what did some DoD contractors think when they found these coins left in a rental car?
“It did not appear to be electronic (analog) in nature or have a power source,” wrote one U.S. contractor, who discovered the coin in the cup holder of a rental car. “Under high power microscope, it appeared to be complex consisting of several layers of clear, but different material, with a wire like mesh suspended on top.”
This led to a sensational warning from the Defense Security Service, an agency of the Defense Department, that mysterious coins with radio frequency transmitters were found planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada.
The DoD subsequently acknowledged that it could never substantiate the espionage alarm that it had put out. In Canada, senior intelligence officials speaking in French expressed annoyance with the American spy-coin warnings as they tried to learn more about the oddball claims.
So who has got the Loonie? The DoD Contractors or the Canucks. I think we all know the answer 🙂
Observations on the News-News: Puu-Puus, Boo-Boos, and Jews-Jews
A few observations on the news that I meant to post yesterday, but I couldn’t remember the links:
- From the “Oh, Puu-Puu” Department: Trader Vics in Beverly Hills has closed. As reported by LA Observed (la_observed). Soon after the death of Don Ho comes news of the death of one of the original Tiki Restuarants, the Beverly Hills Trader Vics, which opened in 1951 in the Beverly Hilton. It is now a dead parrot. You can still pine for the fjords with a Mai-Tai, however, as the bartenders are relocating to a lounge inside the Hilton. We should all have a puu-puu platter in Vics honor. However, the best words about Vics were said by mark_evanier, when he wrote:
But the times I wound up [at Trader Vics] — usually because someone I needed to eat with wanted to dine within — I found the service to be smothering and the food to be largely inedible and way overpriced. I’ve had expensive meals where I could understand the pricetag and others where I felt I’d just paid $24.95 for the exact same thing the Sizzler sells for eight bucks. Put enough Teriyaki Sauce on that Malibu Chicken, have it served by an overly obsequious waiter…and you have a Trader Vic’s entree.
- From the “I Picked the Wrong Day to Quit Smoking” Department: LA Observed also reported yesterday about the father with two kids who tried to stiff the Northridge Claim Jumper last Thursday night who picked the wrong night at the wrong place to walk out on his bill. It seems he picked the night of the “Tip a Cop” fundraiser for Special Olympics… and working the restaurant that night were two dozen off-duty law enforcement types — LAPD, CHP, FBI — and City Councilman Dennis Zine, a reserve LAPD officer. The first person report, by Eric Rose, is as follows:
As I began to clean the table after a gentleman and his two kids left the restaurant, I asked the waitress if the patron had left a tip for the Special Olympics. The waitress opened the bill on the table and found that the very nice man she had been serving left the restaurant without paying his nearly $100 bill. Quickly, I notified several other LAPD officers of the incident, gave a description of the patron/suspect and we immediately searched the parking lot. We located the guest in the parking lot and immediately escorted the patron back into the Claim Jumper where he explained that he “just forgot to pay the bill” and that he hoped he would not be arrested. He promptly paid the bill, left a modest tip to the waitress and apologized profusely for leaving without paying.
- From the “But Where Will They Put The Third Shul” Department: The Ventura County Star is reporting the merger of two large Southern California Jewish institutions: Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley CA and the University of Judaism in Bel Air, CA. BBI and UJ are merging as equals, and are forming the American Jewish University, with campuses in Simi Valley and Bel Air. The inspiration for this merger came from no one other than Judge Moriarty Wapner, oops, I mean Judge Joe Wapner. In June, Judge Joe Wapner, a Brandeis-Bardin board member, called Robert Wexler (UJ President) just as he was about to go on vacation. He said, “I have a radical idea… I think Brandeis and the University of Judaism should be together.” And the rest, they say, is history. BBI has a long history of educational retreats and jewish summer camping at their large Simi facility, and UJ operates one of two Conservative Rabbinic schools.
What Were They Thinking?
I just went to the So Cal Ren Faire site to look up something. Sigh. They are now doing two “Swashbuckling Pirate Weekends” (April 21-22 and 28-29), complete with an image of a comely pirate wench. Just what we need. More Johnny Depp-wannabees. We’re going tomorrow; if we’re lucky, the pirates will be saving their energy for the next two weekends. They also have a picture of a fairy with wings on the front page. Wrong, just wrong.
I do need to remember to bring a camera tomorrow, so we can capture the entrants in the “most wrong costume” contest!
My ears! They burn!
You know, I never thought I would appreciate William Shatner.
[Thanks to coyote3502 for bringing this to my attention.]
But do they make them large enough to fit over politicians?
A lunchtime news observation:
Previously, I had written about how NYC had been planning to issue NYC-branded condoms, and how they would have a subway theme. Well, they have gone and done it, with a wrapper that uses the subway style lettering. Specifically, the black plastic wrapper simply says “NYC condom” on the front, with each letter in a circle, like the letters used by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to denote subway lines. (The authority gave the city permission to use the letters, which are the intellectual property of the subway system.)
Not to be outdone, Washington DC has distributed 250,000 condoms to promote HIV awareness. They are in a purple and mustard-yellow package, with the message “Coming together to stop HIV in DC”. DC Officials had planned to introduce the new design on Valentine’s Day, which doubles as National Condom Day (betcha’ didn’t know that)…. but internal complications and bad weather allowed NYC to come first be the first municipality to issue municipal condoms.