BPgAy - How to control population the sneaky way

So I came across this video today...



And poked around, did some reading for myself.

Looks like BPA (that chemical found in plastics and many other products) is altering our hormones, (Specifically; sex hormones), among other things. This study has shown female rats exposed to BPA (in any amount) permanently affected their reproductive hormones. The exposed rats experienced early puberty and abnormal ovulation. Humans are similarly affected.

More studies have linked BPA exposure to diabetes, miscarriages, cancers, altered behavior such as hyperactivity, decrease in maternal behavior, downs syndrome, and the list continues.

This study claims to have found a disturbing change in the brains of the rats exposed to BPA;
   "an area in the hypothalamus called the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (SDN-POA), which plays a role in regulating sexual behavior and has been proposed, in humans, to be important for determining sexual orientation."

Did you catch that last part? BPA affects the part of the brain that determines sexual orientation. They also studied the behavior of the affected rats and found that the gender differences were reversed, in both the females and the males. In essence; BPA made these rats gay. (Science fiction stuff, right? Nope. Just science).

And the US government is about the last place on Earth that hasn't banned it yet.

That shouldn't surprise me I guess. It's no secret that the world is nearing over population to the point that Earth can no longer sustain us. (Did you think they are so interested in Mars because it's pretty?) National Geographic magazine dedicated a whole year of articles to food and how we plan to grow enough of it to feed the growing population.

So it would make sense that our government might want to encourage a decrease in births. To, you know, keep us citizens at manageable numbers. The least invasive way to do that is turn mens' eyes to one another instead of toward women with fertile wombs, and vice-versa.

I started to notice years ago that homosexuality seemed to be on the rise. Don't get me wrong, that's not a judgement, only an observation. I suspected it had something to do with our growing population but I never thought the phenomenon was deliberate. (I mean, that's really weird, right?)

I'm not really sure how to feel about the government actively making us gay. (Or at the very least allowing it). Like; wasn't it my right to be attracted to the opposite sex? Does it matter in the long run, as long as love still exists?
Maybe something similar to this happened in Sodom and Gomorrah?

Kinda makes China's one baby rule look sort of fair, huh? At least they were in on it.

Thoughts?

Thanks, L. for the conversation. Stimulating, as always.

Tapping the Admiral - Corpse-Flavored Rum

If you've never heard the term "tapping the admiral", don't worry, you're not alone. Me neither. The term originates from a pretty bizarre event, which we'll go into in a moment.

First, here's a creepy little story in the form of a meme;

You're welcome.

Tales of finding a pickled corpse at the bottom of your barrel of rum are apparently nothing new. These strange and disgusting urban legends were passed around as far back as the 1500's to impart an important moral about not drinking thy neighbors booze or some shit. They were big on morals back in the day.

So you can put a face to the flavor

.

Lord Horatio Nelson, a British admiral, was mortally wounded in battle in 1805. A shot to the gut may not be a death sentence by today's standards but back in Napoleon's time (who is exactly the guy responsible for this one. Well, his people anyway) a hole in your entrails meant you're fucked.

Normally when you died at sea back then you'd be whale food, but this guy was the admiral, so his crew felt they should hang onto his corpse. My guess is they feared for their asses when they got back to Britain sans-boss. (In their defense, they did at least win the battle).

Embalming wasn't a thing back then, (they started that nonsense during the American Civil war), so to get him to England without stinking up the ship, his corpse was stuffed in a barrel of brandy.

We all know sailors were filthy drunkards, so when the non-corpsinated booze ran dry, legend says they sucked up their pride and tapped into the admiral's personal stash. Hence, "tapping the admiral" became a thing.

Fuck it.

However, a more recent tale of corpse-ale seems to have a little more credibility (according to Snopes), than your run of the mill campfire tale.



According to a Hungarian police magazine website, a construction crew made a killer discovery in the cellar of a large home recently vacated by a deceased widow. I mean; if you found a big old barrel of rum that nobody would miss, you totally wouldn't touch it, right? They say the barrel was too heavy to move, so they drained it. (By which you know I mean they got totally shit faced). They even bottled some for later and said they enjoyed the peculiar flavor.

Waste not, want not.

Upon draining the barrel though, it was still too heavy. So they cut it open, and out fell this marinated naked dude.

Apparently the guy died on vacation in Jamaica and to avoid the costs associated with transporting him overseas the legal way, the woman stuffed him in this barrel of rum and paid for that to be mailed to her. Then she kept her pickled husband in her basement for 20 years, for sentimental reasons, no doubt.

Although the publication was later pulled due to a lack of supporting evidence, it was first picked up by BBC and NBC, who excitedly published before fact checking and later posted a hilarious "oops, it was possibly total bullshit" memo to make up for it.

(I believe it)

It's ok, NBC, shit happens.

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Weird Angel Found in Ancient Church

Buried behind centuries old layers of plaster, in a decayed church in Bethlehem, an intriguing discovery was made. 

A lost angel.

PHOTOGRAPH BY NASSER NASSER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Obtained from National Geographic 

The 1,700 year old Church of the Nativity, built at the supposed site of the birth of Jesus Christ, was in dire disrepair. In 2012 the UN granted the site "endangered World Heritage status", and are funding an urgent restoration by top Italian specialists. A scan of one heavily plastered wall revealed a mystery shape hidden underneath. The restoration crew, chipping away the centuries of layers of plaster, grew emotional as the pristine angel emerged.

The church's other mosaics, which were not hidden, and therefore damaged by a leaky roof, depict the family and apostles of Jesus. The ancient tiles boast of glass, mother-of-pearl, gold leaf and stones.

The opinion seems to be that the purpose of the plaster was to preserve the angel. Odd that they would choose to preserve only that mosaic and not the others. One estimated that only around 20% of the original mosaics remain and only pieces of the 4th century mosaic floor remains, under a false floor and only visible through a small opening. 

Jees, just walk on it

The angel itself seems a little strange. Is it me,or is it slightly androgynous? I'm unsure if all angels of the time were depicted this way, but this one seems to be. The wing seems broken, or is it perhaps supposed to resemble a meteor, a space craft, or a bomb? 

Possible interpretation

The hand gesture and the look on its face remind me of the five thousandth time I tried to explain something to my kids. 

I just don't know how else to say it

And what the heck is this candy cane shaped white thing behind its head? 

Captain Hook?

Seriously, what the heck is that supposed to be?

Stumped.

And what's the broken arch to the right of the mosaic? That's not there by mistake. It looks as though someone destroyed part of the image, replaced it with a window, just to make absolutely sure that no one could find it, and then concealed the angel, leaving just a taunting little arch fragment to tease us. I wonder what it could have been? 

Mosaic FAIL

I'm curious to see what else this restoration project reveals. And if the Ancient Aliens guys have heard about this yet?

@AncientAliens Do a show on this?
How about for a scooby snack?

What do you think?
Comment and let us all know!
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Thank you, National Geographic, for the article and photos of this amazing find!