Category: Weird

Nature is Beautiful

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I give you Cymothoa exigua:

Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. It tends to be 3 to 4 centimetres (1.2 to 1.6 in) long. This parasite enters through the gills, and then attaches itself at the base of the spotted rose snapper’s (Lutjanus guttatus) tongue. It extracts blood through the claws on its front, causing the tongue to atrophy from lack of blood. The parasite then replaces the fish’s tongue by attaching its own body to the muscles of the tongue stub. The fish is able to use the parasite just like a normal tongue. It appears that the parasite does not cause any other damage to the host fish. Once C. exigua replaces the tongue, some feed on the host’s blood and many others feed on fish mucus. This is the only known case of a parasite functionally replacing a host organ.  It is currently believed that C. exigua are not harmful to humans unless picked up alive, in which case they can bite

H/t Atrios.

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I’m hoping that this is some sort of elaborate hoax, but I fear that it isn’t:

Al-Qaeda has launched a magazine for women that not only offers beauty and fashion tips but also gives advice on suicide bombings.

The front cover of the glossy magazine, called ‘Jihad Cosmo’, features the barrel of a sub-machine gun next to a picture of a woman in a veil, reports the Daily Mail.

There are exclusive interviews with martyrs’ wives, who praise their husbands’ decisions to die in suicide attacks.

The slick, 31-page Al-Shamikha magazine – meaning The Majestic Woman – has advice for singletons on ‘marrying a mujahideen’.

Stop the world, I need to get off.

Clearly the British Isles Must Be Invaded For Their Own Protection

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Yes, These Are Royal Wedding Commemorative Condoms

I came across a web page titled, “Lie back and think of England,” in which someone is flogging condoms commemorating the royal wedding.

Clearly they have forfeited any right to self governance.

Needless to say, this does not apply to the Republic of Ireland, who do not have the Royals as head of state, though their dealings with their banks does make one wonder about whether they are suited for self government, but that is a post for another day.

I am a Bad Person

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Natalie has an audition for a magnet program this morning, and I suggested that she keep the bling to a minimum, so that she does not distract from her performance.

Then I qualified my statement, saying, “Then again, I am an engineer giving fashion advice, which is a lot like Jared Loughner giving gun safety advice.”

I am not a good person.

OK, I Don’t Have Much to Add on the Assassination and Shooting Spree

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These are on the days preceding the shooting

But Brad Delong finds a rather alarming data point.

Here are two members of Congress, both Democrats, from the same state, but in the 4 days before the shooting, Gifford’s hits on her wiki page skyrocketed.

There are a number of caveats here:

  • Even with the delta, the number is pretty small, under 400 hits peak over a 4 day period.
  • This could have been triggered by something as innocent as a mass email to constituents.
  • It could be one person, obsessively visiting the page.

It could also be:

  • The result of some obscure right wing media figure calling her out.
  • The result of a small group of people involved in a conspiracy. (Unlikely, this seems to be the archetypal Lone Gunman).

Anyone aware of any event that might support some the more prosaic explanations?

Well, The Next Time I Ask What the F%$# He is Smoking, I’ll Know the Answer

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Everyone’s favorite hypocritical and corrupt televangelist cum politician, Pat Robertson has come out in favor of legalizing marijuana:

For a second it looked as if someone had mischievously switched teleprompter scripts on Pat Robertson, the tele-evangelist and founding member of the Christian Coalition. There he was on The 700 Club, a religious affairs TV talk show talking breezily about why America should legalise marijuana.

But this is the season for compassion and Mr Robertson – who usually makes waves nowadays only when he finds celestial or satanic cause for assorted disasters like the Haiti earthquake (a pact with the Devil to eject the French two centuries ago) or Hurricane Katrina (legalised abortion) – seemed to be serious. He said incarcerating people for taking “a couple of puffs” of pot might not be effective public or social policy.

Here’s a surprise, he’s significantly to the left of Barack Obama on this, probably because he’s at a point in his life where good government policy trumps electoral success.