samhexum

FUCK YOU WilliamM! Watch Your Back!

MAKE WAR, NOT LOVE... They’re the least horny rhinos on Earth. The Sumatran species of rhino is among the planet’s most endangered mammals because males and females in captivity would rather fight than mate, scientists say. There are just 80 Sumatran rhinos left. Researchers at Britian’s Mammal Society warn that the only way to save them is through advanced fertility treatments or cloning,according to The Sunday Times. Sumatran rhinos are so rare in the wild that males can’t find female mates, the scientists said. Two species of rhino recently became extinct.

Was she a Vanderbilt or a Whitney?

James Gandolfini's son Michael will play young Tony Soprano in upcoming 'Sopranos' prequel David Chase will keep the role of Tony Soprano all in the family in his upcoming Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark, courtesy of Michael Gandolfini, son of late actor James Gandolfini, who will play a young version of the beloved fictional mobster. http://www.philly.com/resizer/grmByjrQ8fb068QYaz-oByEdpF0=/1400x932/smart/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-pmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/JQBR5XIJRZEQNCURYHHJUXHNRM.jpg

DEAR ABBY: My uncle who has Alzheimer’s has declined rapidly. Prior to his decline, I bought 30 greeting cards every month and made sure to mail one to him each day. I live in Florida, and he lives in Kentucky. I received much satisfaction and joy with every post I sent. My mother would open the cards and tape them to the outside of the door of his room. His neighbors would pause and read them as they passed by, and he used the montage of seasonal greetings as a way to recognize his door. My uncle is no longer cognizant or coherent, and my mother has told me to stop sending the cards. Abby, I need this activity in my life. How can I find another person who would welcome a greeting card? I am semi-paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. I have no interest in meeting, visiting or even talking to the recipient; I just want to send greeting cards. Suggestions? LOVES SENDING SMILES DEAR LOVES: It’s time to find another outlet for your caring and compassion. Contact the eldercare facilities in your community, speak to the directors and ask if one (or more) of the residents might enjoy receiving your seasonal greetings. I’m betting the answer will be yes.

SACRILEGE!!! Yesterday on THE VIEW the panel was going to discuss Wilbur Ross’ brilliant observation that workers who weren’t getting paid during the shutdown should just get loans… The Whoopster is off on Fridays (Ana Navarro joins the panel) and Joy is the moderator. In introducing the topic, Joy pronounced Wilbur as Mr. Ed used to (RIP), and one of the other panelists asked why she pronounced it that way. She said it was from some character (she thought) from Charlotte’s Web. Nobody at the table knew better… somebody from the audience mentioned Mr. Ed to Meaghan, but she didn’t know who that was and nobody else at the table heard the exchange.

In any discussion involving ATMs, I have to mention that my favorite ATM is no longer in use. In the late 80s, IBM made an ATM that gave out exact change... down to the penny. I was frequently broke at the time, and often needed to take out as much as possible. There was no online reconciling of your accounts back then, so I had to call customer service if I wanted to check what had or hadn't cleared or posted; it was always fun when I'd get a rep who'd see that I'd made an ATM withdrawal of something like $17.68... I had a few ask me HOW? I got curious last year, & emailed IBM asking if they had any details about the machine, since nobody else had ever heard of such a thing. They sent me a copy of the sales pitch they sent out in 1987. International Business Machines Corporation IBM 4732 Personal Banking Machine Models 001 and 002 The IBM 4732 Personal Banking Machine is designed to automate a wide range of financial services and teller activities. It is designed for either free-standing or through-the-wall installation, indoors in bank lobbies, vestibules, supermarkets, shopping malls, corporate locations, etc., or exposed through bank wall or kiosks in remote locations. It can be attached to the IBM 4701 Controller, 4702 Processor, or to a host/sub-host system. It can attach to existing networks that support IBM Personal Banking Machines or most networks that support other common ATM's using its 3624 Emulation feature or its Alternate Connect Feature. The 4732 can dispense coins and accept checks without an envelope. It can cash checks in the exact amount or accept them for deposit with or without cash back. For the customer, this means they can deposit or cash checks in the same manner as with a teller, and they are not required to fill out either a deposit slip or an envelope. The financial institution can be relieved of the dual custody requirements of handling envelopes, and the checks can be processed as a single deposit of multiple items rather than multiple deposits, thereby providing significant back-office savings. The 4732 also provides statement printing capability that allows the financial institution to offer greater value and service to its customers. All models handle cash as well as non-cash banking transactions. Prices: IBM 4732 Model 001: $19,900 IBM 4732 Model 002: $19,900 11/03/87

In a bizarre and instinctual survival tactic, alligators that normally lurk in a swamp in eastern North Carolina are now “frozen” beneath the murky water. Every inch of the reptiles’ bodies stay underwater — except for their snout. Officials at The Swamp Park in Ocean Isle Beach took to Facebook this week =68.ARB4VNE_ufYUA6v9qn9owVj5G1vI5kEHeQOLWuM2pfoZLX1Cw47FoIOqjzI9E545XDWBKM0BwRzsExA0QJ-j2ajHG-yWrlJcaX1ZPrrG7CAqlZG4caq_WbwGWbtQgdklsKMn3Qiz2csvgLi2wAJk9ZO4CKpKP93GbXJnp4ZbDJ4ZI4HJy1VteRdVpBiCOSbuhbKdjBJaDdSWtKKL6N5gp8o0odYb6TpMaBelmFKo7w0M2MNDSKP-qMcCuaC5myzV2dLD82LvHCvZ6b08AnAQ8LOCX5bffQDGB3e9hvW8E61FQkRHlDuCc1JmtKYjEeYczzev8-U_rIDgvtNA4OrHAbfq2lwDAHzeC26Ow9nM3_xqy81F1jbLAV-emg2Ox78KTRodR4OsaDbUPyJ3AZWS4obQbJUgE6bUVYwbyu5qrkDVKIW7_B138gjkXtqvHnGoOUnKu4mJaSDBqIiAuh-pJ273Al6DjwUJYhXO9Dkn9QN4I60ffWN6g5zreW1CBJCyOSwhInbDZT--WNB3JXKGabjK1qlUf6Rx8KtQykJP95PZW-PmN45ZISKT1qmhuvTKUjO1X6ir2nq0ZnUDlwK79WQtbS0ieXqDBbKZf4FkzEdSCI3jRZ7DzImUbxlFO9-Kts25EEPgbVCYBruvP2wGeGS5NrHIVZt-UZqeHdGXFVbNAzAtvano1Q-rPY7OLBguQkHVjZ0Zs6dLb9r8mdXLkDp3My5NYoZqlK2kHAuXkkGrNOp6JulnQLbYkHDtzsFVKP9ORYrfapcpY9bch6527EVH-ChTX5KIAoFv-_V3nlW8wBOq8jhWdEdYR_cR1Dd2agZMlnqQ-VXXK6OokFgCCAhHlXK_Yl4&__tn__=-R']with a video that shows the gators icebound in the swamp with only their snouts protruding and a toothy grin sealed in place. “All our alligators in ice here,” George Howard, the manager at The Swamp Park, says in the video which had 12,000 views as of Thursday afternoon. “Eighteen American alligators are thinking ahead, as they poke their noses through the ice.” The gators use the tactic to survive when the water around them reaches freezing temperatures in the frigid winter months. When they sense the water is reaching a freezing point, they push their snouts just above the surface “at just the right moment” Howard said last year when a similar event occurred. Alligators, like other reptiles, are cold-blooded and “rely on their environment for temperature regulation,” the South Carolina Aquarium explains. The process is known as brumation, according to Loyola University New Orleans’ Center for Environmental Communication. Brumation — similar to hibernation but not to be confused with it — occurs when the alligators “react to a cold environment by slowing their metabolic activity, but certainly not to the deep torpor of true hibernation,” the center explained. Animals that hibernate fall into a deep slumber and do not eat or drink for months. In brumation, reptiles still have periods where they are active and they do not fall into a deep sleep. While they do not eat during this time, they do drink to avoid becoming dehydrated, according to the South Carolina Aquarium. Brumation typically lasts for four or five months. Seeing alligators frozen in water — especially in the South when freezing temperatures aren’t as common as in other parts of the country — makes this phenomenon even more unique, Howard told Fox News on Thursday. Normally, he said, alligators in the wild “would burrow into the ground” as a form of brumation. But because this particular group of lives in captivity at the park, “they have to change the way they’re doing it.” “They can’t move. They stay suspended [while frozen.] It’s really a fantastic phenomenon because it hardly ever freezes here,” he added, noting the amount of time the animals remain frozen depends on the weather. When the gators froze at The Swamp Park last year — the first time officials at the park saw this occur — they remained frozen for a few days before thawing. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1825228877582426

Researchers say that a site in Papua New Guinea may contain the long-lost remains of Amelia Earhart’s plane. Wreckage off the coast off Buka Island, Papua New Guinea, may offer a vital clue to the decades-long mystery, according to investigators from Project Blue Angel. The Project’s members have been studying the site for 13 years and say that wreckage off Buka Island could be from Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E. Earhart famously disappeared while attempting to fly her Lockheed Electra 10E plane around the world. The aviator and her navigator Fred Noonan went missing on July 2, 1937, during a flight from Papua New Guinea to Howland Island in the Pacific. Their fate became one of the great mysteries of the 20th century and is still hotly debated. “The Buka Island wreck site was directly on Amelia and Fred’s flight path, and it is an area never searched following their disappearance,” said William Snavely, Project Blue Angel director, in a statement. “What we’ve found so far is consistent with the plane she flew.” Snavely has traced Earhart’s route from Lae in Papua New Guinea, which was the departure point for her doomed final flight. The researcher thinks that low on fuel she may have decided to turn back during her journey to Howland Island. Divers from Papua New Guinea have surveyed the site on a number of occasions for Snavely. Last year US members of Project Blue Angel also investigated the site, which is about 100 feet below the ocean’s surface. “While the complete data is still under review by experts, initial reports indicate that a piece of glass raised from the wreckage shares some consistencies with a landing light on the Lockheed Electra 10,” explains the Project, in its statement. “Amelia’s Electra had specific modifications done to it for this specific journey, and some of those unique modifications appear to be verified in the wreckage that’s been found,” added pilot and aerospace engineer Jill Meyers, who is Blue Angel’s PR Manager. However, the project notes that the wreckage has been gradually eroded by years of rough water and earthquakes. “While there is no way to be certain yet that this is definitively Amelia Earhart’s Electra, the crash site may hold the clues to solving one of the world’s greatest mysteries,” Snavely added in the statement. Project Blue Angel is planning another expedition to Buka in the Spring that will harness advanced imaging technologies. There are a number of competing theories about what ultimately happened to Earhart. One well-publicized theory is that she died a castaway after landing her plane on the remote island of Nikumaroro, a coral atoll 1,200 miles from the Marshall Islands. Some 13 human bones were found on Nikumaroro, also known as Gardner Island, three years after Earhart’s disappearance. Last year, a scientific study claimed to shed new light on the decades-long mystery of what happened to Earhart. Richard Jantz, an emeritus anthropology professor at the University of Tennessee, argued that the bones discovered on Nikumaroro in 1940 were likely Earhart’s remains. The research contradicts a forensic analysis of the remains in 1941 that described the bones as belonging to a male. The bones, which were subsequently lost, continue to be a source of debate. While some are convinced that Nikumaroro is Earhart’s final resting place, another theory suggests that she met her end on Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. In 2017, controversy swirled around a photo that was touted as providing a vital clue as to Earhart’s fate.

Fans can leave the money clip and dollar bills at home if they plan to attend a Tampa Bay Rays home game next season. On Friday, the team announced that Tropicana Field will become the first cash-free sports venue in North America. The move intends to cut the average transaction time in half at concession stands, team stores, the box office and anywhere else where money traditionally changed hands. "We have made significant investments each year to improve the ballpark experience for fans, including an overhaul of our approach to food and beverage since the beginning of our partnership with [hospitality partner] Levy," Rays vice president of strategy and development William Walsh said in a release. "This change will increase speed of service and reduce lines throughout the ballpark." Among the methods that will now be accepted are credit cards, mobile pay and Rays gift cards. This is another major change to the ballpark experience at Tropicana Field. Earlier this month, the team announced that it was eliminating all seating in the upper deck for 2019 in an effort to create a more "intimate" experience for fans. The move reduced capacity by more than 5,000 seats to approximately 25,000 to 26,000 -- 10,000 seats fewer than any other stadium in the major leagues.

A Canadian woman discovered that her intense bouts of vomiting and constant nausea were due to her regular marijuana use. Last year, Desiree Haight found it so difficult to keep food down that she dropped 30 pounds, from 150 pounds down to 120. BITCH! Things came to a head in November when she wound up in the emergency room in her hometown of Calgary after she threw up 30 times in one day. At first, doctors assumed the 46-year-old either had food poisoning or a stomach virus. But one emergency room physician said her symptoms seemed familiar and asked if she smoked marijuana and if hot showers gave her relief. When she answered ‘yes’, that’s when he diagnosed her with a little-known condition called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) in which chronic cannabis users vomit incessantly without explanation. CHS is a recently discovered, but poorly understood, condition caused by long-term cannabis use. The syndrome occurs in heavy marijuana users, those who smoke at least 20 times a month, who have recurrent and severe bouts of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The number of people affected by CHS is unclear, although its prevalence could be in the millions. In Canada, where recreational marijuana was legalized last year, the numbers of people with the condition could rise. The first study to report on the phenomenon was led by Mount Barker Hospital in Australia, where researchers realized patients who had repeated attacks of vomiting had one thing in common: chronic cannabis use. Out of 10 participants, seven who stopped using cannabis saw their symptoms resolve. The three who refused to abstain saw their symptoms continue.

A Pennsylvania man says his emotional support alligator helps him deal with his depression. Joie Henney, 65, said his registered emotional support animal named Wally likes to snuggle and give hugs, despite being a 5-foot-long alligator. The York Haven man said he received approval from his doctor to use Wally as his emotional support animal after not wanting to go on medication for depression, he told Philly.com. “I had Wally and when I came home and was around him, it was all OK,” he said. “My doctor knew about Wally and figured it works, so why not?” Wally was rescued from outside Orlando at 14 months old and is still growing; Henney said Wally could be 16 feet long one day. Henney says Wally eats chicken wings and shares an indoor plastic pond with a smaller rescue alligator named Scrappy. Wally, who turns 4 this year, is a big teddy bear, in Henney’s words. The cold-blooded reptile likes to rest his snout on Henney’s and “he likes to give hugs,” he said. The alligator has never bitten anyone and is even afraid of cats, according to Henney. Henney acknowledged that Wally is still a dangerous wild animal and could probably tear his arm off, but says he’s never been afraid of him. But the 65-year-old’s background also indicates a comfort with creatures like Wally. He hosted a show called “Joie Henney’s Outdoors” on ESPN Outdoors from 1989 to 2000,according to the York Daily Record. Henney frequently takes Wally out for meet-and-greets at places like senior centers and minor-league baseball games. “He’s just like a dog,” Henney told a woman at a recent outing to a senior center. “He wants to be loved and petted.”

NOW THAT SCHMITT HAS TASTED THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT (so to speak) HE’S GETTING A LITTLE COCKY (so to speak). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aisHfB6klU4 Now that he's brimming with self-confidence, Schmitt has decided to switch to contacts. It happened towards the end of the episode, and it's at the end of this clip. He couldn't do it himself, so his lesbian intern pal had to help.

If you're gonna post a clip of Alice Ghostley singing, at least show her greatest hit:

Town clerk accused of stealing $300,000 from a town of only 250 people A municipal clerk is accused of embezzling more than $300,000 from her small town of only 250 residents. Former Fayette, Utah, clerk Tracy Kay Mellor pleaded guilty to misuse of $153,391 in public funds over a nine-year period in November, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. She was sentenced to 45 days in jail and ordered to pay restitution. Now, a new state audit claims Mellor may have been responsible for double that amount. “We knew all along that it was more,” according to Mayor Brenda Leifson. The mayor said she first noticed some accounting irregularities after taking office in January 2018. The town’s annual budget is just $100,000, according to Leifson. When Leifson confronted Mellor, the former clerk “got upset and quit” in March 2018. That’s when the investigation moved forward, leading to Mellor’s November plea. According to Leifson, state prosecutors said there is a statute of limitations that will make further criminal prosecution unlikely. Leifson said she’s also spoken to attorneys about a civil suit to recovery misappropriated funds, though she isn’t optimistic that will happen. Leifson said she harbors no ill will toward the former clerk and expects the two of them will meet again in the small town. “I haven’t seen her much this winter,” Leifson said. “I have no hard will toward her.I just want to move the town forward.” Leifson herself has had to deal with a few mini scandals of her own. Her husband Lee had to step down from his dog catcher job in 2017 as town laws prohibit more than one family member from being on the payroll. Leifson said she’d previously been told that wouldn’t be an issue, but was later pressured to adhere to the rule. She was also accused of using $400 in city money for a hotel stay three hours outside of Fayette, where Leifson said she was tending to government business. “I haven’t heard anything about that since October,” Leifson said. She assumed the expenditure would be approved, but said she will do what’s necessary to resolve the issue.

A Connecticut woman was busted this week for getting behind the wheel under the influence of pure vanilla extract, police said. Someone called the cops around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday to report that a woman was slumped in the driver’s seat of a car stopped at Grove and Pine streets in New Canaan with her eyes closed, according to local authorities. When police arrived, they found Stefanie Warner-Grise, 50, inside the car. “Upon speaking with Warner-Grise, officers detected an odor of vanilla coming from her breath, her speech was slurred and she was unable to answer basic questions,” cops said in a statement. “In addition, several bottles of pure vanilla extract were located inside the vehicle.” Warner-Grise was taken into custody after she failed sobriety tests, police said. She refused to allow police to measure her blood-alcohol level, and was ordered held on $250 bond. Vanilla extract must contain no less than 35 percent ethyl alcohol by volume, making it 70 proof, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The popular McCormick brand of vanilla extract is 41 percent alcohol, or 82 proof. The alcohol is normally burned away in the cooking process, but ingesting the vanilla extract directly can have a similar effect to drinking hard liquor, according to Medical Daily.