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Is it art, or is it vandalism?
Is it art, or is it vandalism?
While walking on Wednesday, I noticed the Saint Vrain Greenway and Left Hand Greenway had some new art. Stenciled turtles appear every so often along the walkways and at the base of many of the benches.
Longmont has an Art in Public Places ordinance that sets aside city general fund money to pay for artwork throughout the city.
Click the link for more information on this initiative and to view a number of the art pieces that have been funded by the ordinance.
You may click the images above to embiggen.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY: MAY 19TH- CAPTURED
This Day In History: May 19, 1836
A very young Cynthia Ann Parker moved from Illinois to Texas by wagon train with members of her family in 1832. They built a civilian stockade around their settlement, located approximately 40 miles east of present day Waco, which came to be known as Parker Fort.
Their solidly constructed protective barricade was supposedly capable of keeping a large invading force at bay – if due vigilance was maintained. However, after many months passed without even the threat of an attack, the Parkers got lax with their security measures, often leaving the gates open for long periods of time.
That’s when several hundred members of the Comanche, Kiowa, and Caddo tribes attacked the Parker Fort on May 19, 1836. …
PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU WELCOMES SYRIAN REFUGEES TO CANADA
Hasan Minhaj speaks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about opening his country’s doors to Syrian refugees amid American fears of terrorism.
Trump and the Walling Off of the World
The candidate’s proposal isn’t outdated. It’s a sign of the times.
The U.S.-Mexico border fence, near Naco, Arizona
n recent days, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have criticized Donald Trump as hopelessly old-fashioned. During a rally in New Jersey on Friday, the former U.S. president argued that his wife has a better understanding of today’s interconnected world than her Republican opponent in the 2016 election. The proof was Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent illegal immigration and terrorism.
“The last terrorist incident we had in America was in San Bernardino,” California, Clinton told the crowd. “Those people were converted [to radical Islam] over social media. … You can build a wall across our border with Canada as well. Create giant sea walls along the Atlantic and the Pacific. … We can send the whole U.S. Navy to the Gulf Coast and keep anybody from getting in there. We could use every airplane the U.S. Air Force has got in the air to stop planes from landing. You still couldn’t keep out the social media.”
On Sunday, also in New Jersey, the current U.S. president got in on the action. “The world is more interconnected than ever before, and it’s becoming more connected every day,” Obama said. “Building walls won’t change that. … [I]f the past two decades have taught us anything, it’s that the biggest challenges we face cannot be solved in isolation.” …
10 Common Sayings That Mean The Opposite Of What You Think
The purpose of proverbs is to teach people wisdom and help them understand the insights of the wise. Some proverbs are indeed worth abiding by, while others . . . not so much. Many proverbs actually have an opposite proverb, making it hard to choose the one that actually speaks the truth. Still other proverbs are commonly misused and carry a different meaning today than originally intended.
10. Curiosity Killed The Cat
Actually: Care killed the cat.
The phrase “curiosity killed the cat” serves as a warning to those who are too curious for their own good. However, the proverb we know today actually originated from “care killed the cat,” with the word “care” meaning “worry” or “sorrow.” The proverb was first recorded in Ben Johnson’s play Every Man in His Humour in 1598. It is believed that the play was performed by a troupe of actors that included William Shakespeare.
Later, without any scruples, Shakespeare used the memorable line in his own play Much Ado About Nothing: “What, courage man! what though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care.” …
Welcome to the age of Trump
Whether he wins the US presidency or not, his rise reveals a growing attraction to political demagogues – and points to a wider crisis of democracy
It was the night the American media were too demure to call Pussygate. At the time, Donald Trump had won nothing. Twenty-four hours later, he would be celebrating his first victory in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination, setting him on the path to face Hillary Clinton in November. But on this frigid Monday night in February, while a blizzard whipped outside, Trump stood before a packed Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire and prepared to unleash his tongue.
After a rambling monologue that moved from his TV career to the happy, sunny world that would follow his elevation to the White House, Trump came to another of his pet themes: the inadequacies of his rivals. He was attacking the Texas senator Ted Cruz for being insufficiently enthusiastic about the torture technique of waterboarding when a woman in the standing area directly in front of the stage, a kind of Trumpian moshpit, called out, “He’s a pussy!” Trump pretended to look appalled, even walking away from the lectern in faux disgust, before finally, as if under pressure, repeating the insult for the benefit of the cameras that might not have caught it. “She said, ‘He’s a pussy.’ That’s terrible … Ma’am, you’re reprimanded,” he told the heckler, in the manner of a lax teacher going through the disciplinary motions.
And thus Trump secured his dominance over yet another news cycle – as the talkshows, cable TV and his fellow candidates all debated his lapse into vulgarity. As he has been throughout this campaign, starting in July of last year, Trump was the star of the show. …
Will ‘Trumpism’ replace conservatism?
Trump has already inspired a handful of Republicans facing primaries, and his campaign may have a generational impact on the party and its ideology
What has Donald Trump done to the Republican party?
The New York real estate developer has only been his party’s presumptive nominee for two weeks but his role as the GOP standard-bearer could have a generational impact on his party and on conservative ideology.
However, Trump’s heresies on a number of key issues could lead to a redefinition of what it means to be a Republican, as he pointed out himself in a recent interview on ABC: “Don’t forget, this is called the Republican party. It’s not called the conservative party.”
Although Trump’s personal political views have shifted through the years on any number of issues, “Trumpism”, for lack of a better term, has emerged as a populist blend of nationalism and protectionism. It is vociferously anti-immigration, strongly pro-tariff, opposed to cuts in entitlement spending and deeply skeptical of an interventionist foreign policy while still being very hawkish. Elements of this worldview have long lingered within the Republican party, animating the unsuccessful primary campaigns of Pat Buchanan in 1992 and 1996. The question is whether, thanks to Trump, this will emerge as a viable ideological wing of the Republican party. …
10 Animal Mysteries That May Finally Be Solved
Well-known mysteries have been debunked in the past, and many more have yet to be discovered. While it may take a long while for Bigfoot or Nessie to reveal their faces or for all the world’s fossils to finally be unearthed, these are just some of the questions about the natural world that researchers have managed to answer.
10. Chupacabras
Chances are, you’ve probably already heard of these gruesome vampires. Every night, they prowl through the arid landscape to fasten their fangs into livestock and drain their bodies dry. According to most, they possess long claws, terrifying red eyes, and a row of spikes running down their spines . . . or do they?
There is no actual footage of their existence, but there are a handful of photos with images of the alleged creatures. Dead ones, at least. With bulging gray eyes and dry, hairless bodies, it’s easy to see how someone could mistake them for monsters.
The legend of the chupacabra began circulating in Puerto Rico and Mexico after reports that dead sheep were found drained dry with puncture wounds. Then came sightings of the goatsuckers, which were described as being like dogs, rodents, or reptiles. …
The city with 20-year waiting lists for rental homes
Think things are bad where you live? This town’s queue for rent-controlled housing is so long it’s being considered by the Guinness Book of World Records
There’s a hidden reason so many Stockholm renters go for Nordic minimalist interiors. In a capital gripped by an acute housing shortage, it’s no fun constantly lugging all your worldly goods from apartment to apartment.
The Swedish capital may be one of the most desirable locations on the planet to be an expat, but once you’ve bagged the dream job, finding somewhere to live brings a whole new set of problems.
The city’s queue for rent-controlled housing is so long that it’s being considered by the Guinness Book of World Records. On average, it takes nine years to be granted a rent-controlled property – and that jumps to two decades in some of the most popular neighbourhoods. …
An Obama Assassination Plot and the Furry Anarchist Forum That Dreamed Too Big for Wikipedia
When the faceless editors of Wikipedia decide an article is not fit for public consumption, it’s gone, only accessible to the site’s top editors—at least, it was. But now we’re keeping track of all the articles Wikipedia doesn’t see fit to print, to present you with very best of the site’s weirdest and worst.
This week, we present a techno-furry anarchy gone awry and two people who could not hate President Obama more if they tried. Please, enjoy.
Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Barack Obama Assassination Plot Investigation
Anthony Peter Senecal is a former butler of Donald Trump and longtime family friend who still resides at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. He also happens to really, really hate President Barack Obama—a fact he’s been more than happy to make known on his Facebook page over the years.
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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: MAY 19TH- ANNE BOLEYN
Today in History: May 19, 1536
On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the woman for which King Henry VIII cast aside a Queen, broke with the Catholic Church and drove his country to the brink of civil war, climbed the scaffold to meet her death at that same King’s command. She was the first Queen of England to be legally executed.
Many people believe Henry VIII was content with his first wife Catherine of Aragon until he was seduced by the vixen Anne Boleyn, but this is simply not the case. By the time Henry met Anne he was already looking for a way out of his marriage, as the union had not produced a desperately needed son to inherit the throne of England.
King Henry convinced himself his lack of a living son could only be due to one reason- his marriage to the Queen was cursed because she had been married to his older brother Arthur for a very brief period before his death at age 15, which was an abomination to God. (Funny that it took almost 20 years for this to dawn on him.) …
Yes, Hillary Clinton is beatable in the general election. Just watch this video.
The video above — 13 minutes devoted to Hillary Clinton’s shifting position on lots and lots of issues — has been viewed almost 7 million times since it was originally posted by someone named “Michael Armstrong” in mid-January.
Kathleen Parker, a conservative-leaning columnist for the Post, dedicated a piece to the video on Wednesday. In it, she writes:
Most of the highlights will be familiar to anyone who follows politics — her varying takes on Bosnia, health care, Wall Street, NAFTA — but the juxtaposition of these ever-shifting views is more jarring than one might expect. Politicians count on Americans’ short attention spans (and memories) as much as they do their own policies and/or charms. This video, inartfully titled “Hillary Clinton lying for 13 minutes straight,” clarifies blurred recollections and recasts them in an order that, among other things, reminds us how long the Clintons have been around.
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The Incompetent, Race-Baiting Fraud (and the Man Running to Replace Him as President)
Trump is everything the right wing made Obama out to be.
Guess the politician. He’s a dangerous “authoritarian.” A “race-baiter” and a “racist” who divides Americans for political gain. An “arrogant” celebrity of a politician who has no place in the Oval Office. An “unqualified,” “incompetent” fraud who “simply does not understand what it means to be president.” Hell, he can barely give a speech.
If you guessed Donald Trump, you’re not wrong on the merits. Trump is a bona fide authoritarian, with a tenuous commitment to the foundations of liberal democracy, from personal liberty (eviscerated by his plan for mass deportation) to freedom of the press. His entire campaign is an exercise in conjuring bigotry for political gain, from his initial call for a wall to keep Mexico from sending “criminals” and “rapists” and subsequent one for a ban on Muslim entry to the United States to his coy relationship with white supremacists (Trump refused to disavow former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke) and constant repetition of anti-Muslim myths, including a widely debunked claim that New Jersey Muslim Americans celebrated the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
There’s more! Trump is a literal celebrity, whose public résumé amounts to playing a demanding boss on network television. …
5 Ways The U.S. Is Awful (But Other Countries Are Way Worse)
Damn, America! This is a dark time for us right now! That’s likely something you believe no matter which current presidential candidate you’re counting on to fix it all come November. Trust me, I totally understand. The outcome of this election will probably be the deciding factor between whether I spend 2017 living in Los Angeles or a remote labor camp for dissenters. Don’t get me wrong, I could totally use the exercise, but that’s still some pretty bleak shit to have in the back of your mind on a day-to-day basis.
Ha! Just joking! Trump will never take me alive. Besides, the election is still months away, which means this is a problem I don’t have to worry about until at least October, just like televised baseball. Also, even though things seem to be taking a turn for the terrifying here in the United States, for the time being at least, this is still a pretty great place compared to a lot of other parts of the world. We talk about a few stories that prove that very point on this week’s Unpopular Opinion podcast …
… where I’m joined by comics Jeff May and Vanessa Gritton. I’m also talking about a few in this column today. Here are five stories to remind you that, no matter how awful things may seem right now, the United States could always be (and probably will be) worse.
#5. The Newest President Of The Philippines Is An Even Crazier Version Of Trump
Let’s be honest here: One of the scariest things about the United States right now is that we’re teetering on the brink of letting Donald Trump run the country. I agree that’s a genuinely terrifying prospect that implies a lot of awful things about us as a nation, but on the bright side, at least we didn’t just elect Rodrigo Duterte.
If the name doesn’t ring a bell: He’s the newly crowned president of the Philippines, and his exploits are so insane that, initially, this entire article was just going to be about him. Unfortunately, in the time between when I came up with that plan and when I finally started writing, John Oliver, the host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, talked about Duterte in one of those 90-minute-long monologues that have rightfully made his show so popular.
Embedding is disabled on the video.
Please enjoy this screenshot instead.
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The Gene That Paints Birds Red
In the 1920s, breeders turned yellow canaries red. Now, scientists have finally found the gene responsible.
In the 1300s, Spanish explorers discovered a small bird living in the islands off the western coasts of Portugal and Morocco, with dull green feathers but a sweet lyrical voice. The bird became fashionable in the courts of Spain and England, and people started breeding it, gradually changing its plumage to a wide variety of colors, from dark black to bright yellow. It’s the latter that the bird is most associated with. It is, of course, the canary.
Throughout those centuries of breeding canaries, one color remained elusive—red. The birds traversed the rainbow, but no hint of red had ever shown up in their feathers. So in the 1920s, German breeders decided to cross canaries with a closely related species—the red siskin of Venezuela. They then mated the hybrids with more canaries, selecting offspring with red feathers, but as few other siskin traits as possible. The result, after many generations, was the ‘red-factor canary’—a bird that looks exactly like a typical yellow canary, but with bright red plumes.
“The canary thus became the first animal that was purposely genetically modified by moving the genes from another species into it,” says Geoffrey Hill from Auburn University. …
In Search For Cures, Scientists Create Embryos That Are Both Animal And Human
A handful of scientists around the United States are trying to do something that some people find disturbing: make embryos that are part human, part animal.
The researchers hope these embryos, known as chimeras, could eventually help save the lives of people with a wide range of diseases.
One way would be to use chimera embryos to create better animal models to study how human diseases happen and how they progress.
Perhaps the boldest hope is to create farm animals that have human organs that could be transplanted into terminally ill patients. …
10 Stories Of Artifact Hunters Who Struck It Big
Treasure hunting has always been a venture for those who want to uncover history hidden from plain sight. From avid metal detector enthusiasts to explorers poring over maps and letters, treasure hunting has attracted people from all walks of life to search for ancient relics. While the obvious motivation for a treasure hunter is the riches that they might uncover, some people (including hunters on this list) hunt purely for archaeological purposes, the discovery of something long lost being reward enough. Here are 10 people who found what they were looking for—in a big way!
10. Philip Masters
Philip Masters passed away in the Bronx in 2007 at the age of 70. The story he left behind, however, was one of raw determination. His actions helped to locate the sunken ship of history’s most notorious pirate.
During the day, Masters appeared to be your average worker, albeit one with well-rounded resume. Some of his job titles included a cabdriver, a jewelry salesman, and a stockbroker. He also used his varied skills and his ability to learn new tricks for his nighttime and weekend hobby—tracking the wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, Captain Blackbeard’s ship, which began its life as a French slave ship before Blackbeard (aka Edward Teach) took over ownership in 1717.
Finding a long-lost pirate ship wasn’t easy, but that didn’t deter Philip. He dug through 57 archival libraries for records and also learned Spanish so he didn’t need to rely on translations of source materials. In 1987, he finally found a lead in the rare book room of the New York Public Library. It was a book detailing both the trail of a pirate and an account of a lost pirate ship from 1718, the same year that Blackbeard’s ship went down. …
The True Harm of Bathroom Bills
Trans people who are denied access to bathrooms are more likely to attempt suicide.
A recent viral video showed a woman wielding a Bible overhead and marching through a Target, ringing out her message through the brightly lit aisles. “I’m a mother of 12 and I’m disgusted by this wicked practice,” she cried. “Mothers, get your children out of this store … it’s a dangerous place!”
The woman, who has not been identified, is not the only one incensed by Target’s announcement that it would allow transgender customers to use the restroom that matches their gender identity. More than 700,000 people have pledged to boycott the store. Target’s move, meanwhile, was seen as a response to a new North Carolina law that requires people in government buildings to use the bathroom that corresponds with the sex on their birth certificate—in effect forcing post-transition transgender people to use the bathroom of the opposite sex.
The idea that children, especially girls, will somehow be hurt by relieving themselves alongside transgender women has been one of the main arguments of the law’s proponents. In the words of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, “Men should not be going to the bathroom with little girls.”
There’s no evidence that municipalities that have protected trans people’s restroom access have seen a spike in public-safety issues. But according to some studies, not having protected restroom access can be harmful for trans people. …
Chinese couple spend wedding night copying Communist constitution
Newlyweds transcribed 17,000-word text as part of a national campaign designed to raise awareness of the party’s rules
In what may rank as one of the least romantic wedding nights in history, a Chinese couple reportedly spent their first night of marital bliss transcribing the Communist party’s 17,000-word constitution as part of a campaign designed to shore up support for President Xi Jinping’s administration.
Photographs posted on social media showed the newlyweds – both civil servants from the eastern province of Jiangxi – perching next to a balloon-covered double bed as they copied out parts of the 11-chapter text.
Li Yunpeng and his bride, Chen Xuanchi, saw the task as a way of creating “beautiful memories” of their wedding night, their employer, the Nanchang railway bureau, wrote in an online message.
The state-run Global Times said last Sunday’s post-nuptial transcription session was part of a Beijing-backed campaign called Copy the Chinese Communist party constitution for 100 days. …
THE DAY THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
May 19, 1780 began like any other day. Then, between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., the sky above most of New England grew dark and eventually pitch black. The darkness was witnessed from Maine to New Jersey, plunging what was then almost half of America into fear and chaos. The event was reported to last well into the evening in some places—even the moon and stars were fully obscured.
We aren’t talking your run-of-the-mill blackout—obviously, there were no electrical lights or fallen power lines at the time. The cause of the darkness wasn’t a solar eclipse, either, as far as scientists can tell. It also wasn’t a thunderstorm, though some areas of New England did have rain that morning. So what caused a darkness so deep the sun seemed to have been erased from the sky in the middle of May? …
Video Goodnesses
(and not-so-goodnesses
(and not-so-goodnesses
CAUTION: Some language may not be appropriate for work or children.
Luckily for Coyote and the crew this juvenile jungle cat was more interested in playfully romping around rather than attacking with a full out aggressive strike!