The world’s largest amphibian—the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus, pictured)—should be split into at least five species, all of which are critically endangered in the wild, according to a new study. What’s more, say the authors, current conservation practices could be causing these genetically distinct species to crossbreed with one another, effectively fusing them into a single species.
The salamanders, which can grow up to 2 meters in length, were once common in rivers across southeastern China. But today, most are found in commercial farms, which breed the giant amphibians to satisfy growing demand from the luxury food market. In an effort to augment wild populations, the Chinese government encourages the release of farm-raised individuals. But it’s not…
I practically lived off of coffee for several years, I still drink “too much” of it, and when I made cold-brew I gave myself the shakes from the caffeine. Twice, the second time being when I was taking pains to remember it is strong…..
My dad is very fond of telling us about one of his professors who kept a cold coffee extract apparatus in a hood in his lab. It was some sort of glassware circulation system hooked up to a pump and every x period of time he would load up a pound of coffee and circulate a fairly large quantity of water through it for 24 hours. And at his 8am classes he had coffee for his students. 10ml of cold coffee extract concentrate to 90ml of hot water.
This would never, ever fly these days, but my dad remembers and rhapsodizes over this coffee almost fifty years later.
I iced coffee, but it’s never been a convenient thing to make myself. Hot brew goes stale quickly. Cold brew could be stored longer but was messy and inconvenient to make.
I cannot remember when I first found Bob Munden. But I do remember being astounded that there was anyone who could shoot that fast these days using the weapons of the Old West. I thought it was a lost art which only a few people practiced in their own backyards. Watching Bob Munden perform via youtube cured me of that misconception very quickly.
Mr. Munden died some time ago, but we still have these videos to remember him by, for which I am thankful. I only wish I could have seen him shoot in person instead of through the internet.
Steve Rogers: Attention all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, this is Steve Rogers. You’ve heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down.
But I think it’s time to tell the truth. S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It’s been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The S.T.R.I.K.E. and Insight crew are HYDRA as well.
I don’t know how many more, but I know they’re in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control.
They shot Nick Fury. And it won’t end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them.
I know I’m asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it’s a price I’m willing to pay. And if I’m the only one, then so be it. But I’m willing to bet I’m not.
I had to look it up, commented on the zing in it to my husband, then read the next one– needs to be on various, ah, boundary enforcement mechanisms. Like our home defense shotgun.
The wicked crave evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them.
Not sure if it would fit best in fantasy or scifi, though; I favor fantasy, but….
No analogy is perfect, but ponder a reverse situation involving only two issues new pro-lifers and/or whole-lifers might deal with; immigration and abortion …Suppose abortion was never made legal in the U.S., but those women who would have had an abortion deported their newborns to orphanages in other countries instead; and this type of deportation was perfectly legal. I’m talking about deporting these babies to poor 3rd world countries that didn’t really want them either, but the babies will be alive and cared for to an extent, but their future well-being would be uncertain.
At the same time suppose immigration to the U.S. was always unlimited (open borders), but around 1973 all immigrants were declared non-persons by SCOTUS with no protection under the law. This meant that if legal immigrants happened to be on or cross over your property, you could kill them as a personal choice; a choice between you and your local law enforcement officials.
Now imagine these legal baby deportations totaled about 250,000/year in recent years and these legal immigrant murders were about 750,000/year. I’m sorry, but the 750k immigrant slaughter would be what cries to heaven for vengeance.
Unofficial translation, due to both folks having interest in the topic and the sheer amount of smoke-blowing the subject brings up.
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I was notably interested in #III, since I had a problem with it in school. (My sense of modesty did not play well with “normal” clothes; don’t get me started on swimsuits vs supportive underthings, a shirt and shorts.)
A lot is said about supposed Vatican or papal documents on feminine modesty in dress. But the Internet is not exactly great on providing exact information. So here I present a literal (but unofficial) translation of an actual Vatican document.
(The bad news is that the OCR is terrible, and the book is not in public domain in the US. I will try to find an original volume or some microfilm, if I can remember to do it.)
You can find the Latin document in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Vol. 22 (1930), on pages 26-28.
