Scuttlebutt Pipeline

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If an animal does something to injure your fragile ego you are in right to retaliate in any way you see fit. At least that’s what some young men in San Francisco thought:

A man was sentenced to five months in jail after he and a friend, acting on wounded pride, gunned down an ostrich that had kicked them as their female companions laughed […]

(full story)

So an animal kicked them and their female friends laughed. Big whoop. How can that possibly justify killing the animal? These guys have serious anger management issues and a low value of self worth if they felt that the murder of an innocent animal that had no malicious thoughts or intentions were justified.

To give them only five months for this is ridiculous. An ostrich kicked them and some women laugh, so they whipped out their guns and opened fire. What’s going to happen when someone cuts these guys off in traffic or a girl turns them down?

HOUSTON - An infestation of bats at Texas Southern University has health officials concerned.

The bats took over a dormitory, forcing more than 200 students into hotels. Now, there are worries the students may have been exposed to rabies.

Videos posted on the Internet show students swinging a broom and a tennis racket as several bats fly about in a dorm hallway. One student said he killed dozens of bats but didn’t know if anyone was bitten.

Health officials asked students who had been in the dorm to meet with them this week to determine whether any would need rabies vaccinations.

Texas Southern officials, meanwhile, say they’re trying to rid the dorm of the bats. It’s not clear how many bats were in the building.

(source)

I’m actually kind of surprised that bats would even think of making a dorm their home. Bats generally need somewhere dark and removed from intrusion for their resting grounds. Caves, trees, burrows, this is where you would expect to find bats. Not a University dorm.

I don’t think that says very much about the dormitory conditions at that school.

To their high society owners, a pair of haute couture shoes can be a precious thing.

But to guard a 62,000 pound (120,000 dollar) pair of ruby- sapphire- and diamond-encrusted Rene Caovilla sandals at their London launch, retailer Harrods went to extreme lengths: bringing in a live Egyptian cobra to patrol the shoe counter.

Whether hiring a poisonous snake is, strictly speaking, the most effective means of guarding precious footwear might be a moot point with security experts.

But it makes for a pretty effective photo opportunity.

A spokeswoman for Harrods admitted that the cobra had been hired strictly for Monday’?s launch of the shoe collection.

“The snake has now been returned to its owner,” she said.

So no need to fear snake bites at the shoe counter, then.

“Not unless you’re a burglar,” the spokeswoman said
(Source)

I’m not even going to crack a joke about the shoes, although it’s very tempting. I mean come on, diamond, ruby, and sapphire encrusted shoes? Am I the only one that sees the ridiculousness of this?

Now about having a cobra for a security system. Well, truth be told that would probably deter most thieves. Unless of course you’ve got a gun with a silencer or have good aim with throwing weapons. In which case you have a poor dead snake and officials that look like idiots.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Officials at Nepal’s state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.

Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due the problem.

The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal’s only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said.

“The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights,” said Raju K.C., a senior airline official, without explaining what the problem had been.

Local media last week blamed the company’s woes on an electrical fault. The carrier runs international flights to five cities in Asia.

It is common in Nepal to sacrifice animals like goats and buffaloes to appease different Hindu deities.

(source)

It seems really odd to even consider an animal sacrifice of being of any use when it comes to repairing technical and mechanical glitches, let alone two. But it is their belief that if a god becomes angered a sacrifice is necessary to appease him or her so it’s not that odd.

Although in our [Western] culture it does seem horribly odd and funny at the same time.

I’m sure PETA members are having epileptic fits over this though. But come on, if you were a god wouldn’t you be a bit pissed off at how the human creatures that inhabit your planet are screwing it up? If I were a Goddess, and not just of my blogs, I’d probably smite the human race.

If you try to immolate this man I suggest you get yourself a good pair of Air Jordan shoes as they a fine pair of running shoes, and I guarantee you’ll be doing a lot of running:

CAIRO, Egypt - It was very nearly a real-life version of “Snakes on a Plane.” A man was stopped at Cairo’s airport just moments before he boarded a Saudi Arabia-bound plane with carry-on bags filled with live snakes, as well as a few baby crocodiles and chameleons.

Security officials became suspicious of the 22-year-old Saudi man’s bags when the X-ray machine at the departure gate gave odd readings. Police said they opened the bags and found a large number of reptiles, including at least one cobra, squirming to escape.

The animals were confiscated and turned over to the Cairo Zoo and the man was allowed to board his flight home.

Transporting live reptiles out of the country is illegal in Egypt, but the passenger said he was unaware of the ban and that the snakes, crocodiles and chameleons were needed by a Saudi university for scientific experiments, police said.

(full article)

You know, I would think it would be common sense that sticking an animal of any sort in your luggage is illegal or not allowed, especially if you’re taking it out of the country. But then again maybe common sense isn’t so common? Still though, considering another man from, you guessed it Saudi Arabia tried the same thing I don’t know why officials were lenient. Guess what folks, this man was lying through his teeth to you! Duh.

Of course a part of me wonders how the hell he managed to shove a cobra, among other snakes and baby crocodiles, in his suitcase without getting injured himself.