Random Links Thread

[gotbeer]

I guess that's better than stuck on a roller coaster upside down. 

[Redondo]

MURDER CITY: Chicago records 762 killings in 2016, up 57 percent from '15

[Redondo]

• Tourist attacked by crocodile in Thailand after trying to snap photo

According to Thanya Netithammakul, head of the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Lesuffleur approached the pond where the crocodile was located and attempted to take the photo but she tripped. The large reptile then snapped at her when she got too close and bit her leg. 

Photos of the scene showed camouflaged park rangers carrying the victim on a stretcher with her knee bandaged. Another photo showed a ranger pointing to a pool of blood while standing next to a sign warning visitors in both Thai and English of a “Danger Crocodile No Swimming.” 

“She wanted to take selfie with the crocodile who was lying down near a stream,” park official Kanchit Srinoppawan told Thai newspaper Matichon, according to The Independent. “I guess that she wanted to see it for real.”

[Redondo]

Man who interrogated 9/11 mastermind says terrorists use political correctness to 'spread their jihadi message'

[Tank]

7 hours ago, Redondo said:

• Tourist attacked by crocodile in Thailand after trying to snap photo

According to Thanya Netithammakul, head of the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Lesuffleur approached the pond where the crocodile was located and attempted to take the photo but she tripped. The large reptile then snapped at her when she got too close and bit her leg. 

Photos of the scene showed camouflaged park rangers carrying the victim on a stretcher with her knee bandaged. Another photo showed a ranger pointing to a pool of blood while standing next to a sign warning visitors in both Thai and English of a “Danger Crocodile No Swimming.” 

“She wanted to take selfie with the crocodile who was lying down near a stream,” park official Kanchit Srinoppawan told Thai newspaper Matichon, according to The Independent. “I guess that she wanted to see it for real.”

and the first darwin award nominee of the year goes to . . .

[gotbeer]

28 minutes ago, Tank said:

and the first darwin award nominee of the year goes to . . .

That should be a new thread. 2017 Darwin nominees.  Make sure there is a link though.  Might actually be fun to look back at it at the end of 2017 and just shake our heads wondering when Giant Meteor will get here.

[Redondo]

'Tree Man' gets wart surgery

A man whose wart-covered skin earned him the striking nickname “Tree Man” has turned over a new leaf after undergoing 16 surgeries in a year to remove the debilitating growths.

Barcroft Media reported 27-year-old Abul Bajandar’s hands and feet were consumed by 11 pounds of bark-like warts due to epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV), an extremely rare condition involving widespread infection by human papillomavirus (HPV). A spring 2010 article in The Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery describes the condition as “an early and unusual presentation” that leaves individuals with “a propensity for developing malignant skin tumors.” Often surfacing in childhood, these growths are associated with an increased risk of nonmelanotic skin cancer on sun-exposed areas.

After living with the condition for about 10 years, Bajandar, of Bangladesh, began undergoing surgery— the first last February— and now, his hands and feet are “almost fine” Samanta Lal Sen, plastic surgery coordinator at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, told AFP. What’s left are a few small surgeries on his hands, but Bajandar is slated for discharge sometime within the next few weeks.

"I feel so much better,” Bajandar told AFP. “I can hold my daughter in my lap and play with her.”

If the surgeries succeed in warding off the growths, AFP reported Bajandar would be the first known person to be cured of EV.

[gotbeer]

Newfound Asteroid Gives Earth a Close Shave

Giant Meteors little brother says hi.

[gotbeer]

There will soon be a new bright spot in our night sky

 

This will be kind of cool.  You can see what happened 1800 years ago.  And in a more morbid sense, you will be able to see the disturbance in the force.  When million of voices suddenly cry out in terror and are suddenly silenced.

[Redondo]

Wrong number: Louisiana man texts deputy about meth delivery, sheriff says

[Blarg]

On 1/5/2017 at 11:54 AM, gotbeer said:

That should be a new thread. 2017 Darwin nominees.  Make sure there is a link though.  Might actually be fun to look back at it at the end of 2017 and just shake our heads wondering when Giant Meteor will get here.

Isn't that the Florida Man thread?

[Blarg]

31 minutes ago, Redondo said:

Wrong number: Louisiana man texts deputy about meth delivery, sheriff says

I had some dumb shit do that to me. Texted me he wanted to buy some more drugs and to meet him at the usual place. I texted back he had the wrong number, that he should be more careful he could be texting a cop. I got a string of obscenities. Looks like he had a relative in Louisiana.

[Redondo]

Ringling Bros. circus plans to shut down 'Greatest Show on Earth' after 146 years

After 146 years, the curtain is coming down on "The Greatest Show on Earth." The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus told The Associated Press that the show will close forever in May.

The iconic American spectacle was felled by a variety of factors, company executives say. Declining attendance combined with high operating costs, along with changing public tastes and prolonged battles with animal rights groups all contributed to its demise.

"There isn't any one thing," said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment. "This has been a very difficult decision for me and for the entire family."

 

[Tank]

I always liked the circus and the variety of acts. Loved seeing the big cats, too, but certainly understand the unhappiness of some people about that.

Wish they could continue even without the animals, but I'm not sure that the circus has that much appeal anymore.

[gotbeer]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

I always liked the circus and the variety of acts. Loved seeing the big cats, too, but certainly understand the unhappiness of some people about that.

Wish they could continue even without the animals, but I'm not sure that the circus has that much appeal anymore.

Depends on your definition.  Because Cirque de Soleil may have been the biggest downfall of Ringling Brothers.  And they don't have animals for the most part.  There is also that one horse show, I think it's called Cavalia, that has been getting bigger and bigger lately.  They come to LA for like a 3 month span. 

And if you don't mind non pc humor/raunchy humor.  I went to see a show in Vegas last trip out called Absinthe.  I think they are playing in LA right now.  But I thought it was a fantastic show.  They throw in the racial and other rated R jokes.  But the real stars of the show are the small acts.  They are like Cirque De Soleil, but close up.  The one at Ceasar's palace is a very close up room.  Maybe 15 rows, and the stage is in the center that's maybe 15 feet across.

[Tank]

16 minutes ago, gotbeer said:

Depends on your definition.  Because Cirque de Soleil may have been the biggest downfall of Ringling Brothers.  And they don't have animals for the most part.  There is also that one horse show, I think it's called Cavalia, that has been getting bigger and bigger lately.  They come to LA for like a 3 month span. 

And if you don't mind non pc humor/raunchy humor.  I went to see a show in Vegas last trip out called Absinthe.  I think they are playing in LA right now.  But I thought it was a fantastic show.  They throw in the racial and other rated R jokes.  But the real stars of the show are the small acts.  They are like Cirque De Soleil, but close up.  The one at Ceasar's palace is a very close up room.  Maybe 15 rows, and the stage is in the center that's maybe 15 feet across.

and yet, you still haven't invited me to go with you.

[Redondo]

Man finds a year-old lottery ticket worth $1 million cleaning his house

Have you ever looked through the pockets an old pair of pants you found in the back of your closet and pulled out a dollar? Well, for one Oregon man, his experience with finding forgotten money was like a million of those.

Joemel Panisa, an Oregon local, was motivated to tidy up his house thanks to the recent snow and ice storm that swept through the state. According to the Oregon Lottery, as he was cleaning his home office, Panisa unexpectedly came across a lottery ticket he had purchased on Jan. 15, 2016. Pansia took the ticket in to claim it and was shocked to find that the ticket was worth $1 million and it expired in eight days.

[Redondo]

 

 

GARGANTUAN GATOR
Oversize reptile goes for a leisurely stroll in Florida

Some Facebook commenters say that the well-known gator is nicknamed “Humpback” on account of his large, curved back, FOX 13 reports.

This is not the first big gator to hit the headlines in Florida recently. Last year a hunter in the Sunshine State nabbed a 13-and-half-foot alligator. The state record for length was a 14 foot 3 1/2 inch male at Lake Washington in Brevard County, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Florida’s heaviest recorded gator was a 1,043 pound (13 feet 10-1/2 inches long) male at Orange Lake in Alachua County.

[Tank]

just another reason to avoid florida.

that thing looks like it could eat a minivan.

[arch stanton]

The golf course on Hurlburt Field near Ft Walton Beach is called Gator Lakes. You see them everywhere while you play. Nothing that big but big enough that between them and the snapping turtles you write off whatever balls you hit into the water.

[gotbeer]

This Week In Golf Biz: Is The Kirkland Ball Dead? Augusta National's Land Grab And Rocco's New Club

Noooooo!!!!  I haven't even had a chance to try them balls yet.  

Edited January 22, 2017 by gotbeer

[Redondo]

 

[Redondo]

Florida enlists snake hunters from India in fight against invasive pythons

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has tapped two adept hunters from India – armed with tire irons – to find and get rid of Burmese pythons, which are wiping out small mammal populations in the Everglades.

In two weeks this month, Masi Sadaiyan and Vadivel Gopal, both in their 50s and hailing from the famed Irula snake hunting tribe, have caught 14 of the elusive pythons, including a 16-footer hiding at a former missile base on Key Largo.

For comparison, 1,000 hunters, mostly amateurs, in the state’s annual Python Challenge contest caught 106 snakes over the course of a month last year and 68 the year before, the Miami Herald reports.

“If we fall anywhere in that range, I’m going to be really happy,” University of Florida biologist Frank Mazzotti told the newspaper.

UF biologist Ed Metzger said half the snakes captured so far would not have been found without Sadaiyan and Gopal’s tracking expertise. Pythons that are captured are killed or kept for education.

“Since the Irula have been so successful in their homeland at removing pythons, we are hoping they can teach people in Florida some of these skills,” said Kristen Sommers, chief of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wildlife Impact Management Section.

Back in India, the tribe’s ancestors have hunted pythons to the point of extinction in their home state in the southern part of the country, the Miami Herald reports.

[Jason]

On 1/16/2017 at 9:27 PM, arch stanton said:

The golf course on Hurlburt Field near Ft Walton Beach is called Gator Lakes. You see them everywhere while you play. Nothing that big but big enough that between them and the snapping turtles you write off whatever balls you hit into the water.

Old Chubs learned the hard way

[Redondo]

'I ran up the world's steepest 400-meter race— using my arms'

Good story to read. A very determined lady.