A thread for random crap on the internet

[mr x]

Lady buggery.

Sent from my Nexus S

[GAM]

Bug porn!

Sandy

[Jimmy]

Bug porn!

Sandy

I don't condone bestiality on this forum..

[akr71]

Global bacon shortage 'unavoidable'
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2 ... -pigs.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Experts say the world could be on the verge of a significant bacon shortage because of rising feed costs and declining pig populations.

Britain's National Pig Association said Tuesday that an international shortage of bacon and other pork products is now "unavoidable," and expects higher prices for consumers soon.

Recent data shows Europe's pig population declining at an alarming rate "and this is a trend that is being mirrored around the world," the NPA said in a release. Every major pork-producing European nation has fewer pigs today than they did last year, even as demand for pork products has remained high.

A crippling drought in the U.S. farm belt caused the price of corn and soy, two staples of agricultural feed, to skyrocket. Retailers have been thus far unwilling to pass those costs on to consumers, and instead have been paying pig farmers less for each pig.

The problem is not limited to Europe.

The Canadian Pork Council confirms that the size of North America's pig herd is shrinking, which will drive up prices as farmers start to limit supply.

"It's because of the rise in the price of corn," the agency's public relations manager, Gary Stordy, told CBC News. "Producers are losing money right now and like any other business, when you're not making money, you shut down."

U.S. laws that mandate a certain percentage of the corn crop go into ethanol fuel for the transportation industry had lit a fire under corn prices even before the drought. The size of the continent's corn crop has been rising for a decade, before falling precipitously this year.

The potential pork shortage has made waves on the internet, where bacon in particular has its own frenzied fan club.
Read the online reaction.

When that happens, other corn buyers, including pig farmers, get hit.

"You can buy futures for some commodities, but not feed," Stordy said. "Farmers can't find a way to hedge their bets, so they have to pay the market price," which has suddenly become unsustainable, he said.

The cost increases have made it no longer cost-efficient for farmers to raise pigs, NPA says. It recently warned that a fall of two per cent in the number of hogs slaughtered next year would push consumer prices up by 10 per cent

"NPA believes slaughtering could fall by as much as 10 per cent in the second half of next year, which indicates a doubling of the price of … pork and pork products," the agency said.

[bluenose]

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicd ... randlabour

Thirsty work
Sep 24th 2012, 16:04 by The Economist online

How long does it take to afford a beer?

ON SEPTEMBER 22nd, the beer started flowing at Oktoberfest in Munich, an annual Bavarian beer festival which confusingly begins at the end of September. Last year, over the course of the 16-day event, visitors glugged 7.5m litres of beer, sold at an average princely price of €9 ($12.50) a litre, which is what a typical large stein holds. Germans love beer and down around 100 litres per person a year. Away from the Oktoberfest beer is readily affordable. Analysts at UBS, a Swiss bank, have calculated that it takes a German earning the national median wage just under seven minutes of work to purchase half a litre of beer at a retail outlet. At the bottom of the pint glass, low wages and high taxes mean that boozers in India must toil for nearly an hour before they have earned enough to quench their thirst.

There's also a chart if you follow the link

[mr x]

This thing is fucking weird.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picture ... me=2348921" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[chalmers]

Waterbears (tardigrades)! These animals are awesome: they can survive the vacuum of space and extreme hot and cold. But they can't do many tricks. EZ has a plush tardigrade on her desk at work.

[mr x]

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/e ... -1.1172175" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ideas anyone?

[jeffsmith]

There's a marketer's dream right there.

[PEIBeerGuy]

It's prob. Courtney Love's boobs or some other floppy old gal.

[akr71]

I think they'd make more money selling the 'Making of' DVD

[mr x]

A very good question:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le4593690/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jimmy]

Wow!

[Graham.C]

Wow!

as you do...

Lol

[mr x]

An interesting article on buffalo mozzarella.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/magaz ... ml?_r=1&hp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bluenose]

Wow!

#1 Where is this?
#2 How do I get in on this?
#3 How do you win?

[mr x]

A bit of digging unearths tales of L.A. bootlegging, crooked cops
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 882.column" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dirt Chicken]

[CorneliusAlphonse]

jiro dreams of sushi... I really enjoyed it. short, very pretty

[Keggermeister]

[GAM]

Food truck races next.

Sandy

[Keggermeister]

[PEIBeerGuy]

Three things to say:

His neighbours must feel very safe.
That Chinese Pug shirt is... wow.
Potentially millions lost on deposits / recyclables.

[Keggermeister]

[chalmers]

I've never been to a Hfx Council meeting, but I would go if there was one of these each week!

"Mark Sidran ... likes John Tesh"
That is pretty damning right there.