Megamouth shark caught, eaten in Philippines

Just the 41st megamouth shark ever identified was caught and eaten by fishermen in the Philippines. The fish was caught at a depth of 660 feet, really deep for divers. So it must have been a bottom trawler net, a net that scrapes the bottom of the ocean. this type of fishing is terrible for the environment, because the net catches everything on the bottom, destroys eco system of ocean floor. It also catches fish and other critters that are not edible but usually die and are thrown back in ocean. then again, these fishermen eat mostly shark, so they were just trying to feed their villages. This is good example of the ethics of environmentalism - hungry villagers eat an endangered species of shark: what is more important, feeding hungry poor villagers of protecting a shark species? The shark was already dead when net was reeled in (most fish die in these bottom nets), so what should they have done with a dead shark other than eat it? Could the villagers be introduced to other fishing that is more sustainable? Do they have to use bottom nets, do they have to eat sharks? Is there no affordable and effective alternative for them?

Proof of scuba expedition in Key Largo, Florida

Here is pic of me and eldest son, nathaniel, on dive boat 6 miles off Key largo in the open ocean. I snorkeled and he scuba dived. there is a whole new world "under the sea" as Ariel the mermaid sings about. I loved it. Key Largo rocks, great place.

Movie "The Reader" - Spoilers so watch out

Absolutely incredible film, I read IMDB.com message boards and here is my reaction. First, yes she can't read or write, michael finally figures this out. She is rural, illiterate girl, quits jobs when she is put in position of having to admit her illiteracy. This is not unusual, a fellow at the senior center can't read, he flunked out of school grade 5, he has asked me to help him learn to read. (problem is he is kinda senile, or maybe simple minded, I can't figure if he wants attention or really wants to read, I am caring for a sick cat, I mean there are limits on my humanity ya know?). Anyway, the movie is about Justice, capital J. Not the law (michael is lawyer, his professor is stressing law, not morality or justice, his students dont get it, neither does michael. The reason Hannah doesnt say at her trial, I cant read or write, I am illiterate, I was in bad situation with the world collapsing around me and didnt know what to do, is NOT that she was embarrassed, but that SHE RECOGNIZED HER GUILT even though her comrades didnt, lied, covered for each other, and then blamed her and dumped on her. She paid for her guilt, and in a way the guilt of others denied by them (almost like christ like figure). She leaves what little money she has for the sole survivor of the church fire - its all she can do, in a meager way, her own imprisonment wasnt enough, she finally died for her sins. So who is really fucked here? the morally superior law students who dont understand the complexity of justice; the court that wanted to establish guilt under law, and fit square pegs in round holes to do so; Michael, the prick, he had great sex with this woman but abandons her once she is on trial, how shallow is he? (very). the lone survivor of the fire - does she get it? Well, from her perspective, can there ever be justice even if everyone involved gets life in prison? how can you make something like this "right?" Socrates played with us in the Republic about Justice - it is illusionary, hard to define. The film deals with a joseph Conrad "heart of Darknesss" dilemma, an illiterate rural girl joins the SS as a low ranking guard because she needed a job that would hide her illiteracy, and "Mr. Kurtz, he dead" there was no one to guide her or help her make decisions, esp the c**nts who were her guard comrades. She takes on the guilt, as best she can - how can she atone? Does anyone get this like me, or am I being the political philosopher here and looking back at the cave I just walked out of???? your comments are welcome (just be civil :)

I guess she didn't like his nuts.....Sham Wow guy beats up prostitute

Oh, the humanity. Sham Wow guy gets arrested for beating up a prostitute in South Beach. For the record, I was recently in south beach florida, and I did not get arrested for anything. "Are you following me undercover police guy...?" He said she bit his tongue and he had to punch her to get her off of him - a common problem most of us guys have, how to get a woman we have paid for sex to let go of our tongue. this is just so terribly wrong.....I hear marlon brando saying, "Oh, the humanity...." thanks for the link noah !

AlterNews gets it wrong

Here is AlterNews.com version of why this felon killed 4 police officers: he couldnt find a job. Left out of the story is that he was a suspect in two rapes, so in addition to parole violation, the police wanted to interview him regarding the two rapes. He didnt want to go back to jail: he was a recidivist, he has been in and out of jail his entire adult life. he couldnt get a job: yeah, employment is hard for life time criminals and rapists. This guy was a career criminal, there was no life for him outside of prison, other than more crime. Even among career criminals, few will kill police officers to avoid jail time for a parole violation. This guy knew the police were coming for him because of the rapes, he knew he would be getting life in prison for the rapes (this is california, 3 times a felon you get life without parole). Below is quote from Alternews.com:

The killing of four police officers in Oakland shows the desperation of an ex-felon. Lovelle Mixon was trying to avoid going back to jail and at the same time unable to find any employment that would give him a second chance. It’s a story repeated all over America, even if it does not always end in a killing spree as it did in Oakland.

A general consensus is that it was a deadly mix of panic, rage, and frustration that caused Lovelle Mixon to snap.

What bullshit. Alternews can be good sometimes, but obviously they had an axe to grind and spun this story out of control.

Man survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki a bomb blasts

this man is certified as having survived BOTH the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - either the luckiest man alive or the unluckiest, depending upon how you view it. BTW, this weekend is start of cherry blossom festival in DC, a gift from the Japanese people. Don't forget the beautiful vase that japan gave James Buchanan, on display at Buchanan's house in Lancaster.

HIllalry says Palestinian state inevitable !

My misgivings about Hillary were misplaced - I am all for a two state solution, and finally Obama-Hillary are willing to put their political careers on the line for peace between jews and the arabs. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was done the last 4 years. Think of where we would be if we had not invaded iraq, instead, helped the creation of a Palestinian state. The billions we spent on Iraq could have been spent on the new Palestinian state, compensating arabs for lost lands, ending the refugee camps where children for two generations now have been born in poverty and hopelessness. I pray that she can pull it off. She will have to deal with extremists on both sides, deal with militants who will want to derail the peace, she needs to be safe (I mean really safe) about her own security traveling there. But if she can make her way through the mine field of Israeli Palestinian politics, the peace will be amazing - think of the lives to be saved, the human potential that can be tapped. And people from all over the world will be able to vacation once again in the land of the bible, the dead sea, and this tourism will result in alot of revenue for both Israel and the new Palestinian state.

"Everything is amazing, and no one is happy.....!"

This guy on Conan was hysterical - laughed myself silly. He compares technology of today with his childhood, for example, dial phones, going to the bank meant going INSIDE the bank, using a credit card meant the cashier taking out a big metal slide instrument to get the imprint then telephoning "the President" to make sure you really had credit....funny

11 yr old boy kills father's live in girlfriend, gets charged as an adult

An eleven year old boy kills his father's girlfriend who is pregnant with the shotgun the father bought for his christmas present. Not only is he being held in a county jail, in isolation from adult inmates, but he is being prosecuted as an adult. the prosecutor says, he has no choice, there is no equivalent murder charge in juvenile court. Duh....he misses the point, there is not equivalent charge because juveniles are or were not judged to be responsible for a crime like criminal homicide.

The boy needs a psychological evaluation. Also, a complete history of his family. What was going on in the house that led up to this? jealousy? Jealousy is not uncommon in blended families, but an 11 yr old killing his live in step-girlfriend with a shot gun is very uncommon.

Supposedly, the boy went to school after the killing. What did he think would happen? Nothing? That is a good question, what was going on in his mind.

The prosecutor is dead wrong: an 11 yr old should not be tried as an adult. I think the prosecutor is playing to the voters. The boy will not be adjudicated as an adult, and even if he is, he will be sent to a juvenile detention center until he is 18, then transferred to an adult jail. he will probably be released when he is 21 yrs old.

Divorce: the adults all want to start a new life, only they have children left over from a prior marriage, children that may remind them of a spouse they now hate. When adults divorce, at least one of them should be responsible for keeping the children the center stone of their life. in this case, dad was about to remarry, his girlfriend had two children from a previous marriage living with them, with one on the way (she was pregnant, the baby also died, suffocated). the boy must have felt like an outsider, someone awkwardly left over from a prior family. The father must take some responsibility here.

Horrible academic writing - some professors live in their own delusional world

One of the worst examples of academic publishing. One of the authors writes in the field of comparative tourism policy in Asia. She teaches a class in public personnel admin, but her knowledge doesn't go beyond the textbook. Back to this article, the other author writes (or edits what others write) in the field of public admin ethics. I have read this paper 6 times, and still cant figure out the topic. the paper is cut and pasted from other stuff they have written (can you plagiarize your own writing?) They never define ethics, or how something can be legal but unethical. some of the stuff they refer to (prostitution) is illegal, so why bring in ethics? I know of no country that advertises itself because of its prostitution, despite their two examples (which are vague). Las Vegas advertises itself as "what happens here stays here" but that is left out of their article. There is simply a lack of references for much of what is discussed, and at no time do they reference literature on "tourism ethics" (google tourism ethics, you will see what they have left out, I guess they dont google). The concerns the authors discuss (for example, accessibility) is relevant for public management generally, so why tourism? What makes tourism so different from other types of policies? Why is this a "special" topic? Much of the paper is their opinion, and there is a general absence of any real research. There are no data. No theories, no hypotheses. the sentence structure is poor, awkward. Read the first sentence, and the first paragraph - its as though even the authors are having a hard time trying to explain to themselves what the paper is about. The real question is why someone at their home university doesnt put a stop to this: cut and pasting article after article about tourism in asia. This is awful research, almost unreadable, essentially crap.

Balkan Lynx near extinction

The Lynx is the only wild cat left in Europe. The population of Balkan Lynx's is anywhere from 40 and up, hopefully at least 100 which is minimum population to be sustainable. Why is the Lynx almost extinct? Humans of course. Lynx's are hunted for their fur, which is valuable. Also, humans are expanding development of woodlands, destroying their natural habitat.

Sometimes we forget that children have just arrived on the earth. They are a little like aliens, coming into beings as bundles of energy and pure potential, here on some exploratory mission and they are just trying to learn what it means to be human. For some reason Dennis and I reached out into the universe and found each other, Never really know how or why. And discovered that I can love an alien and he can love a creature. And thats weird enough for both of us.

great movie about john cusack adopting a foster child who thinks he is from Mars. Great movie, also stars Johnny's sister Joan. I like the above quote. If you embrace the above quote, then you will be a great parent.

Dennis, can I just say one last thing about Mars? - which may be strange coming from a Science-Fiction writer - But right now, you and me here, put together entirely of atoms, sitting on this round rock with a core of liquid iron, held down by this force that seems to trouble you, called gravity, all the while spinning around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour and whizzing through the milkyway at 600,000 miles an hour in a universe that very well may be chasing its own tail at the speed of light; And admist all this frantic activity, fully cognisant of our own eminent demise - which is our own pretty way of saying we all know we're gonna die - We reach out to one another. Sometimes for the sake of entity, sometimes for reasons you're not old enough to understand yet, but a lot of the time we just reach out and expect nothing in return. Isn't that strange? Isn't that weird? Isn't that weird enough? The heck do ya need to be from Mars for?

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

If you would like to read the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, you can fill out this form and the gov'ment will mail one to you. They think that copying hundreds of pages of the Act to millions of americans will create jobs, keep people working at Kinkos for minimum wage, assistant with paper recycling centers, keep people reading for hours past their bedtime resulting in more electricity purchased, and lugging the behemouth report around will burn off calories and reduce the problem of obesity in the US.

Who says Congress doesnt have great ideas?

McNugget Martini - try not to vomit but vodka makes everything taste better.....

these two young women invented the McNugget Martini, it involves filet of fish, milkshake, mcnuggets and a bottle of vanilla vodka. The picture is captioned "try not to vomit," but this only goes to show vanilla vodka goes good with anything.

Here is their blog with more pictures, very funny.

New York Post - Compares Pres. Obama to a mad chimp

Someone obviously had their brain turned off, comparing Pres Obama to a crazy chimp in a cartoon. The whole chimp story is nuts. we discussed media and public opinion in american government earlier this week, and how the media focuses on shallow stories and prevents the public from being informed about public policy, and makes public opinion polls on policy positions very un reliable. Then, the next day, the lead story is about a chimp who goes nuts, attacks someone, is stabbed by his owner, and then the owner wants police to shoot the chimp. The owner said the chimp was "like a son..." give me a break, you stab and shoot your son when he tears someone's face off? what was this nitwit doing with a pet 200 lb chimp? Anyway, comparing obama with a chimp is so stupid-racist, I can only conclude someone's brain was off.

George W. Bush IS NOT the worst President !

Historians have voted once again, for the best and worst Presidents. Its some kinda Spearman's Rho ranking statistic, but W. comes in SIXTH from last ! Yeah ! Way to pull it out W ! Who is the President ranked just above W? John Tyler, a one term President who became President after William Henry Harrison died. Tyler's (6o something yrs old) most notable accomplishment was marrying a 20 something year old woman who was daughter (grand daughter) of a friend of his (wealthy New Yorker) and fathering 6 children with her, on top of the 7 he had with wife number one. Tyler was the first Vice President to become President, and since Const doesn't really specify (at the time) what happens if the Prez dies, Congress at first called him the Acting President, thought about passing a law to hold an emergency election. But Tyler insisted that he was the real President, and thus the practice began of Vice Presidents becoming Prez if the original Prez dies. Who is ranked just below him? Millard Fillmore, who became Prez when Zachery Taylor died in office. Another one termer, Millard was known as the Prez who "brought the outhouse into the white house," running flush toilets in the WH. he later ran on the Know Nothing ticket in 1856, a "nativist" party who wanted to preserve America for Americans (white Europeans).

So who else is worse than W? After Fillmore is Warren Harding, the most corrupt President, selling land to speculators who gave him payoffs, hiring contractors (friends and former business partners) at inflated prices to mine US land. then William Henry Harrison, whose only accomplishment was the first President to die in office. Then Franklin Pierce, a manic depressive who spent 4 years locked in the WH. Andrew Johnson, his "accidency," who was one vote short of being convicted of impeachment. And finally, Pennsylvania's own, james Buchanan, who I often explain was a great Democrat and statesman, coming out of retirement to preside over the destruction of the union, and earning an unfair ranking as dead last.

So George W. Bush comes in ahead of: the guy who brought toilets into the WH; the most corrupt Prez ever; the fist guy to die in WH; a manic depressive; an impeached Prez; and poor james Buchanan, the Bill Clinton of his era, whose biggest mistake was agreeing to become President when he should have stayed retired.

Shown are Presidents Tyler and Millard Fillmore, official portraits. And Fillmore in 1856 when he ran on the Know Nothing Party ticket (he went bling).

Dolce the Wonder Cat amazes NASA

Here is a video that shows a top secret cat experiment conducted by NASA - Dolce the wonder cat- shows eye paw coordination in demonstration that will assist astronauts in space station.

Fisker: Danish Hybrid car

Here is a link to Fisker automotive, a Danish company that makes sports cars and sedans, including hybrids. I saw the hybrid models at the DC auto show, both the 2 door coupe and the 4 door sedan, beautiful styling, great performance. Its a big car, its mpg isnt as great as my Yaris, but again its a big car, and beautiful, and has better styling than the full size chevy hybrid (which is not yet available). Fisker's are available in the US, NOW, check the link above. BTW, they are really expensive, like $90K. The chevy hybrid costs alot less.

Buffalo plane crash - auto pilot engaged

the problem with landing with an auto pilot engaged in known icing conditions is that the autopilot doesn't know there is ice on the wings or horizontal stabilizer - pilots should have disengaged autopilot, increased air speed, and NOT deployed any flaps in preparation to land (wing surface is screwed up with ice, flaps only change the shape of an already distorted strange wing surface - adding flaps increases the mystery of how the plane will handle with ice on the wings). Did pilots look at wings? could they see the wings from cockpit? thing is, these pilots flew in these conditions often, so they should have known better. Or did they become complacent?

Something I stumbled on browsing Google earth

George Will doesn't accept global warming, but here is an example of charleston heston finally realizing that global warming is real....damn you! damn youuuuuu!!!!!