Humming Birds Beware

Tuesday's NYT Science section featured the Praying Mantis which is an ancient relative of the cockroach and given its name from its kneeling appearance. But it has a violent side and goes after humming birds at their feeders and such encounters have been seen on You Tube. Apparently, it has been doing more "preying" than "praying". Survival of the fittest!
tjs

Knit One, Purl Two.

In an effort to find some non-political news I located the following in the NYT 9/23/17:
Staten Island, N.Y., usually known as the forgotten borough is under going a campaign of performing vasectomies on male deer to reduce the population and the resulting effect on highway collisions. A bit of slicing, stitching and stapling with a tag on his ear and the buck is awakened and sent groggily stumbling into the bushes - and as the good book says "to sin no more." Mating season peaks in November so hopefully you may see fewer highway incidents as you drive to grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. (All the news that's fit to print.)
tjs
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/nyregion/deer-vasectomies-staten-island.html?_r=0

IRMA Aftermath

I have often blogged about adventures in the West Indies on the Schooner TIKI. Captain Ted always said "You have to visit Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke'"
My recollection is there was a pig turning slowly on the spit with the blue aroma of marijuana in the air and no electricity. Fast forward fifty years and IRMA visited Jost and now Foxy's Bar & Restaurant has the only generator on the island so Foxy's has become the de facto command center and lifeline. The popular drink there is called a Painkiller. But IRMA played no favorites as Richard Branson the founder of the Virgin Group weathered the storm inside a wine cellar in his home on Necker Island that he owns which home was destroyed. He has spearheaded relief efforts but did not indicate whether that included sharing the contents of his wine cellar.
tjs

In God We Trust

The above motto is on the reverse side of your banknote also soon to bear the signature of the new Secretary of the Treasury. While still practicing his signature he got in hot water for using a government airplane to visit Kentucky to view the solar eclipse last month. His cover was a speech making date whereupon a pundit opined that he was checking on the gold at Fort Knox. He later compounded his embarrassment by requesting an Air Force plane equipped with an office to fly on his honeymoon. After all, we are reminded that this man is fifth in line for the oval office and we need to have TRUST.
tjs

A Blob Called Fatberg

I know what an iceberg is - but I just learned that a "fatberg" is a rock solid agglomeration of fat, disposable wipes, diapers and other unmentionables clogging the nineteenth century sewers of London. The current "berg" would tip the scales at 140 tons. The utility is attempting to convert some of the waste fat into environmentally friendly fuel. And the Museum of London is seeking a cross-section of the blob for its curiosity collection. Some tourists visit Paris to tour the
 sewers but not so to London. Maintain a stiff upper lip as you hold your nose.
tjs
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/world/europe/uk-london-fatberg.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Feurope&action=click&contentCollection=europe&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Marriage Vows.

It used to be that not every Jack & Jill could get their wedding announcement in the New York Times. It helped to have a pedigree or be a scion of society. All parent achievements are listed and there is usually a paragraph titled "How we met". But the following raised my eyebrows: "The couple briefly connected online after a mutual friend tweeted a profanity- laced column from a daily humor website. The groom who was among the twitter's followers was thoroughly entertained and retweeted himself." And the rest was history. Names and hashtags have been redacted. Geez! We know how Jack & Jill met - they were fetching water!
tjs

Avoirdupois

Apparently, AEROFLOT, the Russian airline likes their attendants "svelte" as signified by their guidelines limiting uniform size to 14 or smaller. This rule affected at least 500 employees, two of which successfully sued their employer. The court's narrow ruling was that the airline could not link income to clothing sizes. The company defended their regulation because "heavier flight attendants added to the fuel costs and could prove less nimble in emergencies." NIMBLE, really?
tjs