A U.S. Marine drinks cobra blood during a jungle survival exercise with the Thai Navy as part of the “Cobra Gold 2011” joint military exercise, at a military base in Chon Buri Province, February 13, 2011. More than 13,000 armed forces personnel representing Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and United States are taking part in the exercises, which occur every year in Thailand. © Sukree Sukplang (Reuters)
Thank you, but I’ll stick with Bacardi and Coke for now.
Filed under News
“I was a severely conservative governor.”
– Mitt Romney responding to criticism of his health care plan while governor of the severely blue state of Massachusetts
You can always grab people’s attention by using the word “severe” in a sentence. It shows you really, really, really mean it!
Filed under News
Former tribal chairwoman Bonita Cleveland is a leader in the Quileute Tribe. | Tony Overman/The Olympian/MCT
Congress has signed off on a plan that will transfer 785 acres of federal parkland along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Washington state to the tiny Quileute Indian tribe, a move aimed at protecting the tribe’s safety in case a tsunami strikes.
The tribe is perhaps best known for its role in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” novels, which resulted in subsequent films. According to the tribe’s legend, a wandering transformer changed the Quileutes from wolves. The story inspired Meyer’s writings and one of her characters, Jacob Black, and draws many “Twilight” fans to visit the reservation.
Filed under News
Damage from the May 22 Joplin tornado
An unprecedented number of tornadoes, fires, storms, hurricanes and floods contributed to a record 14 weather and climate disasters in 2011, making it a year with the most number of natural calamities exceeding $1 billion: 14. The previous record had been 9 in 2008. The costliest year on record is 2005, which incurred $160 billion. Most of that was due to Hurricane Katrina with $143.9 billion. Actual dollar estimates of some 2011 disasters are still being tabulated, so the numbers could change. But so far, total damage estimates put the figure at $55 billion. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, half of the year’s billion-dollar events were tornadoes; 6 of those at the EF5 level, the highest on the Enhanced Fujita scale. The tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri on May 22, for example, cost $2.8 billion and killed 161 people. It was the deadliest single tornado strike in the U.S. since modern record-keeping began. But, that was just 1 of more than 850 confirmed tornadoes in 2011 with a total cost of $28.7 billion and 551 fatalities.
Texas, Arizona and New México saw the worst wildfires in 2011, with 3 million+; 500,000 and 150,000 acres burned, respectively. The year ended with 84% of the Southern plains in some stage of drought.
The U.S. escaped the wrath of several tropical storms and hurricanes (usually the deadliest and most expensive disasters) that formed in the Atlantic. But, Hurricane Irene pounded the Northeast with heavy rains; while Tropical Storm Lee did the same to the Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle.
Last year may have just been a fluke from a climatological standpoint, so scientists can’t be certain if this is a new trend. Instruments used to track weather systems have become more refined in recent years. Regardless, it’s still fascinating – and frightening – not knowing what to expect in years to come.
Damage from Hurricane Irene on Route 100 in Killington, VT.
Filed under News
If you look real close, you can tell that’s Glenn Beck behind the makeup.
Filed under Curiosities
Survivalist Tip: It almost goes without saying that rope is an essential commodity in any survivalist’s tool chest. But, I’ll say it anyway – get some rope, damnit! Lots of it! Rope comes in a variety of forms, from clothesline types to thick mooring lines. Of course, you want the latter kind. Since prehistoric times, rope has been used for hunting, pulling, fastening, attaching, carrying, lifting and climbing. Rope was critical in the construction of many nations; people used it for wrangling cattle, securing luggage to stagecoaches and stringing up Indians who wouldn’t kiss White people’s asses. In the tumultuous aftermath, you may need to evacuate your home and therefore, rope can secure essential belongings to your vehicle. You may have to climb up or down a hill, mountain, building, or a pile of dead bodies; rope will come in handy no matter what! And, if anyone in your herd of followers becomes too much to handle, you can always tie them up with some rope and hurtle them into a ditch or sewer until they settle down. Remember, just don’t threaten any Indians with it; they’ll be your only true friends in the new post-apocalyptic world.
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
Helen Gurley Brown, former editor of Cosmopolitan and author (Sex and the Single Girl), is 90.
Actor George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke, The Dirty Dozen, Airplane, Earthquake!) is 87.
Award-winning author Toni Morrison (Pulitzer Prize, 1988; Nobel Prize, 1993) is 81.
Academy Award-winning director Milos Forman (One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus) is 80.
Actress Cybill Shepherd (The Last Picture Show, The Long Hot Summer) is 62.
Singer Juice Newton (Angel of the Morning, Queen of Hearts) is 60.
Drummer Robbie Bachman (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is 59.
Actor John Travolta (Welcome Back Kotter, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Urban Cowboy, Pulp Fiction) is 58.
Model Vanna White (Wheel of Fortune) is 55.
Actor Matt Dillon (My Bodyguard, The Outsiders, Crash) is 48.
Actress Molly Ringwald (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink) is 44.
Filed under Birthdays
1735 – The first opera performed in America, known as either Flora or Hob in the Well, was presented in Charleston, SC.
1885 – Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
1908 – The U.S. Post Office issued postage stamps in coil form for the first time.
1929 – The Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences announced the winners of the first Academy Awards (later called the Oscars).
1930 – Astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered Pluto at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ.
1953 – Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz signed a contract worth $8,000,000 to continue the I Love Lucy TV show through 1955. The deal was the richest contract in television.
1960 – The VIIIth Winter Olympic Games opened in Squaw Valley, California. A lack of snow had prompted organizers to hire Native Americans to do a snow dance, but a deluge of rain was the only result. Snow finally arrived just before the opening ceremonies, which had to be delayed to await the arrival of U.S. Vice-President Richard M. Nixon, who would declare the games open. The storm had held up his flight.
1972 – In the case of California v. Anderson, the California Supreme Court declared the death penalty “unnecessary to any legitimate goal of the state and [is] incompatible with the dignity of man and the judicial process.” With that 107 inmates were taken off death row, including Charles Manson, who had been convicted in the Tate – LaBianca murders, and Sirhan Sirhan, Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin.
Filed under History
