samhexum

Do you like salty or sweet?

LITERALLY: Turkish man knocked down basement wall to find 2,000-year-old underground city — after chasing his chickens through a hole In an effort to recapture his escaping poultry, the unidentified man knocked down the wall in the 1960s to reveal a dark tunnel leading to the ancient city of Elengubu, known today as Derinkuyu. Derinkuyu, burrowed more than 280 feet beneath the Central Anatolian region of Cappadocia, is the largest excavated underground city in the world and is believed to connect to more than 200 smaller, separate underground cities that were discovered in recent decades, Turkish guides told the BBC. Inside the subterranean city — whose entrances connect to more than 600 private homes in the modern, surface-level region of Cappadocia — researchers found 18 levels of tunnels containing dwellings, dry food storage, cattle stables, schools, wineries and even a chapel. The city was also equipped with a ventilation system that supplied its residents with a steady stream of fresh air and water. “Life underground was probably very difficult,” the guide, identified as Suleman, told the outlet. Derinkuyu is the largest excavated city in the world. “The residents relieved themselves in sealed clay jars, lived by torchlight and disposed of dead bodies in [designated] areas.” The exact date the impressive city was built remains contested, but ancient writings dating back to 370 BC indicate Derinkuyu was in existence. The city was likely originally used to store goods, but was then used as a bunker to escape from foreign invaders — the dimly-lit hallways were intentionally built narrow and low so intruders would be forced to stoop and enter in a single-file line. The doors connecting each level were blocked by half-ton boulders only moveable from the inside that contained a small hole that allowed residents to spear the confined trespassers. The city likely reached its peak population of 20,000 during the 7th-century Though it remains a mystery who the architects were, researchers believe the Hittites — a Bronze Age Anatolian people — “may have excavated the first few levels in the rock when they came under attack from the Phrygians around 1200 BCE,” A Bertini, an expert in Mediterranean cave dwellings, wrote in his 2010 essay on regional cave architecture. The Phrygian invaders, an Indo-European-speaking empire that ruled Anatolia for 600 years, are credited with building the bulk of the city in the centuries before Derinkuyu changed hands several more times, including between the Persians, Christians and Cappadocian Greeks. The city likely reached its peak population of 20,000 during the 7th-century Islamic raids on the Christian Byzantine Empire, the BBC reported. After 2,000 years of use, Derinkuyu was finally abandoned in 1923 by the Cappadocian Greeks, who faced defeat in the Greco-Turkish war and escaped to Greece. One century after it was rediscovered, the ancient city is open to visitors curious to experience life underground in Derinkuyu, which was added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 1985. https://nypost.com/2023/06/15/ancient-turkish-city-discovered-after-man-knocked-down-basement-wall/

Penn State professor accused of performing sexual acts with his dog: 'I do it to blow off steam' So the dog's name is Steam?

Stylish suspect whacks woman with high heel near Union Square 1. Why did the woman near Union Square have only one high heel? 2. With what did the stylish assailant whack the one-high-heeled woman? 3. Did the one-high-heeled woman feel better knowing her assailant was stylish?

One of MLB's most injury-prone players is hurt again... Mitch 'The Stitch' Hanniger has a fractured forearm after being hit by a pitch when he checked his swing. Haniger has had plenty of injury concerns over his career, including some fluke issues that have kept him out for extended runs. A 2019 testicular rupture sustained when he fouled a ball off himself ended up necessitating multiple core surgeries that cost him all of 2020. He returned for a full season in 2021 but missed a large chunk of last year with a high ankle sprain in his right leg. The Giants rolled the dice on Haniger’s power upside despite his injury history. San Francisco inked him to a three-year, $43.5MM free agent guarantee with a post-2024 opt-out clause. The first season of the deal hasn’t gone as planned. Haniger opened the year on the IL after suffering a Spring Training oblique strain. He returned in late April but started slowly, hitting .230/.281/.372 over 160 trips to the plate with his new club.

One earthquake can put San Francisco’s Millennium Tower in danger, engineer says https://nypost.com/2023/06/13/one-earthquake-can-put-the-leaning-millennium-tower-in-danger/ The Millennium Tower, cheekily known as the leaning tower of San Francisco, is in trouble if just one earthquake hits the city, The Post has learned. Consulting engineer Robert Pyke, who specializes in geotechnical and earthquake engineering, blamed the designer Treadwell & Rollo — a firm that was later acquired by Langan — for the foundation issues, citing a time crunch they were under during the 2008 market crash. “There’s a real possibility that after an earthquake, the building might be red tagged,” Pyke told The Post of the tower — a 58-story, 419-unit residence that was completed in 2009. When a building is red tagged it means the structure has been labeled severely damaged to the degree that is too dangerous to inhabit and prohibits entry to the property without written authorization by code enforcement. Pyke cites the Hayward Fault Zone — a geological zone situated mainly along the western base of the hills on the east side of San Francisco Bay — as capable of generating destructive earthquakes. “A quake on the Hayward Fault in the East Bay could occur any day,” Pyke said. “And even that Hayward … quake might be large enough to cause some significant rocking of the tool of buildings in San Francisco, like the Millennium Tower. So I think that’s the longer-term risk for the homeowners actually having to at least temporarily move out.” Additionally, Pyke explained that the tower will never come back to level. And while a collapse is unlikely, because it would need to tilt “tens of feet” for that to happen, Pyke said, if the tower edges closer to 40 inches, the elevators and the plumbing will stop working, and the residents will also be forced to move out. The current fix has not worked and will likely not work because of their switch from steel to concrete in their original 2005 build — which makes it heavier and harder to change, Pyke said. “It turned out not to be okay because the increase in the building weight effective was quite substantial. It was a third or more higher than it had been. And so the technical thing that it did was over stress the Old Bay Clay layer that was below the sand layer.” Pyke said in order to prevent any more tilting, he would abandon their current fix attempt, which he says “has too many uncertainties.” Instead he would drill borings (a cutting process that involves the use of a single-point cutting tool or boring head to enlarge an existing hole in a workpiece) on the south and east side of the tower to remove some of the soil in the Old Bay Clay layer in order to level up the building. “Carefully!” Pyke said. “This is similar to what was done on the leaning Tower of Pisa. Likely continuing settlement would then cease or slow down so much that it didn’t matter, but if it continued I might look at freezing the Old Bay Clay!”

Dear Abby: In high school, I had a close male friend, “Adam.” After graduation, I moved out of state. We remained friends for a while in college, calling, writing and visiting each other. He often declared his love for me, but I was interested only in a friendship. As with most high school relationships, we lost contact. Now, rereading old letters from friends, I realize there was a constant theme that we were perfect for each other and I should give him a chance. Fast-forward 20 years: My husband and I went back for a high school reunion and I met Adam’s wife. We all went out to dinner and had a very nice time. Adam and I exchanged phone numbers, agreed to stay in touch and we actually did. For eight years, we have been texting and staying in touch. Our marriages have deteriorated and we complain about our spouses, but also have real conversations and have grown very close. Three months ago, we met halfway between our two cities and began an affair. We now meet once or twice a month and spend the day in bed. We call each other once a day and text constantly. He even came to my city with his best friend who knows about us. I’m falling in love with Adam. He says he’s unhappy and thinks about separating from his wife. I’d leave my husband for him and move to his state because his children are younger. He hasn’t made any promises about the future, but he constantly tells me how his wife yells at and belittles him. I think we could be very good together. How can I convince him we deserve this chance? — High School Sweetheart Dear Sweetheart WHORE: While you are willing to leave your husband, Adam’s situation is more complicated. There are younger children involved and, as verbally abusive as his wife may be, he may not wish to disrupt their lives. Divorces are painful, messy and expensive. I think it would be in your best interests to lay your cards on the table and ask Adam what his plans are regarding his wife and his children and where you fit in. Then cross your fingers and pray he is honest with you because the odds are NOT in your favor. (Just sayin’.) WHY WOULD ADAM BUY THE COW WHEN HE CAN GET YOUR CHEAP MILK FOR FREE?

BREAK UP THE A'S!!! With Arizona's loss tonight, the A's have baseball's longest win streak-- all over teams with winning records. 2 vs Pitt, 3 vs Milw, 2 vs Tampa. They have also edged past KC by a couple of percentage points in W-L pct. Considering that this is the 6th year of KC's rebuild, and that the A's ARE historically bad, Royals fans must be thrilled.

the title could only have a couple more characters.

Justin Volpe (I wonder if he's related to Anthony) was sentenced to 30 years. He doesn't even look like the same man.

Struggling San Francisco takes another big hit as mall owner Westfield flees The pain is getting deeper for San Francisco as the owners of one of the biggest shopping centers in the city decided to walk away after 20 years, in the face of declining sales, occupancy and foot traffic. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield said late on Monday it will transfer its Westfield San Francisco shopping mall to lenders. The announcement followed Park Hotels & Resorts statement last week that it ceased making payments toward a $725 million mortgage linked to its Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55 hotels. I think things will get worse for quite awhile before they start to turn around (which, unfortunately, I think applies to many places and things in the country right now).

Careful what you say about the team that's tied with Arizona for the longest active win streak.

He was airlifted to a hospital in Albany.

He was making a turn and a woman cut him off. He was thrown from his bike. Everything I've been reading said he was a great person and friend.

What can I say? I just love a good 'meet-cute'. Although, of course, it's not as good as when Isaac accidentally shot and killed Nigel whilst ogling him through the scope on his rifle. Now they can be together forever!

What's going on in the world that's any more newsworthy?

What do you want to bet they get married? A Tesla driver slammed into another motorist as he swatted away a bug that flew into his car in New Jersey, cops said Monday. The 19-year-old driver, from Washington Township, was going east on Route 57 near Nikitin Way in Hackettstown just before 2 p.m. Sunday when an insect started flying around his face, police said. The driver tried to swat it away — causing him to lose control of his car and rear-end a 2017 Honda, with a 19-year-old woman behind the wheel, cops said. That car then struck a guardrail. The driver, also from Washington Township, was not hurt, police said. The Tesla driver had non-life-threatening injuries, and refused medical attention. But officers didn’t let his mistake fly — he was slapped with a summons for careless driving.

BASTARDS!

“Well, the time has come,” Sajak said in a statement to Bloomberg News on Monday. “I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last. It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all.”