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Kurt's avatar

General Announcement...

I'm 12-14 hours "ahead" of you folks, so I sometimes miss comments and replies. It is not because I'm napping and not engaging with the site. It's because I went to bed. I try to catch up by checking notifications.

I am not used to engaging in interweb comments sections. I usually avoid them. This one is fun. So, if anyone replies and you don't see a response from me, it's a timing thing..

Thank you and now I return you too your regularly scheduled program.

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M. Trosino's avatar

RE: sand cats' other cool features, like their ability to scale vertical rock faces

What about their ability to produce a rock face like the one in the 3rd video?

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CynthiaW's avatar

Kittehs are not known for their ability to produce rock faces.

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M. Trosino's avatar

IDK... that face shot in the 3rd vid looks like a pretty hardened little dude to me...

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CynthiaW's avatar

D and I delivered the last of the wreaths from the girl Boy Scouts' fundraiser. She'll be receiving her First Class rank this evening. Her dad and I have a music commitment, so Drama Queen and her husband will go to the event to represent the family. They're much cooler than we are.

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DougAz's avatar

This is another of a million tales over 150 years of abuse of my West Virginians (and Incognito's WV), from powerful out of state forces. Lumber stripped. Coal mined and devastating. Stripped land. Poisened air. Poisoned water. Now of course PHARMA. And corrupt governors - Well Manchin and Justice can just --go to H.

In this story, a town WV folk were given free Glp-1 Weight loss drugs/diabetic the now famous Ozempic. They lost weight. A lot of weight. Got Healthier. Gift Atlantic article:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/12/west-virginias-obesity-drug-experiment/680954/?gift=cRP0rWH9sTk3efqi7CSh_Fl3oBoYEvMMoLaAR49x9YU&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

"Then it all came to an abrupt end. In March, the state’s Public Employee Insurance Agency (PEIA) decided it could no longer bear the crushing costs of Wegovy and Zepbound. (These obesity drugs are sometimes better known by the brand names Ozempic and Mounjaro, respectively, which is how they are sold for diabetes.) In the months after, PEIA patients began running out of medication. They rationed their remaining supplies, stretching the weekly injections to 10 days, two weeks, even three weeks."

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Ingenero.lux's avatar

This post, from the title to the cute kitteh, made my morning. Thank you!

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DougAz's avatar

Waves at very cool, smart friend :)

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C C Writer's avatar

1. That certainly is a cat!

2) Awwwwwww.

3) Another of their abilities seems to be striking really, really cute poses.

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CynthiaW's avatar

All cats have the ability to pose in exceptionally photogenic ways.

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C C Writer's avatar

Looking attractive to humans seems to be a part of their survival strategy.

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CynthiaW's avatar

It works for pandas.

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Kurt's avatar

....and Ryan Seacrest.

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CynthiaW's avatar

I don't know him.

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Kurt's avatar

Handsome useless weasel boy on TV. He hosts stuff like red carpet interviews and "Dancing With Has Beens" type shows. You know him. You just don't know that you know him.

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DougAz's avatar

Techno-fun. I like learning about how things are made. Kurt as well makes things and enjoys learning.

At 70, I often have some intersections of no consequence with people and events that actually had consequence.

This is story of making man made diamonds.

I fortunately turned down the marketing head position at the GE superabrasive division. In Worthington, Ohio I think. The head dude got wrapped up doing price scheming with the famous diamond company mentioned.

https://open.substack.com/pub/constructionphysics/p/what-learning-by-doing-looks-like

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CynthiaW's avatar

Today’s special animal friend is the blue wildebeest, Connochaetes taurinus, a kind of large antelope. A wildebeest is also a gnu. I don’t know why they changed the name: it was all gnus when I was a child. There are also black wildebeest, Connochaetes gnou, which have some great, hooked horns and can run 50 mph.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjsW72UCukc

Blue wildebeest, on the other hand, have upward-pointing cow-like horns, not nearly so cool. Their coats can be kind of slaty blue-gray, but they can also be brown, so whatever. There are five subspecies of blue wildebeest. The ones we can see here in Chobe National Park are C. t. taurinus, the nominate subspecies. The others are found in isolated pockets to our northeast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHePijOvQww

Blue wildebeest are very muscular at the front and more refined in the hindquarters. They can be 8 feet long and 5 feet high at the shoulder. Males weigh up to 900 lbs., and females up to 570 lbs. Males have darker coloring. Both sexes have the heavy, curving horns that resemble those of a Cape buffalo. They may have stripes or other markings, and these are bilaterally symmetrical, which is apparently not the usual thing. They have extremely efficient metabolisms, converting their grass diet to energy for movement, going up to 50 miles in five days without needing a drink.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGQn-tca_4Q

They are gregarious, gathering in herds of thousands during seasonal migration. Like many other large herbivores, they typically segregate by age and sex. Females and calves stay together. Young adult males, 2 to 5 years old, join bachelor herds which stay together for protection from predators. Young adult females remain in their maternal herd. Breeding-age males are solitary, but fairly tolerant of one another’s proximity except in the breeding season, when they get territorial and fight over females.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6MTIgHMZyQ

Mating takes place at the end of the rainy season, when everyone is well fed. Gestation is about 9 months, and newborn calves get up and follow their mothers almost immediately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhzhNeU0Vl4

Blue wildebeest are a species of Least Concern for IUCN. Like other large herbivores, their habitat is threatened by the expansion of cropland and of grazing land for domestic cattle. Fencing interferes with their traditional migration routes. The largest populations are found in national parks and other reserves. They are vulnerable to many diseases, including those contracted from domestic cattle. Predators include large wild cats, wild dogs, hyenas, and Nile crocodiles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGNn9vOz-Vo

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JohnF's avatar

A wildebeest walks into a bar. The bartender looks at him and says, "well, this is gnu".

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M. Trosino's avatar

RE: I don't know why they changed the name...

Of course you do. Because somebody gnu better. This really shouldn't come as gnus to you because somebody somewhere always does...

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C C Writer's avatar

And this one is not a cat.

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CynthiaW's avatar

It's an antelope.

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C C Writer's avatar

I know. In my "game," it's a binary choice: cat or not cat. (Schrodinger may not approve, but he's playing a different game.)

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CynthiaW's avatar

I think the gnu is more like a cow than an antelope, but taxonomists disagree with me.

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C C Writer's avatar

Or you disagree with taxonomists.

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DougAz's avatar

During our Safari in 86-87, we saw maybe a half million or more wildebeest moving like☆☆---- "land plankton". My term for the river of animals we saw perched high above stretching for miles.

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CynthiaW's avatar

Good morning, everyone. Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a big deal for Mexicans and all Latin Americans in the U.S., although maybe not in their countries of origin, where they often have different national devotions.

We had prayers and a sing-along at our church starting at 5:30 a.m., and we'll be back for more festivities starting around 6:00 p.m.

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M. Trosino's avatar

Anyone who gets out of bed and is in church to pray at 5:30 in the morning should have their prayers answered as a matter of that being the default response to anyone with that much devotion.

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Phil H's avatar

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadaloupe!

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C C Writer's avatar

There's a shrine in a Chicago suburb, where this is also a really big deal. Concerns this week have been about temperatures in the teens. Morning headlines are "thousands brave cold."

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CynthiaW's avatar

We've done our procession in weather that cold.

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C C Writer's avatar

Anybody who lives around here knows how to bundle up, no matter if they're from somewhere else or were born here. There will probably be hot chocolate, too.

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CynthiaW's avatar

We'll have hot chocolate and atole.

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C C Writer's avatar

I'll look for news stories later on to see if atole is mentioned.

There are supposed to be horses in the procession. It's a tradition.

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CynthiaW's avatar

We don't have any horses planned. One year, we almost had a burro for Palm Sunday, but we chickened out over the possibility of droppings.

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DougAz's avatar

On a trip to Mexico City, my wife and experienced a beautiful religious expression. Hundreds of faithful Catholics were crawling up the steps to see the Lady of Guadeloupe painting inside.

Painted around 1531, it the most visited Catholic site in the world. Third most visited religious site.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe

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CynthiaW's avatar

I've only seen it on TV.

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Jay Janney's avatar

g'morning all

Very chilly outside--the doggos didn't mess around when it came time to do business. Although, since I feed them when they get in, that operant conditioning helps! On pleasant mornings we walk the neighborhood. On days like today, it is "hit 'n git", although adding an s might work as well.

Katie works today, but she is tired, so I'll get her a fountain drink this morning.

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BikerChick's avatar

I wasn't going to walk mine but I've decided a quick run in the golf course won't hurt them (or me.) The paws of Portuguese Water Dogs aren't super cold tolerant, especially in the lion cut where the fur is trimmed around their paws. So majestic. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/04/45/c8/0445c8494ee31edfb23e84f1c8ef887e.jpg

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Jay Janney's avatar

I wonder what being bred in captivity does to their hearing, over time. 🧐They need it to survive in the wild, but when the zoo provides daily meals, not so much. And I suspect zoos have more sounds than do deserts. Any risk of sensory overload? 🧐

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CynthiaW's avatar

Interesting question. I don't think they've been bred in captivity long enough for any genotypic change to occur.

Considering the experience of domestic cats and all the wild cats, it doesn't seem like sound is really an issue. Many wild cat species flourish in captivity. They don't quite have the husbandry of sand cats nailed down, but I'm sure progress has been made. Zookeepers are very serious about giving the animals the best care.

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JohnF's avatar

Domestic cats hear a great deal. They just don't listen to much.

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CynthiaW's avatar

Sort of like teenagers.

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M. Trosino's avatar

Exactly like teenagers.

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JohnF's avatar

Indeed. But there's always the chance that the teenagers will grow out of it.

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Citizen60's avatar

I used to say my kids' hearing was fine, but their listening was off.

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CynthiaW's avatar

Well said.

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C C Writer's avatar

One thing I have noticed over the years is that zookeepers have become serious about creating a habitat within the zoo that's so much like the animal's natural habitat that it may not even notice the difference. And that is considered part of the best care, because it supports the animal's natural behaviors. Back when I was a child, the concept of sticking an animal behind some bars was sort of still the norm. By the time I was a young adult, that was on its way out.

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BikerChick's avatar

I was convinced this was a parody but no, sand cats are real!

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Phil H's avatar

Two CSLF posts today? WOW. I’m assuming this is the “real” one.

Good morning. IN the teens here, with a chilly wind. Supposed to be cold all day. We had a little snow yesterday that isn’t going anywhere.

The mothership is covering the reaction to the murder of the United HEalthcare CEO and the apprehension of a suspect, which includes a lot of anger at, not the killer, but of the insurance industry.

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BikerChick's avatar

Who sets health care prices? Perhaps hospital CEOs should get bodyguards now. I’m so disgusted by those justifying the cold blooded murder of an innocent man.

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M. Trosino's avatar

I started out disgusted with the killing itself, then became even more disgusted by the reaction to it, with many of the people lionizing Mangione as some kind of hero no doubt having decried Kyle Rittenhouse as an evil monster.

To be clear, even as a lifelong gun owner and acknowledging the rights of private gunowners under the 2nd Amendment, I don't think Rittenhouse should have ever had that weapon in his hands out in public under those circumstances, and neither should have anyone else. But that's an entirely separate issue, and a court of law absolved him of any illegality for the death and injuries his poor decision making led to. And as much as I hate to say it, Rittenhouse at least had a plausible "justification in the moment" for his actions and is a saint by the moral relativist standards these idiots wish to apply to people they think have a lesser right NOT to be murdered in cold blood that they have themselves. They all make me sick.

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

Its been pretty disgusting.

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C C Writer's avatar

Grotesque, too.

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M. Trosino's avatar

Beyond disgusting. I've said so in a few comments sections in other places and have been roundly and rudely criticized for declaring that people who think this was somehow a righteous and justifiable act have a twisted sense of moral relativism and should consider the fact that Brian Thompson, regardless of the rightness or wrongness of his actions as CEO of UHC, had every bit as much right NOT to be murdered in cold blood as they do, though I spoke in general terms and did not direct that criticism at any other commenters by name, even though there were plenty of them. And the question I posed that really seemed to draw the most ire was if a health insurance executive is ok today, who knows who it will be tomorrow if this kind of thing is *normalized* to the extent that so much other egregious behavior has been in our society in the past decade? Hoo boy!

But I think a couple of folks may have been, um, surprised at the response they got from normally nominally milquetoast me in return, because while I'll never drop to the level of personal insult and ugliness that many of them were willing to descend to as I refuted their vitriolic criticism, neither will I show any respect to anyone who merely has a political or moral (or in this case, immoral) axe to grind and wants to use me and my opinion simply as a whet stone. The "exchanges" didn't go very far after my replies refuting their illogical and emotionally laden positions point by factual point were posted.

The other thing that seemed to get to them was my assertion that our society is now infected with an illness that no amount of health insurance, even completely free of limits or restrictions, will treat, because the problem cannot be cured by money and money alone. Hoo boy oh boy!

You'll have to excuse me now. I have to go sharpen my horns and tail so they'll be ready to perpetrate more evil notions tomorrow.

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

Never read the comments section. Except for this one, of course.

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M. Trosino's avatar

Yeah. Twisted senses of humor here are much better company that twisted senses of morality and ethics elsewhere.

Speaking of... I met a guy today who'd probably fit right in here pretty easily. Had to go for an EEG this afternoon. Much to my surprise there were not one but two techs to administer the test. When it was done, one of them - a fellow probably in his early 60s - was detaching all the leads from my noggin while the other one - a woman of about the same age - fooled around on a computer. Me being me, and since a fair amount of time had transpired without me being allowed to say a word (oh, the horror!), I asked...

"Well, did y'all find any signs of life in there?"

"That depends," the fellow unhooking me said without missing a beat.

"*Intelligent* life?"

I couldn't see him since he was behind me. But when I looked over at the woman who was in view she looked away and it was obvious she was trying hard to stifle a laugh.

"I know," I said. "I deserved that."

At which point she cut loose, and we all had a good laugh.

I probably shouldn't let that particular cat out of the bag elsewhere or someone might put a contract out on the three of us for not taking health care seriously enough.

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

So? what was the answer to the question...

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BikerChick's avatar

I woke up to a lovely pink/orange sunrise and 0 degrees. We had a dusting of snow yesterday that was gone by early afternoon. The streets are covered with the remnants of all the salt they dumped.I saw an article in the paper where the city crews attended a meeting hosted by “Saltwise” to educate them on how to minimize salt use. Old habits must be hard to break.

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

Actually the CW Headline post was a look behind the scenes at the mayhem and frolic that goes into putting out CSLF every day. Seemingly blank, it is actually available only to CSLF+ subscribers. See site for details!

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Kurt's avatar

Not affiliated with the People's Front for LIberating Comments Sections.

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

The journey begins with 1,000 words...

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

The sand cat in the Cincinnati zoo video looks like it’s wearing an athletic letter sweater with stripes on its sleeves.

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Kurt's avatar

A Kitty! They don't look like the kind of kitty where I'd take a nap with them in the room.

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CynthiaW's avatar

You're probably too big to interest them.

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Kurt's avatar

I got attacked, and I mean very seriously attacked by a house cat on a job. I had to smash the thing with my flashlight several times because it just kept coming back at me. It was going up my body trying to get at my face. One of the crazier experiences. I'm paranoid around cats ever since.

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CynthiaW's avatar

Housecat violence is rare.

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

Do you also fear CAT Scans?

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Phil H's avatar

Misfire.

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

But no door so…

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JohnF's avatar

Only ones without purr-fect results.

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Phil H's avatar

🚪

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Kurt's avatar

I was frightened by.a CAT scan as a very young boy. I never got over it. Just the idea of it gives me the shakkeedkakdnk xiong cckl’fn’wkv。。

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

And I say, “ Covfefe. “

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