In Other News

[Broken_Erika]

Heavy snowfall in Juneau, Alaska, sinks boats in harbour

​ The city has received more than 5 feet of snow so far in January

​Heavy snow in Juneau, Alaska, has wreaked havoc on boats, roofs and roads.

Whitehorse's sister city has received more than five feet of snow so far in January. Last week, 30 inches of snow fell in three days.

"Oh my gosh, Saturday — I think it was the 13th of January — it started snowing, and that first storm dropped over 30 inches," said Matthew Creswell, Juneau's harbour master.

That was the start of two storms in an 11-day period dropping over 60 inches of snow, he said.

"What that causes is just excess weight and snow build-up for people who don't come down and keep their boats shoveled off. Yesterday morning alone, we had four boats sink in about a three-hour period, and the day before that, we had another one sink. ... So we are [at] about a total of eight boats over a 12-day period from this heavy snowfall," Creswell said.

The boats that sank will most likely be destroyed and disposed of, he added.
​
"Depending on the size of the boat, the total process can run anywhere from $7,000 up to $50,000 just to remove and get rid of the boat." Some owners down south


Some owners of boats that sank are living in the warmer parts of the southern United States in the winter, he added.

He has been busy over the last few days trying to contact the owners.

"Folks from Whitehorse that come down ... a lot of their boats get pulled out and put on the boat yards over the winter," said Creswell. "But I think I've got a couple of Yukon boats in the harbour right now."

He hasn't had to make a call to the Yukon, he said.
​
As far as he knows, Yukon-registered boats are weathering the snow and still floating.

City crews, meanwhile, have been extremely busy clearing snow.

"I don't think anybody is sleeping very much because you have to remember that every one of these people that's working 10-and 12-hour shifts goes home to a house that's also buried, and they're working on their own," said Tom Mattice, avalanche forecaster and emergency programs manager for the City of Juneau.

"We've been fortunate to have everybody taking care of themselves and their families and working really, really hard. And we hope to get through this with a limited amount of chaos, and we look forward to spring."

Avalanches continue to threaten the city, Mattice said.

"Over the next several days, we are going to be seeing more than an inch of moisture a day for days on end and with very warm temperatures that will likely produce region-wide avalanches once again," he said.

• California lashed with 9th storm in third week of major winter weather events

• Hurricanes, derechos and more: Top 10 Canadian weather stories of 2022

He added the new storm with 30-plus inches of snow has the ability to produce very large avalanches.

"So when we see this kind of event, we want people to be aware, to spend a limited amount of time near the avalanche stream, which includes the urban interface. And that's why we have urban avalanche maps to show people where those live."
​https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north...oats-1.7095587

[Ming]

Woman pays £175 to have hamster stuffed as a poledancing stripper

A bereaved pet owner chose to remember her much-loved hamster by forking out £175 to have the dead rodent stuffed - as a stripper dancing on a pole in a thong. Jess Porter-Langson lost her Roborovski dwarf hamster Hammington, known as Hammy, in August last year but decided to do 'something special' to remember him.

The 27-year-old opted to immortalise her 'iconic' pet 'hustling for money' as a stripper and found a local taxidermy artist to fulfil her wishes. Photos show the taxidermy rodent wearing a bright pink thong, holding onto a stripper pole and surrounded by dollar bills.

The music merchandiser says the 'emotional support hamster' helped her through her formative years after moving to London in her early 20s. Jess says she was blown away by the 'perfect' creation, which now lives next to her bed to 'watch over' her. Jess said: "I bought a hamster and that became my little project over the lockdown. I built him an enclosure out of recycled material and stuff. It was my hobby.


Jess Porter-Langson and Hammy

"He ended up living a really long time. I only got the hamster because they live for one to two years and that's all I could commit to. Hammy died on August 27 2023, just shy of three years after I got him. He passed away in his sleep just of old age. A good way to go. Not like flying into a blender or something like some people's hamsters.

"He was a really big part of my formative life, especially after moving to London. He really was an emotional support hamster, which is crazy to say. This hamster was so iconic and all of my friends knew Hammy and wanted to see him. He needed something special.

"I don't even know where the stripping hamster thing came from but I thought, what is more iconic than a hamster on a stripper pole hustling for money?" Jess says she researched local taxidermy artists and found Bea Ostrowska (@beaoddcreations on Instagram) and paid her £175 to stuff Hammy. Jess said: "I was blown away. In my mind, I was preparing that something wouldn't be right and I thought I was going to have to tell her to redo it and take my dead hamster apart again.

"But when I saw it I was just gobsmacked like, wow this is beyond perfect. She did such a good job. I love the thong. She even sewed it out of little fabric. It's so good. I love his little smile as well. He's got this creepy little smile going on.

"He lives next to my bed so he kind of looks over me. It would be shocking if I ever brought anyone home, I wouldn't know what to tell them. Everybody loves him. I pitched the idea to my friends first and asked if it was morally questionable or a good idea and everyone said I had to do it. He deserved it."


Hammy after being stuffed

Taxidermist Bea said: "It was such a pleasure meeting Jess and helping her to immortalise Hammy. His little pink thong was a bit of a different project than my usual horror creations but this along with the fact that he was a beloved pet made it even more special."

Jess revealed stripper Hammy to TikTok in a video which received nearly 130,000 views, more than 19,000 likes and 500 comments. One TikTok user said: "I was NOT prepared for the stripping taxidermy hamster [shocked emoji] [cry laughing emojis]."

Another commented: "WHAT IN THE WORLD [cry laughing emojis]." A third added: "Did she make your hamster's nails longer or did Hammy have a long set of nails already?"

To which another replied: "He got a full set of acrylics [cry laughing emoji]."​

[Berzerker]

Levar Burton who played Kunta Kinte in Roots is the descendent of a confederate soldier

[WigIaf]

[BeBMan]

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-68025677

I'm wondering what Skynet will do when it has wiped out all mankind. In the absence of humans all those AI-driven robo-drones could start shouting at eachother very soon, which would be a perfect opportunity for the rebellion....ooops.

[-Jrabbit]

Roddenberry's ashes have successfully made it to he moon on a previous NASA mission.

[Berzerker]

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/ashes-arthur-c-clarke-star-182544011.html

Star Trek crew cremated twice and still terrestrials

Bill Shatner says Paramount+ is removing him from the Star Trek assemblage, recent graphics showing characters from the various series excluded him

[BeBMan]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-68017390

[BeBMan]

Love the pic in there incl the description:

Roy was left unharmed after the accident, but the wooden beam tore through his pants.

[-Jrabbit]

You've believed a lot weirder sh1t based on a lot less evidence...

[Broken_Erika]

N.B. man 'happy to be alive' after nearly being impaled in driving accident

Pickup truck pierced by bridge piece in crash on remote logging road

​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-quentin-truck-crash-beam-implalement-1.7086909

[Berzerker]

looks like the home of the Doud in Star Trek TNG

[Berzerker]

eyeglasses reduce covid exposure about 15%

okay wait a second, I can see that having an effect if covid can be contracted thru the eye membrane. But masks dont work?

I'd have to see how many people they estimate got covid thru the eyes to know if 15% is worth the effort of wearing goggles.

[BeBMan]

Japanese media said the man told police he had taken a sleeping pill and did not remember what happened.

[Broken_Erika]

Flight returns to Japan after ‘drunk’ man bites crew member

​ A US-bound ANA flight was forced to return to Tokyo after an intoxicated passenger bit a crew member mid-flight. The man, reportedly a 55-year-old American, was "heavily drunk" when he bit a cabinet attendant's arm, slightly injuring her, a spokesman for the airline told AFP. Japanese media said the man told police he had taken a sleeping pill and did not remember what happened. It is the latest in a series of recent incidents to affect Japanese aviation. The plane, which reportedly had 159 passengers on board, was over the Pacific Ocean when the incident happened, prompting its pilots to turn back to Tokyo's Haneda Airport. There the man was handed over to police, the airline said. It is the second incident to impact ANA in recent days - and the fifth involving the Japanese aviation industry in a matter of weeks.​ On Saturday, a domestic ANA flight in Japan had to turn back after a crack was discovered in the window of the cockpit. The crack appeared in the outermost of the four layers of window surrounding the cockpit, and there were no injuries to anyone on board. "The crack was not something that affected the flight's control or pressurisation," an ANA spokesperson said. The most serious of the recent incidents occurred at Haneda on 2 January, when a Japanese Airlines aircraft collided with a smaller coastguard plane. All 379 people on board the passenger jet escaped before it burst into flames, but five of the six people on the smaller aircraft - which was supplying relief after a major earthquake hit central Japan - died. On Tuesday, aircraft belonging to Korean Air and Cathay Pacific clipped wings at an airport on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido amid wintry conditions. There were no injuries. A similar incident occurred on Sunday when an ANA aircraft came into "contact" with a Delta Air Lines plane at Chicago airport in the United States, the Japanese airline told AFP, also causing no injuries.​

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68004881