Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Black Cat 2

Kitten found frozen solid in a block of ice and stuck to a road is rescued


Daily Mail
Wed, 19 Feb 2014 15:23 UTC
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Frosty, rescued and warm again
A driver who found a gray kitten frozen to the road in Ohio and rescued it says she initially thought it was a dirty chunk of ice.

Which is exactly what the 5-month-old cat was encased in when Dara Taylor saw it on her way to work Monday, stopped the car and pried the helpless animal off the road.

'I thought it was a chunk of ice in the middle of the road,' Taylor said. 'When I got closer, it moved. That freaked me out.'

Taylor told the Lorain County Chronicle-Telegram the cat was even unable to open its own eyes, but he tenaciously clung to life

'As I got out of the car, I could hear him meowing so loudly and pitifully and his little heart was beating so fast,' she said.

Taylor took the kitten to the Friendship Animal Protective League, where workers immediately set to warming him up.

They also named him Frosty.
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Oscar

Woman flees bunny stampede on Japan's Rabbit Island

Leon Watson
Daily Mail, UK
Tue, 18 Feb 2014 12:49 UTC
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Stop rabbiting! The rabbits ran from all directions to chase after the woman

Things got very harey for this tourist when she visited a tiny island off Japan that's been overrun with rabbits.

After offering them some food, she was chased down a road by a stampede of wild bunnies in this adorable video posted on Reddit.

Known as Rabbit Island, Okunoshima was used as the secret base for the Japanese Imperial Army's lethal gas operation during World War Two.

From 1929 to 1945, more than 6,000 tons of poison gas were manufactured on the remote island, and the program was shrouded in secrecy.

For 16 years, Okunoshima was left off maps, and workers who produced the five types of poison gas - which were mostly used in warfare in China - were told to keep the factories a secret.

But somewhere along the line rabbits were introduced and - as rabbits tend to do - they bred fast.
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Smiley

Jorvik Viking Festival: The end of the world is near - again

Martin Laine
Digital Journal
Mon, 17 Feb 2014 17:34 UTC

York - The Doom of the Gods, or Ragnarok of Norse mythology, is scheduled to take place this Saturday, and hundreds of modern-day Norsemen are converging on York to celebrate the event.

Scholars of Norse mythology have indeed calculated that Saturday is the day that Ragnarok as described in the ancient myths is set to begin, according to the website of the Jorvik Viking Center in York. The myths describe a series of events that will take place leading up to a final apocalyptic battle.

Last year was supposed to be the end of the world according to the ancient Mayan calendar.

The prophecy of Ragnarok was made by the god Odin, who hung from the world-tree-Yggdrasil for nine days in order to be given the wisdom to foresee these events.
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Smiley

Unstable living arrangement? Horse moves into house to shelter from storms, refuses to leave

Tomas Jivanda
The Independent, UK
Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:30 UTC
Nasar
© The Independent, UKThere's a horse in my house! Three-year-old Nasar enjoyed the comforts of home a little too much...
A horse that was moved into his owner's house to take shelter from the winter storms in Germany won't stop coming back.

Nasar, a three-year-old Arabian horse, has decided he likes the comforts of a human home and now prefers to spend his days wandering around the house rather than being out in the field with his own kind.

"He is not a fan of the wind and the rain," owner Stephanie Arndt told Die Welt newspaper, adding: "Nasar is extremely curious".

The inquisitive animal has now been captured in a series of portraits galloping around the home, drinking juice from a glass and even having bash on a keyboard.

After first moving in when storms hit Flensburg, northern Germany, in December, Nasar has his own room with hay, but enjoys investigating all the rooms in the house.

He has also become accustomed to human treats and started eating sweets.

Now the storms are up, the friendly steed is only allowed to enjoy roaming around the house during the day however, with Ms Arndt left with the difficult job of getting him out to the stables at night.

In pictures: Nasar the horse enjoys some home comforts
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TV

Super Bowl commercials 2014: The more you know!

Joy Camp
You Tube
Wed, 05 Feb 2014 20:30 UTC
Commercials the Super Bowl didn't want you to see:
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R2-D2

A long time ago, in a courtroom far, far away

John G. Browning
The Texas Bar Journal
Sat, 01 Feb 2014 00:00 UTC
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© Lucas Films
My recent article "To Boldly Go Where Few Judges Have Gone Before," published in the September 2013 issues of the Texas Bar Journal, I took a lighthearted look at Star Trek references cropping up in judicial opinions. The response was overwhelming, with national legal blogs and bar publications of other states picking up the story and even reprinting it. I heard from lawyers and judges all over the country as they confessed their own secret Star Trek fandom. I also received emails from fans of that other science fiction mega-franchise, Star Wars, demanding to know when I was going to show a little geek love for Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and the other denizens of the Star Wars universe. Being a devotee of
Star Wars as well as Star Trek, I'm happy to oblige.

A Long Time Ago, in a Courtroom Far, Far Away

And really, when you think about it, why shouldn't there be a look at how George Lucas's "galaxy far, far away" has subtly influenced lawyers and judges? No, I'm not talking about a clerks-like debate on the use of independent contractors in building the Death Star, the numerous OSHA violations in Jabba the Hutt's palace, or even whether a Tatooine "stand your ground" law would have gotten Han Solo off the hook for shooting Greedoin the cantina. Nor am I referring to the numerous
reported cases involving Lucas film's army of lawyers protecting the company's intellectual property rights against would-be infringers with the zeal of X-wing pilots making the Death Star trench run (and in the process, even taking exception with political groups' use of the term "Star Wars" in association with the Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative).1
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Snowman

Portland students lose control of 800-pound runaway snowball as it slams into college dorm and breaks wall


CBS News - Seattle
Fri, 14 Feb 2014 12:21 UTC
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Doh!
Two math majors at Reed College lost control of a massive snowball that rolled into a dorm, knocking in part of a bedroom wall.

No one was injured.

The students began making the snowball last week during a rare snowstorm in Portland, Oregon.

Nobody weighed the object, but college spokesman Kevin Myers says it was estimated to weigh 800 pounds or more.
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Smiley

10-year-old caught after stealing parents' car and crashing it. His excuse? Hilarious!

Liz Klimas
theblaze.com
Thu, 13 Feb 2014 04:16 UTC
A 10-year-old Norwegian boy stole his parents' car, put his baby sister inside it and drove away, but that's not the craziest part of this story.

After he lost control of the car, ending up in a snowy ditch, he told the snowplow driver who found him that he was a dwarf who had forgotten his driver's license.

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© ShutterstockA 10-year-old boy ended up in a ditch after stealing his parents car.
The incident happened Wednesday in Dokka, which is outside of Oslo. Reuters reported that the boy said he was heading to his grandparents house that was about 37 miles away. He only drove about six miles from his home before landing in the ditch.

"The parents woke up and discovered that the children were missing and that someone had taken off with their car. They were pretty upset, as you can imagine," Baard Christiansen, a spokesman for the Vest Oppland Police, said, according to Reuters. "The boy told the snowplow driver that he was a dwarf and that he had forgotten his driver's license at home."
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Smiley

Cute penguin "falls in love" with zookeeper in Japan

Anne Sewell
Digital Journal
Thu, 13 Feb 2014 14:51 UTC
Matsue - Filmed at Matsue Vogel Park in Shimane Prefecture, Japan, the video shows a penguin named Sakura, who has fallen completely and utterly in love with one of the zookeepers and won't leave him alone.


As the zookeeper runs around in the zoo (as seen in the video above), little Sakura manages to "dog" (or is that "penguin"?) his every move or step. Even though her little penguin legs are so short and she does stumble occasionally, she has no problem keeping up with him all the way.

Sakura
© YouTubeSakura the penguin in Matsue Vogel Park won't leave the zookeeper alone.
Penguins apparently mate for life, but her partner passed away last year and it seems Sakura has put herself back on the market and possibly considers her zookeeper a suitable mate?

What a wonderful Valentine's Day gift for him indeed!

Apparently one version of this video clip has been watched over 150,000 times, so Sakura is becoming quite the viral little penguin indeed.

Reactions and comments to the video have been pretty much a unanimous "cute," with a whole load of "awwwww."

It is not certain, however, if said zookeeper is able to leave the zoo and go home without a cute black and white "tail" in the form of Sakura the penguin.
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Smiley

Distant planet terrified it might be able to someday support human life


The Onion
Fri, 07 Feb 2014 05:34 UTC
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Terrestrial planet WR 67c told reporters that it “just prays” it never develops a mild global climate hospitable to humans.
CONSTELLATION VELA - Claiming that the mere thought is an "absolute nightmare," WR 67c, a terrestrial planet from the distant Gamma Velorum star system, expressed its profound terror Wednesday at the possibility of one day gaining the capacity to sustain human life.

The 5.2-billion-year-old celestial body, which is located roughly 1,100 light years from Earth, said that for both its own sake and that of its entire solar system, it can only hope to never possess the necessary planetary characteristics and chemical elements needed to support either a deep-space human outpost or, more gravely, an entire human colony.

"Luckily, with my high levels of atmospheric sulfur dioxide, methane, and radon, there's no way any human could survive on my surface for more than a few seconds," said WR 67c, adding that it is "incredibly lucky" to have developed extremely violent and widespread volcanism in addition to its poisonous atmosphere. "But I don't know, what if I produce a magnetic field that blocks out stellar wind and cosmic radiation? What if I develop an axial tilt that fosters a mild global climate? It's terrifying to admit, but my surface temperature already sometimes drops to 120 degrees Fahrenheit at night, and their species can technically survive in that."
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