And yet, I still find his photos beautiful.
And yet, I still find his photos beautiful.
…down by the seashore?
Apparently, Japanese scientists want to find out the answer to that question. From The Sydney Morning Herald:
Japan whale experiments bizarre: report
March 7, 2008 - 11:57PM
A review of the controversial scientific research conducted by Japan and its whalers has uncovered a list of “bizarre” and useless experiments, including how to cross breed cows with whales.
Scientists have analysed 43 research papers produced by Japan over 18 years, finding most were useless or esoteric.
The scientific research included injecting minke whale sperm into cows eggs, and attempts to produce test-tube whale babies, News Limited newspapers report.
For years Japan has continued its whaling program under the guise of scientific research, to the disgust of anti-whaling nations such as Australia.
The head of Australia’s scientific delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Dr Nick Gales, labelled the research “bizarre”.
“[The research involves] really bizarre and strange experiments with sheep and pigs and eggs,” he said. “It’s totally esoteric; very strange indeed.”
At the IWC meeting in London this weekend, Australia will argue for the closure of the “scientific research” loophole in the commercial whaling ban, which has allowed Japan to continue its program.
(This is fascinating to me, and I have to credit the creators of this wonderful resource, Michael Gastner, Cosma Shalizi, and Mark Newman from the University of Michigan.)
Consider these images:
The classic view of the 2004 Election results on a state map.
Adjusted based on electoral college representation.
2004 Election results… by county.
Now adjust the county map to reflect population.
2004 Election results by county, using shades of purple to represent the percentage of voters who voted Republican or Democrat. Anything above 70% goes completely to that color.
Now break it down by county.
My father used to say that a lot when it was time to make a decision. He was not the type of person who enjoyed wallowing in indecision.
That said, he always meant “Shit or get off of the pot!” figuratively not literally. But for the lady in this article, I think someone should have intervened with a bit paternal wisdom to tell her to get off the toilet before she became permanently bonded to a plastic toilet seat.
This article raises so many questions:
1) Is this a world record… for stupidity?
2) Despite living on a toilet seat for two years, her boyfriend stayed with her? WTF?!!?!!
3) No, really… WTF? Did they have sex? Or did he spend two years celibate? Of course, would anyone want to have sex with a woman whose ass is being permanently bonded to a toilet seat under what has to be less-than-sanitary conditions?
Anyways, from my favorite source of non-news, CNN.com:
Boyfriend: Phobia caused woman’s 2-year bathroom stay
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- “After a while, you kind of get used to it,” boyfriend says
- Police say woman lived in bathroom for two years, didn’t want to leave
- Her skin had grown around seat of toilet, police say; it went with her to hospital
- Boyfriend says he brought her food, water, clothes in bathroom
WICHITA, Kansas (AP) — A 35-year-old woman who sat on her boyfriend’s toilet for so long that her body was stuck to the seat had a phobia about leaving the bathroom, the boyfriend said.
“She is an adult; she made her own decision,” said her boyfriend, Kory McFarren. “I should have gotten help for her sooner; I admit that. But after a while, you kind of get used to it.”
The case drew nationwide attention after Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said it appeared the Ness City woman’s skin had grown around the seat in the two years she apparently was in the bathroom.
“We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital,” Whipple said. “The hospital removed it.”
McFarren, 36, said he can’t be certain how long Pam Babcock stayed in the bathroom because “time just went by so quick I can’t pinpoint how long.” He said beatings she received in her childhood caused her phobia.
“It just kind of happened one day; she went in and had been in there a little while, the next time it was a little longer. Then she got it in her head she was going to stay — like it was a safe place for her,” McFarren said.
But McFarren said she moved around in the bathroom during that time, bathed and changed into the clothes he brought her. He brought food and water to her. They had conversations and had an otherwise normal relationship — except it all happened in the bathroom.
McFarren said he finally called police February 27 after he became worried because Babcock was acting groggy — like she didn’t know what was going on, except she was awake.
What emergency responders found when they went into bathroom has left residents of this small western Kansas town buzzing, and law enforcement officials incredulous.
Police found the clothed woman sitting on the toilet, her sweat pants down to mid-thigh. She was “somewhat disoriented,” and her legs looked like they had atrophied, Whipple said.
“She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body,” Whipple said. “It is hard to imagine. … I still have a hard time imagining it myself.”
She initially refused emergency medical services, but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.
“She said that she didn’t need any help, that she was OK and did not want to leave,” he said.
Whipple said the county attorney will determine whether any charges should be filed against McFarren.
McFarren, who works at an antique store, said he has been taking care of Babcock for the 16 years they have lived together. He insisted that he tried to coax her out of the bathroom every day.
“And her reply would be, `Maybe tomorrow,”‘ Whipple said. “According to him, she did not want to leave the bathroom.”
She was reported in fair condition Wednesday at a hospital in Wichita, about 150 miles southeast of Ness City. Whipple said she has refused to cooperate with medical providers or law enforcement investigators.
Babcock has an infection in her legs that has damaged her nerves, and there is a possibility she may wind up in a wheelchair, McFarren said.
James Ellis, a neighbor, said he had known the woman since she was a child, but that he had not seen her for at least six years.
Babcock had a tough childhood after her mother died at a young age and apparently was usually kept inside the house as she grew up, he said.
“It really doesn’t surprise me,” Ellis said. “What surprises me is somebody wasn’t called in a bit earlier.”
“I don’t think anybody can make any sense out of it,” Ellis said.
