We All Make Mistakes...

Some bigger than others.


Still looking? Look at what should be, "University."

The Tears, The Glory...

This decided the game:

When Stealing a Cab Goes Wrong

Because usually it works out pretty well.

Photo submitted by TCD correspondent Thos. Pink Crustaceans (and good vibrations). WSJ story here.

Dungus watch 2011 - PICTURES

I took it upon myself to go out and do some spotter reporting. I'm not sure how much snow Boston received (lots) but I did just hear that some town in central MA. named Munson received about 30". Sounds about right. The snow in Boston was the heavy, wet type. Heavy enough, coupled with a stiff wind, to take down some pretty big trees. Pictures below.
Tree down on Dartmouth St. at Columbus Ave.
Worst parking spot St. Botolph St.
Confirmed. Worst parking spot.
W. Newton St. "Ferociously beautiful."
Yarmouth St. Not a through street.

Aftermath

The two attention-seeking dudes sitting behind me at Saturday night's B's v. Caps game thought it would be fun to hop the glass and get on the ice. It was entertaining, but spending a Saturday night at the Nashua Street Jail does not sound sweet.

Sweet Video Of Metrodome Collapse

Dude Butchers National Anthem. Chiefs Fans React Unfavorably.

I feel bad for this guy. I really do. I'm sure he knows the Star Spangled Banner, practiced it hundred's of times and has probably performed it in front of large groups of people before. Welp, yesterday just wasn't his day. This guy mangled the National Anthem and the fan's did not attempt to ignore his lyrical fumbleruski. Actually, this was impossible to ignore. I don't know what the hell I'd do if this happened to me. Luckily, I have an awful voice.

The Chiefs should have ponied up and hired HLN for the anthem.

Jobs. Data. '80s.

Trifecta

More Doom for the Polar Bear

For so many reasons, I love Polar Bears. I mean, they are the only fully carnivorous bears and one of two mammals (that this author is aware of) that hunt humans. Bad. Ass. So when I read this article, it added a whole new layer of panic to my worry for the Polar Bear.

Side note before we dive in: I was in Iceland once (you might remember Iceland for f**king up European air travel for a while) and my guide told me that sometimes P-Bears float over to Iceland on ice and since they aren't native to the island and don't have much - other than humans - to hunt, are shot on sight. Feels like Iceland is the place where we should be parking all of our endangered species, not the place where we murder them. Just trying to give Iceland something other than geysers, volcanoes and Bjork to be known for.

Anyway, the other (of many actually) side effect of global warming on Polar Bears is that they're now going to be sharing their territory with Grizzly Bears. The Atlantic points out why this is not good:

Polar bears are the only fully carnivorous bear, and the unique structure of their skull and teeth make them ill-prepared to start incorporating plants into their diet. This evolutionary disadvantage will give grizzlies the upper-hand as the two species move into habitats with limited food sources. The result will be an increasing speed of extinction for the polar bear subspecies.

via @micahmoreau. Thanks Slim.

These Usually Go Hand In Hand

Both of these videos were featured on an email chain I was involved in today, and I figure both are worth sharing. I'll call the first one "Saturday night" and the second one "Sunday morning."

Way to go Bruce Willis.

Rich Whitey for Governor!

Rich Whitney, a long shot Green Party candidate for Governor of Illinois now has an even longer shot. An error at the Chicago Board of Elections will cause Whitney's last name to be misspelled as "Whitey" on some touch screen ballots this November. Of the 23 wards affected by the typo, half of them are largely African American districts. The error cannot be fixed in time for election day. Now black people will have the option of voting for "Rich Whitey" this Fall. Good luck, Rich.

From Whitey, uh, Whitney himself:

“I don’t want to be identified as ‘Whitey.’ If this is happening in primarily African-American wards, that’s an even bigger concern,” Whitney told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I don’t know if this is machine politics at play or why this happened.”

The state that gave you Blago now gives your "Rich Whitey." The gift that keeps on giving.

Read the full story from a far superior blog here.

Next in environmental catastrophe news...

Sorry, this isn't what everyone wanted to read today I'm sure. Anyway, the Brazilian government plans to auction off its rain forests to logging companies in hopes of squashing illegal logging operations, stemming the destruction of the rain forests, and making some money. Here's how it works:

Right now, the Brazilian government only sells about 370,000 acres of rain forests to loggers. This isn't enough to meet demand so illegal operations practice slash and burn tactics and destroy way more rain forest (in a way more destructive manner) than can regenerate. As of now, slash and burn tactics have destroyed over 20% of the planet's rain forests. F**K.

To mitigate this destruction, the government wants to up its logging concessions to 2.47 million acres by year end and 27 million in the next several years. Yes, that's a lot - roughly the size of Virginia - but apparently it's by a means and at a rate that will allow the rain forest to regenerate.

I guess what I'm saying is, don't print these blog posts to read on your commute home, as much as you'd probably like to.

*From Fast Company

Oh crap...

"Oh crap moment of the day" brought to you by Fast Company:

If humanity continues sucking up resources at its current rate, we will need a second planet to meet our material needs by 2030 and the equivalent of 2.8 planets by 2050. That's the conclusion of the World Wildlife Fund's biennial "Living Planet Report", which evaluates our ecological footprint--the total demand on Earth's ecosystems. The good news is, we can still turn things around.

The WWF's ecological footprint metric tracks "the area of biologically productive land and water required to provide the renewable resources people use, and includes the space needed for infrastructure and vegetation to absorb waste carbon dioxide (CO2)." According to the organization, our footprint exceeded the planet's capacity by 50% in 2007. It has doubled in size since 1966.

Read more here if you haven't already abandoned your desk and started stockpiling canned food.

US Unemployment Visual - Updated

Before I was admitted to the staff, I would pester Phil with content I thought to be worthy of postage on this intellectual sanctuary. This was one of them.

I just came across semi-updated version (Mid July) that flows well on the youtube format. Unfortunately, the trend is not improving and the United States is quickly becoming a plum.

*Click all the way to the bottom right of the youtube screen to blow it up to see numbers. The embedding for this video is not ideal.

Boat/People/Forklifts Getting Munsoned in Rough Seas

Yeah, many of you have probably already seen this video as it has been flying around the blogosphere today. For those of you who have not, this is pretty much a must sea (that's not a typo). A Pacific Sun cruise ship was sailing off of NZ when it encountered very rough seas. The video below shows a few CCTV vantage points of the aforementioned things in the title of this post going to hull in a handbasket (read munsoned). The forklift/blue toolshed box shot is pretty ridiculous. I'm glad they spared us the shots of people puking. Nice touch with the Rod Stewart song.

Headline of the day: "G.O.P. Recruits Street People on Green Ticket"

This is nuts.

In order to siphon votes away from Democratic candidates, Republican party operatives began recruiting homeless people to run as Green Candidates. I think this highlights a few things: 1. Republicans are sneaky (that's a euphemism). 2. People are stupid enough to blindly vote for somebody without knowing anything about their candidacy. 3. American politics has nothing to do with governing effectively anymore, it's just about posturing on a handful of issues.

This makes me sick, angry and sick.

Here's more from the NYTimes:

Drifters and homeless people were recruited onto the Green Party ballot by a Republican political operative who freely admits that their candidacies may siphon some support from the Democrats. Arizona’s Democratic Party has filed a formal complaint with local, state and federal prosecutors in an effort to have the candidates removed from the ballot, and the Green Party has urged its supporters to steer clear of the rogue candidates.

“These are people who are not serious and who were recruited as part of a cynical manipulation of the process,” said Paul Eckstein, a lawyer representing the Democrats. “They don’t know Green from red.”

But Steve May, the Republican operative who signed up some of the candidates along Mill Avenue, a bohemian commercial strip next to Arizona State University, insists that a real political movement has been stirred up that has nothing to do with subterfuge.

“Did I recruit candidates? Yes,” said Mr. May, who is himself a candidate for the State Legislature, on the Republican ticket. “Are they fake candidates? No way.”

To make his point, Mr. May went by Starbucks, the gathering spot of the Mill Rats, as the frequenters of Mill Avenue are known.

"Mill Rats"?!?!?! this is worse than the dead-voter scandal in Black Sheep.

Crazy salmonella outbreak tied to one Iowa farm and its sicko owners

Turns out we have Wright County Egg, run by the DeCoster family to thank for this mess as the salmonella strain was linked back to their feed. It also turns out that they're a bunch of sickos.

From today's NYTimes:

The DeCosters produce 2.3 million dozen eggs a week in Iowa. Over the years, many here have objected to the growing operations of Austin J. DeCoster. Neighbors sued the DeCosters’ farms for what they said were noxious gases, millions of gallons of uncovered manure and putrid animal carcasses left on roadways.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources declared Mr. DeCoster a “habitual violator,” making his the only operation ever to be deemed such in Iowa, for its handling of hog waste. And Mr. DeCoster paid more than $1.5 million as part of a settlement with 11 female workers, most of them Mexican, at his egg facilities over sexual harassment and assault charges, including rapes by supervisors.

Full story here.

Is this rain serious?

I walk to work. 90% of the year - even on bitter cold days in February, April days that are far from Spring, and brutally hot days in July - it's great. Even with a little rain I don't mind. Some days though, it just completely blows. This morning is a great example of that. I walked outside to the deluge and went right back into my house (it's already after 9:00 AM at this point). I decide to throw on some old work plants to walk in and then change when I get there. I get to my desk, open my bag and my pants were completely soaked - in ONE spot. The photo below shows what I'm talking about. Porking.

Worst: 9 day, 62 mile traffic jam near Beijing

I won't lie, this is probably my worst nightmare. (seriously, my other nightmares aren't all that bad). One stretch of highway near Beijing is undergoing what must be the most frustrating traffic porking of all time.

This story is for real, look it up

Disturbing Infographic of the Day

From "The Little Book of Shocking Eco Facts"

The numbers below are GROSS