Be Glad This Wasp Nest Wasn't At Your House

This exterminator was engulfed in a cloud of angry wasps
as he got rid of a huge nest in a Louisiana shed.

An exterminator in Louisiana recently found the largest wasp nest he'd ever seen in a shed.

The homeowner had hired the exterminator to evict the wasps. The wasps were unhappy about the eviction.

According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Beekeeper Jude Varret set up his GoPro camera as he started work to evict the wasps, known as southern yellowjackets. This variety of insect is quite aggressive and their stings are quite painful.

The wasp nest was so huge that it engulfed tools and lawn furniture within the shed. Surprisingly the job took only 45 minutes to complete. Even more surprisingly, Varret was not stung even once. He said most of the time, he'll get stung once or twice while getting rid of wasp nests.

Here's the video, and a nightmare if you are afraid of bees and wasps:

OK Go, Kings Of Wild Music Videos, Are At It Again

The band OK Go in front of a wall of 567 printers and lots
of paper for their latest complicated but fun music video. 

Every time the band OK Go releases a new music video, it ends up in this here blog thingy, because I always marvel at the creativity and how much work had to go into them. And I mean work.

OK Go first causes a sensation in 2010 with the video for their song "This Too Shall Pass," which involved an incredibly complicated Rube Goldberg setup.

They actually had an earlier song and music video, "Here It Goes Again" in  which they got incredibly creative with treadmills.

The band has also followed that up with a variety of other wild videos, including one that involves zero gravity, the video for "Upside Down And Inside Out.  Since I'm a dog lover, I really enjoyed "White Knuckles" which involved a lot of wonderful and talented trained dogs.

And they've teamed up with Pilobolus in the song. "All Is Not Lost."

Their latest video involves 567 printers and lots and LOTS of wasted paper. (which, we're told was all recycled.)

The song and music video is called "Obsession." OK Go's music videos are better than their music, in general, but this particular song is pretty catchy. The video itself, though, must have taken incredible organization skills on the part of the band and the crew. I'd also would have hated to be the person who had to create all those stacks of paper at around 2:25 or 2:30 into the video.

Here's the video. I hope it doesn't remind you too much of office clerical work:

NSFW: I Wouldn't Trust This Saint With Kids

Something is a bit wrong with
this statue's design, don't you think?

The Blackfriars Priory School in Adelaide, Australia thought it would be neato to have a statue honoring Saint Martin de Porres.

This particular saint spent a lifetime helping the poor and downtrodden in Peru during the 16th century. The statue would depict Saint Martin de Porres handing a loaf of bread to a needy child.

Sounds lovely. But judging from the rather NSFW photo, maybe the school should have reviewed the statue's design before installing it.

Because of the obvious mockery, the school has covered up the statue and have not decided what to do with it.

My suggestion is to give it to embattled Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who is accused of having sexual relations in the past with people as young as 14 years old.

Moore was famously kicked off the Alabama Supreme Court twice when he was a judge.  Once for refusing to get rid of a statute of the 10 Commandments.

However, I wonder if maybe this statute is more towards Moore's taste.

Bus Drives Weather Channel Photog Crazy; Ruins Live Shot, But Funny Anyway

The Weather Channel tried to show us the Georgia Dome
implosion this week. It didn't go well. 

The other day, crews conducted a controlled explosion to bring down the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

The former home of the Atlanta Falcons was demolished now that the adjacent Mercedes-Benz Stadium is now open.

The Weather Channel videographer set up his camera at a perfect angle to capture the implosion.

Then, a photobomber ruined it. Definitely an ARGGG!! moment, judging from the bleeped out words of the videographer in the video you are about to see,  and funny for us.

Roy Moore Is Stupid, But You Knew That. Another Piece Of Evidence

Roy Moore wants to sue the Washington Post and Al.com
for their reporting on Moore's sexual harassment. Both
organizations hope he does sue. 

Roy Moore is angry.

The embattled Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Alabama has been in the headlines for more than a week now.

As practically everyone knows, several woman have come forward to report sexual harassment and molestation by Moore decades ago. One of the victims was 14 years old at the time

This all started with a very well-sourced article in the Washington Post. Moore says it's all lies, and he would sue the Post. So far, no lawsuit. I thought somebody must have told him to shut up. A lawsuit would open Moore to a process called discovery, in which he'd have to spill a lot of beans under oath.

That would give the public possibly lots more horrible details about Moore's past.

But, nope. Moore is now threatening to sue Al.com, Alabama's largest news organization. Al.com has followed up on the Washington Post report with more well-researched reporting on Moore's past. Moore's lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to Al.com for its reporting and threatened a libel suit.

If you want to boil it down to the simplist terms, to win a libel suit, you need to show that someone said or published something about you that they knew was untrue and that they intended to harm you.

Both the Washington Post and Al.com were careful to source their stories, got people to talk on the record, and corroborated statements given to them by the women who said Moore assaulted or harassed them.

In other words, Moore's threats to sue are just bluster. Just like Donald Trump, who threatened to sue the women who said he harassed, it was just a weak attempt to scare them into shutting up.

Problem is, the women in the Trump and Moore cases know libel law, especially since they've been lawyered up. The Washington Post and Al.com, being journalism outfits, know libel law even more.

Right now, Al.com is begging, begging Moore to sue them. That way, Al.com could counter sue. We'd get discovery, and it would all be easy-peasy one stop shopping news reporting for them.

I wish I was the lawyer for Al.com, because it seems like such an easy job, defending the organization against dumb bunnies like Moore and his lawyers.

For now, Al.com has responded to Moore's cease and desist by saying it stands by its reporting, and that like every political candidate, Moore is subject to scrutiny and analysis by the media.

The ball is back in Moore's lawyer's court. And I join the chorus: Please, please try and sue the Washington Post and Al.com.  Then we'll know for sure all the details.

A Little Bit Of Love And Cuteness To Stave Off The Ugliness In The World

The kids in this photo are not major breaking national
news, but the way things are going, we all need
to make them headliners. Very sweet.

Even just scanning the headlines exposes us to a dreadful, depressing tableau of hate, incompetence, meanness, pettiness and general bad vibes.

As I've pointed out before in this blog thingy, we need antidotes to this every once in awhile.

Today's dose of good vibe medicine comes in the form of a viral video that was first posted on Instagram by Verlonda Jackson, who used her smart phone to video a moment when her son Tariq, 5, came home from kindergarten and was greeted by his sister Ava, 3.

Verlonda Jackson told ABC News  the two siblings used to bicker fairly frequently, but their bond strengthened when Tariq enrolled in kindergarten. Ava missed him.

The mom said she pulled out her phone to video the greeting to show her husband, "Look, we're doing something right."

Yep! The Jackson family is doing something right. Let's try to get a lot of other people to be like this.

Here's the video to make you feel better about things, like it did to me:

Aurora Web Cam Captures Incredible, Bright Meteor Instead

This looks like a daytime photo of a winter scene in Lapland,
northern Finland, but it's in the middle of the night. It's
bright because a brilliant meteor is shooting through the sky.

A guy named Tony Bateman  in Lapland, in northern Finland, has set up a web cam to capture the Northern Lights, a frequent feature in that neck of the woods on clear, long winter nights there.

On a recent night, the aurora was so-so. You could see a faint green haze far to the north over the snowy dark landscape.

Then there's a HUGE surprise. As you can see in the video below, there was a huge meteor that turned night into day. Who knew you'd briefly need sunglasses in the dark winter night in Lapland?

Experts said the object was either a meteor or space junk re-entering Earth's atmosphere.

The web cam proprietor said the meteor set off a nasty shock wave that shook his cabin. Much like an even bigger meteor in Russia that did the same thing with damaging results back in ??

In this case, people in and near Finland heard loud bangs with the meteor in an area with a radius of a few hundred kilometers.

Here's the Finland meteor video. It's really cool:

Do Trumpsters Think Hillary Is Actually President

Here's one guy who thinks Hillary Clinton should be
impeached from an office she doesn't hold

Jimmy Kimmel's team pulled one of his stunts this week, sending a roving reporter out onto the streets to ask Trump supporters whether Hillary Clinton should be impeached.

Of course you and I know that she can't, because she's not president.

However, as you'll find out in this video, the fact that Clinton does not currently hold an elective office is not going to stop the impeachment bandwagon against her.

I will be charitable and assume that the people interviewed in this clip were confusing the definition of the word "impeach" with that of "prosecute."  Because I suppose if Clinton or anybody else did something illegal, they could be prosecuted.

Watch the video and you be the judge of what these people were thinking:

A Frazzled SNL HR Director Confronts Sexual Harassment

A frazzled HR director tries to explain sexual harassment
policy on Saturday Night Lie

During Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" a beleaguered HR director appeared on air to help the anchor navigate sexual harassment rules.

The anchor aced the quiz, but as "Claire" the SNL HR director and everyone else knows, nobody seems to understand the rules of the workplace.

I'm sure Claire isn't the only fed up HR director in the nation right now, given how so many men just can't keep it in their pants.

Here's a funny, frazzled Claire to help us out with this:

Stunning Hypocrisy In Roy Moore Scandal: Molesters "Better" Than Democrats?

National embarrassment Roy Moore still has lots of
deluded defenders who think nothing is worse than a Democrat

It's time for you to vote for your U.S. Senate candidate. You have the choice between two guys. Here they are:

1. This one, a former prosecutor, in the past won the conviction of KKK members who bombed a church and killed four young girls.

2. The other one, in the past, molested a 14 year old girl.

You'd think the choice would be obvious, but that's not how the world works anymore, apparently. I had thought there was nothing the extreme right wing of the Republic Party could do that would shock me anymore.

Yet once again, I was proven wrong. In Alabama, it appears the molester has an excellent chance of winning the election, not the former prosecutor. That's because pedophilia can be ignored if the molesting candidate hates gays, liberals and wants to turn Christianity into a mandatory nationwide religion.

To backtrack: You might have heard about the Washington Post bombshell about ultra-conservative Roy Moore, who is seeking the Alabama U.S. Senate seat vacated when Jeff Sessions left the Senate to become U.S. Attorney General.

Apparently, decades ago, Moore sexually molested a 14 year old girl, who went on the record with the story for the Washington Post this week.

While many people, including quite a few GOPers, condemned Moore for this behavior, there are a number of his defenders who made the wildest excuses for Moore. These excuses are just scary.

Yeah, a little hypocrisy at work here, no?  And while we gawk and mock this Republican hypocricy, this whole Moore thing totally sets in place Alabama's reputation as a weird, scary place, at least in the political and "religious" side of things. People are suffering because of the likes of Moore.

Moore has famously said that being gay is such an abomination that gay people should be in jail. But apparently, sexual contact between consenting adults is a high crime if the people involved are of the same gender, but sexual contact between non-consenting people, even when one of them is not an adult is A-OK.

The contortions Moore's supporters are going through to boost Moore are beyond belief.

This being Alabama, the state's auditor, Jim Ziegler, justified Moore's behavior this way: "Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus."

Oh, really?  I thought it was the Virgin Mary, and Joseph didn't boink Mary, no matter what her age was. But logic doesn't matter when you want to elect a bigot.

The Cullman, Alabama Times reports that one state representative actually said Moore's accusers should be prosecuted. For what, I don't know.

And check out this tweet by some loser named Carroll Bryant: "I'd rather have a pedophile in office rather than a democrat any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Pedophiles only screw kids while democrats screw everyone."

Cute, huh?

Obviously not every Republican and not everyone conservative is on Moore's side.  However, the true believers are.

Mother Jones points out how Moore, again, does his biblical imagery to keep his evangelical base.

Because apparently, some true believers are so easy to snow over.

Check out Moore's successful fundraising email that went out right after the latest scandal came to light last week. His missive read in part:

"We are in the midst of a spiritual battle with those who want to silence our message. The forces of evil will lie, cheat, steal - even inflict physical harm - if they believe it will silence and shut up Christian conservatives like you and me....

That's why I ust be able to count on the help of God-fearing conservatives like you to stand with me at this critical moment."

Got that? Anyone who doesn't buy my holier than thou bullshit is the devil, is the clear message here.

It's not that others aren't  trying to shake so called Alabama "evangelicals" awake.

Here's part of an editorial from the Alabama Political Reporter:

"What's it going to take before you realize that your family values, my-sin-is-better-than-yours-sin,  conservative voting approach has produced a state government filled with lying cheating, sexually assaulting, money-grubbing criminals who have embarrassed us countless times, and on top of everything, mismanaged the hell out of this place?

"........Take a look around you. We're terrible as a state. We're near the bottom in public education, medical care, infrastructure, economy and upward mobility and at the top in infant mortality, poverty, obesity and political corruption. 

This is what the Roy Moore Republican Party has brought Alabama. A government built on greed and hatefulness, on shunning anything different and thumbing our nose at any hint of progress."

In the National Review, writer and attorney David French suggests that evangelicals are actually showing no faith in their own faith with this situation.

French writes:

"I keep hearing these words from evangelicals; We've got no choice. The Democrats are after our liberties. They're seeking to destroy our way of life Some even go as far as to say that even if the allegations against Moore are true, they'll still hold their nose and put him in office to keep (Democrat) Jones from serving three years in the Senate. 

I'm sorry, evangelicals, but your lack of faithy is far more dangerous to the Church than any senator, any president, or any justice of the Supreme Court. Do you really have so little trust in God that you believe it's justifiable - no, necessary - to ally with, defend, and even embrace corrupt men if you think it will save the Church?

Apparently the answer is yes. And it's proof that at least among some of the wacko right wing conservatives, their so called religious faith is completely hollow.

Which brings their "morality" down to the level of Moore and his ilk.

Watch This Amazing 12 Year Old Blues Guitarist

Blues guitarist Toby Lee, age 12. Wow! 

It's always fun to listen to really good blues guitarists.

Most blues guitarists seem to be grizzled old veterans, with lots of experience under their belts.

Not this guy. I stumbled across a blues guitarist named Toby Lee, who is now at the ripe old age of 12.

Looks like he has a bright long future. Great stage presense, too.

Here's a couple videos of performances by this guy. First one is great, second one is wonderful rendition of the Prince classic "Purple Rain." It's all awesome:



Here's his "Purple Rain"

Woman Drops Hat, People Return It To Her In Best Possible Way

A woman accidentally dropped her hat from an upper floor of
a Houston parking garage during a parade to celebrate the
Houston Astros win in the World Series. But she got her hat back.

People in Houston, Texas were justifiably thrilled and happy that the Houston Astros won the World Series last week.

During the inevitable, huge parade to celebrate, lots of people on several floors of a large parking garage viewed the parade from above.

A woman near the top floor - eight stories up - accidentally dropped her hat. Gone forever as it headed toward the street far below, right?

Nope. People cooperated nicely to get the hat back to the lady in the best possible way.  It's a small victory of decency in a world where decency seems out of fashion. So I'm totally happy with this.

Watch:

Wacko Kenyan "Moral Leader" Appalled By Gay Lion Sex

Paul Goldstein's photo of two male lions in a romantic
embrace has freaked out Kenya's film censor.

So a guy named Paul Goldstein took a picture of two male lions in Kenya seemingly having sex, and a Kenyan "moral leader" said human gay people must have taught the lions to do that.

Yes, I know the crazy train runs all over the world, doesn't it?

According to the New York Daily News, Ezekiel Mutua the head of Kenya's Film Classification Board has this theory:

"These animals need counseling, because probably they have been influenced by gays who have gone to the national parks and behaved badly."

Mutua  said the lions must have seen two gay guys going at it, and decided to copy the feat.

I guess that puts new meaning into the term "lion tamer."

Mutua, who clearly does not know much about wildlife (there often are same gender encounters among animals) marveled:

"I mean where on earth have you heard something like this happening. The demonic spirits inflicting in humans seem to have now caught up with animals."

Or the demonic spirits have infected people so badly that they freak out over everything that suggests anything gay.

Mutua, who I mentioned  heads the Film Classification Board, is also freaking out about gay themes in movies, no matter how benign.

His agency banned Disney's "Andi Mack" because the show added a gay character. "Any attempt to introduce gay programming in Kenya will be met with the full force of the law," Mutua said.

I guess Mutua never go to Kenya being a gay guy myself. Even if I promise not to teach lions how to have gay sex. Lions just aren't my type anyway.

Halloween Proved Donald Trump Jr Is Stupid

Donald Trump Jr. took this Halloween pic of
his daughter Chloe to make a stupid political point,
and boy that did not go well at all. 

I got a chuckle over the mini-uproar reacting to a Tweet sent out by Donald Trump Jr., son of our "illustrious" president.

He took a sad pic of his young daughter Chloe at Halloween with this message: "I'm going to take half of Chloe's candy tonight & give it to some kids who sat at home. It's never to (sic) early to teach her about socialism."

As many respondents and The Guardian pointed out, this was a, um, flawed analysis of socialism. Of course he was also using his young daughter as a political prop and demonstrating his own selfishness, but we've come to expect that from the Trump family.

 A good response came from Elite Bear Agents: 

"My man, 'socialism' was her getting that free candy in the first place. You taking half for reasons she can't understand is capitalism."

Ouch!

Then there's nice from Nick Pettigrew:

"Your kid went begging from hard-working people for candy. The kid who stayed home got theirs because their parents worked to pay for it. In your simile, if anyone's the socialist, it's Chloe." 

I liked this response from Matt Blackwell, too:

"It's telling that junior thinks that 'walking around getting gifts from people' is a good metaphor for 'earning money.'"

The ever-reliable and wise J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, also responded beautifully with this sarcastic missive to Junior:

"Fill her bucket with old candy left by her great-grandfather, then explain that she has more because she's smarter than all the other kids."

I'll close with my favorite snipe at Junior, given the tax "reform" plan Junior's dad is pushing: Amir said this: 

"Or you could just take 99% of Chloe's candy, eat it, and tell her to wait for it to trickle down."

Perfect!