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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?)
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!
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/
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.
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.
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.