My inner cryptobiologist lol'd at this one

This one might come in handy someday

You decide

This was either the smartest thing I've ever done, petwise, or the stupidest.

I bought a bag of the beef liver PureBites dog treats and offered some to everybody. Instant hit, far more than the tripe.

Now I've got cats nibbling my fingers and licking the keyboard as I type, and the littlest cat grabbed the bag of treats and ran off with it. Cute, especially as she carried it over to the cat feeding station, dropped it into the food bowl, and only then started ripping into the bag.

If the camera had been handy, I would have tried to get you a picture, but I figured I'd better rescue the treats instead. Once I track down the camera though, I don't expect to have any trouble recreating the scene.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'll say one thing for the NY Times

they have way cool interactive maps.

Here's one showing the foreign-born population by county. The years go back to 1880, and you can set the filter to look at just one country of origin.

Just in case you were wondering, Miami-Dade and Queens are each approximately 50% foreign-born and in each the predominant group is from Latin America.

h/t Global Sociology Blog, where you can also find maps of corruption and government spending around the world.

Nope.

I'll take End Of The World for $500, Alex.

Email from Dan Gelber

It’s no wonder that Floridians are losing faith in their government. More public officials in Florida are charged with corruption than in any other state.

We have a state government that operates largely in the shadows; a campaign finance system that gives special interests way too much power; and too many of our public institutions seem totally beholden to everyone but everyday citizens. I spent the better part of a decade fighting corruption in Florida as a federal prosecutor, so I have seen this malignancy up close. There will always be those that find a way to skirt the law or engage in sleezy behavior, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t adopt measures intended to bring greater accountability and oversight to the operations of government.

Earlier this month, I introduced a series of measures that if adopted by the legislature, would go a long way toward that goal.

But - I can't do it without you. Help me lobby my colleagues by demanding reform!

As you can see below, many opinion makers in the state agree with me, but getting my colleagues in the legislature to make life tougher on themselves won't be so easy. We need to keep the pressure on:

"Corruption in Florida has become too prevalent in recent weeks for political leaders to ignore"
- St. Pete Times, 11/5/2009

"If there isn't enough outrage right now to justify strengthening anti-corruption laws, then when?"
- The Miami New Times, 11/6/2009

“A former federal prosecutor [Gelber] running for attorney general as a reformer...
- Tallahassee Democrat, 11/9/2009

“Mr. Gelber's reasoning makes sense...Floridians have a right to more transparency and better oversight at the SBA. It's their money, after all.”
- Orlando Sentinel, 11/17/2009

To help demonstrate to my colleagues that Floridians simply will not accept the way our government mistreats taxpayer dollars, I have launched an official petition.

Join me in demanding reform. Please sign my petition right now and help spread the word!

You can read more about the specifics of my reforms here. I'll keep you updated as this fight develops.

Thanks for all you do,

Dan Gelber

I should probably consider doing this

While I was out buying computer mouses, I stopped to pick up other cat-related necessities in bulk too. Except that I remembered the cat litter and catnip, but forgot the cat food, a fact of which I was forcefully reminded as soon as I walked in the door.

I never make a second trip for anything, being a real cheapskate and not wishing to give any more of my hard-earned $$ to the oil companies than I have to, but somehow I don't think I was going to get away with making the kittehz skip their supper and breakfast the next morning.

The cats always help themselves to the dog's food, no matter how much of their own they've got, but let one square centimeter of the bottom of the cat food bowl show, and unending world famine is about to strike.

Mousers

Here at chez hipparchia computer mouses are a favored prey:



but the predator/prey ratio is closer to this:



So I stopped at the store on the way home and bought the cheapest [$9.99] mouse in the store... the lighted [way cool blue] scroll wheel will be a help finding the mouse in a dark room [should I ever need that feature] but the eerie blue glow it's casting on the monitor screen is annoying.

I've just discovered a whole new [to me] YouTube genre

kittens vs ferrets

I'm not sure we can blame ferrets for *all* the ills of the world...

So, I brought the stuff in off the porch

in preparation for possible-hurricane Ida, and somebody posts it on the internet.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

virtual tour of the boardwalk

Do want. Still.

I originally posted this lolcat almost one year ago and I'm still in love with the whole idea [except for all the gewgaws sitting around on all the horizontal surfaces]. Even more so now that I've learned about the whole-house tour.