What did you learn today?

[Tom Bomb]

That is very sad.

True.

---------------



Songbirds like the Albert's Lyre Bird, the Rufous Scrub Bird, the Log Runner, the Tree Creeper, the Cat Bird, and untold numbers of other ancient, unique wildlife, have taken a real belting in the bushfires tearing through this place. These forests and their inhabitants are very special. This place is an exceptionally rare relic of Gondwana.

We're losing a bundle, if we lose this place.

"Listening to the dawn chorus in these forests is literally an acoustic window back in time."

"It's like listening to what the world sounded like in the time of the dinosaurs."
​

The forests are mountaintop islands that have been "permanently wet" for tens of millions of years.

But now, these forests are being burnt for the first time.

The songbirds that live in these ancient wet forests have always lived there.

Photo: Birdwatchers often visit the area to see birds like the Tree Creeper. (Supplied: David Milledge)​

The Albert's Lyre Bird. The Rufous Scrub Bird. The Log Runner. The Tree Creeper. And, confusingly, the Cat Bird; a large, green rainforest bird that wails like a cat.

They are internationally renowned. Birders from around the world come to see and hear them.
"These are global strongholds of the most ancient birds on the planet." …

"All the birdsong around the world goes back to these birds."
​

Fires are burning in forests that have been 'permanently wet for tens of millions of years'

Photo: Much of the land lost in the northern NSW fires is home to songbirds. (Supplied: Peter Knock)


​

 

[the harp unstrung]

^^^HoF Post!!

Thank you, Tom.

 

[the harp unstrung]

I learned it's a massive day here in New Zealand as the lead news story is a person rowing a boat gets sunburnt.

No hat, No play.

 

[Tom Bomb]

#Wake Up Instagram is mind-blowing, devastating.

… The campaign with the hash-tag Wake Up Instagram says the platform is used to groom and harass adolescent and even pre-teen girls who post photographs.

The coalition had collected hundreds of sexually graphic comments posted by men. …

If you care, listen. Act.

 

[the harp unstrung]

Today I learned that my cousin, Kenny, died.
This past Summer he decided that Dialysis is not a life.

He explained to his family and his Doctors that he was tired, and just wanted to ‘go home’.

He’d fighting about it for over 40 years...two transplants that didn’t ‘take’, and many hundreds of dialysis treatments.

He made his peace with his God, and opted out.

I didn’t grow up with friends, I grew up in a big, extended Irish Catholic family...my cousins were my friends.

Kenny was 5 years younger than his brother, Peter (also across The River as a result of Alports Syndrome ), and Peter was my friend...Kenny was the li’l brother who was taggin’ along.
We could get him to be the bad guy when we played War, or The Man From UNCLE.

He was the last of the 5 brothers to die, and he did it on his own terms.

He composed this for his FB page...

Google Alports...It’s a bitch.
It runs through my family.

I was spared.
That why I jumped at the opportunity to donate one of my healthy kidneys to my nephew, 19 years ago.

Long post...but Kenny being the last of the five brothers has hit me harder than I’d expected.

 

[PWRL]

Today I learned that my cousin, Kenny, died.
This past Summer he decided that Dialysis is not a life.

He explained to his family and his Doctors that he was tired, and just wanted to ‘go home’.

He’d fighting about it for over 40 years...two transplants that didn’t ‘take’, and many hundreds of dialysis treatments.

He made his peace with his God, and opted out.

I didn’t grow up with friends, I grew up in a big, extended Irish Catholic family...my cousins were my friends.

Kenny was 5 years younger than his brother, Peter (also across The River as a result of Alports Syndrome ), and Peter was my friend...Kenny was the li’l brother who was taggin’ along.
We could get him to be the bad guy when we played War, or The Man From UNCLE.

He was the last of the 5 brothers to die, and he did it on his own terms.

He composed this for his FB page...


View attachment 3611940
View attachment 3611941
View attachment 3611942

Google Alports...It’s a bitch.
It runs through my family.

I was spared.
That why I jumped at the opportunity to donate one of my healthy kidneys to my nephew, 19 years ago.

Long post...but Kenny being the last of the five brothers has hit me harder than I’d expected.

I'm very sorry to hear that.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Today, I learnt a little about What Causes COPD? Tragically, a friend is leaving us tomorrow, on account of this deplorable condition.

Take heed, for goodness' sake. "DON'T SMOKE!!!"

 

[Biggbass]

Today I learned that having Tex Mex on Thanksgiving is a pleasant change from tradition.
We started our holiday with a breakfast of migas & home made tamales.
Then had flautas & guacamole, ribeye nachos, and some of the best pinto beans we've ever made for a late lunch/early dinner.
And now, I'm closing out the day with a hearty serving of good Scotch.

 

[PWRL]

Here's something to play with if you're into geology.

Atlas of the Underworld | van der Meer, D.G., van Hinsbergen, D.J.J., and Spakman, W., 2018, Atlas of the Underworld: slab remnants in the mantle, their sinking history, and a new outlook on lower mantle viscosity, Tectonophysics 723, p. 309-448

 

[bholder]

I learned that cats do not like the bagpipes.

 

[delta7fred]

I learned that cats do not like the bagpipes.

They have good taste!

 

[Ooba Tooba]

I learned that a fellow lover of music and bass was in the middle of dying, and thought enough of this community to reach out and say goodbye to us. Thankful for many things this season.

 

[Winslow]

#Wake Up Instagram is mind-blowing, devastating.
If you care, listen. Act.

Yeah, as my nieces have reached their teen years, I have noticed unsolicited - and sometimes [bleep]ing creepy - comments from strangers popping up on their Instagram feeds. They inevitably start with some kind of flattery ("Hey gorgeous!" "Wow! You look amazing!" etc.) then request a DM to talk about "working with us doing modeling / influencing / endorsements" etc. Total BS from "brands" that don't come up on any kind of search, or offer any kind of verification or contact info.

Watch your kids on the internet, friends. There are predators absolutely everywhere teenaged girls congregate.

 

[Winslow]

Today I learned that my cousin, Kenny, died.

I'm sorry to hear that, Harp. All good thoughts to you & yours.

 

[Ooba Tooba]

Today I learned that my cousin, Kenny, died.
This past Summer he decided that Dialysis is not a life.

He explained to his family and his Doctors that he was tired, and just wanted to ‘go home’.

He’d fighting about it for over 40 years...two transplants that didn’t ‘take’, and many hundreds of dialysis treatments.

He made his peace with his God, and opted out.

I didn’t grow up with friends, I grew up in a big, extended Irish Catholic family...my cousins were my friends.

Kenny was 5 years younger than his brother, Peter (also across The River as a result of Alports Syndrome ), and Peter was my friend...Kenny was the li’l brother who was taggin’ along.
We could get him to be the bad guy when we played War, or The Man From UNCLE.

He was the last of the 5 brothers to die, and he did it on his own terms.

He composed this for his FB page...


View attachment 3611940
View attachment 3611941
View attachment 3611942

Google Alports...It’s a bitch.
It runs through my family.

I was spared.
That why I jumped at the opportunity to donate one of my healthy kidneys to my nephew, 19 years ago.

Long post...but Kenny being the last of the five brothers has hit me harder than I’d expected.

My condolences

 

[Tom Bomb]

Yeah, as my nieces have reached their teen years, I have noticed unsolicited - and sometimes [bleep]ing creepy - comments from strangers popping up on their Instagram feeds. They inevitably start with some kind of flattery ("Hey gorgeous!" "Wow! You look amazing!" etc.) then request a DM to talk about "working with us doing modeling / influencing / endorsements" etc. Total BS from "brands" that don't come up on any kind of search, or offer any kind of verification or contact info.

Watch your kids on the internet, friends. There are predators absolutely everywhere teenaged girls congregate.

Thanks, Winslow. It's beyond comprehension, that they get away with this sort of thing. The good people from Collective Shout, The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, and Defend Dignity are gathering evidence against these shameful institutions. It beggars belief that our culture — managed, tolerated, even protected, and, it seems driven, astonishingly, by our much lauded, bizarrely ironic 'social media' institutions — has seen this debauchery as a reasonable and justifiable means through which to gain profit.

It's a perversion — no two ways about it. Who are these people, these online minders of our children? "We need to take action," says Melinda Tankard-Reist. She's right. Our greatest shame is to do nothing.

Thanks again for your post, @Winslow. It does mean a lot, on such a bleak day as this. You're a good soul. You rightly write "Watch your kids on the internet, friends." Better watch the conniving, immoral pricks who are running it, too. Pay attention.

 

[Winslow]

Thanks again for your post, @Winslow. It does mean a lot, on such a bleak day as this. You're a good soul.

Thank you for the kind words, Tom. Much appreciated.
And a big +1 to everything else you said!

 

[the harp unstrung]

 

[the harp unstrung]

I’ll be here all week!

 

[Tom Bomb]

The admenistration just lumbered me with 30 Warning Signs That You Are Dealing With Someone Evil.

Why did I click the ad. Nausium: I balked at the first hurdle — passive aggressive — and posted this; it's all too familiar; it's all too creepy, I'm guessing. Ha Ha Ha. Stuff 'em. Give the click the flick. That'll fix 'em. Swat I'm gonna do.

'Garçon! … More coffee.'