us folks

1.2 liters of flatulence per day per person times 7 billion people.. WOW.  Don't we outnumber cows and cars etc.

Cow Farts and Bio-fuels.

Cows and sheep contribute about 18 percent of the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet -- more than cars, planes and all other forms of transportation put together.  Scientists are busy finding ways to turn this smelly problem into a solution. They've already developed a method for extracting methane from cow excrement and converting it to a biogas fuel that's of sufficient quality to be fed into a standard natural gas pipeline.

Harnessing cow farts as a fuel source might be tricky, but it isn't inconceivable, either. In Argentina -- a major beef producing nation where the collective herd of 55 million cattle outnumbers the human population -- researchers have developed a special bovine backpack that captures a cow's emissions via a tube attached to the cow's stomach, and discovered that the animals produce between 800 and 1,000 liters of gas each day. A single cow can heat your house all winter long ----- and give the children something for 'show and tell.'

speaking of cow flatulence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XYiC6n0CCk

My research shows that the  co2 emission from bovines increases substantially every spring only to drop dramatically the month before the Superbowl.

Spring Hits the Highlands

 A sure sign of spring in Scotland is the birth of new Highland Cows, know affectionatly in SCOTS as a 'Hariy Coo."








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latest news from ANYWHERE - Vatican target of condom attack

"German customs officials discovered 14 cocaine-filled condoms in a package marked for delivery to the Vatican. The condoms contained 340 grams of liquid cocaine, valued at around $55,000.

The parcel was addressed to the main postal center at the Vatican and was mailed from somewhere in South America.

After German officials found out what was in the package, they attempted to set up a sting operation with the help of Vatican police to catch the intended recipient, but no one ever claimed the drug-filled piece of mail.

According to the Independent, Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi confirmed that German authorities and the Vatican police had attempted to entrap the recipient.

Authorities believe that the person may have been tipped off about the sting."
No tip-offs, just the fact that no one in the Vatican would openly and publicly touch a condom.  Very shrewd scheme.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2014/03/24/Cocaine-filled-condoms-intercepted-en-route-to-the-Vatican/7401395671151/#ixzz2xGjTuzSx

groundhog pups

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfO0XUOgZMs

“How much wood could a woodchuck chuck ... ”

BY MOTHER GOOSE

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck

If a woodchuck could chuck wood?

As much wood as a woodchuck could chuck,

If a woodchuck could chuck wood.

jpr: Mikey memorized this poem in his early teens and can still recite it completely  from memory.

is soccer in the US getting serious or what?

http://www.local10.com/sports/renderings-for-new-soccer-stadium-released/25138250

A group led by English soccer star David Beckham unveiled plans on Monday to build a 25,000-seat soccer stadium on Miami's waterfront for the Major League Soccer team he will own/\
Development of the 36-acre (14.5 hectare) stadium site would cost about $200 million and include shops, hotels and offices connected to the mainland by a pedestrian bridge, according to John Alschuler, Beckham's New York-based real-estate adviser.

The America of Our Parents; another useless factoid

The Wigwam Motels, also known as the "Wigwam Villages", is a motel chain in the United States built during the 1930s and 40s. The rooms are built in the form of tipis, mistakenly referred to as wigwams.[3] It originally had seven different locations: two locations in Kentucky and one each in Alabama, Florida, Arizona, Louisiana, and California.  They are very distinctive historic landmarks. Two of the three surviving motels are located on historic U.S. Route 66: in Holbrook, Arizona, and one in San Bernardino, California. All three of the surviving motels are listed on the National Register of Historic Places  

Frank A. Redford developed the Village in 1933 after adding tipi-shaped motel units around a museum-cum-shop he had built to house his collection of Native American artifacts.  Thirteen tipis surrounded a central structure that originally served as a restaurant, plus a common area with playground, recreation space, and pavilion.[5] Each wigwam has a paved pad to accommodate one car.

The diameter at the base of each tipi is 14 feet (4.3 m), and they are 32 feet (9.8 m) in height. Behind the main room of each unit is a small bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower. In 2008, the rooms contain the original restored hickory furniture and a window-mounted air conditioner. There are no telephones to maintain the original atmosphere of the motel, but the rooms do have cable TV and internet access.

flash bang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77TGGEYhPnM

Ladies that purse carry is not needed any more/

Absurdism

I was watching a tv show and the heroine pulled a list from her bra.  It occurred to me that's an advantage women have that men have no acceptable comparable device.  I guess its common for women to store stuff there.  I wonder what kinds of things.  I think i'll do some "woman on the street" surveying.

The latest news, from Anywhere.

Google has digitized more than 30 million books so far.  Here's some big data results.

the ten most common verbs in the English language are irregular, even though the vast majority of verbs are regular.

Adolf Hitler is the most famous person born in the past two centuries (i.e., mentioned in the most books),

what is the significance and/or usefulness of "big data" in this case?  dunno!

all things spring

Spring

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

When daisies pied and violets blue

   And lady-smocks all silver-white

And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue

   Do paint the meadows with delight,

The cuckoo then, on every tree,

Mocks married men; for thus sings he,

                         Cuckoo;

Cuckoo, cuckoo: Oh word of fear,

Unpleasing to a married ear!

When shepherds pipe on oaten straws,

   And merry larks are plowmen’s clocks,

When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws,

   And maidens bleach their summer smocks,

The cuckoo then, on every tree,

Mocks married men; for thus sings he,

                         Cuckoo;

Cuckoo, cuckoo: Oh word of fear,

Unpleasing to a married ear!

spring lambs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VUpooyewNU

Spring Lambs
Lambs wobble. 
Their legs are skinny 
with hooves at the end.
Their ears are straight out the sides.
They suck their mothers’ milk.
They sniff the grass.

By Keira

North Amerrican Wife Carrying Champioship.

The North American Wife Carrying Championships take place every year on Columbus Day Weekend in October at Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, Maine.  Major wife-carrying competitions are also held in Monona, Wisconsin, Minocqua, Wisconsin and Marquette, Michigan.  The objective is for the male to carry the female through a special obstacle track in the fastest time.

The sport originated in Finland, and was most likely inspired by a duo of historical tales. A 19th century legend has it that men stole wives from neighboring villages. In a second tale, an outlaw named Rosvo-Ronkainen made potential soldiers prove themselves in a race where they carried heavy sacks. Put the two tales together, and what do you get? Wife-carrying races.

Finns are not afraid of wacky and ridiculous competitions. Take the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships, where contestants chuck cell phones as far as they can. Or, the Sauna World Championships, where the winner is the person who sweats it out the longest. The Wife Carrying World Championships are hosted each July in the Finnish town of Sonkajärven.

welcome spring!

Daffodils by Worsdsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

St. Patrick Returns

The largest St. Patrick's parade in Northern Ireland was held in Downpatrick, an ancient city in Cty Down, which is believed to be the burial place of the Saint. Forty thousand people watched the reenactment of Patrick's arrival in Ireland.  By contrast, 500,000 people attended the Dublin festivities.

Wife-carrying race

Apparently a viking tradition!

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/video/2014/mar/17/wife-carrying-race-surrey-video

FieldTurf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKi32GcNpn0

The surface is composed of mono filament polyethylene fibers tufted into a polypropylene backing. The infill is composed of a bottom layer of sand, a middle layer  mixture of sand and cryogenic rubber, and a top layer of only rubber. The fibers are meant to replicate blades of grass, while the infill acts as a cushion. This cushion improves safety when compared to earlier artificial surfaces and allows players to plant and pivot as if they were playing on a grass field. Proponents of the surface also cite its low-cost maintenance and durability form wear and weather.

jpr: Its showing up everywhere.

Churchill's New Cat.

• 

There is a new kitten at the Winston Churchill estate.  The orange-colored cat is there to comply with the late British leader’s request that there always be a cat of that color living at Chartwell, his country home.  Churchill indicated that the cat should have white chest fur, white paws, and be named Jock.  The unusual request stems from the affection Churchill felt for a kitten given to him on his 88th birthday by Jock Colville, one of his secretaries.  The new kitten was formerly known as Malley but has been renamed Jock VI. He was a stray cat taken into the care of an animal welfare group before it was adopted by Chartwell officials.

• 
  

taser drone

http://mashable.com/2014/03/09/flying-taser-drone/

A Texas film has revealed an app controlled security drone that can zap intruders with an 80,000 volt taser dart.  It’s called CUPID, but unlike its name, it could turn out as quite a deadly piece of kit. The name stands for Chaotic Unmanned Personal Intercept Drone and can fire a dart packed with 80,000 volts at any unwanted intruder or criminal on the run.


Jpr: coming to a neighbor near you!

what's the deal with the Ukraine? crimea river

Crimea is a MacGuffin.  The ruskie troops there are primarily those permanently stationed in Crimea at a Naval Base.  The real issue is Ukraine.  What I read is that Russia has been buggered about the West pushing Ukraine toward the EU.  This started about 20 years ago under Clinton. Russia was po'd about Ukraine being aligned with Europe rather than Mother Russia.  Understandable.  Here's a map which shows some of the reason Russian, Ukraine, and European Union are knotted together.  The economies of Europe, Russia, and Ukraine are joined at the hip because of oil and gas moving from Russia, through Ukraine, into Europe.  Russia does not want to invade Ukraine - they do not want to form a new Soviet.  They definitely don't want Ukraine in the EU. That would put Russia's Economy and shit at risk.  The end game (sounds geopolitical and all spy-ee) is that Ukraine will be unable to join the EU until their territorial, political,  and governmental disputes with Crimea are resolved.  No country can join EU as long as their borders, territory, and nation status are not fixed and clear, which the Russians will see is never in this case.

As always I offer no excuses or apologies for hubris, errors, or laughable dumbness. I really don't know  bean from a bug;  a toad from a frog; but I thought this analysis was interesting.  Crimea is an autonomous region in Ukraine,  whose parliament voted to become part of Russia.  There is chicanery afoot to be sure.   If you can solve this, send an email to the parliament there.  they can use the help.

brian o'driscoll

http://balls.ie/rugby/video-brian-odriscoll-interview-final-ireland-home-game/

Brian Gerald O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish professional rugby union player. Registered at University College Dublin R.F.C., he plays at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and Ireland. He was the captain of Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the British and Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand.

O'Driscoll has 140 Test caps, the most-capped player in rugby union history) – 132 for Ireland (83 as captain), and 8 for the British and Irish Lions. He has scored 46 tries for Ireland and 1 try for the Lions in 2001, making him the highest try scorer of all time in Irish Rugby. He is the 8th-highest try scorer in rugby union history, and the highest scoring centre of all time.

O'Driscoll holds the Six Nations record for most tries scored with 26. He has scored the most Heineken Cup tries (30) for an Irishman. O'Driscoll was chosen as Player of the Tournament in the 2006, 2007 and 2009 Six Nations Championships. He is widely regarded as the best centre to have ever played the game. 

from FOREIGN POLICY Mag's Situation Report - more army sex scandal

The U.S. military takes another hit on sexual assault, thanks to allegations against the Army's top sexual assault prosecutor. Yes, really. From Stars and Stripes' Chris Carroll and John Vandiver: "The top Army prosecutor for sexual assault cases has been suspended after a lawyer who worked for him recently reported he'd groped her and tried to kiss her at a sexual-assault legal conference more than two years ago. Two separate sources with knowledge of the situation told Stars and Stripes that the Army is investigating the allegations levied against Lt. Col. Joseph "Jay" Morse, who supervised the Army's nearly two dozen special victim prosecutors - who are in charge of prosecuting sexual assault, domestic abuse and crimes against children. Attempts to reach Morse via phone and email for comment have thus far been unsuccessful. Morse was removed from his job when the allegations came to light, one source said. To date, no charges have been filed in the case."

Day Light Savings Time, Another Capitalist Conspiracey

Rationale for disrupting every American's life twice a year for DST range from saving energy to making it safer for school children.  All nonsense.  The truth, in the undertones of the words of Winston Churchill,  DST creates "the opportunity for the pursuit of health and happiness among the millions of people." Stated more plainly, to work harder and spend more money.

It increases the amount of daylight after the standard 9-5 work day,  allowing people more time to spend money shopping, taking on extra work at home, or investing in golf and other recreational pursuits.   Historically, retailing, sports and tourism interests, plus the American  Chamber of Commerce have been the strongest supporters of DST.  Many pundits have rightfully dubbed it "Daylight Slaving Time," as the purpose is solely economical, motivation to work harder and spend more.   Revolutions have been fought for less.

Uranus

Most of the center of Uranus is a frozen mass of ammonia and methane, which gives it the blue-green color.  The atmosphere also contains hydrogen and helium.

Uranus orbits the Sun lying on its side and takes 84 years to complete one orbit.

 Uranus has a total of 27 moons, most of whom are named after characters in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.  The five major moons are called  Titania, Oberon, Miranda, Ariel and Umbriel.  Umbriel is not from Shakespeare but is the “melancholy sprite” in a poem by Alexander Pope.

Daylight Savings Time

Let's legalize pot, gay marriage, political dissent, then attack the biggest sob of all time - Daylight Savings.  If you agree, do not comment.  I keep tabs, after my second cup of coffee.

steve martin's new life

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell  just won a surprising Grammy Award for American roots recording. Their "Great Performances" concert, "Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell Live," is set to air on PBS. Listen
http://teamcoco.com/video/steve-martin-edie-brickell-08-06-13

Martin married Anne Stringfield,  they have one child born 2012.