romunov’s blog et al

I found this a few days ago on my way home, very near our department. It got my attention when it was crossing the road. I obstructed the path so no one would squash it. Besides, it gave me the opportunity to snap a few photos. It sometimes really pays of too have my camera handy almost everywhere I go.

Oh, you probably want to know what this is. I would say that this is Agrius convolvuli (Convolvulus Hawk-moth) from family called Sphingidae. The link (leps.it) says the larvae feed on plants from geni (pl. for genus?) Rumex, Ipomoea and Convolvulus. Had I known that ahead of time, I would try and raise it (because I would know what food to provide).

While some suffer from premature ejaculation, Hamas has a bad bad bad case of of late ejaculation.

Hamas has accused Fateh of working in league with Israel and its domestic security agency, known as Shin Bet, in an effort to crack down on Hamas in the West Bank.

Fatah was created to offset the “radicals” against Israel.

*UPDATE*
Jin noted that it was Hamas, and not the Fatah, that was created by Israel. And he’s right.

Remember the 14 soldiers that died in a helicopter crash last week in Iraq? I’m sure you don’t. These sort of things happen on almost daily bases, and death from Iraq is something not even worthwhile of reporting.
Anyway, here’s the story:

A US army helicopter crashed in northern Iraq today killing all 14 soldiers on board, the military announced.
The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was carrying four crew and 10 passengers when it came down during a night-time operation, according to a statement.

The army claimed there was no indication that the aircraft was hit by hostile fire, saying early signs pointed to a mechanical failure.

And of course there’s a twist:

Several U.S. Army soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq last week were to be witnesses in the homicide trial of their former superior.

Honolulu’s KITV reported Sunday that some of the soldiers who died in the crash had been scheduled to testify in the trial of Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales, who is accused of orchestrating the death of an Iraqi detainee this year.

Make of it what you will…

This is Everes argiades (rumenooki kratkorepec, short-tailed blue). Common throughout Europe, except the Nordic states, Britain, Spain, Portugal and Italy (with her islands). Oh, you won’t find any in Greece, either. You will find the adults almost throughout the year, but mostly in April/June and then in July/August. There’s a “hole” with blues in the summer, when most of the blues are pretty rare. What you will find is old specimens (exception to the rule and all).
They are pretty small on the average, but can get pretty big, and even pretty small. I once found a really small one - the size of the smallest Slovenian butterfly (Cupido minimus). There are no similar species in Slovenia, identification is pretty straight forward.
This particular species isn’t too picky about the habitat. You will find them almost anywhere up to 1000 m alt. They prefer to leave their eggs on legumes (Fabaceae).

Two butterfly friends and I went to Karst region to map Callimorpha quadripunctata. We did 7 locations (1 hours per location, on the average). Most of the terrain was not suitable for the moth, but those that were, really stood out. A few pics under the fold.

(more…)

Ever think “that’s the post I wish I had wrote”? A lot of fabulous bloggers with an eye for writing, but this one stands out, at least in my view. Short, simple, funny!

Always be an Optimist - At least until they start moving animals in pairs to Cape Canaveral.

Funny stuff, but you have to know that Cape Canaveral is in Florida, and is used to launch rockets into space.

I’ve read about this interesting idea of “Bloggers for Peer-Reviewed Research Reporting” at The other 95%. I’m hoping some other educated blogger will pick up on the story, as I’m interested in his thoughts.

The concept is basically as follows: The main page is suppose to serve as an “aggregation feed”, meaning if you crave peer review critics and/or comments, you have one central page to go to. You can warp to the relevant sites and read away with a key stroke speed!

Every conscious blogger will have access to a PBR3 icon (they’re having a contest, so designers (by heart), hop on!), and will stick it to his post, that “thoughtfully discusses peer-reviewed research”.

I of course encourage everyone to use open access journals, so everyone can chip in.

I found this article an interesting reading. Here are sine excerpt:

For daring to report illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance says he was imprisoned by the American military in a security compound outside Baghdad and subjected to harsh interrogation methods.

For daring to report illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance says he was imprisoned by the American military in a security compound outside Baghdad and subjected to harsh interrogation methods.

‘’It’s a sad, heartbreaking comment on the system,'’ said Isakson, a former FBI agent who owns an international contracting company based in Alabama. ‘’I tried to help the government, and the government didn’t seem to care.'’

One way to blow the whistle is to file a ‘’qui tam'’ lawsuit (taken from the Latin phrase ‘’he who sues for the king, as well as for himself'’) under the federal False Claims Act.

Signed by Abraham Lincoln in response to military contractors selling defective products to the Union Army, the act allows private citizens to sue on the government’s behalf.

The government has the option to sign on, with all plaintiffs receiving a percentage of monetary damages, which are tripled in these suits.

It can be a straightforward and effective way to recoup federal funds lost to fraud. In the past, the Justice Department has joined several such cases and won. They included instances of Medicare and Medicaid overbilling, and padded invoices from domestic contractors.

But the government has not joined a single quit tam suit alleging Iraq reconstruction abuse, estimated in the tens of millions. At least a dozen have been filed since 2004.

‘’It taints these cases,'’ said attorney Alan Grayson, who filed the Custer Battles suit and several others like it. ‘’If the government won’t sign on, then it can’t be a very good case - that’s the effect it has on judges.'’

Or, the government’s in on it.

Gaza strip has gathered some not-so-mainstream attention over the years. Recently, “natives” have had some problem with Israeli settlers, who are sponsored by the Israeli government who gets almost blind checks from the US. Their crop is being almost systematically destroyed, tap water turned off, assassination after assassination of leaders that Israel does not approve, not to mention “collateral” damage - the destruction of homes, sniper fire, which results in unnecessary fatalities, and more… To put the cherry on top of everything, the only plant in Gaza has been shut off for —

The only power plant in Gaza was shut on Sunday when fuel deliveries were stopped and the EU has said they will not resume until Hamas assures them it is not benefiting from the aid. Hamas has denied the charge, and expressed readiness to provide” all the assurances needed.”

Which means the EU is actively punishing the average Joe (or Joehmed), which is, under the you-know-what-convention, a war crime.
Also notice that Hamas has been elected democratically, which surely doesn’t help the process at all. Why were they elected? I guess waking up in the morning with an Israeli bulldozer in your living room, or a call from the hospital that your kid died of a sniper wound, tilts the balance just a bit to the radical side, don’t you think?

I’ve been finding leaves with these little white domes all over the place now. I suspect they’re insect egg capsules with eggs. I’ve seen them only on fallen off leaves, but I will have to check some other leaves to confirm this. They’re very soft and spongy to touch. If you poke it with a needle, the material sticks to the tip, and appears to be somewhat sticky. When part of the “capsule” pealed off, it appears as if there were chambers reminiscent of those made by a praying mantis in her ootheca, but much smaller (and the ootheca are different in consistency).
If anyone knows what it is, please drop me a line in the comments.

I’ve put one under the microscope to see if I can spot some hyphae (to see if it’s a fungi), but I could find only smallish fibers with some small grains (not pictured). Those grains could perhaps be small eggs, or developing embryos (or something else).

Say hello to the newest proudest owner of Rupert Riedl’s book Fauna e flora del Mediterraneo (Italian version, obviously)!

Talking to a friend a few hours ago made me realize I have no clue regarding Slovenian current “pop” culture. I don’t get some Slovenian “inside” jokes, music trends and the like. I often feel like a retard because some things have to be explained to me like to a 5 y/o. This is often troublesome for me because I have no material for “small talk”. No one wants to talk stuff I’m into (benthos anyone?), I think because they have no clue what I’m talking about. Troo, I’m not that eloquent, and my rants may have no head or tail, but I think I’m the one who should be adjusting all the time. Some plasticity, people, please!

I do notice I can still have a cheap laugh with my American friends, though. Point in fact, most people from Slovenia would not understand this joke:

In what aisle could I find the Polish sausage?”
The clerk looks at him and says, “Are you Polish?”
The guy (clearly offended) says, “Well, yes I am. But let me ask
you something. If I had asked for Italian sausage would you ask me if I was
Italian? Or if I had asked for German bratwurst, would you ask me if I was
German? Or if I asked for a kosher hot dog would you ask me if I was
Jewish? Or if I had asked for a Taco would you ask if I was Mexican? Would
you? Would you?”
The clerk says, “Well, no!”
“If I asked for some Irish whiskey, would you ask if I was Irish?”
“Well, I probably wouldn’t!”
With deep self-righteous indignation, the guy says, “Well then, why did you ask
me if I’m Polish because I asked for Polish sausage?”
The clerk replies,”Because you’re at Home Depot.”

Thanks to DAV from Evil Bobby.

Oh, and can you imagine that some people around here don’t find Family guy funny? Horror! Maybe I really need to move.

There you have it, Rove announced that he is living the office on 31^st of August. I wonder what promped his leaving? Could it have something to do with this?

Two former aides to Rove, Sara Taylor and J. Scott Jennings, complied with subpoenas and testified earlier this year in front of Leahy’s committee. Rove refused to appear when called to appear before a Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this month.

—

When asked by Gigot whether he’s leaving “to avoid Congressional scrutiny,” he said, “I know they’ll say that. But I’m not going to stay or leave based on whether it pleases the mob.”

And here’s the official Government salute:

Like your privacy? Don’t want google to record every search you make? Screaming penguin has linked to this page where it details the usage of Tor and FoxyProxy. The instructions are straight forward, and if you might have any questions, you now have three sites to ask.

Here is a free instruction video I “found” on youtube. Justin will take you through a few easy steps that will help you play the aforementioned song.

*UPDATE*
You really wanna check out Justin’s page for a list of videos (and some tabs). Fire away.

Via Screaming penguin:

Check out the video posted at Desert Peace.
Environmentalist or joiners?

I’ve been working with butterflies for almost two seasons now, and looking back, it hasn’t been bad. I just did a count of how many species I’ve encountered so far. I can count 101. Still about 80 to go. Hopefully, the next season will be more giving and I’ll be able to expand my species list a bit further. I won’t see all of them right away, of course, but a girl can always dream.

I can identify most of those 101 by heart. I do need some reference handy for the tricky ones. Especially the ones I don’t meet every day and which ID characters are a bit obscure and/or “subjective” (like color), which is often a pretty good character to rely on, but you do need to net a few 100 before you hit a bull’s eye on the next encounter.

My list of dragonflies I know is a lot shorter. Perhaps I’ll look back at the end of the season. While I’ve been more observant of dragonflies since “forever”, I never got “into” them until this season. That’s when I got my identification key (recommended by Maarten - thank you!). An important queue was acquiring a butterfly net. It isn’t perfect for catching dragonflies, but it gets the job done. In a way.