Today's blog is a video about the 1950s Superman TV show starring George Reeves as Clark Kent/Superman. I watched the reruns in the 1960s and 70s and loved them. It's appropriate that I post this today, because it's my brother Doug's birthday- and he'll always be a superhero to me. This video provides a look at 10 Things You Didn't Know About the 1950s "Adventures of Superman" TV show!
VIDEO LINK: https://youtu.be/ElR1YUaSqmY?si=8ifucicsLPGNP75_
We've been working with dog rescues for over 15 years, and this story is one that resonates with me. 9 years ago, this 10-year-old Dachshund was purposely abandoned into a rescue. I was the one who had to meet the Dad, who did not want to give this boy up. But his wife demanded this little Dachshund be dumped because their human child developed an "allergy" to the dog. As I said in 2015, give the girl some Benadryl and deal with it. DOGS are children, too. I was enraged at the mother of the family for her demands especially watching the father fall apart emotionally handing me the dog for the rescue. At least the dog went to a good home. Bottom line: If you or your kid develop an allergy, there's medication for that. TAKE IT. Don't be cruel to animals. This was 9 years ago, so I'm sure heartbroken little Oscar has since passed. But here's his story from 2015:
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| Oscar, scared in the front seat of our truck |
WHY WAS HE BEING ABANDONED AFTER 9 YEARS? - The dad said that although he had some allergies to Oscar's short, red, fur, his little girl has allergies, too. I held my tongue, because I have to focus on the dog. ** I wanted to tell the little girl to "deal with it and take benadryl" for 5-6 more years so Oscar could live the rest of his short life out with his only family. But I didn't. |
| Rob, Oscar and Trudy |
At exactly noon on November 18, American and Canadian railroads began using four continental time zones to end the confusion of dealing with thousands of local times. The bold move was emblematic of the power shared by the railroad companies.
The need for continental time zones stemmed directly from the problems of moving passengers and freight over the thousands of miles of rail line that covered North America by the 1880s.
Since human beings had first begun keeping track of time, they set their clocks to the local movement of the sun. Even as late as the 1880s, most towns in the U.S. had their own local time, generally based on “high noon,” or the time when the sun was at its highest point in the sky.
As railroads began to shrink the travel time between cities from days or months to mere hours, however, these local times became a scheduling nightmare. Railroad timetables in major cities listed dozens of different arrival and departure times for the same train, each linked to a different local time zone.
Transcontinental Railroad
Efficient rail transportation demanded a more uniform time-keeping system. Rather than turning to the federal governments of the United States and Canada to create a North American system of time zones, the powerful railroad companies took it upon themselves to create a new time code system. The companies agreed to divide the continent into four time zones; the dividing lines adopted were very close to the ones we still use today.
Most Americans and Canadians quickly embraced their new time zones, since railroads were often their lifeblood and main link with the rest of the world. However, it was not until 1918 that Congress officially adopted the railroad time zones and put them under the supervision of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
NEWS CENTER MAINE, Maria Skillings & Jacob Richards, August 9, 2024
SACO, Maine — Sea Salt Lobster in Saco, a restaurant and wholesale lobster seller, stumbled upon a rare "cotton candy" lobster Friday.
Restaurant owner Shawn McEwen said his team found the colorful guy during their grading process.
"So what we do is we break the lobster down based on size and quality, it's called grading. And so these guys as they were grading lobsters for size came across our new friend here that we are definitely not going to sell or cook," McEwen said. "It will be donated either to the museum or someone that has a private saltwater aquarium."
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/tOAQo3AkKk0?si=b4HVeUw3NrA2iC0M
NEWS CENTER Maine was lucky enough to have a meet and greet with the colorful crustacean, flashing his specks of blue, yellow, and green.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), lobsters can come in many different colors including blue, light yellow, greenish-brown, grey, dusty orange, some calico, and some with spots.
Despite moving millions of lobster per year, McEwen said this is only the third cotton candy lobster he has seen in 16 years of business.
The average lobster size you order in a restaurant is between 1.25 and 1.5 pounds, but this cotton candy cutie was big, weighing in at 2.65 pounds.
Lobstermen must follow strict size and weight guidelines to help protect the lobster population. Lobsters must meet a minimum weight requirement of 1 pound and a maximum of 3-4 pounds, to be sold in Maine, according to lobsteranywhere.com.
"The State of Maine Harvesters were able to catch about 93.7 million lobsters last year out of the state and we rarely see guys like this that are blue," McEwen said. "We believe this was harvested somewhere in the Five Islands area based on where we buy from and the different people we buy from.
Nevada Woman Steals Funds from Slain Officer for Daughter's Wedding and more
By KEN RITTER, AP , September 9, 2024
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada Republican who ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer in 2022 pleaded not guilty Monday to two new charges and headed toward trial in two weeks on federal accusations she used funds raised for a statue honoring a slain police officer for political and personal costs, including her daughter’s wedding.
The new charges brought to seven the number of wire fraud and conspiracy counts against Michele Fiore, a former state Assembly and Las Vegas City Council member who has been suspended with pay from her elected position as a justice of the peace in rural Pahrump. Each count carries a possible penalty of 20 years in prison. Fiore had pleaded not guilty July 17 to a five-count criminal indictment.
Fiore and her defense attorney, Michael Sanft, invoked her right to a speedy trial and U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey in Las Vegas said jury selection will begin Sept. 24. Sanft and federal prosecutors Dahoud Askar and Alexander Gottfried told the judge they expect trial can be completed by the second week of October. Askar and Gottfried declined outside court to speak with reporters.
Neither Fiore nor Sanft commented to reporters about the case. They were accompanied by Fiore’s friend, Sigal Chattah, a lawyer and conservative GOP firebrand who lost a bid for state attorney general in 2022 to Aaron Ford, a Democrat.
Chattah also is representing one of six Nevada Republican party members accused of submitting certificates to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of the state’s 2020 presidential election. A state judge in Las Vegas dismissed that so-called fake elector case over a venue challenge by attorneys for defendants including state GOP chairman Michael McDonald. Ford is appealing that decision to the state Supreme Court.
Fiore, 54, is a sometimes flamboyant political figure best known for supporting gun ownership and backing states’ rights advocate Cliven Bundy during and after armed standoffs against federal officers in Bunkerville, Nevada, in 2014, and at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in 2016.
Maine Fire Department wants to bill so-called 'idiots' for the nuisance calls they cause
by Brad Rogers and Ted Homer, WGME September 26th 2024
The Livermore Falls Fire Department wants to change its billing policy to deal with nuisance calls. (WGME) Livermore Falls Fire Department (WGME)
LIVERMORE FALLS (WGME) -- A fire department in Androscoggin County is asking town leaders for the right to bill people under certain circumstances.
"If you're drinking and driving, I think you're an idiot,” Livermore Falls Fire Chief Nathan Guptill said.
Right now, the town of Livermore Falls is considering billing people for the time their firefighters spend on nuisance calls.
Guptill calls it "an idiot clause."
"There's no reason to be behind the wheel drinking and driving or under the influence of anything. So if you do that stuff, I consider you an idiot," Guptill said. "Then, we should be able to bill their insurance company while we are sitting there tying up our resources."
If the town gives the OK, distracted drivers who cause an accident could also have to pay, as well as people with faulty alarm systems.
"And if they don't fix it, and we keep getting repeated calls there, that's what I call a nuisance call," Guptill said. “We have an alarm that goes off in town quite regularly. I'm going to say anywhere from $200 TO $500 every time we go to this call."
The fire chief says many insurance companies already pay for nuisance calls.
Should the town approve this, it will be up to an officer's judgment if someone gets billed.
Guptill says it could bring in several thousand dollars to the department and serve as a warning, but not everyone agrees with him.
"Whether they go out on a call or don't go out on a call, they're still getting paid. It's our taxes that fund them," Livermore Falls resident Bob Bradley said.
"They respond to calls like that because it's their job,” Livermore Falls resident Donald Chase said. “And if it ends up being a nuisance call, it should be the town that pays for it, regardless."
"If they need that to support the fire department, I say yeah,” Livermore Falls resident Jonathan Dayton said. “Those fellas are doing a lot. They're sacrificing like crazy, you know?"
The fire chief says there are a number of third-party companies who would handle the billing for them for a 10 percent fee. They would get the police report, bill the insurance company and send them a check.
(photo: The wrinkles that allow elephants to flex their trunks appear both before birth and with repeated use.Lena V. Kaufmann)
How the elephant got its wrinklesOrigin of the famed creases reveals how the trunk became the “most unbelievable grasping organ on the planet”
8 Oct 2024 By Sara Reardon, SCIENCE Magazine
An elephant’s trunk is so much more than a nose. The pachyderms use their prehensile probosces to pick up food, spray water or sand across their backs to cool off, and trumpet warnings to other elephants. Baby elephants even employ their trunks to nurse, sucking up milk and then spraying it into their mouths. “It’s the most unbelievable grasping organ on the planet,” says computational neuroscientist Michael Brecht of the Humboldt University of Berlin.
But why does the trunk —a muscular appendage without any bones —work so well? One key is an elephant’s famed wrinkles, which—on the trunk—act like hands and elbows, Brecht and colleagues report today in Royal Society Open Science. The team also discovered where these wrinkles come from in the first place—and how they help make trunks so versatile.
Elephants are Born with Wrinkled Trunks
When Andrew Schulz, a mechanical engineer and biophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, started to look at elephant trunks, he assumed their characteristic wrinkles developed over time as the animals used them repeatedly—much like smile lines that form in human faces. But he soon realized that even newborn elephants have wrinkly trunks.
Many baby animals—including humans—are born with random wrinkles because they have too much skin for their body shapes. Baby elephants’ trunk creases, by contrast, are consistently in the same places and form before birth, suggesting they have a specific purpose. “We think these wrinkles are very underrated,” Brecht says. To learn more, Schulz, Brecht, and their colleagues turned to two elephant species, Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and African elephants (Loxodonta africana), which are known to use their trunks in different ways.
Difference in Trunks of African and Asian Elephants
African elephants have two tough cartilage “fingers” at the ends of their trunks that allow them to pinch objects.
Asian elephants, by contrast, have one finger and one bulbous projection that they use to clamp large objects such as melons between their trunks and lower lips.
The researchers examined differences between the species in museum specimens, zoo animals, and photos. Asian elephant trunks, they found, contain more wrinkles: 126 of them, on average, compared with the 83 of African elephants. The extra creases might give the Asian species more flexibility to make up for not having an extra “finger,” Schulz says. In both species, the wrinkles were concentrated at a pivot point, which works like a muscular elbow to allow the trunk to wrap around objects.
To study how these wrinkles form, the team gathered two Asian and three African elephant fetuses in museum collections, along with dozens of published photographs or drawings of fetuses at different ages. By lining these up sequentially, the researchers were able to form a visual timeline of prenatal trunk development. Wrinkles, they found, begin to appear as soon as the trunk does—about 20 days into the elephant’s 22-month gestation. Over the next 150 days, the number of wrinkles increases exponentially in both species, doubling every 3 weeks, and concentrates around the pivot point. Asian elephants acquire even more wrinkles later on in development.
The scientists next looked at whether trunk use contributes to additional wrinkle formation, as they originally suspected. Elephants are either left- or right-trunked, meaning they consistently bend the appendage to one side to put food in that side of the mouth. Over time, the researchers found, this bending creates more wrinkles on one side than the other.
Schulz hopes the research will inform work on soft robots used in disaster response. These robots’ joints are controlled by moving hydrostatic pressure around, much like elephant trunks, and their flexible bodies allow them to sneak into small spaces.
Elephants are the ideal model for studying soft joints, Hutchinson says. Although other animals such as primates and elephant seals can inflate organs by pumping blood into them, none of them have the specialized joints and dexterity of elephant trunks. “Elephants are doing their own thing,” he says.
If you enjoy superhero comics like I do and / or enjoyed the (2012) Arrow CW TV show that ran 9 seasons, then you know who the Green Arrow is. The character was created in the early 1940s. Recently, I read a 500-plus page compilation of some of his early adventures from the 1950s,1960s and 1970s, which were great. I really enjoyed reading these adventures.
ABOUT THE COLLECTION - DC Showcase presents the Green Arrow and contains over 500 pages of black-and-white Adventures starting in 1958. The book cover is Green Arrow and Speedy's adventures in Adventure Comics, World's finest comics, Justice League of America, and 3 issues of Brave and the Bold appearances as late as 1969. This is a fantastic collection of Green Arrow's earlier Adventures! You'll also read about Arrowette and her first appearance!
: The Green Arrows of the World, Green Arrow vs. the Red Dart, The Case of the Super-Arrows, Five Clues to Danger, The Mystery of the Giant Arrows, Prisoners of Dimension Zero!, The Menace of the Mechanical Octopus, The Green Arrow's Last Stand, The War That Never Ended!, The Unmasked Archers!, The Green Arrow's First Case, The Arrows That Failed, Crimes under Glass, Superboy Meets the Young Green Arrow!, The Arrow Platoon!, The Case of the Green Error Clown, The Green Arrow's Mystery Pupil, Green Arrow's New Partner!, The Battle of the Useless Inventions, The Curse of the Wizard's Arrow!, The Case of the Camouflage King!, The World's Worst Archer!, Have Arrow -- Will Travel!, Challenge of the Phantom Bandit, The Green Arrow Robin Hood!, Alias Chief Magic Bow, The Amateur Arrows!, The Case of the Vanishing Arrows!, The Mighty Mr. Miniature, The Underwater Archers!, The Crimes of the Pneumatic Man, The Green Arrow in King Arthur's Court!, The Comic Book Archer!, The Menace of the Mole Men, The Creature from the Crater, Prisoners of the Giant Bubble, The Sinister Spectrum Man, The Crimes of the Clock King, The Spy in the Arrow-Cave, The Amazing Miss Arrowette, Green Arrow's Alien Ally, The Mighty Arrow Army, The Ape Archer, Doom of the Star Diamond, The Cartoon Archer, The Return of Miss Arrowette, The Man with the Magic Bow, The Deadly Trophy Hunt, The Cop Who Lost His Nerve, The Booby-Trap Bandits, The Man Who Foretold Disaster, The Case of the Crime Specialists, The Man Who Defied Death, Dupe of the Decoy Bandits, Green Arrow's Secret Partner, The Too-Old Hero, The Iron Archer!, The Human Sharks, A Cure for Billy Jones, The Green Arrow Dummy, The Thing in the Arrowcave, The Mystery of the Missing Inventors!, The Magician Boss of the Incas, Wanted -- the Capsule Master!, The Secret Face of Funny-Arrow!, The Land of No Return, The Wrath of the Thunderbird, The Senator's Been Shot!
Charles Dickens and mesmerism played a crucial role in 1849 when John Leech, the illustrator for A Christmas Carol, was injured. Dickens rushed to his aid, offering a unique form of help that the doctors couldn’t provide. Here's the fascinating story from CharlesDickensInfo:
Oct 10, 2024 CharlesDickensInfo.com
In 1849 John Leech, the illustrator for A Christmas Carol, was injured. The accident left Leech with concussion-like symptoms that wouldn’t disappear despite all the work of his doctors.
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(Image: Charles Dickens, author and proponent of mesmerism photographed in 1858. Wikimedia)
Leech was in a great deal of pain and unable to rest. Dickens heard of the incident and rushed to his friend’s aid. Within a few days Leech’s condition had significantly improved. What could Dickens do that the doctors couldn’t?Dickens helped his friend via the use of mesmerism.
What is Mesmerism?
The History of Mesmerism Mesmerism was developed by Franz Anton Mesmer. It used hypnotic trances to heal people.
Mesmerism attracted practitioners and audiences, with its peak between 1780 and 1850. The technique usually involved some social role-playing where the mesmerizer would make suggestions to his clients who eventually became absolutely “mesmerized” by him in some sort of hypnosis-like trance.
In 1838 Dickens attended several lectures on the subject including some by John Elliotson.
(Image right: John Leech John Leech was an illustrator who provided the images for “A Christmas Carol." Credit: Charles Dickens Info.com)
Elliotson was the professor of clinical medicine who introduced the stethoscope to England. He also had campaigned against corrupt medical practices. Despite his many accomplishments Elliotson was forced to resign his teaching position in 1839 because of a scandal regarding mesmerism.
Despite the controversy Dickens was a believer in mesmerism. Elliotson taught Dickens the technique and it quickly became apparent that Dickens was skilled in this area.
Initially Dickens mesmerized family and friends just for fun or to help with minor illnesses. However, in late 1844 he took on a more serious case, that of Madame de la Rue.
Charles Dickens and Madame de la Rue
Augusta de la Rue suffered from extreme anxiety. It was so profound that it caused noticeable facial tics or spasms. Dickens was eager to help and during the next few months he treated her frequently.
The treatments were effective. After a month Madame de la Rue showed much improvement. She was able to sleep and night and visibly looked more relaxed.
Once the physical symptoms of Madame de la Rue eased, Dickens became interested in their underlying causes.
Their sessions began to focus more on Madame de la Rue’s dreams, hallucinations and thoughts. She spoke of being pursued by a “phantom”. Their sessions became almost like those of a therapist and a patient.
Eventually Dickens’s wife, Catherine, became uncomfortable with the frequency of the sessions and Dickens’s fascination with Madame de la Rue’s condition.
What Really Happened?
The exact workings of mesmerism remain a mystery. It might have functioned like a tranquilizer, promoting rest and relaxation. While we may never fully understand its mechanisms, the improvements in the health of both Leech and de la Rue after Dickens’s treatments suggest that there was indeed something beneficial at play.
If you think there are no tornadoes in Maine, you would be wrong! Although there are not many each year, they do happen. Not only from severe thunderstorms, but any landfalling or near landfalling tropical storm or hurricane can generate them. Between 1950 and 1990, there were 74 tornadoes in Maine. You may also remember 2017, when several tornadoes touched down in Maine. On July 1, 2017, the National Weather Service in Gray issued 7 tornado warnings in New Hampshire and western Maine. Tornadoes happen more often in Maine than you might think. Here's the story from WGME-TV, Portland, Maine.
(Image of 7 Tornado warnings from July 1, 2017. Credit: National Weather Service, Grey, Maine)
Maine averages a couple of tornadoes every year
WGME , ABC -TV Channel 8, Portland, Maine
Maine is hardly tornado alley, but tornadoes are not uncommon in the state. In fact, Maine has, on average, two tornadoes every year.
In recent history, most of those tornadoes have been in the southwestern and central parts of the state
Peak tornado activity in northern New England is between June and August, but tornadoes have occurred as early as May and as late as November. Most tornadoes occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. and have an average forward speed of about 30 mph.
Between 1950 and 1990, there were 74 tornadoes in Maine. You may also remember 2017, when several tornadoes touched down in Maine.
On July 1, 2017, the National Weather Service in Gray issued 7 tornado warnings in New Hampshire and western Maine. At least five actual tornadoes were confirmed, causing significant property damage and minor injuries.
(Photo: NWS said the Aug. 14, 2019 tornado was categorized as EF1, with winds whipping up to a maximum of 90 miles per hour. touched down in Kossuth Township in Washington County, near the New Brunswick border. Photo by David Coffin)
Until that day, the office had never issued more than 6 tornado warnings in an entire year. The Gray office issued 6 tornado warnings each in 2009, 2010 and 2014.
Until July 1, 2017 the most tornado warnings issued in a single day by the Gray office was 5 on June 1, 2011.
Due to the usual short life-span of tornadoes in northern New England, there is often little, if any, advance warning. Tornadoes in New England generally touch down and then lift off the ground very quickly.
Most tornadoes in Maine are also on the low end of the EF scale, but can still cause damage and be dangerous.
Jan. 6 Rioter who attacked police: I was ‘duped’ by Trump’s lies
A Jan. 6 rioter put her trust in Donald Trump, but she was "duped." Now she's headed to a prison cell as he moves closer to the White House.
Oct. 22, 2024,By Steve Benen, NBC
Dana Jean Bell went to Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, and assaulted countless police officers. We know this for certain because she was captured on camera committing her crimes, to which she ultimately pleaded guilty. Last week, a federal district court judge sentenced Bell to 17 months in prison.
What struck me as especially notable about these developments, however, was what the defendant and her lawyer said ahead of her sentencing. NBC News reported:
Bell, according to her defense team, believed it was “her civil and patriotic duty to answer Trump’s call” on Jan. 6. But they say she has now seen the light. In a psychiatric evaluation her lawyer filed in court, a doctor said Bell now realizes she was “duped” by “President Donald Trump’s lies and manipulation” and “has also come to realize former President Trump did lose the 2020 election and he has used all of his followers including herself for his own gain.”
“Dana regrets ever having responded to Trump’s call,” her lawyer added.
The timing of this story stood out for me. The former president — whose career seemingly ended on Jan. 6 — has spent years trying to rewrite the story of the insurrectionist riot, and those efforts are ongoing. As recently as last week, for example, the Republican candidate compared Jan. 6 criminals to victims of Japanese internment camps.
The same day, the GOP nominee also amplified a conspiracy theory that “the government staged a riot to cover up the fact that they certified a fraudulent election.”
A day earlier, Trump told a Univision town hall audience that there was “nothing done wrong” during the assault on the Capitol, while using the word “we” in reference to the insurrectionist rioters who attacked at his behest.
But as Trump moves closer to a possible return to the White House, it’s Dana Jean Bell who’s moving to a federal penitentiary. The man who lied will likely be rewarded with millions of votes, while the woman who was “duped” by those lies will be an inmate in a prison cell.
Over the weekend of Oct 19, 2024, after Trump defended Jan. 6 as a “day of love,” the Democratic campaign released an ad called, “The Oath I Took,” featuring former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell slamming the former president’s radical and dangerous tactics.
Yesterday I received a note from my friend Rich in Maryland, who has recently become a firefighter and EMT (after a lot of training). He's already been helping others in his first year. He is my hero of the week. He used to be a barista at Starbucks and wanted to do something more for the world, so he went into training. What an incredible guy. Today's blog is about the message he sent, and and it is so incredibly moving and powerful.
Rich said: "I had someone on my ambulance over the summer that was quite unwell. Saw them on Tuesday, at the grocery store, looking at soups. I didn’t say hi, but it was an amazing site to me- that my hands are starting to return people to their ordinary lives."
He's also humble, too. I told him he is a hero to me, and he replied, "Thanks, but I see it as another job, it just has powerful outcomes."
THAT is a HERO
My friend Brice in Kentucky does the same, and he's another personal hero of mine. You'll read about him in a future post.
Project 2025 Is Here - What it Means
The 920-page document lays out a detailed far-right vision for Trump’s return to the White House. Here is what Project 2025 says about major policy issues — and what it could mean for the next four years.
Weather Forecasting
Health Care - The 2025 Purpose: to reduce the federal government’s role in healthcare
PROJECT 2025 to create a national backdoor abortion ban by invoking the Comstock Act — a 150-year-old law. Trump could circumvent Congress and enact a ban on abortion pills in all 50 states using this archaic law.
NO SEX ED, CONTRACEPTION, BIRTH CONTROL, IVF -
REMOVAL OF LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
Executions
Government Agencies
The Justice Department
Education
Public Lands
AROOSTOOK COUNTY, Maine — A video shared with Maine's Total Coverage shows a bull moose get up close and personal with a man before the animal ultimately charged at him and knocked him down.
The man told Maine's Total Coverage that he walked into a large swamp in Aroostook County at about 8 a.m. Tuesday to set up a few game cameras when he heard the bellowing sound of a cow moose in heat.
The man said he then saw the cow, which was surrounded by three bulls that were competing for her attention.
According to the man, one of those bulls heard him coming and approached him. That's when the man pulled out his phone and started recording the video.
The moose wound up getting within 3 feet of the man, who can be heard in the video telling the bull it was "close enough" multiple times.
"Most moose that we have encountered are spooked by a human voice. Unfortunately, in his rut-crazed mind, I was still another bull trying to take his cow," the man wrote in a message to Maine's Total Coverage.
The man can then be heard telling the moose to "go" and "get out of here," but the bull would not budge.
According to the man, he was only able to back up for a couple of seconds before the moose suddenly charged.
Watch the video in the player below
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/DIsA-n8EHt8?si=7wCdBbNIt5l8OQUY
The man can be heard yelling "Hey! Hey!" as he ran away from the moose, and he said he turned his back and reached his left hand back in an effort to block the bull's antlers from hitting him.
The man said the moose knocked him to the ground, and he slid about 6 feet from the impact.
Thankfully, the man's yelling was enough to stop the moose from continually coming after him. The man said the bull ran in the other direction after the initial impact.
"I was on my hands and knees at this point and completely defenseless," the man wrote.
The man said he slowly crept out of the swamp once he was able to gather himself and check for injuries.
He said he only wound up with a few bumps and bruises to his legs, back and arms.
Here's some good news that may save you money during tax season! Thanks to the Biden Administration, taxpayers in 24 states will be able to file their 2025 tax returns directly with the IRS at NO Cost. Today's blog explains which states are participating and provides a link to the program on-line.
Taxpayers in 24 states will be able to file their returns directly with the IRS in 2025
By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS is expanding its program that allows people to file their taxes directly with the agency for free.
The federal tax collector’s Direct File program, which allows taxpayers to calculate and submit their returns to the government directly without using commercial tax preparation software, will be open to more than 30 million people in 24 states in the 2025 filing season.
The program was rolled out as a pilot during the 2024 tax season in 12 states.
Now IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel says the program will be permanent and the IRS will expand eligibility opportunities for taxpayers.
“We’re announcing significant expansions of Direct File that will make the service available to millions more taxpayers in 2025,” Werfel said on a call Thursday with reporters. He said it is possible that additional states could still choose to join the program in 2025.
The pilot program in 2024 allowed people in certain states with very simple W-2s to calculate and submit their returns directly to the IRS. Those using the program claimed more than $90 million in refunds, the IRS said.
It was originally available to certain taxpayers in California, New York, Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming and Massachusetts.
States to be added in 2025 include: Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In addition, new eligibility standards will allow participation by taxpayers with 1099 income and credits including the Child and Dependent Care Credit, Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, and the deduction for Health Savings Accounts, among others.
“Other countries have been providing their citizens with the ability to do this type of thing for years,” Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on the call with reporters. Several nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, including Germany and Japan, have similar systems with prepopulated tax forms.
The direct file idea is not viewed favorably by the commercial tax prep software firms that have made billions of dollars from charging people to use their software.
Additionally, an IRS inspector general report released this week notes that the IRS has not maintained sufficient safeguards over data protection related to the IRS Free File Alliance. The alliance is a longstanding agreement between the IRS and some commercial tax preparation companies to provide free tax prep services to low and middle-income taxpayers.
The Free File Alliance is separate from the Direct File program.
The IRS was tasked with looking into how to create a “direct file” system as part of the money it received from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It gave the IRS nine months and $15 million to report on how such a program would work.
Here's the LINK: https://www.irs.gov/filing/irs-direct-file
Happy Tyler Tuesday! Tyler has a message for humans today since it's election day: "Vote to remove stubborn orange stains!" Tyler is wiser than 40% of Americans!
(Photo: A moss-covered slope, with the sea and ice chunks visible in the background Green Island. Credit Matt Amesbury)
Antarctic ‘greening’ at dramatic rateThe Antarctic Peninsula, like many polar regions, is warming faster than the global average, with extreme heat events in Antarctica becoming more common.
The new study – by the universities of Exeter and Hertfordshire, and the British Antarctic Survey – used satellite data to assess how much the Antarctic Peninsula has been “greening” in response to climate change.
It found that the area of vegetation cover across the Peninsula increased from less than one square kilometre in 1986 to almost 12 square kilometres by 2021.
Published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the study also found this greening trend accelerated by over 30% in recent years (2016-2021) relative to the full study period (1986-2021) – expanding by over 400,000 square metres per year in this period.
In a previous study, which examined core samples taken from moss-dominated ecosystems on the Antarctic Peninsula, the team found evidence that rates of plant growth had increased dramatically in recent decades.
This new study uses satellite imagery to confirm that a widespread greening trend, across the Antarctic Peninsula, is under way and accelerating.
“The plants we find on the Antarctic Peninsula – mostly mosses – grow in perhaps the harshest conditions on Earth,” said Dr Thomas Roland, from the University of Exeter.
“The landscape is still almost entirely dominated by snow, ice and rock, with only a tiny fraction colonised by plant life.
“But that tiny fraction has grown dramatically – showing that even this vast and isolated ‘wilderness’ is being affected by anthropogenic climate change.”
Dr Olly Bartlett, from the University of Hertfordshire, added: “As these ecosystems become more established – and the climate continues to warm – it’s likely that the extent of greening will increase.
“Soil in Antarctica is mostly poor or non-existent, but this increase in plant life will add organic matter, and facilitate soil formation – potentially paving the way for other plants to grow.
“This raises the risk of non-native and invasive species arriving, possibly carried by eco-tourists, scientists or other visitors to the continent.”
The researchers emphasise the urgent need for further research to establish the specific climate and environmental mechanisms that are driving the “greening” trend.
“The sensitivity of the Antarctic Peninsula’s vegetation to climate change is now clear and, under future anthropogenic warming, we could see fundamental changes to the biology and landscape of this iconic and vulnerable region,” said Dr Roland.
He added: “Our findings raise serious concerns about the environmental future of the Antarctic Peninsula, and of the continent as a whole. In order to protect Antarctica, we must understand these changes and identify precisely what is causing them.”
The researchers are now investigating how recently deglaciated (ice-free) landscapes are colonised by plants, and how the process might proceed into the future.
The paper is entitled: “Satellites evidence sustained greening of the Antarctic Peninsula.”
