When I was a kid I asked how a hummingbird can stand to keep flying like that all the time, and I was told they had no choice because they have no feet.
I am ashamed to admit that I fell for it completely, and continued to believe it for years.
I saw a kingfisher once when I was a kid back in Germany on a really remote section of a creek sitting on a tree branch above the water like a little sparkling gemstone.
Took off immediately when it noticed me and I never saw it again.
Worth noting that Australia’s laughing kookaburra—best known for its call employed as a “jungle” sound effect—is also a variety of kingfisher, although they seldom eat fish, because the continent is mostly desert, probably ...
Can't. We have Eurasian doves that start in at 4:30. They're not gentle, almost wistful sounding like mourning doves I grew up hearing. These are like dripping water torture. I respect all creatures but if I were handy with a wrist rocket I'd have me a pot of stew...
(there were, in the 80s and 90s, three Australian 12 Metres built to challenge for the America's Cup, each called Kookaburra, John Swarbrick the designer for at least two of them)
Wow. I knew kingfishers did this, but believe it or not, I'd never seen a video like this before. Fascinating! Thank you so much, and they are also such pretty birds! And the females are just as attractive as the males.
Years ago I had a garden pond stocked with goldfish and noticed one day the fish seemed to be disappearing and assumed the red sided garter snakes were eating them. Then when I was working in the garden one day I saw a kingfisher hanging from a branch drop into the water and fly off with a goldfish. I considered covering the pond, but he must have found a new food source because I never saw him again.
My neighbor down the street had the same problem with the little fish pond in his back yard.
It was a water moccasin devouring the fishies.
That's why I'll never live near water.
Also funny, the guy across the street from me has a warehouse where he stores his Christmas tree. One December day a few years ago he fetched the box with the tree home and placed it on his porch for a few minutes.
Next time he went to walk out there was a moccasin on his welcome mat. Seems it had hitchhiked in the tree box.
Fortunately it was unseasonably cold in south Georgia that day so the snake was pretty lethargic and he, the neighbor, didn't get snake bit
Kingfishers are cool. I live near a stream, and there are Belted Kingfishers there. They are really interesting - they make burrows in the river banks, they're amazing when they hunt, and they'll fly above the trees chattering like maniacs. And one time, I saw a pair making babbies. 😊
Trump told reporters at his recent flag pole ceremony: “Let’s have a good, they call it ‘a lifting.’ They also use another word but I’m not going to use that word. You know what that is? The word, it starts with an ‘e.’ You know what the word is? If I ever used it, I’d be run out of town by you people.”
The Mississippi State Board of Education voted Thursday to remove the requirement starting this fall.
Department officials reiterated at the meeting that high schoolers would still have to take and pass history classes to graduate.
Paula Vanderford, the education department’s chief accountability officer, said the agency has informally discussed releasing test resources to local districts if they want to create their own assessments.
She said at a previous board meeting that getting rid of the test would save the state money.
The state board voted to open public comments about the decision in April after the Commission on School Accreditation voted to propose eliminating the test. Ultimately, it received 20 comments in support of the test’s removal, many of them from parents who cited their children’s test anxiety, and 16 against it, arguing that getting rid of the test would diminish the importance of the country’s history.
***
OMG!!!!! Heaven forbid my most preciouses snowfwake baybay have test anxiety.
President Donald Trump all but ignored the nation's celebration of Juneteenth on Thursday until taking to social media to once again bemoan that the country has "too many non-working holidays" and demanding a change.
The New York Times noted Thursday afternoon that the White House had celebrated the holiday, which marked the end of slavery in the United States, for the past four years. But the Trump administration barely noticed, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters she wasn't aware of plans by Trump to mark the holiday.
“I’m not tracking his signature on a proclamation today,” Leavitt said. The report noted that Trump in the past week has signed proclamations commemorating Father’s Day, Flag Day and National Flag Week, as well as the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. None are federal holidays, unlike Juneteenth.
Indeed, the president took to his Truth Social platform to denigrate non-working federal holidays.
"Too many non-working holidays in America," wrote Trump. "It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed. The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
***
Newsflash, Don Taco. When I was a kid, there were quite a few holidays where the town essentially closed.
Now? Christmas and that's pretty much it, so, fuck off.
Here's a thought- Since this admini... maladmini .... bunch of asshats decided to pwn the libs by re-renaming certain military bases after service members with the same names as insurrectionists lets run with it. Every chance we get post pictures of the new namees. Post their histories, military service records... their ranks, heroism, non-insurrectionist past, their race. Photo bomb the bases wall to wall. Who could complain?
'Paper Social Security checks will no longer be issued as of fall 2025.
'Nearly 500,000 recipients still receive their monthly benefits this way. The White House said the transition to all-digital payments follows large-scale mail theft and increasing fraud involving paper checks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The order outlines that Treasury Department checks "are 16 times more likely to be reported lost or stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered than an electronic funds transfer."
'This includes Social Security payments, a small number of which are still issued via paper checks. Critics of the policy have said it could have negative impacts on vulnerable recipients, while supporters have said the change is long overdue.
'The move to a fully digital payment system for all federal payments was announced in an executive order by President Donald Trump's administration—Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account—on March 25. As mandated by the executive order ... all federal disbursements ... will be distributed electronically after September 30, 2025.'
...
'According to the SSA, 493,775 remittances were and still are being made via physical check this month, across the 50 states and U.S. territories—some 8.7 percent of all payments.'
Can any Wonkers make a suggestion: What do you do when you want to write a will but you don't have anyone to act as executor? The only young and trustworthy relatives I have are the ones I want to leave money to, which disqualifies them. There's a cousin a little younger than I who's a lawyer, but I trust him about as far as I can throw a full-sized bronze of Lady Justice. Do lawyers ever offer executor services as part of estate planning?
I was unaware that being a beneficiary disqualifies someone from being executor. I'm 99.44% sure that, for example, Dad was the executor for Mom, and my brother is the executor for Dad.
My impression is that wills are bullshit, requiring often expensive probate.
Instead:
1) Make sure all your financial accounts have beneficiaries in the event of your death. These money accounts remain outside any will or trust and pass directly to the bneficiary
2) Living Trust instead of will. The trustee can be the beneficiary of any things in the trust like real estate, cars, furniture or jewelry. This trustee should be trustworthy. Put your wishes for distribution in the trust documents but the trustee gets to decide what actually happens.
My sister was the executor of our mother's estate and also a benefactor. It wasn't a problem. She had friends at the bar who walked her through the process. We'll be retaining an estate attorney to assist our executor in a similar fashion.
The superintendent of the L.A. schools is offering online classes for any immigrant children who need or want summer school, but don't want to come to school because of ICE:
Good for him. Only it's Juneteenth, and I'm reminded of how it used to be a crime to educate slaves. Now we've progressed to where it's only a crime to educate brown children with parents who don't have the right papers.
The GOP's ICE Gestapo raids a Louisiana race track and arrests dozens. It's surely just a coincidence it's owned by a former business rival of Turmp's.
Hi all, your hed gif source info here: https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/the-king-of-fishing
And meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/b14ef615-75ea-4cbc-be0d-60d45ebc59f5?utm_source=share
Enjoy your Juneteenth!
When I was a kid I asked how a hummingbird can stand to keep flying like that all the time, and I was told they had no choice because they have no feet.
I am ashamed to admit that I fell for it completely, and continued to believe it for years.
I saw a kingfisher once when I was a kid back in Germany on a really remote section of a creek sitting on a tree branch above the water like a little sparkling gemstone.
Took off immediately when it noticed me and I never saw it again.
Worth noting that Australia’s laughing kookaburra—best known for its call employed as a “jungle” sound effect—is also a variety of kingfisher, although they seldom eat fish, because the continent is mostly desert, probably ...
https://youtu.be/LqSkYMmyUWU?si=geAGyVialhp7gEHw
Also referred to as the “Bushman’s alarm clock” since they tend to be most vocal at dawn and dusk.
𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢: 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱.
Beautiful bird but that call would drive me nutso!
Just imagine this in your backyard at the break of day, *every* day!
https://youtu.be/3puMIfxm9fU?si=vwO9bMV4yllBMJJN
Can't. We have Eurasian doves that start in at 4:30. They're not gentle, almost wistful sounding like mourning doves I grew up hearing. These are like dripping water torture. I respect all creatures but if I were handy with a wrist rocket I'd have me a pot of stew...
You! Go perch on a gumtree!
They are cute, though.
Marimariking otta boosh iz hee-ee
(there were, in the 80s and 90s, three Australian 12 Metres built to challenge for the America's Cup, each called Kookaburra, John Swarbrick the designer for at least two of them)
Back when they sailed *real* boats, not those multi-hull and foil things.
Ben Lexan, boy (or not so much boy) genius. NYYC never saw him coming.
Lexcen
and that was not the name he was born with!
I once heard a kingfisher described as the Bart Simpson-looking bird, and think of that every time I see one. https://pbase.com/linthicum/image/53898026
😆
Wow. I knew kingfishers did this, but believe it or not, I'd never seen a video like this before. Fascinating! Thank you so much, and they are also such pretty birds! And the females are just as attractive as the males.
I have seen several kingfishers perching on utility wires while they are out feeding. Easy to recognize?
I'm sure, and I've seen kingfishers. I hadn't seen one diving down into the water and coming up with a fish.
"Has anyone seen Marlin today? We had a date for the mayfly hatch this evening."
Tucky goin' after Teddy.
To get to know you better
Would be my fondest wish
It may just be a fingerling
But have a little fish.
(aside, sotto voce)
I don't know why your little poems bring out the dad puns in me but they do and I'm rolling with it
Our motto :
"When you lay down with doggeral, you wake up with glee."
Glad to see you didn't take a dive on this one.
I like to make a splash.
It's certainly a feather in your cap.
Aww!
"Here come the scores, mostly over 9.5 except the Russian judge, who gives it an 8.
Asshole."
Achievement: Delicious Fish!
“Who’s got breakfast? ME!”
Goes straight from water to air. It’s the Supercar of birbs!
Bumpy for ‘Supercar’ reference!
I have not appreciated the Kingfisher, nor the entirely bad ass method that they use to put food on the table...
Note to self: Be grateful for the fact that no Mammal-skewer birds evolved on Earth, life would be way different.
The closest we came to mammal skewer birds was Jarts (lawn darts).
What I wouldn't give for a pterodactyl colony at Bedminster right about now.
Owls sez "Who?"
There are... shrikes, I think? that impale their victims on thorns, which include small mammals.
Shrikes are cool, I remember seeing them when I was a kid and dreamed I'd find insects impaled on Osage Orange thorns but never did.
I was thinking about something like airborne swordfish, diving on hapless pre-human primates and lunging back into the sky...
We should go with what's available and start a massive cassowary breeding program.
Ah, if only the really big Pteranodons had survived, eh?
Years ago I had a garden pond stocked with goldfish and noticed one day the fish seemed to be disappearing and assumed the red sided garter snakes were eating them. Then when I was working in the garden one day I saw a kingfisher hanging from a branch drop into the water and fly off with a goldfish. I considered covering the pond, but he must have found a new food source because I never saw him again.
This morning while out on the logging roads I spotted TADPOLES swirling about in an ephemeral pond nearby. LIFE GOES ON!
My neighbor had that happen a few years ago with blue herons. There were three perched on her roof one day. She did cover her pool finally.
My neighbor down the street had the same problem with the little fish pond in his back yard.
It was a water moccasin devouring the fishies.
That's why I'll never live near water.
Also funny, the guy across the street from me has a warehouse where he stores his Christmas tree. One December day a few years ago he fetched the box with the tree home and placed it on his porch for a few minutes.
Next time he went to walk out there was a moccasin on his welcome mat. Seems it had hitchhiked in the tree box.
Fortunately it was unseasonably cold in south Georgia that day so the snake was pretty lethargic and he, the neighbor, didn't get snake bit
omgomgomgomg
I am not sure I would have survived that experience.
I imagine a tiny voice crying, "Mercy, mercy." And a deep voice replying, "NO!"
Stabbies!
Birb for TABS and Juneteenth!
Kingfishers are cool. I live near a stream, and there are Belted Kingfishers there. They are really interesting - they make burrows in the river banks, they're amazing when they hunt, and they'll fly above the trees chattering like maniacs. And one time, I saw a pair making babbies. 😊
Their call is so distinct. Not sure about their mating call but the "hey there's another doofus in a kayak here" sounds like a machine.
And then the baby looked at you! 😱
Trump told reporters at his recent flag pole ceremony: “Let’s have a good, they call it ‘a lifting.’ They also use another word but I’m not going to use that word. You know what that is? The word, it starts with an ‘e.’ You know what the word is? If I ever used it, I’d be run out of town by you people.”
Seth Meyers: “I don’t know, man. You paid off an adult film star and still got elected. So I think you can say ‘erection’ and be fine. It’s not like you’re going to get impeached.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/seth-meyers-donald-trump-nsfw-word_n_68551d31e4b0dd3af0372c7d
Henlo thar.
Budgie saw a movie yesterday. It was called "Elio." It was very good! It was about a little boy who becomes interested in outer space.
I am going to spend most of the day reading, listening to music, nice things lie that.
Henlo, Wonkets. Please to enjoy Rene Marie, who called Denver home for a long time, and I can vouch for her as both an artist and a human.
https://youtu.be/wbeACrAnxFE?si=5C1yKEjtI2Q_vDqa
The Mississippi State Board of Education voted Thursday to remove the requirement starting this fall.
Department officials reiterated at the meeting that high schoolers would still have to take and pass history classes to graduate.
Paula Vanderford, the education department’s chief accountability officer, said the agency has informally discussed releasing test resources to local districts if they want to create their own assessments.
She said at a previous board meeting that getting rid of the test would save the state money.
The state board voted to open public comments about the decision in April after the Commission on School Accreditation voted to propose eliminating the test. Ultimately, it received 20 comments in support of the test’s removal, many of them from parents who cited their children’s test anxiety, and 16 against it, arguing that getting rid of the test would diminish the importance of the country’s history.
***
OMG!!!!! Heaven forbid my most preciouses snowfwake baybay have test anxiety.
Important Developing News
https://substack.com/profile/5872301-daniel-oriordan/note/c-127553822
President Donald Trump all but ignored the nation's celebration of Juneteenth on Thursday until taking to social media to once again bemoan that the country has "too many non-working holidays" and demanding a change.
The New York Times noted Thursday afternoon that the White House had celebrated the holiday, which marked the end of slavery in the United States, for the past four years. But the Trump administration barely noticed, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters she wasn't aware of plans by Trump to mark the holiday.
“I’m not tracking his signature on a proclamation today,” Leavitt said. The report noted that Trump in the past week has signed proclamations commemorating Father’s Day, Flag Day and National Flag Week, as well as the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. None are federal holidays, unlike Juneteenth.
Indeed, the president took to his Truth Social platform to denigrate non-working federal holidays.
"Too many non-working holidays in America," wrote Trump. "It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed. The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
***
Newsflash, Don Taco. When I was a kid, there were quite a few holidays where the town essentially closed.
Now? Christmas and that's pretty much it, so, fuck off.
Here's a thought- Since this admini... maladmini .... bunch of asshats decided to pwn the libs by re-renaming certain military bases after service members with the same names as insurrectionists lets run with it. Every chance we get post pictures of the new namees. Post their histories, military service records... their ranks, heroism, non-insurrectionist past, their race. Photo bomb the bases wall to wall. Who could complain?
What could possibly go wrong?!
https://www.newsweek.com/social-security-major-change-payments-paper-checks-2087854
'Paper Social Security checks will no longer be issued as of fall 2025.
'Nearly 500,000 recipients still receive their monthly benefits this way. The White House said the transition to all-digital payments follows large-scale mail theft and increasing fraud involving paper checks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The order outlines that Treasury Department checks "are 16 times more likely to be reported lost or stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered than an electronic funds transfer."
'This includes Social Security payments, a small number of which are still issued via paper checks. Critics of the policy have said it could have negative impacts on vulnerable recipients, while supporters have said the change is long overdue.
'The move to a fully digital payment system for all federal payments was announced in an executive order by President Donald Trump's administration—Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account—on March 25. As mandated by the executive order ... all federal disbursements ... will be distributed electronically after September 30, 2025.'
...
'According to the SSA, 493,775 remittances were and still are being made via physical check this month, across the 50 states and U.S. territories—some 8.7 percent of all payments.'
Now I am *angy* and want to drop *poop* on that man's *head*
(Wish only, please do not ban me)
It's just a means of cutting off recipients.
From "Girl with the Dogs", Vanessa gives Izzie, the Giant Leonburger, a spa day!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIDMgGQidSc
By contrast, an absolutely insane kitten:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZC__15bH1o
Can any Wonkers make a suggestion: What do you do when you want to write a will but you don't have anyone to act as executor? The only young and trustworthy relatives I have are the ones I want to leave money to, which disqualifies them. There's a cousin a little younger than I who's a lawyer, but I trust him about as far as I can throw a full-sized bronze of Lady Justice. Do lawyers ever offer executor services as part of estate planning?
1. Your CPA
2. A Trust Company
3. A Bank
https://matuslaw.com/no-executor-no-problem-3-alternatives-to-consider/
4. A charity
https://trustandwill.com/learn/choosing-an-executor-when-you-have-none
I was unaware that being a beneficiary disqualifies someone from being executor. I'm 99.44% sure that, for example, Dad was the executor for Mom, and my brother is the executor for Dad.
IANAL
My impression is that wills are bullshit, requiring often expensive probate.
Instead:
1) Make sure all your financial accounts have beneficiaries in the event of your death. These money accounts remain outside any will or trust and pass directly to the bneficiary
2) Living Trust instead of will. The trustee can be the beneficiary of any things in the trust like real estate, cars, furniture or jewelry. This trustee should be trustworthy. Put your wishes for distribution in the trust documents but the trustee gets to decide what actually happens.
IANAL
My sister was the executor of our mother's estate and also a benefactor. It wasn't a problem. She had friends at the bar who walked her through the process. We'll be retaining an estate attorney to assist our executor in a similar fashion.
They do, but apparently it's not a standard practice. It's critical to carefully examine what's offered and consider alternative services.
I am NOT a lawyer, just another nerd.
The superintendent of the L.A. schools is offering online classes for any immigrant children who need or want summer school, but don't want to come to school because of ICE:
https://abc7.com/videoClip/lausd-offering-virtual-summer-school-due-to-ice-concerns-from-families/16776584/
Good for him. Only it's Juneteenth, and I'm reminded of how it used to be a crime to educate slaves. Now we've progressed to where it's only a crime to educate brown children with parents who don't have the right papers.
https://goodtroubleliveson.org
JULY 17
March in Peace
Son House, 'Death Letter Blues'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsgFo2irGjo&list=RDbsgFo2irGjo&start_radio=1
/ my father was not pleased when I tried to learn this on my Sears Silvertone
Nice. That song doesn’t get the respect it deserves.
Excessive heat warning for Minnesota
Almost as crazy as the one that just happened in Alaska.
First album I ever bought.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpvM6GhmaAw
I am of the firm belief that there wasn't an instrument that he would not know how to play.
Little Stevie Wonder
The GOP's ICE Gestapo raids a Louisiana race track and arrests dozens. It's surely just a coincidence it's owned by a former business rival of Turmp's.
https://www.newsweek.com/ice-raids-trump-business-rival-2087458
*gasp*
Touche.