Monday Overnight Open Thread (1/1/24) Happy New Year Edition

Quote I

“I’m always finding homeless stray animals. So it was typical for me,” Elizabeth Merriken

Quote II

"You don’t think of medical professionals doing this, but 10% of medical professionals divert drugs. 10%… That’s a lot." Dr. Robin Miller

Not your typical motorcycle accident fatality.

Police in Kenya have recovered the body of a man believed to have been attacked by a lion while he was riding a motorcycle near a national reserve in the south of the country.

Officers were notified by community members of an abandoned motorcycle along a road near the Marere forested area near the Shimba Hills National Reserve in Kwale.

I did not have that ending on my bingo card.

Feel free to make a buck or two off of Mickey Mouse.

It’s finally happened: after nearly a century, Mickey Mouse has slipped off Disney’s copyright leash. The first versions of the iconic cartoon character, seen in Steamboat Willie and a silent version of Plane Crazy, enter the public domain in the US on January 1st, 2024. (An early version of Minnie Mouse is also fortunately included.) There’s still a complicated mess of protections around Mickey, but today is a moment public domain advocates have awaited for decades — and there are plenty of other exciting new entries as well.

Duke Law School’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, as usual, has a roundup of prominent works whose copyright protections lapse in the US today. The list includes sound recordings from 1923 and works in other media that were published in 1928. Among other things, that covers:

What hell will new parents put their children through by being named something weird?

EXCLUSIVE: Top baby name trends for 2024 revealed - weather, witches and Barbie set to inspire parents
Parents are predicted to go 'elemental' and take inspiration from the Barbie movie when it comes to baby names in 2024, as this year saw families embrace 'witchy' vibes

I understand frustration with American Airlines. But, it still is no reason to be a Genius Award Winner.

‘They’re killing me’: Man restrained by passengers with duct tape during meltdown on flight to Miami

MIAMI – A man had an apparent meltdown on a flight that was heading to Miami Saturday morning and it was all caught on camera.

According to a source, the passenger was set to board American Airlines flight 9948 at 10 p.m. Friday from Rio de Janeiro to arrive at Miami International Airport early Saturday morning when he was heard screaming for “help” and “they’re killing me” in Spanish


Catching up from the holidays...

Top 10 commenters:
1 [358 comments] 'Skip' [50.22 posts/day]
2 [340 comments] 'andycanuck (2yu8s)'
3 [319 comments] 'Ciampino - Lithium is great in a Hydrogen bomb'
4 [294 comments] 'Bulgaroctonus'
5 [292 comments] 'Quarter Twenty '
6 [282 comments] 'Braenyard'
7 [273 comments] 'Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden'
8 [272 comments] 'Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter 2024 '
9 [264 comments] 'Northernlurker '
10 [248 comments] 'San Franpsycho'

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [305 names] 'Ciampino - Lithium is great in a Hydrogen bomb' [42.79 unique names/day]
2 [199 names] 'Quarter Twenty '
3 [98 names] 'Miklos has Actual True Stories'
4 [52 names] 'Miklos had the pleasure of Yatville USA'
5 [45 names] 'Count de Monet'
6 [45 names] 'Can Pick'em'
7 [36 names] 'OrangeEnt'
8 [33 names] 'Hello, fellow mummy'
9 [26 names] 'fd'
10 [25 names] 'Adriane the Sci Fi Critic . . .'

The gift of life. Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

Miracle 15oz baby born 14 weeks early finally home after 102 days in incubator
An exhausted mother has opened up on the ordeal of her daughter being born 14 weeks early - but all is well now.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by New Year's Resolutions.

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire & AceCorp, LLC serving your ONT needs since 2008. Often imitated, never duplicated due to commenters like you.

posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:54 PM

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