One has to wonder if this was the result of peer-reviewed research. If so, I’m not sure I want to visualize the procedure involved.

Lost? Manhood overboard, everybody

It’s just a solitary foot bone, but it suggests that people were navigating the world’s oceans tens of thousands of years earlier than had been thought. And, according to some experts, they did so – truly – by the seat of their pants.

The bone, found on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, suggests that humans got there at least 67,000 years ago, crossing open sea long before we have any direct evidence that people knew how to build boats or sail them. And even older stone tools have been discovered on other Pacific islands, which – like Luzon – were surrounded by water even when sea levels were some 360 feet lower, at the peak of the last ice age.

But how on earth did prehistoric people find what are often just specks in the world’s biggest ocean? Some years ago I came across a man who thought he knew. Samoan meteorologist Penehuro Lefale told an international conference that they did it because they had balls.

Helmsmen, he said, would hang over the side of their rafts and trail their scrotums in the water, using the most sensitive parts of their bodies to pick up changes in water temperature.

“If the water was becoming colder, their testicles would shrink and they knew they were moving away from land,” he went on. “If the water was warmer, they knew land was near.”

We’ve long been told that letting it all hang out makes us feel more pacific, but I never envisaged anything like this.

Hmmmm. Does this explain the presence of what appears to be bovine testicular organs observed on the back of some cattle trucks? An enhancement to the use of GPS perhaps? Something to think about? Nah.

It took a while to take care of the situation…and, barring just sitting around a motel for 10 MORE days, it was finally needful to trade in one damaged vehicle (in the repair shop) for an undamaged one to bring back home.

All’s well that ends well…and though the entire experience was what could be called suboptimal, at least contusion of the left shoulder and arm by the seat belt was preferable to the alternative if the seatbelt had not been in use at the time! Even though the Chief resents the nanny-state REQUIRING seatbelts, they ARE the way to go…the physics doesn’t lie!

Anyway…made it back just in time for the election results:

Sen John Thune re-elected already! The first conclusive victory of the November 2010 election cycle for the GOP? What a concept!

The Chief a bit surprised by the apparent results in the Congressional race…having been on the road for 3 weeks…apparently Christi impressed more voters than Chris. No surprise in Daugaard’s strong showing.

Although in each case noted, the Chief had other first choices, both are good candidates, and avoid the RINO syndrome, and besides, Christi can go for broke against Princess Stephanie without worrying about being tagged for “beating up on the girl”! (Did I really say anything that anti-P.C.???? Oh well.)

Freaky Physics Proves Parallel Universes Exist

Look past the details of a wonky discovery by a group of California scientists — that a quantum state is now observable with the human eye — and consider its implications: Time travel may be feasible….

The strange discovery by quantum physicists at the University of California Santa Barbara means that an object you can see in front of you may exist simultaneously in a parallel universe — a multi-state condition that has scientists theorizing that traveling through time may be much more than just the plaything of science fiction writers.

And it’s all because of a tiny bit of metal — a “paddle” about the width of a human hair, an item that is incredibly small but still something you can see with the naked eye. UC Santa Barbara’s Andrew Cleland cooled that paddle in a refrigerator, dimmed the lights and, under a special bell jar, sucked out all the air to eliminate vibrations. He then plucked it like a tuning fork and noted that it moved and stood still at the same time.

How could this be? The Chief isn’t sure about the actual mechanics of the experiment, but it’s easy to imagine two viewing devices recording simultaneously that show the states of motion/non-motion.

Check out the piece for some more details of this stuff.

Forward, into the past!

This is from the linked D.O.E. solicitation for bids.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven (27) REMINGTON BRAND MODEL 870 POLICE 12/14P MOD GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12 BARREL: 14″ – PARKERIZED CHOKE: MODIFIED SIGHTS: GHOST RING REAR WILSON COMBAT; FRONT – XS CONTOUR BEAD SIGHT STOCK: KNOXX REDUCE RECOIL ADJUSTABLE STOCK FORE-END: SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID

Why do I doubt that they are starting a student skeet-shooting program?

So what ARE they doing with ’em?

(Insert caption here.)

Obama, whose mouth dropped, did not notice his French counterpart Sarkozy observing him with a smile on his face.

“Every picture tells a story, don’t it?” Maybe he’s catching the Bubba-virus.

Egyptian priests lived on junk food diet

Delicious and bountiful banquets offered to the gods and eaten by Egyptian priests and their families were laden with artery-clogging saturated fat, research shows. The evidence comes from hieroglyphic inscriptions on temple walls and the priests’ mummified remains – which bear the unmistakable signs of damaged arteries and heart disease.

Sumptuous meals of beef, wild fowl, bread, fruit, vegetables, cake, wine and beer were given up to the gods three times a day. After making their offerings at the temple, the priests would adopt a ”shame to let it go to waste” policy and take them back home to their families.

Hmmmmm…did Egyptian priests cheer ‘RA! RA! RA!” as they invented the tailgate party on the back of their chariots? (Sorry…I just couldn’t resist that!)

Professor Rosalie David, from the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Life Sciences, who led the study, said: ”There couldn’t be a more evocative message: live like a god and you will pay with your health.

”It also shows that blocked arteries caused by rich diets are not just a modern malaise – the problem goes back to ancient civilisations.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

Lego enthusiast builds Airbus A380 with 35,000 bricks

A dedicated Lego enthusiast impressed fans with this painstaking replica of the world’s biggest passenger plane – built with more than 35,000 individual pieces. The 7ft-long (2.2m) and 6ft-wide (1.8m) Qantas Airbus A380 is split in half to reveal the intricate workings of life on-board a three-storey long-haul flight.

Lego enthusiast Ryan McNaught, 37, also known as the “The BrickMan”, spent more than eight months constructing the masterpiece in his garage.

His red, white and grey model boasts a range of fully automated touch screen controlled functions including front landing gear, two rear landing gear doors and airbrakes on the wing.

Ryan also fitted functioning landing lights, engines, air brakes on the wing and a tail fin on the rear wing.

Among his two-inch-high cast of crew and passengers are iconic characters from well-known films including Indiana Jones, Yoda, and the Samuel L. Jackson character from ‘Snakes on a Plane’.

There has been no comment on this technological triumph from Boeing.

This was at the pull off at Hwy 385 and Sheridan Lake Rd. in the Black Hills west of Rapid City.

A deer was hit there. The couch was dumped there previously.

Day two the deer was on the couch.

Day three the end table and lamp showed up.

Day four the TV and TV stand, and the sign showed up.

Note the sign in front of the deer on the couch: “Sorry Hunters, Obama ruined healthcare. We can’t afford to have injured hunters on our conscience – Stayin home, sorry – the Deer.”

The SDHP Troopers had to call Pennington County DOT because of all the people stopping to take pictures.

This is one of the neatest videos I have seen in a LONG time: U.S. History meets MTV!

Lyrics:

Halfway across the globe
And we’re standing on new ground
Screaming ‘cross the waves
You can’t hear a sound
There’s no fair trials, no trade, no liberties
No tea
We’ve colonized America; we won’t stand for tyranny,
Oh king

And it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late

We’ve paid your foolish tax, read the acts
And they just won’t do
We want to make it clear, we believe this much is true
All men were created with certain

Unalienable rights
Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit
Of happiness

And it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said It’s too late to apologize
It’s too late

It’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said it’s too late apologize
It’s too late

I said it’s too late to apologize, yeah
It’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize, yeah

Halfway across the globe
And we’re standing on new ground

H/T to E3 Gazette

If you are not familiar with John Maynard Keynes and Freidrich A. Hayek, you need to change that.

The theories of these economists are locked in mortal combat in D.C. these days…but then again, what else is new?