the feel-bad blog

Tortoises share a mutualistic relationship with some species...

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:54:45 -0700

Tortoises share a mutualistic relationship with some species of Galápagos finch and mockingbirds. Small groups of finches initiate the process by hopping on the ground in an exaggerated fashion facing the tortoise. The tortoise signals it is ready by rising up and extending its neck and legs, enabling the birds to reach otherwise inaccessible spots on the tortoise’s body such as the neck, rear legs, cloacal opening, and skin between plastron and carapace. The birds benefit from the food source and the tortoises get rid of irritating ectoparasites.^[80]

Some tortoises have been observed to insidiously exploit this mutualistic relationship. After rising and extending its limbs, the bird may go beneath the tortoise to investigate, whereupon suddenly the tortoise withdraws its limbs to drop flat and kill the bird. It then steps back to eat the bird, presumably to supplement its diet with protein.

— http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galápagos_tortoise#Behaviour

WOMAN SLAUGHTERS ONE-DAY-OLD CHICK USING RAZOR BLADE - Rights...

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:59:01 -0700

WOMAN SLAUGHTERS ONE-DAY-OLD CHICK USING RAZOR BLADE - Rights Managed - Corbis

That's it for the world

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 19:10:47 -0700

That's it for the world:

“251 million years ago a mammoth undersea methane bubble caused massive explosions, poisoned the atmosphere and destroyed more than 96 percent of all life on Earth. Experts agree that what is known as the Permian extinction event was the greatest mass extinction event in the history of the world…

“Now, worried scientists are increasingly concerned the same series of catastrophic events that led to worldwide death back then may be happening again-and no known technology can stop it.”

Brazilian Football Star Arrested for Feeding His Mistress to...

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:05:43 -0700

Brazilian Football Star Arrested for Feeding His Mistress to Dogs

“There is a special light on a pole that can usually be pointed...

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:41:34 -0700

“There is a special light on a pole that can usually be pointed out easily in this theater. This is known as the ghost light. There is one in each of the four theaters. They are there for two reasons- one more practical and the second more fun. The first reason for the ghost light is so when someone walks into backstage of the dark theater they don’t trip over set pieces and hurt themselves or accidentally walk off of the edge of the stage. The second reason is that back in Shakespeare’s time candles were burned in theaters to scare away ghosts from old performances. Many theaters burned down from the simple fact that fire and wood don’t mix but since we now have electricity, that is really not a problem.”

Darryl Cunningham Investigates Homeopathy

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:52:28 -0700

Darryl Cunningham Investigates Homeopathy

“Yeah, I seen him,” Ruben said. The snow outside...

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:25:12 -0700

“Yeah, I seen him,” Ruben said. The snow outside howled. The heat from the can warped the landscape of rotting buildings and razor wire.

Did he know who the dead person was?

“I don’t recognize him from his shoes.”

Did he call the police?

“No, I figured someone else did,” he said.

“There’s lots of people coming through here with cameras and cell phones. I don’t got no phone. I don’t got no quarter. Things is tight around here.”

His shack mate, Kenneth Williams, 47, returned at that point with an armload of wood.

“Yeah, he’s been down there since last month at least.”

He was asked if he called the police.

“No, I thought it was a dummy myself,” he said unconvincingly. Besides, Williams said, there were more pressing issues like keeping warm and finding something to eat.

“You got a couple bucks?” he asked.

—The Detroit News

The seamy underbelly of children’s television

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:28:58 -0700

The seamy underbelly of children’s television

A reversal of etiquette.

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:42:00 -0700

A reversal of etiquette.

"Two enlisted military men, Thomas and McClellan, were spending an evening drinking in bars. In one..."

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:37:28 -0700

“

Two enlisted military men, Thomas and McClellan, were spending an evening drinking in bars. In one bar McClellan began dancing with a young woman who was drunk and soon collapsed in his arms on the dance floor. The defendants put the woman in McClellan’s car, having agreed at the bar to take her home. Once in the car McClellan suggested they use the opportunity to rape her as she was unconscious and would not know the difference. Each defendant then proceeded to have sexual intercourse with the woman. Later, after being unable to find the location of her home, they became concerned about her condition as she had not regained consciousness, so they sought help at a service station. The service station attendant called the police, who determined she was dead. An autopsy conducted later ascertained that she died of a heart condition, “acute interstitial myocarditis”. The general undisputed opinion was that her death most likely occurred at the time of her collapse. The two defendants were not aware of her death.

The defendants used the “impossibility” defense, claiming that it was legally impossible to attempt to rape a woman who was dead.

”

- The United States v. Thomas

It’s always presumptuous to call a piece of work...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:06:14 -0700

It’s always presumptuous to call a piece of work autobiographical, but the stream-of-consciousness nightmare coming out of the mouth of Thom Yorke certainly sounds like it came from somewhere deep inside of his own worst fears… Yorke has said that this song was the product of a nervous breakdown, and that doesn’t seem like exaggeration when you delve into those lyrics.

—Jim Beviglia