OK, here is a stupid story about people with far to much fucking time on their hands. So who cares if your plate says WTF. Apprently some old bitty in North Carolina cared enough to bitch about it and get the government to waste money on new plates.... Enough to make you say What the Fuck
Here is the article
OMG! What is that on my car's license plate? That's the question asked by 10,000 drivers who registered their vehicles in North Carolina last year and got registrations starting with "WTF." Long just an innocuous combination of three letters, like OMG ("Oh my God!") WTF is now heavy with vulgar connotations: it is an oft-used email and mobile phone abbreviation that means "What the fuck."
In North Carolina, WTF plates were issued to some 9,999 drivers last year, including elementary school teacher Mary Ann Hardee, who teaches computing and technology, the News and Observer newspaper reported earlier this month. "She wasn't hip to the Internet-age significance of her new license plate -- until she caught her teenage grandchildren giggling at it," Dan Kane, staff writer at the paper wrote. Hardee, 60, told the paper she "developed this real self-consciousness" once she found out what her number plate meant in techno-shorthand. She petitioned the Department of Motor Vehicles, which ordered that she and everyone else who had a WTF number plate should receive new plates FOC -- free of charge.
This year, North Carolina registrations have three-letter combinations starting with the letter Y. The Department of Motor Vehicles has carefully scrutinized the plates and deemed that none are offensive, according to the News and Observer. They must have overlooked YBF, which means "You've been fucked."
Friday, June 27, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
It appears the Chinese will do and kill almost anything for a Boner
Just another example of old world stupidity. Apparently there is a chinese "Tiger Wine" which is derived from soaking a dead tiger carcass in rice wine. Here is the story of stupidity:
Illegal "tiger bone wine" is still being made and sold by some animal parks in China, say campaigners.
The Environmental Investigation Agency says staff at two parks offered to sell the drink, made from carcasses soaked in rice wine, to its researchers.
The trade in parts of the endangered species has been subject to an international ban since 1987, and has been outlawed in China since 1989.
Despite global conservation efforts, tiger numbers continue to decline.
There are an estimated to be 3,500-7,500 tigers left in the wild, compared with roughly 100,000 at the start of the 20th Century.
'Closed market' sales
The UK-based NGO said its investigators found that the wine, deemed to be a health tonic to treat conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism, was being openly advertised at the parks.
Staff said the wine was made from tigers that had died after fighting with other big cats at the venues.
One park produced what they said was a government permit that allowed the sale of the tiger-derived wine on the premises, but the EIA researchers said it was not possible to verify whether the permit was genuine.
The EIA said a senior worker, when questioned by its researchers, said that she was aware that the tigers were a protected species and trading of any part of the animals "in the open market" was prohibited.
But the agency said that she went on to explain that the permit allowed "closed market" sales of the wine; in other words, it could be sold from the park's premises.
Debbie Banks, head of the EIA's tiger campaign, called on the Chinese authorities to close down the illegal trade.
"We want other parks with similar tiger attractions to be investigated to see how widespread this tiger-bone wine-making practice is," she said.
"We also want the authorities to give a clear message to the business community that this illegal trade will not be tolerated."
Tiger farms
Conservationists estimate that tigers now only occupy just 7% of their historical range, primarily as a result of habitat loss, hunting and poaching.
They believe that there are just 2,500 breeding adults left in the wild and without more resources made available to protect the animals, the cats face an uncertain future.
Since the 1980s, a number of "tiger farms" have been set up in China. These establishments are believed to house about 5,000 captive tigers, possibly more than remain in the wild.
During last year's high-level summit of the global Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), the Chinese delegation raised the possibility of ending its domestic ban in order to allow the use of farmed tiger parts.
They argued that this would prove to be the most sustainable option because it would satisfy the demand from traditional medicine practitioners without threatening the wild tiger population.
Although this approach was supported by some conservation groups, others warned that it would undermine efforts by the Chinese government to curb poaching.
They said that it would be cheaper to kill a wild tiger than to rear a captive one, and it would be very difficult to tell the difference between the two.
"Lifting the ban would increase demand and lead to a surge in poaching," said Ms Banks.
"It would be far too easy to launder their skins, bones and parts among those from legalised tiger farms. This would effectively declare an open season on wild tigers."
Illegal "tiger bone wine" is still being made and sold by some animal parks in China, say campaigners.
The Environmental Investigation Agency says staff at two parks offered to sell the drink, made from carcasses soaked in rice wine, to its researchers.
The trade in parts of the endangered species has been subject to an international ban since 1987, and has been outlawed in China since 1989.
Despite global conservation efforts, tiger numbers continue to decline.
There are an estimated to be 3,500-7,500 tigers left in the wild, compared with roughly 100,000 at the start of the 20th Century.
'Closed market' sales
The UK-based NGO said its investigators found that the wine, deemed to be a health tonic to treat conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism, was being openly advertised at the parks.
Staff said the wine was made from tigers that had died after fighting with other big cats at the venues.
One park produced what they said was a government permit that allowed the sale of the tiger-derived wine on the premises, but the EIA researchers said it was not possible to verify whether the permit was genuine.
The EIA said a senior worker, when questioned by its researchers, said that she was aware that the tigers were a protected species and trading of any part of the animals "in the open market" was prohibited.
But the agency said that she went on to explain that the permit allowed "closed market" sales of the wine; in other words, it could be sold from the park's premises.
Debbie Banks, head of the EIA's tiger campaign, called on the Chinese authorities to close down the illegal trade.
"We want other parks with similar tiger attractions to be investigated to see how widespread this tiger-bone wine-making practice is," she said.
"We also want the authorities to give a clear message to the business community that this illegal trade will not be tolerated."
Tiger farms
Conservationists estimate that tigers now only occupy just 7% of their historical range, primarily as a result of habitat loss, hunting and poaching.
They believe that there are just 2,500 breeding adults left in the wild and without more resources made available to protect the animals, the cats face an uncertain future.
Since the 1980s, a number of "tiger farms" have been set up in China. These establishments are believed to house about 5,000 captive tigers, possibly more than remain in the wild.
During last year's high-level summit of the global Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), the Chinese delegation raised the possibility of ending its domestic ban in order to allow the use of farmed tiger parts.
They argued that this would prove to be the most sustainable option because it would satisfy the demand from traditional medicine practitioners without threatening the wild tiger population.
Although this approach was supported by some conservation groups, others warned that it would undermine efforts by the Chinese government to curb poaching.
They said that it would be cheaper to kill a wild tiger than to rear a captive one, and it would be very difficult to tell the difference between the two.
"Lifting the ban would increase demand and lead to a surge in poaching," said Ms Banks.
"It would be far too easy to launder their skins, bones and parts among those from legalised tiger farms. This would effectively declare an open season on wild tigers."
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