MIAMI—Urging drastic action to mitigate the effects of the imminent herpetological disaster, scientists at the University of Miami warned Friday that Florida could be completely submerged by snakes as early as 2021. “Our projections show that the Sunshine State will be beneath 70 to 80 inches of pythons and copperheads as early as this time next year,” said lead researcher Desmond Shankir, painting a dire picture of a near future in which all but the most elevated points in Florida would be subsumed by a writhing mass of hissing and slithering. “We’ve seen that serpent levels have continued to rise over the past decades, and when compounded with the health issues associated with venom and the sheer mass of shed skins, we could see millions of snake-related refugees flooding into Georgia and Alabama.” Shankir urged Americans to do their part to stem the tide by turning off their electronics to go kill a bunch of snakes
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Why have we never heard ofAnna Marie Lane
Woman Soldier in the Revolutionary War
Anna Maria Lane is best known as Virginia's only female soldier in the Revolutionary War. Anna Maria followed her husband, when he joined the Continental Army in 1776. Although many women worked as cooks or laundresses at the military camps, Anna Maria dressed in men's clothing and performed the duties of a soldier.
John and Anna Maria fought in battles in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
The Lanes were with New England troops under General Israel Putnam when he linked up with General George Washington's army near Philadelphia after the Battle of Brandywine.
At the Battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania, on October 4, 1777, Anna Maria received a leg wound that left her lame for life. She was probably not with her husband when he was wounded at Savannah, Georgia.
After the Revolutionary War, pension records were issued to persons who gave military service, not only for soldiers. A woman who served in a quasi-military role that was recognized by the Army – such as a cook, a laundress or a nurse – could receive a pension.
After the war, John Lane worked at the state arsenal at Point of Fork in Fluvanna County, Virginia. In 1801 he and Maria couple moved to Richmond, where John joined the Public Guard. The Lanes and their three children received daily military rations.
Anna Maria worked as a nurse in the military hospital, where she made the acquaintance of Dr. John H. Foushee, at whose request Governor James Monroe and the Council of State authorized her to be paid a small stipend for her work.
By 1804 Anna Maria Lane was apparently too feeble to work as her name no longer appeared in the council journal as a nurse. She petitioned the Virginia government for a pension, stating that she was "very infirm, having been disabled by a severe wound, which she received while fighting as a common soldier... from which she never recovered."
Four years later, John Lane and several other men were discharged from the Public Guard, and Governor William H. Cabell requested the General Assembly to provide pensions for those disabled male soldiers as well as for several women. In 1808, eight people were awarded pensions by the Virginia General Assembly. John Lane and the other pensioners received £40 a year, which was the standard for the Virginia state pensions.
However, Anna Maria Lane's pension record states: "In the Revolutionary War, in the garb, and with the courage of a soldier, [she] performed extraordinary military services and received a severe wound at the Battle of Germantown." Therefore, she received £100 per year.
Anna Maria Lane died on June 13, 1810.
In Alabama it is completely fine and legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street as long as you have a lantern attached to the front of your car.
The city of Denver in Colorado prevents you from lending your vacuum cleaner to your next-door neighbour, the guy two blocks down through? That’s completely fine.
Now we’re into the realm of the oddly specific again, in Delaware you’re not allowed to serve Alcohol in a nightclub if anyone within the premise is dancing.
And now we have something incredibly vague: in Florida one may not commit any ‘unnatural acts’ with another person, so exorcists should probably stay clear.
If you’ve got a potty mouth you might want to avoid working at a funeral home because in Georgia it’s illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body that’s in a funeral home or a coroner’s office.
Ever feel like going fishing whilst riding a Giraffe? No? Well someone must have because the act of fishing whilst on the back of a Giraffe is illegal in Boise City, Idaho.
Want your car to smell nice? Too bad folks from Illinois, because it’s illegal to hang “obstructions” in from the rear view mirror, this includes air fresheners, GPS units and knick-knacks.
Looks like you’re going to have to let Donkey Kong sit in the front in Massachusetts because gorillas are forbidden to sit in the back seat of any car.
It’s illegal for a woman to cut her own hair without her husband’s permission in Michigan, sorry unmarried ladies, guess you’ll have to go to the hairdresser.
If you’re running late for work, didn’t have time to shave and you’re in the car on Tylertown, Mississippi’s main street keep in mind that it’s illegal to shave in the centre of Main Street.
I’m guessing Missouri’s population was declining at some point because single men between the ages of twenty-one and fifty must pay an annual tax of one whole dollar whilst living in the state of Missouri.
The kinkier inclined of us should avoid Montana because it’s illegal to have sex in any other position other than missionary style when you’re in the state.
In Nevada, if someone shoots your dog and you want you revenge you’re in luck because it’s still legal to hang someone for shooting your dog on your property.
If you just can’t control your rhythmic movements you should stay the hell away from New Hampshire because whilst in the state you can’t tap your feet, nod your head, or keep time to the music in any way while in a tavern, restaurant, or cafe.
Another rule I wish was everywhere, while riding in an elevator, one must talk to no one, fold his hands and look at the door for the duration of the trip.
Wanna quick and easy way to get married? Forget Las Vegas; if a man and a woman pretend to be married on a hotel or motel register then, according to state law, they are legally married.
Michael Jackson and Krispy Kreme enthusiasts should avoid the city of Marion in Oregon as you can’t eat a doughnut and walk backwards when you’re on a city street.
I don’t even know what to say Pennsylvania, why is it illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors? Where’s the freedom in restricting such a common pass-time?
Something you may not know about me, but I’m a licensed fortune teller in the state of South Carolina, not because I wanted to but because if you want to tell someone’s fortune you need to have a licence.
Want to share your Netflix account when you’re in Tennessee, better find a way to do it without sharing your password because that, my friend, is illegal.
If you get brain damage and can no longer see but your eyes are still fine you may be tempted to donate them to a good cause, which is good and all just make sure not to do it in Texas because it’s illegal over there.
It is mandatory, in the state of Washington, for a motorist with criminal intentions to stop before entering the city call the chief of police before entering the town.
Whistling underwater is illegal in West Virginia, how a person might whistle underwater is beyond me, but nonetheless you better not attempt it when you’re in the state.
And to finish it all off we bring you the classiest state of them all: in Wyoming all new buildings costing over $100,000 to build must have 1% of the budget spent on art work for the building.
