We Lost the Battle for the Republican Party’s Soul Long Ago

[Sparko]

I sensed science was happening by the lack of Mich and Psych posts. Ahhhhhhh.

[Shirley]

yes

reptiles (at least those with forked tongues) basically “smell” in stereo. they pick up chemical cues in the air, and then when the tongue retracts into the mouth, those chemicals are “read” by a Jacobsen’s organ on the roof of the mouth (dogs have similar set up, actually, but without the forked tongue). they’re able to pick up differential concentrations of a given cue to pinpoint location…of a game trail, a potential mate or rival, or in the case of venomous snakes, even their own venom (tracking prey they’d already envenomated)

That reminds me of a documentary I saw years ago about Komodo dragons (or monitor lizards sorry, they look alike to me) and one bit a water buffalo on the ankle, and then followed it slowly and deliberrately for a couple of days until the infection (venom?) took its toll and then the banquet commenced with the assistance of his friends.

all Komodo dragons are monitor lizards, but not all monitor lizards are Komodo dragons

Varanus komodoensis is just one of several dozen species (actually close to 90 species and subspecies now) of monitor lizard (genus Varanus)

venom, along with noxious bacteria, are generally what doom komodo prey items. several years ago (early 2010s, i think) a research group out of Australia, led by Bryan Fry, coined the term Toxicofera for the lineage of lizards and snakes that decended from a common ancestor that is thought to have possessed some kind of venom system. subsequently, some lineages saw that system highly modified and “perfected” (rattlesnakes, for example), while many if not most others are rarely considered to be venomous today (most lizards, corn snakes, etc) by the general public, despite having the same basic families of proteins present in their salivas that classically venomous reptiles have (phospholipases, and serine and metalloproteinases most notably)

Thanks!

[KUTradition]

That reminds me of a documentary I saw years ago about Komodo dragons (or monitor lizards sorry, they look alike to me) and one bit a water buffalo on the ankle, and then followed it slowly and deliberrately for a couple of days until the infection (venom?) took its toll and then the banquet commenced with the assistance of his friends.

all Komodo dragons are monitor lizards, but not all monitor lizards are Komodo dragons

Varanus komodoensis is just one of several dozen species (actually close to 90 species and subspecies now) of monitor lizard (genus Varanus)

venom, along with noxious bacteria, are generally what doom komodo prey items. several years ago (early 2010s, i think) a research group out of Australia, led by Bryan Fry, coined the term Toxicofera for the lineage of lizards and snakes that decended from a common ancestor that is thought to have possessed some kind of venom system. subsequently, some lineages saw that system highly modified and “perfected” (rattlesnakes, for example), while many if not most others are rarely considered to be venomous today (most lizards, corn snakes, etc) by the general public, despite having the same basic families of proteins present in their salivas that classically venomous reptiles have (phospholipases, and serine and metalloproteinases most notably)

Thanks!

my pleasure. it’s a topic i’m rather partial to (obviously)

back to the pubs…

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) filed articles of impeachment against Vice President Harris on Tuesday, as Republicans ramp up attacks while she launches a presidential campaign.

The filing expands on previously introduced articles that target Harris’s record on immigration, a GOP rallying cry against the vice president.

He added a second article in the new filing, which claims Harris covered up President Biden’s mental well-being, constituting a “breach of public trust.” While Biden ended his reelection campaign Monday, he has maintained that he will finish his term and is in good health.
…
Also Tuesday, Ogles called on Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment against Biden, citing his health, an action that would make her the acting president…

lmao

[Shirley]

Was Colorado already in a state of anarchy before japhy moved in, or as a result?

Colorado GOP leaders meet under a bridge to hide from other members

[japhy]

The Republicans have been in disarray in CO for some time. When your standard bearer is the crazy divorced chick giving handjobs in theaters, your "family values" party is in serious decline.

Did they check under the bridge for left behind meth pipes?

[ousdahl]

Sat what you will about Boebert, but at this point I bet she’s way more fun in the sack than AOC

[ousdahl]

Well, on second thought…

That’s one place that AOC’s spinelessness might actually be put to good use.

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

Sat what you will about Boebert, but at this point I bet she’s way more fun in the sack than AOC

Something tells me your definition/s of "fun in the sack" are a lot different than mine.

[twocoach]

Sat what you will about Boebert, but at this point I bet she’s way more fun in the sack than AOC

So long as you make an appointment for a penicillin shot the next day.

[ousdahl]

Sat what you will about Boebert, but at this point I bet she’s way more fun in the sack than AOC

Something tells me your definition/s of "fun in the sack" are a lot different than mine.

All I’m saying is, if you take a chick to the theater and ask for the AOC, she’s prob gonna give you a confused blank stare.

But, ask for the Boebert, and, oh man.

[KUTradition]

jfc

https://abc7chicago.com/post/christophe ... /15094483/#

A St. Louis Circuit Court judge had ordered Christopher Dunn, now 52, to be released by 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday and threatened the prison warden with contempt if Dunn remained imprisoned. But Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been fighting Dunn's release.

The situation was chaotic as the deadline set by the judge approached. Corrections Department spokesperson Karen Pojmann told The Associated Press that Dunn was out of the prison facility and waiting for a ride. His wife told the AP she was on her way to pick him up. Minutes later, Pojmann corrected herself and said that while Dunn was signing paperwork to be released, the Missouri Supreme Court issued a ruling that put his freedom on hold.
…
Dunn's situation is similar to what happened to Sandra Hemme.

The 64-year-old woman spent 43 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a woman in St. Joseph in 1980. A judge on June 14 cited evidence of "actual innocence" and overturned her conviction. She had been the longest held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to the National Innocence Project, which worked to free Hemme.

Appeals by Bailey - all the way up to the Missouri Supreme Court - kept Hemme imprisoned at the Chillicothe Correctional Center. During a court hearing Friday, Judge Ryan Horsman said that if Hemme wasn't released within hours, Bailey himself would have to appear in court with contempt of court on the table. Hemme was released later that day.

[KUTradition]

He was shown on TV here for like 5 seconds or so the other day, and I'll be damned if he didn't do the tongue thing even then.

Trad, is it true they're sampling the air, trying to take stock of their surrounding when reptiles do that?

yes

reptiles (at least those with forked tongues) basically “smell” in stereo. they pick up chemical cues in the air, and then when the tongue retracts into the mouth, those chemicals are “read” by a Jacobsen’s organ on the roof of the mouth (dogs have similar set up, actually, but without the forked tongue). they’re able to pick up differential concentrations of a given cue to pinpoint location…of a game trail, a potential mate or rival, or in the case of venomous snakes, even their own venom (tracking prey they’d already envenomated)

That reminds me of a documentary I saw years ago about Komodo dragons (or monitor lizards sorry, they look alike to me) and one bit a water buffalo on the ankle, and then followed it slowly and deliberrately for a couple of days until the infection (venom?) took its toll and then the banquet commenced with the assistance of his friends.

speaking of…

But closer inspection proved that the orange hue LeBlanc saw on the serrations and tips of Komodo dragon teeth was iron that was present before they ever took a bite. The result, described in research published on July 24 in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, is the first confirmed finding of iron chompers in reptiles. (Some fish and salamanders, as well as a handful of mammals—most notably beavers—are also known to include iron in their teeth.)

[KUTradition]

seems like a pretty quick way to lose potential votes, but gotta keep up with the couch-fucker, i guess

Blake Masters: ‘Political leaders should have children’

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/2 ... 20on%2520X.

[japhy]

seems like a pretty quick way to lose potential votes, but gotta keep up with the couch-fucker, i guess

Blake Masters: ‘Political leaders should have children’

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/2 ... 20on%2520X.

Blake Masters: ‘Political leaders should have children with as many baby mommas as possible’

[Sparko]

I couch my criticism of Vance in Project 2025 warnings.

[Shirley]

Pro tip, Masters, Vance, (and Trump): Politics is a game of addition, not subtraction.

You're welcome.

[Sparko]

The seeds of intolerance are oft found under the couch cushion. Plato

[jhawks99]

The seeds of intolerance are oft found under the couch cushion. Plato

Plato had seeds under his couch? Next to the remote?

[Sparko]

The seeds of intolerance are oft found under the couch cushion. Plato

Plato had seeds under his couch? Next to the remote?

Weirdly an athletic sock of some sort. Plato must be interpreted through a careful reading of Portnoy's Complaint

[Shirley]

The seeds of intolerance are oft found under the couch cushion. Plato

Plato had seeds under his couch? Next to the remote?

Weirdly an athletic sock of some sort. Plato must be interpreted through a careful reading of Portnoy's Complaint

To this day historians disagree about whether Plato referred to the couch as a Chesterfield or Davenport.