Common Sense and Whiskey

No Comment. Or Rather, Hard to Comment.

From a post called 50 Hard-to-Explain Photos at The Online Photographer.

Any similarity to the previous post is purely coincidental.

Things May Not Be as They Appear

We'll have to wait for a while yet. Lots of 'known unknowns' surround this North Korea story. We don't know what kind of "journalism" the two released prisoners were engaged in. Some content on Current TV, their employer, isn't by "journalists" at all. It's short features by interested amateurs. The Current TV web site encourages viewers to contribute their own videos.

On the other hand, were they really even in North Korea at all? Peter Hessler, in a 2000 article for the New Yorker, suggested a plausible scenario for their capture. He wrote, "I got to know a couple of the local boat pilots, and several times a day they'd drive me along the banks of North Korea" on the Yalu River. North Korea has a well established history of kidnapping and the two women were said to have been "stopped by border guards."

Hard to know what really happened. Unfortunate inadvertent tourism, maybe.

Taj Mahal in Bangladesh? Comment? No Comment.

Left: View from your room at the Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, India. There's a view of the Taj Mahal from every room. A reservation inquiry for next month turned up rates starting at $534.01 per night. But wait: There may be an alternative.

Right: An exact replica of the Taj Mahal under construction in Sonargaon, about an hour outside Dhaka,  Bangladesh, under the auspices of Ahsanullah Moni, a Bangladeshi film maker. Moni says this on the web site AzmiJahan.com Personal Development for Idiots: “I am doing this only for the poor. They cannot travel. They cannot see this historical wonder. I also hope the landmark construction can attract more tourists from home and abroad.”

(Left photo from the Oberoi web site, right photo from AzmiJahan.com.)

Comment? No Comment.

"New Hospital-Themed Restaurant in Latvia Has Diners Checking In for Treatment."

Photo from Jaunted.

Stand Proud, America, with Liberty and Justice for All

Paper shampoo, to appease the TSA gods, via Jaunted.

Orwellian Advertising Award

"Six Major Airlines Announce Plans to Launch Exciting Free Service to Enhance Passenger Experience"

Gee, swell. What do you think, maybe a complimentary massage at the gate? High thread count Scandinavian blankets? A brand new, neatly folded New York Times at every seat?

Ah, no.

The headline comes from a company called Sojern. They're the ones selling ads on your boarding pass.

Feel enhanced?