Home » Open thread 7/11/22

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Open thread 7/11/22 — 47 Comments

  1. Looks like the lions do not like getting a taste of their own medicine; they must be democrats.

  2. Every year Hippo attacks kill around 500 people – more than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes and rhinos put together. You definitely want to stay away from Hippos.

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  4. }}} Every year Hippo attacks kill around 500 people – more than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes and rhinos put together. You definitely want to stay away from Hippos.

    Awwww, but they’re so cuuuuuuute… 😛

  5. Elon Musk declares the Twitter purchase withdrawn. Twitter says it will sue to close the deal at the $54 price. A courtroom means Twitter may have to disclose a lot.

  6. Awwww, but they’re so cuuuuuuute…

    The ancient Egyptians must have thought so; for several years the Met Museum’s gift shop has sold toys, socks, pens, magnets, and even men’s boxers with the image of “William,” “The Met’s blue hippopotamus from ancient Egypt.” They don’t explain why they named the critter William.

    Anyway, for a mere $18, you can wear William underneath your usual trousers/jeans/Bermudas . . . .

    https://store.metmuseum.org/discover/william

  7. Every year Hippo attacks kill around 500 people – more than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes and rhinos put together. You definitely want to stay away from Hippos.

    Reminds me of how many people see moose and buffaloes and think they’re harmless too and that you can safely go right up to them. (You know, because they’re kind of cute.)

  8. Reminds me of how many people see moose and buffaloes and think they’re harmless too and that you can safely go right up to them. (You know, because they’re kind of cute.)

    How many?

  9. How many?

    Too many. I know there’s the famous video (up on youtube) of the lady getting thrown out of her pants when she tried to get too close to one. (Plus the senior citizen who tried to walk by a moose to get into his gym in I think Alaska. He got stomped to death.)

  10. If you know of or read any normie Democrat blogs, how are they dealing with the New York Times and Washington Post essentially declaring open season on Biden? The ones I know are still in the denial stage of “What are people upset about?” or “The President can’t really do very much.”

    Mike

  11. NEO:

    I dunno if you’ve noticed it, but there’s a lot of shit going down in the Netherlands.

    I seem to recall you’d said something briefly.

    Michael Yon has a lot to say about it.

    Recommended. Yon is everything a REAL journalist is supposed to be.

  12. At Yellowstone there are many warnings from Park Rangers and signs telling you not to get too close to the animals, not to step off the walkways at hot springs, yet one or two people a year are killed in the Park and, I’m sure, many more injured there each year.

    One recent story I saw had someone-very likely intoxicated in some way–stepping off the walkway at night and ending up dead, boiled alive in a hot spring.

    There was a recent report that another couple of dummies got permanently banned, after they were caught roasting a chicken in a hot spring, never mind what we were told was the very delicate ecology–the balance of heat, minerals, and bacteria–in each hot spring.

    They warn tourists not to get out of their cars when they encounter Bison yet, I’ve seen someone set up a tripod for their camera next to their car in the midst of a herd of many dozens of Bison, some only a few feet away.

    Moreover, I posted a video here several weeks ago showing a tourist in a field getting closer and closer to a Bison to “get a good shot,” and the Bison turned on her, hooked her with it’s horn, and threw her several feet in the air.

    But, what did this woman, who looked like she might be an older adult, do after she landed?

    Got back up and walked up close to the same animal again to make sure she “got her shot.”

    Some people are just so stupid and/or couldn’t care less what they spoil for everyone else.

    Boobus Americanus indeed.

  13. There are hordes of modern Americans that throw around the term “ natural” in such a way that it is used in place of “ harmless” or “ automatically good for you”. I like to remind people that poison ivy is “ all natural”, “ organic” and “ non-GMO”.
    In a similar vein, as Neo mentioned recently, it is hard to find low dose vitamins in stores now. Too many of our fellow Americans seem to think that if it is good for you, how could you ever get too much?

  14. I should say “ low dose multi vitamins.”

    Some years ago I had a friend who questioned how the sun could give someone skin cancer since it is “ natural” ?

    Philosophically, the elevation of “if it is natural it must be good for you” is at odds with both Darwinism and traditional Judeo-Christian understanding about the “ fallen” or “ cursed” earth bringing forth “thorns and thistles”.

    Of course, there is still good things here. If you can get the same crop yields without insecticide, go for it. Generally, That is a lot easier in colder climates than warm ones. Less bugs if they freeze to death every winter.

  15. From the World Economic Forum:

    The colour of democracy is green: Why a clean energy transition is also vital to safeguarding liberty

    For the past 15 years, democracy has been in decline worldwide. To protect and promote freedom, leading democracies must strengthen their economies and safeguard liberty.

    These two aims are not mutually exclusive but complementary. Reducing reliance on fossil fuels and transitioning to low-carbon alternatives also make democratic economies more sustainable. Major democracies should work together to achieve these two goals.

    Democracy and greenness are linked

    Evidence for 83 advanced, emerging market and developing countries indicates that in recent years democracies have been more willing to adopt green recovery policies, lessen fossil fuel dependency and reduce the underpricing of these fuels (see table).

    Greenness causes democracy or democracy causes greenness? It must one or the other because you see there is this correlation.

    Oh, wait. Greenness makes democracy sustainable in some undefined future (covering all bases), if the governments don’t go broke first.

  16. Statistically you are very safe around wild animals (?), unfortunately it really sucks to be the fluke, the unfortunate dead outlier.

    Mule deer have killed at least one visitor in Yosemite National Park, stomped him with those sharp hard hooves IIRC. In the valley not the backcountry.

    Hippos come out of the water at night and forage in local farmer’s fields, trample and gore people. They are big, you aren’t, and not sorry at all.

  17. Once upon a time, my late MIL (who thought I walked on water) was showing me the local game park. She was driving and I was in the front passenger seat of her Jeep. As we came up to the bison, I had a pretty good idea what was going to happen, so I put the window up. My dear MIL of course put the window back down and locked out local control. Sure enough, I had a big smelly bison stick his face in the car window and start waving his foot long black tongue in my face. I tried to push his face away, but I might as well have been trying to push the Rock of Gibraltar. And buffalo breath, just wow.

  18. When we were in Africa, we saw many hippos – all but one in the water. We were told they didn’t come out during the day as they needed the moisture on their skin. As long as they were in the water, and you were on land it wasn’t a problem. Wandering around near rivers and lakes after dark was dangerous. At one lodge that was near a river, we had to have an armed guard escort us to our cabin after dark.

    One day in the Nguru, Nguru Crater we saw a hippo running across a grassy field in midday. And that fat, enormous critter was really booking it. Very fast for such bulk. Our guide had no explanation. He had never seen a hippo out of water in the daytime. The hippo paid no attention to us. It had a destination in mind (probably the nearest water hole) and wasn’t noticing anything around it. Would not have wanted to be in its path. It was a rather unique and memorable experience.

  19. He knows of three deaths, but BigD never mentioned death. BigD mentioned harm. Alaska Fish and Game seem to think moose are dangerous

    I was thinking of this case where an elderly man was killed by a moose. It was a cow protecting her calf FWIW.

  20. Canadian moose are more polite and accommodating than American moose (except of course for the Minnesota variety).

  21. om–

    Canadian moose may be polite and accommodating, but Canadian geese are now considered an invasive species. They are widely detested for the quantity of their droppings (as much as a pound per goose per day) as well as for their infectiousness. Branta canadensis can spread Salmonella spp., Chlamydia, Listeria, Pasteurella multocida, and E. coli, and if one of them bites you, best pay a quick visit to the ER. In addition, B. canadensis is responsible for at least two airplane accidents, one at Elmendorf AFB in 1995 that caused the deaths of 24 airmen, and the other that made Captain Chesley Sullenberger famous in 2009.

    I think the geese should be deported back across the border to Trudeau’s front lawn.

  22. “Boobus Americanus”

    Don’t be too hard on us, Snow. I’ve been saying for years that if there were such a thing as a “Stupid Jail”, where people who do something stupid, serve time, we would all be ex-cons. I certainly would be.

    My Yellowstone bison experience:

    A friend and I are avid photographers and took a trip to Yellowstone to take pictures. There are signs everywhere warning you about the dangers of wildlife and we were both very careful about approaching bears or bison or elk or other dangerous critters. However, as we were leaving the park heading to the north gate, we spied a small herd of bison grazing in a meadow about 100 yards off the road. I thought they were more than far enough away to not be a problem and it was very picturesque, so we stopped. I was right there on the side of the road framing my shot of the nearest grazing buffalo – a large bull – when suddenly a flash unit popped and the bison stopped grazing. He raised his head and looked right at **ME**. (My friend had popped the flash. He told me later that he thought he had turned it off.) Anyway, I stood perfectly still as Mr. buffalo stared directly at me. I could almost read his mind as he shook his head once, muttered “Effin tourists!” and went back to grazing. Yep. Stupid jail.

    When we got back in the car and proceeded to our next stop, I told my friend: “Never forget. I don’t have to outrun the buffalo, I only have to outrun YOU!”

  23. I remember an interview with a Yellowstone Park Ranger, who told of a woman he saw, smearing peanut butter on her son’s face.

    He asked why she was doing that, and she said she wanted to get a photo of one of the bears licking the peanut butter off of the kid’s face.

  24. There are hordes of modern Americans that throw around the term “ natural” in such a way that it is used in place of “ harmless” or “ automatically good for you”. I like to remind people that poison ivy is “ all natural”, “ organic” and “ non-GMO”.

    jon baker:

    Jefferson Airplane on Line 2:
    ____________________________________

    You say nothing’s right but natural things
    Ah, you fool
    Poison oak is a natural plant
    Why don’t you put some in your food

    Natural food
    I don’t care if there’s chemicals in it
    Is long as my lettuce is crisp
    Preservatives might just be preserving you
    I think that’s something you missed

    –Jefferson Airplane, “Eat Starch Mom” (1972)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMb7iunzAss

  25. Spent some time trekking in the Okavango delta. We would set up base camp on an island, then take day hikes from base. Each time my Botswanan guide would remind us to be silent, and to not run if we encountered predators. And we were and did not.

    One AM we saw spotted a hippo about 40 yards ahead, jogging E-W to our N-S. The guide slowly turned his head and whispered: If I say run, run. Yep, pxxp just got real. We froze and the hippo never detected our presence.

    Afterwards our guide told us it was very rare to encounter a hippo on land, during the day. And if it had known we were there, it would have charged us. Also, you cannot out run a hippo, and it will kill you. So, at that point it would be every man for himself.

    Never saw him sweat over elephants just 10 feet away, or hippos we observed from our dugouts at 15 yards. But he did admit to having a little quicker pulse over the hippo encounter on land.

    I’ll add that I slept through elephants and lions coming through camp at night, but the night a honey badger came into camp – and tore up some cooking gear – none dared to come out of their tent and drive it off. Yep, another African animal you do not want to mess with.

    ***
    @JJ

    Decades ago I trekked Mt. Meru, which is near Ngurudoto crater/ Arusha NP. Besides a permit, I was also required to hire an armed guide. That was not for show, slopes of Meu – unlike Kili – were still very wild, had very few trekkers (met only 1 trekker entire time), and had plenty of wildlife that can cause serious injury/ death. Can still vividly recall a Cape Buffalo bull that we thought for sure was going to charge us. East Africa is amazing, sure you had a great time.

  26. “Dare I ask how one contracts chlamydia from Canadian geese?”

    Very carefully.

    Mike

  27. Geese crap on the grass, uncaring, uncareful people don’t care where they couple. S*** gets into everything.

    Rocket science.

  28. that guy: “East Africa is amazing, sure you had a great time.”

    Yep. Memories that are vivid and lasting. Every day was a new adventure. Absorbing all we saw and experienced was like drinking from a firehose. Just a peak experience. We’re lucky to have had it and I’m pretty sure you would say the same.

  29. I found this at the Wiki page for hippos, and it really surprised me: “the closest living relatives of the Hippopotamidae are cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises, etc.), from which they diverged about 55 million years ago.” Would not have guessed that.

  30. And just in time for the coming economic earthquake…
    “Visualizing Earth’s Tectonic Plates”—
    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/visualizing-earths-tectonic-plates
    – – – – – – –
    Meanwhile, Twitter’s taking the moral high ground.
    (And if that doesn’t have you rolling on the floor in hysterical laughter…then it’s likely that nothing will.)
    ‘Twitter Lawyers Respond To Elon Musk: “Deal Termination Is Invalid And Wrongful” ‘—
    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/twitter-lawyers-respond-elon-musk-deal-termination-invalid-and-wrongful

    …and “hurtful”, too. They shoulda added “hurtful”. “Dreadfully hurtful”….
    – – – – – –
    Even as Dr. Jill was showing off her extraordinary mastery of Spanish…
    “…Hispanic Association Slams Jill Biden For Comparing Latinos To ‘Breakfast Tacos'”—
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/we-are-not-tacos-hispanic-association-slams-jill-biden-comparing-latinos-breakfast-tacos
    Coulda been worse; she coulda called ’em “empanadas”…

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