Search
1000 results for “tail_call”
-
The premise of Pop Goes the Cryptid is that the view of doubtful animals (cryptids) has shifted from being a potentially scientific effort of zoological discovery called “cryptozoology” to that of being a media-driven, cultural and commercialized pop culture phenomenon. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t still efforts to find hidden mystery creatures but, more often, the cryptid has a more “folk” importance. An excellent example of a pop cryptid, and one that is currently exploding in popularity, is the Hodag, the mascot of Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
Modernly depicted as a stocky, aggressive, green-black, feline-frog-dinosaur mash-up with red eyes, huge claws, a spiny-ridged back, and fearsome saber-teeth, the Hodag’s origin is obscure. Existing historically, and orally, as a tale of lumberjack folklore in the northwoods, the Hodag legend was reimagined, and solidified, by storyteller and jokester Gene Shepard in the closing decade of the 1800s. Shepard brought various pieces together from tall tales and Ojibwa legends, and, using wood, ox hide, and some accomplices, created a wondrous piece of fakelore.
The ancestor of the Hodag is considered to be Mishipeshu, the spirit creature of the native tribes of the Great Lakes area and northwoods. This “great lynx” was depicted as powerful, and dangerous, with a spiky back and tail, and it lived in the deepest parts of lakes and rivers. Mishipeshu is commonly referred to as the water panther. Some historians believe that the mishipeshu figure had a part to play in the Hodag heritage that Shepard (who spoke Ojibwa) used to bring the modern Hodag legend to life.
Mishipeshu pictograph on Agawa Rock at Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada.In William Cox’s Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods (1910) (see the 100th Anniversary hypertext edition), the Hodag’s appearance is ridiculous, giving us ample foundation to conclude this creature was a made-up story from the Wisconsin and Minnesota lumber camps. Cox notes that it was reportedly rhinoceros-like, hairless and intelligent, and that its body color may be plaid, like the lumberjack coat. Its nose has a spade-shaped horn that grows in an outward direction, blocking the creature’s line of vision so that it can only look up. It searches for porcupines in the trees. When it finds one, it digs around the host tree (with its shovel-nose) so that it falls over, dislodging the porcupine, which is then eaten by the Hodag. For the winter, the Hodag covers itself in pine pitch, rolls in the leaves, and stays warm.
Depiction of Hodag by Cox’s illustrator Coert DuBoisOther legends also indicate the Hodag was some 7 feet long and the reincarnated spirit of the study oxen that dragged logs from the forest (and thus “scientifically named Bovine spiritualis). Early tales never indicated it was a genuine zoological animal. However, it’s not inconceivable that its aggressive nature might have been influenced by the wolverine – which was killed off in those parts by around the 1870s.
From Philadelphia Inquirer, 1897While the tale was known prior to 1893, Eugene Shepard, from Rhinelander, crafted the mythical Hodag into a creature for his own greater purposes. He claimed to have found one in 1893 in the swamplands. He wrote for the local newspaper detailing his account and it was a hit.
In 1895, he created a model out of wood and real animal parts, staging a photo with local men playing along to depict its capture. This is the Hodag we know and love.
In 1896, he staged a side-show “display” of the creature for the Oneida fair and then traveled with it. There was no real animal in the display, but that was not the point – it was the great story that people wanted to see and hear. Check out these pieces to learn about Shepard’s creation and how he was like the P.T. Barnum of Rhinelander.
The Hodag: How Fakelore Became Real | Flyover Culture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zprRsGgLEo
Hodag: The Fearsome Creature Roaming American Wilderness – Real History channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpkMlzJxgfs
The Hodag now had a specific form and was known to be very dangerous and stinky, but it wasn’t only the creature that smelled funny. The newspapers spreading Shepard’s story sometimes led readers outside the Northwoods to believe that outrageous animal tales like this were true. Some people may have thought the Hodag was real. Shepard continued the ruse by leaving his motives unclear. He suggested that he had really found a Hodag but let it go and said it was a hoax in order to protect it.
What a great logo for the local high school team!But for Rhinelander, Wisconsin residents, it was no hoax. It is an important part of their heritage. They adopted the Hodag as the town mascot in 1918. Even though there was a dispute in the town about how much to embrace the “fakelore” Hodag, ultimately, the creature won the hearts of the town. As sometimes happens, the “fakelore” was widely accepted and morphed into real folklore. As UW-Madison folklore professor Lowell Brower noted (in the Flyover Culture video above), the Hodag created by Shepard was “folkloresque” – based on folklore and drew its power from that. Rhinelander “lovingly appropriated and commercialized” the legend. It appears everywhere in the town and draws visitors that would otherwise never look twice at the small town in Northern Wisconsin.
Today’s Hodag is based on Shepard’s tale, not the lumberjack tale memorialized in Cox’s 1910 volume. In some depictions, the Hodag now resembles the original Chupacabra (spiky back, red eyes, sharp teeth and claws, and a lizard tongue). The ambiguity of the hodag invites participation, and people are happy to act out the legend (called “ostention) by pretending it’s real and even hunting for the creature. The fact that the Hodag was a known hoax did not stop people from wanting to see it.
The latest claims to fame for the Hodag is its appearance in a 2012 Scooby-Doo episode, where “Gene Shepard” appears as a showman with a traveling cabinet of curiosities.
The Hodag also has an entry in the Harry Potter universe book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them where their horns were said to have magical properties to keep people awake for days and be unaffected by alcohol.
You can find lots of Hodags in the Hodag store in Rhinelander, where the owner Ben Brunell says the symbol brings the community together. He opened the store because people wanted Hodag souvenirs. A traveling Hodag exhibit appeared at the 2024 Mothman festival and at many other places across the US. And you can stay at the Hodag AirBnB which is also crawling with the creatures. So while the legend of the Hodag is flourishing, a real flesh and blood creature will, by its non-nature, be impossible to find.
Bibliography and More:
- The Rhinelander Visitors Page – https://explorerhinelander.com/
- The Rhinelander Chamber of Commerce – About the Hodag https://www.rhinelanderchamber.com/about-the-hodag/
- Wisconsin Historical Society – The Hodag: Learn the history of the Hodag, Rhinelander’s mystical menace https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS16353
- Pioneer Park Historical Complex https://rhinelanderpphc.com/hodags/
https://moderncryptozoology.wordpress.com/2024/10/10/hodag-wisconsins-homegrown-and-beloved-monster/
#cryptid #cryptids #Cryptozoology #Folklore #GeneShepard #Hodag #lumberjackTales #mascot #Mishipeshu #monster #Ojibwe #PopCryptid #Rhinelander #tallTales #Wisconsin
-
The premise of Pop Goes the Cryptid is that the view of doubtful animals (cryptids) has shifted from being a potentially scientific effort of zoological discovery called “cryptozoology” to that of being a media-driven, cultural and commercialized pop culture phenomenon. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t still efforts to find hidden mystery creatures but, more often, the cryptid has a more “folk” importance. An excellent example of a pop cryptid, and one that is currently exploding in popularity, is the Hodag, the mascot of Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
Modernly depicted as a stocky, aggressive, green-black, feline-frog-dinosaur mash-up with red eyes, huge claws, a spiny-ridged back, and fearsome saber-teeth, the Hodag’s origin is obscure. Existing historically, and orally, as a tale of lumberjack folklore in the northwoods, the Hodag legend was reimagined, and solidified, by storyteller and jokester Gene Shepard in the closing decade of the 1800s. Shepard brought various pieces together from tall tales and Ojibwa legends, and, using wood, ox hide, and some accomplices, created a wondrous piece of fakelore.
The ancestor of the Hodag is considered to be Mishipeshu, the spirit creature of the native tribes of the Great Lakes area and northwoods. This “great lynx” was depicted as powerful, and dangerous, with a spiky back and tail, and it lived in the deepest parts of lakes and rivers. Mishipeshu is commonly referred to as the water panther. Some historians believe that the mishipeshu figure had a part to play in the Hodag heritage that Shepard (who spoke Ojibwa) used to bring the modern Hodag legend to life.
Mishipeshu pictograph on Agawa Rock at Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada.In William Cox’s Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods (1910) (see the 100th Anniversary hypertext edition), the Hodag’s appearance is ridiculous, giving us ample foundation to conclude this creature was a made-up story from the Wisconsin and Minnesota lumber camps. Cox notes that it was reportedly rhinoceros-like, hairless and intelligent, and that its body color may be plaid, like the lumberjack coat. Its nose has a spade-shaped horn that grows in an outward direction, blocking the creature’s line of vision so that it can only look up. It searches for porcupines in the trees. When it finds one, it digs around the host tree (with its shovel-nose) so that it falls over, dislodging the porcupine, which is then eaten by the Hodag. For the winter, the Hodag covers itself in pine pitch, rolls in the leaves, and stays warm.
Depiction of Hodag by Cox’s illustrator Coert DuBoisOther legends also indicate the Hodag was some 7 feet long and the reincarnated spirit of the study oxen that dragged logs from the forest (and thus “scientifically named Bovine spiritualis). Early tales never indicated it was a genuine zoological animal. However, it’s not inconceivable that its aggressive nature might have been influenced by the wolverine – which was killed off in those parts by around the 1870s.
From Philadelphia Inquirer, 1897While the tale was known prior to 1893, Eugene Shepard, from Rhinelander, crafted the mythical Hodag into a creature for his own greater purposes. He claimed to have found one in 1893 in the swamplands. He wrote for the local newspaper detailing his account and it was a hit.
In 1895, he created a model out of wood and real animal parts, staging a photo with local men playing along to depict its capture. This is the Hodag we know and love.
In 1896, he staged a side-show “display” of the creature for the Oneida fair and then traveled with it. There was no real animal in the display, but that was not the point – it was the great story that people wanted to see and hear. Check out these pieces to learn about Shepard’s creation and how he was like the P.T. Barnum of Rhinelander.
The Hodag: How Fakelore Became Real | Flyover Culture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zprRsGgLEo
Hodag: The Fearsome Creature Roaming American Wilderness – Real History channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpkMlzJxgfs
The Hodag now had a specific form and was known to be very dangerous and stinky, but it wasn’t only the creature that smelled funny. The newspapers spreading Shepard’s story sometimes led readers outside the Northwoods to believe that outrageous animal tales like this were true. Some people may have thought the Hodag was real. Shepard continued the ruse by leaving his motives unclear. He suggested that he had really found a Hodag but let it go and said it was a hoax in order to protect it.
What a great logo for the local high school team!But for Rhinelander, Wisconsin residents, it was no hoax. It is an important part of their heritage. They adopted the Hodag as the town mascot in 1918. Even though there was a dispute in the town about how much to embrace the “fakelore” Hodag, ultimately, the creature won the hearts of the town. As sometimes happens, the “fakelore” was widely accepted and morphed into real folklore. As UW-Madison folklore professor Lowell Brower noted (in the Flyover Culture video above), the Hodag created by Shepard was “folkloresque” – based on folklore and drew its power from that. Rhinelander “lovingly appropriated and commercialized” the legend. It appears everywhere in the town and draws visitors that would otherwise never look twice at the small town in Northern Wisconsin.
Today’s Hodag is based on Shepard’s tale, not the lumberjack tale memorialized in Cox’s 1910 volume. In some depictions, the Hodag now resembles the original Chupacabra (spiky back, red eyes, sharp teeth and claws, and a lizard tongue). The ambiguity of the hodag invites participation, and people are happy to act out the legend (called “ostention) by pretending it’s real and even hunting for the creature. The fact that the Hodag was a known hoax did not stop people from wanting to see it.
The latest claims to fame for the Hodag is its appearance in a 2012 Scooby-Doo episode, where “Gene Shepard” appears as a showman with a traveling cabinet of curiosities.
The Hodag also has an entry in the Harry Potter universe book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them where their horns were said to have magical properties to keep people awake for days and be unaffected by alcohol.
You can find lots of Hodags in the Hodag store in Rhinelander, where the owner Ben Brunell says the symbol brings the community together. He opened the store because people wanted Hodag souvenirs. A traveling Hodag exhibit appeared at the 2024 Mothman festival and at many other places across the US. And you can stay at the Hodag AirBnB which is also crawling with the creatures. So while the legend of the Hodag is flourishing, a real flesh and blood creature will, by its non-nature, be impossible to find.
Bibliography and More:
- The Rhinelander Visitors Page – https://explorerhinelander.com/
- The Rhinelander Chamber of Commerce – About the Hodag https://www.rhinelanderchamber.com/about-the-hodag/
- Wisconsin Historical Society – The Hodag: Learn the history of the Hodag, Rhinelander’s mystical menace https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS16353
- Pioneer Park Historical Complex https://rhinelanderpphc.com/hodags/
https://moderncryptozoology.wordpress.com/2024/10/10/hodag-wisconsins-homegrown-and-beloved-monster/
#cryptid #cryptids #Cryptozoology #Folklore #GeneShepard #Hodag #lumberjackTales #mascot #Mishipeshu #monster #Ojibwe #PopCryptid #Rhinelander #tallTales #Wisconsin
-
Daspletosaurus (Haolonggood)
4.1 (36 votes)As Waylay bursts out from concealment, the big male champsosaur that was basking placidly on a sandbank immediately slides into the water.* But the pools in these marshlands are half a metre deep at most and Waylay simply wades in and seizes the fleeing reptile’s tail in her jaws. Her victim flails and twists and snaps its narrow jaws frantically as she drags it back onto dry land, but all to no avail. Waylay plants her foot on top of its back, releases her grip on the tail, and then chomps down decisively on the back of its neck. The champsosaur dies instantly and Waylay squats down to enjoy her first fresh meal in days . . .
A most happy thanks to Happy Hen Toys for this review sample of the “Lu Zhi Sheng” Daspletosaurus by Haolonggood (the other version being “Wu Song”)! This frightful lizard is sculpted with the left foot planted down and the right foot in the midst of being raised. The arms are bent at the elbows with the hands facing down, the head is turned slightly to the left, and the tail is also swinging to the left. Perfect as either an orambulating, hunting, or pursuing pose. Pretty stable too, thankfully. And with a height of 9.5 cm and a length of 29.5 cm, it’s one of the largest Daspletosaurus toys to date, considerably larger than the Wild Safari version and dwarfing the CollectA one. I call her Waylay.
Waylay’s base colour is a shade of medium brown with a lighter brown for her underbelly and black for her claws. Her head features dark brown over the premaxilla and maxilla regions, orange on the top of her snout and her brow ridges, bright blue eyes, and dull pink on her mandible. The inside of her mouth is dark pink with off white teeth. The back of her neck and the region over her shoulders is splashed with more dull pink and her hip region and thighs are splashed with dark brown. A mottled maroon pattern adorns her neck and shoulders. The rest of her torso is covered in the same pattern, but in very dark brown. And finally, her tail is speckled with the same shade of very dark brown. It’s a very elaborate, unique, and plausible colour scheme, and I quite like it. Mine unfortunately has a black blemish on the mouth tissue on either side, but it’s not big enough to ruin the toy for me.
Waylay, like other Haolonggood theropods, features a hinged lower jaw that opens to 30 degrees. The teeth inside her mouth are sharp and well-defined, as are her tongue and her palette. The teeth of Daspletosaurus, along with those of Tyrannosaurus rex, were used in a 2023 research study which famously concluded that theropods did indeed possess lizard-like lips that covered their teeth when their mouths were shut. Accordingly, Waylay has been sculpted with lips, although her mouth doesn’t quite close all the way shut. The regions around her mouth are covered with large scales, just like on the T. rexes from Beasts of the Mesozoic, Eofauna, and PNSO. This is also in keeping with the latest science. And of course, this wouldn’t be a proper Daspletosaurus without the signature triangular hornlets on its head. Unfortunately, Waylay’s have been placed directly above her orbits when they ought to be in front of them.
Waylay’s arms, however, are definitely correct: proportionally large for a tyrannosaurid and with non-pronated wrists, of course. Her hide has a fine small pebbled scale pattern all over, along with an ample but not overwhelming amount of wrinkles to give her an even more realistic appearance. No sculpted feathers at all, but as with the BotM T. rex, one can always pretend that they’re simply too miniscule to see at this scale. A cloaca is visible on the underside of her tail and her fingers and feet are covered in those familiar rows of scutellate scales. Interestingly, while she is bigger than the Safari Daspletosaurus, her pointed toe claws are in fact smaller. As with her teeth, this might be because Haolonggood isn’t as concerned with making their products child-friendly as Safari is.
Visible beneath Waylay’s scaly skin are massive muscles. Her neck, her shoulders, her legs, and her tail are all positively bulging, making her look like a true force to be reckoned with. Which is only fitting given that Daspletosaurus torosus, the species which I’m pretty sure this toy is intended to represent, was the largest known predatory dinosaur of its time, outsizing its contemporary Gorgosaurus. Most Daspletosaurus specimens are around 9 metres long and 2-3 tons in weight, but there’s one jumbo specimen, CMC VP 15826, AKA “Pete III,” that appears to have been 11 metres long and 5 tons in weight, which is closer to the likes of Tarbosaurus and Zhuchengtyrannus. And really, we shouldn’t be surprised by that, as yet another recent study has concluded that Daspletosaurus was indeed the ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex itself.
Now, if you’re curious as to whether I consider Waylay here to be better or inferior to the Safari Daspletosaurus that keeps getting mentioned, well, that’s a difficult question and I really don’t have a firm and decisive answer. They both represent D. torosus, they’re both beautifully sculpted, they both stand well without the need for extra support (yet), and they’re both very accurate. Waylay has those extra large scales around her mouth, but the Safari version has correctly placed hornlets.
Certain Daspletosaurus skulls bear toothmarks from vicious and painful battles.Waylay is much bigger, of course, and to be honest, I think she scales better with the Eofauna T. rex, the PNSO Gorgosaurus, and the Safari Albertosaurus seen below, especially given the existence of “Pete III.” One can always pretend that the Safari Daspletosaurus represents D. wilsoni, which lived earlier and was ancestral to D. torosus. But one should also keep in mind that Haolonggood products are significantly pricier than Safari ones, and are really not intended for collectors under the age of 14. So no, I’m not going to say which is the better buy. It all depends on what exactly you’re looking for.
Oh, and an additional selling point is that Waylay, just like the PNSO Gorgosaurus, can be pitted against any number of ankylosaurs, ceratopsians, and hadrosaurs in your collection which hail from either the Oldman Formation of Alberta or the Judith River Formation of Montana.
Closing in on the PNSO Lambeosaurus.Confronting the Safari Vagaceratops.Taking a hit from the Battat Euoplocephalus.Overall, the Haolonggood Daspletosaurus is a solid theropod toy, one well worth acquiring. The only real issue are the misplaced hornlets, but as with the blemishes on the mouth tissue, I’m not overly perturbed by them. Strongly recommended all the same. Hopefully Haolonggood has more tyrannosaur toys planned for the future, although personally, I’d greatly prefer it if we got the likes of Bistahieversor, Dynamoterror, and Teratophoneus as opposed to the more famous members of the dynasty, as none of those genera currently have toys at the 1/35 scale. Here’s hoping.
Thanks again to Happy Hen Toys, appreciate it a bunch!*Vintage paleoart by Ely Kish.
-
Daspletosaurus (Haolonggood)
4.1 (36 votes)As Waylay bursts out from concealment, the big male champsosaur that was basking placidly on a sandbank immediately slides into the water.* But the pools in these marshlands are half a metre deep at most and Waylay simply wades in and seizes the fleeing reptile’s tail in her jaws. Her victim flails and twists and snaps its narrow jaws frantically as she drags it back onto dry land, but all to no avail. Waylay plants her foot on top of its back, releases her grip on the tail, and then chomps down decisively on the back of its neck. The champsosaur dies instantly and Waylay squats down to enjoy her first fresh meal in days . . .
A most happy thanks to Happy Hen Toys for this review sample of the “Lu Zhi Sheng” Daspletosaurus by Haolonggood (the other version being “Wu Song”)! This frightful lizard is sculpted with the left foot planted down and the right foot in the midst of being raised. The arms are bent at the elbows with the hands facing down, the head is turned slightly to the left, and the tail is also swinging to the left. Perfect as either an orambulating, hunting, or pursuing pose. Pretty stable too, thankfully. And with a height of 9.5 cm and a length of 29.5 cm, it’s one of the largest Daspletosaurus toys to date, considerably larger than the Wild Safari version and dwarfing the CollectA one. I call her Waylay.
Waylay’s base colour is a shade of medium brown with a lighter brown for her underbelly and black for her claws. Her head features dark brown over the premaxilla and maxilla regions, orange on the top of her snout and her brow ridges, bright blue eyes, and dull pink on her mandible. The inside of her mouth is dark pink with off white teeth. The back of her neck and the region over her shoulders is splashed with more dull pink and her hip region and thighs are splashed with dark brown. A mottled maroon pattern adorns her neck and shoulders. The rest of her torso is covered in the same pattern, but in very dark brown. And finally, her tail is speckled with the same shade of very dark brown. It’s a very elaborate, unique, and plausible colour scheme, and I quite like it. Mine unfortunately has a black blemish on the mouth tissue on either side, but it’s not big enough to ruin the toy for me.
Waylay, like other Haolonggood theropods, features a hinged lower jaw that opens to 30 degrees. The teeth inside her mouth are sharp and well-defined, as are her tongue and her palette. The teeth of Daspletosaurus, along with those of Tyrannosaurus rex, were used in a 2023 research study which famously concluded that theropods did indeed possess lizard-like lips that covered their teeth when their mouths were shut. Accordingly, Waylay has been sculpted with lips, although her mouth doesn’t quite close all the way shut. The regions around her mouth are covered with large scales, just like on the T. rexes from Beasts of the Mesozoic, Eofauna, and PNSO. This is also in keeping with the latest science. And of course, this wouldn’t be a proper Daspletosaurus without the signature triangular hornlets on its head. Unfortunately, Waylay’s have been placed directly above her orbits when they ought to be in front of them.
Waylay’s arms, however, are definitely correct: proportionally large for a tyrannosaurid and with non-pronated wrists, of course. Her hide has a fine small pebbled scale pattern all over, along with an ample but not overwhelming amount of wrinkles to give her an even more realistic appearance. No sculpted feathers at all, but as with the BotM T. rex, one can always pretend that they’re simply too miniscule to see at this scale. A cloaca is visible on the underside of her tail and her fingers and feet are covered in those familiar rows of scutellate scales. Interestingly, while she is bigger than the Safari Daspletosaurus, her pointed toe claws are in fact smaller. As with her teeth, this might be because Haolonggood isn’t as concerned with making their products child-friendly as Safari is.
Visible beneath Waylay’s scaly skin are massive muscles. Her neck, her shoulders, her legs, and her tail are all positively bulging, making her look like a true force to be reckoned with. Which is only fitting given that Daspletosaurus torosus, the species which I’m pretty sure this toy is intended to represent, was the largest known predatory dinosaur of its time, outsizing its contemporary Gorgosaurus. Most Daspletosaurus specimens are around 9 metres long and 2-3 tons in weight, but there’s one jumbo specimen, CMC VP 15826, AKA “Pete III,” that appears to have been 11 metres long and 5 tons in weight, which is closer to the likes of Tarbosaurus and Zhuchengtyrannus. And really, we shouldn’t be surprised by that, as yet another recent study has concluded that Daspletosaurus was indeed the ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex itself.
Now, if you’re curious as to whether I consider Waylay here to be better or inferior to the Safari Daspletosaurus that keeps getting mentioned, well, that’s a difficult question and I really don’t have a firm and decisive answer. They both represent D. torosus, they’re both beautifully sculpted, they both stand well without the need for extra support (yet), and they’re both very accurate. Waylay has those extra large scales around her mouth, but the Safari version has correctly placed hornlets.
Certain Daspletosaurus skulls bear toothmarks from vicious and painful battles.Waylay is much bigger, of course, and to be honest, I think she scales better with the Eofauna T. rex, the PNSO Gorgosaurus, and the Safari Albertosaurus seen below, especially given the existence of “Pete III.” One can always pretend that the Safari Daspletosaurus represents D. wilsoni, which lived earlier and was ancestral to D. torosus. But one should also keep in mind that Haolonggood products are significantly pricier than Safari ones, and are really not intended for collectors under the age of 14. So no, I’m not going to say which is the better buy. It all depends on what exactly you’re looking for.
Oh, and an additional selling point is that Waylay, just like the PNSO Gorgosaurus, can be pitted against any number of ankylosaurs, ceratopsians, and hadrosaurs in your collection which hail from either the Oldman Formation of Alberta or the Judith River Formation of Montana.
Closing in on the PNSO Lambeosaurus.Confronting the Safari Vagaceratops.Taking a hit from the Battat Euoplocephalus.Overall, the Haolonggood Daspletosaurus is a solid theropod toy, one well worth acquiring. The only real issue are the misplaced hornlets, but as with the blemishes on the mouth tissue, I’m not overly perturbed by them. Strongly recommended all the same. Hopefully Haolonggood has more tyrannosaur toys planned for the future, although personally, I’d greatly prefer it if we got the likes of Bistahieversor, Dynamoterror, and Teratophoneus as opposed to the more famous members of the dynasty, as none of those genera currently have toys at the 1/35 scale. Here’s hoping.
Thanks again to Happy Hen Toys, appreciate it a bunch!*Vintage paleoart by Ely Kish.
-
Today for Car #3 we have an interesting one!
This is the “Red European Sports Convertible” driven by Souta's friend Serizawa in the recent Anime film “Suzume”. Now why do I call it a “Red European Sports Convertible”? When I watched the movie I immediately thought “Oh, it's an Alfa Romeo Giulia Convertible, nice!”. It was only afterward that I noticed that first, the Giulia is a 4-door sedan and was never offered as a 2-door coupe/cabriolet, and second, that so many details on this car are screaming BMW instead of Alfa. So this car is clearly a fictional blend of the two brands, supported by the novel the movie is based on, in it being called a “red BMW”. In my theory, it's a blend of the Alfa Giulia and the BMW 4 series F33 Convertible.
If we look at the front the striking lines of the grill and side pods are clearly Giulia, especially the GTA model. The headlights, while having a similar shape, feature the twin lights and “eyelids” of the F33. If we look at the side profile it also looks almost exactly like the F33, notice the way the tail light wraps around and connects to the line that runs the entire side of the car starting from the front wheel arch, a core BMW design feature. Interesting is also the convertible hard-top. Not many cars were built with one and the mechanism looks almost identical to that of the F33. Additionally the top features the famous “Hofmeister-Kink” at its rear window, a feature present on all BMWs since the 1960s (it's also on the Giulia though). If we look at the back it turns into a Giulia once more, featuring similar tail lights and diffusor/exhaust style to the Quadrifoglio, that don’t seem BMW at all. The Spoiler also has the same basic shape as the one found on the Giulia GTA models.
There doesn’t seem to be a single design aspect that can't be found on either one of the two cars, except maybe the way the top sits in the trunk once folded down, making this fictional car almost a perfect blend to the point I didn’t notice anything off while watching the movie. Having sat in an F82 and Giulia before, I can say with confidence that Alfa should consider making the Giulia Convertible a reality, as it would make for a great cruiser! Sadly the development costs would most likely be too high, as well as hard-tops already being on the way out. BMW only offered this for two generations in the E93 and F33 before moving back to only soft-tops in their current lineup. Hard-tops are just too heavy and complex, as seen in the movie with the roof being broken and unable to be closed fully).
#cars #car #anime #alfaromeo #giulia #bmw #f33 #suzume -
#BigOil’s Plan To #Criminalize #Pipeline #Protests
By ExposedByCMD Editors
| June 18th, 2024
at 12:21 PM (CDT)"#AnneWhiteHat found herself facing up to 10 years in prison after she was arrested for two counts of felony trespassing in September 2018 under one such law, which had just taken effect in Louisiana following pressure from oil and gas lobbyists.
She was one of four Native women who founded a resistance camp called L’eau Est La Vie, which was organizing nonviolent direct actions in protest of the #BayouBridgePipeline — a now-operating 163-mile pipeline owned by #EnergyTransfer that transports crude oil throughout the state. The protests ranged from a rendition of 'Crawfish the Musical' on the construction site to protesters locking themselves to pipeline equipment to tree sits in the centuries-old cypresses the company planned to tear down.
"The Bayou Bridge pipeline is the tail end of the #DakotaAccess route — White Hat had already joined her relatives to participate in the resistance camp at Standing Rock in North Dakota. 'I felt like it was a righteous cause, not to let them comfortably continue to threaten the waters of Indigenous #FirstNations,' she said. 'I was inspired from the work up North and just couldn’t let them continue down here unanswered and unchecked.'
White Hat had just finished leading a prayer ceremony when she was arrested at a boat ramp miles from the pipeline construction site. She was hauled into a sheriff deputy’s car with two other women and driven through tall sugar cane fields on the way to jail.
'It was terrifying,' said White Hat. 'We’re way out in the middle of nowhere. I was like, ‘Is this the point where I actually disappear?’
Investigative journalist Karen Savage was arrested that day, too — her second arrest under felony trespass charges as she reported on the Bayou Bridge protests. She was one of the only reporters to travel to the Atchafalaya Basin swamp, where the pipeline was being constructed.
By the time the water protectors got to the swamp, Savage said, they 'had done everything — they went to public meetings, they had petitions, they wrote letters, they tried to meet with the governor — they did everything they tell you in school, to participate and use your civil obligation in your community.' Despite their best efforts in one of the most oil- and gas-friendly states in the country, said Savage, 'nobody was listening.'"
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/06/18/big-oils-plan-to-criminalize-pipeline-protests/
#BigOilAndGas #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #HumanRightsViolations #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders
#DirectAction #CorporateFascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists #NoDAPL -
#BigOil’s Plan To #Criminalize #Pipeline #Protests
By ExposedByCMD Editors
| June 18th, 2024
at 12:21 PM (CDT)"#AnneWhiteHat found herself facing up to 10 years in prison after she was arrested for two counts of felony trespassing in September 2018 under one such law, which had just taken effect in Louisiana following pressure from oil and gas lobbyists.
She was one of four Native women who founded a resistance camp called L’eau Est La Vie, which was organizing nonviolent direct actions in protest of the #BayouBridgePipeline — a now-operating 163-mile pipeline owned by #EnergyTransfer that transports crude oil throughout the state. The protests ranged from a rendition of 'Crawfish the Musical' on the construction site to protesters locking themselves to pipeline equipment to tree sits in the centuries-old cypresses the company planned to tear down.
"The Bayou Bridge pipeline is the tail end of the #DakotaAccess route — White Hat had already joined her relatives to participate in the resistance camp at Standing Rock in North Dakota. 'I felt like it was a righteous cause, not to let them comfortably continue to threaten the waters of Indigenous #FirstNations,' she said. 'I was inspired from the work up North and just couldn’t let them continue down here unanswered and unchecked.'
White Hat had just finished leading a prayer ceremony when she was arrested at a boat ramp miles from the pipeline construction site. She was hauled into a sheriff deputy’s car with two other women and driven through tall sugar cane fields on the way to jail.
'It was terrifying,' said White Hat. 'We’re way out in the middle of nowhere. I was like, ‘Is this the point where I actually disappear?’
Investigative journalist Karen Savage was arrested that day, too — her second arrest under felony trespass charges as she reported on the Bayou Bridge protests. She was one of the only reporters to travel to the Atchafalaya Basin swamp, where the pipeline was being constructed.
By the time the water protectors got to the swamp, Savage said, they 'had done everything — they went to public meetings, they had petitions, they wrote letters, they tried to meet with the governor — they did everything they tell you in school, to participate and use your civil obligation in your community.' Despite their best efforts in one of the most oil- and gas-friendly states in the country, said Savage, 'nobody was listening.'"
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/06/18/big-oils-plan-to-criminalize-pipeline-protests/
#BigOilAndGas #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #HumanRightsViolations #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders
#DirectAction #CorporateFascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists #NoDAPL -
#BigOil’s Plan To #Criminalize #Pipeline #Protests
By ExposedByCMD Editors
| June 18th, 2024
at 12:21 PM (CDT)"#AnneWhiteHat found herself facing up to 10 years in prison after she was arrested for two counts of felony trespassing in September 2018 under one such law, which had just taken effect in Louisiana following pressure from oil and gas lobbyists.
She was one of four Native women who founded a resistance camp called L’eau Est La Vie, which was organizing nonviolent direct actions in protest of the #BayouBridgePipeline — a now-operating 163-mile pipeline owned by #EnergyTransfer that transports crude oil throughout the state. The protests ranged from a rendition of 'Crawfish the Musical' on the construction site to protesters locking themselves to pipeline equipment to tree sits in the centuries-old cypresses the company planned to tear down.
"The Bayou Bridge pipeline is the tail end of the #DakotaAccess route — White Hat had already joined her relatives to participate in the resistance camp at Standing Rock in North Dakota. 'I felt like it was a righteous cause, not to let them comfortably continue to threaten the waters of Indigenous #FirstNations,' she said. 'I was inspired from the work up North and just couldn’t let them continue down here unanswered and unchecked.'
White Hat had just finished leading a prayer ceremony when she was arrested at a boat ramp miles from the pipeline construction site. She was hauled into a sheriff deputy’s car with two other women and driven through tall sugar cane fields on the way to jail.
'It was terrifying,' said White Hat. 'We’re way out in the middle of nowhere. I was like, ‘Is this the point where I actually disappear?’
Investigative journalist Karen Savage was arrested that day, too — her second arrest under felony trespass charges as she reported on the Bayou Bridge protests. She was one of the only reporters to travel to the Atchafalaya Basin swamp, where the pipeline was being constructed.
By the time the water protectors got to the swamp, Savage said, they 'had done everything — they went to public meetings, they had petitions, they wrote letters, they tried to meet with the governor — they did everything they tell you in school, to participate and use your civil obligation in your community.' Despite their best efforts in one of the most oil- and gas-friendly states in the country, said Savage, 'nobody was listening.'"
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/06/18/big-oils-plan-to-criminalize-pipeline-protests/
#BigOilAndGas #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #HumanRightsViolations #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders
#DirectAction #CorporateFascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists #NoDAPL -
#BigOil’s Plan To #Criminalize #Pipeline #Protests
By ExposedByCMD Editors
| June 18th, 2024
at 12:21 PM (CDT)"#AnneWhiteHat found herself facing up to 10 years in prison after she was arrested for two counts of felony trespassing in September 2018 under one such law, which had just taken effect in Louisiana following pressure from oil and gas lobbyists.
She was one of four Native women who founded a resistance camp called L’eau Est La Vie, which was organizing nonviolent direct actions in protest of the #BayouBridgePipeline — a now-operating 163-mile pipeline owned by #EnergyTransfer that transports crude oil throughout the state. The protests ranged from a rendition of 'Crawfish the Musical' on the construction site to protesters locking themselves to pipeline equipment to tree sits in the centuries-old cypresses the company planned to tear down.
"The Bayou Bridge pipeline is the tail end of the #DakotaAccess route — White Hat had already joined her relatives to participate in the resistance camp at Standing Rock in North Dakota. 'I felt like it was a righteous cause, not to let them comfortably continue to threaten the waters of Indigenous #FirstNations,' she said. 'I was inspired from the work up North and just couldn’t let them continue down here unanswered and unchecked.'
White Hat had just finished leading a prayer ceremony when she was arrested at a boat ramp miles from the pipeline construction site. She was hauled into a sheriff deputy’s car with two other women and driven through tall sugar cane fields on the way to jail.
'It was terrifying,' said White Hat. 'We’re way out in the middle of nowhere. I was like, ‘Is this the point where I actually disappear?’
Investigative journalist Karen Savage was arrested that day, too — her second arrest under felony trespass charges as she reported on the Bayou Bridge protests. She was one of the only reporters to travel to the Atchafalaya Basin swamp, where the pipeline was being constructed.
By the time the water protectors got to the swamp, Savage said, they 'had done everything — they went to public meetings, they had petitions, they wrote letters, they tried to meet with the governor — they did everything they tell you in school, to participate and use your civil obligation in your community.' Despite their best efforts in one of the most oil- and gas-friendly states in the country, said Savage, 'nobody was listening.'"
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/06/18/big-oils-plan-to-criminalize-pipeline-protests/
#BigOilAndGas #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #HumanRightsViolations #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders
#DirectAction #CorporateFascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists #NoDAPL -
#BigOil’s Plan To #Criminalize #Pipeline #Protests
By ExposedByCMD Editors
| June 18th, 2024
at 12:21 PM (CDT)"#AnneWhiteHat found herself facing up to 10 years in prison after she was arrested for two counts of felony trespassing in September 2018 under one such law, which had just taken effect in Louisiana following pressure from oil and gas lobbyists.
She was one of four Native women who founded a resistance camp called L’eau Est La Vie, which was organizing nonviolent direct actions in protest of the #BayouBridgePipeline — a now-operating 163-mile pipeline owned by #EnergyTransfer that transports crude oil throughout the state. The protests ranged from a rendition of 'Crawfish the Musical' on the construction site to protesters locking themselves to pipeline equipment to tree sits in the centuries-old cypresses the company planned to tear down.
"The Bayou Bridge pipeline is the tail end of the #DakotaAccess route — White Hat had already joined her relatives to participate in the resistance camp at Standing Rock in North Dakota. 'I felt like it was a righteous cause, not to let them comfortably continue to threaten the waters of Indigenous #FirstNations,' she said. 'I was inspired from the work up North and just couldn’t let them continue down here unanswered and unchecked.'
White Hat had just finished leading a prayer ceremony when she was arrested at a boat ramp miles from the pipeline construction site. She was hauled into a sheriff deputy’s car with two other women and driven through tall sugar cane fields on the way to jail.
'It was terrifying,' said White Hat. 'We’re way out in the middle of nowhere. I was like, ‘Is this the point where I actually disappear?’
Investigative journalist Karen Savage was arrested that day, too — her second arrest under felony trespass charges as she reported on the Bayou Bridge protests. She was one of the only reporters to travel to the Atchafalaya Basin swamp, where the pipeline was being constructed.
By the time the water protectors got to the swamp, Savage said, they 'had done everything — they went to public meetings, they had petitions, they wrote letters, they tried to meet with the governor — they did everything they tell you in school, to participate and use your civil obligation in your community.' Despite their best efforts in one of the most oil- and gas-friendly states in the country, said Savage, 'nobody was listening.'"
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/06/18/big-oils-plan-to-criminalize-pipeline-protests/
#BigOilAndGas #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #HumanRightsViolations #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders
#DirectAction #CorporateFascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists #NoDAPL -
#Caturday #Photography #CatsOfYore
"Spuds" as he came to be known. A mellow cat beyond belief. He started life on the streets, but was utterly inept at taking care of himself. He almost lost an eye, a leg, his tail. He did end up with a smashed jaw and a snaggle-tooth.
After taking him in for emergency care the *third* week in a row (for a "cat-engine interface" event, as the coworker who called us described it), we just adopted him.
No regrets.
For the record, this was my brother's idea
-
For #ArtAdventCalendar Day 15, another recent #FolktaleWeek2023 print I made for the prompt sleep. The baku of Japanese myth was a chimera creature made from leftover parts, with the body of a bear, the claws of a tiger, the tail of a cow, the trunk and tusks of an elephant with the ears and eyes of a rhinoceros, and it eats nightmares! You can call on it if you have bad dreams. 🧵1/2
#linocut #printmaking #baku #mythology #folklore #sleep #dreams #Yokai #JapaneseFolklore #MastoArt
-
20 years ago, I got in a (friendly) public spat with #ChrisAnderson, who was then the editor in chief of @WIRED. I'd publicly noted my disappointment with glowing *Wired* reviews of #DRM-encumbered digital devices, prompting Anderson to call me unrealistic for expecting the magazine to condemn gadgets for their DRM:
https://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2004/12/is_drm_evil.html
1/
-
20 years ago, I got in a (friendly) public spat with #ChrisAnderson, who was then the editor in chief of @WIRED. I'd publicly noted my disappointment with glowing *Wired* reviews of #DRM-encumbered digital devices, prompting Anderson to call me unrealistic for expecting the magazine to condemn gadgets for their DRM:
https://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2004/12/is_drm_evil.html
1/
-
20 years ago, I got in a (friendly) public spat with #ChrisAnderson, who was then the editor in chief of @WIRED. I'd publicly noted my disappointment with glowing *Wired* reviews of #DRM-encumbered digital devices, prompting Anderson to call me unrealistic for expecting the magazine to condemn gadgets for their DRM:
https://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2004/12/is_drm_evil.html
1/
-
20 years ago, I got in a (friendly) public spat with #ChrisAnderson, who was then the editor in chief of @WIRED. I'd publicly noted my disappointment with glowing *Wired* reviews of #DRM-encumbered digital devices, prompting Anderson to call me unrealistic for expecting the magazine to condemn gadgets for their DRM:
https://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2004/12/is_drm_evil.html
1/
-
20 years ago, I got in a (friendly) public spat with #ChrisAnderson, who was then the editor in chief of @WIRED. I'd publicly noted my disappointment with glowing *Wired* reviews of #DRM-encumbered digital devices, prompting Anderson to call me unrealistic for expecting the magazine to condemn gadgets for their DRM:
https://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2004/12/is_drm_evil.html
1/
-
Morning catch, 20230920
Here is a scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea), female I think, on her way to South America, I'm sure. She was hanging around in an oak tree beyond my fence. This is the first time to photograph one of these, maybe I'll see a male. Who knows.
"Male Scarlet Tanagers are among the most blindingly gorgeous birds in an eastern forest in summer, with blood-red bodies set off by jet-black wings and tail. They’re also one of the most frustratingly hard to find as they stay high in the forest canopy singing rich, burry songs. The yellowish-green, dark-winged females can be even harder to spot until you key in on this bird’s chick-burr call note. In fall, males trade red feathers for yellow-green and the birds take off for northern South America." - allaboutbirds.org
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #ScarletTanager
-
Sleek bird.
This blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) visited yesterday. Perhaps it was foraging for spiders among the crepe myrtles. Or maybe it was just curious about all of the birds around that area. Hmmm ... I think I may have photographed one of these before and mistook it for a tufted titmouse. I'll have to review old photos.
"A tiny, long-tailed bird of broadleaf forests and scrublands, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher makes itself known by its soft but insistent calls and its constant motion. It hops and sidles in dense outer foliage, foraging for insects and spiders. As it moves, this steely blue-gray bird conspicuously flicks its white-edged tail from side to side, scaring up insects and chasing after them. Pairs use spiderweb and lichens to build small, neat nests, which sit on top of branches and look like tree knots." - allaboutbirds.org
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #BlueGrayGnatcatcher
-
-
Retro SciFi Film of the Week…
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
Shortly after Sputnik but before astronauts walked on the Moon, the Soviets made a science fiction film called Paneta Bur (1962). Roger Corman bought the rights to the film, sliced and diced it, dubbed it, added a few scenes and the result was Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, released in ‘65.
The plot, the pace, just about everything is incomprehensible in this mess, but the cool part is all the 1960’s scifi props from the original Soviet film (which is probably what Corman was after when he bought it). It’s got a 60’s concept car with big fins, a Robbie Robot knockoff, reel-to-reel tape recorders, astronauts with fishbowl helmets using gunpowder pistols… it’s got just about everything you’d expect from a 60’s scifi film (see the parody trailer for some examples). ...and of course all of the factual science errors like gravity in a spaceship, campfires and animals on a planet with little oxygen, Venus is 200 million miles away, sounds in space and much more.
Corman made a sequel to this film, Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), which used much of the scenes from this film, but also added some women on the planet.
You don’t want to miss this one (unless you have anything else to do).
- - - -
Accessible video description:Parody trailer opens with title graphic, color is extremely under-saturated, almost black and white; a space station with astronauts walking on the outside like there’s gravity; a meteor whistles in space and crashes into one of the spaceships; guys walk around inside a space ship like there’s gravity, their lips are out of sync because the voices are dubbed; a 1960’s style concept car drives up with huge fins and a bubble top; a brunette woman with a beehive hairdo tries to reach guys on the radio; a robot opens the helmet visor of an astronaut who is in distress and puts a tablet in his mouth and pours water on his face and clumsily closes his helmet; an aquarium with a little turtle and goldfish, the concept car is behind the aquarium (pretending to be underwater), the astronauts are carrying the concept car; an old astronaut with a fishbowl helmet talks to a robot; the robot carries two astronauts on his shoulders through lava; a brontosaurus; an astronaut gets attacked by an fake alien monster puppet that looks like the one from The Little Shop of Horrors; the astronauts build a campfire on the planet with little oxygen; another brontosaurus with an astronaut playing with his tail; the astronauts fly the concept car and get attacked by a goofy-looking pterodactyl; an astronaut hurries into the rocket ship, they kick away the ladder, close the door and blast off from the planet.
#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #65 #film65 #movie65 #Venus #monster #dinosaur #spaceship #meteor #pterodactyl
-
When the time came to take #NASA’s Space #Shuttle #Discovery to the Smithsonian near Washington, the Shuttle Carrier #Aircraft was employed, as it usually was when the #SpaceShuttle needed to move.
This required the #Orbiter to be moved inside a truss-work structured called the Mate-Demate #Device, lifted up by cranes, and the #Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Airfcraft moved underneath for the Shuttle to be secured for transport.
An aerodynamic tail cone makes the #SCA easier to control.
The #MDD is next to the Shuttle Landing Facility.
#SpaceShuttleOrbiter, #SpaceShuttleDiscovery, #MateDemateDevice, #MDD, #ShuttleCarierAircraft, #Boeing747, #SCA, #ShuttleLandingFacility, #SLF, #Aviation, #AviationPhotography, #Spacecraft, #Photograph, #Photography, #Photo
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/discovery-mounted-on-the-shuttle-carrier-aircraft-heron-and-fox.html -
CW: The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy. "The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us." Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune
The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy.
"The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us."
Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune | Common Dreams -- JIM HIGHTOWER https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/supreme-court-is-corrupt
#PartisanCaptureOfJudiciary
#SupremePartisans
#JudicialEndRunAroundDemocracy
#GOPIsTheRichsTool
#WantTheirSerfsBack
#GOPHatesDemocracyQuestion: How many legs does a dog have if you count the tail as a leg? Answer: Four — calling the tail a leg doesn't make it one.
Likewise, calling a small group of partisan lawyers a "supreme" court doesn't make it one. There's nothing supreme about the six-pack of far-right-wing political activists who are presently soiling our people's ideals of justice by proclaiming their own antidemocratic biases to be the law of the land. On issues of economic fairness, women's rights, racial justice, corporate supremacy, environmental protection, theocratic rule and other fundamentals, these unelected, black-robed extremists are imposing an illegitimate elitist agenda on America that the people do not want and ultimately will not tolerate.
Indeed, the imperiousness of the six ruling judges has already caused the court's public approval rating to plummet, to a mere 38%, an historic low that ranks down there with former President Donald Trump, and threatens to go as low as Congress.
This has led to a flurry of officials attesting to the honesty and political impartiality of the reigning supremes. Unfortunately for the court, these ardent defenders were the six culprits themselves.
The "integrity of the judiciary is in my bones," pontificated Neil Gorsuch, who now stands accused of having lied to senators to win his lifetime appointment.
We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court.
"(We are not) a bunch of partisan hacks," wailed Amy Coney Barrett, a partisan extremist jammed onto the court in a partisan ploy by Trump in the last few hours of his presidency.
"Judges are not politicians," protested John Roberts, who became Chief Justice because he was a rabid political lawyer who pushed the Supreme Court in 2000 to reject the rights of voters and install George W. Bush as president.
As many of its own members privately admit, Congress has become a pay-to-play lawmaking casino — closed to commoners but offering full-service access to corporate powers.
But the Supreme Court is another government entity that's even more aloof from workaday people — and it has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us. The six-member, right-wing majority on this secretive powerhouse now routinely vetoes efforts by workers, environmentalist, students, local officials, voters and all others who try to rein in corporate greed and abuses.
Appointed for lifetime terms, this autocratic tribune takes pride in being sealed off from democracy, even bragging that they make rulings without being influenced by special interests. But wait — in makeup and ideology, today's court majority is a special interest, for it consists of corporate and right-wing lawyers who've obtained their wealth and position by loyally serving corporate power. And far from now being isolated from moneyed elites, the judges regularly socialize with them and attend their closed-door political meetings.
There's even a special little club, called The Supreme Court Historical Society, that frequently reveals the cozy, symbiotic relationship that exists between today's judicial and corporate cliques. Such giants as Chevron, Goldman Sachs, AT&T and Home Depot pay millions of dollars to this clubby society, gaining notice by and the appreciation of the supremes. And, yes, these special interest gifts to the court are gratefully accepted, even when the corporations have active cases before the court, seeking favorable rulings from the very judges they're glad-handing at Society soirees.
Of course, the judges insist there's no conflict of interest, because this access to them is "open to all." Sure — all who can pay $25,000 and up to get inside! Yet the clueless judges wonder why their credibility is in the ditch. Remember, in America, The People are supreme! We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court. For reform, go to FixTheCourt.com.""
-
CW: The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy. "The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us." Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune
The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy.
"The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us."
Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune | Common Dreams -- JIM HIGHTOWER https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/supreme-court-is-corrupt
#PartisanCaptureOfJudiciary
#SupremePartisans
#JudicialEndRunAroundDemocracy
#GOPIsTheRichsTool
#WantTheirSerfsBack
#GOPHatesDemocracyQuestion: How many legs does a dog have if you count the tail as a leg? Answer: Four — calling the tail a leg doesn't make it one.
Likewise, calling a small group of partisan lawyers a "supreme" court doesn't make it one. There's nothing supreme about the six-pack of far-right-wing political activists who are presently soiling our people's ideals of justice by proclaiming their own antidemocratic biases to be the law of the land. On issues of economic fairness, women's rights, racial justice, corporate supremacy, environmental protection, theocratic rule and other fundamentals, these unelected, black-robed extremists are imposing an illegitimate elitist agenda on America that the people do not want and ultimately will not tolerate.
Indeed, the imperiousness of the six ruling judges has already caused the court's public approval rating to plummet, to a mere 38%, an historic low that ranks down there with former President Donald Trump, and threatens to go as low as Congress.
This has led to a flurry of officials attesting to the honesty and political impartiality of the reigning supremes. Unfortunately for the court, these ardent defenders were the six culprits themselves.
The "integrity of the judiciary is in my bones," pontificated Neil Gorsuch, who now stands accused of having lied to senators to win his lifetime appointment.
We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court.
"(We are not) a bunch of partisan hacks," wailed Amy Coney Barrett, a partisan extremist jammed onto the court in a partisan ploy by Trump in the last few hours of his presidency.
"Judges are not politicians," protested John Roberts, who became Chief Justice because he was a rabid political lawyer who pushed the Supreme Court in 2000 to reject the rights of voters and install George W. Bush as president.
As many of its own members privately admit, Congress has become a pay-to-play lawmaking casino — closed to commoners but offering full-service access to corporate powers.
But the Supreme Court is another government entity that's even more aloof from workaday people — and it has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us. The six-member, right-wing majority on this secretive powerhouse now routinely vetoes efforts by workers, environmentalist, students, local officials, voters and all others who try to rein in corporate greed and abuses.
Appointed for lifetime terms, this autocratic tribune takes pride in being sealed off from democracy, even bragging that they make rulings without being influenced by special interests. But wait — in makeup and ideology, today's court majority is a special interest, for it consists of corporate and right-wing lawyers who've obtained their wealth and position by loyally serving corporate power. And far from now being isolated from moneyed elites, the judges regularly socialize with them and attend their closed-door political meetings.
There's even a special little club, called The Supreme Court Historical Society, that frequently reveals the cozy, symbiotic relationship that exists between today's judicial and corporate cliques. Such giants as Chevron, Goldman Sachs, AT&T and Home Depot pay millions of dollars to this clubby society, gaining notice by and the appreciation of the supremes. And, yes, these special interest gifts to the court are gratefully accepted, even when the corporations have active cases before the court, seeking favorable rulings from the very judges they're glad-handing at Society soirees.
Of course, the judges insist there's no conflict of interest, because this access to them is "open to all." Sure — all who can pay $25,000 and up to get inside! Yet the clueless judges wonder why their credibility is in the ditch. Remember, in America, The People are supreme! We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court. For reform, go to FixTheCourt.com.""
-
CW: The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy. "The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us." Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune
The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy.
"The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us."
Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune | Common Dreams -- JIM HIGHTOWER https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/supreme-court-is-corrupt
#PartisanCaptureOfJudiciary
#SupremePartisans
#JudicialEndRunAroundDemocracy
#GOPIsTheRichsTool
#WantTheirSerfsBack
#GOPHatesDemocracyQuestion: How many legs does a dog have if you count the tail as a leg? Answer: Four — calling the tail a leg doesn't make it one.
Likewise, calling a small group of partisan lawyers a "supreme" court doesn't make it one. There's nothing supreme about the six-pack of far-right-wing political activists who are presently soiling our people's ideals of justice by proclaiming their own antidemocratic biases to be the law of the land. On issues of economic fairness, women's rights, racial justice, corporate supremacy, environmental protection, theocratic rule and other fundamentals, these unelected, black-robed extremists are imposing an illegitimate elitist agenda on America that the people do not want and ultimately will not tolerate.
Indeed, the imperiousness of the six ruling judges has already caused the court's public approval rating to plummet, to a mere 38%, an historic low that ranks down there with former President Donald Trump, and threatens to go as low as Congress.
This has led to a flurry of officials attesting to the honesty and political impartiality of the reigning supremes. Unfortunately for the court, these ardent defenders were the six culprits themselves.
The "integrity of the judiciary is in my bones," pontificated Neil Gorsuch, who now stands accused of having lied to senators to win his lifetime appointment.
We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court.
"(We are not) a bunch of partisan hacks," wailed Amy Coney Barrett, a partisan extremist jammed onto the court in a partisan ploy by Trump in the last few hours of his presidency.
"Judges are not politicians," protested John Roberts, who became Chief Justice because he was a rabid political lawyer who pushed the Supreme Court in 2000 to reject the rights of voters and install George W. Bush as president.
As many of its own members privately admit, Congress has become a pay-to-play lawmaking casino — closed to commoners but offering full-service access to corporate powers.
But the Supreme Court is another government entity that's even more aloof from workaday people — and it has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us. The six-member, right-wing majority on this secretive powerhouse now routinely vetoes efforts by workers, environmentalist, students, local officials, voters and all others who try to rein in corporate greed and abuses.
Appointed for lifetime terms, this autocratic tribune takes pride in being sealed off from democracy, even bragging that they make rulings without being influenced by special interests. But wait — in makeup and ideology, today's court majority is a special interest, for it consists of corporate and right-wing lawyers who've obtained their wealth and position by loyally serving corporate power. And far from now being isolated from moneyed elites, the judges regularly socialize with them and attend their closed-door political meetings.
There's even a special little club, called The Supreme Court Historical Society, that frequently reveals the cozy, symbiotic relationship that exists between today's judicial and corporate cliques. Such giants as Chevron, Goldman Sachs, AT&T and Home Depot pay millions of dollars to this clubby society, gaining notice by and the appreciation of the supremes. And, yes, these special interest gifts to the court are gratefully accepted, even when the corporations have active cases before the court, seeking favorable rulings from the very judges they're glad-handing at Society soirees.
Of course, the judges insist there's no conflict of interest, because this access to them is "open to all." Sure — all who can pay $25,000 and up to get inside! Yet the clueless judges wonder why their credibility is in the ditch. Remember, in America, The People are supreme! We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court. For reform, go to FixTheCourt.com.""
-
CW: The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy. "The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us." Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune
The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy.
"The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us."
Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune | Common Dreams -- JIM HIGHTOWER https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/supreme-court-is-corrupt
#PartisanCaptureOfJudiciary
#SupremePartisans
#JudicialEndRunAroundDemocracy
#GOPIsTheRichsTool
#WantTheirSerfsBack
#GOPHatesDemocracyQuestion: How many legs does a dog have if you count the tail as a leg? Answer: Four — calling the tail a leg doesn't make it one.
Likewise, calling a small group of partisan lawyers a "supreme" court doesn't make it one. There's nothing supreme about the six-pack of far-right-wing political activists who are presently soiling our people's ideals of justice by proclaiming their own antidemocratic biases to be the law of the land. On issues of economic fairness, women's rights, racial justice, corporate supremacy, environmental protection, theocratic rule and other fundamentals, these unelected, black-robed extremists are imposing an illegitimate elitist agenda on America that the people do not want and ultimately will not tolerate.
Indeed, the imperiousness of the six ruling judges has already caused the court's public approval rating to plummet, to a mere 38%, an historic low that ranks down there with former President Donald Trump, and threatens to go as low as Congress.
This has led to a flurry of officials attesting to the honesty and political impartiality of the reigning supremes. Unfortunately for the court, these ardent defenders were the six culprits themselves.
The "integrity of the judiciary is in my bones," pontificated Neil Gorsuch, who now stands accused of having lied to senators to win his lifetime appointment.
We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court.
"(We are not) a bunch of partisan hacks," wailed Amy Coney Barrett, a partisan extremist jammed onto the court in a partisan ploy by Trump in the last few hours of his presidency.
"Judges are not politicians," protested John Roberts, who became Chief Justice because he was a rabid political lawyer who pushed the Supreme Court in 2000 to reject the rights of voters and install George W. Bush as president.
As many of its own members privately admit, Congress has become a pay-to-play lawmaking casino — closed to commoners but offering full-service access to corporate powers.
But the Supreme Court is another government entity that's even more aloof from workaday people — and it has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us. The six-member, right-wing majority on this secretive powerhouse now routinely vetoes efforts by workers, environmentalist, students, local officials, voters and all others who try to rein in corporate greed and abuses.
Appointed for lifetime terms, this autocratic tribune takes pride in being sealed off from democracy, even bragging that they make rulings without being influenced by special interests. But wait — in makeup and ideology, today's court majority is a special interest, for it consists of corporate and right-wing lawyers who've obtained their wealth and position by loyally serving corporate power. And far from now being isolated from moneyed elites, the judges regularly socialize with them and attend their closed-door political meetings.
There's even a special little club, called The Supreme Court Historical Society, that frequently reveals the cozy, symbiotic relationship that exists between today's judicial and corporate cliques. Such giants as Chevron, Goldman Sachs, AT&T and Home Depot pay millions of dollars to this clubby society, gaining notice by and the appreciation of the supremes. And, yes, these special interest gifts to the court are gratefully accepted, even when the corporations have active cases before the court, seeking favorable rulings from the very judges they're glad-handing at Society soirees.
Of course, the judges insist there's no conflict of interest, because this access to them is "open to all." Sure — all who can pay $25,000 and up to get inside! Yet the clueless judges wonder why their credibility is in the ditch. Remember, in America, The People are supreme! We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court. For reform, go to FixTheCourt.com.""
-
CW: The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy. "The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us." Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune
The GOP and their wealthy benefactor's orchestration of a partisan capture of the judiciary were always meant to be a means to control the government and get their way by doing an end-run around democracy.
"The Court has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us."
Opinion | It's Time to Admit This Right-Wing U.S. Supreme Court Is a Corrupt, Autocratic Tribune | Common Dreams -- JIM HIGHTOWER https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/supreme-court-is-corrupt
#PartisanCaptureOfJudiciary
#SupremePartisans
#JudicialEndRunAroundDemocracy
#GOPIsTheRichsTool
#WantTheirSerfsBack
#GOPHatesDemocracyQuestion: How many legs does a dog have if you count the tail as a leg? Answer: Four — calling the tail a leg doesn't make it one.
Likewise, calling a small group of partisan lawyers a "supreme" court doesn't make it one. There's nothing supreme about the six-pack of far-right-wing political activists who are presently soiling our people's ideals of justice by proclaiming their own antidemocratic biases to be the law of the land. On issues of economic fairness, women's rights, racial justice, corporate supremacy, environmental protection, theocratic rule and other fundamentals, these unelected, black-robed extremists are imposing an illegitimate elitist agenda on America that the people do not want and ultimately will not tolerate.
Indeed, the imperiousness of the six ruling judges has already caused the court's public approval rating to plummet, to a mere 38%, an historic low that ranks down there with former President Donald Trump, and threatens to go as low as Congress.
This has led to a flurry of officials attesting to the honesty and political impartiality of the reigning supremes. Unfortunately for the court, these ardent defenders were the six culprits themselves.
The "integrity of the judiciary is in my bones," pontificated Neil Gorsuch, who now stands accused of having lied to senators to win his lifetime appointment.
We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court.
"(We are not) a bunch of partisan hacks," wailed Amy Coney Barrett, a partisan extremist jammed onto the court in a partisan ploy by Trump in the last few hours of his presidency.
"Judges are not politicians," protested John Roberts, who became Chief Justice because he was a rabid political lawyer who pushed the Supreme Court in 2000 to reject the rights of voters and install George W. Bush as president.
As many of its own members privately admit, Congress has become a pay-to-play lawmaking casino — closed to commoners but offering full-service access to corporate powers.
But the Supreme Court is another government entity that's even more aloof from workaday people — and it has become a handmaiden to the corporate elites trying to increase their dominance over us. The six-member, right-wing majority on this secretive powerhouse now routinely vetoes efforts by workers, environmentalist, students, local officials, voters and all others who try to rein in corporate greed and abuses.
Appointed for lifetime terms, this autocratic tribune takes pride in being sealed off from democracy, even bragging that they make rulings without being influenced by special interests. But wait — in makeup and ideology, today's court majority is a special interest, for it consists of corporate and right-wing lawyers who've obtained their wealth and position by loyally serving corporate power. And far from now being isolated from moneyed elites, the judges regularly socialize with them and attend their closed-door political meetings.
There's even a special little club, called The Supreme Court Historical Society, that frequently reveals the cozy, symbiotic relationship that exists between today's judicial and corporate cliques. Such giants as Chevron, Goldman Sachs, AT&T and Home Depot pay millions of dollars to this clubby society, gaining notice by and the appreciation of the supremes. And, yes, these special interest gifts to the court are gratefully accepted, even when the corporations have active cases before the court, seeking favorable rulings from the very judges they're glad-handing at Society soirees.
Of course, the judges insist there's no conflict of interest, because this access to them is "open to all." Sure — all who can pay $25,000 and up to get inside! Yet the clueless judges wonder why their credibility is in the ditch. Remember, in America, The People are supreme! We don't have to accept rule by an illegitimate court. For reform, go to FixTheCourt.com.""
-
@Ladee Hii :)
Similar to the "normal" fingers, the tentacle-like fingers can hold on to things, just in a wider range of motion.
The more interesting part is that they are equipped with electric organs and electroreceptors. Though the fingers (and the tentacles close to a #Karyta's face) produce lower voltage than the "hair" and the tail.
Karyta use lower voltages to communicate and navigate (the latter is called electrolocation) and higher voltages to fight and hunt. -
#Fossil reveals leaf-eating among earliest birds
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-fossil-reveals-leaf-eating-earliest-birds.htmpIntra-gastric #phytoliths provide evidence for #folivory in basal #avialans of the Early #Cretaceous #JeholBiota https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40311-z
"The #pheasant-sized #Jeholornis, a member of the second most primitive lineage of #birds, has teeth and a long bony tail like its predatory, feathered #dinosaur relatives... It had eaten tree leaves from a group of flowering #plants called #magnoliids."
-
Georgia river monster report is highly suspicious (Updated – hoax)
Since none of the major news outlets are doing justice to this story and I have the day off for snow, I might as well put these pieces together about a so-called “mystery monster” report from Wolf Island, in southern Georgia on March 16. The first report I saw was from local outlet First Coast News via KHOU:
A man from Waycross, Georgia found his own version of the Loch Ness Monster on Friday while at Wolf Island.
Jeff Warren was out with his son on a boat near the Barrier Islands going around Wolf Island when he saw what he thought was a dead seal.
News4 reports Warren described the creature as 4-5 feet long. This is obviously incorrect as the visuals against the shoreline depict an object 1-2 feet long at most, though we don’t have an object for scale. Warren’s quotes suggest he didn’t know about the local legend of the Altamaha-ha, a serpent-like beast said to roam the channels and marshes of the Altamaha River and vicinity. Some locals told him it looked like Altie. From Legends of America:
This strange cryptid is described as having a sturgeon like body including a bony ridge on its top. With front flippers and no back limbs, it swims like a dolphin, and has the snout of a crocodile, with large, protruding eyes and large sharp teeth. Its coloring is said to be gray or green with a whitish-yellow underbelly. Reports indicate that it is 20-30 feet long, though some have stated seeing smaller or larger creatures, suggesting that Altamaha-ha is not alone.
Warren had taken a video of the creature on the shore of the Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge near Darien, Georgia. Warren then sent his pic and video to various news outlets, the first of several red flags that this story is not as it first appears. The video is only 14 seconds long and Warren (or whoever took the video, I assume nothing here) did not approach the carcass close enough to get a detailed look. Since it was just at the water’s edge, there was hardly any excuse for this except that it was on purpose.
HeadTail – note the mottling and “extended” area.The news organizations approached marine scientists who inexplicably said it was some sort of shark. The tail does look like a shark but the rest of the body does not. A person from the Tybee Island Marine Science Center said, “It looks like a deep-sea shark, like a frilled shark. Although I don’t see gill slits.” She laments that the carcass was not recovered to examine. It would be strange for a deep ocean creature to appear on this shore but by assessing the fin placement and the shape of the head, this beast does not much resemble a frilled shark.
Frilled sharkAnother scientist, from Savannah State University, suggested a basking shark. I’d wonder if she actually saw the video because while basking sharks decompose into a plesiosaur-shaped weird thing with what looks like a small head and long neck attached to a wide body and long tail, this is NOT THAT either. Other than the bit of protruding guts (that most outlets blurred out because we can’t take a bit of flesh showing), there is no obvious decomposition happening here.
There is the possibility that is some deformed animal rendering it superficially unrecognizable. But there is a recognizable (but mythical) creature to match it nearly exactly. Coincidentally, that animal happens to be the beloved mascot of the local Darien and McIntosh County Chamber and Visitors Center.
A group of Scottish Highlanders successfully settled the area that became Darien. It seems quite the coincidence that the creature resembles the historical depiction of the Loch Ness Monster. While the creature is said to be known in tales from the natives, this is unclear as traditional stories of spirit animals are often usurped by the locals and blended with modern ideas to form new folklore (see my series on cryptozoology and myth). This reporter looked at a news report from the 1800s when the creature was first described in the area. She also talked to the local fishermen who have accepted the Nessie-type creature as real and believe those they say swore they encountered it. Altie seems to have resurfaced in the modern form in 1981 when a former newspaper publisher named Larry Gwin reported seeing the creature while fishing with his friend. They described it with two big humps about five feet apart. This sparked a wave of new reports and the County had its own version of the Loch Ness Monster. This similar story has been told many times across the world. It’s the typical origin story of local monsters.This critter is embedded deep within the local culture and is so important that they have erected a monument to it and will not let the story sink anytime soon.
Altie in the Visitors CenterBillboard ad.So are we looking at a photoshop job for the Warren report? Possibly, but since that is rather readily detectable, sharp-eyed observers, like John “Crawfish” Crawford, see what it most probably is:
After examining the photo he was convinced it was a model, maybe made of clay and maybe with chicken guts for entrails. The photo looked a lot like the Wikipedia entry for the Altamaha-ha, he said. And Crawford knows that some fishermen friends have pulled practical jokes in the past to get media attention for the Altamaha-ha legend.
“Whoever did it did a good job,” said Crawford, an accomplished naturalist and marine educator at UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant. “I’m sure it’s another saga in the Altamaha-ha thing.”
It seems readily apparent that it was a hoax to me and to several of my cryptid researchers colleagues online who saw all the red flags:
- Limited video and photos taken from far away and positioned to hide details.
- Suspiciously exaggerated initial report of size.
- No specifics about locations.
- Warren was apparently familiar with the area but was not familiar with the depiction of the creature as advertised in the town.
- No samples obtained for ID.
- Observation taken directly to the press.
- The tail portion appears to have the pattern of chicken wire with a papier-mache covering. This suggests the front-half, a model of Altie, was connected to a shark’s tail.
- The creature matches the Altie model nearly exactly in shape.
- Crypto-tourism is a genuine thing that promotes new visitors to an area to look for the supposed monster and to buy merch.
Hoaxes like this are not uncommon and not hard to pull off. (Remember the Georgia Bigfoot? Maybe that’s where they got the idea about exposed guts.) It’s a bit fun and entertaining to promote your local monster but that comes with the negative side that you are misinforming people about the area.
Why were the scientists questioned so quick to name real animals as possibilities and fall for the gaff? Dr. Darren Naish, vertebrate paleontologist, (world-famous podcaster,) and author of
Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths, told me this is a common problem. “The scientists so often asked about these sorts of things only approach the problem from their area of specialty, and aren’t broad-brush experts with (as in this case) knowledge of ‘sea monster carcass’ shenanigans.” They inadvertently give the sighting or report credibility with their suggestions. Calling out a hoax is distasteful to many scientists because they can’t be sure and they risk getting bad publicity for it. But Naish adds that it’s dangerous to pretend you are an expert in everything generally within that field. “A responsible expert should thus start by saying ‘this appears to be beyond my area of expertise’,” he says, to avoid making an egregious mistake, real or hoax. When scientists are called on by the media to make a conclusion that will be read as the definitive answer, they make a best guess or decline to comment. I’m not sure which is worse.If you ever find a suspicious carcass lying around, at least take some close-up pictures or video of the head, the teeth, feet or flippers, and any other obvious parts. Use a known object in the frame as a scale for measuring. Turn it over if you can. And if it’s truly weird, do your best to save the body or at least a part of it in a sealed plastic bag and throw it in the freezer. Then, take your report to the local wildlife center instead of the press. Then a real ID can be made.
Is Altie real? That’s a trick question. Certainly, people see things in lakes, rivers and the sea that are brief glimpses of real animals or objects that resemble a strange-looking monster. They interpret what they see in a form that is suggested by their memories, environment, and existing stories. In this case, it was not a misidentification, this was a deliberate attempt to make media waves. It succeeded. I noticed the story today has made it to Newsweek, People, USA Today, LiveScience, and national news syndication, all with the conclusion that “scientists think it’s a decomposing shark” (Sigh). It’s a shame that the eventual conclusion, whatever the real story is, will never reach that far. In good news for Darien (but generally bad for society), the truth doesn’t always matter. In cryptozoology, a false conclusion meshes with a real experience and we are left unsure about what the thing is that we are left holding.
UPDATE: (16-Dec 2018) I’m a bit behind with this as the reveal occurred officially in September 2018 but better to set the record straight. The “artist” Zardulu admitted to making this hoax out of exactly the products suspected by those in the know immediately upon this story hitting the news. This same person was responsible for the three-eyed catfish hoax from the Gowanus Canal in March of 2016 – also readily exposed as fake. Pretty sorry stuff, if you ask me. You don’t make fans by hoodwinking the public or by trafficking in fake news. This is the kind of crap that makes cryptozoology a laughable “field”.
#AltamahaHa #Altie #Darien #Georgia #GeorgiaMonster #hoax #LochNessMonster #mysteryMonster #riverMonster
https://sharonahill.com/?p=4860
-
Hide
I like to sit in by backyard with my camera and watch the birds in the yard and the sky. It's not rare that I'll see something interesting. This broad-winged hawk was in the sky yesterday afternoon. I noticed after all the birds in the yard (and there were a lot) suddenly took off, leaving the backyard quiet.
"One of the greatest spectacles of migration is a swirling flock of Broad-winged Hawks on their way to South America. Also known as “kettles,” flocks can contain thousands of circling birds that evoke a vast cauldron being stirred with an invisible spoon. A small, stocky raptor with black-and-white bands on the tail, the Broad-winged Hawk is a bird of the forest interior and can be hard to see during the nesting season. Its call is a piercing, two-parted whistle." - allaboutbirds.org
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #BirdOfPrey #birdwatching #raptor #BroadWingedHawk