A life in general, Jashan.org

Countries not using the Metric System!

via [BigPicture]
You can see more there.

Here’s an interesting story that was recently emailed to me, I’m not sure of it’s origin.

Well, now……here’s something I never knew before, and now that I know it, I feel compelled to send it on to my more intelligent friends in the hope that they too, will feel edified. Isn’t history more fun when you know something about it?

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English
soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act
of drawing the longbow was known as “plucking the yew” (or “pluck yew”).

Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began
mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeat French,
saying, See, we can still pluck yew!

Since ‘pluck yew’ is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at
the beginning has gradually changed to libidinal fricative F’, and thus the
words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute!

It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow
that the symbolic gesture is known as “giving the bird.”

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing.

While searching for Narwhals the other day, I came across a site that sells oosiks or baculum (yes, the name of penis bones found in some animals such as walruses, seals, Coyote, Raccoon, even chimps!).

It seems ladies in the South carry around Raccoon oosiks, fondly called “pecker picks” which they use as toothpicks at their luncheons. This led to another search (as I thought, wow, are they really called that?!) which led to this site, that offers a strange array of party pecker favors for bachelorette parties, and yes, you can buy “pecker picks” here and they come in a multitude of colors and are sure to “add a little spice to your bachelorette party.”

“Pecker Pick” or Raccoon Ooslik

Seems they also have a game on their site called, ” Un-Uh! No, He Di’int!” described as a “a game of secrets and laughter for women…” So you can play Un -uh, dis your men as you pick your teeth with your pecker pick…(the d in didn’t is dropped due to the pecker pick in your teeth.)

Girls displaying their “Pecker Picks”

London’s Metropolitan police has launched a new counter-terrorism campaign complete with anti-photography propaganda.

It’s very interesting, considering the following;

Within 200 yards of George Orwell’s flat 27B overlooking Canonbury Square in Islington, North London, there are thirty-two CCTV (closed circuit television) cameras.

Orwell’s view of the tree-filled gardens outside the flat is under 24-hour surveillance from two cameras perched on traffic lights.

The flat’s rear windows are constantly viewed from two more security cameras outside a conference centre in Canonbury Place.

Britain now has over 4.2 million cameras – that’s one for every fourteen people. A typical citizen is caught on camera an average of 300 times per day.

It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. “Reality control,” they called it: in Newspeak, “doublethink.” – George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty Four)

Via BoingBoing & Technovelgy