Idiot of the Week Tennessee woman drove through vaccination tent to protest

 This week's Idiot is a Right-wing wacko from Tennessee, who is also an "Anti-vaxxer" who decided it would be better to plow through a tent full of medical professionals and attempt to murder them, than allow people to be vaccinated against a deadly pandemic. This piece of human garbage needs to go to prison. 

(Photo: Virginia Christine Lewis Brown. Credit: Blount County Sheriff's office).

Idiot of the Week Tennessee woman drove through vaccination tent to protest

 Associated Press May 27, 2021

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee woman accused of driving through a COVID-19 vaccine distribution tent as a form of protest has been charged with seven counts of felony reckless endangerment, according to a police report.

Virginia Christine Lewis Brown, 36, was arrested after a Blount County deputy witnessed her driving through the tent at a vaccine distribution event Monday at Foothills Mall in Maryville, according to news outlets, which cited an incident report.

The report said more than a dozen health department and national guard personnel were inside the tent.

Blount County Sheriff's Office post:

MAY 27, 2021

GREENBACK WOMAN CHARGED WITH 7 COUNTS OF RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT

MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE – Blount County Sheriff James Lee Berrong said a Greenback woman was arrested and charged with seven counts of felony reckless endangerment after she drove through a vaccine tent at a high rate of speed Monday, placing the lives of seven workers in danger.

Virginia Christine Lewis Brown, 35, Rudd Road, Greenback, was released on bonds totaling $21,000 on her charges pending a hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court at 9 a.m. June 7, 2021.

The incident occurred Monday morning at the Blount County Health Department vaccine site at Foothills Mall. Two Blount County Sheriff’s deputies who were working at the site witnessed Ms. Brown speed through the coned section and through the enclosed vaccine tent in a Chrysler Pacifica. The deputies reported that Ms. Brown did not stop at the check-in area at the entrance of the tent but continued through the tent at a high rate of speed, then exited the tent and out of the parking lot. Several personnel, who represent the Blount County Health Department and the Tennessee National Guard, ran out of the tent and toward the deputy’s vehicles. Witnesses and staff told the deputies Ms. Brown yelled “No vaccine!” as she drove through the tent. One of the deputies followed the vehicle out of the parking lot and conducted a traffic stop on Morganton Road. Ms. Brown told the deputy that she drove through the site to protest the vaccine. Ms. Brown was arrested and taken to the Blount County Correctional Facility without incident.

Good Person/Hero of the Week: NH Officer George Morales

 This week's Good person/hero of the week is a Manchester, New Hampshire police officer who changed a bad situation and made it into a good one for a young man who stole some goods from a store (turns out the kid was hungry). The officer took care of him. Here's the story>  

Manchester NH Police  Facebook page

 May 25, 2021 

Someone recently shared a very positive Facebook post with us concerning one of our police officers. We were so pleased to hear about his kind deed we decided to share it as well and give him some well deserved recognition.

Officer George Morales was working a detail at Market Basket on Elm St when he saw a young man with a backpack leave the store in a hurry without purchasing anything. He stopped the man and found that he had some unpaid food in his bag. There was no alcohol or any other items that would be indicative of criminal activities. Rather than charge him with a crime, he pulled out his debit card.

"It was then apparent to me, this was just a young person going through hard times. He was just hungry," says Officer Morales. "I then offered to purchase the items of food for him, I asked him to please apologize to the store manager. He then began to cry, and agreed. The store manager was satisfied with the resolution, and we then parted ways on good terms."

We hope this selfless act made a difference in this young man's life. Thank you Officer Morales, great work!

A Dumb Film Idea and 3 Current Black Supermen with Great Backstories Who Need a Film!

There are three black Supermen in DC comics lore that have amazing backstories that need to be told. Unfortunately, Hollywood isn't interested. Instead, they want to do something dumb. As a comic book fan for over 40 years, I get irritated when  Hollywood alters superheroes who have been around since the 1930s and 1940s, and the current idea is just ridiculous. Warner Brothers now wants to make a new Superman movie featuring a black man as Clark Kent (Dumb idea) Hollywood and DC Comics should be telling the stories of the characters who already exist- not changing the ethnicity of an existing character.  Today's blog will tell you about those Supermen. 

1) Calvin Ellis (right) is the Superman of Earth-23. Also the U.S. President, he leads a Multiversal Justice League (Justice Incarnate).

HIS STORY: Years ago, the planet Krypton was annihilated in a cataclysmic explosion, leaving almost nothing left. Shortly before the catastrophe, young scientists Jorel and Lara managed to rocket their infant child, Kalel, into the depths of space, where he would eventually land on the planet Earth. Found by the poor but kind Ellis family, who christened him Calvin, he was raised to stand up for himself no matter the odds, and to fight for what's right. When his star-spanning Kryptonian powers emerged under Earth's yellow sun, he became Superman, champion of the oppressed and defender of peace around the world.

Superman would fight many battles against the likes of Lex Luthor, construct the citadel of Fort Superman, and inspire a generation of superheroes by his emergence who would form the Justice League. But his greatest adventure of all may be, in his identity as Calvin Ellis, becoming the President of the United States of America, where aided by his long-suffering assistant Courtney and the reprogrammed alien intelligence Brainiac, he works to protect the world with political as well as superhuman might.

2) Val Zod (left) became the Superman of "New 52" Earth-2  after Clark Kent died in battle with a villian.

He has a fascinating back story:He was found by the new Wonders who were looking for the mysterious alien to fight a brainwashed Superman and they discovered that he too was a Kryptonian.  Suffering a panic attack after being freed, Val revealed that he spent most of his life on a capsule, thus he was afraid of open spaces. So Lois Lane told him that it was okay to be afraid and that, being a Kryptonian, he could do something to help everyone. 

Starting to develop his abilities, Lois tried to teach Val how to use his powers by finally going outdoors and try to fly. He was doing his best when they were attacked by a horde of Parademons lead by Superman who was behind Val.^[2] Saved by Lois, he and Hawkgirl were alone against the Parademons until they were saved by Green Lantern who took them to safety. Worried about Lois, Val told Batman that they must save her, but their plan was interrupted by Apokoliptian forces who forced them to evacuate the Batcave ^[6] and escape to Amazonia. Batman blamed Val for not using his powers and letting Red Arrow die, saying it's all on him. When Jimmy approached him, he told him that it wasn't his fault before asking him what he was hiding beneath his hoodie, to which he revealed was the symbol of the House of El (Superman's symbol). 

3) Steel - John Henry Irons was one of the Supermen who stepped in to fight crime after Superman temporarily "died." Steel became an amazing hero in his own right.  **NOTE: This character is NOW featured in the HIT CW television show "Superman and Lois" and they gave him an interesting back story. 

(Photo: Actor Wole Parks playing Steel/John Henry Irons in the CW Network TV show "Superman and Lois)

  That's how it should be done.

Film History note: There was a theatrical movie release about the character, but it was a big failure, sadly. 

Here's the reference about the film from WIKIPEDIA: 

"Steel is a 1997 American superhero film loosely based on the DC Comics character of the same name. The film stars Shaquille O'Neal as John Henry Irons and his alter-ego Steel, Annabeth Gish as his wheelchair-using partner Susan Sparks, and Judd Nelson as their rival Nathaniel Burke. The plot centers on an accident caused by Burke which leaves Sparks paralyzed. The accident results in Irons quitting his job. Burke begins mass-producing weapons and selling them to criminals. In order to stop Burke, Irons and Sparks create a suit of armor that leads Irons to become the superhero Steel.

Written and directed by Kenneth Johnson,  the film separates itself from the comic book series (and John Henry Irons' status as a supporting character of Superman) by using original protagonists and antagonists. On its initial release, Steel was a box office bomb and was panned by critics, who complained about the film's "cheesiness" and bad acting." 

NOTE: I did not see this film in 1997- it wasn't in theaters in Kentucky where I was going to school

*****************************************************

(The Original Superman and Clark Kent. Don't mess with him, movie makers. Cr: DC Comics) 

Many New Characters Created -  I agree there needs to be many more black, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, and Native American heroes and villains, but CREATE THEM- just leave the established characters alone! Look what DC Comics just did with the "Painkiller" character on the CW Netwrok's TV show Black Lightning.    DC Comics created Katana, a sword-wielding Japanese hero; The New Super-Man from China; Batwing a black batman family character, Orphan, an Asian Bat-family character, Wildcat- Yolanda Montez, an Hispanic hero and many others.

I  agree with this: A Twitter comics fan named  Killafoe noted:  If Sony and Marvel has enough trust in its consumer to accept a Black Spider-Man and Black Captain America without them being named “Peter Parker” or “Steve Rogers” DC should be able to trust in a black Superman that isn’t Clark Kent.

 

Science news: Why are small dogs so fierce?

A new article from Science Live discusses three reasons why small dogs may act more aggressive than larger dogs. As a dog dad, I have seen this. Since our Weimaraner, Dolly, passed in October 2020, we only have small dogs in the family - Tyler the Dachshund and Dash the Dachshund/Chihuahua mix. Our friend Jeff also has a small dog, Myrtle, who is a Chihuahua/Beagle mix.  Tyler doesn't like other dogs, and Myrtle doesn't want anyone (human or dog) anywhere near her space - otherwise she growls!  Dash only seems to bark at an occasional human when we're walking, otherwise he doesn't seem to care.  Here's what Live Science had to say:

Why are small dogs so fierce?

By Tara Santora - Live Science Contributor 

With their large, muscular bodies, dogs such as rottweilers and pit bulls, especially those that are trained to act menacingly, may seem like the scariest of their species. But evidence shows that smaller dogs can actually be more aggressive than many of their outsized counterparts.

So why are little dogs so fierce?

First, it's important to define what counts as tiny for a dog. "Small dogs in the less-than-20-pound [9 kilograms] range tend to be more reactive," said James Serpell, director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. For example, dachshunds, Chihuahuas and Jack Russell terriers are the most likely to attempt to bite, according to a 2008 study in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science that surveyed the owners of more than 30 dog breeds. Other aggressive behaviors seen in little dogs include growling, snarling and lunging. There are a few theories for why this is the case.

Small size may make dogs more fearful, and they may lash out in self-defense, Serpell said. Tiny breeds may be more likely to react defensively because they have more to be afraid of.

Alternatively, small dogs' reactivity could be a result of their owners' behavior. "Owners tend to infantilize small dog breeds and think of them as being like helpless infants," Serpell told Live Science. Pet owners may be overly protective of small breeds, so they may not socialize them or teach them how to properly react to stressful situations.

Aggression could also be baked into the pups' evolution. "If you're attacked by a Chihuahua, obviously the consequences are much less significant than if you're attacked by a Great Dane or a Siberian husky," Serpell said. In other words, over the millenia, humans may not have bothered to breed aggressive behaviors out of little dogs because the consequences weren't as dire as they were for being attacked by sizable hounds.

That last theory is supported by studies that have found a link between aggressive behavior and the growth factor gene that makes small dogs small. The association could be coincidental, but research has shown that small dogs aren't just more extreme in their aggression-related behaviors; compared with large dogs, small dogs tend to have more severe separation anxiety, usually bark more and are more likely to urinate in the house, Serpell said. This gives credence to the theory that genetics plays a role in little dogs' extreme behavior.

Scientists aren't sure which of the theories are correct because they haven't studied the root of little dogs' fierce behavior yet, Serpell said. All of the theories could potentially play a role.

Body size may not be the only attribute of small dogs that is associated with aggression. Lower height alone is associated with undesirable traits in some breeds, according to a 2013 study in the journal PLOS One. For example, dog breeds with shorter legs are more likely to be fearful of unfamiliar dogs and to have owner-directed aggression. It's unclear why this is the case, but it may be something to keep in mind when you're looking for your next pet.

Full Article/Source: https://www.livescience.com/why-small-dogs-are-fierce.html

Wow- 6 prehistoric creatures found trapped in ice! (including short video of the Yuka Mammoth Find!)

Paleontology fascinates me, from fossils to findings of actual remains of mammals or dinosaurs, and recently How it Works Magazine provided this great article on 5 creatures that were found at least partially preserved from ice. When I was putting the story together, I also found a short video from BBC News about another, and older Mammoth that was uncovered from ice

Here's the amazing story and photos. 

 (Caption: Woolly mammoths and prehistoric bison are among the prehistoric creatures found trapped in frozen time capsule of Siberia. (Image credit: Getty Images/Science Photo Library - LEONELLO CALVETTI))

Frozen in time: 5 prehistoric creatures found trapped in ice 

By Amy Grisdale, How It Works magazine June 4, 2021 

 

Here are 5 of the most famous prehistoric creatures found preserved in the frozen depths of Siberia.

Artist's depiction of woolly mammoths and ancient bison roaming a frozen plain. Woolly mammoths and prehistoric bison are among the prehistoric creatures found trapped in frozen time capsule of Siberia. 

(Image credit: Getty Images/Science Photo Library - LEONELLO CALVETTI) These frozen prehistoric animals are superbly well-preserved and now famous around the world.

1. Woolly rhino baby named Sasha Preserved body of Sasha the woolly rhino.

Preserved body of Sasha the woolly rhino. (Image credit: Yakutian Academy of Sciences) This woolly rhino baby, affectionately named Sasha by the man who found it, was the first young member of its species ever found. It's unclear if it is male or female, but the horn size suggests it had been weaned by the time it died. It roamed the mammoth steppe, a dry, cold region from Spain to Siberia.

(The mysterious mummy kitten lying on its back.   Image credit: Courtesy of Anastasia Koryakina)

2. Lion or lynx The mysterious mummy kitten lying on its back. 

Scientists unearthed a squashed, mummified cat in eastern Siberia in 2017. It could either be a lynx kitten or a cave lion cub. Its coat is in beautiful condition, but we can't be sure of the species as we don't really know what a cave lion looked like.

(Caption: Lyuba, one of the perfectly preserved frozen baby mammoths. (Image credit: University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology) )

3. Mammoth calves Photo of Lyuba, a frozen baby mammoth. 

Explorers unearthed two mammoth calves dating to about 40,000 years ago in two different areas of Siberia. Researchers took a closer look at the specimens using CT scans and discovered that both baby mammoths had choked on mud. The little mammoths appeared otherwise plump and healthy when they met their demise.

Image: The almost perfectly preserved bison mummy was found on the shore of a lake in northern Siberia. (Image credit: Dr. Gennady Boeskorov) )

4. Ancient bison The almost perfectly preserved bison mummy was found on the shore of a lake in northern Siberia.

The almost perfectly preserved bison mummy was found on the shore of a lake in northern Siberia. The most complete steppe bison specimen ever found is 9,000 years old. It has a complete heart, brain and digestive system, along with near-perfect blood vessels. Some organs have shrunk over time but are remarkable, nonetheless.

(Image: Frozen in ice for millennia, this Siberian mummy is the best-preserved ancient horse ever found. (Image credit: Michil Yakovlev/SVFU/The Siberian Times))

5. Frozen foal Frozen in ice for millennia, this Siberian mummy is the best-preserved ancient horse ever found.

Frozen in ice for millennia, this Siberian mummy is the best-preserved ancient horse ever found.  A two-month-old horse that died between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago made its way approximately 100 meters (328 feet) below the surface, deep in a Siberian crater. In life, the young horse stood almost 1 m (3 feet) tall, and its hooves are still intact, along with tiny hairs that are still visible inside the foal's nostrils.

Video: https://youtu.be/ZOFf1wyx91M

6. VIDEO:  The Perfectly Preserved Frozen Yuka Mammoth Mummy - Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice - BBC Two

Yuka is the best-preserved woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) carcass ever found. It was discovered by local Siberian tusk hunters in 2010.^[1][2] They turned it over to local scientists, who made an initial assessment of the carcass in 2012.^[  It is displayed in Moscow.

All About Donuts: Origin, Correct Spelling, Dunkin Donuts Founded

 As a Dunkin' Donuts coffee fanatic, and a lover of Double chocolate and Boston Cream Dunkin Donuts, I thought I would share this great history of the word donut (Courtesy of Dictionary. com) and where the pastry originated from.

WHAT IS A DONUT/DOUGHNUT?  Small sweetened or unsweetened pieces of dough fried in deep fat. As for the spelling: is it doughnut or donut? Technically, it can be both. Dictionaries and popular style guides like the AP Stylebook list doughnut as the preferred spelling. However, donut is a common variation in the United States.

WHERE DID THE "NUT" COME FROM? The word doughnut was first recorded at the end of the 1700s with the spelling donote. It’s just one example of how the English language has changed over time—and an example of how messy spelling has always been when it comes to English. And words with -ough spellings can be especially rough, like through, tough, drought, cough, and others.

Doughnut, of course, is a compound of dough and nut. But why nut? There are a couple lines of thinking as to how the nut part of the word came to be. One is that nut, here, is likened to a small lump of dough. The other is related to literal nuts, and traces the sweets back to a woman named Elizabeth Gregory who made deep-fried dough with cinnamon and nutmeg and put hazelnuts or walnuts in the middle. The nuts filled the space where the dough wouldn’t cook all the way through—a solution before the middle was taken out of doughnuts entirely.

THEY CAME FROM THE DUTCH! They came from Dutch settlers who lived in what was then known as New Amsterdam. The settlers brought what they called olykoeks, which translates to “oily cakes.” From a literal perspective, it made sense: cakes fried in oil.

WHO PUT THE NUT IN DONUT? Elizabeth Gregory, the woman who has been credited with the nuts in doughnuts, also plays a role in how doughnuts got their hole. According to legend, her son, Captain Hansen Gregory, put a hole in the middle of the fried piece of dough. Cutting out the middle meant that the inside would cook evenly alongside the exterior, so the story goes, though there are other stories about how it also allowed Captain Gregory to put his doughnuts on the spokes of a ship’s wheel, and others that say he did it to make the doughnuts easier to digest.

ROARING 20s, 30s AND 40s DONUTS - Doughnut machines pumped out commercial versions in New York City as early as 1920, and Americans fighting in the trenches of World War I were given doughnuts to give them a taste of home (soldiers at the time were often called doughboys, but that had to do with the buttons on their uniform rather than doughnuts). The Chicago World’s Fair in 1934 featured doughnuts as a cheap and tasty dish. During World War II, women who worked in the Red Cross delivered doughnuts, which earned them the nickname “Doughnut Dollies.”

HOW DID DUNKIN DONUTS START? In my hometown of Quincy, Massachusetts (before I was born). William Rosenberg opened Open Kettle in 1948, a restaurant selling donuts and coffee in Quincy, Massachusetts, but he changed the name in 1950 to Dunkin' Donuts after discussing with company executives. ... The restaurant was successful, and Rosenberg sold franchises to others starting in 1955.

Archaeology Find: Ancient British Graves of Roman Empire Soldiers Were Decapitated

 Archaeology is a cool science. Uncovering the ancient past and trying to make sense of what happened. It's like reading a mystery novel, but you have to figure out the ending that best makes sense. Archaeology magazine published a story in 2016 about an ancient Roman soldier burial ground found in York, England. The oddity was that the soldiers were all decapitated and buried with their separated heads. It's still a mystery. Here's the article:

(photo: Skeletons from Roman graveyard in Guildhall, York, England, laid out in a church. Courtesy York Archaeological Trust)

In York, Off With Their Ancient Roman Heads

By ANDREW CURRY, Archaeology; July/August 2016 

DNA testing on the skeletons of men buried in a graveyard in York—once one of the largest settlements in Roman Britain—suggests that even the far-flung fringes of the Roman Empire were diverse places. York—then called Eboracum—was the Roman Empire's northernmost provincial capital during the time.nbsp;

Unearthed between 2004 and 2005 in the northern city of York (map), the 80 skeletons were found in burial grounds used by the Romans throughout the second and third centuries A.D. Almost all the bodies are males, and more than half of them had been decapitated, although many were buried with their detached heads.

While most of the skeletons had genetic signatures resembling people living in modern-day Wales, one of the men came from thousands of miles away. His genes match those of modern-day Syrians, and chemical analysis of his teeth shows he grew up in a desert climate. “It’s confirmation of the idea that there was a lot of migration inside the Roman Empire,” says Dan Bradley, a geneticist at Trinity College Dublin who led the work. 

Oxygen and strontium isotopes in the bones of the headless Romans indicated that just 5 of 18 individuals tested came from the York area, according to a  study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science. The rest of the men came from elsewhere in England or mainland Europe, possibly from France, Germany, the Balkans, or the Mediterranean. 

But what happened to their heads? All the men in the cemetery had been decapitated, and many were buried with their detached skulls nearby. Bradley suggests they may have been Roman soldiers or gladiators, but University of St. Andrews archaeologist Jon Coulston calls the idea that they had been gladiators “wishful thinking.”

Beheading wasn’t common for gladiators—or criminals, for that matter. Coulston says, “I see no clear connection between decapitation and gladiatorial displays.” The mystery remains.

Idiot of the Week: GOP Congressman asks Forest Service to Move the Moon's Orbit to Combat Climate Change

Here's one that will make you question how in the world people get elected to office. This U.S. Congressman asked a Forest Service official if they could change the moon's orbit to combat climate change. Well, at least he understands the climate is changing. But the Forest Service, let alone NASA, is not capable of changing the Moon's orbit (and what does that have to do with global warming? ?)  Even Russian newspapers called him an Idiot! 

Here's the story

(Image: Idiot of the week: Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas))

Lawmaker Asks Head-Scratching Question About Changing Earth And Moon’s Orbit To Fight Climate Change People 

From theHill.com 6/9/21 

“Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) on Tuesday, June 8, asked a representative from the U.S. Forest Service if it was possible to alter the orbit of the moon or the Earth as a way of combating climate change, though it was unclear if he was being serious.

Gohmert received a dumbfounded laugh from a National Forest Service official when the Texas Republican asked if it was possible to somehow change the orbit of the moon and the Earth in order to combat climate change. .

Gohmert was speaking with Jennifer Eberlien, associate deputy chief of the National Forest System, during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing. ‘I understand from what’s been testified to the Forest Service and the BLM [Bureau of Land Management], you want very much to work on the issue of climate change,’ Gohmert said to Eberlien, adding that a past director of NASA had once told him that orbits of the moon and the Earth were changing.”

"I would have to follow up with you on that one, Mr. Gohmert," Eberlien responded.

"Well, if you figure out a way that you in the Forest Service can make that change, I'd like to know," Gohmert added.

RUSSIAN MEDIA CALLS IT - Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda picked up the story, publishing it with a headline that read: "And let's change the orbit of the moon: 'The dumbest guy in the U.S. Congress' voiced a new idea." Gohmert was a key promoter of former President Donald Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was "rigged" or "stolen." The congressman filed a groundless lawsuit in a bid to give then-Vice President Mike Pence the legal authority to single-handedly overturn the election's results, but it was rejected by a U.S. District Court judge appointed by Trump.

WHAT NASA SAYS 

 As NASA explains in a blog post, Earth's orbit changes from being close to perfectly circular to being slightly more elliptical in a cycle that takes about 100,000 years. The orbit is currently around as close to being circular as it can be.

The angle at which the Earth tilts also shifts slightly or "wobbles" on its axis over the course of tens of thousands of years. These changes are called Milanković cycles after Milutin Milanković, the Serbian astronomer who first hypothesized them. 

MOON ORBITAL SHIFTS DO NOT AFFECT GLOBAL WARMING: These shifts affect Earth's climate in both the short-term and long-term, though they have a relatively minor impact on the planet's seasons and are not behind global warming, according to NASA. Astronomers have long observed that the Earth's moon is slowly drifting away, moving about an inch away every year.

Hero of the Week: Texas High School Valedictorian Calls Out Ridiculous Abortion Law

 Bravo to the high school Valedictorian who called out Texas Republican legislators on their ridiculous Abortion Law, which PREVENTS Rape and Incest victims from getting an abortion.  

   WHY do old, white, conservative men, who can't even procreate get to make laws about a Woman's health?  Why can't Republican women even see that's ridiculous??? Men can't get pregnant, and if they could and they were raped, it would be a different story. 

Here's the article about this week's hero.

(Image: Paxton Smith, Lake Highlands High School valedictorian, poses for a photo, Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in Dallas   CREDIT: JUAN FIGUEROA/THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS VIA AP ) 

Texas High School Valedictorian Changes Planned Graduation Speech to Condemn Strict Abortion Law 

"I cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights," 18-year-old Paxton Smith said during her surprise speech 

 By Eric TodiscoJune 03, 2021 10:27 AM People.com  

 An 18-year-old high school senior from Dallas, Texas, went off-script during her valedictorian graduation speech over the weekend to take a stand against the state's new restrictive abortion ban.

According to Today, Paxton Smith was expected to speak at Lake Highlands High School's graduation on Sunday about media and entertainment as class valedictorian. But Smith instead scrapped the pre-approved script for 3 minutes of condemnation for the controversial legislation known as the "heartbeat ban," which was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott last month and prohibits women from getting an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

"In light of recent events, it feels wrong to talk about anything but what is currently affecting me and millions of other women in this state," Smith said in her passionate speech, as seen in video obtained by Today.

The bill goes into effect Sept. 1, and does not allow exceptions for women who are impregnated as a result of rape or incest. There are considerations "if a physician believes a medical emergency exists." Also under the bill, private citizens can also sue doctors or abortion clinic workers who perform or help to set up the procedure.

"I have dreams and hopes and ambitions," Smith added in her speech. "Every girl graduating today does. And we have spent our entire lives working towards our future. And without our input and without our consent, our control over that future has been stripped away from us. I am terrified that if my contraceptives fail, I am terrified that if I am raped, then my hopes and aspirations and dreams and efforts for my future will no longer matter."

"I hope that you can feel how gut-wrenching that is, I hope you can feel how dehumanizing it is," she added, "to have the autonomy over your own body taken away from you. I cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights. A war on the rights of your mothers. A war on the rights of your sisters. A war on the rights of your daughters."

"We cannot stay silent," she said to conclude her speech.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/XpJkErsb7UE

UK Dogs- During COVID: Prison officers take dogs to work to cut prisoners' stress

In England and Wales, dogs are helping ease prisoners' tensions because visits have been stopped during the pandemic. What a brilliant idea. *On a related note, I support "Puppies behind Bars" here in the U.S.- which is a program where prisoners in the U.S. train dogs to become service dogs.  Now, onto the BBC News story from the United Kingdom:

(Photo: All the dogs have to pass an assessment before they can go into the prison Credit: BBC NEWS) 

Covid: Dogs fill visiting void for Bridgend prisoners Prison officers take dogs to work to cut prisoners' stress 

BBC News, June 3, 2021 By Lucy Owen

Prisoners who found their visits suspended for several months because of the coronavirus pandemic have been able to fill the void of not seeing loved ones by spending time with the dogs of their prison officers. Officers at Parc Prison in Bridgend have been taking their pets to work to ease tension among inmates amid fears for prisoners' mental health.

Visits to prisons were suspended for months as the coronavirus pandemic hit and there were fears for inmates' mental health due to strict Covid restrictions.

At Parc Prison, Bridgend, officers said the dogs helped lighten the atmosphere. Lloyd, who has one year left on his sentence, said being with them helped him to "look forward". He said Rosco, who joins them at the prison store, was like one of the boys and went with them around the site. "It's just a reminder of what your life was like before and how it can be once you get out and it's nice not to have reminders of what you might have done, you're looking forward rather than looking back" he said.

,/p> Shirley-Ann Gates, a complex needs support worker, said prisoners are more relaxed when they see her support dog, Bella. The scheme, run by charity Pets as Therapy, was introduced at Parc at the start of the pandemic and is in place at 24 prisons across the UK.

Meet the Largest Winged Dinosaur You've Never Heard of: Arambourgiania

 BBC Earth News published a story recently on a finding of the largest winged dinosaur ever discovered and they were bigger than giraffes!  Called the Arambourgiania , these winged reptiles had a 30 foot wingspan. Here's the article from BBC Earth:   

(Caption: By Mark P. Witton - Witton, M. P., & Naish, D. (2015). Azhdarchid pterosaurs: water-trawling pelican mimics or “terrestrial stalkers”?. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 60(3), 651-660., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29254138) 

  The winged giant that was bigger than T. Rex 

By Chris Baraniuk   BBC Earth June 2, 2021 

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Mark Witton is a paleobiologist on a mission. He says more people should know about one spectacular flying animal that lived more than 65 million years ago: Arambourgiania philadelphiae.

Arambourgiania was a pterosaur – a group of reptiles that includes pterodactyls but which is distinct from dinosaurs. It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, at the same time as Tyrannosaurus rex. Like T. rex, Arambourgiania was big. With an estimated wingspan of around 10m and an unusually long neck, it was one of the largest flying organisms that ever lived - basically the size of a small plane.

“A flying animal with a giraffe-like neck,” says Witton, who is based at the University of Portsmouth. “That’s pretty remarkable.”

 

(Caption:  Arambourgiania vs giraffe. © Mark Witton)

Not long ago, Witton wrote a blog post claiming that Arambourgiania deserved a “fan club”. He pointed out that a number other large pterosaurs from the same period, like Quetzalcoatlus northropi, are generally more well known.

It’s possible that Arambourgiania may have been slightly smaller overall, but it is special for another reason. We know that its neck may have been nearly three metres in length.

A flying animal with a giraffe-like neck. That’s pretty remarkable.”  

“It’s about double the length of what we’d see in another giant pterosaur,” explains Witton.

It’s hard to say much for certain about this impressive species of pterosaur, but what we know about its neck is based on one of a few surviving fossils – a vertebra, in this case a neck bone. Mysteriously, no-one knows when it was discovered because documentation did not survive with it, but Witton thinks it was likely back in the 1930s or early 1940s. We do know that it was found in Jordan and that the specimen was written about in a 1954 paper by Camille Arambourg, the French palaeontologist from whom the pterosaur gets its name.

The fossil itself is a long, thin tubular bone that indicates the animal’s neck would have been massive and probably quite inflexible.

“Like a pole on the end of a plane,” says Michael Habib, a palaeontologist at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. “That of course is quite interesting because we’re not particularly accustomed to seeing animals with long, relatively inflexible necks that fly,” he adds.

“It wasn’t super flexible like the neck of a heron or swan.”

(Image: Arambourgiania   © Mark Witton)

 For a man-made plane made of metal, having so much mass out in front would be a problem, but Habib explains that a flying animal can compensate for balance during flight by adjusting its wings and shoulders. This is probably what Arambourgiania and other giant pterosaurs with a similar profile did. Fossil skulls suggest that these creatures often had freakishly large heads, though they would have been lighter than they looked thanks to their thin but rigid bone structure.

Besides the vertebra, we also have some additional fossils that likely came from Arambourgiania, including the end of a wing bone, or phalanx. These help reveal a bit more about what this ancient flier looked like. 

Arambourgiania, because of its massive size,  wouldn’t have been a creature that constantly flapped to stay aloft, for example, because this would have required too much energy. It also wouldn’t have been highly maneuverable – especially with that pole-like neck. However, Arambourgiania was likely able to soar for long periods and may even have had a flight range so big that it could essentially travel the world. One bit of evidence that hints at this is that we continue to find giant pterosaur fossils, of various species, in many different regions – from Eastern Europe to North America, the Middle East and Asia.  If they had a global range] you should tend to find them all over the place – and we do, overall.

Pterosaurs are much more than just pterodactyls, then. And this fact is partly why Witton wants to celebrate Arambourgiania. Like T. rex or woolly mammoths, it’s a species that members of the public should know about, besides just academic researchers, he says. After all, it too is part of the long and varied history of our planet.