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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Monday, December 17, 2012

The Daily Drift

Some days are going to be like that ...

Some of our readers today have been in:
Jakarta Indonesia
Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Quito, Ecuador
Eskisehir, Turkey
Shah Alam, Malaysia
Gibraltar, Gibraltar
Santiago, Chile
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Aberdeen, Scotland
Cape Town, South Africa
Zagreb, Croatia
Klang, Malaysia
Sampaloc, Philippines
Windsor, Canada
Doha, Qatar
Poznan, Poland
Istanbul, Turkey
Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Warsaw, Poland
Ankara, Turkey
Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Santa Cruz, Philippines

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Today in History

1399 Tamerlane's Mongols destroy the army of Mahmud Tughluk, Sultan of Delhi, at Panipat.
1861 The Stonewall Brigade begins to dismantle Dam No. 5 of the C&O Canal.
1886 At a Christmas party, Sam Belle shoots his old enemy Frank West, but is fatally wounded himself.
1903 Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.
1927 U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg suggests a worldwide pact renouncing war.
1938 Italy declares the 1935 pact with France invalid because ratifications had not been exchanged. France denies the argument.
1939 In the Battle of River Plate near Montevideo, Uruguay, the British trap the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. German Captain Langsdorf sinks his ship believing that resistance is hopeless.
1943 U.S. forces invade Japanese-held New Britain Island in New Guinea.
1944 The German Army renews the attack on the Belgian town of Losheimergraben against the defending Americans during the Battle of the Bulge.
1944 U.S. approves end to internment of Japanese Americans. U.S. Major General Henry C. Pratt issues Public Proclamation No. 21, declaring that Japanese American "evacuees" from the West Coast could return to their homes effective January 2, 1945.
1948 The Smithsonian Institution accepts the Kitty Hawk – the Wright brothers' plane.
1950 The French government appoints Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny to command their troops in Vietnam.
1952 Yugoslavia breaks relations with the Vatican.
1965 Ending an election campaign marked by bitterness and violence, Ferdinand Marcos is declared president of the Philippines.
1981 Red Brigade terrorists kidnap Brigadier General James Dozier, the highest-ranking U.S. NATO officer in Italy.
1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide wins Haiti's first free election.

Non Sequitur

http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ucomics.com/nq121217.gif

Myth, Hype and Nonsense: Days Before 'Doomsday'

As Dec. 21 approaches, the nonsensical 'doomsday' silliness continues. Read more Myth, Hype and Nonsense: Days Before 'Doomsday'

Workers say charity gave little money to vets

In this Nov. 29, 2012 photo, Kerry Rankins, right, hands a paper to Racinto Lester, left, as a group of former employees of the Veterans Support Organization talk outside the organization's closed office in Nashville, Tenn. The Stuart, Fla.-based Veterans Support Organization had been fined by Tennessee for making false claims about the benefits it offered, and Connecticut lawmakers called for a federal investigation before the group’s Tennessee branch closed last month. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
A veterans charity already under scrutiny for how it raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in Tennessee handed out only a fraction of the money in the form of gift cards and threatened to fire workers if they didn't meet fundraising quotas, former employees say.
The Stuart, Fla.-based Veterans Support Organization has been criticized by other groups for how it uses donations raised outside retail stores and supermarkets. It had been fined by Tennessee for making false claims about the benefits it offered, and Connecticut lawmakers called for a federal investigation before the group's Tennessee branch closed last month.
However, former employees interviewed by The Associated Press shed new details on how the charity operated. For instance, it claimed to help veterans and non-veterans by providing them jobs, but disciplined people who didn't meet fundraising quotas. It also claimed to provide housing and help for poor or homeless veterans, though the former workers say that amounted to little more than a rented home in Tennessee where the workers were charged $400 a month for bunk beds and plastic dressers.
It's not the first such charity to be scrutinized as thousands of veterans leave the military after serving in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Ohio, for instance, a man has been charged with running a $100 million scam through a bogus charity collecting donations for Navy veterans. Other charities around the country have been scrutinized for spending large portions of the donations they receive on operating expenses.
VSO reported raising nearly $8.5 million nationwide during the last fiscal year, but leaders emptied its office in Madison and laid off about 20 workers the day before Thanksgiving. Charity officials declined to answer questions about the workers' claims, but provided a short statement.
The Tennessee chapter was raising tens of thousands of dollars a month at its peak, former chapter manager Kurt Jones told the AP, who was among those laid off. However, he said, its only donations were about $400 worth of Walmart gift cards given every other month to Veterans Affairs facilities in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Jones estimated the chapter raised almost $1.5 million in his two years as manager, but very little benefited veterans in those states.
"I can promise you that I have probably given away $25,000 out of the money that was raised in that office," he said.
Justin Wells, director of operations, said in a statement the charity decided to close both its chapters in Tennessee and New York to focus on launching new markets that would allow them to hire more veterans.
"Our national organization currently employs over 150 veterans and invests 70 percent of donations into a work and housing program that helps veterans get off the street and into the workforce, but the economic challenges of our Tennessee chapter were affecting our ability to operate elsewhere," he said in a statement. He did not describe the economic challenges.
The charity receives no government grants. Its only fundraising comes from employees who solicit donations outside of malls and retail stores, which it claims as a work program for veterans and nonveterans.
Chapters and their employees were required to meet monthly fundraising goals, and employees who didn't could lose their jobs, Jones said. If solicitors didn't start bringing in $1,000 after a month on the job, Jones said he was tasked with giving them written disciplinary warnings that could lead to dismissals.
"The only thing they cared about was their quota," said DeMarcus McKenzie, 38, one of the workers in Tennessee. "They don't care if it is cold or raining, they don't care."
According to the 2011 earnings report to the IRS, the charity took in contributions of nearly $8.5 million but distributed less than $300,000 in grants and contributions. More than $1.8 million went to salaries and compensation, including an annual salary of $286,000 for president and founder Richard Van Houten. Jones also said chapter managers could earn large bonuses if fundraising goals were met.
The charity also claims that it has housing programs in six chapters, including Tennessee, that aim to provide "sober, subsidized, transitional living for indigent veterans and to offer supportive services to help veterans recover from addiction and/or life's misfortunes quickly so they can return to a successful, independent lifestyle."
The charity's former workers said all the program amounted to in Tennessee was a rented house. They claim they were not provided with food, clothing or social services.
The charity's executives would not answer questions about the housing program.
Jones said the charity claimed the house it rented in Madison was part of the program as it charged the workers $400 a month to live there. McKenzie, who was living in the home, said all the charity provided them in the home was bunk beds — but no sheets — and plastic dressers for their clothes.
Some employees said the charity's work program did keep them off the street, but they were caught by surprise when it ended suddenly.
Kerry Rankins, a 52-year-old Army veteran, said he's been involved with the charity for more than two years. He lost his job at a florist in 2009 and was hired by Jones to raise money.
"I started making my finances, kinda got myself back on level with my finances," he said. "It really helped me out."
But Rankins said he was surprised when he arrived at the VSO office Nov. 21 to find a moving truck removing everything from the office.
Gary Thomas, a 57-year-old Vietnam veteran, said he was introduced to the VSO when he went to the Madison office seeking money when he was between jobs and living in a camper. He said Jones gave him $100 and a job as a solicitor.
Thomas said the amount of money they raised compared to what they were giving out didn't add up to claims the charity makes about how it uses donations.
"What they are doing is scamming a lot of people, taking money out of the state, not doing what they said they will do and faking it with phony figures," Thomas said.

Anonymous declares religious war on Westboro baptist cult

Some people using the Anonymous banner have declared religious war on the Westboro Baptist Church, the real-life "God hates fags" trolls who have announced their intention to picket the funerals of the children shot in Sandy Hook. In addition to publishing a list of purported home addresses and phone numbers of alleged Westboro members, the Anons have released a videos that sets out chapter-and-verse citations of Biblical injunctions that Westboro is said to have violated, and promises to punish all of them.
In response to the WBC's plans early today, Anonymous tweeted, "It's so nice of #WBC to provide the internet with a list of their twitter handles..." Roughly one hour later, they revealed their plans for the WBC: "#WBC GodHatesFags Site Admin gets #DOX'd via: Anonymous." DOX, of course, refers to the work Anonymous did to find and publish a list of WBC members complete with e-mails, phone numbers, and even home addresses—all for the adoring public to access.
In addition to the DOXing, Anonymous has repeatedly promoted a whitehouse.org petition to have the WBC recognized legally as a hate-group. The petition was created on Friday and it has already doubled the required 25,000 signatures.
Anonymous sets sights on an old enemy—the Westboro Baptist Church [Nathan Mattise/Ars Technica]

Ten Nonviolent Ways to Thwart a Westboro baptist cult Protest


The infamous Westboro baptist cult (WBC) has announced their intention to demonstrate at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 27 young students and school staff members were killed Friday. The WBC has garnered plenty of publicity over the years for their tactics. Adrienne Crezo rounded up the stories of how people band together to counter-protest the WBC, from human shields to fundraisers to creative ridicule.

Read about them at mental_floss.

Of course if none of them work then the good old method(s) of caving their skulls in with a heavy, blunt object always works.

Did you know ...

That a NY Demoractic rep: the NRA is an enabler of mass murder

That water was found on mercury

That the war on women rages on

Here's 10 characters whose genders were swapped in production

The sad truth is ...


All 31 pro-gun Senators refused to go on Meet the Press Sunday

If they’re so afraid, maybe next time they should ask NBC if they can bring their guns.


For men and women (more likely, men) who like to play with guns, not a lot of balls in this crowd.
From the executive producer of NBC’s Sunday morning show, Meet the Press:
meet the press 3 gun senators refuse to go on

Politico reports that MTP host David Gregory noted the same thing:
boy with gun kid child

“A note here this morning: We reached out to all 31 pro-gun rights senators in the new congress to invite them on the program to share their views on the subject this morning,” he said. ”We had no takers.” If they’re so afraid, maybe next time they should ask NBC if they can bring their guns.
I’ve been Googling around but can’t find a list of the 31 pro-gun Senators.  Anyone?
Okay have a few names so far. Not complete yet though:
NRA “A” Rated Senators in 2012 Cycle:
1.) John Barasso (A) – NRA Endorsed
2.) Bob Corker (A) – NRA Endorsed
3.) Ted Cruz (A+) – NRA Endorsed
4.) Joe Donnelly (A)
5.) Deb Fischer (A) – NRA Endorsed
6.) Jeff Flake (A) – NRA Endorsed
7.) Orrin Hatch (A+) – NRA Endorsed
8.) Heidi Heitkamp (AQ)
9.) Dean Heller (A) – NRA Endorsed
10.) Joe Manchin (A) – NRA Endorsed
11.) Jon Tester (A-)
12.) Roger Wicker (A+) – NRA Endorsed

Why is the US so much more violent than Europe?

While there may or may not be a link between kids who watch violent TV shows or movies or play violent video games, it still can’t explain why these events happen so much more often in the US than the rest of the world. If I was to go to the local movie theater, I would see pretty much the same list of films here in France that US viewers will have available. Same goes for TV shows and the same applies to video games.While Faux News-loving Joe Lieberman is talking about needing to require regulations on the industry to tone down violence and Tom “I’d like to scare the daylights out of you with false terror warnings” Ridge is blaming violent video games, neither can explain how or why this is primarily a US problem. Because it is.
Here’s a map of the world with violent mass shootings. Yes, there have been plenty of problems around the world but you can’t help but notice the concentration of events in the US.
Mass Shootings around the world
Mass Shootings around the world Every country has problems, but in the case of the US, There’s a sick gun fetish. Even worse, there is a large part of the political class that protects this illness. I’ve lived overseas for a long time and have traveled quite extensively across six continents so I can see how the US differs from other countries.
Even in South Africa, which also has a serious problem with violence, the number of mass shootings doesn’t compare to the US. There’s no shortage of violence there, but you generally don’t see individuals shooting hundreds of rounds of ammo in a few minutes and killing dozens of people.
Semi Automatic Rifles via Shutterstock 
In France, yes there is violence, but it’s so incredibly unusual to hear of a shooting death. I can walk the streets of Paris at night and not wonder if I’m going to be held up at gunpoint or be shot just because. While I may be afraid of bad drivers, I’m not afraid of being shot.
When I lived in Baltimore, I had to stop watching the nightly death report, also known as the 11PM news. I was always on guard and wondered about crazy people with guns. I’ve never liked the idea of hunting for myself, but have never cared about people owning hunting rifles, who actually hunt.
What is disturbing to me is the easy availability of guns like the one used by the Sandy Hook killer. Why does anyone need something like that? Certainly not for hunting. And who buys Kevlar jackets outside of police, military and crime gangs?
So let the right wing political class talk about violence in games and TV, but that does little to address the real problem. America has a sick illness when it comes to guns and there’s no way around that truth. Instead of worrying about dividing America on social issues that aren’t really issues, the conservative right ought to be a lot more concerned about the excessive violence on the streets, rather than violence on TV. American TVs and video games may be violent, but it pales in comparison to the real world gun violence every day, across the country.

The truth be told

The correct answer is 'A' but the gun nuts continually pick 'B'

Odin

In Germanic traditions, the Norse Pagan God Odin has been said to have contributed to parts of the appearance of Santa Claus / Father Christmas. During the Germanic holiday Yule, Odin would lead a hunt through the sky on his eight legged horse Sleipnir-today's eight reindeer and their ability to fly are said to have been derived from this tale. Children would place their boots filled with straw, carrots or sugar for Sleipnir, and their kindness and good deeds would be rewarded by Odin with gifts. 

Daily Comic Relief


Beer Bath For Real Men

Beer Bath 1
One citizen of Minsk, Belarus, has invented an unusual business. He opened the first men's beauty salon which soon became popular thanks to its main service - beer bath SPA. Twenty minutes before arrival of a client they fill the special wooden bath with 100 liters of water and twenty liters of beer. Such procedures is rather pleasant and useful. Beer is rich in B vitamins which is good for skin and hair. Besides, such baths help to cure aching joints and have an antibacterial effect. One can have a beer bath for 35 dollars. More

Letters That Didn't Make The Alphabet


You know the alphabet. It's one of the first things you're taught in school. But did you know that they're not teaching you all of the alphabet? There are quite a few letters we tossed aside as our language grew, and you probably never even knew they existed. Ever heard of a thorn, or a wynn, yogh, insular g, or an eng?

A View Of Paris In 1878 ... From The Air

Frenchman Henri Giffard was the creator of the first powered flying machine - a steam powered airship. By the time these photographs of Paris were taken in 1878, it had been 26 years since Henri Giffard's pioneering powered flight in 1852. Now he dedicated himself to helping the masses take to the air for their first flight aboard his tethered balloon - installed in the courtyard of the Tuileries, Paris.

Because unpowered balloons are largely lacking in directional control, we see the area surrounded by tethering devices, large winches and balloon ballast to provide a safe flight over the city and return to the original liftoff location.

Japanese Archaeologists Discover 1,400 Year Old Warrior In Armor


The body of a remarkably well preserved warrior in full armor was discovered at Kanai Higashiura, the site known as the Japanese Pompeii, and archaeologists believe the find dates back to the 6th century.
But here's what makes this a remarkable find:
 The discovery, which is a first of its kind, is particularly remarkable in that the warrior is still wearing his lamellar suit. Though 600 armoured suits have been recovered by archaeologists over the years, none were worn by its owner.
Typically, suits like this one, what are called kozaneko or keiko, are found in tombs placed next to the owner, along with various burial goods. But this one is clearly unique.

Is the 5-Second Rule Real?

What really happens to snacks that fall on the floor? Read more Is the 5-Second Rule Real?: Gotta-See Video

Massive Napa do-over prompts grape plant shortage

In this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012 is a vineyard that was grafted with Cabernet Sauvignon earlier this year at Trefethen Family Vineyards in Napa, Calif. Napa Valley, one of California's premier wine growing regions, has an uncommon problem these days: Not enough new grape root stock to go around. Commercial nurseries were caught short by a trifecta of developments: aging vines planted after a deadly phylloxera outbreak of the 80s, the demand created by an improving economy and move toward grape plantings that allow some mechanization. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)  
Napa Valley, one of the world's premier wine growing regions, has an uncommon problem these days: not enough new grapevine root stock is available to supply the massive replanting that's under way there. A trifecta of developments has created the critical shortage:
Aging cabernet vines planted after a deadly phylloxera outbreak in the 1980s are due for replacement that was deferred for years as sales of premium wines slumped in the recession.
With demand again strong, growers are taking the opportunity to replace old vines with varieties and clones better suited for their microclimates. Others are reconfiguring rows to prevent erosion into sensitive streams, or to allow mechanical harvesting machinery to access vines.
All of this activity caught commercial nurseries across California short of supply. Some are sold out for 2013 and are taking orders for 2014 and beyond.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Michael Monette of Sunridge Nurseries, one of the industry's biggest suppliers of plants. "What's totally phenomenal for me is I'm focusing on 2014 and 2015, which is absolutely nutso. We have no more space in our greenhouses."
Napa Valley, an hour's drive northeast of San Francisco, caught the world's attention in 1976 when, to the shock and chagrin of the French, wines from Stag's Leap and Chateau Montelena won the Paris Wine Tasting. The ensuing rush to plant was cut short when the rootstock that most new growers used was not fully resistant to the root-eating phylloxera pest.
Nearly two-thirds of the vines there slowly died, and vineyard owners yanked millions of plants beginning around 1990 then spent $1.2 billion replacing them.
That replanting of new clones on more resistant rootstock are the vines on which the Napa Valley's current reputation for excellence was sealed. Today wines from Napa Valley's 16 sub-appellations are some of the most complex and priciest produced.
After 20 years, however, plants reach old age and yields begin to diminish in a region where a ton of grapes can fetch $4,500 or more.
Growers routinely replace plants, but the convergence of events has created an urgency that prompted the Napa Valley Grapegrowers to gather experts last week to talk about planning, plant financing and even preventing erosion during the process in a region of sensitive habitat.
"The defining feature of this movement is the scale at which it is taking place," said Jennifer Putnam, executive director of the association. "That nurseries are sold out is unprecedented. That an industry is reinvesting in itself right now is a sure sign we're coming out of the recession."
Mondavi alone is in the process of planting 1.5 million new vines, she said. One vineyard management company alone removed 8,000 acres this year.
"A lot has changed since the phylloxera replanting," said Putnam. "We've learned more about the soil, and what varieties might be better suited for a site, maybe the row orientation should change. We're at the beginning of a wave of change."
While grapes can grow by simply planting a cane in the ground, those plants will not be resistant to pests and disease. Nurseries graft European vines onto native North American grape plant roots, which are naturally resistant to phylloxera. Botanists further tweak rootstocks to resist local pests and disease, or to control the vigor of the vines.
"It has been 23 years since 1990, so that's a lot of acreage coming due," said Jon Ruel, chief operating officer at the 480-acre Trefethen Family Vineyard in Napa Valley's Oak Knoll District. "Growers were quiet for a number of years, but now we have a lot more optimism. Now wineries want grapes and growers are like, 'Shoot, I should have planted a few years ago.'"
Trefethen was founded in 1968 when there were just 15 wineries in the Napa Valley. Since the phylloxera replanting, they've learned more about the types of vines suited to the soil and the trellis structure that best supports them. Cabernet sauvignon grapes that ripen in the shade can taste like bell peppers, but those with low vigor and clusters exposed to direct sunlight can develop a raisin-like flavor.
Ruel says changing rootstock, as he is doing, is like rotating crops — you end up with a plant that is more resistant to whatever pests and disease exist in the soil.
"Every time you replant you have the opportunity to do it smarter," said Ruel, who will replace 40 acres a year until his redo is complete. "It's really an exciting time because it's an opportunity to reinvest in our vineyard with a better understanding of how we can produce the best possible grapes and in a sustainable fashion as well."
Most of the new plantings going on across Napa Valley are cabernet sauvignon, the varietal for which the region is most associated, Monette said. But others are planting rising stars petit verdot, malbec and petite sirah for blending.
Beckstoffer Vineyards is looking at new rootstock and clones as cabernet vines are replaced on more than 200 acres. They've placed some orders for 2014 delivery.
"We've been developing for two years when (grape) prices were low because we saw they would come back. We'd rather have fruit available than wait two years for it, even when prices were very low," David Beckstoffer said. "Replanting is expensive, but when prices are where you want them to be your investment pays off."
Over the past two decades the bucolic Napa Valley has transformed itself into a showplace of wineries as celebrities and the rich erect grand palaces to host $25 tastings of estate-grown vintages. Now growers and winemakers who believe that the best wines are made on the vines are eager to see what improvements this new generation of plants will bring.
It's a chance, Putnam said, for Napa Valley to raise the bar again.
"You only get an opportunity like this every 20 years," she said. "There's a very optimistic feeling here. This is a place that's looking ahead and planning ahead."

Random Photo

Is our solar system missing a planet?


Possibly, according to some scientists who are trying to understand the early days of Sol and friends.
One way that researchers study events like the creation of the solar system is to model what might have happened using computer software. The basic idea works like this: We know a decent amount about the physical laws (like gravity) that govern the creation of planets and the formation of a solar system. So scientists can take those laws, and program them into a virtual universe that also includes other real-world data ... like what we know about the make-up of the Sun and the planets orbiting it. Then, they recreate history. Then they do it again. Over and over and over, thousands of times, the scientists witness the creation of our solar system.
It doesn't happen the same way each time. Just like you can get a very different loaf of bread out of multiple attempts and baking the same general recipe. But those recreations start to give us an idea of which scenarios were more likely to have happened, and why. If our solar system tends to form in one way and resist forming in another, we have a stronger basis for assuming that the former way was more likely to be what really happened.
That's what you're seeing in this study, which Charles Q. Choi writes about for Scientific American.
Computer models showing how our solar system formed suggested the planets once gravitationally slung one another across space, only settling into their current orbits over the course of billions of years. During more than 6,000 simulations of this planetary scattering phase, planetary scientist David Nesvorny at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., found that a solar system that began with four giant planets [as ours currently has] only had a 2.5 percent chance of leading to the orbits presently seen now. These systems would be too violent in their youth to end up resembling ours, most likely resulting in systems that have less than four giants over time, Nesvorny found.
Instead, a model about 10 times more likely at matching our current solar system began with five giants, including a now lost world comparable in mass to Uranus and Neptune. This extra planet may have been an "ice giant" rich in icy matter just like Uranus and Neptune, Nesvorny explained.

Arctic to Become Next Gateway to Space?

Sweden's small Arctic town of Kiruna has big plans: to offer commercial space flights. Read more Arctic to Become Next Gateway to Space?

Arctic Ice Flowers


These jagged, crystalline 'flowers' form on thin layers of new ice in the Arctic Ocean, and only under conditions of extremely low winds and temperatures under -7° F. Deposits take shape on the surface of sea ice when water vapor skips the liquid phase and becomes solid. The formations have a high salt content — three to five times that of sea water, according to estimates by experts. The salt accumulates from brine that is wicked up from the ocean through the ice surface on which they grow. More

Science News

Drilling at lake BASAntarctic lake drilling is halted

A British attempt to search for life in an ancient lake beneath the Antarctic ice-sheet has run into trouble.

Photobombing the Photographer


Hello! Your quarry is behind you! This delightful picture was taken at the Kabardino-Balkaria reserve in Russia. Commenters believe this goat is either a Caucasian Tur or an Alpine ibex. Either way, it's a big goat! 

I'm Dreaming of a White Kiwi


A rare white kiwi was recently hatched at the Pahuka Mount Bruce National Wildlife Center in New Zealand. Despite the rarity, this is the third white kiwi born at the center!
The chick hatched just prior to Department of Conservation (DOC) staff arriving on Monday in the centre’s kiwi nursery. You can see footage of the newly hatched white kiwi chick being transferred from the incubator to the ‘dryer’ here. This is the same nursery where Manukura, the first white kiwi and Mauriora, our second white kiwi was hatched in December last year.

DOC staff knew that the eggs had come from Manukura’s father, so knew there was a 25% possibility of another white kiwi, but it still came as a surprise.

It is rare enough that two brown kiwi carrying the rare recessive white gene mate in the first place, that they would go on to produce three white kiwi is really something very special.

Mystery of Mass Squid 'Suicides' Possibly Solved

Poisonous algae that form so-called red tides may be intoxicating Humboldt squid. Read more Mystery of Mass Squid 'Suicides' Possibly Solved

Possible Cure Found for Deadliest Jellyfish Sting

The fearsome box jellyfish packs venom that is among the deadliest in the world, but a new treatment may take the sting out of its powerful poison. Read more
Possible Cure Found for Deadliest Jellyfish Sting

Animal Pictures