When my oldest got married, he and his wife incorporated their dog into the ceremony; the dog walked down the aisle. I was frisked for dog biscuits by my wife, who thought I might, well, ummm, not act grownup. I confess I secretly rooted for the dog to bark during the ceremony.
It's not quite the same, but I got my wish today! Saw this on X.
Good morning. There is something producing so much pollen this morning that it has overcome all my otherwise extremely successful prevention tactics. Usually fall is more of an issue. I had forgotten how miserable it could be.
I hope everyone is off to having a pleasant, productive day that requires few, if any, tissues.
Funny thing: they just took steps to increase support for chip production in the southwest. Where it is really dry, which means there is not a lot of water, with forecasts indicating there will be less. Which means more and more energy will be necessary to get the water necessary for chip production.
Have just been listening to The Remnant podcast where Jonah interviews Nancy French, and I’m finding it so moving and intriguing, also with a lot of LOL moments for me. Her experiences of culture shock are delightfully described. Most intensively since the hype of JD Vance’s book and any number of excessively praised Dem political memoirs, this sounds like a book I would actually find interesting.
I bought and read J. D. Vance's book after listening to the audio version. I found it down to earth, powerful and moving. I did not know the Dems liked it - it seemed to me to damn them pretty thoroughly.
Interestingly, he was influenced by Amy Chua, author of The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom while at Yale. I also got a lot out of that book, although I did find her approaches painfully harsh at times. On its own it is a bit disturbing, but in the context of contemporary child-rearing practices it has much to say.
If the urge to splurge had been with me when the hype for that book was at peak, I’d be extra annoyed with Vance for playing such a ridiculous fool now, probably.
Tiger Mom was great, though. Probably more meaningful.
Last night I downloaded a Good Faith podcast where she’s interviewed. I’ll report back after I’ve listened. I think the focus there is her cancer journey.
Have heard several nuggets, but one sample was from after when they adopted their Ethiopian daughter: Her hair was just beginning to grow out after the orphanage shaving, and Nancy had her in the shopping cart at a store. Random black women came up to her and admonished her to get that child’s hair fixed right. Nancy was embarrassed and ashamed—she had thought it looked so cute!
On the music scene, I showed my husband (and guitarist) "Mi Tierra Veracruzana". As I was trying to get through all the words, he strummed a bit and said, "Two chords." Sure enough, when I pulled up a Spanish music website that shows chords, the whole song is nothing but D and A7.
This is good, because when we work it up as a party piece, all our occasional guitarists can join in. Nobody except me will even find the rhythm challenging.
Good morning. About 50 and sunny this morning. But last night we had thunderstorms and hail.
The Minnesota story is emblematic of the magical thinking of “Green” advocates”. Wanting to reduce carbon emissions is not a bad idea. but wind and solar won’t get the job done. You need nuclear power, which the greenies don’t like either.
This morning the mothership reports on House speaker Mike Johnson's attempt to break the logjam, with separate bills for aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, with a separate bill offering some MAGA red meat by confiscating Russian assets and banning TikTok.
Phil: We are in agreement here. NY ratepayers are gonna be shocked when Indian Point is finally shut down thanks to former Governor Andrew Cuomo (Cuomo the Lesser).
Today’s special animal friend is the Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus. Our tour has moved along to Chobe National Park in Botswana. The oldest national park in Botswana, it is also the most biologically diverse. It is famous for a lion population that eats elephants. We’re going to try to avoid them while concentrating on the cheetah. But first, an overview of the park:
There are four subspecies of cheetahs. Here in southern Africa, we have A. jubatus jubatus, the “nominate subspecies,” of which there are over 4,000 individuals in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia. Northeast and Northwest African cheetahs number in the hundreds, while a population of fewer than 50 Asiatic cheetahs lives in Iran.
The world’s fastest land animal – up to 65 mph for short distances – cheetahs are built like a greyhound, with long, thin legs, a small head, and a large chest. Their spines are unusually flexible, and their hip and shoulder joints extend further than most quadrupeds’. A large male can be about three feet high at the shoulder and weigh up to 150 lbs. (A leopard is a similar size, though differently proportioned, while lions are two to three times heavier.) Cheetahs’ claws retract only a little, unlike other cats’. This helps with traction when they accelerate and then stop.
Cheetahs are active during the day when they share habitat with other large, feline predators. If they are the only big cat around, they are more likely to hunt at night, especially when there is bright moonlight. They usually eat smaller ungulates such as Dorcas gazelles, impala, and duiker, rarely pursuing prey weighing over 90 lbs. The cheetah bites a prey animal’s throat, holding on for up to 5 minutes to strangle the animal. Their hunting success is pretty good, over 40% for the smallest prey animals.
Cheetah society includes groups of male siblings called coalitions. These bros will stake out a territory as a group, defend it from other males, and sometimes hunt cooperatively. The coalitions do not have to be biological relatives. Orphaned males raised in captivity can be paired with a non-relative and released; the two will maintain the attachment for life.
Females are solitary except when living with their young cubs or, occasionally, an adult daughter. Their home ranges often overlap the territories of several groups of males. Female fertility seems to be correlated with exposure to males and their scent markings, and it is more common when prey and water are abundant. A female will mate with several males during estrus. Gestation is about three months, and up to 8, but usually 3 or 4, cubs are born.
Cheetahs are rated as Vulnerable by IUCN. They are legally protected throughout their range. They are threatened by habitat loss, illegal hunting, and declining prey populations.
Yes, it's an interesting variation. Among felines, it's not unusual for both sexes to be largely solitary, but the Band of Brothers habit is possibly unique to cheetahs. Among other large felines, sisters are more likely to stay together than brothers.
A thing about deindustrialization is that it means there are fewer products being made. When fewer products are available for people to spend their (imaginary, debt supported) money on, you have inflation.
In other Green news, the proposed Piedmont Lithium mine in Gaston County, which the Envirothon teams visited earlier this year and it was very cool, has received approval from the state's mining regulators. I think that means they just need approval from the Gaston County Commission to actually do something, mine-wise. Unfortunately for them, the price of lithium has fallen.
That would be the typical pattern for natural resource extraction: Price goes up, drawing investors into a boom market. The new producers overdo it and the price goes down. A bunch of producers go bust in the ensuing market glut. For the next time period, the overproduction comes back down again till product prices rise. Go back to square one and start over again.
Israel Launches Retaliatory Strike Against Iran
The move threatens to push the countries deeper into an escalatory spiral that could lead to war.
(What's wrong with this sentence?)
Effectively, they are already at war.
Well, yes, but I was thinking of the conflict between "deeper" into an "escalatory" *cane toad to the nose* spiral.
When my oldest got married, he and his wife incorporated their dog into the ceremony; the dog walked down the aisle. I was frisked for dog biscuits by my wife, who thought I might, well, ummm, not act grownup. I confess I secretly rooted for the dog to bark during the ceremony.
It's not quite the same, but I got my wish today! Saw this on X.
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1780880026654695568
Good morning. There is something producing so much pollen this morning that it has overcome all my otherwise extremely successful prevention tactics. Usually fall is more of an issue. I had forgotten how miserable it could be.
I hope everyone is off to having a pleasant, productive day that requires few, if any, tissues.
Just wait until they find out how much energy servers and data centers use!
Funny thing: they just took steps to increase support for chip production in the southwest. Where it is really dry, which means there is not a lot of water, with forecasts indicating there will be less. Which means more and more energy will be necessary to get the water necessary for chip production.
Have just been listening to The Remnant podcast where Jonah interviews Nancy French, and I’m finding it so moving and intriguing, also with a lot of LOL moments for me. Her experiences of culture shock are delightfully described. Most intensively since the hype of JD Vance’s book and any number of excessively praised Dem political memoirs, this sounds like a book I would actually find interesting.
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/fancy-nancy/
I bought and read J. D. Vance's book after listening to the audio version. I found it down to earth, powerful and moving. I did not know the Dems liked it - it seemed to me to damn them pretty thoroughly.
Interestingly, he was influenced by Amy Chua, author of The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom while at Yale. I also got a lot out of that book, although I did find her approaches painfully harsh at times. On its own it is a bit disturbing, but in the context of contemporary child-rearing practices it has much to say.
If the urge to splurge had been with me when the hype for that book was at peak, I’d be extra annoyed with Vance for playing such a ridiculous fool now, probably.
Tiger Mom was great, though. Probably more meaningful.
Re Vance: without a doubt!
Last night I downloaded a Good Faith podcast where she’s interviewed. I’ll report back after I’ve listened. I think the focus there is her cancer journey.
Have heard several nuggets, but one sample was from after when they adopted their Ethiopian daughter: Her hair was just beginning to grow out after the orphanage shaving, and Nancy had her in the shopping cart at a store. Random black women came up to her and admonished her to get that child’s hair fixed right. Nancy was embarrassed and ashamed—she had thought it looked so cute!
On the music scene, I showed my husband (and guitarist) "Mi Tierra Veracruzana". As I was trying to get through all the words, he strummed a bit and said, "Two chords." Sure enough, when I pulled up a Spanish music website that shows chords, the whole song is nothing but D and A7.
This is good, because when we work it up as a party piece, all our occasional guitarists can join in. Nobody except me will even find the rhythm challenging.
I'll confess, I am jealous of good guitar players. It can be really beautiful music.
Well, you wouldn't have to be a good guitar player to play "Mi Tierra Veracruzana".
Good morning. About 50 and sunny this morning. But last night we had thunderstorms and hail.
The Minnesota story is emblematic of the magical thinking of “Green” advocates”. Wanting to reduce carbon emissions is not a bad idea. but wind and solar won’t get the job done. You need nuclear power, which the greenies don’t like either.
This morning the mothership reports on House speaker Mike Johnson's attempt to break the logjam, with separate bills for aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, with a separate bill offering some MAGA red meat by confiscating Russian assets and banning TikTok.
Phil: We are in agreement here. NY ratepayers are gonna be shocked when Indian Point is finally shut down thanks to former Governor Andrew Cuomo (Cuomo the Lesser).
You are implying that father Mario was Cuomo the Greater. I'm not sure I go along with that.
Only by way of comparison.
Doesn't he have a younger sister who owns several apartment complexes? I am told she is known as "𝑪𝒖𝒐𝒎𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒓"
She is the leaser known of the Cuomos.
I once had a situation where the same piece of equipment was leased to 2 different people. I called that the evil of two lessors.
And the situation was true.
It's against the Geneva Convention to torture languages in that way -- 🚪
Today’s special animal friend is the Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus. Our tour has moved along to Chobe National Park in Botswana. The oldest national park in Botswana, it is also the most biologically diverse. It is famous for a lion population that eats elephants. We’re going to try to avoid them while concentrating on the cheetah. But first, an overview of the park:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY8joJlz1pU
There are four subspecies of cheetahs. Here in southern Africa, we have A. jubatus jubatus, the “nominate subspecies,” of which there are over 4,000 individuals in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia. Northeast and Northwest African cheetahs number in the hundreds, while a population of fewer than 50 Asiatic cheetahs lives in Iran.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq9-Nh7FzEU
The world’s fastest land animal – up to 65 mph for short distances – cheetahs are built like a greyhound, with long, thin legs, a small head, and a large chest. Their spines are unusually flexible, and their hip and shoulder joints extend further than most quadrupeds’. A large male can be about three feet high at the shoulder and weigh up to 150 lbs. (A leopard is a similar size, though differently proportioned, while lions are two to three times heavier.) Cheetahs’ claws retract only a little, unlike other cats’. This helps with traction when they accelerate and then stop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGhTCPzMHvY
Cheetahs are active during the day when they share habitat with other large, feline predators. If they are the only big cat around, they are more likely to hunt at night, especially when there is bright moonlight. They usually eat smaller ungulates such as Dorcas gazelles, impala, and duiker, rarely pursuing prey weighing over 90 lbs. The cheetah bites a prey animal’s throat, holding on for up to 5 minutes to strangle the animal. Their hunting success is pretty good, over 40% for the smallest prey animals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlj4Jw8omIc
Cheetah society includes groups of male siblings called coalitions. These bros will stake out a territory as a group, defend it from other males, and sometimes hunt cooperatively. The coalitions do not have to be biological relatives. Orphaned males raised in captivity can be paired with a non-relative and released; the two will maintain the attachment for life.
Females are solitary except when living with their young cubs or, occasionally, an adult daughter. Their home ranges often overlap the territories of several groups of males. Female fertility seems to be correlated with exposure to males and their scent markings, and it is more common when prey and water are abundant. A female will mate with several males during estrus. Gestation is about three months, and up to 8, but usually 3 or 4, cubs are born.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfZ7Ekn56sU
Cheetahs are rated as Vulnerable by IUCN. They are legally protected throughout their range. They are threatened by habitat loss, illegal hunting, and declining prey populations.
I'm just surprised Frito-Lay never tried a promotion that creates a "Cheetah Society". It could work...probably badly, but it could work.
It would not work and it would be bad
And what are you still doing here??? 🚪
Unnngh.
Interesting that with cheetahs, the males band together while the females remain separate -- different from most other mammalian species.
Yes, it's an interesting variation. Among felines, it's not unusual for both sexes to be largely solitary, but the Band of Brothers habit is possibly unique to cheetahs. Among other large felines, sisters are more likely to stay together than brothers.
Kitteh. The final video was decidedly happier than the next-to-last one.
So which is worse? The cheetah, the liah, or the election deniah?
Pushing it. But an exaggerated pronunciation is not the same as a pun.
This is not an exception I would have expected from you. Interesting. Technically correct.
Damn. You beat me to it. You will be hearing from Phil, no doubt.
Well played. I can hear my friend from Lawn Guyland saying that.
A thing about deindustrialization is that it means there are fewer products being made. When fewer products are available for people to spend their (imaginary, debt supported) money on, you have inflation.
In other Green news, the proposed Piedmont Lithium mine in Gaston County, which the Envirothon teams visited earlier this year and it was very cool, has received approval from the state's mining regulators. I think that means they just need approval from the Gaston County Commission to actually do something, mine-wise. Unfortunately for them, the price of lithium has fallen.
That would be the typical pattern for natural resource extraction: Price goes up, drawing investors into a boom market. The new producers overdo it and the price goes down. A bunch of producers go bust in the ensuing market glut. For the next time period, the overproduction comes back down again till product prices rise. Go back to square one and start over again.
Yes, commodity boom-bust cycles are simply a thing. An even worse thing is when government tries to "rationally plan" natural resource markets.