Friday, June 29, 2018

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Making rubber bands



If you're going to be blazing away with rubber band guns, then you're going to need rubber bands. Looks like a nasty place to work.
 

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Another way for a kid to shoot his eye out



When I was a kid we made rubber band guns using clothes pins. I imagine I would have craved one of these had they been around.

Of course, since the word gun is in the name rubber band gun, you can imagine how some folks might view their sale. In fact, in 2010 some nitwit in New Zealand bought one in a New Zealand shopping mall and then waved it around and joked about robbing a McDonalds with it. He ended up arrested, and perhaps the trial judge at his sentencing got a bit a carried away as well. From the Queensland Times:   
A judge has called for rubber band guns to be banned after a man wielded one of the weapons at customers at an Ipswich shopping centre ...

“I find it inconceivable that items of this nature are on sale in Queensland,” Judge Koppenol said.

“Quite apart from the damage that a fired rubber band could do to the eye of a victim this weapon would give the distinct appearance, in my opinion, from a distance of being an actual gun.

“I cannot see any benefit and a significant detriment from the continuation of the sale of items of this nature.”
 

Friday, June 22, 2018

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Leaders on toilet paper

Click any image to enlarge
I've been remiss in my coverage of the latest affairs of Turkmenistan. For example, I completely skipped over Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow's (the former dentist and current president for life of Turkmenistan)  decree banning black cars and instructing his citizens to repaint their cars white or silver. Oh, and then there's the giant statue of him riding a horse which replaced the twirling statue of the previous leader, the beloved Turkmenbashi. You can see the giant horse monument below.

With that introduction to the post, you may wonder why I started it with a picture of Presidents Trump and Obama on toilet paper.

Well, it all started in the city of Dashoguz when several children were detained and tried for the crime of defacing pictures of Berdimuhamedow. Their hooliganistic acts included drawing goatees and mustaches on his pictures, as well as trampling them underfoot. Matters got even worse when it was discovered that local residents had taken to using newspaper with his picture on it as toilet paper. Oh, the horror!

From the article Turkmenistan Police Inspect Toilets for Use of President’s Newspaper Photos as Toilet Paper:
While inspecting another Dashoguz school for similar defiling of the president’s photos, police found bits of newspaper – some of which had Berdymukhammedov’s face on them – used as toilet paper in the school toilet. The director was fired, and an ample investigation into this practice began. It has reportedly led to the dismissal of several civil servants.

Apart from police officers inspecting both public and household toilets for incriminating evidence of defiling president Berdymukhammedov’s portrait, staff at landfills all over western Turkmenistan were instructed to be on the lookout for soiled pictures of the country’s supreme leader.

“There is a special janitor at each landfill site whose job is to inspect garbage, to look for soiled newspaper photos, to establish the house or flat of the newspaper subscriber and to report it to the police,” Fergana.ru reports.
Sooo... we may not have giant golden statues and streets full of white cars, but at least we can wipe our butts with novelty toilet paper without fear of getting arrested. That is, so far we can, but these days ya' never know (OK -- link to an old story, but whatever).

 Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Ads for alcohol

Click any image to enlarge
Here is a small collection of old beer, wine and liquor ads. I love the delighted expression on the guy's face in the ad above. The pure malt tonic below was an advertising strategy of the early 20th century. Sometimes, as well as advising the tonics to mothers, it was also suggested to let the little ankle-biters have a nip as well. You can read about that at Just What the Doctor Ordered.

There are a few more ads after the jump. Enjoy.


Thursday, June 14, 2018

Navigating a sprint boat



More sprint boat racing. This video shows shots from several angles on a sprint boat. Included are good views of the navigator giving hand signals to the driver to steer him through the course.
 
You might notice the boat is from New Zealand. That's where the sport originated. It first spread to Australia and then to the States.
 

Monday, June 11, 2018

Sprint boat racing and bikinis



We may no longer  have the bikini portion of the Miss America pageant, but at least we still have sprint boat racing!

Er... not that the two topics are remotely related, but I needed an excuse to link to bikini pictures, so there is that. At any rate, enjoy the racing and the bikinis.
 

Friday, June 08, 2018

Thursday, June 07, 2018

Comey the fall-guy?



I haven't posted much politics lately. Other sites certainly do a better job of dissecting the apparent sleazy antics of the CIA, FBI, DOJ and the Obama administration. What triggered this post was the leaked news that the IG draft report found that James Comey was insubordinate in his handling of Clinton's email server. From Business Insider:
The Department of Justice's inspector general has concluded that James Comey defied authority at times during his time leading of the FBI, ABC News reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with a draft report on the matter.

The report, when finished and officially released, will cap Inspector General Michael Horowitz's inquiry into the FBI's handling of its investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. The report is said to focus on senior FBI leadership at the time, like Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, rather than on Clinton.

One source told ABC News the draft report about Comey described his conduct as "insubordinate." Another source reportedly agreed with that characterization but could not confirm that the exact term had been used.
Needless to say the leak is spin. It neatly places the blame on Comey while insulating his superiors and of course Obama. I suspect the actual report will be more complex than that.

That said, if true one wonders what Comey thinks of being setup as the fall-guy?


Monday, June 04, 2018

Making bricks in Myanmar



When I post these type of YouTube videos -- walking in a city, manufacturing processes, etc. -- I look for a particular type of video: one not too long or short, with decent camera work and natural sounds without music as the soundtrack. It means I often have to watch a lot of videos to find one that works for me.

While going through brick factory videos, mixed in with the usual promotional videos, there were a number of clips that focused on the exploitation of child labor in the brick factories. The featured dirty and tired looking kids describing truly horrific working conditions.

This video starts with shots of a couple of young children hauling baskets of clay out of a pit. However, the longer you watch the less it seems they are exploited little urchins. Along with several adults, only two of them are hauling the clay. The adults are smiling and seem amused by it, as if they kids are just showing off for the camera. Furthermore, in the background there are a couple of other kids sitting on the edge of the pit just watching.

I got the impression that the brick factory was probably a family operation and the kids were just there with their families. Perhaps closer to an 19th century farming family than a Dickensian sweat shop. Then again, who knows? A video can be edited to tell a story from most any slant.


Friday, June 01, 2018