Wild gorillas seen using tools for first time - Yahoo! News

Very cool. I always like it when animals prove themselves smarter than people think they are.

Wild gorillas seen using tools for first time - Yahoo! News: "Two female gorillas have been photographed using sticks as tools to get through swampy areas, the first time the apes have been seen doing so in the wild, researchers reported on Thursday"

NOLA.com: Hurricane Center

NOLA.com: Hurricane Center: "t's only a matter of time before South Louisiana takes a direct hit from a major hurricane. Billions have been spent to protect us, but we grow more vulnerable every day.

Five-Part Series published June 23-27, 2002 "

Very interesting.

Woods Hole Currents - Digging into Hurricanes

Can you imagine NYC being hit with a Catergory 3 hurricane? Needless to say things would be bad, REALLY bad!

Check this link from out from whoi.edu

http://www.whoi.edu/home/about/currents_v9no3_hurricanes.html

It may have happened and may happen again!

"3 SEPTEMBER 1821 - Perhaps the most destructive hurricane in the history of New York City raised a ten-foot surge of water in just one hour onto the Battery in lower Manhattan—the highest surge ever recorded in New York Harbor. The storm had moved from North Carolina to New York in just ten hours, and hurricane winds were experienced as far west as Philadelphia. Though reliable meteorological records are scarce, eyewitness accounts and historic reconstructions suggest the storm made landfall near Jamaica Bay as a category 3 hurricane. It was the only time in recorded history that New York took a direct hit from an intense hurricane....

Recent research using theoretical models suggests that a modern category 4 hurricane would drown John F. Kennedy International Airport under 20 feet of water and would flood the Holland and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels and the subways."

HoustonChronicle.com - New canine flu is spreading across the U.S.

If there wasn't enouugh to worry about already.

HoustonChronicle.com - New canine flu is spreading across the U.S.: "Dr. Cynda Crawford, an immunologist at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine who is studying the virus, said it spreads most easily where dogs are housed together, but it can be passed on the street, in dog runs or even by a human transferring it from one dog to another. Kennel workers have carried the virus home with them, she said.

How many dogs die from the virus is unclear, but scientists said the fatality rate is more than 1 percent and could be as high as 10 percent among puppies and older dogs.

Crawford first began investigating greyhound deaths at a racetrack in Jacksonville, Fla., in January 2004, where eight of the 24 greyhounds who contracted the virus died.

'This is a newly emerging pathogen, and we have very little information to make predictions about it,' she said"

Project Starfish

Project Starfish: "Project Starfish is a grassroots effort helping to relocate animals displaced by Hurricane Katrina.


Definitely a good cause!

Pictures

check out some of these really cool pictures from Flickr. This is the my "favorites" directory.

You can also check out some of my own pictures. They are not as good as those above, but I like them anyways. ;)

www.flickr.com

NPR : Storm Deals Historic Blow to Jeff Davis Estate

NPR : Storm Deals Historic Blow to Jeff Davis Estate: "Storm Deals Historic Blow to Jeff Davis Estate"

Have to love the last picture (click trhough to them in addition to listening to the NPR coverage).

It All Adds Up for Kindergarteners

See, I have been saying this for a long time! Math should start sooner in school. :)
It All Adds Up for Kindergarteners: "Preschoolers with no conscious understanding of arithmetic were still able to add two numbers and compare the total to another number. They weren't as accurate as a calculator, but that's not the point, said study co-author Elizabeth Spelke, a professor of psychology at Harvard University.

'What we've shown in the children is an ability to get to approximately the right answer,' she said. And that, she added, gives educators more insight into the 'building blocks' of mathematical knowledge."

Pictures of animals left behind due to Katrina

It took some time, but finally some photos of the animals rescued after the hurricane.

Petfinder.com--has the Lamar Dixon Shelter now online

Project Starfish is a grassroots effort helping to relocate animals displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

These organizations need foster/adoptive homes, donations, and logistical support.

Finding the owners of these animals is going to be hard. If you have some extra time or money, give them a hand.

Do you trust politicians?

A very interesting piece!

BBC NEWS | Europe | States 'not run by people's will': "Sixty-five percent of citizens across the world do not think their country is governed by the will of the people, a poll commissioned by the BBC suggests"

"The figure is 55% for the US and Canada and up to 82% in EU countries - but just 24% in West Africa.

The survey also found that only 13% of people trusted politicians and only 16% thought they should be given more power. "

The National D-Day Museum, New Orleans

The National D-Day Museum, New Orleans - About: "Museum: The Good News
The Museum suffered no serious damage and has not been flooded. We've offered our buildings, warehouse capacity and parking as a staging area for the National Guard. We have no power, water or communications. Our internet server is down but we will update our website to provide information for staff, trustees and friends."

New Orleans Flood Map

What a cool site! You can see how the water was (and is) in various parts of New Orleans! New Orleans Flood Map

Shooting Dogs? What has this come to?

How?  That is all I can say?  How can anyone be so mean? 

I might understand if the animals were fighting etc, but the video sure does not make it look like that way
...rather that he (some sheriff person) was on a hunting trip out of a jeep wrangler...

from the Dallas News...
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/photography/2005/katrina_video/straydogs.html

BTW I purposely left the link like that so you could see where it takes you.  (ie. not a hoax)


I guess mixed with many good people are a couple of nuts.  The officer deserves to be thrown in jail for years. 

BTW for updates and what you can do, check out the NOLA pet rescue forum.

Shop the French Quarter AND help the Red Cross

Shop the Fench Quarter and Help the Red Cross!

From Joe Dunn:

"I have two galleries in the French Quarter, which sell my photography of the French Quarter and New Orleans area. “The Gallery” at 742 Royal is the most admired gallery in the French Quarter for viewing and purchasing fine art photographs of New Orleans. My photographs are the most popular in both of the galleries. The purpose of this contact is: I would like to offer prints from my website and donate 50% of the sales to the American Red Cross to benefit the relief effort. My dilemma is no one knows about my website and I do not get enough traffic to make a difference."

SportsEconomist on Katrina

The SportsEconomist has an interesting look at what is was like in parts of Mississippi over the past week. And also a few posts on why FEMA's management was at best questionable at worst beyond awful.

Yahoo! Groups : freecyclecattarauguscony

Rather than go through a trouble for a garage sale, this might be just the ticket!
Yahoo! Groups : freecyclecattarauguscony: "The Cattaraugus County Freecycle Network is open to all who want to 'recycle' that special something rather than throw it away. Whether it's a chair, a fax machine, piano or an old door, feel free to post it. Or maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself! Nonprofit groups are also welcome to participate too!

One constraint: everything posted must be free"

NOAA News Online (Story 2495)

Update, Sept. 1, 2005: NOAA made available an additional 1,450 aerial images of the regions impacted by Hurricane Katrina, including New Orleans. See New Orleans images below.

New Orleans streets awash with danger - Yahoo! News

Obviously the disaster is beyond words in New Orleans, but the looting is inexecusable. While generally opposed to the death penalty on grounds too many mistakes are made, I fear that if I were in charge in LA right now, I would bring back public hangings. (indeed, it might be worth it to put dead bodies on a rope to persuade others to stop the lunacy.)

New Orleans streets awash with danger - Yahoo! News: "a 62-year-old intensive care nurse at Tulane Medical Center, said that on Tuesday night, National Guard had to stop evacuating patients away from New Orleans because people on the streets were shooting at the helicopters being used.

'When they were shooting they were taking out babies. What kind of people would shoot at a medevac,' said the nurse."



It is scary how fast lawlessness can bubble up.