Nick Kamp and Craig Rambo were making their rounds at a Paso Robles wastewater treatment plant a few weeks ago when they spotted something definitely out of the ordinary: a wild capybara. The world’s largest rodent is native to South America and usually isn’t found in the United States except in zoos. (Nick Kamp) |
Wednesday Reads: Earthquakes, PETA Porn and Rodents of Unusual Size?
Posted: August 24, 2011 Filed under: 2012 presidential campaign, Barack Obama, Feminists, GLBT Rights, Hillary Clinton, jobs, Main Stream Media, morning reads, Republican presidential politics, U.S. Politics, Women's Rights | Tags: capybara, PETA, Virginia Earthquake 42 Comments
I should add uninvited Gay GOP Candidates to the title as well!
Wednesday is upon us yet again, and I have some juicy bits for you today.
First let’s get the “shake your groove thing” out of the way…
Geologist are asking for your help…Did you feel the earthquake that hit the East Coast yesterday? I know we had many readers who did. Help Geologists Track The August 23rd Earthquake: Scientific American Podcast
If you were in any of the affected areas—from Georgia to Toronto and west to Ohio—go to the website of the United States Geological Survey, the USGS. Go to their earthquake page, earthquake.usgs.gov. There you’ll see an item called Did You Feel It?, where you can share your location and your estimate of the strength of the shaking. If like me you didn’t feel anything, enter that too—it’s all valuable.
Your info will help create a Community Internet Intensity Map that can provide important data about the scope of the quake and contribute to ongoing earthquake research. That’s earthquake.usgs.gov
This is a an interesting statistic: Hillary Clinton: Secretary of Quake? – Political Punch
Since she became America’s top diplomat in early 2009, Secretary Clinton has been on the ground for no fewer than five earthquakes in foreign countries. Last year the Associated Press first chronicled Clinton’s seemingly unlucky habit and deemed her the “Secretary of Quake.”
On her first trip abroad in February 2009 Clinton was shaken awake by an earthquake in Japan. Later that year in June she experienced another while traveling in Honduras with President Obama. In October 2009 there was yet another while she was traveling in Pakistan.
Clinton was on the ground in Papua New Guinea for just a day in November 2010, but that was long enough for a 6.0 magnitude earthquake to strike the island nation, though reporters on the trip say she didn’t feel it. Just days later Clinton was in Christchurch, New Zealand when the city was rocked by a big aftershock from a mammoth earthquake that struck just months earlier.
Clinton had a visit planned to Santiago, Chile when a massive earthquake struck just days in advance. She cut the visit short, staying only a few hours at the airport.
So does today’s 5.9 magnitude earthquake count? The epicenter was in northern Virginia, just 87 miles from her office in Washington, but Clinton is on vacation in New York this week. There are reports, however, that the tremor was felt all the way in Boston so it’s likely Secretary Clinton felt her sixth earthquake in under three years.
Yes, the earth trembles in the shadow of Secretary Clinton…just imagine what the woman could have done with the 112th Congress!
Next we tackle the Gay GOPer who didn’t get asked to the dance, the California GOP Convention dance that is. Gay candidate can’t get seat at GOP convention
Fred Karger, a longtime political advisor, knows he has no chance of becoming the Republicans’ presidential nominee in 2012, but his goal is to let other homosexuals know it’s OK to be gay and aim high in life. (Bret Hartman/Los Angeles Times/MCT)
Fred Karger, the only Californian – and the only gay candidate – in the 2012 Republican presidential field, says he knows plenty about closed doors. But shut out by his own party – and in his own state?
Even as Republican leaders say they’re eagerly wooing all candidates to the state GOP convention Sept. 16-18 in Los Angeles, Karger says his request to attend and address the party activists has apparently been refused.
“I have been waiting for my invitation and it never came,” Karger, 61, a 38-year resident of Laguna Beach, told The Chronicle last week. “And I called up a couple of weeks ago and explained my position.”
That’s when a party official, Karger said, left a “terse” message: “The schedule is completely filled.”
The man did not even get invited to his own state’s convention…I wonder if they were worried that if they had a “queer” at the event, Bachmann would be too afraid to show up? She is going to be there, in fact she is the keynote speaker.
In other 2012 news, this turd is floating around over at the New York Times: Why Another Democrat Wouldn’t Do Better Than Obama in 2012 – NYTimes.com
You know that a president is having a rough time when you start to see speculation that his party would be better off if it replaced him on the ticket.
There has been more of this recently: the political scientist Matthew Dickinson argued that Democrats would improve their chances if Hillary Clinton defeated Barack Obama in a primary challenge. The astute Ed Morrissey of the blog Hot Air wondered if Democrats might benefit if Mr. Obama simply declined to run for a second term.
Silver believes that Obama is still popular with the people, even if his policy is not…hack…hack. (Sorry, I choked on my own saliva there…)
Mr. Obama’s approval ratings have slipped now — but so has the national mood, with recent polls suggesting that only about 17 percent of Americans think the country is on the right track. (The number was closer to 30 percent two months ago.) Mr. Obama’s approval ratings, at 40 percent, may not win him re-election — but seem tolerable by comparison.
To be sure, an argument can be made that Mr. Obama himself bears some responsibility for the pessimistic national mood — particularly in recent weeks, as the latest decline in confidence seems to have as much to do with political as economic factors. If nothing else, Mr. Obama has failed so far to persuade voters that America’s best days are ahead of it.
Then again, approval numbers are down for essentially all incumbent politicians. Quite a few Americans have been tolerant of Mr. Obama’s performance despite their concerns about where the country is headed.
Geez, if so many American’s are tolerant of Obama and seem content to keep him in office, then I want to see him out in the real world talking to the people, not doing some photo-op bus tour of towns that are doing fine in this troubled economy.
Relatively few voters blame Mr. Obama personally for the performance of the economy — they’re simply sick and tired of the poor numbers all the same. Another Democratic candidate would not magically turn 9.2 percent unemployment into 5.2 percent unemployment.
Nor is it likely that another Democrat would advocate policy positions that differed substantially from Mr. Obama’s, which are very close to those of the typical Democrat in Congress.
I can’t quote from this post anymore, you can read it all if you like, but damn…am I just overreaching here?
On to something that I sure as hell know I am not getting wrong, so animal rights trump women’s rights: PETA to launch porn website: Is this still about animal rights? – The Globe and Mail
If there’s one way to get people to adopt a vegan lifestyle, it’s by watching women have sex with veggies , right?
PETA seems to think so.
The animal rights group, known for its naturalist ways, has registered the domain name peta.xxx and plans to launch a pornography website in December that “draws attention to the plight of animals,” according to a report by Reuters.
Exactly how much pornographic material will be featured on the site has not been disclosed yet, but there are reports that beyond scantily clad women fellating phallic vegetables, the site will also offer graphic material of another kind: images of animal cruelty “uncovered by the group’s hidden camera investigations.”
Oh yeah, there is nothing better than a woman enjoying extra-large cucumbers…while lying next to a starving puppy.
Feminists in particular tend to be up in arms about most of PETA’s work, especially their most recent X-rated adventure. They point out that these animal-rights activists seem to see no harm in sacrificing women’s rights in efforts to push their agenda. Which is not to say that the critics are either anti-animals or anti-sex, but their particular concerns stem from the fact that PETA pushes a very misogynistic version of what sexy is.
“They’re the ones drawing disturbing analogies between pornography, misogyny and animal cruelty,” wrote Lindsay Beyerstein on the blog Big Think.
Ms. Beyerstein points out that with this website, PETA is dropping the pretense that they are simply using sex to draw attention to their cause. Which seems like a convincing argument, especially when the advocacy group uses nudity so frivolously, usually pairing it with displays that dehumanize women.
So lets continue the animal theme, with this next link from the NYT, How Many Species on Earth? It’s Tricky – NYTimes.com
Each year, researchers report more than 15,000 new species, and their workload shows no sign of letting up. “Ask any taxonomist in a museum, and they’ll tell you they have hundreds of species waiting to be described,” says Camilo Mora, a marine ecologist at the University of Hawaii.
Scientists have named and cataloged 1.3 million species. How many more species there are left to discover is a question that has hovered like a cloud over the heads of taxonomists for two centuries.
“It’s astounding that we don’t know the most basic thing about life,” said Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.
On Tuesday, Dr. Worm, Dr. Mora and their colleagues presented the latest estimate of how many species there are, based on a new method they have developed. They estimate there are 8.7 million species on the planet, plus or minus 1.3 million.
Oof, that is a lot of animals that PETA can get it on with…eek, that was a very loaded statement.
Perhaps this next animal will get the everyone in the mood…to see the movie The Princess Bride: A gnawing question answered: It’s a capybara roaming Paso Robles – latimes.com
Yes, rodents of unusual size are roaming the wastewater treatment plant in Paso Robles, CA.
A wastewater treatment plant worker’s photos of a ‘weird-looking’ creature go viral on the Internet. Wardens used the pictures to confirm that the animal was an adult capybara, the world’s largest rodent.
The creature eventually swam toward the Salinas River and disappeared from sight, but not before worker Nick Kamp had taken a few photos. He and a co-worker called the California Department of Fish and Game to report what they had seen. Responding wardens used the pictures to confirm that the animal was in fact a capybara — an adult they believe weighs 100 to 120 pounds.
120 pound rodent? Damn…
It turns out the capybara, which is native to South America, is pretty happy at the sewage treatment plant.
“He seemed pretty content,” Kamp said of the creature. “He was pretty happy in there.”
The semiaquatic capybara is the world’s largest rodent and prefers swampy, marshy habitats. It’s illegal to own a capybara as a pet in California, so authorities believe the animal either was released by or escaped from an owner a few years ago and has been roaming Paso Robles ever since.
The article mentions a few other sightings of capybara in California, but there are some states where the capybara population is growing.
No other capybara sightings have been reported in California, Hughan said. The rodents have been spotted in other states over the years. In Florida, sightings are common; some experts believe a wild capybara population exists after a few rodents escaped from a research facility in 2001.
Wardens are prepared to set traps for the Paso Robles capybara, but because the animal appears healthy and isn’t harming the area, the department’s policy is to allow it to remain wild, Hughan said. That could change, he warned, if hunters and trappers go after the animal.
“You can’t hunt that thing,” Hughan said. “If we see people out there with nets and traps trying to catch it, we may take a more aggressive stance for the protection of the animal.”
Wait a minute…rodents escaping from a research facility in Florida?
Are these “mutant rodents?”
Yes, you want to protect those ROUSes…cause ya know they are harmless.
Okay, so what are you reading about today? Any rats up to no good in your neck of the woods?
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
grayslady
mablue2
JJ Lopez aka Minkoff Minx
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Nate Sliver is an idiot.
Shorter Nate: “I still love Obama, so everyone else must too. Pay no attention to those silly numbers on the page.”
Perfect.
Exactly why I wrote hack…hack and not cough…cough. Idiot is right!
Nate Silver is a certified Obama fellator.
he sucks :lol 😆
From my Findlaw daily news:
Administration moves plan to ax hundreds of regs
VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. (AP) – The White House is revealing plans to save businesses $10 billion by scrapping hundreds of government regulations found to be outdated, unfair or unnecessary.
Administration officials say the savings will be realized over a five-year period. The plan was described Tuesday by Cass Sunstein, administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, in a column in the Wall Street Journal in advance of a formal announcement as President Barack Obama vacations at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
After last year’s election setback, Obama launched a concerted outreach to the business community, vowing to scrutinize federal regulations that companies consider to be an excessive burden. He at the time his goal was to scrap “dumb” rules without weakening ones that are needed to protect consumers and the environment.
2011-08-23 12:27:30 GMT
Well, alrighty – wonder if that is the plan to get more jobs – of course these businesses will plow the billions saved back into the business, hire more people……………. scrapping “dumb” rules has been such a great benefit to the banks, er, the consumers….wink, wink. The administration came up this after last year’s election setback. Always thinking of the consumers – keeping them protected and the environment. This administration never strays off course from servicing their constituents – the puppet masters.
‘scrapping hundreds of government regulations’ – that sounds so rethug – a CEO’s wet dream.
The White House is revealing plans to save businesses $10 billion by scrapping hundreds of government regulations found to be outdated, unfair or unnecessary.
When just ignoring the regulations is not enough . Indeed . Perhaps this is part of the Obie job plan we heard about? Sounds like a Repug job plan….if business have less regulations, they will be free to hire more people! ( wink) A variation on the “less taxes means more jobs!” Repug job plan. Just when you think Obama cannot get more Repug, he does. He’s Hyber Repug
Well, maybe Obama can ask his best buddy why GE is doing this:
GE Healthcare cutting 81 jobs – JSOnline
They might even do that if consumers had any money to spend on their products!
This is just ridiculous. I can’t stand Obama, and his “policies.”
Why is the USGS cutting off earthquake reports at Ohio? It was felt here in Muncie. A tall building at Ball State U. shook and swayed. It was felt in 22 states according to the seismic experts at IU. I heard it was felt in Illinois also–and even Minnesota and Michigan!
Now it’s my turn to say….Wow!
Yeah, that is amazing it was felt so far away.
BB, the quake was felt in tall buildings on the IU campus, and at IUPUI in Indy, as well. I read they felt it in South Bend, too. I guess we don’t matter!
No, we’re just flyover people….
Check it out: Strong East Coast Earthquake Highly Unusual, Scientist Says | FoxNews.com
was wondering if you felt it B.B.
Minx – Extra points for working “The Princess Bride” into your morning post. Best. movie. EVER! 🙂
Thanks madamab, I had fun writing this post last night…
A 120 pound rodent?? Are my 4 cats enough??
Obama administration moves to quash state investigations of Wall Street banks
http://tinyurl.com/3ugwrz5
The New York Times reported Monday that Shaun Donovan, the US secretary of housing and urban development, together with high-ranking Justice Department personnel, has been “waging an intensifying campaign” to persuade Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, to drop his opposition to a settlement of the home foreclosure charges.
Under the proposed settlement, major banks including JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of America, would pay a combined total of $20 billion, which would supposedly go toward home loan modifications and homeowner counseling.
In return, bank executives would be shielded from possible civil suits or criminal prosecutions arising from state probes into their role in fueling the sub-prime mortgage bubble, whose collapse triggered the financial meltdown of September 2008.
…
the chump change figure of 20 Billion seems to be the going rate …for a Gulf and historic crimes
He is protecting his base, the Wall Street Greedos who have their hands out for another Bail Out!
Especially since they can just pay those fines with Taxpayer money. What a scam!
“if they had a queer at the event…” You mean Bachmann’s husband didn’t attend the debate?
Ha, well…let me rephrase that…closet queens don’t count.
Ever have one of those mornings, where you really try to get up out of bed, and your body just does not want to cooperate? Must be because I was up late last night watching Casablanca.
Anyway, I wanted to update you on Irene. She is a cat 3 now…
Hurricane IRENE Forecast/Advisory
BULLETIN
HURRICANE IRENE INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 16A
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092011
800 AM EDT WED AUG 24 2011
…IRENE BECOMES A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE….EYE HEADED FOR THE
CROOKED AND ACKLINS ISLANDS…
SUMMARY OF 800 AM EDT…1200 UTC…INFORMATION
———————————————-
LOCATION…21.9N 73.3W
ABOUT 55 MI…85 KM SE OF ACKLINS ISLAND BAHAMAS
ABOUT 335 MI…540 KM SE OF NASSAU
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…115 MPH…185 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT…WNW OR 300 DEGREES AT 9 MPH…15 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…957 MB…28.26 INCHES
I will post an update after the 11 o’clock advisory comes in.
Here is the 11 am advisory from NOAA:
BULLETIN
HURRICANE IRENE ADVISORY NUMBER 17
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092011
1100 AM EDT WED AUG 24 2011
…IRENE TURNS NORTHWESTWARD…EYE MOVING OVER CROOKED AND ACKLINS
ISLANDS…
SUMMARY OF 1100 AM EDT…1500 UTC…INFORMATION
———————————————–
LOCATION…22.4N 73.9W
ABOUT 100 MI…160 KM SE OF LONG ISLAND BAHAMAS
ABOUT 285 MI…460 KM SE OF NASSAU
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…115 MPH…185 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT…NW OR 305 DEGREES AT 12 MPH…19 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…956 MB…28.23 INCHES
WATCHES AND WARNINGS
——————–
CHANGES IN WATCHES AND WARNINGS WITH THIS ADVISORY…
NONE
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT…
A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR…
* THE SOUTHEASTERN…CENTRAL…AND NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR…
* THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
INTERESTS IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND THE MID-ATLANTIC STATES
SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF IRENE.
FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA…PLEASE MONITOR
PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE.
DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK
——————————
AT 1100 AM EDT…1500 UTC…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IRENE WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 22.4 NORTH…LONGITUDE 73.9 WEST. IRENE IS
MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH…19 KM/H…AND THIS
GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT. A TURN
TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST AND THEN NORTH ARE EXPECTED THURSDAY
AND THURSDAY NIGHT. ON THE FORECAST TRACK…THE CORE OF IRENE
WILL MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS THROUGH
TONIGHT AND OVER THE NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS ON THURSDAY.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 115 MPH…185 KM/H…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. IRENE IS A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
HURRICANE WIND SCALE. SOME ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST
DURING THE DAY OR SO AND IRENE COULD BECOME A CATEGORY FOUR
HURRICANE BY THURSDAY.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 50 MILES…85 KM…FROM
THE CENTER…AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 205
MILES…335 KM.
THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY RECONNAISSANCE
AIRCRAFT WAS 956 MB…28.23 INCHES.
And this from CNN, U.S. braces for ‘huge’ Hurricane Irene – CNN.com
I looked out of my hotel window in Brazil one morning and saw a capybara swimming in the pool. I put away my swim suit.
I remember once seeing an unusually large sized rodent. Then fortunately we split up.
lol
Ha, that is funny…
Hey Miss Ayn I saw your post on the KBR rape case:
WTF of the Day | Man Are We Screwed
Damn, just like that cheerleader in Texas, who was made to pay for court cost when she was forced to cheer for her rapist.
Wasn’t this KBR case tried in Texas too?
Yes, Mink. Was tried in Houston
😆
PETA and Ingrid Newkirk are insane. They are not about animal welfare at all – the kill rates in their “shelters” is in the 90% range. They do not believe that dogs and cats should be companion animals and Ingrid herself said that “euthanasia” is preferable to trying to adopt out healthy animals. Here are a few quotes from her:
Forgot to add this quote – her words and actions certainly do not match.
That is insane indeed, my worker (he was staff, he was on file as staff too) dog/companion/best pal was so dear, so smart and touched so many lives. He was one of a few that had multiple charges (people to assist) and then me (buddies). His quality of life was great, he was so well trained, he served so well, that upon his death this year the hospital donated to the top Uni in his memory.
We had a crisis (gas explosion next door), he stood with his charge, seeing the others leave and then we evacuated the blind individual to safety. I was trying to put out the flames with a neighbor so our place wouldn’t go up in flames, when I realized he was by my side…then I said we should pull back…he wouldn’t leave me, and brought sense back to me. Some times we get stupid in emergencies and he was there, trying to get me and the neighbor to safety. He was the smarter one in that situation…he died early this year and I haven’t or can’t get the will to train another one, as I am still heart broken even though he was almost sixteen years old, I still had hope of him living longer.
PETA doesn’t understand the bond between people and their beloved dogs/companions.
What a beautiful story, WV – and I’m so sorry for the passing of your companion. It is hard to lose a loved one.
Delphyne,
Yes, it is hard, but he was a wonderful companion and he is with us still in all the memories; a life lived well, loved many and was loved.
I went to US Geo site and couldn’t figure out how to enter whether I’d felt the tremors (i didn’t, here in suboonia, northern NJ).
Has anyone made an entry?
I’ve reported in the past when I lived in California, but I, too, had the same problem in finding the page to report from Union County, NJ. The site might be just overloaded.
Thank you card that came in the email for birthday for those who sent him birthday wishes!!!
That is really nice.