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Home » Open thread 3/13/23

Open thread 3/13/23

The New Neo Posted on by

Here’s a photo Gerard took years ago on one of our trips. He was having some technical trouble loading his photos onto his computer, so he put them on mine:

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Open thread 3/13/23 — 33 Comments

  3. S’funny. Peeps have issues with geese being aggressive and obnoxious. Happens a lot with homeowners associations, the geese find some required watershed attractive, so they take it over, then, being very territorial, moderately large, and thoroughly rude, they start chasing people. And, especially for smaller women and children, that can be a particularly unhappy experience.

    Short of killing the geese, which people are understandably somewhat loathe to do, there is not an awful lot you can do to stop them.

    But one thing that has been figured out: swans. Swans are equally territorial, but much less obnoxious, they are larger than geese, and will generally chase the geese away. And since they are relatively solitary, there will only be one or two at a given “watering hole”, not an entire flock of them.

    Plus humans find them much more aesthetically pleasing than geese.

    P.S., is that Swan Lake I see in the background? 😀

  4. Lovely.
    I assume that is also a metaphor for your relationship, Neo.

    OBH, geese in flight are magnificent. On the ground, much less so.
    When I was working at British Aerospace we had a catch pond that was visible from the office. Pilots liked to stand at the window and watch the formation landings on the pond. It was also hilarious when the pond was frozen over. Apparently, geese can’t tell, or maybe they just don’t care if they go sliding across the ice.

    Years ago, there was a fascinating TV program about a man who was training orphan geese to migrate by following his ultralight. The southern terminus of his activity was in Northern Virginia and I heard him speak. He had great close-up film of formations in flight. Funny, geese will achieve spacing by doing barrel rolls–just like fighter pilots.

  11. Here’s a short video about Swan Upping, an annual summer ceremony on the Thames in which the monarch’s official Swan Marker, a member of the royal household, rides on one of several skiffs along with a crew of swan uppers to take a census of the swans, check their health, band them, and release them back into the water. Swan Upping dates back to the 12th century; all swans in the UK are held to belong to the Crown, and are a protected species. The swan uppers cover about 79 miles of the Thames:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmtaEEo7V3M&ab_channel=GreatBigStory

  12. OBH – there are states that give permits to people to destroy Canada Goose eggs. Here is a link to a pdf describing the process:

    https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/downloads/canada_goose.

    Leaving the “treated” eggs in the nests fools the goose to try to incubate the eggs and preventing another round of eggs to be laid. We have a member in our sailing club that got the permit and it helped to decrease the population.

  13. Is it one person, like Jill Biden? Or is it various people, depending on the time and the issue?
    ==
    Mostly Klain, I would guess. On this issue, Yellen, Powell, and Gruenberg of the FDIC I’ll wager are in the driver’s seat. I suspect Jill’s function is in controlling access to the hand that signs the papers. Looking at the supply chain problems and the East Palestine disaster, I wonder if cabinet secretaries get any direction at all. Might not be a problem if the cabinet secretary is of a higher calibre than, say, Klain. When you have a hollow man like Booty-gag, you can see it.
    ==
    Recall the last days of the Bush Administration, when it seemed as if Bush had faded away and Paulson, Bernanke, Geithner, and Bair were making all the crucial decisions. And Bush was at least lucid.
    ==
    Note, fairly low level White House aides (like the dame in the Easter Bunny costume back in April of 2022) know he’s gaga, but nothing ever leaks. Suggest two reasons for this. In an ordinary administration, you see a lot of ‘sources say’ stories; it’s a reasonable wager the sources are often fictitious and the reporter is making sh!t up. They’re not doing that here because they’re extensions of the White House PR operation. That same reason is behind why they can be counted on not to repeat what their chums on the White House staff actually do tell them about what it’s like to interact with Biden and the people around him. Of course, there are some reporters who are not extensions of the press office. They have no ‘sources’, fictitious or otherwise.

  14. ‘Biden Insists “The Banking System Is Safe” ‘
    ==
    No sensible person would put his mug on the screen at a time like this. Wagers this is a Dr. Jill special.

  15. oldflyer,

    I’ve seen that film with the ultralight, or one like it. It’s visually lovely.

    There used to a be (maybe still is) a geese migration point in my home state. Many hundreds, or possibly thousands would flock together. There would be huge waves of them in flight.

  16. I’m looking forward to Spring, late April, when tens of thousands of geese, swans, sandhill cranes, ducks, etc. make their pit stop here at Creamer’s Field, before spreading out to their summer feeding grounds.

  17. Last week there was an article in local paper about two very large die off of Geese in local reservoirs. Over a thousand each time, plus a lot of other wild bird deaths. All attributed to Bird Flu. This is in CO.

  18. With much pomp and fanfare, the splendid leadership of Newark, N.J. announces sister city links and a trade deal with India’s nonexistent “States of Kailasa.”

    The brilliant intellects at the UN reportedly also hosted and heard from someone calling themselves the “permanent Ambassador from Kailasa to the UN” at a recent meeting of the UN’s Economic, Social and Cultural rights committee.*

    Maybe the folks at Newark should’ve tried to set up a sister city deal with Wakanda.

    P.S.–I’ve seen reports that some people have called up travel agents and tried to book trips to “Wakanda.”

    see https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/embarrassing-newark-nj-suspends-sister-city-cultural-trade-deal-with-the-united-states-of-kailasa-because-kailasa-doesnt-exist/

  19. Just wondering if anyone here thought that SVB would not be bailed out by the Biden administration. Seems about time for a new definition of what it means to be cynical.

  21. The current American administration appears to be a cargo cult led by crash test dummy.
    “US Intel Agencies Need To Focus Intensely On ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,’ Intelligence Chief Says”—
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/us-intel-agencies-need-focus-intensely-diversity-equity-inclusion-intelligence-chief-says

    So what happens when the US Intelligence Services have to be bailed out? Or the Military.

    On the other hand, everything—every lie, that is—is said for a purpose: to distract, to conceal, to confuse, to cover up, to cause maximum anxiety, anger and hysteria.

    To erode trust, which in turn corrodes the nation.

    To further bankrupt and weaken the nation.
    Crises ‘R Us, because the more crises, the easier will be “The Big Reset.”

    File under: In Klaus We Trust….

  25. Not too bad a grift…if ye’ can get it…
    “US was double billed tens of millions of dollars in grants to Wuhan labs: report”—
    https://nypost.com/2023/03/13/tens-of-millions-of-dollars-in-us-grants-went-to-wuhan-labs/

    Is there anything about this whole escapade that doesn’t stink to high heavens?
    Seems like one huge money-making enterprise…and who cares where the s#&t lands…
    + Bonus:
    Hans Mahncke twitter feed has some extraordinary links…
    https://twitter.com/HansMahncke/status/1635355723638132736?cxt=HHwWgMDSzbfX-bEtAAAA
    https://twitter.com/garyruskin/status/1635331938243457024?cxt=HHwWgMDRzfju7rEtAAAA
    https://twitter.com/themarketswork/status/1635012683551621120?cxt=HHwWgIDS5e_X3bAtAAAA
    https://twitter.com/MarkChangizi/status/1635290115387035653?cxt=HHwWisDQhcTs27EtAAAA

  27. Thanks for sharing the photo, Neo. Stunning composition. Gerard had a great eye for beauty. A real keeper.

  28. RTF–

    Glad you enjoyed the Swan Upping video– I like the fact that the Brits know how to care for a protected species with grace and class as well as competence.

    In regard to the protected species known as Senatorial Turtles– in other news, Cocaine Mitch was released from the hospital today to an inpatient rehab facility because he suffered a cracked rib as well as a concussion when he fell after a dinner at a DC hotel last week. He may be in rehab for as long as two weeks:

    https://nypost.com/2023/03/13/mitch-mcconnell-heads-to-rehab-after-hospital-stay-from-fall/

  30. @ OBH > “But one thing that has been figured out: swans. Swans are equally territorial, but much less obnoxious, they are larger than geese, and will generally chase the geese away. And since they are relatively solitary, there will only be one or two at a given “watering hole”, not an entire flock of them.
    Plus humans find them much more aesthetically pleasing than geese.”

    The park closest to our house has a pond, and once when we were picnicking with a group I noticed that the geese weren’t swimming much (didn’t stop them wandering around on the grass), but there was a lovely pair of swans in the water.
    Sometime later, I realized that they hadn’t moved. At all.
    One of the other guests told me they were artificial.

    Our local parks and rec dept must be smarter than average (although I haven’t talked to any one on the phone lately …).

  31. The one closest to the camera, with the knob on the top of the rear end of the beak, is the Cob, right?

  33. That’s one of the loveliest photos I have ever seen.

    And this quote, from one of Gerard’s favorites, comes to mind somehow when I look at the swans:

    “….so take the lively air,
    And, lovely, learn by going where to go.”

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