Weird News

[Gravdigr]

I couldn't think of a better thread for this, so it's here.
___________________

I'm (not too) seriously considering trying to buy this house. It'd be a great damn ding to my finances (it'd knock at least five years off my Sitting On My Ass Time), but, I'd own Muhammad Ali's house!

I couldn't do anything with the place, too far away to try and rent it out. Couldn't get enough rent to make money on it, plus, it'd be a two hour drive to fix a leaky faucet.

But I'd own Muhammad Ali's house!!!



If I lived in Louisville, this would be a no brainer.

[Ibby]

Originally Posted by glatt

Missing woman takes part in search for herself. After searching for a while, has a "hey, wait a minute" moment.

Reykjavik Grapevine

Originally Posted by Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett

Lily Weatherwax looked out at the multi-layered, silvery world.
“Where am I?”
INSIDE THE MIRROR.
“Am I dead?”
THE ANSWER TO THAT, said Death, is SOMEWHERE BETWEEN NO AND YES.
Lily turned, and a billion figures turned with her.
“When can I get out?”
WHEN YOU FIND THE ONE THAT’S REAL.
Lily Weatherwax ran on through the endless reflections.

—

Granny Weatherwax looked out at the multi-layered, silvery world.
“Where am I?”
INSIDE THE MIRROR.
“Am I dead?”
THE ANSWER TO THAT, said Death, is SOMEWHERE BETWEEN NO AND YES.
Esme turned, and a billion figures turned with her.
“When can I get out?”
WHEN YOU FIND THE ONE THAT’S REAL.
“Is this a trick question?”
NO.
Granny looked down at herself.
“This one,” she said.

[ZenGum]

Pedestrian killed on U.S. 93 while staging Bigfoot hoax

A 44-year-old man wearing a full-body camouflage suit was struck and killed on U.S. Highway 93 south of Kalispell on Sunday night, apparently while trying to stage a Bigfoot hoax.

Randy Lee Tenley of Kalispell was standing in the middle of the righthand, southbound lane of the highway dressed in a military-style ghillie suit when two cars rounded a slight bend and could not avoid hitting the man. He suffered massive trauma and died at the scene, according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jim Schneider. The crash occurred at about 10:30 p.m. at mile marker post 106.9.

“The camouflage suit was dark and subdued. It’s designed to break up a silhouette and blend in with your surroundings,” Schneider said, adding that the suit has strips of burlap designed to accept leaves and foliage. “It definitely hindered the ability of people to see him on the highway.”

Tenley was alone when he was hit and no one witnessed the crash directly, Schneider said. However, another member of Tenley’s party arrived at the crash scene soon after and spoke with the trooper about Tenley’s intentions.

“We can only speculate as to his exact intentions, but according to another member of his party his intention was to get people to believe they saw a sasquatch,” Schneider said. “It is a bizarre set of circumstances and it is certainly tragic.”

Schneider said he believes alcohol was involved, but he does not know whether Tenley was intoxicated.

None of the minor drivers had been drinking, and one teenage occupant of a vehicle that struck Tenley was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

Kind of sad, in a tragi-comic way.

[glatt]

It seems to me that the suit had only a little to do with him getting struck. If you were driving down the road and saw a bush in the road, would you try to avoid it? I would.

It says it was night time and he did this behind a slight bend in the road, so the cars came around the bend in the dark and there he was. Cammo or no cammo, he's likely to be hit.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by glatt

It seems to me that the suit had only a little to do with him getting struck. If you were driving down the road and saw a bush in the road, would you try to avoid it? I would.

It says it was night time and he did this behind a slight bend in the road, so the cars came around the bend in the dark and there he was. Cammo or no cammo, he's likely to be hit.

Often with Gillie Suits it's not so much that they look like a bush as much as they blend with the background. The object[ive] is to not look like an object.

[Gravdigr]

Darwin wins again.

[infinite monkey]

Talk about sticky-fingered thieves. They've struck in Quebec, snatching millions of dollars worth of maple syrup from a warehouse in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, between Montreal and Quebec City.

Up to 10 million pounds of syrup was in the warehouse, according to a statement from the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, which bills itself as keeper of the global strategic maple syrup reserve.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/31...len/?hpt=hp_t3

[Gravdigr]

Let's see, now...

Isn't there some way to make alcohol from maple syrple? Homemade rum, maybe?

[glatt]

Maple rum. You've just invented a new drink. It needs its own name though. Not rum.

[Gravdigr]

Brown Drank?

[Gravdigr]

Somewhere in West Texas is a 7-inch radioactive cylinder that Halliburton would like to find. Anyone who comes across it is advised to keep their distance.

The oil field services company lost track of the device, which is used to assess potential sites for hydraulic fracturing, on Tuesday (Sept. 11) while trying to transport it from Pecos to a well site near Odessa 130 miles away. A special unit of the Texas National Guard has now stepped in to aid Halliburton in a search for the cylinder, according to Bloomberg.

"It's not something that produces radiation in an extremely dangerous form," said Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. "But it’s best for people to stay back, 20 or 25 feet."

The tool that Halliburton lost contains a mixture of beryllium and americium-241, the same radioactive isotope of americium that is found in very small quantities in a common type of smoke detector.

"In the presence of beryllium, the alpha particles [emitted by americium-241] will react to form neutrons," explained Tom Hei, associate director of Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research. "For alpha particles, you can put a piece of paper in front of it and will provide adequate shielding. Such is not the case for neutrons, which require significantly more shielding or a longer distance from the source for adequate protection."

The neutrons emitted by the cylinder have a biological impact 10 times more powerful than X-rays and the distance at which they would be dangerous to humans would depend on how much of the radioactive material is contained in the device, Hei told Life's Little Mysteries.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency's five-tier scale for categorizing radioactive sources, the americium-241/beryllium neutron sources used for assessing hydraulic fracturing sites are classified as Category 3 sources (Category 1 is the most dangerous).

The agency's explanation of a Category 3 source that hasn't been dispersed by fire or explosion reads: "This source, if not safely managed or securely protected, could cause permanent injury to a person who handled it or who was otherwise in contact with it for some hours. It could possibly — although it would be unlikely — be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period of days to weeks."

The Texas health department says the cylinder is stamped with the words “danger radioactive” and “do not handle” along with a radiation warning symbol. Anyone who sees it is advised by the department to keep away and notify local law enforcement.

I love how they've narrowed down the possible location -- "somewhere in west Texas".

[xoxoxoBruce]

I would think normal transport of that device would take place in a well shielded container. Probably a good sized, fairly heavy, container... at least as big as a breadbox. Did they lose the whole thing or just the device?
Our local trash-to-steam incinerator has a thingy that can detect a smoke detector in the middle of a trash truck. I'm sure the military has better stuff, airborne stuff. They must know the route the device should have taken, so it shouldn't be that hard to locate, unless it just rides around in the back of some dude's pickup, and one day it ain't there. I'd assume the announcement it was missing is a cover-your-ass move.

[Sundae]

Captain John Hart.
Mark my words.

[footfootfoot]

Fracking
Halliburton

Now it's all clear to me.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Sundae

Captain John Hart.
Mark my words.

*snort*