Follow-ups

Good cove, bad cove 1/6/10 The Japanese are big tuna-eaters and that species is also facing extinction. A 512lb bluefin recently sold for $175,000 at a Tokyo fish market, although Japanophiles don't find that weird.

Follow-ups 12/22/09 In my last set of follow-ups, I linked to instances of birds wearing clothing, and up pops a story about members of a Welsh knitting circle who make sweaters for chickens.

Bob Waldmire 12/17/09 A follow-up about the "king of the road" in the Wall Street Journal.

Octopus achievement 12/15/09 Octopuses are inexplicably washing up dead on the beaches of Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

Toenails (or lack thereof) 11/7/09 A toenail has been put up for bid at a charity auction in New Zealand that is raising money for the local food bank!

Birds in fable and fact 10/22/09 British scientists have found that fish will punish other fish for bad manners.

Lizard lore 10/17/09 Someone has invented a way for humans to walk on water like the basilisk lizard - behold the Aqua Skipper. In other lizard news, it has been getting so cold here in Florida that the iguanas are falling out of the trees.

Birthing and hoarding bunnies 6/18/09 A man in Chelsea, Massachusetts, has been convicted of animal cruelty for having sex with his roommate's rabbit.

Stain 8/6/09 Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only person officially recognized as a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings at the end of World War II, has died at age 93.

Capitol cornerstone 7/26/09 The opening of a 1952 time capsule in Virginia has been postponed indefinitely after it was found that the floor tiles surrounding it may contain asbestos.

Frogs, deformed and fanciful 6/26/09 A salmonella outbreak that affected 85 people across 31 states has been linked to the improper handling of frogs.

Skellies 4/29/09 Bone trophies from Yale University's mysterious Skull and Bones society - including a skull that was used as a ballot box - go on auction in New York this month.

Pirates 4/15/09 The state archaeologist of North Carolina has admitted that he did not follow proper procedure when he unearthed the remains of a man believed to be a member of Blackbeard’s pirate crew.

Footprints 2/28/09 Paleontologists have found footprints of the 1st marine creature to emerge from the ocean and walk on land - and they date back 20 million years earlier than previously thought.

Graduate weird news 2/5/09 The University of Victoria, Canada, will finally be allowed to evict a man from its dorms - 13 years after he graduated. Meanwhile, a proprosal by Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, to build a senior citizen residential and educational complex - to be considered student housing - has been struck down.

Polydactyly 2/3/09 A 4-year-old Chines girl has 5 fingers on her left hand and 6 fingers on her right hand (pictured) - no thumbs.

Diagnosing the canvas 1/2/09 An Italian doctor sees signs of high cholesterol in the "Mona Lisa."

Ice swimmers 11/20/08 In contrast to ice swimmers and members of "polar bear" clubs, a man from Brookfield, Massachusetts, does his ice fishing through a hole in the floorboard of his cozy limousine.

Albinos 11/18/09 Aside from the threat to albinos in Burundi and Tanzania, there is a danger to children in Uganda, who are being snatched and sacrificed by witch-doctors.

Animal extinction 11/9/08 Here is a list of the top 10 most endangered species in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund. On another note, researchers at Oregon State University have determined that during the Cold War, there was less species invasion.

Skulls & Skeletons 9/18/08 My very first post was about my favorite peace-loving musician John Butler, who plays a mean banjo (and looks and sounds cool doing it). This Denver man, on the other hand, used his banjo as a weapon and has been charged with second-degree assault.

Pirates

No editorial on the Somali pirates, except to say that they must stop or be stopped. Recently, thousands of dolphins assisted in the effort. According to China Radio International on Monday, the animals blocked suspected Somali pirate ships when they were trying to attack Chinese merchant ships passing the Gulf of Aden. Faced with their enormous numbers, the pirates stopped and turned away.

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The fates of two of the most infamous pirates are illustrated below. Captain William Kidd (1645-1701) was convicted of piracy (although some historians believe he was unjustly vilified) and hanged at Execution Dock in London. The noose broke on the first attempt, but he was executed on the second attempt, after which his body was gibbeted and suspended over the Thames River for 20 years as a warning to would-be pirates. Edward Teach (c. 1680-1718), better known as Blackbeard, had retired from his notorious life of piracy, but the governor of Virginia sent a ship to eliminate the threat anyway. As it approached Blackbeard's vessel, it was attacked. During the ensuing battle, Teach was shot and stabbed, and bled to death. His head was cut off and hung from the ship's bowsprit as a trophy. After the reward was claimed, the head was placed on a pike on the shore of the Hampton River as a warning to other pirate wannabes.

Hanging in chains

The recent pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia has prompted suggestions from bloggers that the pirates be gibbeted. Being against the death penalty, I disagree. But that punishment has historically been associated with piracy and used to serve as a warning to any considering it. Gibbeting or hanging in chains followed execution and meant displaying the body in a cage until it fell apart from decomposition and scavenging. One of the most famous pirates, Captain William Kidd (c. 1645-1701), was hanged, tarred, and strung up in a cage by the Thames River, where it was visible for years. As it turns out, the only complete gibbet in the U.S. is on display at the Atwater Kent Museum--I'm adding it to my list for the next time I'm in Philadelphia.