Archive | August, 2011

Picture Postcard: Neumayer Station Antarctica

9 Aug

August 9, 2011

This eerie picture was taken from a webcam in Antarctica. It looks like a sci-fi base but it is a real research base, Neumayer Station. Here is the summary from

http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/stations/neumayer.shtml

Nationality: Germany

Location: Ekström Shelf Ice, Atka Bay, northeast Weddell Sea

Position: 70°39’S, 08°15’W

History: The first “Georg von Neumayer” Station in the Antarctic was established in 1981 on the Ekström Shelf Ice as a research observatory for geophysical, meteorological and air chemistry measurements, as well as a logistics base for summer expeditions. Georg von Neumayer, whom the station is named after, was an important promoter of Germany’s research activities in Antarctica. The new station, inaugurated on February 20th, 2009, was built to modern standards and with state-of-the-art technology, will enable the continuation of long-term measurements by the scientific observatories for meteorology, geophysics and atmospheric chemistry, as well as the establishment of new research projects.

Information: The snow-covered Neumayer Station is located on shelf ice that is 650′ (200m) thick and almost completely flat. All that can be seen from the distance are the towers of the station entrance, which project 6-7′ over the snow. The shelf ice margin, where supply ships moor, is 6 miles (10k) away. The station consists of two parallel steel tubes, each of which is 26′ (8m) in diameter and around 300′ (90m) long, in which containers are inserted to accommodate living quarters, kitchen, mess, hospital, various laboratories, workshops, radio operator’s room, sanitary facilities, two power supply stations and a snow melting plant.

Science: A research observatory for geophysical, meteorological and air chemistry measurements as well as atmospheric ozone monitoring.

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Cops and Strippers.

8 Aug

August 8, 2011

I originally slated this for a slot with The Imponderables but read the article and I think you’ll see why I changed my mind.

Before we go any further, I need to get something out of the way. “Biggins Gentleman’s Club.” BWAH HA HA! Lovin’ it! (And props if you remember that Biggin’s was Al Bundy’s favorite magazine.)

But I digress. (And props if you remember that “but I digresss” was my favorite expression in this blog for years.)

It sounds pretty funny on the face of it. A group of strippers sued and won a settlement in a case where the strippers were strip-searched by the police.

Part of the reason they won was the law that said, as a protective measure,  “strip-searches must be conducted by a person of the same sex and that any observer shall be of the same gender as the arrested person.” This despite the fact that women strip almost exclusively for men. (There is also a possibility of a homosexuality bias. What if the strippers worked in a gay bar? Or the observer is gay? Having observers of the same sex seems to go against the purpose of the law in those cases.)

I did a bit of research and the particulars of the case don’t come into play here, only the circumstances of the strip searches. It was a mostly clear-cut case of civil rights. Strange as it may seem simply on the face of it, they were wronged by being forced to submit to a strip search. There is a joke somewhere in here about strippers not giving it away for me but I won’t make it. (Though you can feel free to leave it in the comment section. You may want to base the joke on the cops not giving the strippers any singles first.) It is actually straight-forward once you stop giggling.

The takeaways of this case?
One, that not every Imponderable is as Imponderable as it may seem.
And two, “Biggin’s Gentlemen’s Club.”

BWA-HA-HA!

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