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Florida sheriff's office urges public to stop calling 911 on manatees having sex they should be glad they're not getting calls from manatees about withered retirees having sex.

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The taste was fine, but I'm better off staying with Pillsbury's crust because it's easier to stretch and shape then an amorphous blob of dough.

Perhaps one of the pediatricians was driving that truck.

Is Florida’s Brightline the train of the future? The $6.2 billion rail system is set to finally connect Miami with Orlando sometime in the coming weeks. Sometime this fall, a first-of-its-kind train will depart Southern Florida for a “magical” destination 236 miles north. Known as the Brightline, this privately-built, for-profit rail company will soon cut the ribbon on a 170-mile extension connecting the likes of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach with Orlando International Airport. Just beyond are many of America’s best-known theme parks, including Universal Studios Florida and Walt Disney World. Nearly nine years after construction began — and just four years after work on the higher-speed section to Orlando got underway — the $6.2 billion project has the potential to not just transform transportation in Florida, but in heavily-trafficked inter-urban corridors nationwide. At top speeds of 125 miles per hour, Brightline passengers departing Orlando will reach downtown Miami in just under three hours. It’s a faster and far more comfortable upgrade to existing transport options: A drive along the oft-congested highways between the two cities, or the five- to eight-hour trip riding Amtrak. And certainly more stylish: Brightline’s sleek black, white, and bright yellow trains are equipped with SpaceX Starlink Internet and leather seats; there’s even a business class-style lounge for passengers who purchase a “premium” ticket. Brightline plans to operate 16 daily round trips between Orlando and Miami, with one-way rides starting at $79, comparable to prices on Amtrak or Spirit Airlines. Built by Sacramento-based Siemens Mobility, the lower-emission diesel-electric locomotives have already run between Miami and West Palm Beach for several years. But this second-phase extension northward to Orlando will be the real test of Brightline’s change-making capacity when it opens in the coming weeks. Once that happens, Florida leaders expect Brightline — which already carried close to 1 million passengers during the first half of this year in South Florida — to serve 4.3 million annual “long-distance” riders between Orlando and Miami, while injecting more than $6 billion into the state’s economy as it more closely links the Magic Kingdom with South Beach. Brightline is the first privately-owned intercity rail system in the US. And its development, says CEO Mike Reininger, demonstrates the impact similar major infrastructure developments could achieve nationwide. “Seeing is believing,” says Reininger, who notes that multiple other cities have already reached out to Brightline for potential service lines. In many ways, Brightline offers the first evidence that train travel in America might someday resemble the ease and efficiency of railways in Europe and Asia. To be clear, Brightline isn’t done. The company plans to build on its service to Orlando with a future extension to Tampa 85 miles further west. Plus, company leaders tell The Post they’ll have shovels in the ground by year’s end on an entirely new Brightline West high-speed rail system connecting Southern California with Las Vegas. And that may just be the beginning. In an interview with The Post, Reininger teased the possibility of future, similar systems, noting the company has identified “a dozen or so” places elsewhere in the country that might be a fit. “We really do think, for certain parts of . . . the country, we have now developed a blueprint and a theory about a way to get it done in a meaningful time frame and in a way that is economic,” he said. Exactly what is that blueprint? For starters, Brightline’s Florida system sits in a densely populated, fast-growing state in perhaps the nation’s highest-demand tourism region. Last year saw 72 million visitors descend upon Orlando and over 50 million to Miami. These two cities are emblematic of the self-described “sweet spot” for rail: too close to fly, but far enough to make travelers think twice about driving; roughly 200 to 300 miles apart. Perhaps more important, though, was Brightline’s ability to skirt the red tape and court battles that typically accompany mega transport projects by using or building tracks in strategic locations; company executives studied past, failed rail projects and found getting track space (known as a “right of way”) is often the biggest hurdle. Brightline relied on existing tracks for large portions of its Florida line — tracks it has access to since its parent company, private equity-giant Fortress Investment Group, also owned the tracks’ original user: Florida East Coast Railway. In other places, Brightline’s tracks run down the median of interstate highways, which were completed decades ago. “This relieved [Brightline] of a lot of initial real-estate costs,” said rail expert Christopher P.L. Barkan, a professor who leads the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Rail Transportation and Engineering Center. Using existing track also allowed Brightline to dramatically ease its battle for construction permitting, company executives tell The Post. Brighltline avoided knocking down forests or going through the legal maneuvers required to build new tracks through private property. Unsurprisingly, Brightline is taking a similar development approach out west, where it plans to run its trains along the Interstate-15 corridor that connects Los Angeles and Las Vegas. To sum it up in a football metaphor, Brightline started in a good field position. Its leaders acknowledge this. “Those starting characteristics are why we’ve been able to do what we’ve been able to do,” Reininger said of the company’s development strategies. That success, however, hasn’t been without setbacks — some sizable. Last year, boaters protested in Stuart, Fla., to demand more time to pass through the St. Lucie River Railway Bridge. Far more worrisome is Brightline’s already alarming fatality rate: Since its initial debut in 2017, some 30 motorists and pediatricians have been killed by Brightline trains. Could somebody please explain to me why kiddie docs are so vulnerable? The majority have been people struck by trains while walking on tracks; Brightline has repeatedly acknowledged the situation and announced a $45 million safety plan featuring “at least 33 miles of pedestrian safety measures”…along with “crucial safety improvements” at 156 railroad crossings.” For all Brightline’s successes, the unique circumstances around its private money/private rail development means it may not be a fit everywhere, experts caution. “Brightline has a lot of built-in advantages that not every project . . . is going to have,” Jim Mathews, president and CEO of the Rail Passengers Association, pointed out. “There are places in this country where that model can — and will — work. But there’s also plenty of places where it can’t.” Potential rail projects, he explains, should be tailored to a region’s specific circumstances rather than conform to a set corporate “blueprint.” For that reason, Mathews cautions against viewing Brightline’s rising prominence as a rebuke of Amtrak, even as the federally-funded rail system has drawn ire from lawmakers and passengers for its budget and service. Despite nearly $50 billion in federal subsidies in as many years, “Amtrak has never made a profit,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) remarked during a June Congressional hearing with Amtrak executives. Such is the reality, Mathews says, for a rail company, like Amtrak, that’s required to deliver crucial service to even less profitable, hard-to-reach parts of the country on tracks that, outside its critical Northeast Corridor, are predominantly owned by (and therefore shared with) freight railroads. “Amtrak can’t be Brightline anymore than Brightline can be like Amtrak,” he said. Clearly, though, Brightline’s appearance on both coasts has demonstrated an appetite for alternative intercity passenger rail options, including those built with private funding. Brightline also arrives on the precipice of even larger change for trains in America, with the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law having allocated tens of billions of dollars for rail projects nationwide. This includes more money for Amtrak than it had previously received in its entire existence, along with a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River. Even private companies like Brightline hope to benefit from the massive Federal money pot — the Nevada Department of Transportation has partnered with the company in applying for a reported $3.75 billion to support construction on Brightline’s western line. “I think we’re going to end up seeing a mix of both private and public sector operations of passenger railroad in the future,” said Barkan, whose research team has previously studied high-speed rail service between Chicago and St. Louis. Some of his former students have gone on to take jobs at Brightline. Of course, despite Brightline’s success, investors eyeing future rail projects will likely consider the fate of California’s long-delayed Bullet Train that’s planned between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Since California voters first authorized a $9 billion down payment in 2008, project costs have ballooned to as high as $100 billion, but the system currently has only 119 miles of rail under construction. It’s blunders like the Bullet Train that help put into perspective the significance of Brightline. “There’s been a lot of cooperation in terms of enabling them to get here,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told The Post, acknowledging the joint efforts between Brightline and public officials required to prevent potential regulatory derailments along the way. “That is something that has curtailed efforts in some other parts of the country — getting tied up in litigation and not having your financing in place,” Dyer added (Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has been equally supportive of Brightline). In Orlando’s case, city officials helped smooth out Brightline’s acquisition of land controlled by the Central Florida Expressway and the Orlando Airport. Dyer hopes Brightline will get the green light to operate its Orlando extension by Sept. 24, when the city’s MLS team hosts Intercity Miami and its new superstar Lionel Messi. Brightline, meanwhile, has its eyes on another far larger sporting event: the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. By then, it hopes to have its Western system complete. If achieved, it could make the global event one that could simultaneously showcase the prowess of American athletes and an improving US rail system. “The main thing is to get Americans to recognize the value of getting out of their car and getting onto their train,” Mathews said. “And increasingly, they do.” Yes, but as @nycman and @mike carey might say, it's still in Florida! https://nypost.com/2023/08/12/is-floridas-brightline-the-train-of-the-future/

Adventurous child, 3, escapes crib and walks to McDonald's while mother and twin sister sleep A Wisconsin mother recalled the frightening moment she woke up from her sleep to discover her child was missing — only to find the 3-year-old had escaped his crib and fled to McDonald’s. “He was not in the house. He was not in the basement. He was not in the front yard or the backyard,” Marissa Phiffer, the mother of the twins, explained in her now-viral TikTok. “This little boy woke up, put his shoes on and walked to McDonald’s.” Phiffer told TODAY.com that she fell asleep next to the children. However, when the mother awoke from her brief slumber, she made a heart-dropping discovery. One of the twins, Aiden, was not in the crib with his sister Aleiya — and even more gut-wrenching, his shoes were missing. Phiffer said she checked the neighbor’s backyard — a place where her son is known to wander off to. “I thought that’s where I’d find him. They have a bunch of rocks, and he likes to line them up and play with them,” Phiffer said. The 23-year-old mother immediately called 9-1-1, terrified about what could’ve happened to her son right under her nose. Police responded to the distressed mother’s home in “two seconds” with a photo of her son in hand and later informed Phiffer that Aiden was safe at a McDonald’s across the road from their home — a roughly .2 mile journey. A concerned citizen had noticed Aiden wandering toward the fast food chain and contacted the police, Phiffer shared. “We run in, and he goes, ‘Hi, Mom!’” Phiffer told the outlet, finding her son hanging out in the play area of the fast food chain. Phiffer explained she was too relieved to be angry at her son as he was found safe. Aiden, who his mother says is a big fan of McDonald’s, told her he went on the independent trip because he was “hungry.” “I almost bought him a Happy Meal, but I was embarrassed,” Phiffer said. “I just wanted to get out of there.” Phiffer has since installed child-proof safety locks and latches on the doors in an effort to prevent the children from sneaking off to the restaurant unsupervised. The toddler yearning for McDonald’s is so extreme that Phiffer explained that he would wake from deep slumbers if they pulled into the restaurant’s drive-thru. “Fries, nuggets, and apple slices — he’d eat that every day,” she told the outlet. “But that was actually his first time going to the PlayLand there.” The TikTok has been viewed over 2.8 Million times since being posted on July 31 — and has garnered over 500k likes. Commenters were pleased to hear the boy was safe and the mother was not alone in the wandering toddler fiasco. “My son did this! he didn’t walk to Mac Donald’s but went across the street, me and my husband was sleeping the cop walked in our house,” a user shared with the mother. Some even praised the boy’s determination. “On a positive note he is a go getter and has a lot of confidence. My kids wouldn’t go into a store by themselves for the longest time,” one mother wrote. “I want to send Aiden a McDonald’s gift certificate,” another commented, saying she’s “so glad he’s safe! He is a brave boy!” They really should make a commercial out of this.

'Dressed like a ninja' Hikers who found actor Julian Sands' remains on mountain recall 'surreal' experience What was most concerning to the hikers was the lack of equipment necessary for such a dangerous winter hike.

I agree, and thought of that before posting this, but how many times have you heard about wealthy singers or groups spending anything to show appreciation and/or consideration for their fans? Just because she could've easily afforded to send every fan home in their own limo*** doesn't make what she did less nice. ***that meant buying each fan a limo, not just renting one.

The NY Post's restaurant critic apparently doesn't think there's ANY way to cook faux meat and make it tasty: Fake meat is failing because it's gross and unhealthy Beyond Meat, the No. 2 manufacturer of plant-based meat substitutes, announced this week that it lost $53 million in the second quarter of 2023 as its US revenue fell 40 percent. The company’s tailspin included the axing of its chief operating officer Doug Ramsey last fall after he bit a man’s nose — not a plant-based organ — in a road rage confrontation. The news follows meatless-market king Impossible Foods’ plans to chop 20 percent of its workforce on top of cuts it made last year. The belt-tightening moves are meant to keep “costs in line with revenue,” its chief executive said in February. Although sales remain strong, Impossible has repeatedly delayed an expected initial public offering since 2021, while employees have seen the value of their private shares plummet by 89 percent in the last two years, according to Bloomberg. Neither situation reflects unbridled optimism about long-term growth. Meanwhile, US beef consumption rebounded to 58.9 pounds per capita in 2022, up from a low of 54 pounds in 2017, according to the USDA. In New York City, steakhouses, not plant parlors, stand at the top of the restaurant food-chain. Any time a steakhouse closes, it’s immediately replaced by another steakhouse, not by a plant factory. For example, Rocco’s from Madison Avenue is taking over the former BLT Steak on East 57th Street. Eleven Madison Park chef/owner Daniel Humm came to a “mutual” decision with the owners of the new 425 Park Avenue building to back out of opening an all-vegan eatery there. It will instead be a normal, albeit “health-conscious,” restaurant by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The hottest new dishes in town this year aren’t the latest spins on tofu but Mischa’s $29 hot dog and Tatiana’s short rib pastrami suya. Meat is the stealth menu anchor at lots of new and old restaurants that aren’t officially steakhouse — the Lambs Club, Monterey, The Grill and Knickerbocker Bar & Grill. Americans love beef, and American beef is delicious. I recently salivated over sweet-and-pungent chili-rubbed boneless ribeye at Michael Lomonaco’s Porter House; musty-and-funky, gorgonzola-cured Texas wagyu ribeye at Andrew Carmellini’s Carne Mare and mind-bending-luscious porterhouse on the bone at David Burke’s Red Horse in White Plains. And I’m not a big steak eater! But with specimens like these around, who wants “heme,” the protein released when soy leghemoglobin is synthesized from genetically modified yeast. The Impossible Burger relies on this tasty, lab-generated ingredient to make a faux burger that actually “bleeds.” Meanwhile, who really wants to sink their teeth into a Beyond Meat patty, which is made from such tasty ingredients as pea and rice protein, sunflower lecithin and methyl cellulose? Sure, most — but not all — medical professionals recommend limiting red meat consumption for cardiovascular health, but these frankenfoods aren’t what the doctor ordered. The giant beef-and-pork hot dog at Mischa is one of many meaty dishes New Yorkers are loving right now. Tamara Beckwith Tatiana’s short rib pastrami suya is one of the best dishes in the past year. Stephen Yang

Two new types of moles, named Talpa hakkariensis and Talpa davidiana tatvanensis, have been living in the mountains of eastern Turkey in Bitlis. Scientists say the new moles can survive in temperatures of up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit in summer and under 6 feet of snow in winter, noting the discovery is particularly exciting as it’s rare to find new species of mammal. The study, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society in July, was conducted by researchers from Ondokuz Mayıs university in Turkey, Indiana University and England’s University of Plymouth. “It is very rare to find new species of mammals today,” said senior author David Bilton, professor of aquatic biology at the University of Plymouth. “There are only around 6,500 mammal species that have been identified across the world and, by comparison, there are around 400,000 species of beetles known, with an estimated 1 to 2 million on Earth.” “Superficially, the new moles we have identified in this study appear similar to other species, since living underground imposes serious constraints on the evolution of body size and shape — there are a limited number of options available for moles, really,” Bilton noted. After discovering the moles, researchers used “cutting-edge DNA technology” to compare their DNA to that of other moles and found the Turkish critters are biologically distinct. The study’s authors say the new moles are “subterranean, invertebrate-eating mammals,” found across Europe and Western Asia. They said the discovery points out that just how extensive the diversity of mammals is can be misunderstood. “Our study highlights how, in such circumstances, we can underestimate the true nature of biodiversity,” Bilton said, “even in groups like mammals, where most people would assume we know all the species with which we share the planet.” The moles could have been living in the Turkish mountains for 3 million years. Scientists said it’s rare to find new mammal species. 3M-year-old animal species discovered, scientists in shock: 'Very... NYPOST.COM "Going underground" has a whole new meaning.

I know where we'll be able to find @WilliamM on Dec. 14th. Do a search here for 'Dogstar' (the name of Keanu Reeves' band) and you'll find 7 posts-- all by him. Anyhoo... I just mailed him an article from the NY Post (his favorite newspaper) about Dogstar's upcoming tour, and they're going to be in Philly on that date. Santa's coming early for little @WilliamM this year, and then little @WilliamM will probably cum early!

Man mistakenly beat down by cops in Applebees with 'baby in his arms' as real hit-and-run culprits hid in bathroom maybe @pubic_assistance sent the food police after him! (this happened in Wisconsin, by the way.)

GEE, I hope they had fire insurance! The fire broke out at 98-01 101st Ave., just after 1:30 p.m., in apartments above the office.

or I do, it seems...

Four-star hotel in Long Island City hotel being converted into shelter for economic migrants A hotel WITHIN a hotel? That's a new one...

WHO NEEDS VIAGRA?!?!? Supermarket shut down due to spider that can cause long, painful erections A supermarket in Austria shuttered this week after a venomous Brazilian wandering spider was spotted wandering in the bananas, TMZ reported, citing fears that a bite from the deadly creature can cause long-lasting, painful erections. The Penny market in Krems an der Donau — which is about 45 minutes west of Vienna, the nation’s capital — has reportedly been closed since Tuesday. The store manager allegedly rang the fire department after spotting the 4-inch black-and-red creepy crawly. Helpers sealed the store’s banana crates, but the spider is still at large, per The Mirror. The Brazilian wandering spider’s venom “stimulates” an erection that lasts for hours, according to Live Science.

maybe they're just on a permanent holiday. Rose: [while reading her phone messages] Why, oh why can't grief take a holiday? Dorothy: Oh, it does Rose, it does. Eventually, it comes to Miami like everyone else.

True. Poor @JoeMendoza is still in mourning about THE REAL.

Stocks rose and bond yields fell after US inflation data reinforced speculation the Federal Reserve will pause its interest-rate hikes in September. Read in Bloomberg: https://apple.news/AiZrT9zxaRACCRRzuJrzgng U.S. consumer prices increased moderately in July as higher rents were mostly offset by declining costs of goods such as motor vehicles and furniture, a trend that could persuade the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged next month. Read in Reuters: https://apple.news/AQtIXtgTsRGWwRGDYchsN4g