We Have Our Eye On You

In some of the backwaters of Europe, where the 19th century hasn't yet ended (never mind the 20th century), the 'Evil Eye' is still something to ward against.

Nazars - Common Across The Lands
 Of The Former Ottoman Empire

 
So even in Greece and many former areas of the Turkish, Ottoman Empire, eye amulets called Nazars are sold in nearly every store.

Criminal Stupidity And Other Shorts

As I have mentioned before, the stupidity of thieves never fails to amaze me. Take Christopher Miller who robbed the Stride Right shoe store in Toms Rover New Jersey USA in 1999. He was caught and convicted, and spent 15 years in jail. Apparently the thought of this failure to commit the perfect crime festered on his mind over those long 15 years because .....

Christopher Miller - Stride Right Obsession?

..... Yes, you have already guessed it, but I'll say it anyway.The day after his release he walked back into the very same store, where he was met by same clerk behind the counter (who Mr Miller didn't recognise), and he proceeded to rob the store again of $389 and the clerks cell phone. He was caught and sentenced to another 16 years in prison. he claimed later that he wasn't a numbskull, as “I didn’t even realize it was the same store until after I got arrested”

Manpo-Meter

When Lao-Tzu wrote in the  the Tao Te Ching that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," little did he know that it would lead to the world taking 10,000 paces a day .... 

Chairman Mao's Long March Inspired By Lao-Tzu's Single Step .....

... well not directly of course. It was in fact via the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Dog Soldiers

In a story that had been remarkably low profile on the mainstream TV (to whit, non existent), until it couldn't be ignored anymore, it appears that there is a very good reason why Libya (and other countries of that ilk) are such basket cases .... its that many of their male inhabitants are backward animals.

At least that's all we can conclude from these crimes, perpetrated not in their own benighted countries, but over here, courtesy of the Her Majesties Government and the Ministry of Defence.

Libyan Ambassador - Mr Mahmoud Nacua - Visited
The Libyan Recruits At Bassingbourn Before Problems Started ...

Seemingly, in another act of stupidity that UK politicians seem to find oh so easy to commit, it was decided in 2015 that the Ministry of Defence would train some of the Libyans fighting in the power struggles in Tripoli, Bengahzi and Misra .... the idea was that they would be loyal soldiers for the regime we back (well one of the two regimes claiming power anyway ... probably the one currently based in Tobruk, and poised for exile in Egypt).

Super Chimps

Like most people I had been peddling the old trope that Chimps were five times stronger than humans. That in fact that chimpanzees are superhuman strong.

Chimp Kong, Not Quite As Strong As King ......

This idea had apparently been fuelled by a 1923 study, that claimed one chimp could pull nine times its own body weight. Later studies suggested they could only pull two to four times their weight but the idea had been planted and stayed in the public conciousness and as a fact in been a feature of pop-culture.

Bad Ideas

There are times when you seriously have to wonder what goes through some peoples minds .... I give you: A statue of St. Martin de Porres .....

St. Martin de Porres 'Handing out' Bread

Blackfriars Priory School in Adelaide Australia have since covered this up with a black cloth, and are wondering what to do with the statue they innocently commissioned.

Art For Arts Sake

In what may be another sign of a new puritanism being generated in this country, Manchester Art Gallery took the picture 'Hylas and the Nymphs' by John William Waterhouse, a pre-Raphaelite Victorian painter, down. Postcards of the painting were also removed from sale in the shop.

'Hylas and the Nymphs' by John William Waterhouse - Manchester Gallery (sometimes).

The painting features a number of pubescent, semi-naked water nymphs, tempting a handsome young man to his doom. The question raised was whether this erotic Victorian fantasy should be considered unsuitable and offensive in the current puritanical climate?

The Fake Fakirs and The Rationalists

Being a rationalist is both a lonely and dangerous role in any land of myth and legend, and where more so than India, where religion rules the lives of at least 95% of the population .... 

Indian Rationalists Face Attack Or Murder ...

For instance a number of rationalists have been assassinated in recent years .....  

Down Periscope

Virginia-class submarines costing $1.76 billion each, and starting with the USS Colorado that's expected to be commissioned in November, will be controlled via Xbox controllers to manoeuvre their periscopes.

X Box Controller - The Lo-tech Solution.

This after the heavy and clunky joystick and control panel, that Lockheed Martin developed to control these submarines periscopes, were found to be likely to cost around $38,000 each.

First Knight

The Count de Ventadour, captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 AD holds the distinction of being the first prisoner to be described officially in a court document as a 'prisoner of war' in England.

Battle Of Poitiers ..... Big Defeat For French

Court documents from 1357 AD show the term being used instead of 'slave' or 'owned' to describe someone held for ransom after being captured in battle.

Third Oldest Profession?

There's no doubt that the worlds oldest profession (as we understand the phrase in modern times), was practised in Jerusalem, and the second oldest as well .... whichever you choose that to be, but in a back alley of the Christian Quarter in Jerusalem, you can find what could be the worlds third oldest profession.

Razzouk Tattoo - Since 1300 AD

The world’s oldest tattoo parlour ....

Write v Wrong

There have been 11 US school shootings between the 1st of January and January 28th 2018 alone. For instance a classmate opened fire outside a school in Benton, Kentucky, a town of just 4,500 residents, killing two children and injuring 11 others. The 15 year old gun child, Gabe Parker, was arrested at the scene. His mother, Mary Garrison Minyard, editor of the local Marshall County Daily Online, was one of the reporters who arrived at the school to get footage, only to find her son being taken in to custody .... the prosecutors want to try him as an adult.

Saint To Sinner .... Killer

Anywhere else that dead and injured figure alone, would cause lawmakers to act .... instead it wasn't even the headline news on most national news channels.

Whalien Invaders

When people on the web saw this image .....

Alien Invaders?

They thought it was proof positive that aliens had landed in the ocean ..... but

Bright Sparks

A poll found that a third of Brits claim that day dreaming unlocks their most creative thoughts ....

Wonder Woman Suddenly Realised That Sometimes An Invisible Plane Sucks ....

.... with one in ten saying this occurred most often whilst sitting on the toilet.

Spice Zombies

In case you haven't noticed we are actually undergoing the transformation in to a Z Nation

Zombies Filmed In Glasgow -
But Real Ones On The Council Estates.

Yes, Zombies are are slowly appearing on our streets, and we don't even notice them.

Dodging Justice

Alva Campbell, a convicted killer, escaped execution in Lucasville Ohio when the executioner could not find a vein to inject them with the drug cocktail. Convicted of murdering an 18 year old in a car jacking, he was strapped to a trolley in the death chamber for 25 minutes before they gave up. He then gave what must be the quote of the year .....

Alva Campbell - Car Jacked A Boy and Killed Him

Wiping away tears and shaking hands with members of the execution team he said "This is a day I'll never forget". Actually he will only remember it until June the 5th, 2019 when the state will try to kill him again .... but his lawyers want the firing squad as an alternative method. He's managed to avoid the punishment since 1998, his innocent victim, Charles Dials, was just 18 when Campbell cold bloodily murdered him.