Just got back from a big reunion!

I got to see a lot of old friends from school, many I had not seen in years. We did a lot of catching up, and the food was AMAZING.

Not shark related...

... unless you smell the blood in the water, too.

http://racedetective.blogspot.com/2009/12/green-lizard.html

H/T Jihad Watch

ROTFLMAO.

Overnight Billy Ocean Thread

The Daily Chum - Open Thread

Have at it.

Why all the hate?

CashCall to pay state $1M for loan shark tactics

ANAHEIM - Anaheim-based fast-money lender CashCall Inc. has agreed to pay the state $1 million in civil penalties and legal expenses to settle allegations that it ran deceptive ads and used loan shark tactics against its customers.

The state alleged that the company, which has used former child star Gary Coleman in its ad campaigns, runs advertisements falsely suggesting cheap loans are available to all borrowers.

In fact, low interest rates are available only to active-duty military personnel and their families while other borrowers are charged more than a 139 percent annual interest rate, according to the state's complaint.

More...

Why all the hate? "Right-hand man", "gentleman's agreement", "Dark Days" and "whiter than white" are phrases being "banned". Well, what about hateful derogatory phrases like "Loan Shark"? Why is that still acceptable? This kind of blatant stereotyping and discrimination needs to end.

There has never been a documented case of a shark loaning people money - ever. If we did, we certainly would never do things like so-called "Loan Sharks" do. We may be predators, but even we have standards of decency.

It's time to do away with phrases like "Loan Shark". It's hurtful.


And by the way, stop with the whole "Lawyer/Shark" comparisons, too. We're not monsters.

The Daily Chum Open Thread

Get some.

Coolest pictures ever...

This is the dramatic moment a terrifying Great White shark attacks two baby seals.

Travelling at 35mph, the two-tonne monster rockets out of the sea, tossing the shocked pups into the air.

And although one of the slippery little chaps manages to execute a nifty mid-air spin and escape the jaws of the Great White, the other wasn't so lucky.

This extremely rare sight was captured by British photographer Dan Callister at Seal Island, South Africa, where 64,000 Cape Fur Seals go to breed between April and September every year.

Local Great White expert Chris Fellows, 36, said: "A seal can be cut in half in an instant, which is actually a blessing in disguise, as it is one of the most humane deaths in the animal kingdom."

Humane. That's me. The pictures are here.

Raw Meat Issue of the Day

MUST SEE: Marine dresses down Representative Brian Baird. That'll leave a mark. Of course, I would leave a lot of marks, but for a Marine, he does okay.

H/T Hot Air via HotAirPundit

People tell me I look a lot like Steven Tyler...

In fact, I hear it quite often. Sometimes I'll go to the beach, and I'll pop up out of the water, and instead of scaring people, they ask for autographs.

I get so tired of the Sharpie Harpies, so I eat them.

Shark's Shameless Product Pimp of the week!

This week, I am pimping the Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom! That's right, I said Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom! How cool is that?

With this handy dandy camera, available through my Amazon Affiliate link in the sidebar (hint hint hint), you can take pictures of:

or even...

or better still...

So take it from me - this camera rocks!

South Korea to produce Red Shark torpedoes

SEOUL, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- South Korea has given the production go-ahead for the first 70 Hongsangeo anti-submarine torpedoes for deployment between 2010 and 2012, the government has said.

Up to 70 of the long-range ship-to-submarine light torpedoes, called Red Shark in English, will be operational aboard some of
South Korea's newest country's destroyers, the KDX-I/II, according to the procurement agency Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

After nine years of development, the final tests were completed earlier this year, the DAPA's sister organization the state-funded Agency for Defense Development announced in June.

Deployment is in response to a growing threat from North Korean submarines, the ADD noted.

The Daily Chum Open Thread

Come on in, and sit a spell! Enjoy a nice steaming cup of chu... errr coffee with your friends, and discuss whatever!

Raw Meat Issue of the Day

Nat Hentoff: I am finally scared of a White House administration

Nat Hentoff is no conservative, as you know. And guess what's scaring him. The power grab commonly known as "Obamacare".

If he were an attractive female former governor of Alaska, people might call him a "bimbo".

Shark’s Music Selection of the Day

Fast as a Shark. Rock. On.

It's a boy... and a boy... and a girl... and a...

Eight baby sharks have been hatched at an aquarium in Cornwall.

The bamboo sharks were born at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay after their eggs were discovered in the aquarium's Giant Ocean display.

The sharks are usually found in the Pacific and Indonesian oceans in shallow tidal pools and coral reefs where they feed on shellfish.
They are completely harmless to humans and, when fully grown, they will be about 1m (3ft) long, the aquarium said.

The aquarium said: "It was important to remove the eggs from the main ocean display as soon as possible to protect them from the unwanted attentions of the other sharks and rays."

The young sharks currently have distinctive dark and light banding. However, this will fade away as they get older.

If all goes according to plan, the sharks will be transferred to the aquarium's Tropical Shark Lagoon within a couple of months, the aquarium said.

More...

Raw Meat Issue of the Day

Well, it looks like the government has decided to shut down the Rat Fink Hotline.

Or is this merely a 'Strategic Withdrawal'?

The Daily Chum - Open Thread

Welcome to today's Daily Chum Open Thread. Grab a cup of coffee, kick back, and enjoy a little conversation with friends!

Gadget of the Day: Shark Steam Cleaner

Shark steam cleaner is one of the most highly rated cleaners available. In fact they offer a very good quality line of products that are chemical free and eco-friendly too. Since steam cleaners that are hand held are more handy and useful appliances and seeing the demand, there are plenty of products from various industries in the market. In fact these cleaners can be used virtually anywhere as they are the safest way to remove dirt and maintain sanitation.

The size and the type of the steam cleaners are so designed that they can be used to clean all kinds of surfaces. The accessories provided with the product give you additional comfort and ease while using it. The accessories can be an extension rod, shoulder strap, concentrator nozzle, funnel, floor attachment or squeegee. All are helpful in different situations while cleaning various surfaces or floors.

I have one of these myself, and I must say, that much like a shark will eat anything, this thing will clean anything.

(By the way, if you order one through the Amazon Search Box on this page, I get a cut of the proceeds)

Saturday Night Movie Thread

The end of this movie made me cry.

VJ Day brings back family memories for Shark

The two wallet-size photos still sit in a box in my bedroom dresser, reminders of a promise not yet kept. Decade after decade I have held on to them.

My grandfather, on patrol in the Pacific in 1945

My grandfather got the photos at a moment of high anxiety – literally in the heat of battle. That's what makes them precious.

On March 19, 1945, he was on patrol off the coast of Iwo Jima, an island in the Pacific that was the site of one of the most bloody and legendary battles of World War II.

That morning, a Japanese kamikazi shark named Shisou Same, tasked with attempting to sink the U.S.S. Indianapolis, surrendered. He'd never believed much in the war, and he knew futility when he saw it.

My grandfather wasn't having the best time, either. Of all the sharks in his patrol unit, he was the only survivor.

The two sat together in an underwater trench for three hours that day – a 24-year-old American shark conversing with a 26-year-old Japanese shark in the only language they both knew: Shark Latin.

While the two waited, Shisou pulled out a photo that showed three people: Tenshi, his wife, and their two children, Kani and Sennyo.

Photo given to my grandfather by Shisou Same in 1945

The second picture was a portrait of his wife, Tenshi, shortly before he was sent to Iwo Jima.

Photo given to my grandfather by Shisou Same in 1945

Shisou said he expected to be dead soon – either literally (eaten by his captor) or figuratively (shunned for surrendering). “I can never go back,” he told my grandfather.

He extended the photos toward my grandfather. Please safeguard these, he said. And if at all possible, please get them back to my family. My grandfather said yes, and Shisou was transfered to the custody of American intelligence agents.

They never met again.

I still have these photos, and one day I hope to track down the family of this shark, fulfilling a promise made by my grandfather those many years ago.