Stannous Flouride's Book of Truthiness

Acquired March 18, 2015:Water flowed into Yolo Bypass, a floodway between Davis and Sacramento, for the first time in three years.

Acquired March 17, 2016:

Source: Northern California Floodway Fills : Image of the Day

A good example of this list comes from Bulgaria:
“Let a hungry Carpathian long-haired she-wolf blow your dick, fuck” (Gladna Karpatska valchitza s dalag kosam minet da ti prai deeba)

Who Said That? Bulgarians.

Dear God Why? Bulgarian cursing is based on a hybrid of nature references and non sequiturs. Most of the good ones read like Tourette’s syndrome Mad Libs. They still embrace common baselines, but the modifiers around it are what really shine.

For instance:

Other helpful Bulgarian phrases:

“Your mother sucks bears in the forest” (Mayka ti duha na mechki v gorata)

“Fuck this tilted field” (Da eba taz kreeva neeva)

“You’re as ugly as a salad” (Grozna si kato salata)

Source: The 9 Most Devastating Insults From Around the World | Cracked.com

PARIS.- In advance of the construction of the eastern Bergerac bypass route (Dordogne), the preventive excavation realized by Inrap at the open-air doline site of Cantalouette revealed prehistoric occupations from the Middle Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. Iluminada Ortega and Laurence Bourguignon of Inrap, along with their Spanish colleagues, have announced in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, the discovery of an Aurignacian art object, 35,000 – 31,000 years old. This object, depicting a bird, contributes to our knowledge of the origins of figurative art.

A 35,000 y.o. Representation of a Bird
This depiction is very distinct and probably unique in the Aurignacian period, during which Modern Humans arrived in western Europe. It is exceptional in its degree of naturalism, the nature of its support—the cortex (limestone coating) of a flint flake—and the engraving technique used. This “sunken relief” technique was identified through microscopic and 3D analyses realized at Cenieh (Burgos, Spain).

Using a stone tool, an irregular surface was carved into the cortex of the flint flake. The impression of relief was created by making one side lower than the other. The feathers and details of the head—a short and pointed beak, a small eye, and a possible eyebrow—were then engraved. The chest is represented by a nearly straight line. The wings appear to be entirely spread and are represented from a planar perspective with parallel lines depicting the feathers. A small projecting line represents the legs or tail. This sunk relief technique was rarely used in Paleolithic art.

This figure could represent one of three bird families present in France 35,000 years ago: Passerine, Wryneck or Phasianidae (ground living birds which include pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Old World quail, and peafowl.). Its posture suggests the bird is drinking, courting or ready to take off. The artist skillfully captured a very precise instant typical of this animal’s behavior.

Source: A naturalistic bird representation from the Aurignacian layer at the open-air Cantalouette II Site in southwestern France and Its relevance to the origins of figurative art in Europe

“Upside Down & Inside Out”

Read about the creation and production of this video on Smithsonian’s Air & Space Magazine.

But here’s a brief video from the band about it:

Theme park operator SeaWorld said on Thursday it will stop breeding killer whales, bowing to years of pressure from animal rights activists.

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc’s decision came after it pledged in November to replace its signature “Shamu” killer whale shows in San Diego with modified presentations of the animals that focused on conservation.

“We don’t need all these theatrical ‘tricks,’” SeaWorld President Joel Manby said on a conference call with reporters. Manby said the parks will use birth control to halt reproduction among its killer whales, also known as orcas. 

SeaWorld, which has parks in San Diego, Orlando and San Antonio, has 29 killer whales under its care, with only five of them captured in the wild and the rest born in captivity. It has not collected orcas at sea for almost 40 years.

The parks have been criticized for their treatment of the captive marine mammals, with some activists seeking an end to public exhibition of killer whales altogether.

The criticism intensified after three orcas died at SeaWorld San Antonio within a six-month span in 2015. In a statement responding to the deaths, the company said: “We have the highest standard of care for all animals at our parks.”

SeaWorld, whose shares rose 6 percent on Thursday, also said it will scrap plans for a $100 million project called “Blue World” to enlarge its 7-million-gallon orca habitat at SeaWorld San Diego.

Some activists have called for SeaWorld to release its orcas into coastal sanctuaries, but the company says whales born or raised in captivity would likely die in the wild.

U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California who had introduced legislation seeking to phase out the breeding and captivity of orcas, praised SeaWorld’s decision.

“Visitors will reward their actions with a renewed interest in the parks,” Schiff wrote in an email.

Schiff’s measure was one of several bills introduced as SeaWorld faced mounting criticism after the release of the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which depicted the captivity and public exhibition of killer whales as inherently cruel.

The documentary examined the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was killed by a performing whale named Tilikum at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010.

“The fact that SeaWorld is doing away with orca breeding marks truly meaningful change,” said Gabriela Cowperthwaite, director of “Blackfish.”

Under the new plan the orcas will still be shown to visitors at set times, but viewing areas will be reconfigured to “reflect the natural world” with a program focusing on “orca enrichment, exercise and overall health,” according to the SeaWorld website.

SeaWorld also said it will partner with the Humane Society of the United States and had set aside $50 million to push for an end to commercial whaling and seal hunting as well as the killing of sharks for their fins over the next five years.

(Reporting by Ramkumar Iyer in Bengaluru, Barbara Liston in Orlando and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Ted Kerr, Sara Catania and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Embattled SeaWorld to end breeding of killer whales | NewsDaily

And a few other aquatic beasties…

Submarine drone

LONDON– The only surviving play script including William Shakespeare’s handwriting, and containing a passionate speech against xenophobia, is being put online to mark the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death, the British Library announced Tuesday.

The script is a section from a controversial play that revolves around how statesman Sir Thomas More quelled a 1517 anti-foreigner uprising in London by asking the rioters to imagine themselves being banished to live abroad.

The 164-line scene has been attributed to Shakespeare, one of several writers brought in to rework “The Book Of Sir Thomas More”.

In challenging rioters, More says: “Alas, alas! Say now the King/ As he is clement if th’offender mourn,/ Should so much come too short of your great trespass/ As but to banish you: whither would you go?/What country, by the nature of your error,/ Should give you harbour?

“Go you to France or Flanders,/ To any German province, Spain or Portugal,/ Nay, anywhere that not adheres to England:/ Why, you must needs be strangers.”

The play was originally written by Anthony Munday between 1596 and 1601, but other writers were later brought in to revise the script.

One of the six hands involved has been identified as Shakespeare’s, based on handwriting, spelling, vocabulary and the images and ideas expressed.

“More relies on human empathy to make his point: if the rioters were suddenly banished to a foreign land, they would become ‘wretched strangers’ too, and equally vulnerable to attack,” the British Library said.

There is no evidence that the play was ultimately ever performed or published.

The manuscript will be available at http://www.bl.uk/shakespeare and will also be on display at the British Library in London from April 15.

Shakespeare died aged 52 on April 23, 1616.

© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse