Cowjacked!

Some inventive thieves in the R. S. of A, using local resources in their carjacking exploits:
The gang of six men apparently herd the cows into the road to first stop motorists travelling through Mpumalanga's deep rural KwaMhlanga district, and then herd smaller groups of cows to surround the cars so their victims cannot escape.
"Once the vehicle is surrounded, the men produce firearms and force the driver out of the vehicle.
They tie up the victim, clear the cows out of the way, and all six men then jump into the vehicle and speed off,"

Hoo boy

At the blood donation center yesterday:

Tech: So I see you've been overseas in the past three years. Whereabouts?
Me: South Africa
Tech: And what countries in South Africa?

Health news: don't be religious

From religionnewsblog:
Women who watched religious television programmes and read religious texts were more likely to be obese than women who did not (although frequent religious attendance was also associated with lower rates of obesity). Men did not show a similar pattern.
Even allowing for their Southern roots, Baptists were the largest all-round congregation, with 30 per cent being obese. Next, with an obesity rate of 22 per cent, was Fundamentalist Protestant (including Church of Christ and Pentecostal). Third, at 19 per cent, was Pietistic Protestant, which embraces the Methodists, among others.
Some 17 per cent of Roman Catholics are obese. Among non-believers, the rate was 7 per cent. Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons came in at 3 per cent, and Jews at 1 per cent. Taken together, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists had an obesity rate of 0.7 per cent.

Euchre and Joker

I had always assumed, without thinking too much about it, that the tarot trump The Magus (aka The Magician or The Juggler) derived from the playing card The Joker. The International Playing-Card Society has an excellent short history of cards that gave the true derivation:
Americans added to the Euchre deck a card even higher than the designated Bowers. It was called the Imperial Bower or the Best Bower. This was the genesis of the Joker. According to the latest theory, the Best Bower alternatively was called "the Euchre card". This could have been mispronounced as "Juker card," which then gave rise to "Joker card".
and later
...it is certain that the Joker card itself was not a European invention. It is one of America's most picturesque contributions to the history of playing cards.
So there you have it - the Joker was actually the later development.

Madame Bovary - very educational

about items of women's clothing that I knew nothing about. For instance:
Fichu: a light triangular scarf with a point in the pack and tied in the front.
Muff: ok, I've seen these in the movies, but I didn't realize what they were called.
Pelerine: a short cape with pointed ends that meet in the front.

Weekly Aleister Crowley Media Roundup II

The Lonelygirl15 saga has dominated all Crowley media mentions. Enough already.

Well, and apart from that there is a Rolling Stone article on Daniel Pinchbeck, which has the following quote:
"Leary, and Aleister Crowley before him, had messages that were essentially optimistic and expansive, about making your life a joy and a triumph through the methods they touted," says Brian Doherty, author of This Is Burning Man...

Best quote from a politician ever

Comes from Hungary's Prime Minister:
In the excerpts [of a tape leaked to the media], Mr Gyurcsany says harsh economic reforms are needed.
"There is not much choice. There is not, because we screwed up. Not a little, a lot. No European country has done something as boneheaded as we have.