- New species alert: A rare new species of hammerhead sharks
has been discovered by
a team of scientists from the University
of South Carolina. USC ichthyologist Joe Quattro led the research team
that recently found the shark, which swam along unnoticed for so long because it
is outwardly indistinguishable from the common scalloped hammerhead. Yet the researchers
were able to find the banded pygmy sunfish in all the South Carolina rivers. “It’s very important to officially recognize, name and learn more
about this new hammerhead species and the condition of its populations through
systematic surveys,” said Mahmood Shivji, who
oversaw the project at the Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center’s
Save Our Seas Shark Center USA and Guy Harvey Research Institute. “Without
management intervention to curtail its inadvertent killing, we run the risk
that overfishing could eradicate an entire shark species before its existence
is even properly acknowledged.” Quattro, who may or may not receive free razors
from Schick based on his last name, pointed to the disturbingly low number of
this species of shark compared to its past population. “The biomass of scalloped hammerheads off the coast of the eastern U.S.
is less than 10 percent of what it was historically,” Quattro said. “Here,
we’re showing that the scalloped hammerheads are actually two things. Since the
cryptic (new) species is much rarer than the lewini (traditional), God only
knows what its population levels have dropped to.” One unique characteristic of
the new hammerhead species is that it has 10 fewer vertebrae than similar
sharks. The National Marine Fisheries
Service plans to consider adding the scalloped hammerhead to the
endangered species list, which would be a coup for a species that until
recently wasn’t known to exist…….
- Retirement wishes rejected, Andrew Bynum. The
talented-yet-injury-prone Cleveland
Cavaliers center is back on the court after sitting out all of last season
while with the Philadelphia 76ers, but all is not well with the 7-footer. Despite
his return from devastating knee injuries, Bynum is still torn between
continuing to play the game that is making him a lot of money or retiring. Last
season obviously took a large toll on Bynum, as he spent the entire season on
the bench after the 76ers executed a major trade for him and planned to make
him a franchise cornerstone. He has played limited minutes for the Cavs this
season and admitted this week that retirement remains on his mind. "Retirement
was a thought, it was a serious thought. It still is," Bynum said.
"It's tough to enjoy the game because of how limited I am physically. I'm
working through that. Every now and again I do [think about retirement]. …It's
still career-threatening. I'm a shell of myself on the court right now. I'm
just struggling mentally." Being a shell of one’s former self on the court
is a tough weight to bear, especially for a player who is still in his early
20s, but there is one primary reason Bynum needs to remain on an NBA roster
somewhere in the league, regardless of his health: his epic barrage of bizarre
hairstyles. Last season, Bynum went through an odd, yet captivating series of
‘dos that included a mop-top look, a ‘fro, dreadlocks and others. For a 76ers
team that sucked exponentially, seeing what Bynum’s lettuce would look like was
the biggest reason to tune in to games. Maybe all of this retirement talk is
just frustration over being rusty and playing in an NBA game for the first time
in 560 days. Perhaps the 10 points and three blocked shots Bynum posted in the
Cavs' win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday is a sign of progress and
better things are ahead. Even if they aren’t, AB needs to slap on a suit, grow
out his mane and find a comfortable spot on the bench……..
- Sooooo…..how far as Europe really come in the past seven
decades? You know, since a certain genocidal, mustachioed madman attempted to
exterminate and entire race of people and for the first few years, the rest of
the continent did little to stop him? According to a survey released Friday by the European
Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), not so far. The survey found that anti-Semitism
has worsened in Europe in the past few years, with the abuse taking a digital
slant as haters take to the Internet to spread their despicable message. The
study was released just ahead of the 75th anniversary of "Kristallnacht,”
the night when Nazi thugs went around Germany destroying Jewish businesses and
synagogues and it found that 66 percent of European Jews considered
anti-Semitism "a fairly big or very big" problem in their country. A
shocking 76 percent said it had worsened in the past five years, with most of
the abuse talking place via social media and file-sharing websites that allow
bigots to spread anti-Semitism even faster than before. "I feel that since
going on Facebook, I have experienced more anti-Semitic comments in a few years
than I ever have done throughout my whole life," one study respondent was
quoted as saying. "This is very dispiriting." The FRA report was
conducted through an n an online survey in eight EU countries -- Belgium,
Britain, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia and Sweden – that house 90 percent of the bloc's Jewish
population. Several of them are among the continent’s best-educated and most
stable countries, so this isn’t merely a case of uneducated, backwater idiots
unleashing their ignorance on the world. Belgium and Hungary reported the
highest rates of anti-Semitism in the media and political life, along with a
healthy share of vandalism and open hostility in the streets. Hungary has been
the site of repeated anti-Semitic incidents in the past year and Prime Minister
Viktor Orban has been ripped for doing nothing to stem the tide. "Anti-Semitism
is a disturbing example of how prejudice can persist through the centuries, and
it has no place in our society today," FRA director Morten Kjaerum said in
the report. Perhaps the most disturbing note in the study is the 21 percent of people who said they had
experienced verbal or physical abuse in the last year for being Jewish and the
nearly 50 percent who said they feared public insults or harassment in the next
12 months………
- The next generation of Ghostbusters sure will look
substantially different than their predecessors. As the creative process
lurches forward for “Ghostbusters 3,” with writer and star Dan Aykroyd leading
the charge, some big names with very little to impress on their resumes are
reportedly set to join the cast. The latest casting news has Emma Stone and Jonah Hill being offered
deals to star in the third installment of the franchise to play characters
named Anna and Jeremy. Names are about all that is known about the characters
at this point, although Aykroyd has previously said that the sequel will
introduce a new team of younger Ghostbusters who begin the story as students at
New York's Columbia University. Getting the core members of the Ghostbusters
team to return and reprise their roles from the first two movies has been
difficult, as Bill Murray has
declined to reprise his popular role as Dr. Peter Venkman. Even Rick Moranis,
who may or may not have left acting years ago without anyone noticing and/or
died, was asked in June about the possibility of coming back and cryptically
said, “It's got to be good." Those words loosely translate to, “Offer me
more money,” so assume that Moranis will be there when this effort gets off the
ground. It was Aykroyd and co-star Harold Ramis who wrote the original 1984 “Ghostbusters” film and 1989's “Ghostbusters II,” but the duo have
struggled to find a solid story for a third film. Adding Hill and Stone
suggests a) more talented actors have said no, b) that Aykroyd is looking to
add some youthfulness to the script and c) that the project is moving forward.
At this point, it’s been so long since “Ghostbusters II” that very few people
will remember the first two films in the series and it’s almost like starting
over anyhow………
- All hail the Goat Man. Seattle resident Steve Wescott is a
man on a very long mission and he’ll have an ill-tempered, horned companion by
his side every step of the way. Wescott and
his goat Leroy are on a pilgrimage from the west coast to Times Square in New
York City and the reason they’re walking 3,000 miles is to raise money for a
Christian orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Wescott isn't the first person to cross
the country in the name of a cause and there are probably a few of those
devoted souls crisscrossing the country at this very minute. However, Wescott
is likely the only one with a goat in tow and from the sound of it, taking a
farm animal with him was a deliberate and purposeful move. "He's the
reason anybody talks to me, and I'm OK with that," Wescott said of
the goat. "It's not meant to be a gimmick, it's not supposed to be a
gimmick. He's a pack animal, he's supposed to be my friend, you know. He
doesn't talk, but he starts more conversations than anybody I know.” Wescott
and Leroy passed through Kansas City earlier this week, meaning they are now
more than halfway through their journey. By walking from coast to coast,
Wescott is aiming to raise money for the 34 children he and a friend are
teaching and caring for at the orphanage. His friend remains at the orphanage
while Wescott walks and raises support across the Atlantic Ocean. Ironically,
Wescott admits he chose to walk with a goat because he's from the city and
doesn't know much about animals. However, his limited research revealed that goats
are pack animals and make good companions. He’s fine with the reality that he
has now become “the goat guy” to many people as long as being that guy helps
him raise $200,000 to continue helping the children at the orphanage and start
a farm so those children and their families can be self-sufficient………
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