Lobsters have two urinary bladders, located on either side of the head. Lobsters use scents to communicate what and where they are, and those scents are in the urine. They project long plumes of urine 1–2 meters (3 ft 3 in–6 ft 7 in) in front of them, and do so when they detect a rival or a potential mate in the area.
American lobster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
When lobsters want to attract a mate, the pee out of their heads.
In Toronto, a developer is going to build a new 13-story steel-framed building over the top of an historic 4-story masonry building.
Falling Apart
I woke up with an ache in my left shoulder blade. I figured I pulled a muscle in my sleep. Not a big deal.
Then I sneezed and someone simultaneously stabbed me in the back with a chef’s knife and I collapsed on the floor from the sudden pain.
I’ll be focusing on not sneezing for the rest of the day.
Camel predicts Giants will win the Super Bowl
What do camels know about football anyway?
I want to know what the octopi are saying.
Patriots - Giants Participation Report
Neither the Patriots nor the Giants held practices today, but the teams still released their Participation Reports listing who would have had limited or no participation in such practices had they actually been held.
There is a potential that there are companies that are using aborted human babies in their research and development of basically enhancing flavor for artificial flavors
Oklahoma State Senator Ralph Shortey, who filed a bill to ban the making and selling in that state of food or products that use aborted human fetuses.
Oklahoma. Where all the important issues have been solved.
Airwolf Theme – Mark J. Cairns
Thanks for the earworm Coyotesqrl.
My State of the Union Story
The State of the Union Address is tonight, and that has reminded me of my State of the Union story.
When I was in my senior year of college in 1991/1992, the prospects of getting a job after graduation were rather grim. The country was in a recession, with unemployment over 7%. Many of my classmates were applying to graduate schools, not because of any desire for more education, but as a way to wait out the recession. Still, some companies were viable enough that they were actually sending recruiters to campus. One of these was Electric Boat.
My first conversation at work this morning was a discussion about The Fresh Beat Band.
I need a new life.
While going through some old papers today, I found a 1994 Year End Statement from one of my credit cards. It included my first “real” computer, which was a 486 class 50 MHz pc, and which I believe had a whopping 4 MB of RAM. I ordered it from a shop in California that advertised in computing enthusiast magazines and assembled the machines themselves. It was a steal. As I recall, I had just received my first raise at my job, and quickly spent a year’s worth of it on this computer. Sometimes I miss young and foolish me.
Also, the credit card company categorized my Tori Amos tickets as Education Expenses.
Ronnie O’Sullivan of England reacts after playing a shot against Ding Junhui of China during the first round match in the BGC Masters snooker tournament at Alexandra Palace in London on January 15, 2012. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
(via Big Shots for January 20, 2012 - Big Shots - Boston.com)
From CNN.com:
Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) — Indonesia has long fought a losing battle against commuters who stubbornly ride on train roofs to beat the rush hour. But railway officials say they have found the perfect deterrent, concrete balls, suspended on chains from a steel frame, just 25 cm or 10 inches, above any passing train.
Dubbed “Goal Balls”, they are about 10 cm or 4 inches in diameter and are painted silver. Twenty four, a dozen on each side, are suspended from a frame that looks like a soccer goal.
It’s all well and good that Indonesia is trying to get rid of those roof-riding freeloaders, but those wimpy little silver balls just aren’t going to scare people off. The authorities should try something a little more medieval.
Sküüzi - The Scandinavian Koozie!
No more worrying about that bottle slipping through your gloved fingers.
Great Timing
My stepfather just called to tell me that he’s sitting in his house with no heat because the furnace stopped working this morning because of a failed part and it’s such a new model that no one nearby carries replacement parts and they have to wait for a part to get shipped overnight from the factory.
But this shouldn’t be that bad because he has a pellet stove in the family room on the lower level because the heat never worked well down there.
“I sold that last week. Even patched the hole in the wall for the exhaust.”
10 Reasons The U.S. Is No Longer The Land Of The Free
I’m still catching up on news from the last few days. I just read Jonathan Turley’s column from Sunday, which gives a great (sad, really) overview of why the last decade has been miserable for civil liberties in the United States. Here’s the wrap-up below, but the whole article is worth a read.
An authoritarian nation is defined not just by the use of authoritarian powers, but by the ability to use them. If a president can take away your freedom or your life on his own authority, all rights become little more than a discretionary grant subject to executive will.
The framers lived under autocratic rule and understood this danger better than we do. James Madison famously warned that we needed a system that did not depend on the good intentions or motivations of our rulers: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
Benjamin Franklin was more direct. In 1787, a Mrs. Powel confronted Franklin after the signing of the Constitution and asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got — a republic or a monarchy?” His response was a bit chilling: “A republic, Madam, if you can keep it.”
Since 9/11, we have created the very government the framers feared: a government with sweeping and largely unchecked powers resting on the hope that they will be used wisely.
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