Brain Teasers

. . . doesn't mean that the aliens are not out to get you:

Man 'targeted by aliens'

A Bosnian man whose home has been hit an incredible five times by meteorites believes he is being targeted by aliens.

* * *

But Mr Lajic, who has had a steel girder reinforced roof put on the house he owns in the northern village of Gornja Lamovite, has an alternative explanation.

He said: "I am obviously being targeted by extraterrestrials. I don't know what I have done to annoy them but there is no other explanation that makes sense. The chance of being hit by a meteorite is so small that getting hit five times has to be deliberate."

The first meteorite fell on his house in November last year and since then a further four have smashed into his home. The strikes always happen when it is raining heavily, never when there are clear skies.

OK, it's from Ananova, and a quick search didn't turn up any other dependable sources, so take it for what it is worth.

A-ha! It all makes perfect sense now! (Click to embiggen.)

(Original here.)

Got a link to this news story from a friend, who added the comment: "OK, this goes waaaaay beyond stupidity."

Man Shooting Hole Through Wall Kills Wife

DEEPWATER, Mo. -- Officials are trying to decide whether to file charges against a Missouri man who fatally shot his wife while trying to install a satellite TV system in the bedroom of their home.

Patsy Long, 34, of Deepwater, died after being shot in the chest with a .22-caliber handgun on Saturday. Her husband, Ronald Long, fired the shot from the inside of their home after several unsuccessful efforts to punch a hole through the exterior wall using other means.

Henry County sheriff's deputies said the woman was hit by the second of two shots fired by her husband.

*sigh*

Because I have an email address posted over there on the left, I am open to all manner of spam, rants, threats, and general crazy-people appeals to embrace their version of Big Magic Ju-Ju Man. It's no big deal, and goes with the territory. Usually.

But occasionally something will come through that account that gets my attention.

Nah, not the threats. I've long since learned to ignore those. I'm not afraid of hell-fire, and if someone wants to try and kill me there's not much I can do about it beyond what I already do in how I live my life.

But I am amused by some of the more creative things the nuts do, like adding me to a online group called "Serenity Fountain". Hmm. Could be something about Serenity/Firefly (I'm a big fan). Could be a porn site. But no, it's a religious discussion group, with this description:

(I wasn't planning on cross-posting this from my blog, but it took a rather philosophical turn, and upon reflection what I have to say has a lot to do with why I am an atheist. So, I thought I'd share. -Jim )

There is one thing, absolutely, that you know - but most people don't really believe it. That you are alive, and that you are going to die.

"Wait!" you say, "That's two things!"

No, it's not. Life and death are two aspects of the same thing. It is the fundamental duality of our nature. Now, the first part of that equation is generally accepted, but the second part is widely denied - hence the desire to split it into two separate items.

But it hasn't always been like this. Most of human history, people have understood the connection - they were familiar and comfortable with death (even if it wasn't to be desired). I'd even go so far as to say that much of the world today is still this way. It is really only in the last couple-three generations that those in the richer countries have lost a day-to-day connection with death.

Whoa - this is *such* an improvement!

garfield minus garfield

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb.

Jim Downey

Hat tip to Tim! Cross posted to Communion of Dreams.

It never ceases to amaze me the things that people will do to themselves in the quest for kicks or 'enlightenment'. Like this:

Diary Entry: 03-22-00

This weekend I had a hole drilled through my skull. I read that this increased one's consciousness permanently. I read about the supposed de-conditioning properties. I read about more parts of the brain working simultaneously as there would be more blood up there to help this happen. The arguments for it all seemed to be quite lengthy, quite detailed, thought out and researched, and very intelligent. The arguments against it were based solely on the opinion that it is 'crazy' and talk like, "What's more conscious than conscious?". I heard from an acquaintance on telephone that she was glad she had done it, felt more mental energy, and had days of brilliance. I came to believe that the key to a permanent consciousness increase was a hole in the skull, to restore the full brain pulsation of infancy.

From the 12/12 New York Times:

Penthouse Buys Group of Social-Networking Sites

While the influx of free and low-cost video has hurt the sale of pornographic videos, the chief executive of the Penthouse Media Group remains so bullish on the sex-related entertainment industry that he is investing $500 million in a group of social networking sites.

Marc H. Bell, chief executive of Penthouse Media, said the company had acquired Various Inc. and its subsidiaries as part of a plan to expand its reach. Various operates more than 25 networking sites and says it has a member base of more than 260 million consumers, about 1.2 million of them paying subscribers.

260 million? That's like more than the adult population of the US, isn't it? Well, nevermind. The bigger question is why am I writing about this - just more smut-related news from an immoral, atheistic libertine?

Not exactly. Here's another bit from that same article:

I, for one, welcome our new super-intelligent Chimpanzee masters.

[link] Young Chimp Outscores College Students in Memory Test

Malcolm Ritter in New York
Associated Press
December 3, 2007

Japanese researchers pitted young chimpanzees against human adults in two tests of short-term memory, and overall, the chimps won.

That challenges the belief of many people, including a number of scientists, that "humans are superior to chimpanzees in all cognitive functions," said researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University.

"No one can imagine that chimpanzees—young chimpanzees at the age of five—have a better performance in a memory task than humans," he said in a statement.

Matsuzawa, a pioneer in studying the mental abilities of chimps, said even he was surprised. He and colleague Sana Inoue report the results in Tuesday's issue of the journal Current Biology.

Damn dirty apes!

My wife passed on an item posted over on Forum Wales which I found of interest. Not saying that I "believe" or anything, but it is definitely something to take a look at. It's a short clip, and you should turn your sound up a bit:

And in the true spirit of Halloween I give you this British Car Ad that was never run:

This is a car advertisement from Great Britain. When they finished filming the ad, the film editor noticed something moving along the side of the car, like a ghostly white mist. They found out that a person had been killed a year earlier in that exact same spot.

The ad was never put on TV because of the unexplained ghostly phenomenon. Watch the front end of the car as it clears the trees in the middle of the screen and you’ll see the white mist crossing in front of the car then following it along the road….Spooky!

Is it a ghost, or is it simply mist? You decide. If you listen to the ad, you’ll even hear the cameraman whispering in the background about it near the end of the commercial.

Car Ad

Odd little news item:

LONDON (Reuters) - A surge in naked sleepwalking among guests has led one of Britain's largest budget hotel groups to re-train staff to handle late-night nudity.

Travelodge, which runs more than 300 business hotels in Britain, says sleepwalking rose seven-fold in the past year, and 95 percent of the somnambulants are scantily clad men.

"We have seen an increased number of cases over the years so it is important that our staff know how to help sleepwalking when it arises," Leigh McCarron, the chain's sleep director, said in a statement.

One tip in the company's newly released "sleepwalkers guide" tells staff to keep towels handy at the front desk in case a customer's dignity needs preserving.

Article goes on to explain some of the common causes of sleepwalking, but curiously neglects to mention one which I have heard about: Zolpidem, known more commonly by the brand name "Ambien". Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

Ol' Joe Smith may have had the right idea about polygamy, after all. Well, at least the evolutionary historical idea, anyway.

Men age faster 'because of Stone Age sex'

The reason that women outlive men by an average of around five years is due to sex, harems and violence in the Stone Age, according to a study published today.

Scientists have struggled to understand why men only tend to live to an average age of 75 while women live to an average of 80.

Now it seems that the reason is that our prehistoric male ancestors kept female harems and fought over them to procreate: because male life was nasty, brutish and short, evolutionary forces focused on making males big and strong, rather than long lived.

See? He really was just trying to get back to the way our ancestors lived. Man, talk about your "old time religion"...

Jim Downey

That line is from this post in a discussion over at BoingBoing about a new book by the Vatican Astronomer, Brother Guy Consolmagno. Full context: the author previously described himself as an "agnostic", and in defense of that position says this:

I would turn that question around and ask if an atheist is sure that there is no 3rd planet orbiting around the star in Orion's left shoulder. We can't see it or demonstrate in any way that it exists, therefore by atheist standards, it must not exist?

Or perhaps we can use atheistic reasoning to suggest that Star Trek Warp Drives, teleporters, holodecks and other "Treknology" are all completely impossible, because physics can't currently produce those effects and therefore, they do not exist.

Atheists seem to suffer from a lack of imagination.

Just curious, what would you do in the scenario outlined in this news item?

LONDON (Reuters) -- An asteroid is on a collision course with the earth and you have one hour left to live. What would you do in your last 60 minutes?

Not surprisingly, the majority of Britons questioned in a survey -- 54 percent -- said they would like to spend it either with or on the phone to their loved ones.

But the survey revealed a strong hedonistic streak -- 13 percent would sit back, accept the inevitable and reach for a glass of champagne.

Sex appealed to only nine percent while just three percent would turn to prayer.

Interesting. I wonder what the stats would be here in the much more religious US? Would more people "turn to prayer" in such a situation, or would the reality of immanent death show up their real priorities?

Me? Put me in that hedonistic crowd...preferably in the company of friends and loved ones. The thought of prayer wouldn't even cross my mind.

Jim Downey

So, what would you call me if I said that I was going to try and spend one year living my life entirely by the 285 rules set forth in the Ferengi "Rules of Acquisition"? More than a little obsessed with the Star Trek fictional universe? Maybe cashing in on the Star Trek franchise in a somewhat cynical way? Perhaps a touch insane?

Then why is it that when A. J. Jacobs decides to spend a year trying to live by the 700-some 'rules' found in the Bible, he gets a book contract and lots of press? Oh, that's right, because the Bible is considered by most people to not be a work of fiction.

*sigh*

So, three weeks ago I wrote about the initial reports that the Air Force had managed to lose track of some of its nukes, and accidentally transported them across the country.

Well, the story just keeps getting better. From the Washington Post this past Sunday:

Three weeks after word of the incident leaked to the public, new details obtained by The Washington Post point to security failures at multiple levels in North Dakota and Louisiana, according to interviews with current and former U.S. officials briefed on the initial results of an Air Force investigation of the incident.

The warheads were attached to the plane in Minot without special guard for more than 15 hours, and they remained on the plane in Louisiana for nearly nine hours more before being discovered. In total, the warheads slipped from the Air Force's nuclear safety net for more than a day without anyone's knowledge.

So, here's a little thought experiment, in two parts. I would appreciate your comments on each part, as you see fit. And whatever you say in response, also consider your initial reaction (which you don't have to disclose).

Here's the scenario: You need to have a brain tumor removed. It's a tricky operation, but there's generally a 90% success rate across the medical field with it. There is also the usual 3 - 4% chance of developing a post-operative infection, and something like 1% chance of complications due to anesthesia. Your insurance will cover the entire cost of the procedure and hospitalization regardless of which choices you make to the questions below, so expense is not a factor (hey, I didn't say this was realistic).

We need a category for "Stupid Human Tricks":

B-52 mistakenly carried nukes

BISMARCK, N.D. - A B-52 bomber was mistakenly loaded with five nuclear warheads during a flight from North Dakota to Louisiana, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The bomber carried advanced cruise missiles as part of a Defense Department program to retire 400 of the missiles, the Military Times said, quoting three officers who spoke on condition they remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the incident.

The officers said the nuclear warheads should have been removed before the missiles were mounted onto pylons under the bomber's wings for the Aug. 30 flight from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, the newspaper said Wednesday.

Oops. But here's the hilarious part:

"Air Force standards are very exacting when it comes to munitions handling," Thomas said. "The weapons were always in our custody and there was never a danger to the American public."

(This is an excerpt from a much longer post on my blog that deals with some related topics. However, I thought this bit best fit UTI, so am posting it as a separate item. - JD)

There's another possibility, of course. This one can best be summed up as being that life is "a dream within a dream". The latest popular version of this is "The Matrix", wherein life is an artificial reality construct, designed to keep the human 'power cells' docile. But this too is an idea extensively exploited in Science Fiction, with many different variations on the theme. Of late, this idea has been more and more tied to the concept of a 'Singularity' , with speculation being that we are just some version of post-human research/recreation as a computer construct. And in a piece published yesterday in the NYT titled "Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy's Couch" this gets the mainstream religion treatment:

"Uncle" Leonard has lived on my mother in law's street for more than 40 years. My mother and father-in-law have known him for 30 of those years, and my wife, Mrs. Inscrutable, has known him since she was a little girl. She always called him "Uncle Leonard" or "Uncle Len". I met Len when I married into the family and immediately liked the old coot.

Len is 80 years old and strong as an ox. His eyes are clear, his brain works great, and he's deeply intelligent with a childlike sense of humor that infuses all that he says and does. He knows everything that is to know about big and small game hunting here in Arizona. He's our "hunting buddy", and we go hunting with him 3 or 4 times a year at least - more if we can get the time off. Working for 40 years of his early life as an electrical engineer erecting power poles and stringing high-power electrical lines through some of the most desolate desert and high-country wilderness in the state of Arizona means that he also knows every trail, track, and road. In many cases he created the trail or road when he and his crew were wiring-up the state in the 40's and 50's.

He is a crack shot. I have seen him take down two javelina from more than 400 yards, one right after the other, with perfect behind-the-ear shots. This is in the desert, and a javelina is about the size of a medium-sized dog - and they are sand-colored. It wasn't luck - he shoots like this *every time*.

My point is that Uncle Leonard isn't a wild-eyed, deluded fruit-loop new agey weirdo. He's one of the most down-to-earth, hard-nosed materialists I've ever met.

However, he dowses for water. Successfully.

More after the fold...