"There are more people living in this circle than outside it"

The Daily Mail published a load of fascinating maps this week.

My favourite was this one:

Included in the article is another map showing the average age at which people say (whether they are telling the truth or not) they first have sex; the average age is far higher in exactly that very populous region. Cause, effect, who knows?

Musing #2, the Philippines typhoon was a tragedy and 10,000 people died. Using the figures from here, about 6,000 babies are born every day in the Philippines.

Musing #3, a far worse natural town planning disaster was the Boxing Day tsunami which killed/drowned about 200,000 people in Indonesia. According to the UN, about 12,000 babies are born every day in Indonesia, which means that the population would have replenished itself within two or three weeks.

"Passenger jet skids off a runway after crashing into a cow"

From The Daily Mail:

* A Lion Air jet carrying 110 passengers veered off the runway in Indonesia

* Had crashed into one of three cows that wandered in its path

* No injuries were reported but the flights have been cancelled

* Pilot Iwan Permadi said that he could smell 'burning meat' after the crash

A passenger jet hit a cow when landing and skidded off the runway in Indonesia...

I'm guessing the runway wasn't the only thing with skid marks afterwards.

"Bali Teenager Passes Out Marrying Cow He Had Sex With"

Spotted by Chuckles & James Higham in Jakarta Globe:

A Balinese teenager caught in the act of intercourse with a cow passed out on Friday when he was forced to marry the animal in a ceremony witnessed by hundreds of curious onlookers.

As the Jakarta Globe reported earlier in the day, Ngurah Alit, 18, an unemployed youth from the seaside village of Yeh Embang in Jembrana, was caught stark naked positioned behind the cow in a rice paddy field. In his defense, Alit admitted to the act of bestiality but claimed the cow, which he believed was a young and beautiful woman, had wooed him with flattering compliments.

As part of a Pecaruan ritual, a ceremony to cleanse the village of the unholy act of a man mating with a cow, Alit was forced to “marry” the animal...

Fair enough, humiliate the lad a bit, he'll learn his lesson...

As part of the ceremony, Alit’s victim and new bride was drowned in ocean. Alit, on the other hand, was symbolically drowned and bathed on the beach.

That sounds like a very Islamic punishment to me. No wonder the cows hate us.

Parody Singularity

Comments in the Australian Daily Telegraph on the tsunami which hit Indonesia:

Wearing Weather of Sydney: Wow - our Earth is not happy ! The weather is crazy and out of whack. I'm glad the Aussies are ok.

Pat of nsw: Wow how lucky are they especially with how the Earth has decided its time to start shaking things up. What next as the Earth is definitely not happy with all the weird weather changes and earth quakes volcano's, so much for so skeptics for climate change. Hope all Aussies are safe and well.

Chunks of North Dullsville: "Our Earth is not happy"? You do realise that earthquakes area perfectly natural event that occur because the crust of the planet is made up of tectonic plates that move around over vast periods of time? The Earth isn't some sort of temperamental goddess, it's a planet.

Carbon Footprint Of The Day

Somehow I managed to get on The Eden Project's* mailing list, and the special offer on today's selection of Environmentally Friendly And Sustainably Overpriced Tat is a Reclaimed Teak Candle, yours for a modest £39.50 (down from £49.50).
They have a burn time of 40-50 hours, allegedly, and are imported from Indonesia.

Go figure.

* Who are of course a fig leaf for the French nuclear industry.

Headline Of The Day (2)

From The Metro:

"Miss Indonesia sparks anger after snubbing veil"

Qori Sandioriva, 18, beat 37 hopefuls to the crown after wowing judges – but religious leaders in the provice of Aceh were less impressed. They have expressed their outrage by claiming she has brought shame to the region...

If they want the contestants to wear veils, why not go the whole hog* and only allow blind judges? And broadcast it on the radio rather than television? And just to go on the safe side, make the contestants stay at home and have a male relative turn up instead?

* Pun intended.