Archive - 2012

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Waddle we look like when we grow up, Mum? Hilda the hen hatches clutch of ducklings after sitting on wrong nest
They may not look like their mum - or sound like her - but that doesn't seem to bother these fluffy little birds. Hilda the hen nested over the five eggs for a month, apparently unaware that they had been laid by a duck. Farm owner Philip Palmer was also none the wiser as Hilda barely left the duck eggs alone until they hatched after 28 days. And even when tiny Indian runner ducklings emerged instead of fluffy yellow chicks, Hilda wasn't put off and adopted the babies as her own.

Phillip, 45, who runs the Farmer Palmer's children's activity farm near Poole, Dorset, said: 'Hilda doesn't seem bothered at all - the ducklings follow her around just as chicks would. 'It was so surprising but lovely and she has proved to be very capable at raising them. The ducklings aren't aware that their mother is a hen and Hilda is totally unaware that she's actually got a bunch of ducks waddling behind her.

'The ducklings don't leave her side and if they get scared they run for cover under their "mum". It is very sweet to see. The only way they will really notice the difference is when the ducks start swimming in the pond.'

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Photos courtesy of BNPS.co.uk / Mail Online

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Extreme Weather USA: 2012 Kicks Off With Record Heat, Tornadoes & Drought
Yesterday, a dozen tornadoes ripped through Dallas, spurring panic in a highly populated, 6 million-strong metropolitan area. The footage captured by news helicopters was dramatic—semi trucks and trees were hurled into the air like newspapers tossed from a malevolent paperboy.

But the fleet of Texan tornadoes only marks the latest in a year that has already been packed with extreme weather—we've had record-hot winter months, unusually early tornadoes in the midwest, and states wracked with drought. Here's a closer look.

Tornadoes

There was nothing tremendously out of the ordinary about the tornadoes that hit Dallas, but climatologists were concerned about the spate of twisters that swept through Kentucky, Indiana, and three other states in early March. Those tornadoes killed 39 people and exacted untold property damage to homes and buildings across the region.

And tornado season doesn't usually begin until April, leading climate scientists to link the warmer weather to earlier (and potentially longer) seasons. Here's Joe Romm:  read more »

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax --
Of cabbages -- and kings --
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need;
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now, if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."

~ Lewis Carroll

from "Poem in Art and Story" Collection 1

Nature has nature’s law. We humans are just part of Nature. Forests, rather than dead land without trees, supply priceless necessities (shelter, food, oxygen, balanced weather, etc...) for humans... A good example - life in all forms is easily sustained in forests. Wildfires, if not caused by human error, are Nature’s call, and trees will come out the following spring. Sensitive birds (remember they have wings) know full well to fly away from harmful situations, particularly at the onset of smoke when the fire starts... yet unfortunately they can hardly survive without the environment for them to survive – forests... and sadly their speed is no faster than a hunter’s bullet. When mankind appreciates and takes care of Nature, Nature takes care of mankind. Philosophy and science are mostly stemmed from observing nature, and discovering nature’s laws, which make us wiser. As Einstein once said, “look into nature, and you will understand everything better”.

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Question from apolitical minds who have no clue but simply follow instinct: Does Dr. Ron Paul sound like George Washington leading peasants across the Delaware River fighting the Battle of Trenton? Jefferson (together with other Founding Fathers Adams, Franklin...) writing the US Constitution? Churchill stubbornly holding the floor without audience (deserted by his British Parliament peers), insisting on warning about looming WWII? Or Ronald Reagan (who once said, veteran and physician doctor "Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country!")?

*UPDATE March 19, 2012*
Wikipedia: "Greece public debt-to-GDP ratio: 159.1% of nominal GDP"; "US public debt-to-GDP ratio: 115% since Feb/2012”
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
"US Outstanding Public Debt as of 19 Mar 2012 is: $15,580,446,972,442
The estimated population of US is 312,429,020
Each citizen's share of this debt is $49,868.76.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $4.02 billion per day since Sept. 28, 2007!"


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Washington Times - The week before US Thanksgiving 2011, President Obama quietly signed into law a spending bill that restores the American horse-slaughter industry
President Obama last month quietly signed into law a spending bill that restores the American horse-slaughter industry.

The ban on horse slaughtering had been imposed in 2006 when Congress defunded the government’s ability to inspect plants that butchered horses for consumption. Without inspections, the meat couldn’t be sold, and the industry withered.  read more »