Posts

Legs Akimbo

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Accidental Irony and the Serependipity of Search Engines I Google-Imaged "legs akimbo" while writing on my latest attempt at  novelizing to see if I was using the term correctly.  Many pages down, I came on this: Got that? Side-by-side thumbnails, neither having anything I can see to do with "legs akimbo" nor each other, just an algorithmic placement. Perhaps a secret message for apostates? It gave me pause.  Then, unrelated and just below... ... this reassured and comforted me, but what really got me back into my superficial philosophical attitude was just to the right of "Church": Those legs are definitely akimbo! So thanks, Google Images. I am using the term correctly,                                                       and who knows, I hear Church calling. Scooter

Drone Evolution

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Best-So-Far (that I'm aware of) "Tailsitter" drone that TRANSITIONS to Fixed Wing [Never mind that, this is just a fun short video .] Bell couldn't afford a quad-copter (Just kidding; this was shot from the only angle that blocks the fourth wing and motor.) Look for one these babies to be delivering ammo to troops in a fight or pharmaceuticals to the beleaguered sick. Then maybe Amazon packages or FedEx'd goodies.  These high speed transitioning drones seem to define a field where small startups could make some noise.   Just watch this baby zoom. Click HERE, where it says HERE

Purloined Post Card From the Heartland

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Hack by Russians from the  printerfile of the O family in  western Pennsylvania. Released  into the social mediaverse for  unknown motivations: From All The O s to all of YO s ! Dear  Cousin, (forgive the mimeograph) Merry Christmas from the heartland and the O home!!. Christmas (say “ Merry Christmas ” three times!) makes us remember how happy we are that America is on the road to greatness again, like back when families cared for one another (OK, slavery, but…) as Roy Moore reminded us. And a tax break is coming!! (Our accountant says not for us - but he’s Democrat liar.) All the jobs are coming back to our local iron foundry, a little fairy told me on the Internet.  O Jr., our college grad (the one living in the basement) is looking forward to some good paying work worth his time. Thank you President Trump!!  Our heating bills have been running a little high, so we’re switching back to coal even though our nasty neighbor says it will “dirty up” her laundry on

Much Better Bee News!

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... But Only in Europe So far... but knowing the lobby power of Monsanto and Bayer, probably not here. * Thanks, E.U. Damian Carrington @dpcarrington Thursday 23 March 2017  12.20 EDT Last modified on Monday 27 November 2017  22.15 EST View more sharing options   This article is  9 months old Shares 106,419 Comments 1,095 The world’s most widely used insecticides would be banned from all fields across Europe under draft regulations from the  European commission , seen by the Guardian. The documents are the first indication that the powerful commission wants a complete ban and cite “high acute risks to bees”. A ban could be in place this year if the proposals are approved by a majority of EU member states. Might the U.S. come to this decision?  I'm thinking not with Pruitt at EPA and Trump at the White House. Can you imagine how many illegal immigrants it would take to pollinate our crops with feathers? Or perhaps the Trumpst

Bee-pocalypse; Butterfly-bash

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Monsanto and Bayer Are MERGING? Two Giant Chemical Companies. Should You Give a Hoot? Only If You Think Food Is Important The Bees! The Bees!   A "worker" for you and me. Deceased prematurely. Bees are dying at alarming rates. Monarch butterflies are declining. And a recent study found that 80 percent of the insects in Germany have disappeared over the past three decades. Scientists say this indicates we are in the midst of an “Insect Apocalypse.” One of the key culprits is the massive increase in the use of pesticides. I'm feeling really sick These pesticides (neonicotinoids) are harming our health and our food system. But they’re generating millions in profits for Bayer and Monsanto. This merger is one way the companies are trying to shore up their control and double down on toxic, industrial-scale, chemical-intensive agriculture. Stop the merger!  I mean do what you can. For instance,  Home Depot to phase out bee-killing pesticides***

MicroBiome ++

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Giganto, Humongous Science News (My gut told me so) _I'm so excited, I made more predictions! _ Discoveries are pouring from the microbiology field all over the world.  As the stunning truth comes through about the MICROBIOME, we are seeing that all those trillions of microbes in each and every one of us is an ACTIVE, IMPORTANT PART of us. You would be a total mess without your "co-commensals," all those teeny lifeforms that seriously outnumber your cells . I've been pounding the drumlog about these breakthroughs for quite a while. So the LATEST NEWS if about how microphages - those viruses who invade bacteria - are part of the massive mob of microbes within us, and how important they apparently are to our health. The November 27 edition of Science Magazine tells the story. Read it here . I'm a phage. You're a phage. More than we know Then !! right next to that article is one about all the archaea in our guts. These are (probably

How to "Fix" America

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Not That There's Much Wrong... Frankly I'm worried, not my usual state of mind So I look to wise men* for ideas, both on what ails the magnificent USA, and particularly what we might do to improve things. Balthasar: So, Melchior, supernova or celestial sign? And where the heck is Gaspar? DEFINE THE PROBLEMS AND SUGGEST SOME SOLUTIONS, WISEGUYS. I happen to think Noam Chomsky is one of the wisest men on Earth. Robert Pollin is an economics professor at the U. of Mass, and I am becoming impressed by his wisdom. So two wise men. Chomsky and Pollin, modern wise men I've never read a better define/suggest piece than this one . It gives me clarity and even some hope. Take some time when you are in your clearest state of mind and read it.  Definition of the Problems (A few headlines) CHOMSKY:  The right is ascendant, in fact some of its harshest and most destructive elements are rising. It's the one with sinister features, sometimes s