Fact Of The Day

[BoyScoutKevin]

Maybe Hitchcock knew something.

Between 2000 and 2015, there were almost 1800 incidents of birds in flight striking an aircraft: aircraft in flight, aircraft landing, aircraft taking off or almost 1 incident every 3 days. Broken down by species of bird . . .

725 geese
392 vultures
157 herons
115 owls
114 ospreys
094 eagles
056 cormorants
054 cranes
036 pelicans
034 gulls
total 1777.

And mankind . . .
Man 0
While there have been some close calls, including a plane that landed in the Hudson River, not one human has lost their life in any of these incidents. Of course, aviation experts know it is only a matter of time, so they are working on ways to keep the birds away from the planes and vice-a-versa.

Next time: the 11 most common passwords. Is yours among them?

[ER]

Only about one person in a million can kiss his or her own elbow.

[Hammock Rider]

 A remarkable feature of the sea cucumber is the "catch" collagen that forms their body wall.This can be loosened and tightened at will, and if the animal wants to squeeze through a small gap, it can essentially liquefy its body and pour into the space. To keep itself safe in these crevices and cracks, the sea cucumber will hook up all its collagen fibers to make its body firm again

[BoyScoutKevin]

Here are the 11 most common passwords.

123456
password
qwerty
football
baseball
dragon
master
monkey
lestmein
princess
starwars

Is yours among them?

Next time: what does $725 million buy you?

[BoyScoutKevin]

What does $725 million buy you?

520,527 acres, 30,000 of which are in crops, or 207,000 hectares or 800 square miles or 2072 square kilometers spread across 6 counties in north Texas.
+6800 head of cattle
+1000 oil wells
+500 quarter horses
+personal hunting rights (in season) to . . .
deer
quail
water fowl
wild hogs
etc.
+a seat at the table in both Washington, D.C. and Austin. Though, it does not buy you control of the table. Though, I wonder whether it buys you control of any of the 6 counties, where it is located.
+moving up from 9th biggest private landowner in the U.S. to the 5th biggest with an ownership of 2000 square miles of land or 1.38 million acres. And remember. There are 4 people who own more land yet. Of course, not all the land is in Texas, some of it is also in . . .
Arizona
Colorado
Montana
Wyoming
and even in British Columbia (Canada)

Do you think he overpaid?

Of course, this is the same man who wants to build a new football stadium in L.A. (California) for $1.78 billion. So, who knows.

When 50 years ago swamp land in central Florida could be had for $200 an acre. Now that land is not available at any price. And the land around the land is probably a hundred to a thousand times that, if you could find any to buy.

Next time: Some comments about race.

[sprite75]

A newspaper here in Iowa once reported that....

[BoyScoutKevin]

Some comments on race

Obama's approval rating from . . .
blacks 85%
whites 36%

"U.S. Today" recently graded the 6 major and 8 minor film studios in Hollywood as to the diversity (i.e. people of color in major roles, women directors) for their films upcoming in 2016. Your grades may differ.

Major
Paramount F
Warner D
20th Century Fox C-
Disney C
Universal C+
Sony Columbia B

Minor
Open Road D-
A24 C
Focus C
Lionsgate C
Fox Searchlight C+
Sony Pictures Classic
STX B
Weinstein B

"Upscale Magazine" the magazine for upscale blacks picked the 10 (8 cities, 2 countries) best places for their readers to live in 2015.

Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania)
Athens (Georgia)
Austin (Texas)
Fort Lauderdale (Florida)
Puerto Rico
Tallahassee (Florida)
Colorado Springs (Colorado)
Jamaica
Tampa (Florida)
Raleigh (North Carolina)

Next time: things that go bump . . . and crawl . . . and fly . . . and swim in the night

[BoyScoutKevin]

Things that go bump . . . and crawl . . . and fly . . . and swim in the night.

While the werewolf is the most common were animal in both Europe and North America, there are others and others in other parts of the world.

Africa
--the hyena
--the leopard
--the lion

Asia
--the cat
--the cobra
--the fox
--the tiger

Central and South America
--the jaguar

Europe
--the bear
--the boar
--the seal

North America
--the coyote
--the eagle
--the walrus

South Pacific
--the shark

It was a scary world out there in the past, and nothing was scarier than something that combined the fangs and talons of an animal with the intelligence of man. No wonder, while there was not proof that any of these existed, that people were still scared that there were.

And these are were animals or humans who could change into an animal. There was also something called an animal were or animals who could change into a human. Such as a were cat, who was mostly a cat, but . . . who could change into a human.

Next time: a pirate's punishment

[BoyScoutKevin]

A Pirate's Punishment

Between May 1, 1701, and July 31, 1727, 13 pirate captains and 263 lesser pirates were hanged (or almost 1 a month) in England and/or in the English colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and North America.

Of course, not all were hanged.

When "the dreaded Captain Roberts" was killed in 1722, most of his pirate crew, or 264 pirates were captured.
77 were black or 29%
187 were white or 71%.

All or 100% of the blacks, whether free men of color or escaped slaves, were sold into slavery.

Of the whites . . .

77 or 41.2%, proving that they were unwillingly pressed into the pirate crew, were acquitted and released.
52 or 27.8% were hanged.
20 or 10.7% were sentenced to 7 years in the gold mines of West Africa, which was a living death sentence.
17 or 9.1% were sentenced to various prison terms in England.
2 or 1.1% were given probation.
and 19 or 10.2% died ere they could be brought to trial.

Next time: how to make a film that grosses over $100 million at the domestic box office.

[ER]

In Gaelic pog ma thone (pogue muh hone) is how you tell someone to kiss your backside.

[Trevor]

Things that go bump . . . and crawl . . . and fly . . . and swim in the night.

While the werewolf is the most common were animal in both Europe and North America, there are others and others in other parts of the world.

Africa
--the hyena
--the leopard
--the lion

--TREVOR 

[BoyScoutKevin]

How to make a film that grosses over $100 million at the domestic box office.

1st. Budget the film at $200 million. The bigger the budget, the more money the film will make (within reason.)

2nd. Release it during the summer. $15 million.

3rd. Follow in other's footsteps.
a. A sequel will earn $35 million more than a non-sequel. Total $50 million.

b. A franchise film will earn $58 million more than a non-franchise film. Total $108 million.

4th. Play to your audience. Ignore the critics. Between 1996 and 2006 an increase of 1% in the aggregate critics score on Rotten Tomatoes was worth $400,000. Now it's worth less than $100,000.

5th. Go for the cash. Not the Award. Now that your film has made over $100 million at the domestic box office, it has less than a 1% chance of winning the Oscar for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

From the British news magazine "The Economist."

Next time: can you get me to Sesame Street?

[alandhopewell]

     The octopus can change colors to match its surroundings, although the creature itself is color blind.

! No longer available

[BoyScoutKevin]

Can you show me the way to Sesame Street or . . .

Villa Sesame in Brazil
1 Rue Sesame in France
Sesamstrasse in Germany
Rechev Sum Sum in Israel
Plaza Sesamo in Mexico
Batibut in the Philippines

Next time: the wedding of the decade. The 1550's that is.

[claws]

Physical media vs Digital in Germany:

While revenues from sales and rentals dropped 2% Blu-ray sales still continues to rise (2014: 405m Euro, 2015: 418m Euro)
DVD sales are starting to shrink (2014: 899m Euro, 2015: 829m Euro)

Even though digital/streaming pulled in 101m Euro in 2015, physical media remains dominant in Germany with a 92% market share (2014: 95%)

Looks like physical media is in for the long haul in Germany.