In what has got to be a very complicated metaphor, Rep. Sid Miller is proposing a bill to allow people to go up in a helicopter and gun down wild hogs. There is some concern that something might go wrong if this plan were implemented, but I just don’t see how that could be. The report at the Huffington Post is really quite funny.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that in Harrold, Texas the schoolboard has approved a motion to allow teachers to carry concealed handguns at school. The idea, apparently, is that this will help prevent a massacre by discontented students.
This is a really dumb idea, for several reasons.
1. This makes teachers an easy source for a weapon. These people are not trained to fend off attackers. If someone wants to shoot students and teachers in the school, now they don’t have to prepare by planning and purchasing a gun–they can, in the heat of the moment, overpower a teacher, take his/her weapon, and have at it. Criminals who cannot purchase guns but want to go out in a bang can do the same thing.
2. Teachers can go crazy too, and as mentioned above, this allows the heat of the moment to become a factor.
3. Misplaced weapons. One mistake, and a kid has a gun in his/her hands. No matter how careful you are, over a period of years, carelessness will happen.
There are more reasons, but it seems to me that these three simple points should be persuasive to people on both sides of the gun control fence.
If you really want a gun in your school,if you really think the students are such a threat, hire a cop who is trained to handle himself in tough situations.
It’s back-to-school time and the ever confusing tax holiday is upon us. This is when we rush out to buy the necessities for our children so they don’t start the first day looking like pigpen. But it’s confusing what is taxable and what isn’t. Here’s a few of the key points, as listed at the Window on State Government website. You can tell a little about the people who made the list based upon what is exempted. For example, it is clear that the listmakers subscribe to Field and Stream.
So, you can tax belt buckles, but not belts with buckles. You can tax household aprons, but not aprons for welders. Do not, by any means, tax adult diapers. We don’t want people taking off their aprons for any reason.
Baseball caps are exempt. (The kind that face forward, not the kind that face to the side or the back.) So are baseball jerseys. Baseball cleats and gloves are not.
In general, if it has cleats, it is not exempt.
Bathing caps are taxable, but not bathing suits. Cowboy boots are exempt, ski boots are not. Bow ties and bowling shirts, exempt, but not bowling shoes.
You’ll be happy to know that children’s novelty costumes are exempt. As long as they don’t involve cleats.
Fins but not fishing caps are taxable. Rubber gloves are taxable, but dress gloves are not. Unless they are rented. If you rent your dress gloves, they’ll be taxes. Your rubber gloves are taxed regardless. So, incidentally, are hockey gloves.
Hunting vests are exempt. Hmmm. In case when walking through the halls, you see a covey of doves that needs shootin.
Knee pads are taxable, but not leg-warmers. So I suppose, you could beat the system by pulling your leg warmers up over your knees! Take it to the man!
Paint respirators are taxable, but not painter paints or panty hose.
This weekend, all patterns will be taxed.
As will all pocket squares and personal flotation devices.
You can buy you some robes, tax free, but don’t even think about ribbons. They tax the shit out of ribbons. And shoelaces, cause they’re a lot like ribbons.
Boat shoes are exempt. Hmmm.
The shoe shine boy will tax you. If you are wearing skates of any kind, he will be shining taxable items.
Suspenders and bow-ties are exempt. That’s only fair, because if you wear those to school, you’ll be giving up your lunch money all year long.
Anything that has to do with tennis is exempt. Unless you use cleats when you play tennis.
Underpants and undershirts are tax free, but overshoes are not.
This is definitely the time of year to stock up on veils and fishing vests, unless they are bulletproof. The Bass Pro Shops Mourning Suit not only doesn’t get taxed, it’s on sale.
I hope this has helped. Now, I’m going to buy me some hunting shoes.
According to The Nation, the democratic apparatus in Texas is seeing a surge that could change the state’s colors from blood red to blue. Carter is the last dem to carry the state, winning it in ’76. Could Obama be next? I say, that depends: if he wears the hat, he’s a shoe in.
Artistic rendition of Gerobatrachus hottoni lunging at the mayfly Protoreisma between stands of Calamites and under a fallen Walchia conifer. Credit: Michael Skrepnick
Gerobatrachus Hottoni – The Missing Link Between Salamander And Frog
Submitted by News Account on 21 May 2008 – 9:45am. Evolution
The description of an ancient amphibian that millions of years ago swam in quiet pools and caught mayflies on the surrounding land in Texas has set to rest one of the greatest current controversies in vertebrate evolution. The discovery was made by a research team led by scientists at the University of Calgary.
The examination and detailed description of the fossil, Gerobatrachus hottoni (meaning Hotton’s elder frog), proves the previously disputed fact that some modern amphibians, frogs and salamanders evolved from one ancient amphibian group called temnospondyls.
“The dispute arose because of a lack of transitional forms. This fossil seals the gap,” says Jason Anderson, assistant professor, University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and lead scientist in the study.
The Gerobatrachus fossil provides a much fuller understanding of the origin and evolution of modern amphibians. The skull, backbone and teeth of Gerobatrachus have a mixture of frog and salamander features—the fossil has two fused bones in the ankle, which is normally only seen in salamanders, and a very large tympanic ear (ear drum). It also has a lightly built and wide skull similar to that of a frog. Its backbone is exactly intermediate in number between the modern frogs and salamanders and more primitive amphibians.
The new fossil also addresses a controversy over molecular clock estimates, or the general time salamanders and frogs evolved into two distinct groups.
“With this new data our best estimate indicates that frogs and salamanders separated from each other sometime between 240 and 275 million years ago, much more recently than previous molecular data had suggested,” says Robert Reisz, professor, University of Toronto Mississauga and second author on the paper.
Gerobatrachus was originally discovered in Texas in 1995 by a field party from the Smithsonian Institution that included the late Nicholas Hotton, for whom the fossil is named. It remained unstudied until it was “rediscovered” by Anderson’s team. It took countless hours of work on the small, extremely delicate fossil to remove the overlying layers of rock and uncover the bones to reveal the anatomy of the spectacular looking skeleton.
“It is bittersweet to learn about frog origins in this Year of the Frog, dedicated to informing the public about the current global amphibian decline,” continues Anderson. “Hopefully we won’t ever learn about their extinction.”
Article: Jason S. Anderson, Robert R. Reisz, Diane Scott, Nadia B. Fröbisch & Stuart S. Sumida, ‘A stem batrachian from the Early Permian of Texas and the origin of frogs and salamanders’,Nature 453, 515-518 (22 May 2008) doi:10.1038/nature06865