Oops My Slip is Showing

This is a formal correction of and apology for the above post. The Portland in the story referred to in the above post is in Maine not Oregon. Therefore the crime statistics I quoted were for Portland, Oregon as well. The correct statistics for Portland, Maine for 2006 are as follows; murders 3, forcible rapes 36, robberies 149, assaults 88, burglaries 539, theft 2709, and auto theft 193. The population at the time was 63,892. Again, my apologies for the mistake. But I stand by the opinion that police resources would be better used on something more substantial than some pilfered roses.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 08, 2009 - Comments (9)
Category:

Priorities?

These are the crime statistics for Portland, Oregon for 2006, the most recent ones found; murders 20, forcible rapes 293, robberies 1297, assaults 2262, burglaries 5485, theft 22,033, and auto theft 4478 per a population of 542,174. But there is another crime in Portland that has required an increased police presence. Portland P.D. is bumping up patrols around the Deering Oak Rose Circle in Deering Oak Park. There resides 600 rose bushes that are referred to by .the horticulture supervisor as ' a jewel to the city of Portland'. Apparently some 100 blooms have been 'poached' (picked?) by person or persons unknown this year. This is a substantial increase from last year. Therefore earning the above mentioned extra patrols. Keeping Portland safe one rose at a time. http://news.aol.com/article/thorny-thief-snips-100-rose-blooms-from/561672

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 08, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category:

Drunks in the News

An annoying drunk disrupted traffic on a road in Berlin, Germany earlier today. It wasn't a human drunk though. A badger ate fermented cherries and wondered into the middle of the road. He was so comfortable there that police had to force him off the road with a broom. check out the staggering details here- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31800290/ns/world_news-weird_news/

An all too human fellow was found to be drunk during a traffic stop in Rising Sun, Maryland. He was also found to be missing his pants. When asked he told the cop he lost them, but there weren't any pants in the car with him. Wonder where he lost them. Oh, and the traffic offence that got him pulled over in the first place was speeding. The posted limit was 50 mph, he was doing 69. Read the naked truth- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31795305/ns/us_news-weird_news/

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 08, 2009 - Comments (19)
Category:

Weird Science - Biology

Men are now obsolete, thanks to work by scientists at the Northeast England Stem Cell Institute. Professor Karim Nayernia and team have managed a "scientific first" by inducing stem cells into becoming artificial sperm in laboratory conditions. In mice, these sperm have proven able to fertilise eggs and produce viable offspring, opening the door to potential new infertility treatments in humans. Additionally, the stem cells themselves may come from either sex, raising the possibility of children being born without the traditional male input. Any such treatment is many years away however, and there are still problems to be overcome, not least that all the mice babies so far produced by this technique had abnormally short lives. Nayernia admits that the process is not perfect, but says that it could be ready for human trials in less than ten years (Telegraph).

But mothers, don't kick out the old man yet, not if you want a little help with the childcare that is. A team from the "Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution" in France has confirmed a prediction of the theory of evolution that fathers will invest more in children that resemble them. A total of 30 Senegalese families were studied and the paternal investment and resemblance were quantified for each. As expected, there was a significant correlation between the resemblance and investment scores, but also between investment and the nutrition and health of the child. So it seems we fathers still have our uses, for now (Science Daily).

Animals do many weird things to avoid being eaten, from camouflage, to making themselves look bigger or more dangerous, to having a false head or eye on a less vital point to divert attackers. However, one spider has a tactic that's never been observed before; it makes decoy models of itself. The Cyclosa mulmeinensis spider of Orchid Island, near Taiwan, decorates its web with pellets of silk the same size and (to wasps) colour as itself, then hides among them. Researchers from Tunghai University were actually able to observe wasp predators attacking the decoys while the spider escaped, confirming the effectiveness of the trick. The strategy is not without risk though, by having more spider sized blobs on it, the web may also be easier for the wasps to detect (Daily Mail).



More in extended >>

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Wed Jul 08, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Babies, Family, Insects and Spiders, Medicine, Science, Anthropology

Witch Wanted - Must Be Able To Cackle!

UK tourist attraction Wookey Hole, a theme park built around a large hole in the ground, is advertising for a live-in witch. The job also requires that the person taking it teach witchcraft and magic to the tourists, cackle, and not be allergic to cats. You are also expected to provide your own "magical accoutrements", though no mention is made on whether you can claim back the broom as a travel expense. Because of anti-discrimination laws in Britain, both women and men can apply for the position, which pays £50k ($80k) pro-rata (BBC News).

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Wed Jul 08, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Jobs and Occupations

Bud Battle Bots

I'm not sure why Budweiser has some of the best commercials; perhaps the creative staff is under the influence of the product.



No mercy!!

Posted By: gdanea - Tue Jul 07, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Robots

Flesh Eating Robots

A couple of designers, James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau, from the UK have created five robots that have a taste for meat. The "robotic furniture" is designed to look cool and to catch flies and mice. Once caught, the vermin are digested and turned into energy to power the machines. NewScientist

Posted By: mdb777 - Tue Jul 07, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Design and Designers, Furniture, Inventions, Science

Forgotten and Unseen Electronics Part 28

If you know any woman that like to play video games than you can get this for them. It's a purse made to play old nes games. It was made by Jeri Ellsworth. Unfortunately there isn't anywhere you can buy one of these.

Posted By: phantomspy1 - Tue Jul 07, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category:

A Little More Light Weirdness

Just some un-themed oddities that caught my eye:

Plans to chop down a tree to make way for a roundabout in Jaslo, Poland have revealed that the oak was in fact planted to commemorate Hitler's birthday when the town was occupied during World War 2. The town's mayor, Maria Kurowska, called the choice between traffic improvements and the living memorial "simple," but not everyone agrees. "It's a historic curiosity," said local Kazimierz Polak, who was present at the planting ceremony as a child 67 years ago, adding, "It's not the tree's fault" (Reuters).

Two Bengal white tigers in a zoo in South Africa have given birth to a tiger cub that's not only white, but stripe-less (London Paper). Surely that's just called a lion?

A spiritual "healer" in Puerto Rico may want to re-read the manual today, after accidentally dropping a lit candle into the bath of alcohol he had instructed he lady patient lie in. The victim, who was suffering financial and marriage issues, can now add 50% burns to her list of problems (Metro).

The Swiss state of Appenzell went the whole of the second world war without a single German invader, so was perhaps unprepared to come under sustained assault by German hikers dressed in nothing but their socks and boots. Naked hiking, which has become a popular Alpine pastime apparently, has generated a stream of complaints from Swiss locals, and the authorities of the Outer and Inner Rhodes provinces of Appenzell have responded by imposing stiff fines of 200CHF ($175) on anyone caught without clothes, though where they expect the hikers to produce the money from is not explained (Cape News). To publicise the ban, the Swiss officials have ordered signs banning nude hiking, to the surprise of designer Dan Walter, who originally drew the sign as a joke (Metro).

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Tue Jul 07, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Accidents, Goofs and Screw-ups, Animals, Government, Regulations, Health, History, Historical Figure, New Age

But Where Did They Get The Concrete?

The historic city of Bath in England is famed for both the Roman spas that gave the town its name, and for the wonderful architecture of the Georgian houses that were later built to take advantage of them. These homes were all the more beautiful for being built from "Bath stone", a richly honey-coloured limestone that was quarried from mines in nearby Combe Down, now a thriving suburb of the City of Bath. And therein lies the problem. The limestone mines have been abandoned for over a century, and the Georgian miners were none too careful to begin with, meaning that much of the 9 miles of mineshafts are unstable, and some are barely 6 feet below the surface. With over 700 homes at risk of disappearing into the ground with no warning, the local North-East Somerset Council has spent £160 million ($260 million) stabilising the mines and filling them in again with concrete foam in a 10 year project that comes to an end today (BBC News).

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Tue Jul 07, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category: Architecture, History, Goofs and Screw-ups