Things that make you go "Hmmmm…"

[firejuggler]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

http://www.latimes.com/business/hilt...27-column.html

WoW.... just... wow...

[Xyzzy]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/africa...e-lion-killed/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-mexi...h-it-yourself/

[only_human]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/africa...e-lion-killed/

[URL="http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/01/world/cecil-the-lion-brother-jericho-illegally-killed/"]Cecil the lion's brother, Jericho, also illegally killed in Zimbabwe, official says[/URL]

(CNN)Jericho, the brother of slain Cecil the lion, was killed Saturday in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, a senior park official told CNN.

Jericho was gunned down by a hunter operating illegally, said Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.

Status of Jericho, Cecil the lion's brother, disputed

[xilman]

Texas man injured as bullet ricochets off armadillo

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by xilman

Texas man injured as bullet ricochets off armadillo

LOL, serves him right. Not for nuthin' did the Spaniards who first (at least amongst Eurotrashes) explored the region name said critters "little armored one".

[Brian-E]

Could the identity of the man known as "Jack the Ripper", who murdered five female sex workers in London in 1888, finally be established from the exhumation of the body of his final victim? Or is this just the latest in a very long line of fruitless theories? The author of a new book has intriguing evidence that the ripper's final victim was his, the author's, great aunt, and that the ripper was her estranged husband who killed the first four as a cover for the final murder of his wife, which was his true intent.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...-new-book.html

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by Brian-E

The author of a new book has intriguing evidence

Don't they all?

'Amelia Earhart's plane discovered at last!'
'Chinese sailors discovered America before Columbus!'
'I dare you to not buy this book!'

[only_human]

Say goodbye to the weirdest border dispute in the world

Just after midnight Saturday, one of the most perplexing border disputes in the world officially ended. India and Bangladesh began the exchange of over 160 enclaves – small areas of sovereignty completely surrounded on all sides by another country – and in so doing ended a dispute that has lasted almost 70 years.
/.../
It's confusing, so let me spell it out: Dahala Khagrabari, the third-order enclave in question, was a part of India, surrounded by a Bangladeshi enclave, which was surrounded by an Indian enclave, which was surrounded by Bangladesh.
/.../
The strange set-up made it not only difficult for people to access state amenities, it made things as simple as a trip to the market a potential problem. In theory, someone who lived in an enclave would need a visa to enter the foreign country that surrounded the enclave. However, the only way to get that visa was to travel to a major city in the main body of their country, something that was impossible without illegally entering the foreign country.

[retina]

People can post their passports (that's the ordinary snail mail thing) to obtain visas, so it isn't really impossible. And of course now many countries do online visa applications.

Application for visa
Purpose of visit: To buy milk
Duration of stay: 5 minutes
Proof of funds: See attached picture of my five dollar note

Thank you for your visa application. Please allow 3 months for processing and administration. All applications have non-refundable fees of $100 processing and $35 administration costs.

[only_human]

Originally Posted by retina

People can post their passports (that's the ordinary snail mail thing) to obtain visas, so it isn't really impossible. And of course now many countries do online visa applications.

Unfortunately they couldn't even get that passport first:
The 5 Stupidest Things Ever Done With Borders

But none as crazy as Dahala Khagrabari, which apparently came about after the two nations suddenly signed a peace treaty after a long history of wars, freezing in place whatever territories had been captured by either side.

As ridiculous as it seems to the rest of us, the residents aren't laughing. Probably because they're stuck there for life. Although they're Indian citizens, they can't leave their immediate neighborhood without passing through Bangladesh, for which they need a passport. But they can only get a passport from mainland India -- which they can't get to without passing through Bangladesh. Twice.

Likewise, for India to try to provide these people with basic amenities would be a logistical nightmare, so they don't. Without electricity or anything else we take for granted, Dahala Khagrabari is basically stuck in the Stone Age, while everyone around them modernizes. The only possible consolation is that the sliver of Bangladesh that's trapping them is in the same situation.

[retina]

Curious. But this is not unprecedented and it has solutions. People that take a domestic flight within USA (no passport required) can leave the US city, fly over Canada, and land in the destination US city. Flying to/from Alaska is one clear example of this. So all they have to do is have a Cessna available and fly over the other country. It would be unreasonable for the other country to deny fly-over rights, because it works both ways for both countries.