New York Police Commissioner Calls for More Surveillance Cameras

From WNYC: "The people who complain about it, I would say, are a relatively small number of folks, because the genie is out of the bottle,” Kelly said. “People realize that everywhere you go now, your picture is taken."

Heroic, solitary moment of silence . . . .

. . . closed to the press, accompanied only by the White House photographer.  File this under "when reality cannot be parodied." More HERE.

p.s. Why, YES, that DOES appear to be one of the Frederic Remington sculptures, celebrating unbridled 19th Century gun violence and genocide.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results

SOURCE

Sigh . . . .

Wherein you learn that you are one profoundly ugly sumbitch.

David Zweig observes: "Watching the ad, I kept picturing all of the women I see on the subway, at highway rest stops, in suburban malls. Yes, some of them look like the women in the ad, but most of them don’t."

Before it's pointed out by Amanda Marcotte, we observe that this is just one more ploy of the patriarchy so that when we tell a woman she's beautiful, she'll more promptly bring us a sandwich.

Your homework assignment is to write a short story explaining the circumstances in which David Zweig spends his time watching women at highway rest stops.

George Jones (1931 - 2013)

He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they'll carry him away
He stopped loving her today

You know she came to see him one last time
Oh and we all wondered if she would
And it kept running through my mind
This time he's over her for good

Bald, Grey-Bearded Men; Also Kilts

The Scottish Medical Journal reports:

Based on literature on scrotal temperature, spermatogenesis and fertility, the hypothesis that men who regularly wear a kilt during the years in which they wish to procreate will, as a group, have significantly better rates of sperm quality and higher fertility.

"Departed This Transitory Life"

And (at least) 118 other ways to say "died" that have appeared on tombstones.  Not all are so poetic as "Changed a Fleeting World for an Immortal Rest" or "Laid His Hoary Head Beneath This Mortal Turf," nor as dramatic as "Fell by the Hands of . . . an Infatuated Man" and "Was Found Lashed to the Mast of his Sunken and Ill-Fated Vessel."

From Vast Public Indifference.

“The eternal silence of these infinite spaces fills me with dread."

The Fermi Paradox:  Where is everybody?

Annette Funicello (1942 - 2013)

Is that a poodle in your pocket?

The Daily Mail reports:

Gullible bargain hunters at Argentina's largest bazaar are forking out hundreds of dollars for what they think are gorgeous toy poodles, only to discover that their cute pooch is in fact a ferret pumped up on steroids.

One retired man from Catamarca, duped by the knock-down price for a pedigree dog, became suspicious he had bought what Argentinians call a 'Brazilian rat' and when he returned home took the 'dogs' to a vet for their vaccinations.

Imagine his surprise when his suspicious were confirmed - he had in fact purchased two ferrets that had been given steroids at birth to increase their size and then had some extra grooming to make their coats resemble a fluffy toy poodle.

We thought this sounded like a familiar scam.

Get busy . . . .

Story idea from Robert Heinlein: "Ghost of a little cat patting around eternity looking for a familiar lap to sit in."

A Little Fable

by Franz Kafka

"Alas," said the mouse, "the whole world is growing smaller every day."

"At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I must run into."

"You only need to change your direction," said the cat, and ate it up.

The Evolution of the Thumb

Latest Chinese Internet Meme: Gou gou chuan siwa (狗狗穿丝袜)

Which is to say, "Dogs wearing pantyhose."

I think that about sums it up

Birthday Gift Ideas

In stock!

Opening Day: a time for old men to . . .

Play Ball!