A Weasel As Big As A Donkey (!)

I Put This Up On Facebook - 
 - as a throwaway link.  However, it came back to occupy my mind, because what would happen if there really was a species of Weasel that arrived overnight, and they were the size of donkeys?
     I don't know if Art can provide an illustration of same.  Let's prod him awake and see.  Art?

The Were-weasel of Wigtonshire?

     One of the premier effects would be that of extreme predation: because of it's very high metabolic rate 'Mustela Magna' ('Giant Weasel') would need to eat it's own body weight in prey every day.  This means in the Allotment of Eden it would be hunting down and munching it's way through the livestock herds of farmers, because we don't have herds of meat living wild in this country. A beast that size couldn't survive merely on a diet of domestic cats and dogs, you know.
     You humans would have to be wary of them, also.  They wouldn't be a threat in an urban setting because there wouldn't be the prey there to draw them, but out in the countryside you would need to pay attention to local radio for warnings.

                         - and either carry an Eagle (Desert mod) or have one along as a pet.   
  Then again, the species probably wouldn't last long here; Farmer Giles would use drones, poisoned bait, automatic shotguns and elephant rifles to hunt them down.  On the plains of the Serengeti, however -

CAUTION! does not make a good domestic pet

     I imagine they'd fill a similar ecological niche to the leopard.  In fact they might put the spotted speedster under some environmental pressure, and have to be hunted down or controlled  by game wardens.
     Well!  That was a satisfying thought experiment.  Next week - what would happen if sharks were land-mobile?
     Okay, time to throw the motley into a pool of molten sodium metal!

Organ Transplant
Oh, I feel so clever about this one! 'Organ News' reported that they now have another 7 sampled organs from around the world, that can be loaded up into the Johannus LiVe.  Art?

See how clever I am?

     The idea with the LiVe is that you can upload the sampled performance of famous organs around the world, and indeed from several positions in each cathedral or church, and play these at home.  I suspect that if you have one of these instruments you won't need to worry about your neighbours complaining regards the noise of Widor's 5th at 2 ante meridian, because their starting price is £12,000, and if you can afford that, then you live in a detached mansion.

Why A Pool Of Molten Sodium Metal Would Be A Very Bad Idea
First of all, it would be very expensive.  An average backyard pool having a volume of 160,000 pounds, and sodium costing about £23 per pound, it would cost you £3.5 million pounds to fill that pool.
     Expensive!  Plus you would need considerable subsurface heating, because sodium only becomes molten at 97oC, so your fuel bills would also soar.

About £2.17 worth of molten sodium

     The other thing is safety: sodium will explode on contact with water.  It will catch fire by default if it gets too hot.  If it does come into contact with water, you get extremely caustic sodium hydroxide formed, which causes severe chemical burns.  And it's a swine to extinguish once it catches fire.  Conrad's advice if this happens is - move house.

Rick Rescorla Reprise
I was talking about this Cornish (born) war hero yesterday, who somehow managed to be fighting as an officer with the 2nd Battalion 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam, whilst still being a citizen of Perfidious Albion.  Not sure how that happens, but still -
     He went on to carry out reconnaissance for his battalion, meaning he went out to trip ambushes, traps and mines, and became so good at it he ended up teaching courses in same.
     After Vietnam he obtained a law degree, so no meathead he.  Art?

In later years

     After being a bit of a hellion in his youth, he went the opposite track and into corporate security with Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Centre - and you can see where this is heading, can't you?
     Rick made himself what is known as "A royal pain in the ass" about fire drills and evacuations, ticking off senior managers whose valuable time he interrupted, because he had an uncomfortably accurate feeling about what was going to happen and how.  When 9/11 began, he got all but 6 of Morgan Stanley's employees out of the building, and there were over 2,500 of them, by following his own procedure of "Get Everyone Out".
     He didn't make it himself, because he insisted on going back in to check everyone he was responsible for was out, which is when the South Tower came down.

RIP

     Now, the South Canadians have a nice respectful monument to him, but we invented him here in Perfidious Albion first.  And you're welcome!

Wow, that was unusually serious for BOOJUM!  so I think we need a bit of levity.  I know!

A Sinister-era - er - helicopter? Heliplane?  Aircopter?  Weird-ass shizzle?