Looks familiar?

 

Source: Hitler in disguise: US intelligence images of how Hitler could have disguised himself, 1944

 

Picture update - Tower of David

Previous related blog entries:
Update - Tower of David - Jan 29th 2014
Random picture - Tower of David - Oct 20th, 2013

Caracas is finally ending the 'world's tallest squat' informs us that "... the Venezuelan government says it’s time for the squatters to go..." 'The Tower of David' is to be emptied, the inhabitants to be moved to government-built housing because it is "not safe." Not that anything has changed since 2007...

 

Take the link for more (un-cropped) pictures...

Great quote

“The military community is different from the rest of the nation. These stores are manned by people who are familiar with their situation, who appreciate what they’re doing for our country.” 

-  Patrick B. Nixon, president of The American Logistics Association (a Washington-based trade group representing 250 firms that sell goods on base stores), on why commissaries should stay and military personnel should not be forced to shop for groceries in civilian stores (even if prices similarly discounted). See  Plan to shut military supermarkets shows difficulty of cutting defense spending

Random picture

Source: Lee Myung-bak as Rat? North Korean propaganda posters attacking South Korean President Lee Myung-bak

Quick update - "peace' walls

Picture credit: Belfast peace walls - in pictures

The May 6th, 2008 blog entry 'Peace Walls' noted that "... ten years after the signing of the Good Friday agreement that brought peace to the area, these walls remain. Some want them taken down, but many do not. In fact new “peace walls” (as they are called here) continue to be erected…", while the July 28th, 2008 entry 'More about walls' took President Obama to task for foolishly claiming "... Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to live together..."

A recent article, 'Belfast, divided in the name of peace', notes this phenomenon and provides an update:

"... Alexandra Park in north Belfast is a gently sloping expanse of green that looks, at first glance, like any other small, well-tended public park in any other British city. It has winding paths, tall trees, a pond and, down towards its lower end, a pleasantly leafy area that could easily be turned into a nature walk for local children. To reach it, though, you have to pass though a newly created gate in a 3m-high, reinforced corrugated steel fence that bisects the park.

On a overcast afternoon last November, the park is all but deserted save for myself, Antonio Olmos, the Observer photographer, and a solitary figure with a large dog we glimpse though the open gate. Then, as if on cue, a council van arrives and two workers jump out. It is 3pm and they are here to close the gate in the fence. As they do so, Alexandra Park once again becomes two separate parks: one Catholic, the other Protestant...

According to a report published by the Belfast Interface Project, there are now 99 interfaces – or peace walls – in Belfast. Some walls date from the early years of the Troubles, when sectarian tit-for-tat killings and violence were a regular occurrence on the strife-torn streets of Belfast. An estimated one-third, though, have gone up since the IRA and Protestant paramilitary ceasefire in 1994. Many existing walls have been made longer and higher in recent years..."

Random charts

Source: Official report on the Cheonan Incident "... On the night of March 26, 2010, the South Korean naval vessel ROKS Cheonan split in half and sunk. Forty-six sailors lost their lives. In order to determine the cause, the South Korean government created the Joint Investigation Group (JIG), with representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, and Sweden, among others..."

The Cheonan Incident: Skepticism Abounds

Hoo boy..

Recently this blogger noticed a lot of traffic from New Zealand. A little digging found that the traffic was coming from NZgames.com forums, which had linked to this blog's 'WMD aren't what they used to be...' entry. Looking at the comments this blogger was struck by the one that said, "I'm not sure what's worse - the WMD charge or that the page is in COMIC SANS!" Wasn't quite sure re what this was about... this blogger kind of likes Comic Sans and uses it quite a bit (e.g. this blog, in e-mail, etc.), so chalked it up to a case of "de gustibus non est disputandum" (referring either to this blogger or the person making the comment, your choice!)...

Well, a couple of days later this blogger ran into this WSJ article: Typeface Inspired by Comic Books Has Become a Font of Ill Will which recounted the creation of this font. Apparently there are many, many people who loathe it and there is even a Ban Comic Sans movement, though this blogger is not sure whether it is really serious or more of a spoof! Visit the site and judge for yourself: Ban Comic Sans.

King of kings

In August 2008 Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi held a meeting in Benghazi, where he invited over 200 African kings and traditional rulers. At that meeting they gave him the title of 'King of Kings.'

This week he showed up at the meeting of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, accompanied by royalty (including His Highness Iguru G. Solomon of the Bunyoro kingdom, Queen Best Kamugisha, Mother of the Toro kingdom and King Tossoh Gbaguidi of Benin). and clutching a four foot gold staff... and was promptly elected chairman of the African Union. This was hailed by his royal entourage: "On behalf of the traditional kings, on behalf of all the sultans, on behalf of all the princes, on behalf of all the customary rulers, I want to say thank you to the King of Kings who we have now crowned," declared King Tossoh Gbaguidi of Benin. Gaddafi pledge to create a "United States of Africa."

Gaddafi: Africa's 'king of kings'
Gaddafi stages another first as meeting opens in Addis
Gaddafi vows to push Africa unity
Africa: Libyan President Elected As New AU Chairman

Unbelievable!

Photo credit: AP

Apparently other things besides weapons are smuggled via tunnels from Egypt into the Gaza strip, including animals for the 'Heaven of Birds and Animals Zoo.' AP reports that "... monkeys and lions were drugged, tossed into cloth sacks and dragged through smuggling tunnels under the border..." This blogger can't imagine the poor conditions that these animals must live in, especially given the conditions that have to be endured by the population of what is essentially "the world's largest prison."

Hopefully the latest batch of lion cubs will fare better than Sabrina, a female lion cub that was donated by Egypt in 2005, then stolen from the zoo at gunpoint, before being recovered by Hamas in 2007...

Not just guns: Gazans smuggle lions into zoo
Hamas force returns stolen lion, minus claws and teeth, to Gaza zoo

Places to stay (weird)

At Woodlyn Park in New Zealand you can stay in a 1950 Bristol Freighter Plane, a rail carraige, or a "hobbit" underground hotel.




The Dog Bark Park Inn in Cottonwood, Idaho, USA, is a B&B in “the world’s biggest beagle.”




The Park Hotel in Linz, Austria uses standardized sewer pipes.



Unusual Hotels - Das Park Hotel, Linz, Austria
Come visit the World's Biggest Beagle!
Unusual Hotels of the World – Woodlyn Park