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2011/01/31

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Fly the Flag, Boys!

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 05:05 AM PST

The following is an article from the book History’s Lists from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.

Either India or China invented them. The Roman Empire helped popularize them. Armies and soldiers used them to identify who was in charge, and everyone from pirates to military ships have flown them to proclaim their loyalties. Every nation has its own flag. Here are five sovereign banners with interesting histories.

1. SWITZERLAND: THE NEUTRALITY OF BEING SQUARE

It seems only appropriate that Switzerland, with its neutral position on international conflicts, should share similarities to the international rescue group the Red Cross. Both have similar flags. Switzerland’s flag is unique for being square rather than rectangular. Its stubby white cross on a red background evokes the Red Cross, which employs the same design but with the colors reversed.

The Swiss flag, which is one of only two square national flags (the Vatican has the other one), traces its heritage to banners used by the Holy Roman Empire and adopted by the cantons of Switzerland after they were granted sovereignty. The flag has come to represent peace, refuge, democracy, and neutrality. Though Switzerland has had democratic traditions since 1291, political struggles within the confederation of cantons and a French invasion in 1798 prevented the formal adoption of a national flag. The creation of a constitution for a federal state in 1848 established the national flag, which was formalized in 1889 by the Federal Assembly.

2. NETHERLANDS: HOIST THE RIBBON! IT’S PARTY TIME!

The Dutch tricolor national flag has three horizontal stripes of red, white, and blue positioned from top to bottom. What’s unique is that the flag is festooned with an orange pennant whenever the royal family has special occasions such as birthdays. And for families throughout the kingdom, it is customary to place a schoolbag atop the flagstaff to indicate students who have graduated.

Like the flags of many nations, the Dutch flag has roots on a battlefield. It was used for the first time in the 16th century during the Dutch revolt against Spain, which was led by prince William of Orange. His followers called the banner the Prinzenvlag, or “prince’s flag”. Orange, white, and blue at the time, the flag’s orange stripe was eventually changed to red. The flag was officially recognized by the Netherlands Council in 1937.

3. FRANCE: THE HOLY TRICOLOR

Like that of the Netherlands, France’s flag, created in 1790, is also distinguished by the tricolor design in red, white, and blue, but in this case the stripes are vertical. The colors come from the city flag of Paris that was used the day French radicals stormed the city’s Bastille prison in 1789 to usher in the French Revolution and overthrow the aristocracy of King Louis XVI. The Marquis de Lafayette is said to have designed the flag, which fell out of favor after French emperor Napoléon Bonaparte was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. However, it came back into vogue in 1830 and was flown over France ever since (except for two weeks in 1848 when it was changed, and then changed back). The colors represent three religious figures important to France: blue for St. Martin of Tours, a French-Roman officer who gave his cloak to a peasant suffering in the cold; white for the Virgin Mary; and red for St. Denis, the patron saint of France.

4. TURKEY: THE MOON STAR FLAG

The Turkish national flag is mostly red, with a white star and crescent in the center, and dates back 700 years; Sultan Selim III formalized the look in 1793. The crescent and star have been adopted by many other Muslim nations since then. What is not so well known is that in Turkish history, the crescent symbolizes Diana, the patron goddess of the ancient Turkish city of Byzantium, and the five-pointed star at the mouth of the crescent symbolizes the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of Byzantium after it became Constantinople in AD 330.

In 1453, when the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and renamed Istanbul, the flag remained unchanged, though other myths arose to explain the meaning of the star and crescent. One explains that the moon and star were conceived as the reflection of the moon and Jupiter in a pool of blood from the sultan Murad I, who was assassinated after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. Another says it came about as a dream of the first emperor of the Ottoman Empire. Today, citizens of Turkey refer to their seminal national flag as ay yildiz -the “moon star” flag.

5. NEPAL: THE LIVING FOSSIL

The national flag of Nepal is the only one that is neither rectangular nor square. It’s in the shape of two pennants sewn to one another. The pennants are symbolic of the Rana dynasty’s two branches that ruled the mountainous country from 1846 to 1951. In the 19th century, the two crimson pennants were joined to represent the nation of Nepal, and in 1962 the conjoined form was officially adopted by Nepal’s constitutional government. To the Nepalese, the pennants denote the two religions of Nepal -Hinduism and Buddhism- existing side by side. Set against the red background are the shapes of the sun and moon, which represent permanence and the hope that the nation will last as long as these celestial bodies.

The shape of the flag is not odd in the context of Nepal’s history and isolation. For centuries, pennants were the common shape for regional flags in Asia. The form of a rectangular flag that eventually took hold worldwide was European in origin. But in Nepal, the idea of a pennant flag never seemed unusual to citizens cut off from the world by the towering Himalayas. Today the outside world views the flag as “the living fossil flag.”

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

1. Mozambique: My Bullets Beat Your Sword and Machete.

Angola has a machete on its flag, Saudi Arabia a sword. The African country of Mozambique, however, goes a step further. It’s got an AK-47 machine gun on its national flag. The weapon is superimposed over a crossed hoe and a book; the three symbols represent defense, production, and education. The emblems are centered over a red triangle on the left side jutting into three broad stripes of green, black, and gold.

Why the AK-47? It was the primary weapon used in 1964 when the nation began its bloody but successful war for independence from Portugal.

2. Bosnia and Herzegovina: I raise you half a star.

It’s difficult at a glance to decipher the meaning of the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina. An upside-down yellow isosceles triangle juts through the center of a blue banner. A ribbon of white stars flows along the long edge of the triangle, with half stars at both ends. What does it all mean?

The flag of the newly formed nation (once part of the former Yugoslavia) was imposed on the country by the NATO armistice that ended the Bosnian War of 1992-1995. Carlos Westendorp, international high representative to the peace talks, came up with the flag when the parliament of the country couldn’t agree on a design that would meld the passions of Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. Westendorp hoped that his design would emphasize unity among the nation’s three primary constituents. The points of the triangle supposedly represent a theoretical union of each group. The yellow, the color of the sun, represents hope. The blue corresponds to the color of the European Union flag and, along with the stars, represents Europe.

3. Libya: Plain But Proud.

The flag of Libya is the only one in the world with a single color: green. That’s it. Just green. No animals, no weapons, no dragons, no stripes, no stars, no moon. Just green. Adopted in 1977, green has long been the national color, representative of Libya’s devotion to Islam. Libya went green after leaving the Federation of Arab Republics in 1977.

All images are public domain and were found at Wikipedia.

___________________

The article above was reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader History’s Lists.

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts.

If you like Neatorama, you’ll love the Bathroom Reader Institute’s books – go ahead and check ‘em out!

Amish Skiing

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 12:06 AM PST

Remember the post about the rollerblading Amish? Well, this is what they do for winter sports: Horse-and-buggy skiing.

Viral Footage has the video clip: Link

Wicket Talking Plush

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 11:36 PM PST

Yub Nub! We’ve just gotten a shipment of Wicket Talking Plush over at the NeatoShop. Now, I’m sure you all know that Wicket Wystri Warrick is a fierce Ewok warrior from the forest moon of Endor, but he can also be cuddly like in this 11" talking plush toy.

Link | More neat Star Wars stuff and plush
toys from the NeatoShop

Hotel for Chicken

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 11:35 PM PST

It’s a hotel. For Chicken. Yeah? What’s so strange about it? I hear the room service is eggscellent!

It’s a hotel – but with a major difference. Instead of booking in guests in human form, Cornwall’s newest hotel only takes chickens.

The aptly-named Chicken Hotel recently opened for business at Boskenwyn, Helston. The venture was set up to give chicken owners a place to check-in their birds while away from home.

David Roberts, 31, a maths teacher who keeps his own chickens as a hobby, runs the hotel. He said: "With more people looking to escape the rat race and move out in the country with a little bit of land, keeping chickens is becoming more and more popular. "Producing your own eggs is better for the environment and better for the animals and people, you know exactly what’s gone into your eggs.

"But what do you do if you go away on holiday? "Who would look after your chickens?"

Link – via The Presurfer

Japanese Woman Explains Titanic. Nailed It!

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 11:34 PM PST

YouTube user Japanarchist asked his friend Mika to explain the movie Titanic in a minute and a half. I must say that she pretty much NAILED it. Japan Probe has the video clip: Link [embedded YouTube clip]

Jodhpur: the Blue City of India

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 11:33 PM PST


Photo: Johntrathome [Flickr]

You’re looking at the Blue City of Jodhpur, India. Why are there so many blue houses? Kuriositas explains:

It is thought that Brahmins – members of the priestly class – first took to coloring their houses blue (yet perhaps it should really be called indigo) to signify their domicile and to set them apart from the rest of the population. Soon, however, the rest of the population followed suit. History does not tell us which brave non-Brahmin was the first to do it, yet it happened and since that day the people of Jodhpur have steadfastly maintained this tradition.

Ask a local why all the houses are painted thus and the usual reply is that the color keeps the interiors cool and fends of mosquitoes. Yet if this truly worked then it would be quite likely that the whole subcontinent would be awash in various hues of indigo.

More likely is symbolism. Although an unscientific response, what answer would most give when asked the color of water? It is likely that the ubiquitous blueness of Jodhpur is an exuberant display of human resilience against the stark Thar desert which surrounds the town. Against the bleak backdrop of parched brown earth the blue city exerts itself magnificently.

Link

Charatter Bear Reads Your Tweets Aloud

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 11:32 PM PST

We all know that Twitter is looking for ways to (finally) make money, but for some inexplicable reason, they’re missing on the obvious goldmine of having tweets read aloud by this cute gizmo:

Japanese toy manufacturer WiZ isn’t about to wait for your answer, and has released the Charatter bear, a toy that – of course – reads incoming tweets in a shrill, grating octave. This particular author follows 52 people and receives a tweet about once every 90-120 seconds. Imagine how quickly this bear would drive a man insane.

But incredibly, WiZ says that sales of Charatter are off the heezy. And at $28, it’s not exactly the least affordable way to aggravate oneself.

Techi has the video clip: Link

iPad Car Mount

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 11:31 PM PST

If you ever need to play Angry Bird while stuck in traffic (seriously, don’t do this), then this little gadget is for you: a carbon fiber iPad mount for your car that puts your beloved iPad within arms reach from the driver seat: Link

Nature vs. Nurture Depends on Wealth

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 11:31 PM PST

The debate over which is more important, nature or nurture, has been raging for decades – but a new study has hinted on the answer: it depends.

It depends, that is, on the wealth of the parents:

In children from poorer households, the choices of parents still mattered. In fact, the researchers estimated that the home environment accounted for approximately 80% of the individual variance in mental ability among poor 2-year-olds. The effect of genetics was negligible.

The opposite pattern appeared in 2-year-olds from wealthy households. For these kids, genetics primarily determined performance, accounting for nearly 50% of all variation in mental ability. (The scientists made this conclusion based on the fact that identical twins performed much more similarly than fraternal twins.) The home environment was a distant second. For parents, the correlation appears to be clear: As wealth increases, the choices of adults play a much smaller role in determining the mental ability of their children.

Jonah Lehrer wrote about the intriguing study over at Wall Street Journal: Link

Stormtroopers: Funeral for a Friend

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 09:53 PM PST

War is Hell, be it Sectarian, Civil or Star. And even foot soldiers for the evil Galactic Empire mourn a fallen brother.

Even if they’re all made out of LEGO.

Classic Video Game Characters in the Real World

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 09:12 PM PST

It’s like Tron in reverse – characters from beloved games of yore are stepping off the grid and invading our reality. My lifelong dream of having a drink with Q*Bert may finally come true!

8-bitscapes, a collaboration between artist Jamie Sneddon & photographer Kevin Rozario-Johnson, brings classic video game characters to the real world, and the results are both spectacular and just a teensy bit menacing.

With a ‘giant nod’ towards the world of 8-bit gaming, the artists have produced a series of 8, strictly limited edition prints. These thought provoking images re-imagine well loved, iconic retro digital characters in real life scenarios. Framing them forever as they munch, invade, race, battle and bleep their way around planet EARTTTTTHHHHHH!!

Link via TAXI

Man Breaks Record for Most Pencils in Mouth

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 06:33 PM PST

(Video link)

This is the craziest mouth action you’re likely to see outside of a Rolling Stones album cover. Dinesh “Maximouth” Upadhyaya opens wide, says “ah,” and crams 92 huge pencil into his mouth.

There’s a it of a preamble at first, and you might think that Mr. Upadhyaya has a very thick accent. While that may or may not be the case, it’s clear that the guy’s mouth defies all standards of human anatomy as we know them, so it’s possible he is just speaking the loose-lipped patois of a man whose mouth stretches several feet like it’s no big thing.

Seriously, it’s quite a sight. Watch this mouth, and tell me you don’t think Dinesh qualifies for membership in the X-Men. Well, they don’t exist, but he does hold the Universal Record Database record for most pencils fit in mouth at once, yet another achievement to add to his many other URDB honors.

Link

Library Vending Machine

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 06:25 PM PST

The Polk County Library system in Florida has introduced library vending machines. The machines are placed in areas where there is no local library. People can go to the machine, swipe their library card and check out  a book.

The machines are similar to Red Box movie rental machines. One of the machines has DVDs in it, and the other has best selling books.

Link

NY Mob Bust: The Infographic

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 04:40 PM PST

It was the biggest mob bust in New York history, but reporters covering the incident seemed to be more interested in the colorful wacky nicknames on the rap sheets. Many believed that these old-school Mafia empires were obsolete in the Facebook era, but clearly the criminal underworld has found away to co-exist with Silicon Alley. They’ve just had to  learn to do better at keeping their presence a secret, although there’s still the occasional slip-up such as the ridiculously obvious nicknames of the sort you’d expect to hear on a Fat Tony-centric episode of The Simpsons.

Here’s a tip: if you don’t want to attract attention to yourself, maybe don’t have all your friends refer to you as “Vinnie Bag-of-corpses.”

As with all momentous events – and quite a few non-momentous ones – there’s infographic, breaking down the arrests, the charges, the crime family hierarchies, and of course those awesome nicknames!

Link via I Can Has Internets

Gene Roddenberry's Original Pitch for Star Trek

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 04:10 PM PST

Lee Thomson has a copy of Gene Roddenberry’s March 1964 pitch for Star Trek. There were many changes made before the first and second pilot episodes were filmed. The ship’s doctor, for example, went by a different name, but was still known as “Bones”. Sex kitten Yeoman Rand was called “Colt”, and Roddenberry clearly had a larger role in mind for that character.

Link via Geekosystem

Dating Website for Sea Captains

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 01:25 PM PST


(Video Link)

Are you a sea captain in need of close companionship? Are you a landlubber who craves the crustiness of a grizzled old sailor? Well, there’s a website now devoted to your needs.

The search form is interesting. It distinguishes between three genders: male, female, and sea captain.

Link via Marginal Revolution

Amazon: Shopping Bizarre

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 10:54 AM PST

One reason Amazon.com has been such a succes has been its massive inventory;  they stock just about everything you could ever need. As it happens, they also stock quite a few items that, well let’s just say that I’m not quite sure who the target market is supposed to be. Cat butt magnets, for instance. Available in “multicolored,” “entrepreneur,”  and “cat butt” color schemes.

Suppose I were to tell you that wasn’t even close to the weirdest thing available from Amazon?  You doubt me?

Well, why don’t you take a read through How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way? and get back to me.

Link via Your Amazon is Irrelevant

Black Heart Plush

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 10:36 AM PST

Black Heart Plush – $24.95

Do you know someone who is having a wee bit of trouble with love this Valentine’s Day? Cheer them up with the Black Heart Plush from the NeatoShop. Nothing says embrace the pain like a faux patent leather plushie.

Be sure to visit the NeatoShop for more Valentine’s Day survival tools.

Sterile Giant Tortoise Lawnmowers

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 10:21 AM PST

In a story that sounds like it came straight from a Flintstones episode, Pinta Island conservations are using giant tortoises to regulate out of control native vegetation. The island was home to Lonesome George once thought to be the last of the Pinta giant tortoise breed. These lawnmowers on the half shell were sterilized to prevent them from colonizing the island. Plans are afoot to recolonise Pinta Island with Española tortoises who are more closely related to Lonesome George. Reports say the tortoise/lawnmowers have wasted no time in getting down to the business  of regulating the herbaceous plants.

Link – (Image: Jose Jacome/EPA/Corbis)

City Calls In Chicken Chasers

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 08:47 AM PST

The city of Lakeland, Florida is clucking mad over its feral chicken problem. Squeal Deal Animal Control has been called in to rescue the residents from the more than 600 free roaming chickens. The problem is chicken chasing is no easy task.

The chickens are pretty smart and fast so they are hard to catch, according to some of the chasers.

"The chickens, this is their woods,” chicken chaser Clayton Keene said. ”They go underneath houses and cars and in trees. They know where to escape from you.”

What happens to the chickens once they are caught?

Some will be donated to schools for agriculture projects and others may be donated to charity organizations so they can be used for food.

Bay News 9 has more: Link

Super Bowl Stripper Shortage

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 07:24 AM PST

Super Bowl Sunday is nearly here and apparently Texas is need of a few good strippers. A few, as in additional 10,000 woman. Yep, that’s a whole lot of strippers. Before you pack up your pole and head out to the Cowboy Stadium area you should be warned that they are only looking for temporary help.

At the Clubhouse in Dallas, a manager who declined to give his name told the Daily News that he is expecting increased traffic and is willing to hire additional women who come in – but doesn’t have a blank check for new employees.

NY Daily News has more: Link

Elspeth Beard, Motorcycle Mama

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 07:23 AM PST

A quarter of a century ago Elspeth Beard rode around the world on a used 1974 R 60/6 flat-twin that had 30,000 miles on it before the trip began. The twenty-four year old Elspeth began her journey in New York. She had several accidents, her things were stolen, and she got hepatitis and dysentery before her trip ended in London three years later . She lost 53 lbs on the trip and added 48,000 miles to her R60’s odometer. The bike is remarkably still in running order.  Ms Beard is one of a very small number of women to have circled the globe on a motorcycle and was the first British woman to do so.

Link

Neon Genesis Evangelion-Themed Hotel Room

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 07:05 AM PST

At the Highland Resort Hotel and Spa near Mount Fuji in Japan, you can rent a room decorated to reflect the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Before you balk at the $450 per night price, keep in mind that it apparently comes with a girl dressed as Rei encased in plastic.

Link via CrunchGear | Photo: Highland Resort

Dog Takes Bullets to Save Master

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST

Osmar Persisco of Garibaldi, Brazil, took his dog out for exercise in a field and was approached by two robbers who demanded his car keys. When Persisco declined, they shot him, grazing the man’s head. That’s when Max the dog went into action.

"He saw the blood and was furious," Persisco told Brazilian newspaper Globo. "He left like a rocket to attack the thieves. One of them ran away, but Max dominated the other one. To defend himself, the thief ended up shooting the dog. Max thwarted the assault and saved my life."

Max was hit twice in his chest and once in his leg, but by then he had scared off the potential thieves.

Max was treated by a veterinarian and is expected to make a full recovery. Link -via Breakfast Links

(Image credit: Porthus Junior)
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