samhexum

Maybe he's a descendant of Vishnu.

Unlikely friends: 2 great white sharks traveling together shock researchers Traveling long distances without a companion can get lonely − and apparently that goes even for solitary creatures like great white sharks. Scientists at the nonprofit research organization OCEARCH were surprised when they discovered two sharks they had tagged with satellite trackers in December have since traveled side by side for thousands of miles. The discovery sheds new light on everything scientists thought they knew about the apex predators, once believed to prefer only their own company, according to Bob Hueter, chief scientist at OCEARCH. "This is potentially groundbreaking," Hueter said in a video posted Sunday on the Facebook page of the Museum of Science in Boston. "We've never seen anything quite like this before." Researchers at OCEARCH first tagged the sharks, named Simon and Jekyll for the Georgia islands where they were found, in December on the southeastern coast of the United States. Since then, satellite data has shown the predators moving in tandem along the Atlantic coast for more than 4,000 miles. OCEARCH has tagged more than 400 animals since its first expedition in 2007. And while its research has yielded more than 75 published studies, team members never thought they'd discover that yes, sharks can be friendly. "Simon and Jekyll," Hueter said. "They seem to be buddies." Simon, a 9-footer weighing 434 pounds, and 8-foot-long Jekyll, who weighs 395 pounds, eventually reached Canadian waters and have most recently been tracked to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Before the OCEARCH team tagged the sharks, Hueter said, they took samples of blood, tissue and muscle. A geneticist will analyze the samples to determine whether Simon and Jekyll are brothers or otherwise related, he said. Simon. Jekyll. Unlikely friends: 2 great white sharks traveling together shock researchers WWW.AOL.COM Great white sharks have long been thought to be solitary creatures, so scientists were surprised that two of them...

The NBC logo has also decided to relocate to Florida: An Overrun Miami Suburb Will Snip Its Peacocks (and Not in the Feathers) The birds are breeding and running amok in Pinecrest, Fla. The village will test a novel solution to rein them in: peacock vasectomies. The prevailing theory about why the peacocks flocked to suburban Pinecrest is that, like many a Floridian, they went hunting for better real estate. Long a mainstay in bohemian Coconut Grove, a Miami neighborhood up the road, the nonnative birds began making their way south in recent years, local officials suspect, because old Grove cottages were being turned into immense modern houses that chipped away at the area’s lush tree canopy. In the affluent village of Pinecrest, the peafowl found larger lots with plenty of greenery that were far more to their liking. The birds, however, were not so much to their new human neighbors’ liking. The peacocks scratched the roofs of stately homes, pecked the paint off fancy cars and defecated on manicured driveways. Their piercing squawks — “aa-AAH! aa-AAH!” — often woke residents before dawn. So Pinecrest devised a novel plan: peacock vasectomies. Snip one male peacock, the thinking goes, and it will no longer be able to fertilize the eggs of the female peahens in its harem. “Peacocks are bona fide polygamists,” said Dr. Don J. Harris, the veterinarian hired by Pinecrest to perform the procedure. “We’re going to catch one peacock and probably stop seven females from reproducing. It’s going to have an exponential benefit.” No one knows if, or how well, the Pinecrest pilot program will work. But in balmy South Florida, where people have little choice but to coexist with wildlife both native (alligators, sharks) and invasive (pythons, iguanas), it is a new way to try to deal with an old problem. “I certainly wouldn’t want to kill them — God, no,” said Gerald Greenberg, who has about seven peafowl living in an oak tree in his front yard. But, he added, “We’ve got to do something.” What makes Florida different, said Ron Magill, the communications director for Zoo Miami, is that in most other parts of the country, winter will kill off most exotic species. “When those animals get out here in South Florida, they’ve entered Club Med,” he said. “This is paradise.” Iridescent peacocks have roamed some of greater Miami’s neighborhoods for decades, with little consensus about what to do about them. To their defenders, they are majestic and beautiful. To their critics, they are an unabated nuisance. In 2001, when the peafowl population was far smaller, Miami-Dade County made killing or capturing them illegal, with an exception for homeowners to remove birds from their property without harming them. Many municipalities, including Miami, are bird sanctuaries. So over the years, when neighbors would grumble about peacocks driving them cuckoo, local officials would side with the birds. Miami, after all, is a city where chickens and roosters freely roam some streets and, since the coronavirus pandemic, have proliferated around the federal courthouse and other buildings downtown. But last year, as more communities complained about peacocks destroying property, a divided County Commission voted to allow municipal governments to submit “peafowl mitigation plans.” Pinecrest, a village of about 18,000, was the first to do so with its vasectomy plan, which county commissioners approved last month. The office of Raquel A. Regalado, the commissioner whose district includes Pinecrest, agreed to pay about $15,000 for veterinary equipment to perform the vasectomies. Pinecrest has budgeted $7,500 a month to implement the plan. Vasectomies would allow peacocks to continue acting like dominant males, displaying their dazzling feathers and assembling their harems, though they could no longer fertilize any eggs. But trapping peacocks, with their sharp beaks and talons, is not easy. And while endoscopic avian vasectomies (where the vas deferens is cut) are less complicated than full castration (where the testes are removed), surgery is still surgery. Dr. Jim Wellehan, a zoological medicine professor at the University of Florida, recalled performing endoscopic gonadectomies at a zoological institution years ago to control the mallard duck population. “Early on, there were so many challenges, and it was difficult,” he said. “But before long, we had it down.” “To be honest, the expense that goes into trap-and-release programs is really hard to justify,” he said. But people are often unwilling to just euthanize animals. Earlier this year, the euthanizing of aggressive Muscovy ducks in Palmetto Bay, south of Pinecrest, prompted so much outrage that some residents held a candlelight vigil for the deceased. No similar affectionate displays have taken place for the Pinecrest peacocks, though Shannon del Prado, the councilwoman who proposed the program, said a few people had written to say that the birds should be left alone. “‘You’re trying to eradicate the peacock,’” she said someone told her. “That’s really not the case. I have a rescue cat, but she’s fixed.” Others have reacted like David O. Markus, a 16-year Pinecrest resident who calls the peafowl a “plague.” A peacock attacked his Tesla, leaving it scratched up. (The males are thought to see their reflections in the paint, misidentify them as rivals, and peck away.) Mr. Greenberg, a lawyer, said he will sometimes be on a Zoom call and a peacock will screech. “People from other parts of the country will pause and ask me what that noise is,” he said. “I will explain that they have pigeons — and we have peacocks.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/us/peacock-vasectomies-miami-pinecrest.html

Stop & Shop Bakery Pizza Dough Whole Wheat Refrigerated (1 Rating, 5.0 stars) $2.49 16 oz pkg Bought a package yesterday. Hoping it's good.

Queens residents pay more than the U.S. average on essential household bills: report I guess when you live in the place everyone wants to be, you have to pay a premium.

Brooklyn's first supertall skyscraper reaches completion New York studio SHoP Architects has completed the black and bronze facade of the supertall skyscraper Brooklyn Tower, the tallest building in the borough. At 93 storeys and 1,066 feet, the supertall skyscraper topped out in March 2023, but the intricate cladding of its exterior was only recently completed. The skyscraper, next to Junior's, features blackened stainless panels running from the top of the tower towards the bottom, where it meets the preserved, historic Dimes Savings Bank, which has been integrated into the tower's podium. Running the length of the tower are bronze and copper pilasters that give definition to the black facade, which at certain points comes to edges, creating a staggered appearance. The building has quickly become one of, if not the most, visible structures on the Brooklyn skyline. Last year, SHoP principal Greg Pasquarelli told Dezeen in an exclusive interview that the structure, because of its special zoning, "would be kind of like the Empire State Building of Brooklyn." "We wanted to make sure that no matter what grid you were on, looking at it from wherever you were in Brooklyn, you felt like you were looking at the front," he continued. The skyscraper, which has more than 500 residences as well as retail at its base, has a wider base than many other supertalls because of the winds in Brooklyn. The larger base means that the tower tapers, drawing attention to the smaller peaks of the tower as it narrows towards the tops. The base is clad in white marble, reflecting the art deco bank, and darkens as it rises. The tower also has a number of "wind floors" throughout its length that allow heavy gusts to pass throughout without rocking the massive structure. According to New York magazine Curbed, one of the taller wind floors has been outfitted with a basketball court, the highest in the world. The tower's distinct form and colour have led some in the city to compare the building to the architecture of Sauron's Dark Fortress, a tower in Peter Jackson's filmatisation of the Lord of the Rings novels. Inside, the art deco design of the Dimes Saving Bank has been carried through many of the public spaces, including the lobby design by Krista Ninivaggi. The tower features multiple entrances, one directly from the street and another through the renovated bank, which has become a retail and pedestrian space. SHoP Architects is also responsible for the nearby Barclays Center, a stadium clad with thousands of steel panels. It has designed a number of other buildings throughout the city, including 111 W 57th Street on Billionaires Row in Manhattan, the world's skinniest supertall skyscraper.

Instructor at driving school plows through front of business's building Comments like, “Look up ‘irony’ in the dictionary, and this is what you should see,” and “just popping into the office,” were among the hundreds of responses. Even 9News Denver added to the jokes by writing, “To the employee’s credit, the school’s sign above the front door says “Learn to Drive,” and not “Learn to Park,'” in its report on the incident. Lakewood police said the employee was cited for a traffic violation.

Massive $937 Kew Gardens Interchange reconstruction project lands second transportation infrastructure award now THAT'S a headline you don't see everyday! A highway construction project completed for under $1000? Sacre bleu! Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Aug. 4 that the $937 million Kew Gardens Interchange reconstruction project that was completed by the State Department of Transportation last winter was recognized with an award at the 2023 America’s Transportation Awards competition. The Kew Gardens Interchange project was named a winner of the Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials region in the “Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Large Project” category. This year, 36 state transportation departments participated in the competition, nominating 81 total projects. The award-winning project revamped one of the metropolitan area’s most heavily traveled corridors, creating faster travel times, safer merging and exiting, and more reliable connections for the hundreds of thousands of commuters, travelers, and local businesses who use it daily to reach JFK and LaGuardia airports and other key destinations throughout the region.

Campbell to buy Rao's premium sauces maker for $2.33 billion I must admit I didn't read the article, so I don't know if they are referring to Naomi or Neve.

Bey-train Beyonce spends $100K to keep DC trains running late after concert delay The show was delayed for nearly two hours as management had concertgoers shelter in place amid bad weather.

Bear being transported on Iraqi Airways flight escapes crate before takeoff He should have flown Qantas; they have experience with (koala) bears. Bumbling NYC crook arrested after calling cops to report car he stole was missing Is bumbling a synonym for moronic?

William Friedkin, director of 'The Exorcist,' dead at 87 That, Young Frankenstein, and Broadway Danny Rose are probably my three favorite comedies... laugh out loud funny from start to finish.

Yeah, but the A's can't afford him.

shouldn't this have gone in @JoeMendoza's YAY MATH! topic?

Councilman Robert Holden and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. introduced two pieces of legislation during a recent New York City Council meeting on Thursday, Aug 3. One proposed bill, known as Intro 1146, will ban the use of plywood to board up abandoned and foreclosed properties not sealed or continuously guarded. Property owners will also still be required to close any points of entry, but by any other means than the use of plywood. The second bill, Intro 1147, will require property owners to post a $5,000 bond to the Department of Finance when their buildings are undergoing foreclosure. According to the bill, the bond is sent to the commissioner of finance to address housing maintenance, building, and sanitation violations during vacancy or foreclosure. The bond will be returned to the property owner upon request, but if they fail to pay, they are subject to a daily fine of $200. “These eyesores have no place in our communities, as they contribute to neighborhood blight and attract criminal activities,” said Holden. “We can prevent deterioration, curb blight and maintain the value of our neighborhoods. I look forward to working with Borough President Richards to restoring the visual appeal of our communities and creating a safer environment for all residents.” Both proposed bills aim to hold property owners accountable for managing any abandoned and foreclosed properties. “Zombie buildings are eyesores and detriments to their communities that impact our neighbors’ quality of life,” said Richards. “These common sense bills will help address numerous issues that these zombie buildings create and I look forward to working with Council Member Holden to further address these concerns.” Holden represents Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Woodhaven and Woodside in the City Council. I think these are common sense measures that are LONG overdue.

I wouldn't worry about it. I've read that she's told friends she doesn't understand the @Charlie phenomenon, either.

Didn't you notice Pig making the Y with his arms?

A 4-year-old was uninjured Friday night after being run over by a golf cart after a dog laid down on the go pedal, according to fire department officials in Michigan. The incident took place at a summer party called Blues, Brews, and BBQ in Westland, Michigan, which featured the participation of the fire department, according to department officials. An arson dog for Westland Fire Department was sitting in a golf cart the department was using for the event when she jumped onto the floor and laid across the accelerator pedal, causing the cart to charge forward. Firefighters reacted quickly to steer the vehicle away from people and tents that fire officials were using, the fire department said in a post on Facebook. "Unfortunately, before the firefighters could bring the cart to a stop and remove the key from the vehicle, it struck a 4-year-old girl and the passenger side front tire ran over her left leg," the fire department said. Fire and paramedic officials examined the child for injuries and determined she wasn't injured but was just "visibly shaken" after the incident, according to the Westland Fire Department. Her mother declined additional treatment. "Fortunately, the child was back to eating her popcorn within minutes of the incident and within 10 minutes of the incident was back to jumping in the fire department bounce house, which wound up being covered in popcorn vomit," Westland fire officials wrote.

One of the many benefits of being poor.

probably the most dynamic, electrifying singer of the 20th century. youtube him sometime

You obviously never saw Perry Como in concert.

you mean Dr. J's oscar-worthy performance couldn't save it?

A friend of mine is a successful headhunter who has worked remotely for decades. One night she was driving us somewhere and took a brief call from a candidate she was trying to place. After she hung up, I looked over at her steering wheel and said, "Wow! I'm so impressed. You actually have a button on your steering wheel marked resume so your candidates can send you a resume. Where do they come out?" I was less impressed when she told me it was just a button to reactivate her cruise control.