Graphic: Troops in Afghanistan – what happens after they leave?

This is a nice graphic from graphic.is showing the troops still in Afghanistan. The good guys that is, as in the NATO led forces.  Not much point showing the Taliban, warlord troops and Al Qaeda fighters ... they're not going anywhere. We, on the other hand, are slowly pulling out. Canada will be be withdrawing at the end of 2011, although a significant number of training personnel will remain. What happens when all the good guys are all gone? With a corrupt government in place, and a tribal society, I don't believe there is much hope of a good outcome. The Taliban will move right back in to fill the void and the warlords will keep the country carved up as before. All that is missing form the mix is Bin Laden.

Videos: Nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima – aerial views

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 is considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and  the only one classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The Japanese nuclear disaster is currently at a level 5. The Chernobyl disaster began during a routine systems test. There was a sudden power output surge, and when an emergency shutdown was attempted, a more extreme spike in power output occurred, which led to a reactor vessel rupture and a series of explosions. This event exposed the graphite moderator components of the reactor to air, causing them to ignite. The resulting fire sent a plume of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area. Here is the first aerial footage of Chernobyl taken after the disaster:



For comparison, here is the latest aerial video released March 18 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in Japan:

Chart: How sick will radiation exposure make you?

Recent measurements at the Fukushima nuclear plant  in Japan, 1.1 km west of the plant's No 2 reactor showed hourly radiation levels of 279.4 microsievert at 5 am on Friday, March 18, down from 309 and 292 microsievert around the time when the Self-Defense Forces shot water into the reactor. Here is a chart that shows how different levels of radiation exposure affect humans. So far the levels outside the plant are not making the chart, however, exposure to lower levels obviously has many long term negative effects.

Chart from Wikipedia

Scranton woman hides heroin, bags, money and loose change in her vagina

Image by nicholasjon via Flickr

How many items can a woman hide in her vagina? Police in Scranton, Ohio had a Karin Mackaliunas, 27, searched after she was suspected of robbing an inn. After searching her for weapons, police found three bags of heroin in Mackaliunas' jacket. A more thorough search was carried out after Macalinunas admitted she had more items of interest in her vagina. This is what the further search turned up:

•  54 bags of heroin
•  31 empty bags
•  8.5 prescription pills
• $51.22

Mackaliunas was charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. Who needs a purse when you can carry your goodies like this!     Read more here

Video: 18-month old kid with a foul mouth

Hey, kids will be kids ... but this kid has one hell of a one-word vocabulary going. Next stop: Working on the docks for the Sopranos. Why the parents would proudly post this is beyond me. Watch the kid swear:

The first civilian nuclear accident was in Canada

The first civilian nuclear accident happened in Canada on December 12, 1952 at Chalk River, a Canadian nuclear research facility.  A reactor shutoff rod failure, combined with several operator errors, led to a major power excursion,  which is an accidental increasing of the nuclear chain reaction, doubling the reactor's output. Operators were able to stop the reaction in 30 seconds. The fission products  were released through the reactor stack. Irradiated light-water coolant leaked from the damaged coolant circuit into the reactor building; some 4,000 cubic meters were pumped via pipeline to a disposal area to avoid contamination of the Ottawa River. Subsequent monitoring of surrounding water sources revealed no contamination. No immediate fatalities or injuries resulted from the incident; a 1982 followup study of exposed workers showed no long-term health effects.  One trivia face of note: Future U.S. President Jimmy Carter, then a Lieutenant in the US Navy, was a member of the clean up crew.  From Wikipedia.

Chalk River       Credit: Padraic Ryan/Wikipedia

Math fail: Airport scanners giving off radiation ten times higher than reported

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is going to re-test the controversial full body scanners at hundreds of airport after it admitted that radiation levels were actually ten times higher than initially reported. The problem – the agency is calling it a "calculation error". he TSA claims that the error came about when technicians -- who typically test the radiation output of a machine 10 times in a row -- forgot to divide the total output by 10. Oops.

"This technology is safe," said Robin Kane, a TSA assistant administrator for technology. Kane emphasized that the machines are necessary to protect the public from terrorists and that they have been thoroughly tested by independent experts.

The Cry Baby remains skeptical and wonders if these devices actually do contribute to public safety or just make air travel even more invasive and difficult.

Also see:
Woman strips to underwear to get through airport security
Mice are the new airport security guards

Video: Selling a house the Australian way – Babes, sex and action

I've never, ever seen a house for sale advertised like this. A scantily clothed woman tied to a chair, an action plot with bit of lesbian action thrown in ... now that's an open house! And BTY, the house is stunning as well. Oye!

Stunning video of Saturn

The Cassini spacecraft has recorded thousands of images as it approached Saturn as well as thousands more since entering orbit. These images have been compiled into this stunning video:


5.6k Saturn Cassini Photographic Animation from stephen v2 on Vimeo.

Video: The crazy sport of Skyaking at 10,000 ft.

Yet another crazy and ridiculous sport for daredevils: Skyaking. It's kayaking at 10,000 ft in the air. No typo here, just insanity. Watch the video:

Unhappiest person in America

Image via Wikipedia

I've written previously about the happiest person in America,  now here is a look at the unhappiest. According to the New York Times, this unhappiest person is a 4’10”, middle-aged Muslim woman without children who is separated from her husband and earns under $12,000 a year. Just to make matters worse, she’s an unemployed manufacturing worker in West Virginia as well. This is, of course, a statistical composite that was created from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data. Still, I do feel sorry for this sad, albeit theoretical woman.

As previously posted, here is the happiest person:
"He's' a tall, Asian-American, observant Jew who is at least 65 and married, has children, lives in Hawaii, runs his own business and has a household income of more than $120,000 a year. "

Kim Kardashian vs. Krusty the Clown – the endorsement battle

This is a very funny comparison done by Crushable of the untalented  Kim Karsashian, whose fame I have never understood, and Krusty the Clown of Simpsons fame. Both are total sellouts – guess which one is the bigger sellout? Well at least one of them is only imaginary .... click on the graphic to go to Crushable and see the rest.

Snake dies of silicone poisoning after biting model's breast

You may have already heard about the snake biting Israeli model's breast on Spanish TV's Telecino. The model is fine, but the snake has died of silicone poisoning according to the Sun. I'm guessing there must be some kind of fake boob repair kit that is used to repair the boob implant. Talk about animal abuse! Watch the snake attack on this video:

Map: Non-stop earthquakes keep hitting Japan

After the horrific 9.0 earthquake suffered by Japan, the aftershocks keep coming – many above 5.0. The map below, from the USGS,  shows the earthquakes that have recently happened in Japan – the yellow in the last week and the blue in the last day. The red lines are the plate boundaries. If you're wondering why you cannot actually see the boundaries Japan on the map, it's because the number of earthquake markers completely cover the country. Get a list of the quakes with their specific info here.

Company told to stop selling Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg action figure

M.I.C.Gadget first had a problem when it started selling Steve Jobs action figures. Apple hit them with a cease and desist order, but M.I.C. swung back with a masked Ninja version.This didn't fly with Apples lawyers either. Now they have come out with “Poking Inventor” action figure, which is  a Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg action figure. Foul cry Facebook lawyers in Beijing:

“(1) immediately stopping manufacturing and sales of any products infringing the legitimate rights of Mr. Mark Zuckerberg and FACEBOOK, including but not limited to the Action Figures, any accessory containing FACEBOOK’s trademarks; (2) immediately destroying all remaining products infringing legitimate rights of Mr. Mark Zuckerberg and FACEBOOK; (3) immediately disclosing the accounting of your sales of the Mark Zuckerberg Action Figures and any other infringing products; (4) immediately remove all depictions or listings for the Mark Zuckerberg Action Figures from your website.”

I'm always amazed at what thin skins some of these people have. M.I.C. I hereby give you permission to immortalize me with the Cry Baby Action Figure.

Latest nuclear reactor status report from Fukushima in Japan

Check this out. The latest report reactor by reactor at the TEPCO Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

Video: Penguins on a plane

You've heard of snakes on a plane – well check out penguins on a plane. They were actually being transported on a Southwest Airlines flight from San Francisco to San Diego by Seaworld, when their minders let them have a little stroll down the aisle. File this under "too cute".

Japan has now grown 13 feet to the east and shortened our day

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The devastating 9.0 earthquake in Japan has actually increased the coastline of the country by 13 feet eastward. That's at the epicentre and there was less movement further away from it. As well, scientists from NASA have calculated that the earthquake might have shortened the day on Earth  by a couple of millionths of a second and tilted the planet’s axis slightly. Previous  earthquakes have also affected the axis of the Earth and the length of our day. The Chilean earthquake last year shortened the day by 1.26 millionths of a second and moved the axis by about three inches. 

Related articles

• How the Japan Earthquake Shortened Days on Earth (livescience.com)

Are you prone to mind control? Take this test.

Are you prone to mind control? Psychologist Richard Wiseman gives you the chance to find out how suggestible you are in this video. Give it a try. You might be surprised. Once you are under our control, send Cry Baby money – lots of money! (From New Scientist)

Very cool video: Lake Tahoe Milky Way time lapse

This time-lapse of the night sky at Lake Tahoe is spectacular. The images were made with a Canon 5D MKII by Justin Majeczky. The video consists of images taken every 35 seconds.


Lake Tahoe Milky Way Night Time Lapse from Justin Majeczky on Vimeo.