Diversity poster of the day

Normal? Really?

It's possible that this description of a Venus Flytrap is inaccurate

via @YouHadOneJob

Friday links

How to Prevent Pregnancy, c. 1260 (the weasel/scorpion method), plus other dubious medical advice.

Why blackmail is called "blackmail", plus the origin of the lesser known "buttockmail".

Feast Your Eyes on This Beautiful Linguistic Family Tree.

Best Biology Photographs of 2014. And from earlier this year, 2014 Wellcome Image Awards winners in science photography.

How I Killed The Spider: A Tale Of Immense Bravery.

From 1803, The Ottoman Empire's First Map of the Newly Minted United States.

No-Rules NASCAR: If you stripped away all the rules of car racing and had a contest which was simply to get a human being around a track 200 times as fast as possible, what strategy would win?

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, including Asimov's just-published 1959 paper for DARPA, a zombie-proof log cabin kit, the world's oldest genitals, and Stage 6 Alzheimer's patient Glen Campbell's final song to his wife: I'm Not Gonna Miss You.

Dance battle between a priest from Hyde Park, NY (my home town) and one from Milwaukee, WI

Rome: A video of a pair of dueling, dancing American priests studying in Rome has gone viral. The Rev. David Rider, 29, of Hyde Park, New York, and the Rev. John Gibson, 28, of Milwaukee, first shot to Internet fame when they were filmed in April during a fundraiser at the North American College, the elite American seminary up the hill from the Vatican.

Via Ed Morrisey at Hot Air:

Fr. David told us a little bit about his dancing at the dinner party. He began life as an entertainer on stage but got the call to the priesthood. He wondered whether it would be appropriate to continue dancing, but was inspired by St. John Paul II to the priesthood and to make his dancing show the joy of Jesus Christ. Catholic News Service linked to this 2012 video of Fr. David (as a seminarian) explaining both his call and how he sees his dancing as part of his evangelization:

Workplace safety cartoon of the day

Guy missing both legs arranges chainsaw massacre prank

He scared the crap out of a bunch of people. I'd give this a PG-13 rating, unless you want your kids to have nightmares:

Links to various aspects of the filming at youtube. Behind-the-scenes video:



via @rdbrewer at Ace.

Tuesday links

Mega geek alert: In 1959 Issac Asimov wrote a paper for DARPA on creativity. It was just published.

Take Your Paranoia To The Next Level With This Zombie-Proof Log Cabin Kit.

President of Belarus declares country's sausage is free of toilet paper

Country singer/songwriter Glen Campbell, currently in stage 6 of Alzheimer's, wrote a final song to his wife: I'm Not Gonna Miss You.

World's oldest genitals found (yes, I know - the Hugh Hefner jokes just write themselves).

In 1976, Operation Paul Bunyan was conducted into North Korea to take down a tree.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include (without limitation) an illustrated guide for girding up your loins (and additional manly links), a compilation of Rita Hayward's dancing set to Stayin' Alive, and Quentin Tarantino's 1995 episode of ER.

Dog lovers, start your day with a smile: Compilation Video of Puppies Chasing Laser Pointers