Overnight Open Thread

Last call for the weekend.

Video: Don’t touch me

Okay this was on Red Eye a few days ago and on HotAir. So I guess it's about time for us to cover it as well. Here reporter Dan Noyes tries to ask an administrator of San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital at a public meeting about allegations they've been spending donations to a patient gift fund for their own entertainment.

The hospital's creepy PR guy, Marc Slavin, then proceeds to touch the reporter repeatedly despite being asked not to. He ends up touching the guy 41 times, 18 times after being told not to. I suspect he was trying to distract the reporter and goad him into taking a swing, which would have been totally justified in my view. But the reporter didn't take the bait and now the video has gone viral. And Marc Slavin will forever be known as the creepy touching guy.

The Next 'Global Warming'?
Overfishing. Because the UN says that there will no fish left in 40 years. So remember you heard it here first and be sure and get your fish offsets early before the rush.

RAF Harrier Almost Lands
Not sure what the story was here - according to some comments the elevators weren't working and the pilot was attempting to land with just the thrust nozzles.

The Dreams of Unemployment Vs. The Reality
Somehow with all that free time you never quite find the time to go to the gym. Or leave the house. And based on my experiences all the fun is over after the first month.

Huge Oil Discovery in the Falklands
Argentina not happy. Especially since they scrapped an agreement in 2007 that would have shared a percentage of the revenues with them because it would have meant giving up their claims over the islands.

The Best Ads With Doggehs

The History Of Census Forms
The race question was tricky due to slavery, then it became simple, and now it's hard again thanks to political correctness.

Apple Rant: Why Aren't I the Center of the Apple Universe?
Apple makes very nice devices, but that's also their downfall - they're device-centric rather than internet-focused. To use your iphone or ipad, you still have to have a PC or mac running itunes. And you have to use a USB cable . Even my Treo 5 years ago could sync over bluetooth or WiFi. And their MobileMe service gives you less for $99 then Google does for free. This doesn't exactly constitute a superb user experience. Come on Apple, get it together or you will be passed by.

Uh Oh: Soviet Dead Man Switch Radio Station Goes Off Air
The mysterious Russian shortwave station, UVB-76, has suddenly gone off the air. It's been continuously broadcasting since 1982, usually with buzzing tone and occasionally a voice message. Many believe it to be part of a Dead Hand's switch in case the Soviet leadership were taken out in a nuclear attack.

I remember listening on my father's shortwave radio back in the 80's to all sorts of odd radio transmission - number stations, over-the-horizon buzz stations, and various mysteries like UVB-76 - and always wondered what the real story was behind them. After the Cold War ended a lot of them went away, but there still are a lot of mysteries between 3mhz and 30mhz.

Woman With 95% of Her Body Covered With Tattoos
American Julia Gnuse has covered over 95% of her body in tattoos. She says she started getting tattoos because of her skin condition, porphyria, in order to hide the scars and then she got hooked. Okay ladies, please don't let this happen to you. My rule is that more than two tattoos = unresolved issues and is nature's way of telling you here be danger.

Weekly AoSHQ Commenter Standings
Top 10 commenters:
1 [653 comments] 'Kratos (missing from the side of Mt Olympus)' [91.62 posts/day]
2 [465 comments] 'Blazer'
3 [395 comments] 'Dang Straights'
4 [377 comments] 'wherestherum'
5 [350 comments] 'garrett'
6 [335 comments] 'ParanoidGirlInSeattle'
7 [319 comments] 'curious'
8 [285 comments] 'The Dread Pirate Neck Beard'
9 [272 comments] 'Vic'
10 [265 comments] 'kbdabear'

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [107 names] 'conscious, but incoherent' [15.01 unique names/day]
2 [94 names] 'kbdabear'
3 [65 names] 'Blazer'
4 [44 names] 'The War Between the Undead States'
5 [37 names] 'SantaRosaStan'
6 [37 names] '18-1'
7 [36 names] 'barbara may'
8 [35 names] 'Delta Smelt'
9 [33 names] 'gator'
10 [33 names] 'garrett'

The group. Yeah.

Tonight's post brought to you by the Japanese surrender, Sep. 2, 1945:

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to maetenloch at gmail. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

posted by Maetenloch at 09:58 PM

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