Archive for August, 2011

Early Bird Special: The Foo Fighters show off their hot buns in a wet and steamy promo for their upcoming US tour.

(NSFW, hot buns.)

[videosift.]

Supercut of the Day: Eight straight minutes of some of the most brutal animal attacks ever faked on film. (A complete list of movies used in this clip compilation can be found here.)

[thd.]

Whoopsie Daisy of the Day: National Guard troops, under the mistaken notion that their Light Medium Tactical Vehicles would be able to withstand the Irene-induced floodwaters of downtown Manville, NJ, willfully submerged their trucks, and ultimately had be rescued by the local fire department.

[star-ledger / jalopnik.]

Nature Video of the Day: Video footage of the notoriously reclusive African Golden Cat was captured by a team of scientists studying the mostly nocturnal feline in the forests of Gabon.

This is thought to be the first time footage of the African Golden Cat captured in the wild has been publicly released.

“I don’t think I can put (capturing the video) into words,” said the survey team’s leader Laila Bahaa-el-din. ““I live and dream golden cats most days. To get back to camp and put the (footage) on the computer and have this cat basically posing for the camera, it’s incredible. I watched it five times in a row and pretty much didn’t sleep that night.”

[cnn.]

Photography Is Not A Crime of the Day: Simon Glik, a Boston lawyer who sued the city and several police officers for arresting him and seizing his phone while he was recording a violent drug arrest on the Boston Common, succeeded in convincing the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that his first and fourth amendment rights had been violated.

The Police Department attempted to claim “qualified immunity” — a doctrine that “protects government officials from lawsuits alleging that they violated plaintiffs’ rights” except in cases where a “clearly established” statutory or constitutional right has been violated — on grounds that Glik was arrested for “illegal wiretapping” (conducting an audio recording “without the consent of both parties”).

The court ruled that Glik’s lawsuit is allowed to stand because “firmly established” rights were violated when his phone was seized. From the ruling [PDF]: “Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting ‘the free discussion of governmental affairs’.”

The court went on to say that “changes in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw,” and therefore First Amendment protections for news-gatherers can no longer “turn on professional credentials or status.”

[universalhub / slashdot / video: aclu.]

Scenes From Irene of the Day: Irene NYC: Two filmmakers set scenes from Hurricane Irene’s impact on NYC to the tune of Debussy’s “Clair de lune.”

[devour.]

Follow Up of the Day: NOAA has updated its visualization of the recently-dissipated Irene‘s East Coast trek one last time. From tropical wave to major hurricane to post-tropical storm in two weeks flat, Irene topped out at a Cat 3 with sustained winds of 120mph.

The storm left at least 35 dead across 10 states, and 5.5 million remain without power at this time. Utility companies say it could take weeks to restore electricity to some areas.

Some states are still reeling from major flooding caused by Irene’s torrential rains. In Vermont, floodwaters overran nearly every river, washing away historic covered bridges in the state’s worst natural disaster since 1927.

All told, some 15 towns in Vermont and upstate New York have been cut off from surrounding areas due to damaged roads and bridges.

After The Jump: ABC News report on the catastrophic flooding in Vermont and New York.

Click to see more… »

Stuff White People Like of the Day: Michele Bachmann gives Pittsburgh-based Christian rock group White People Soul Band the most awkward introduction imaginable.

[okfj / jmg.]

UPDATE: Mediaite claims Bachmann is actually asking “who likes wet people.” Either way, she’d still make a terrible president.

Battlefrog of the Day: This Amphibian of Unusual Size was reportedly spotted in the mountains of Gemencheh, Malaysia, by a Chinese man who says his friend attempted to purchase it from a native tribesman.

According to the man, the Orang Asli requested double the amount offered, so his friend left to fetch the additional sum. Upon returning to the frog owner’s house, the friend learned that the beast had been consumed and that the Orang Asli had become gravely ill as a result.

Serves him right for eating was is clearly a small child in a frog suit.

[arbroath.]

See Also: What the hell is this thing?

When You See It of the Day: Spotted in Indonesia, on Earth-10.

[reddit.]