Random Turds
Non-sequitur, humor and random thoughts.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Not feeling warm and cuddly
In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University . On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.
He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’ s foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teen-aged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, and then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter couldn’t help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage; climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed his stupid ass against the railing, killing him instantly.
Probably wasn’t the same elephant.
This is for all of my friends who send me those heart-warming stories.
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Sunday, June 22, 2008
Very surprised there weren’t contempt charges
Sydney, Australia—A judge halted a drug conspiracy trial Tuesday after some jurors were found to have been playing the puzzle game Sudoku while evidence was being given.
Sydney District Court Judge Peter Zahra ended the trial Tuesday for two men facing a possible life sentence for drug conspiracy charges. The trial had been running for 66 days and had cost taxpayers an estimated $950,000.
The judge was alerted after jurors were observed writing vertically, rather than horizontally. It had been assumed they were taking notes.
“Yes, it helps me keep my mind busy paying more attention,” the jury foreman told the judge Tuesday. “Some of the evidence is rather drawn out and I find it difficult to maintain my attention the whole time, and that doesn’t distract me too much from proceedings.”Jurors in the trial are anonymous, and no action can be taken against them for the puzzle playing.
The foreman admitted to the judge four to five jurors were playing puzzle games for up to half the time the trial had been going.
“Jurors are sort of the judges of the facts and it’s very disappointing they weren’t giving our clients a fair trial,” said Robyn Hakelis, a lawyer for one of the defendants.
A new trial is expected to begin in a few weeks.
I would hope we have a little stricter laws regarding jurors in the US.
Posted by deadscot on 22 Jun, 2008 at 23:39Random Turds • (0) Comments • Permalink
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Oil’s dirty little secret
We’ve all sat around over the past year and watched gasoline prices skyrocket. There has been much ballyhoo as to how to stave off the rise but little of it makes sense to me.
I believe that moving away from international dependence on oil is and inherently good thing, what I don’t believe is that it will have any discernible impact on oil prices.
Many people blame the green lobby for not allowing oil to be tapped in the Anwar province. Some blame OPEC for excessive profits. There are even some that believe that taxation of oil company windfall profits will drive the prices down.
All of them are dead wrong.
On a daily basis there are some 7 million barrels of oil pumped from within the United States. US oil consumption dropped over the course of the past year to 20.7 million barrels. To help with the math, over one third of the oil needed to support this country is already being produced by this country.
Here’s the kicker, oil pumped from US oil fields is being sold for roughly $1.70 less a barrel ($133) than those mean old Arabs are selling it for($135). Remember, US demand for oil has dropped so internal supply and demand isn’t a factor.
The way I see it there are a few major factors. Other developing countries are willing to pay top dollar, oil is a finite resource controlled by a mere handful, and with it being a finite resource they can pretty much charge whatever the market will bear.
Drilling in more locations in the US won’t reduce the cost of oil because the same countries competing for that oil will continue to compete and American capitalism will prevail. That, and US oil companies have already capitalized on the greed factor and if they’re not going to sell US produced oil any cheaper now, what makes anyone that will change. The only thing that can possibly be accomplished is our lack of dependence on foreign oil and more money going into US held companies.
The real answer? How about a realistic energy plan that weans us off of a finite resource and puts on a realistic path toward sustainable energy.
The next time your at the pump, don’t get mad at the Arabs, we’re getting screwed right in our backyard.
Sources: OPEC Changes Oil Forecast
All American Crude Oil Pricelist
Increasing American Production to Reduce Oil Prices
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