January 4, 2012

5 Amazing and Wonderful Cat Rescues in 2011

#5: Tire Shop Employees Save Kittens from Watery Grave. In mid-May, Chris Sauter and Dave Borror arrived at the tire shop where they work and found a cat sitting on top of a storm drain grate, crying for help. When they went to investigate, they found four tiny kittens, soaking wet and shivering. They called 911 to report the feline emergency, and the Des Moines Public Works department and Animal Rescue League of Iowa quickly arrived on the scene. Borror helped the ARL officers fish the kittens out of the sewer with a net. The kittens were taken to the ARL’s shelter, where they were warmed up and given first aid. Thanks to two men who cared enough to see what was wrong, the four kittens were saved from certain death.

<snip>
And the #1 Amazing Rescue of the Year is … Man Stirs Up Hornets’ Nest to Save Kittens’ Lives! Jim Johnson was delivering tile to a Minnesota cabin when he heard crying noises. He followed the sound to a basement window well, where he found three tiny kittens fighting for their lives as they were being stung to pieces by hornets. He couldn’t just stand aside and let the poor things die, and he realized that the only thing he could do was to make the bugs madder at him than they were at the kittens. So he put on a large hooded sweatshirt and began whacking at the nest with a piece of lumber. The trick worked. He got stung a couple dozen times, but he saved the kittens’ lives in the process. Once the hornets were gone, he took the kittens to a vet, who estimated their age at about 3 weeks. One didn’t survive the ordeal, but the other two made a full recovery. Thank you, Jim Johnson, for being full of awesome, cat-loving goodness! You certainly deserve the #1 spot in our amazing rescue roundup.


More rescues here: http://blogs.catster.com/kitty-news-network/2011/12/27/top-5-amazing-rescues-of-2011/

Bless them all!

January 4, 2012

What are some systems we live with today that were designed for a world of the past?

What are some systems we live with today that were designed for a world of the past?
Isaac Gaetz, Professional engineer.
"modern plumbing" is a severely flawed system, particularly toilets. Potable water is becoming an increasingly valuable resource, and yet we have plumbing that in order to handle a few ounces of waste requires polluting many gallons of water.

The width between train rails, or gauge, has been set for centuries based on the width of wooden roman chariot axles.

The sizes, shape and locations of windows on residences are generally based on tradition. These traditions originally occurred because of physical construction limits. Now, we could easily build homes with more and better natural lighting, but we don't because we are stuck in an old pattern.

Cars have 12v power connections in the cabin, they are still based on old car cigarette lighters, despite very few people using such a lighter anymore.

Most television remotes have dozens of buttons, one for each function the remote does, this is the opposite of most technology which is heading in the direction of simplification, less buttons, and more intuitive design.

Money is still printed on paper and stamped with coins, while nearly everything in our entire world operates on a digital platform. We have work around solutions with credit/debit cards, but the money itself could be improved by taking a different, more useful form.

There are many more answers to this question from different people here. They come from a site called Quora: http://tinyurl.com/

I get an email with topics related to my interests. I can also check the site for a lot more info. I get a smorgasbord of any and everything. I get info about topics I never thought of, but that are interesting and thought provoking.
The answers are from everybody from experts to 'regular' people.

About Quora
Quora connects you to everything you want to know about. Quora aims to be the easiest place to write new content and share content from the web. We organize people and their interests so you can find, collect and share the information most valuable to you.

When you want to know more about something, Quora delivers you answers and content from people who share your interests and people who have first-hand knowledge -- like real doctors, economists, screenwriters, police officers, and military veterans. On Quora, it's easy to create a personalized homepage of everything you want to know about by following topics, questions, people and boards.
http://www.quora.com/

January 3, 2012

This Kitteh is bilingual (although she apparently wants to keep it a secret)

Speaks fluently too!
LOL

January 3, 2012

Pepsi Says Mountain Dew Can Dissolve Mouse Carcasses

Pepsi Co., facing a lawsuit from a man who claims to have found a mouse in his Mountain Dew can, has an especially creative, if disgusting, defense: their soda would have dissolved a dead mouse before the man could have found it.

An Illinois man sued Pepsi in 2009 after he claims he "spat out the soda to reveal a dead mouse," the Madison County Record reports. He claims he sent the mouse to Pepsi, which then "destroyed" the remains after he allowed them to test it, according to his complaint. 

Most shudder-worthy, however, is that Pepsi's lawyers also found experts to testify, based on the state of the remains sent to them, that "the mouse would have dissolved in the soda had it been in the can from the time of its bottling until the day the plaintiff drank it," according to the Record. (It would have become a "jelly-like substance," according to Pepsi, adds LegalNewsline.)

This seems like a winning-the-battle-while-surrendering-the-war kind of strategy that hinges on the argument that Pepsi's product is essentially a can of bright green/yellow battery acid. The lawyers still appear to be lawyering behind the scenes but we cannot wait for this to come to trial (though we think a trial is about as likely as the chances of us "Doing the Dew" ever again).

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/01/pepsi-says-mountain-dew-can-dissolve-mouse-carcasses/46868/

Gag a maggot! Most disgusting defense ever?

'Do the Dew' takes on a whole new meaning.

January 2, 2012

If this group of GOP candidates were a baseball team,

they would be hard pressed to win a T-ball game. I would bet on the kids on the other team.

(Even Huntsman, who I assumed had a modicum of common sense, has pandered to the right wingnuts and said things that are crazy.)

They might not even get to bat because they would be too busy squabbling, trying to change the rules, forgetting to wear the correct uniform, and ignoring any pointers from some coach.

I'd call them the GOHeaves! Any other suggestions for a name for the team?

January 2, 2012

Navy Sailors Bonded with 3 Stowaway Kittens

It all began when Eric Hanst and his fellow sailors were Navy deployed overseas. When they were in port for a few days, they were greeted by an unexpected guest. “A cat came aboard via mooring line. We lost track of her, and found her later that evening. We managed to get her back to the pier, and waved goodbye as we took off. This cat seemed unusually upset by this,” said Hanst.

What they did not know was that the cat didn’t just come alone. “It turns out, when she managed to sneak on board, she also managed to smuggle on three kittens. We thought she had given birth on the ship, but it was pointed out to us that they were too big to be only a few days old.”

When they were sailing off, no one on board was aware of the kittens. The little ones were very confused, looking for their mom for almost four days until they were discovered in the machine shop. “We found one initially and the other two a couple hours afterwards,” Hanst added.

Even though the crew had little experience bottle feeding a kitten, they all jumped into action, doing everything they could to help these little creatures. They did not have a bottle, so they improvised. They found boxes and necessary things to make a temporary nest for the kittens. They were all so proud, holding their new furry buddies and letting them climb all over them. When it comes to bottle feeding the kittens, these sailors showed remarkable love and care to the tiny little creatures that were about the size of their palm. They were gentle to the kittens and tended to their every whim.
<snip>
Rest of story: http://lovemeow.com/2011/04/navy-soldiers-bonded-with-3-stowaway-kittens/
9 more great 2011 stories about Kittehs: http://lovemeow.com/2012/01/top-10-amazing-cat-stories-from-2011/

Happy Kittehs and happy sailors!
(sad mama cat left behind but kudos to the sailors)

January 2, 2012

The 25 Cutest Pictures Of Newt Gingrich With....

Zoo Animals (you have to figure out which one is Newt in each pic)

Twins:


Squeeze please!:


More: http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/the-25-cutest-pictures-of-newt-gingrich-with-zoo-a-4vfo

I'll bet he's a great hit with kids.

January 2, 2012

YO' GOVERNOR IS SO DUMB...

Yo' Governor is so dumb...
..the TV weatherman said, "it's chilly outside", and he ran out the door with a bowl.

Yo' Governor is so dumb...
..he tried to put a bag of M&Ms in alphabetical order.

Yo' Governor is so dumb...
..he went into a Walgreen's, looked around, and said, "hey...these walls ain't green!".

Yo' Governor is so dumb...
..he once stared at a can of frozen orange juice for hours because it said "concentrate".

Juanita Jean recs new blog: http://www.kellybeehtx.com/

Yep! Mine is that dumb.





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January 1, 2012

And for all 'Roll Tide' fans:

(tweet)

Awesome cake!

January 1, 2012

For all Texas A&M fans:

(tweet)

Now that's a cake!