Favorite Link Friday Week of September 23, 2016

Bent Columbia propeller shrinks Southeast ferry service

The 500-passenger Columbia will soon head to a Portland, Ore., shipyard for repairs.

As a result, most of Southeast Alaska’s larger cities will lose one or two port calls a week.

Sitka will go two full weeks without ferry service.

Crews noticed a vibration last week when the ferry ran at full speed, Marine highway spokesman Jeremy Woodrow said. Divers then inspected the ship’s two propellers during a stop in Wrangell and discovered why the ship shook.

“They noticed that one of the blades had a noticeable bend to it, where it looked like it had been hit by something,” he said. “The assumption is maybe a submerged log or something along those lines that can do some damage to a large propeller like that.”

Woodrow said budget cuts mean no other ferries are available to fill in during the reduced schedule.

“The soonest the Columbia is likely to come back into service is Friday, Oct. 7, if repairs go as planned in Portland,” he said. [Source]

Cannabis discovered in Viking grave

The Oseberg mound dates back to 834 AD, and is the richest Viking burial ground that has ever been discovered. It was dug up in the year of 1904, and consisted of a Viking ship with two women in it, a young person around 50 years old, and an elderly person between the ages of 70 and 80. They brought with them seven beds, several woven tapestries, a richly decorated chariot, and four horse sleighs. There were also animal bones discovered from 14 or 15 horses, four dogs, a cow, a bull, a red-breasted merganser, and a Eurasian woodcock.

It was so well preserved because of the dense clay and peat that it was buried in. During the excavations, archaeologists discovered a bucket of apples which were still red, as well as cress and blueberries.

The older woman was holding a leather sack that has received a lot of attention because of its contents. She would have suffered from a lot of pain because of her illness, and it is speculated that the cannabis that was discovered in her sack was used as a painkiller. Given her possible status as a religious leader, it may have had spiritual connotations and been used in rituals.

The Vikings had an outstanding knowledge of which plants could be utilized for what, some could be used to cure diseases and alleviate pain, whilst others were intoxicants, like cannabis. [Full Story]

Hillary Clinton: Between Two Ferns

Wife in real-life 'Fault in Our Stars' couple dies days after husband

The wife in the so-called real-life “Fault in Our Stars” couple has died, her family announced on Facebook, mere days after her husband died of the same terminal illness.

Lex18.com reported that Katie Prager, who suffered from the respiratory illness cystic fibrosis, died early Thursday morning. Her husband, Dalton Prager, also had cystic fibrosis and died Saturday. The duo met online at age 18, married two years later, and died at age 25.

Katie’s family wrote on Facebook that her family is happy the couple is now, finally, together again.

"I truly believe Dalton had prepared a place for his wife, just as the pastor talked about yesterday at Dalton's service,” she wrote on the Facebook page Dalton and Katie Prager’s Transplant Page. “I am thankful she got to spend time with her family Saturday, as hard as it was after watching her husband pass. She had said she didn't know if she could go to the family event after that, but just as Dalton had given me the strength to get through the last few days, he had given her the strength knowing it would be her last outing. Please pray for the family. Together, they are giving us all strength.” [Full Source]

Trumptendo

[Classic Nintendo Games Remade with Trump, play them online]

The Dancing Plague of 1518

For no apparent reason, she just started to dance.
In July of 1518, in full view of her neighbors, Frau Troffea began to violently dance in the streets of the city of Strasbourg, France. There was no music and her face betrayed no expression of joy. She appeared unable to stop herself from her frenzy.
Had this remained an isolated incident, the city elders may have put it down to madness or demonic possession, but soon after Troffea began her dancing, a neighbor joined in. And then another. By the end of a week more than 30 people were dancing night and day on the streets of the city. And it didn’t stop there. By the time a month had passed, at least 400 citizens of Strasbourg were swept up in the phenomenon.

Medical and civic authorities were called in once some of the dancers began dying from heart attacks, exhaustion, or strokes. For some inexplicable reason, these men believed that the cure for the dancing was more dancing, so they erected a wooden stage for the dancers and musicians were called in.

Bit by bit the dancers stopped, and the dancing would end as mysteriously as it began. [Source]

Read More: FLF Week of September 16, 2016 

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