Friday, August 10, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Penis "Snake" Found In Brazil
The "penis snake" was first discovered in Brazil when engineers were building a dam in the Madeira River in Rondonia. Six of the unusual creatures were found at the time. The unusual species gained its naughty nickname because of its appearance -- a broad, rounded head atop a thick, cylindrical fleshy body. But the phallic squirmer isn't a snake but an extremely rare, limbless amphibian.
Biologist Julian Tupan identified the species as Atretochoana eiselti, a type of caecilian. According to the U.K.'s National History Museum, no living populations of the A. eiselti had been found prior to this discovery and only two preserved specimens were known.
Legless and lungless, this aquatic animal is thought to breathe through its skin. Tupan, who is working with the company building the dam, disclosed what little is known about the "penis snake" to Brazil's Estadao website, according to reports. “Of the six we collected, one died, three were released back into the wild and another two were kept for studies," Tupan said.
Biologist Julian Tupan identified the species as Atretochoana eiselti, a type of caecilian. According to the U.K.'s National History Museum, no living populations of the A. eiselti had been found prior to this discovery and only two preserved specimens were known.
Legless and lungless, this aquatic animal is thought to breathe through its skin. Tupan, who is working with the company building the dam, disclosed what little is known about the "penis snake" to Brazil's Estadao website, according to reports. “Of the six we collected, one died, three were released back into the wild and another two were kept for studies," Tupan said.
Friday, August 3, 2012
NBC Facing Charges Of Racism In Olympics Coverage
Another shocking development from NBC's much-criticized coverage of the Olympics. In the latest incident, NBC unconscionably aired an ad showing a monkey performing gymnastics immediately after a piece featuring African-American gymnast Gabby Douglas.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Witholding IRS Returns Can Be Taxing
It's no wonder why Mitt Romney doesn't want to release his tax returns. In an interview with HuffPo, Senate majority leader Harry Reid admitted that Romney probably wouldn't make it through a Senate confirmation process as a mere Cabinet nominee, due to the lack of transparency over his personal finances.
"His poor father must be so embarrassed about his son," Reid also said, in reference to George Romney's standard-setting decision to turn over 12 years of tax returns when he ran for president in the late 1960s.
The blockbuster quote of the interview came when Reid described a conversation he had with a Bain Capital investor a month ago.
"His poor father must be so embarrassed about his son," Reid also said, in reference to George Romney's standard-setting decision to turn over 12 years of tax returns when he ran for president in the late 1960s.
The blockbuster quote of the interview came when Reid described a conversation he had with a Bain Capital investor a month ago.
"Harry, he didn't pay any taxes for 10 years," Reid recounted the person as saying.
"He didn't pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that's true? Well, I'm not certain," said Reid. "But obviously he can't release those tax returns. How would it look?Reid also expressed doubt over the extent of Romney's wealthe. "You guys have said his wealth is $250 million," Reid said "Not a chance in the world. It's a lot more than that. I mean, you do pretty well if you don't pay taxes for 10 years when you're making millions and millions of dollars."
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
NBC Sinks To New Low For High Ratings
NBC is continuing to face criticism over its Olympic coverage in London. In this latest incident, live viewers of the women’s gymnastics’ team final saw Russia’s Ksenia Afanasyeva take a serious fall during her floor exercise. The glaring error virtually handed the gold medal to the Americans early on in the competition.
But NBC's tape-delayed coverage edited out Afanasyeva’s dramatic fall from its primetime broadcast, which would normally be unthinkable-- since she’s the reigning world champion for floor exercises. But there is widespread suspicion the network didn’t show her face-plant in order to create suspense over whether the Americans would win gold. Adding to this suspicion was NBC's steadfast refusal during the entire broadcast to include camera shots that would show standings on the arena scoreboards in the background.
Al Trautwig got in on the deception as well, asking (before the Americans followed the Russian on the floor exercises) whether the U.S. "can deliver a knockout blow"-- even though in reality the Russian mistake eliminated any doubt of U.S. winning gold. Deadspin's Timothy Burke also takes note of NBC's attempt to drum up further drama over the American women's chances by showing Aly Raisman missing a tumble landing during warmups. In my opinion, all of this goes way beyond simple editing choices and is outright manipulation. Trying to stoke ratings in this way is insulting to sports fans.
But NBC's tape-delayed coverage edited out Afanasyeva’s dramatic fall from its primetime broadcast, which would normally be unthinkable-- since she’s the reigning world champion for floor exercises. But there is widespread suspicion the network didn’t show her face-plant in order to create suspense over whether the Americans would win gold. Adding to this suspicion was NBC's steadfast refusal during the entire broadcast to include camera shots that would show standings on the arena scoreboards in the background.
Al Trautwig got in on the deception as well, asking (before the Americans followed the Russian on the floor exercises) whether the U.S. "can deliver a knockout blow"-- even though in reality the Russian mistake eliminated any doubt of U.S. winning gold. Deadspin's Timothy Burke also takes note of NBC's attempt to drum up further drama over the American women's chances by showing Aly Raisman missing a tumble landing during warmups. In my opinion, all of this goes way beyond simple editing choices and is outright manipulation. Trying to stoke ratings in this way is insulting to sports fans.
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