XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Saturday 11 January 2014

Colorado replaces 420 mile marker with 419.99 after multiple thefts -

Colorado replaces 420 mile marker with 419.99 after multiple thefts - 

milemarker.jpeg

Colorado officials are hoping the difference of one-hundredth of a mile will curb thefts of highway markers after the 420 mile marker sign along Interstate 70 was targeted multiple times. 

Amy Ford of the Colorado Department of Transportation says the "MILE 420" sign near Stratton was stolen for the last time sometime in the last year, and officials replaced it with a sign that says "MILE 419.99."

The number "420" has long been associated with marijuana, though its origins as shorthand for pot are murky.

Ford says it's the only "420" sign to be replaced in the state that recently legalized recreational marijuana. Most highways aren't long enough to need one.

“Obviously people steal these signs,” Ford said, the Denver Post reported. “In the past, if a sign was stolen too much we wouldn’t replace it. This is sort of an innovative way for us to keep the sign there,” she said.

Mile 419.99, about 25 miles from the Kansas border, isn't the only place in Colorado with a fractional mile marker. Cameron Pass in Larimer County has a "MILE 68.5" sign after frequent thefts of the "MILE 69" sign.

Read more -
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/11/colorado-replaces-420-mile-marker-with-41-after-multiple-thefts/?intcmp=trending

US Government Spent $224,863 On "Custom-Fit" Condoms -

US Government Spent $224,863 On "Custom-Fit" Condoms - 



Money well-spent, we are sure some would suggest; but when the National Institute of Health spends $224,863 to test 95 "custom-fitted" condoms so every hard-working American man can choose the one that fits 'just right', we suggest the government is stretching the tax dollar a little too far. As NY Post reports, the study was prompted by concern that despite the wide-scale promotion of latex condoms to help prevent the spread of HIV, their use remains "disappointingly low," because, the government says, one-third to one-half of men complain of poor-fitting prophylactics and are less likely to use them... apparently. Of course, we assume, when questioned, all said the condom was 'too small'.

Via NY Post,

The NIH blames US “regulatory guidelines” for American men having to choose from a “narrow range of condom sizes.”

The six-figure grant was awarded to TheyFit of Covington, Ga., which offers a wide variety of condoms that vary in length — from a bit more than 3 inches to nearly 9 ¹/? — and in width.

They’re available in European Union countries, but not in the United States, where they would have to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

“For most of their existence, condoms were custom fitted,” TheyFit explains on its Web site.

“For hundreds of years, until the early part of the 20th century, they were made of linen or animal gut fitted to over individual penis sizes.”

But the introduction of latex, mass production of condoms and other factors created what the firm calls “the ‘one size fits all’ condom.”

For the man who doesn’t know his own penis size, TheyFit offers a free downloadable “FitKit.”

Read more -