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April 27, 2006
France to beat Google at the search game. No, really. Stop laughing.
From the Guardian.
The French president, Jacques Chirac, yesterday unveiled what he hopes will be his great legacy to France's struggle against the global dominance of the US: a series of technological projects including a European search engine to rival Google.
Chirac will commit two billion dollars to the project. This is, of course, another nationalistic drive to save France from becoming 'that socialist place with good museums'.
So far this year, Google has spent $247 million in R&D, on top of last year's $600 million. Capital expenditure was $1.2 billion over the last 16 months. They are predicted to spend $1.1b on R&D this year.
Somehow, I can't see any government project catching up to such an energetic company. And even if they do, the goal posts will have well and truly moved on.
Je suis désolé, Monsieur Chirac. You do have the nicest art museum, if thats any consolation.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 10:52 AM
April 26, 2006
A fine day for Japanese robotics
Necoro in Japan has just produced a 'nearly lifelike' robot cat (video at linked page).
They somehow haven't figured out that 'very nearly lifelike' things are just plain creepy.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 04:37 PM
April 25, 2006
Internet Explorer 7
Microsoft Corp. is releasing a new test version of Internet Explorer, the market-leading Web browser that is facing competition from smaller players.
Personally, I haven't used it in two years, except to access the MS update site. I just like Firefox a hell of a lot more. It is, of course, beta, and use at your own risk.
The new beta, available Tuesday for free download to English-languages customers, includes fixes for problems that were causing Internet Explorer 7 to stop working, said Dean Hachamovitch, general manager in charge of Internet Explorer development.
Which sounds vaguely promising. New. Improved. We fixed all the bits that stopped it working. We think.
Testing it out now.
Update:
Well, that wasn't good. Aside from crashing four times in an hour, the interface is horrible. The address bar is locked at the top of the page. The home button moved way over to the left of screen with almost all other menu items huddled on the right (this is especially bad on a wide screen, along with a new, graphical replacement for the File-Edit-Tools menu). It still isn't CSS standards compliant. It doesn't handle PNG or JPEG2000 images.
Update:
Page up and down work only intermittantly to scroll the page. Five "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close" so far today. It has also refused to load any sites until closed and restarted six times.
Back to Firefox.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 02:31 PM
Cyclone Monica degrades
To give you some idea of the amount of area Monica can sprawl over without actually hitting anyone: The Northern Territory has a phenomenally low population density, withabout 1/6th of Australia's total size (135 million hectares, or 333 million acres) and with a population of 201,000 or so - which comes to about 1650 acres per person.
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Cyclone Monica, the fifth major storm to hit north Australia this year, maintained its track toward the south of the city of Darwin after being downgraded four levels of intensity to a category one storm.
It did smash its was through Maningrida (pop 2600) as a category 5, causing damage and, thankfully, no injuries.
Monica is travelling further south and more inland than original tracking projections indicated, weakening as it goes, and is still expected to cause widespread flooding in low areas. She will hit the Timor Sea shortly and is expected to regain strength.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 11:11 AM
April 24, 2006
Tin foil hats
Its a bad news day for the tin-foil hat brigade.
MIT has released a study proving that tin foil helmets actually amplify signals and enhance the mind controlling waves - especially in the frequencies the FCC reserves for Government use.
Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We speculate that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason.
Update!
The Zapatopi (publishers of instructions on how to craft fine Aluminim Foil Deflector Beanies) have publised a rebuttal.
Which source to trust?
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 02:56 PM
Monica is one big angry storm.
Based on the most recent Darwin Regional Forecast Centre advisory, Tropical Cyclone Monica is a category 5 with sustained central winds of 350kph (217mph). Going by the satelite image, it spans 6' longitude. Some quick pencil and paper work to account for the curvature of the earth gives an approximate diameter of 647km (402 miles).
According to Stormtrack, if the satellite estimations are accurate (and they may be overestimating by a little bit), it is the most violent storm ever recorded. Anywhere. Currently, it looks like it will sweep through mostly unpopulated areas, then slam into the sea-level coastal city of Darwin, as seen below.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 10:26 AM
April 19, 2006
Now playing....
Killing time until the weekly installment Webkittyn on MangoRadio, I thought I'd put up one of my favourite playlists. Yes, its mostly new wave retro electroclash alternative stuff.
Please feel free to let me know what classics I missed.
| Out of the Rain | Clan Of Xymox |
| Mad World | Tears for Fears |
| To Life, to Love | Andy Hunter |
| Life In Tokyo | Japan |
| 99 Luftballons (German) | Nina |
| Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha | Trio |
| Tainted Love | Soft Cell |
| What I Like About You | The Romantics |
| Sunday Bloody Sunday | U2 |
| Video Killed the Radio Star | The Buggles |
| Fashionist (Original Electro Class) | Waldorf |
| Pictures of You | The Cure |
| Safety Dance | Men Without Hats |
| Upstairs | Gene Loves Jezebel |
| I'm Done (Original Radio Edit) | King Brain presents N.I.C. |
| Restless | Mount Sims |
| Friday I'm In Love | The Cure |
| Everything Counts | Depeche Mode |
| Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You) | A Flock of Seagulls |
| Radio | Client |
| Bullet The Blue Sky | U2 |
| Power and the Passion | Midnight Oil |
| Original Sin | INXS |
| Istanbul | They Might Be Giants |
| Dog Eat Dog | Adam & the Ants |
| Cars | Gary Numan |
| Glitterball | FC Kahuna |
| We're Only Science | Dot Allison |
| Dancing With Myself | Billy Idol |
| Sweet Dreams | Eurithmics |
| Blue Monday | New Order |
| Rebellion (Lies) | Arcade Fire |
| Kelly Watch the Stars | Air |
| She Blinded Me With Science | Thomas Dolby |
| Fade to Grey | Visage |
| Destination Unknown | Missing Persons |
| No More Words | Berlin |
| Oh Yeah | Yello |
| Every Day Is Halloween | Ministry |
| Hanging On the Telephone | Blondie |
| Obsession | Animotion |
| People Are People | Depeche Mode |
| Burning Down the House | Talking Heads |
| Banquet | Bloc Party |
| Under Pressure | David Bowie & Queen |
| I Melt with You | Modern English |
| Centerfold | J. Geils Band |
| You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record) | Dead or Alive |
| Planet Dada (Northern Light Mix) | Yello |
| Whip it | Devo |
| I Ran | A Flock of Seagulls |
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 09:08 PM
April 18, 2006
A Call for Tolerance (Within Limits)
Scott Burgess, posessing a far prettier wit than my own, runs The Daily Ablution ("Washing brains since 2003"), which exposes arrogant idiocy in the English press with a dry humour. Today , it is once more the turn of Martin Jacques.
For Mr. Jacques, the "new type of intolerance" manifest in this "western hubris" (not his own, but that brought about by globalisation) is "more comprehensive and totalitarian" than that of previous European colonialism. Those who - like, perhaps, students of the Spanish experience in the New World - might balk at such a statement are assured that it is indeed the case. The evidence? European colonialists didn't foster democracy in the lands they conquered, but the neocolonialists do.And so, in the strange world inhabited by Mr. Jacques, more democracy equates to more totalitarianism (and freedom, presumably, to slavery).
Always entertaining. I also find the archive pages there the perfect foil to productivity...
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 03:54 PM
Sofa King Naughty
(via email) It took me a read or two to realise what it was saying...
Update:
Aparently this is the old add (which aparently ran for some time), and they got away with it completely... The new add (Sofa King good) didn't quite get past the Advertising Authority and was canned.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 01:45 PM
April 17, 2006
U.N. outdoes itself
The United Nations has, by considerable dint of effort, outstripped its previous best effort at self-parody1, paddling rapidly towards the waters of farce.
Under threat of United Nations Security Council sanctions for its own nuclear program, Iran has been elected to a vice-chair position on the U.N. Disarmament Commission, whose mission includes deliberations on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
Anyone have suggestions for a more productive use of Turtle Bay?
1. In 2003, just before Saddam was deposed, due the “purely automatic rotation by alphabetical order,” the chair and co-chair of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament were Iraq and Iran. Prior to that it was Libya chairing the Human Rights Commission.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 04:33 PM
Programming language inventor or serial killer?
Can you tell the serial killer from the programming language creator?
(8/10 - "It appears you know your JavaBeans from your fava beans, your slashers from your slashdotters)
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 02:49 PM
A Haitian woman who was found with a human skull in her luggage pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to illegally storing human remains. The human skull with teeth, hair and skin was found in Severe's checked luggage when she arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in February from Cap Haitien, Haiti. (source)
She was originally charged with smuggling a human head into the US without proper documentation, 'failing to declare the head' and 'transporting hazardous material in air commerce', but plead them out to the misdemeanor charge of imprudent storage of someone elses head.
So, remember, if you're smuggling human heads, hiding them in an article of checked luggage that will be X-rayed is not a good choice.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 01:56 PM
From the country that gave us Sherlock Holmes...
A startling result of research from Scotland, where last year, a research project proved knives were most likely to be used in stabbing homicides, comes this gem of research knowledge:
Goth Youths Prone to Suicide Attempts and Self-Mutilation
Not that I'm entirely surprised with that result, but there are some little problems, which the researchers are honest enough to point out:
"But since our study found that more reported self-harm before, rather than after, becoming a Goth, this suggests that young people with a tendency to self-harm are attracted to the Goth subculture."
So its not actually Goths, then.
The report details statistics for such sub-cultural identifications as "Goth, Punk, Heavy Metal, Mosher, Nu-metal, Skater, Grunge, Retro, Indie, Rave, Club, Garage, Hip-Hop, Pop and Other". Skinhead, Breakers, Mods and Hippies were excluded on the basis that there were ten or less people that identified with the genra and no one likes them anyway. (Coke even declared open season on hippies by proxy, with their new Mountain Dew clone, Vault)
"However, the study was based on small numbers and replication is needed to confirm our results."
It was, in fact "A School and community based study of young people living in the Central Clydeside Conurbation, Scotland", based on 1258 young people. They found 15 goths in total. Admittedly, it has been a few years since I last delved into degrees of confidence, chi-squares and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, but most statistical significance tests rely on a decent sized random sample, so a sample from one age group in a single location would not seem ideal.
There's also the everpresent jab at role playing games (inserted by MedPage reporters, and not in the research paper):
There is a Goth subculture in the U.S., reportedly inspired by fantasy games such as Dungeons and Dragon(sic).
Further evidence of such demonic perversions inherent in Dungeons and Dragons is provided here.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 10:43 AM
April 14, 2006
Which Star Trek character?
It certainly could have been worse.
You are Mr. Scott
You are a fun-loving foreigner with an amazing ability to get any job done on time. Often described as a "Miracle Worker"
Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz
| Mr Scott | 85% | |
| Geordi LaForge | 70% | |
| Chekov | 65% | |
| Will Riker | 65% | |
| Jean-Luc Picard | 55% | |
| Beverly Crusher | 55% | |
| An Expendable Character (Redshirt) | 50% | |
| Leonard McCoy (Bones) | 50% | |
| James T. Kirk (Captain) | 50% | |
| Spock | 47% | |
| Data | 46% | |
| Worf | 45% | |
| Uhura | 45% | |
| Deanna Troi | 40% | |
| Mr. Sulu | 40% |
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 10:22 AM
April 13, 2006
Smellovision
TOKYO - A theater audience in Japan will be sniffing ... at a new Hollywood adventure film when it opens here later this month. A new service from ... NTT Communications Corp., will synchronize seven different smells to parts of ''The New World,'' starring Colin Farrell. A floral scent accompanies a love scene, while a mix of peppermint and rosemary is emitted during a tear-jerking scene.
It just doesn't seem like much of an advance to me. I remember seeing several 24 hour movie marathons at the old Valhalla cinema, and "Up in Smoke" always screened with perfectly synchronised smellovision.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 03:11 PM
April 12, 2006
Updated Texas hunting regulations
(received via email)
As a result of the shooting incident in South Texas, when a lawyer was shot by the Vice President, a new set of hunting regulations regarding the Taking and Harvesting of Attorneys will be enforced by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission.
Attorney Hunting Regulations. (Regulation 370)
Sec 370.01 Any person with a valid in-state rodent or snake hunting license may also hunt and harvest attorneys for recreational and sporting (non-commercial) purposes.
Sec 370.02 If an attorney gains elective office, it is not necessary to have a license to hunt, trap, bag, shoot or possess same.
Sec 370.03 Taking of attorneys with traps or deadfalls is permitted. The use of United States currency as bait, however, is prohibited.
Sec 370.04 Stuffed or mounted attorneys must have a state health department inspection for rabies and vermin.
Sec 370.05 The willful killing of attorneys with a motor vehicle is prohibited, unless such vehicle is an ambulance being driven in reverse. If an attorney is accidentally struck by a motor vehicle, the dead attorney should be removed to the road side and the vehicle should proceed immediately to the nearest car wash.
Sec 370.06 It is unlawful to chase, herd or harvest attorneys from a power boat, helicopter or aircraft.
Sec 370.07 It is unlawful to shout, “WHIPLASH,” “AMBULANCE,” or “FREE SCOTCH” for the purposes of trapping attorneys.
Sec 370.08 It is unlawful to hunt attorneys within 100 yards of BMW, Mercedes or Porsche dealerships except on Wednesday afternoons.
Sec 370.09 It is unlawful to hunt attorneys within 200 yards of courtrooms, law libraries, health clubs, country clubs, hospitals or brothels, except on Saturdays and Sundays.
Sec 370.10 Use of any type killing device is legal including shotguns with the choke removed, high powered rifles, handguns of any caliber, all types and kinds of game traps and snares. Poisoning, however, is prohibited because of the danger to rattlesnakes, coyotes and skunks.
Sec 370.11 It is unlawful to wear a disguise such as a reporter, drug dealer, pimp, female legal clerk, sheep, accident victim, bookie, physician, chiropractor or tax accountant for the purpose of hunting attorneys.
Bag and Possession Limits, per day:
Yellow-bellied sidewinders - 2
Two-faced tortfeasors - 1
Back-stabbing divorce litigators - 3
Horn-rimmed cut-throats - 2
Minutiae-advocating dirtbags - 4
NOTE: Honest attorneys are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Honest attorneys can be identified by their drab plumage, as they do not wear Rolex watches, drive Porsches, BMWs or other expensive luxury automobiles, or wear $500 shoes or $1500 suits.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 02:19 PM
On the other side of the pond, the teachers are revolting.
From the Independent(emphasis added in certain quotes). I'm rather old fashioned about education. I think there is a lot to be said for rote learning and standards, though I do like aspects of the Montessori system.
Teachers' leaders called for the abolition of all national curriculum tests up to the age of 16 - claiming they had turned a generation of schoolchildren off lessons.
I suspect the key to academic excellence is not the abolition of methods to identify those who are not keeping pace - so long as those tests are used to determine who requires additional study.
Instead of traditional subject headings such as history and geography, the union wants a range of skills taught - such as creativity, communications and citizenship. These, it says, would "not be amenable to mainly paper tests" which the union says are counter-productive... Teachers' leaders said pupils did not need a knowledge-based curriculum - but should be learning skills for their futures.
Nowlege out of skool! It never helped no won! Eva!
I find the idea of a generation with no knowledge of history quite appalling, as does this gentleman.
Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment at the University of Buckingham, described the union's report as "disturbing nonsense".
Thank you, Professor.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 11:09 AM
April 11, 2006
Because boys never stop enjoying smashing things, that's why.
LOS ANGELES - NASA plans to crash a space probe into the moon in 2009 — a collision so violent it will be visible on Earth through a telescope, the space agency said Monday.
Why? Think of NASA as a larger Mythbusters program. The boys there like explosions - and what could be cooler than directing an SUV sized impactor at 5,600 miles per hour at the surface of the moon?
Well, here's the official reason:
First, the craft will direct the upper stage used to leave Earth orbit to crash into a permanently-shadowed crater at the lunar south pole, creating a plume visible to Earth-based observatories. Next, the satellite will observe the plume and fly through it using several instruments to look for water. At the end of its mission, the satellite will itself become an impactor, creating a second plume visible to lunar-orbiting spacecraft and Earth-based observatories.
Smashing the second one, of course! They even provide simulated video. They don't actually have a third ship to fly through the second impact plume and then impact, but they have spectrographs to analyse it at least.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 09:45 AM
April 10, 2006
Large phone bill?
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Yahaya Wahab said he disconnected his late father's phone line in January after he died and settled the 84 ringgit ($23) bill... But Telekom Malaysia later sent him a 806,400,000,000,000.01 ringgit ($218 trillion USD) bill for recent telephone calls along with orders to settle within 10 days or face legal proceedings.
Update:
As D'sar has mentioned, I forgot to source this one. Sorry.
He's going to fight it in court. I don't think his words were "Bring it", but that was more or less the intent.
I think its probably the text messaging. They always screw you on that.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 12:27 PM
Sorry, Ben, you can't hang the President for that.
Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher had Mr Affleck (widely known for his political perspicacity) trying very hard to be the smartest man on the panel. This met with as much success as Gigli.
Bill Sammon, Washington Examiner: "A lot of critics are conflating the two and are saying that because Bush disclosed this piece of information, they're implying that Bush leaked the name."
Ben Affleck: "He probably also leaked the name. There's just no proof of that."
Sammon: "Even the prosecutor, even Fitzgerald is saying Bush didn't leak the name. So let's be clear, Bush didn't leak Valerie Plame's name -- not that we know of."
Affleck: "Because if he did, you can be hung for that! That's treason!"
Bill Maher: "That is treason."
Affleck: "You could be killed. That's not a joking around Tom DeLay 'I'll do a year, I bribed the state officials with corporate money.' That's like they shoot you in the battlefield for doing that. Don't you think we should find out who leaked that name?"
Newsbusters carries the story and video.
If you don't want to subject yourself to that, I invite you to talk to the Autorantic Moonbat about Bush. Its not entirely dissimilar in content or coherency.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 10:57 AM
April 08, 2006
The seduction quiz.
| Your Seduction Style: Au Natural |
 That's because you're a natural at seduction. You don't realize your power! The root of your natural seduction power: your innocence and optimism. You're the type of person who happily plays around and creates a unique little world. Little do you know that your personal paradise is so appealing that it sucks people in. You find joy in everything - so is it any surprise that people find joy in you? You bring back the inner child in everyone you meet with your sincere and spontaneous ways. Your childlike (but not childish) behavior also inspires others to care for you. As a result, those who you befriend and date tend to be incredibly loyal to you. |
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 08:29 PM
April 06, 2006
This is why we need to increase funding for space exploration.
I think even Ted Kennedy will agree.
Astronomers say they have spotted a cloud of alcohol in deep space that measures 463 billion kilometres across, a finding that could shed light on how giant stars are formed from primordial gas. The vast bridge-shaped cloud of methyl alcohol has been spotted in a region of our galaxy, the Milky Way, that is called W3(OH), where stars are being formed by the gravitational collapse of concentrations of gas and dust, the discoverers said in a press release.Source
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 09:37 AM
April 05, 2006
Law and Disorder
| CENTURION: | Now, write it out a hundred times. |
| BRIAN: | Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Hail Caesar, sir. |
| CENTURION: | Hail Caesar. If it's not done by sunrise, I'll cut your balls off. |
| BRIAN: | Oh, thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Hail Caesar and everything, sir! Finished! |
Anyone who's seen Mony Python's Life of Brian will remember Brian's unexpectedly light punishment for his seditious graffiti in tangled latin. Strangely, something similar is now police policy in the UK, as reported by the Daily Mail (Dated the 3rd of April, so it wasn't the April Fools I was expecting it to be). Rules sent to police chiefs by the Home Office instruct police to let certain minor offenders off with a caution. This is something that we all hope for when pulled over for a traffic offence - but it can be taken too far.
Burglars will be allowed to escape without punishment under new instructions sent to all police forces. Police have been told they can let them off the threat of a court appearance and instead allow them to go with a caution.
A caution does stick to the record, but does not require a court appearance or merit further punishment. Personally, if the police actually caught someone in the process of ransacking my office (unlikely at the best of times) and sent them home with a caution, I'd be rather offended. But the Home Office is not finished yet. Further, the following shall be considered minor and a caution issued:
burglary of a shop or office, threatening to kill, actual bodily harm, and possession of Class A drugs such as heroin or cocaine - may now be dealt with by caution if police decide that would be the best approach. And a string of crimes including common assault, threatening behaviour, sex with an underage girl or boy, and taking a car without its owner's consent, should normally be dealt with by a caution
This does contrast a little with Tony B's election slogan of "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime", which made me think that I must simply have missed my morning coffee and gotten it all wrong (I hadn't). On rereading, I made a short list of things that might just get you cautioned - even if you're caught in the act.
| Arson | Assault | Burglary |
| Drug-dealing | Grand theft auto | Making death threats |
| Stalking/menacing | Statutory rape | Vandalism |
| ROMAN SOLDIER STIG: | Right. Now don't do it again. |
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 09:51 AM
April 04, 2006
Super-modern (invisible) flying boat
Hot on the heels of the superfast-whale missile, Iran has announced it now possesses the...
"super-modern flying boat" capable of evading radar. State TV showed a brief clip of the boat's launch. "Due to its advanced design, no radar at sea or in the air can detect it. It can lift out of the water," the television said. It said the boat was "all Iranian-made and can launch missiles with precise targeting while moving."
There do appear to be a lot of flat, reflective surfaces, and the huge propeller mount on top doesn't look like anything stealthy. In fact, it looks sort of like an everglades skimmer, which is not terribly good for choppy waters on open seas. Doubtless it will be a decisive factor in naval engagements fought in swimming pools.
Unless it actually can get more than a few feet off the water, then they will have invented the super-modern prop-driven sea plane, only 94 years after the french did.
I think we just discovered where Bagdad Bob moved to.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 02:36 PM
April 03, 2006
Yale and it's Taliban
Sayeed Rahmatullah Hashemi (ex-Taliban ambassador-at-large) has been attending classes at Yale University (rather old news). This has attracted a fairly steady stream of (not unfounded) criticism, which sadly seems to have bypassed how he managed to obtain a student visa to begin with. Today, Zachariah Victor, a member of Yale’s Graduate and Professional Student Senate (PhD Music) offers his considered and rational opinon:
“The outsiders are largely right-wing commentators. They don’t have reason, science or history on their side, so they try to degrade intellectuals and universities. Rational argument cannot support them, so they turn to ‘morality’ and religion. They have little expertise, so they deprecate expert opinion and appeal to populist sentiment. They cannot comprehend the breadth of our constitution, so they try to subject the rights of the few to the superstitions of the many.”
Secure in his own vast cognitive power, Victor solely delivers polished ad-hominem attacks, supported by a mass of condescending arrogance to those considers his intellectual inferiors. And I dare say that would include all who do not kowtow to his expertise.
Victor, however, may be right. I certainly can't think of any reason or history of the Taliban that may make their spokesperson undesirable.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 12:27 PM
And it burns, burns, burns, like a burnin' ring of fire...
SYDNEY (Reuters) - The 56-year-old man was at a nudist colony near Bowral, about 100 km (62 miles) southwest of Sydney, on Sunday when he spotted what he believed to be a funnel web spider hole. Ambulance workers, including a helicopter crew, were called to the scene after the man poured petrol down the hole and then lit a match in an attempt to kill the offending arachnid. "The exploding petrol fumes left the man with burns to 18 percent of his body, on the upper leg and buttocks," the NRMA Careflight helicopter rescue service said in a statement. "The fate of the bunkered spider was unknown, although other guests at the resort thought it was probably a harmless trapdoor spider and not a deadly funnel web," the statement said.
Which begs the question... If you'd just found one of these, would you go near it naked?
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 11:43 AM