[goldie0608]

Laid Off in Lockdown, Construction Worker Starts Crafting Radiator Covers–And Earns First Million



A man has turned his lockdown side hustle into a thriving business—which he says has now turned over a million pounds.

After the government-imposed lockdowns caused Liam Mchale-Smith’s construction firm to close down and lay him off, he took over the garden shed and began handmaking furniture.

His wife Ruth then posted pictures on her social media and inquiries came flooding in.

Three years later and the man who once made $700 per week as a tradesman has now sold over $1.3 million (£1 million) in goods, and is unsurprisingly “very proud” of it.

“I really never thought something like this would happen to me,” said 33-year-old Mchale-Smith, “I have no experience running a business or being the boss.”

“But I wouldn’t go back to being employed now. I love being the CEO, I’m just glad Ruth is great with computers and social media.”



At age 15, Liam started studying carpentry before taking a job in construction. His first offerings were a wall-mounted garden bar and radiator cover.

“Unique Designs by Liam” continued to grow and by January 2021 he could afford a new workshop, as well as three employees—two apprentices and his dad.

As soon as lockdowns lifted Liam and Ruth were delivering furniture as far away as Aberdeen in Scotland, a more than 350-mile trip on Britain’s motorways.

By the end of 2022, he had sold 10,350 items across Etsy and his website, earning him over $1.3 million.

“It is very hard work,” said Liam. “I can’t take a week off like I used to, so it has a huge impact on our home life.”

“But the success is very much deserved,” Ruth adds. “I don’t know anyone who works as hard as Liam—he’s unique, and such an inspiration to others.”

He has since bought a new family home, and acquired a fleet of trucks and several members of staff who together work to produce up to 40 pieces a day, all handmade from locally sourced materials.

Doctor help, I've had a glass in my bum for three days: Eye-watering case of married man, 47, who lost vessel while drunk

The constipated Nepalese man waited 3 days before seeking medical attention
He also only sought help after unsuccessfully trying to remove the glass himself
In the UK retrieving objects from the rectum costs the NHS £340,000 a year

A Nepalese man who shoved a glass into his anus needed to get it yanked out by surgeons.

The constipated 47-year-old, who wasn't named, waited three days before seeking medical attention and initially denied inserting it on purpose.

He later confessed to medics he had used the 12cm-long glass for 'self-gratification purposes' when drunk.

The married man from Kathmandu only sought help after unsuccessfully trying to remove the glass himself.

Writing in the Journal of Nepal Medical Association, medics claimed he had been unable to defecate for two days but was still able to pass wind.


The constipated 47-year-old, who wasn't named, waited three days before seeking medical attention and initially denied inserting it on purpose. The married man from Kathmandu only sought help after unsuccessfully trying to remove the glass himself


The man eventually confessed to medics he had used the 12cm-long glass for 'self-gratification purposes' when drunk. Initial attempts to remove the glass from the man's rectum at hospital proved unsuccessful. Left with no other option, the man's stomach had to be cut into to allow the team to get closer to the object

While the man reported being in pain, his abdomen was not swollen and he also had no anal injury or bleeding.

The date of incident was not revealed in the case report by doctors at Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital.

Upon examination, his mood and behaviour patterns 'were normal' and he had no history of psychiatric illnesses.

X-ray scans showed a water glass in an inverted position in the upper rectum and colon.

Doctors ruled out performing a sigmoidoscopy — a procedure allowing medics to look inside the sigmoid colon by using a flexible tube with a light on it — over fears the cup would break 'on removal'.

But initial attempts to remove the glass from the man's rectum at hospital proved unsuccessful.

Asked to lay flat on his back with his legs in the air, surgeons tried to pull the cup out manually.

However they failed because the glass 'could not be grasped for removal' and there was 'significantly high risk of glass breakage which could, in turn, lead to injury to the bowel', medics said.

Left with no other option, the man's stomach had to be cut into to allow the team to get closer to the object.

Doctors felt the glass in the colon but again were unable to extract the glass through the anus 'as the glass was high up, inverted and tightly wedged'.

Surgeons then decided to undertake a sigmoid enterotomy — where an incision is made into an intestine — and successfully retrieved the cup that way.

Following surgery he had a pelvic drain inserted, often used to prevent the accumulation of fluid following operations, as well as to monitor whether there is any leakages.

After five days the man was able to start defecating again, while the drain was then removed on the sixth day.

He was discharged a week after surgery and a follow-up appointment two months later revealed there were no complications.

Discussing the issue of rectal insertions generally, the medics noted that most cases where men get objects stuck inside their rectums are men between the ages of 30 and 40.

They added that items such as soda and beer bottles, deodorant containers, wooden or rubber objects, bones and batteries had all been previously reported as being found lodged in patient's backsides.


A 2021 study by The Royal College of Surgeons of England, found the incidence of objects having to be removed from rectums by the NHS is on the rise. Cases were growing particularly quickly among men

Most patients are usually drunk when the items are inserted, doctors said.

Retrieving objects stuck in the rectum was first logged in medical literature back in the 16th century.

NHS doctors are no stranger to dealing with similar incidents, with data analysis last year finding about 400 'foreign' objects are pulled from English anuses each year.

This was estimated to cost the taxpayer roughly £340,000 a year for things like drugs for performing procedures, and the manpower of NHS staff.

People most commonly shove objects into their rectum for sexual pleasure, with medics noting these incidents is 'rising'.

This is partly to do with the number of nerves in the anus making it highly sensitive, and for men it can also stimulate the prostate, an erogenous part of the male reproductive system.

For women it can also indirectly stimulate parts of the vagina.

But the insertion of objects into a rectum, also known as anal play, carries a number of risks.

As well as getting stuck objects, they can also potentially perforate the bowel which can be deadly as material from the digestive tract can spill into other parts of the body, causing an infection.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... drunk.html

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
THURSDAY MARCH 30
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -6)
3:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)
on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[ozswede]

Quit horsing around! Chaotic footage shows Alabama cops' TWO HOUR pursuit of runaway PONY named Ginuwine - before charging the animal for 'resisting arrest' on $800 bond and taking its own MUGSHOT

Police in Alabama released body cam footage of officers attempting to capture an escaped pony that eluded their custody for two hours.

In the video, one officer was seen trying to hurl a lasso over the pony's head as it tried to get away and led them on a 'low-speed foot pursuit'. (They should have called O.J. Simpson. He's an expert on low speed pursuits)

Tuscaloosa Police received a report that the pony was roaming free in the Alberta neighborhood at around 10pm on March 20.


In body cam footage they were seen trying to throw a lasso over the pony's head

He was 'extremely unwilling' to go with the officers, and not interested in the pizza crusts or peppermints they offered, the department said in a statement.

It was eventually captured and taken to a riding school, but it is unclear who owns it, police said.


After nearly two hours the pony was brought into the custody of Tuscaloosa Police on March 20 and named Ginuwine

'Three officers engaged in a low-speed foot pursuit, following Ginuwine up and down driveways and through people's back yards for nearly two hours,' it said.

The pony, whose name is not known and whose owner has not been identified, has been temporarily named Ginuwine, police said.

He was taken to the Therapeutic Riding of Tuscaloosa, a riding school which will serve as a permanent home in the event his owners are never found.

After it was finally captured, police released a mock 'mugshot' of the pony and said it would be 'charged' with third-degree criminal trespassing and resisting arrest, listing its bond at $800 bond.



'Honestly we get calls about things all the time, I didn't really believe it. When I drove over there I looked and realized there was actually is a pony in the yard running free,' said one of the responding officers.

'Never have I been called out to a horse before,' said another, who was seen in the footage throwing the lasso.


Police released a 'mugshot' of the pony and said it would be 'charged' with third-degree criminal trespassing and resisting arrest, resulting in an $800 bond

'Tuscaloosa's famous Ginuwine Pony is currently being fostered with us,' the school confirmed.

The school appears to be using the pony's fame to generate some additional revenue.


The pony was fostered by Therapeutic Riding of Tuscaloosa

'Ginuwine will be available for visitors during our Easter egg hunt Saturday, April 1 from 2 to 4 PM,' it announced on Facebook.

'He's still a little nervous so we ask that you look but don't touch. Admission to our Easter event is two dollars for adults. Children are free.'

Two Harlem Globetrotters break Ping-Pong ball bouncing record



A pair of Harlem Globetrotters players visited Guinness World Records headquarters in London and broke a world record for the fastest time to bounce a Ping-Pong ball into 5 cups.

Guinness World Records said Torch George and Scooter Christensen became the first Globetrotters to break a non-basketball record when they visited London and took on the Ping-Pong ball bouncing record.

The duo managed to bounce Ping-Pong balls into the five cups in only 2.18 seconds, breaking the record of 2.87 seconds, which was set by David Rush and Jonathan Hannon in 2021.

The players attempted other records including clear a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos and most Ping-Pong balls bounced into a cup in one minute, but they were not able to add a second title to their names.

Judge asks ChatGPT to decide bail in murder trial



The justice picked its enhanced data chip to answer the following question: “What is the jurisprudence on bail when the assailant assaulted with cruelty?”

“If the assailants have been charged with a violent crime that involves cruelty, they may be considered a danger to the community and a flight risk,” the cybernetic judicial expert responded. “In such cases, the judge may be less inclined to grant bail or may set the bail amount very high to ensure that the defendant appears in court and does not pose a risk to public safety.”

It added, “However, in general, if the assailants have been charged with a violent crime that involves cruelty, such as murder, aggravated assault, or torture, they may be considered a danger to the community and a flight risk.”

GPT-4 concluded its law dissertation by declaring that the “presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle of the justice system.” They added that even if the defendant was guilty of a cruel assault, they may still be “granted bail” if the judge gauges that they aren’t a danger to the community or a flight risk.

Armed with the Chat-torney’s legal expertise, Chitkara ultimately rejected the defendant’s bail bid on the grounds that they did act cruelly before the victim died.

This marks a first for the Indian justice system, which is notoriously backlogged with nearly 6 million pending cases in high courts across the nation.

Naturally, this might seem as confidence-inspiring as a surgeon asking GPT-4 a question about anatomy. However, ChatGPT could soon become a fixture in court systems across the world. Last month, a Colombian judge used the bot to decide whether an autistic minor should have their medical treatment covered, Vice reported.

This is just the latest frontier for the increasingly ubiquitous artificial intelligence, which is being employed in every sector of human life from medicine to schooling and even online dating.

Of course, the chatbot is not without its caveats, namely its paradoxically human-seeming flaws and biases. Last month, Microsoft’s ChatGPT-infused AI bot Bing — er sorry, Sydney — infamously told a human user that it loved them and wanted to be alive, prompting speculation that the machine may have become self-aware.

Perhaps it’s lucky that it was GPT-4 and not Sydney deciding the court defendant’s fate.

https://nypost.com/2023/03/29/judge-asks-chatgpt-for-decision-in-murder-trial/

[Fatima99]

Man so annoyed with potholes he's filling them with Pot Noodles to get them fixed



One man is so fed up with seeing potholes on UK roads that he's resorted to filling them with Pot Noodles in a bid to raise awareness.

Mark Morell, also known on social media as Mr Pothole, has joined up with the iconic noodle brand to urge the government to take action over the sheer number of potholes.

Drivers know all too well the issues that potholes can cause - they often appear out of nowhere and can leave your back aching if you go over one in the road at speed.

Fed up of the sight of them, Mark's started cooking up a storm in the dreaded pot holes to highlight the 'state of the UK's roads'.



Originally, he'd plotted to put rubber ducks in potholes and even feed the potholes cake on their birthdays - but when these ideas didn't pan out he needed another plan.

He opted to fill them instead with Pot Noodles, and it's certainly caught the attention of many people online.

Mark opted to take action in his hometown of Brackley when he noticed the number of potholes.

He told the Metro: "Since nothing fills a hole like a Pot Noodle, who better to team up with to highlight the ridiculous state of the UK's roads?"

Surveys suggest it would take around £14bn to tackle repairs on UK roads but in the recent budget announcment, just £200m was committed to tackling them.

"Potholes drive road users potty and me more than most," said Mark.

"The pothole crisis across the UK is an increasingly serious issue and something I have been campaigning on for more than 10 years."

He adds that in the time he has been campaigning he has gone through many different ideas on how to get his message across with this being the most recent example.

Given a recent survey shared by RAC states that 60% of drivers think the roads are worse than a year ago and within that road surface quality was the main issue, it seems that Mark has quite the job on his hands.

[PennySerenade]

Ontario woman's lost wedding dress found by thrift store volunteer after 'long shot' search



fter making a "long shot" plea to the public this weekend, a woman in southern Ontario has found her lost wedding dress, mistakenly donated by her father earlier this year.

“I am beyond excited,” Tanya Walsh said Saturday afternoon. “Pure joy.”

While Walsh acknowledges all wedding dresses are special, this one has extra significance, she said.

“It was a dress my mother bought right before she passed away,” she told CTV News Toronto Friday.

Walsh was married in 2018. At the time of the ceremony, her mother was in palliative care, she said, and so they had a small gathering – only 14 guests.

“At first, I didn’t want a wedding dress but my mom and dad got married at city hall and never had a proper wedding dress,” Walsh said. “So I got the dress in hopes that it could just serve as a memory when she's gone.”

Walsh’s mother died just a few months later.

For years, the dress was stored in her late mother’s closet at her father’s home – “for safekeeping,” she said.



But come February, she learned her father had accidentally donated the dress to a Bowmanville thrift store – either the St. Vincent de Paul Value Store or The Salvation Army in Bowmanville, she said. When Walsh spoke to CTV News Toronto on Friday, she said she had called both, but neither had seen the dress come through their shops.

In a last-ditch effort to find the dress, Walsh took to social media asking local residents to keep their eyes out in thrift or pawn shops and to contact her if they saw the dress. At the time of publication, the post had been shared nearly 1,500 times.

After writing the post and sharing her story with CTV News Toronto, Walsh was notified Saturday afternoon that “a lovely volunteer” had located the gown – at one of the stores she had originally suspected it had been donated to.



“The dress [was found by] Sheila at St. Vincent de Paul store,” Walsh told CTV News Toronto Saturday. “It was in storage in the basement, tucked away,” she added.

Walsh said that, when Sheila saw the plea, she said she made it “her mission” to find the dress during her Saturday shift.

“And she came through,” Walsh said. “Thank you to everyone who helped share the story and circulate. [I'm] beyond grateful.”

[goldie0608]

Monet’s Water Lilies Masterpiece is Recreated Using 650,000 Lego Pieces



If you don’t know who Ai Weiwei is, he’s an artist who likes big, statement-setting installations, but in a new exhibition he is throwing it back to the Impressionists, with a massive interpretation of Water Lillies by Monet, made from 650,000 Lego bricks.

Titled Water Lillies #1, it’s the largest Lego sculpture the Chinese artist has ever made, and it will go on display in “Ai Weiwei: Making Sense” at the Design Museum in London, UK, from April 7 to July 30.

The nearly fifty-foot-long sculpture takes up a whole wall at the museum. The gentle flowing colors are interrupted suddenly by a dark portal that represents the underground tunnel built by his father at the family house in China’s Xinjiang Province—where they would often hide from the authorities.

“In ‘Water Lilies #1’ I integrate Monet’s Impressionist painting, reminiscent of Zenism in the East, and concrete experiences of my father and me into a digitized and pixelated language,” Ai said in a statement.

“Toy bricks as the material, with their qualities of solidity and potential for deconstruction, reflect the attributes of language in our rapidly developing era where human consciousness is constantly dividing.”

Ai has worked with Lego many times before. In his exhibition “The Human Comedy” on San Giorgio Island in the Venice Lagoon, Lego portraits of monsters and animals showed how similar the two can look at various resolutions.

In “Making Sense” Ai has prepared some other massive installations, including one made from 200,000 pieces of broken pottery from the Beijing workshop he used to run before the Communist Party demolished it.

[Misstee]

MTV gong from the 1980s up for auction
By Ben Hooper






The steel gong used by cable network MTV during the 1980s is up for auction. Photo courtesy of Bonhams

Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

March 30 (UPI) -- An auction company is expecting to fetch $10,000-$15,000 for an unusual piece of music history -- the MTV gong from the 1980s.

Bonhams said the MTV gong, which is available for bidding until 3 p.m. EDT Friday, was one of two made for the cable network. The one in the auction was used by MTV at events and on the air throughout that decade.

"It was famously used by Tina Turner when she appeared as a guest presenter for a show where she talked about her favorite music videos in 1986; she kicked off the show by turning upside down on the gong stand to bang the gong with her feet," the listing states.

The Paiste steel-hammered gong, which bears the MTV logo, does not include a stand, the auction states.

[lush]

Nebraska zoo using stuffed frog toy to bottle-feed giraffe calf
March 30, 2023 / 1:42 PM*


A post shared by Omaha's Zoo & Aquarium (@theomahazoo)

March 30 (UPI) -- Keepers at a Nebraska zoo said they have been using a stuffed frog toy to help them bottle-feed a giraffe calf rejected by her mother.

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium said caretakers had to devise an unusual plan to get the calf, born March 22, to accept bottle feedings after being abandoned by her mother, Zola.

The solution turned out to involve a large stuffed frog toy.

"Calves, instinctually, look to suckle under the shadow of their mother's belly. This particular frog stuffy helps us create this effect during our feedings, which occur four to five times a day with about four hours in between each," the zoo said in a Facebook post.

The zoo said a name for the calf will be announced soon.

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
FRIDAY MARCH 31
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -6)
3:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)
on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[ozswede]

Fraudster who pretended to be blind unmasked as she's caught scrolling through her phone

A woman who allegedly scammed the Italian government out of £182,600 (€208,000) by pretending to be blind for 15 years has been unmasked.

The 48-year-old fraudster from Gioia Tauro in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, southern Italy, received a disability benefit from the National Institute for Social Security, ostensibly for being completely blind.


A woman allegedly pretended to be blind for 15 years

However she was caught when Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, saw her using the touchscreen of her mobile phone and signing a document without any difficulty.

During the investigation, Carabinieri said some of the woman's behaviours would have been impossible if she had actually been blind.


The woman was seen doing movements that would be impossible for someone who is actually blind, the police said

She has now been accused of aggravated and continued fraud against the state.

Two doctors accused of certifying the woman's disability on several occasions are also under investigation.

They are charged with aggravated and continued fraud against the state, as well as material falsehood committed by public officials in a public act, in collusion.

The Carabinieri said in a statement: "Falsely blind for 15 years, she received the disability pension reserved for those with 'absolute blindness': with this accusation, the Carabinieri of the Gioia Tauro Company have reported a 48-year-old woman from the area, a retired person, for aggravated and continuous fraud against the State while remaining at liberty.


The fraudster was caught scrolling her smartphone

"In total, she would have unlawfully received approximately 208,000 euros from INPS.

"The military investigations, which also involved observations and surveillance, found that the woman was extremely adept and capable, making simple gestures such as 'scrolling' on the mobile phone touchscreen, as well as showing absolute autonomy in signing documents or in daily routines.

"The two doctors who, on different occasions, certified the woman's disability, are also under investigation and will have to answer for aggravated and continuous fraud against the State, as well as for material falsehood committed by public officials in a public act, in collusion."

“Exquisite” Sabertooth Cat Skull In Iowa Is A Stunningly Rare Discovery


Dave Easterla (left), Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Biology at Northwest Missouri State University, and Matthew Hill, associate professor of anthropology at Iowa State, proudly sit by the fossilized complete skull of a sabertooth cat from southwest Iowa. Image credit: Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University

The complete skull of a sabertooth cat has been unearthed in a “near perfect condition” in southwest Iowa. Not only is this incredible specimen providing insights into this extinct beast’s lifestyle, but it’s also the first evidence the prehistoric predator once inhabited this central part of North America.

The incredible skull was discovered in Page County, Iowa, not far from the East Nishnabotna River. Radiocarbon analysis suggests the sabertooth cat died between around 13,605 and 13,460 years ago, indicating it was one of the very last of its kind before the species fell into extinction at the end of the Ice Age.

“The skull is a really big deal. Finds of this animal are widely scattered and usually represented by an isolated tooth or bone. This skull from the East Nishnabotna River is in near perfect condition. It’s exquisite,” Matthew Hill, an associate professor of archaeology at Iowa State, said in a statement.

There were a few types of sabertooth cats. This one belonged to the species Smilodon fatalis, which could weigh up to 300 kilograms (around 650 pounds), similar in weight to a Siberian tiger.

Around 70 sabertooth remains have been found across the US, most notably in the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits of Los Angeles where a collection has been found. However, this is the first time one has been discovered in Iowa.

“We think southwest Iowa during this period was a parkland with patches of trees interspersed with grassy openings, somewhat similar to central Canada today,” added Hill. “The cat would have lived alongside other extinct animals like dire wolf, giant short-faced bear, long-nosed peccary, flat-headed peccary, stag-moose, muskox, and giant ground sloth, and maybe a few bison and mammoth.”

The researchers believe the skull belonged to a young male, perhaps no older than 2 or 3 years old when it died. This estimation was based on the condition of their permanent teeth and the gaps between the skull's boney plates, which suggests it was still growing.

Although still a youngster, he would still have been a force to be reckoned with, weighing up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds).

The researchers explain that this beast most likely hunted giant ground sloths, which were common in Iowa during the Ice Age. In fact, they suspect that this individual might have died while taking down one of these colossal creatures. It’s not certain, but the sabertooth’s broken canine hints that it might have suffered an unpleasant injury that ultimately led to its death.

Building on this initial work, the team hopes to carry out a geochemical analysis of the skull to get a clear idea of its diet. This, they hope, could help to illustrate a clear image of the Ice Age food webs between sabertooths, giant sloths, moose, and short-faced bears.

“You are what you eat, and it’s locked in your bones,” Hill added.

https://www.iflscience.com/exquisite-sa ... very-68255

Teacher reveals reality of ‘poop buckets’ in classrooms after school shootings


Larry Lexicon posted the video following Monday’s mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. Three children and three staff members were killed by shooter Audrey Hale, 28, who opened fire with an assault-style weapon.

A California teacher says school shootings are now so common that he’s been forced to store a “poop bucket” in his classroom so students can relieve themselves during a lockdown.

The educator — known online as Larry Lexicon — took to TikTok in the wake of Monday’s Nashville school shooting to share footage of himself explaining the function of the bright yellow bucket to his students.

“So it turns out people don’t know why we have these buckets in the classroom — it’s because of school shootings,” Lexicon said in the video, which has gone viral, clocking up more than 8.4 million views.

“I hate to just say it bluntly like that, but when I first started teaching, we didn’t have these buckets,” he continued. “Now every classroom has a bucket like this because we go into lockdown, and we’re locked in our classrooms for extended periods of times while the situation is dealt with.”

The educator revealed that he also stores an array of emergency supplies inside the receptacle, including toilet paper and blankets to “cover dead bodies.”

The students looked stunned by the revelation, with one girl seen covering her mouth as she gasped.

Lexicon posted the footage following Monday’s mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. Three children and three staff members were killed by shooter Audrey “Aiden” Hale, 28, who opened fire with an assault-style weapon.

Police shared on Tuesday that the shooter had amassed an arsenal of seven weapons despite being under medical care for an “emotional disorder.”

Hale was shot dead at the scene by two police officers.

There were 51 school shootings in 2022 that resulted in injuries or deaths — the most in one year since Education Week began tracking such incidents three years ago. Prior to 2022, the highest number of school shootings with injuries or deaths was 35 in 2021. There were 10 in 2020, and 24 in both 2019 and 2018.

The Post has reached out to Lexicon for comment.

In his now-viral clip, the teacher subsequently declared: “If we end up in a situation where any of you have to use this bucket, it’s going to be a blessing. You know why? Because it means you’re alive.”

He also explained that some people have been outraged about the installation of the bathroom buckets in classrooms across California.

“Those of you who are upset about the buckets, you’re upset about the wrong thing,” he stated. “You should be upset they [have to] exist.”

The buckets have become commonplace in California classrooms over the three years.

A 2020 op-ed penned by a Golden State teacher, which was published in the Los Angeles Times, stated: “My public school classroom, like many others in Ventura County — and most counties in California — now has its very own poop bucket.”

“There are few indicators of public surrender that can be applied to an entire country, but it seems clear that the placing of primitive portable toilets in classrooms speaks volumes regarding the mindset of U.S. officials on the issue of gun violence in schools,” the op-ed continued.

“My bucket of preparation speaks for all to hear: ‘Shooting in schools is here to stay, so let’s just accommodate.'”

Meanwhile, TikTok users were outraged by Lexicon’s poop bucket video, with one writing: “This breaks my heart. No child should be going to a school that needs a bucket!”

https://nypost.com/2023/03/30/teacher-r ... -shooting/