samhexum

UH-OH! @MikeBiDude is gonna have to do some kiss-it-and-make-it-feel-bettering: Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star catcher William Dills Smith has exited Wednesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with an apparent hand injury. Smith took a foul ball off his hand in the bottom of the second inning. He was replaced by catcher Dalton Rushing as a pinch hitter in the top of the third.

The man charged in the deadly shooting of an 11-year-old Texas boy was “waiting in the shadows” as the child and his cousin played a “ding-dong ditch” prank on his Houston home, police said. The suspect followed the boys as they ran away before he opened fire, according to Houston Police Sgt. Michael Cass, the lead detective on the case. Cass told CBS News the suspect was “waiting in the shadows in his own side yard behind a fence” after the boy and his cousin knocked on his door Saturday night and ran away. The boy, identified by police as Julian Guzman, was attending a family gathering about a block away in the east Houston neighborhood, and after getting bored, decided to go with his 10-year-old cousin and play ding-dong ditch, in which pranksters ring the doorbell or knock on the door of a home and then run away. Police said the two cousins had knocked three times on the suspect’s door within a span of about 15 minutes. On the third knock, the cousins ran as fast as they could, but the homeowner was waiting behind the fence in his yard. Guzman was recording the incident on his phone, police said, showing himself knocking and running. Shots are heard on the video, police said, and there is audio of the boy gasping. Guzman’s cousin told police he didn’t know what to do, only what he had seen in movies, so he tried to pick him up. The boys appeared as children, “not threatening in any way,” Cass said. Guzman was wounded when police arrived at the scene and taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Sunday, police said. Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, has been charged with murder and booked into the Harris County jail, according to online records. A judge set Leon’s bond at $1 million Wednesday “due to the ongoing investigation and potential upgrade of the charges.” Police said Leon is a former Army veteran who was deployed and spent time in the reserves. He was disabled in combat and honorably discharged, his defense attorney said at his court appearance Wednesday. A handgun, 20 other guns and tactical and smoke grenades were found during a search of his home, police said. “Looked like he may have been a collector of firearms,” Cass said. Police said they found Leon at a hotel in La Porte, Texas, with a packed car. The hotel room was booked for three days, Cass said. Leon, his wife and 2-year-old child went to the hotel because media was surrounding their home, his defense attorney said.

Fountain of the Fairs in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on the fritz, awaiting repairs – QNS QNS.COM It looks like one of the city’s most famous fountains, or at least water fixtures, is on the fritz after a...

Rogers Burgers is one of Flatbush’s newest dining spots, serving up a Caribbean twist on classic American fast food. The burger joint, at 801 Rogers Ave., has been serving up burgers layered with ingredients familiar to the predominantly Caribbean neighborhood of Flatbush such as jerk, curry and pikliz (a pickled slaw). The inspiration to mix island fare with typical American fast food delights is because the owners are children of West Indian immigrants, exposed to a broader American culture. “Part of that is eating burgers that’s a better quality than what’s being offered here,” said co-founder, Josue Pierre, who is of Haitian descent and a Flatbush native. Their top two top selling menu items include the Creole Burger, packed with flavorful Haitian pikliz and the Yard Burger, a beef patty on a brioche bun with cheddar cheese and jerk-flavored aioli. Rogers Burgers Puts a Tropical Twist on Fast Food Staples - BKReader WWW.BKREADER.COM Rogers Burgers is one of the latest restaurants in Flatbush offering a Caribbean twist on the ubiquitous...

10 Bottom-Shelf Bourbons You'll Actually Want To Drink APPLE.NEWS There are plenty of bottom-shelf bourbons you should steer clear of. But when it comes to these 10...

10 Foods That Help You Poop https://www.aol.com/10-foods-help-poop-according-160000602.html

14 Vintage Chicken Dishes No One Seems To Make Anymore APPLE.NEWS Though once incredibly popular, these chicken dishes have fallen out of fashion for various reasons, but...

something akin to the recent air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities

One fish, two fish, red fish — orange shark? Scientists came across a bright orange shark in the wild whose creamsicle-colored skin was pigmented by two genetic conditions that are exceedingly rare among the predators of the deep. The first-of-its-kind shark was found during a fishing trip in Costa Rica’s Tortuguero National Park in August 2024, according to a recently published science journal report. The dutiful researchers photographed the beauty before swiftly releasing it. Scientists lauded the discovery and said it’s the first and only time an orange shark has ever been recorded, according to a report published in the Marine Biodiversity journal. The nurse shark, which is commonly found in Costa Rica’s coastal marine parks, was apparently born with xanthism, a genetic condition that results in the loss of darker pigmentation and makes lighter ones like oranges and yellows more prominent. The orange wonder, which resembles an oversized, colorful koi fish more than a feared sea beast, is a double rarity as scientists noted it likely also has albinism — another genetic condition that dampens the body’s production of melanin and leaves many physical features stark white. In the shark’s case, its eyes were a pasty white with “no visible irises,” scientists wrote. The unique combination of the two conditions paved the way for the shark’s jaw-dropping pigment. Scientists also suggested environmental factors could have contributed to its vibrant hue, including inbreeding, stress and hormonal imbalances. The average nurse shark usually has light brown skin, which helps them blend in with their surroundings, and beady black eyes surrounded by a white cornea. They also have little vampiric tusks poking out of their upper lip and use suction to tear into their prey, rather than strong jaws and razor-sharp teeth other kinds of sharks are known for. The scientists don’t believe the genetic variations will have any impact on the shark’s lifespan since it has already reached adulthood, even though it lacks the crucial camouflage ability. Albinism, while rare in sharks, has been recorded more consistently in other species, both on land and in the sea. In April, an Iowa family encountered a pair of albino deer while celebrating their son’s 13th birthday. They at first mistook the duo for llamas before more deer with normal pigmentation pulled up the rear of the herd. A small mob of albino kangaroos was taken in by an animal sanctuary in Australia, nearly outnumbering the normal kangaroos, who didn’t bat an eye at their companions’ apparent differences.

A hidden gem in Sunnyside: Bistro Punta Sal blends Peruvian & Italian flavors QNS.COM On a quiet street in Sunnyside, Bistro Punta Sal has its French doors wide open, letting the late August breeze... Celebrate fall with delicious food at the 2025 Taste of Sunnyside – QNS QNS.COM With the onset of fall, attention in Sunnyside turns to the annual Taste of Sunnyside restaurant and bar... Eat, share, and connect at Astoria’s Fig Festival QNS.COM September is ripe for Astoria’s inaugural Fig Festival, starting with a week of fun events and happenings...

Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies became the 21st man to hit four homers in a game last night. Afterward he did the postgame on-field interview, then did something that had been scheduled for last night a few months ago... filmed an on-field scene for Abbott elementary.

Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies became the 21st man to hit four homers in a game last night. Afterward he did the postgame on-field interview, then did something that had been scheduled for last night a few months ago... filmed an on-field scene for Abbott elementary.

A number of years ago I went for a dental cleaning right before one of the holidays. Much of the staff must have been off already because when the hygienist came in she said "Hi, I'm Dr. @@@'s mother." He had called her out of retirement to fill in. While she was looking over my chart she said "You've had a lot of work done." I replied "Yes, I'm putting your grandchildren through college."

Rita Rudner used to do a bit about her car having a rotating gas cap... whichever side of the pump she pulled up to, the cap was always on the other side. I think of that every time I try to open a twist tie on a loaf of bread. My hands don't work all that well and it takes me longer than you'd think because whichever way I start twisting, it doesn't open. Then I reverse direction, and same thing. When I eventually get it open, the tie immediately goes in the garbage and I just fold the top of the bag underneath it to close it off. Sam--Is everything all right.wav Hello, Sam.wav I love you, Sam.wav oh shit.wav Good-bye, Sam.wav

Cracker Barrel quietly removes DEI and Pride pages from its website after logo upheaval https://www.aol.com/finance/cracker-barrel-quietly-removes-dei-201039397.html After backing away from a controversial logo rebrand loudly opposed by many right-wing influencers, Cracker Barrel also quietly made changes to its website this week. The Tennessee-based roadside restaurant chain deleted a dedicated “Pride page” and scrubbed references to employee resource groups, including its LGBTQ+ and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging groups, from another part of its website. “On behalf of Cracker Barrel’s LGBTQ+ Alliance & DEIB Team, we want to celebrate YOU for being YOU. It is our greatest Mission to ensure that Pleasing People means ‘all people,’” Cracker Barrel’s now-deleted Pride page read, according to a CNN review of the Wayback Machine. The URL now redirects to the company’s “Culture and Belonging” page, which has also been revised, according to the Wayback Machine. The new version speaks more broadly about company culture but no longer lists its employee resource groups, which were publicly visible as recently as Tuesday, according to the archive. In a statement to CNN, a Cracker Barrel spokesperson said the website updates reflected the removal of outdated content. “In connection with the Company’s brand work, we have recently made updates to the Cracker Barrel website, including adding new content and removing out-of-date content,” the spokesperson said. “Several months ago, the Company also made changes to our Business Resource Groups that now focus all sponsorships or events on our corporate giving initiatives: addressing food insecurity, supporting community needs through food, and reducing food waste.”

Fortunately, I have a whole staff of talented people working behind the scenes, just like they do.

Dave Nemetz Reviews Task: HBO Delivers Another Beautifully Tragic Crime Drama From Mare of Easttown’s Creator TVLINE.COM Review: 'Mare of Easttown's' creator has crafted another riveting crime drama in 'Task,' packed with...

FamilyInsanity.wav Get off the computer.wav what a bad boy you are.wav toodle-oo.wav

If you follow the Mississippi River to where it meets the ocean, you will be in Plaquemines, Louisiana’s southernmost parish. Known for its seafood and offshore oil and gas, Plaquemines is also where an unknown rose withstood the brutal force of Hurricane Katrina. The genesis of this climbing rose bush, which becomes covered with delicate bursts of pink flowers every spring, is still murky. But the plant came to join Peggy Martin’s garden in the community of Phoenix, Louisiana, some 16 years before Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, leaving an estimated total of $125 billion in damage in its wake. “In 1989, it was given to me by a friend,” Martin said of the rose. That friend told Martin she received the flower from her mother-in-law, and though Martin has spent years researching and traveling trying to find out its true origin, the plant’s lineage beyond that remains a mystery. “It’s probably from the 1800s. And I think it originated in Europe. But we can’t find out … positively,” she told CNN. The plant’s background became the subject of more intense interest after the hurricane, when it was discovered to have likely survived some time submerged underwater. Martin said it was the only one among 450 antique roses in her garden to have made it through the storm. Dr. William C. Welch, professor and extension landscape horticulturist emeritus at Texas A&M University and author of several books on antique roses and heirloom gardening, was also unable to identify the rose when he examined it while visiting the area to speak at a New Orleans Old Garden Rose Society gathering in 2003. He took cuttings from Martin’s home and began growing the flower at his own property before eventually becoming entwined in its broader post-Katrina path. The plant’s miraculous feat of survival may seem as enigmatic as its ancestry, but the two are likely connected, according to Welch’s colleague Dr. Greg Grant, the Smith County horticulturist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. “It’s all about genetics, because it’s just from really, really tough genetic stock,” said Grant, who with Welch also cowrote “The Rose Rustlers,” which features Martin’s story. “There’s no way to say specifically why that exact specimen survived, but it really does have to do with genetics.” Modern roses emerged in 1867 with the development of the first hybrid tea, according to the American Rose Society. These varieties tend to have a reputation for being fussy, requiring constant attention. “The conception is that they’re not tough, that they require spraying, that you have to have the perfect culture. And a lot of that has been breeding; to breed these perfect flowers, but they bred out characteristics that made the rose easy to grow in our backyards,” said Mike Shoup, president of the Heritage Rose Foundation and author of “Empress of the Garden.” “When you consider the body of rose as a whole entity, the rose is extremely tough. It has endured thousands of pests and thousands of … problems, and it still is considered man’s favorite flower,” Shoup added. Martin’s many rose plants had their grit tested after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005, near Grand Isle, Louisiana, about 28 miles (45 kilometers) south of her home in Phoenix. The storm arrived in the area with winds over 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climatic Data Center. Martin and her husband, MJ, were no strangers to evacuating when a hurricane approached. But she said Katrina “was the worst of the worst.” After the storm passed, getting back into Phoenix was impossible, Martin added. One of the biggest challenges was flooding. “In Phoenix, they had about 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) of standing water,” said Ken Dugas, Plaquemines parish engineer. The water topped the levees designed to protect the area from flooding. It “filled it up like a bowl,” Martin said. The water remained, unable to escape, until a levee was broken. Martin’s parents, Rosalie and Pivon Dupuy — who lived next to the couple and chose not to evacuate — died amid the storm’s destruction. Three weeks went by before Martin and her husband could return and assess the damage to her property. She remembers the ruins as “black sticks and gray ash.” “We lost everything we owned,” she said. “Every plant — everything completely dead. And then as I was walking past my mother’s house and to the back where our house was, I saw these long, green, dark canes hanging off the tractor shed.” The rose on the shed that survived was the only thing in Martin’s garden to pull through, aside from a few dormant daffodil and Crinum lily bulbs. Charles Shi, a botanical horticulturalist specializing in wild roses at Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, in the United Kingdom said the sturdy plant is likely “an heirloom rambler with broad climatic tolerance.” The mystery flower is not a modern hybrid tea rose, “but closer in character to old climbing roses and hardy species relatives,” Shi said. “This explains much of its durability.” Shi hasn’t studied Martin’s rose but said he is confident based on the flower’s appearance that it has “an amount” of Rosa banksiae in its genes, referring to a species collected from China in the early 1800s and brought to Kew. Rosa banksiae is now a yellow climbing rose popular among gardeners. “You can see the petal structure is quite similar. The size of the flower is similar, but the color is different,” he told CNN in an email. “I think it is a lot closer to a wild rose than to the more cultivated roses. So another word we call that are the heirloom roses, so bred relatively early on before the mass breeding of roses.” Most likely, he said it was a “chance seedling” that originated in a garden. He identified three traits that could have helped such a specimen survive the ravages of Katrina: a rugged nature and a low-oxygen metabolism that allowed it to rely on stored reserves of sugars; an ability to cope with salt stress from being inundated with seawater — either by excluding salts at the roots or compartmentalizing them inside its cells; and the ability to quickly regenerate, rapidly resprouting buds and forming roots from its existing stems. It is difficult to establish with certainty exactly how many days the rose remained submerged. The estimated range is “anywhere from two weeks to a month after Katrina” said Matt Rowe, spokesman for New Orleans district Army Corps of Engineers, who noted the deluge likely could have included a mix of rain, storm surge from the nearby ocean and water from the wetlands. “We don’t have records that specific to when that area was unwatered,” he added. Unwatered is a term used by the Army Corps of Engineers to describe the removal of water where it shouldn’t be. Martin said for her the message of the plant’s survival is personal. “In my heart, I think that my mom and dad wanted to leave something to me,” she said. When word of the rose surviving Hurricane Katrina reached Welch, he formed the idea of supporting a restoration fund previously established by The Garden Club of America and worked with gardeners and local nurseries to propagate and sell the plant. “I was adamant about getting these roses out on the market,” Welch said. But the tough, thornless rose needed a name. “He said, do I have your permission to name this rose the Peggy Martin rose?” Martin recalled about her conversation with Welch. “And I said, of course.” “You know, at that time, I’m like a zombie. I’m going through all this grief … and I was proud that he wanted to do that,” she added. CNN reached out to The Garden Club of America and other organizations but was unable to confirm how much money was ultimately raised from the sales of the Peggy Martin rose. Popularity of the resilient plant grew quickly. Speaking to garden and rose groups, Martin traveled to New York and California and many states in between. “I started being asked to speak, and I traveled all over this country for quite a few years,” she said. “It’s a really fulfilling experience for me. Makes me feel so good that everybody loves it.” Now some 20 years later, the rose that withstood the brutal force of Hurricane Katrina has become a fixture in gardens and a symbol of strength and resilience. The story of the Peggy Martin rose has made its way into garden books and a children’s book. There is even a hashtag — #ShowUsYourPeggy — where owners of the rose display their blooms. Shoup founded the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas, one of the first nurseries that sold the Peggy Martin rose. “I considered it to be the great beginners rose, because anybody that bought that rose from us was going to be successful,” he said. “And that’s not always the case when you’re buying roses.” A local nursery in Dothan, Alabama, did an Instagram live in spring of 2020 about the Peggy Martin rose, capturing a lot of attention during a critical time for the garden center — as Covid-19 lockdowns were starting and their biggest sales quarter seemed in jeopardy. After the post, “we started getting all these messages about — do you have a Peggy Martin?” said John David Boone, owner of Dothan Nurseries Greenhouse, Gardens and Gifts. Boone’s nursery continued to sell the rose, and due to its popularity, it began hosting an annual “Peggy Palooza.” He said around “a couple thousand people” attended the weeklong event in April. Martin has seen images of the rose across the country. “It’s so prolific, and it’s so widespread now that it just blows up Facebook … when it’s in bloom,” she said. While it’s hard to pin down exactly how many roses that bear the name “Peggy Martin” currently exist — Grant estimates there could be anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions — all of them started as cuttings Welch took from Martin’s garden. “It’s a unique rose,” Shoup said. “The spring boom is one that is awe-inspiring, and that’s why it has gained a lot of popularity,” and a significant internet presence, he added. Shi said he would love to have a sample to add to Kew’s collection in the UK. “Roses, they’ve been so symbolic throughout culture and society, and have been bred … for over 1,000 years,” he noted. “I think it’s wonderful that it’s symbolic of the resilience of the people of New Orleans.” While theories about the Peggy Martin plant’s origins continue to swirl, uncovering the original name of the rose before it was lost to commerce will continue to prove difficult, Shoup said. “We can do DNA studies on these roses now, but you have to have an original to compare it to,” he said. “Peggy is unique. And the only thing we can compare it to are other roses that are also out in the industry right now, and there has not been one that … matches up with her.”

How tall are you now?

Josh Naylor is one of the biggest, slowest players in Major League Baseball. And out of nowhere, he’s become one of the game’s most prolific base stealers. In the past month, Naylor’s swiped 11 bags, second-most in the Majors in that span. It’s the same numbers as noted speedsters Elly De La Cruz, Jarren Duran and Pete Crow-Armstrong combined. Naylor has stolen third base five times this season. He’s stolen against three Gold Glove-winning catchers. He has a career-high 22 steals for the year — half of them since being traded to the Seattle Mariners in late July — and he’s been caught only twice, once while trying to steal home. He hasn’t been caught stealing since late April. Naylor is not built like Bobby Witt Jr., and doesn’t run like him either. Naylor is listed at 235 pounds, making him — according to Stathead — one of only nine active players who weigh that much without being more than six feet tall (the other eight have combined for seven steals this season). Statcast has measured Naylor’s average sprint speed at 24.5 feet per second. Witt is the fastest player in baseball at 30.3 feet per second, while Naylor ranks 532nd out of 546 players who have been clocked at least 10 times. According to Stathead, Naylor is the only player 6-foot-or-under, and weighing at least 235 pounds, to ever steal 20-plus bases in a season. How has a big, slow first baseman managed to steal more bases this season than Duran, Shohei Ohtani, or Corbin Carroll? And how has he only been caught a single time in the past four months? “For Josh, it’s the intellectual part of the game,” Cleveland Guardians’ catcher Bo Naylor said. Bo would know. He’s Josh’s little brother. Naylor’s ability is not raw speed. He’s played seven seasons in the Majors, and this is the slowest he’s ever been. The last time Naylor stole more than 10 bases in a season was 2016, when he was 19 years old in A ball. Even then, he stole only 11. But he has a lifelong eye for detail, having grown up watching baseball with his dad, who preached situational awareness. Naylor’s carried that into major league clubhouses. Naylor played the past five seasons with the Guardians. They rarely asked him to steal because they had speedsters for that, and Naylor’s job was to drive them in. But Naylor was 23-for-29 on stolen base attempts with the Guardians. His baserunning metrics weren’t great, but they weren’t awful, and more often than not, he could get a bag when a pitcher gave him an opening or a catcher gave him a chance. Traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks this winter, Naylor stole three bases in the first week and a half of this season. He was thrown out trying to steal home (in extra innings) on April 20, and was caught stealing again the next game, but Naylor hasn’t been thrown out since, going 18-for-18 the past four months. Shipped to the Mariners at the trade deadline, Naylor has stolen 11 more bases since his Mariners debut on July 25. Only New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (12) has stolen as many in the past month. Naylor has stolen two bases in a game three times since he got to the Mariners. In one two-game stretch, he stole four off touted Chicago White Sox rookie Kyle Teel. Earlier in the season, he stole bases against notably strong throwers J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies and Patrick Bailey of the San Francisco Giants. He also stole one against Colorado Rockies catcher Jacob Stallings, another Gold Glove winner (though not one with a particularly strong arm). Naylor has stolen bases against the Brewers, Giants, Nationals, Blue Jays, Phillies and Cubs, all top-11 in the majors in caught stealing percentage. Naylor’s ability to pick up on tendencies and take advantage of them on the bases will meet a fascinating match this week when his Mariners travel to Cleveland to play the Guardians. Naylor will be up against his former team — the Guardians have been among the best in baseball at throwing out base stealers this season — and his brother should be behind the plate. The Naylor family is planning to fly into Cleveland for the series. Will the slowest base stealer in the major leagues try to swipe a bag against his little brother with Mom and Dad in the stands? “Oh, 100 percent,” Bo Naylor said. “I’d be shocked if he didn’t, to be honest.”

Well, it ain't my usual modus operandi, but thanks for the set-up, anyway: Designing Women Season 1, Episode 14 episode-14-Monette Julia: you could call yourself the "princess of whoopee" but you're still a hooker. Charlene: Julia! Julia: Well, I can't help it. It's the truth. (said to the mother of Darlene Conner's hubby, by the way)

This link meanders through a few subjects, including Cracker Barrel, but around the 3:20 mark Pablo Torre waxes poetic on the joyful Taylor & Travis news from yesterday. 'Whole thing was ridiculous': Donny Deutsch reacts to Cracker Barrel logo backlash APPLE.NEWS Donny Deutsch and Pablo Torre join Morning Joe to weigh in on the controversy over Cracker Barrel's...

This link meanders through a few subjects, including Cracker Barrel, but around the 3:20 mark Pablo Torre waxes poetic on the joyful Taylor & Travis news from yesterday. 'Whole thing was ridiculous': Donny Deutsch reacts to Cracker Barrel logo backlash APPLE.NEWS Donny Deutsch and Pablo Torre join Morning Joe to weigh in on the controversy over Cracker Barrel's...