Rare spotted zebra found

Submitted by erika on 10/22/12 8:25am
This elusive and ornery individual has an unusual coat pattern.

Kenya's Masai Mara is one of the best places in the world for wildlife watching. Photographer and safari guide Paul Goldstein caught a truly prized specimen on film, after tracking it down for two years. This elusive animal is a zebra who has an unusual pattern of stripes and spots.

Goldstein had trouble getting within range of the animal to snap his pictures. The spotted zebra is shy, "extremely bad tempered" and aggressive towards other zebras. According to Goldstein, it seems to have been ostracized by the other zebras, presumably because of its non-standard coat pattern.
 
The mystery zebra has an unusually short mane which is solid black. It is much darker than other zebras overall. And it has spots along its back in place of the normal stripes, as well as different patterning on its legs.
 
The stripes of a zebra are like fingerprints, no two animals are alike. And there is some good evidence that zebras use these patterns to identify individuals in their herd. Was this animal banished from the herd because of its odd stripes? Or did it leave the herd on its own, due to its bad temper?

The spotted zebra is certainly much more vulnerable to attack when on its own. Zebras are a herding species, and a lone zebra is an easy target. Goldstein reports that the animal is covered in scars. 
 
The spotted zebra's body looks different from normal zebras, as well, which may provide a clue as to how it came to be. It has a more donkey-like appearance overall. Zebras are known to hybridize with other equines quite readily. These hybrids all fall under the term of "zebroid," although they may be called a zorse, zonkey, or zebrule depending on who the other parent is.
 
It was long thought that zebras were white with black stripes, due to the large amount of white on their bellies. However, embryological evidence in recent years has overturned that belief. It turns out that zebras are black with white stripes. 
 
In addition to providing camouflage against color-blind predators like lions, and dazzling pursuers when they are all fleeing in a herd, the stripes of a zebra may provide fly protection. A team of researchers set out three horse-shaped plywood cutouts: one white, one black, and one zebra striped. They found that tsetse flies and horse flies flocked to the black and white cut-outs, but completely ignored the striped one.

Schools ban Flamin' Hot Cheetos

Submitted by erika on 10/22/12 7:47am
They can take our Cheetos, but they can never take our FREEDOM.

The war against junk food is getting surprisingly literal these days. Schools across the country are moving to ban Flamin' Hot Cheetos from school property. 

By the way, have you tried these things? Flamin' Hot Cheetos? I have to tell you, they are delicious. I'm not surprised the kids love them. Nor am I surprised that schools are trying to ban them. My understanding is that Flamin' Hot Cheetos evolved from a grassroots snack: Cheetos dipped in Tabasco sauce. If that gives you a feel for what we are dealing with here. (PS: That is delicious too.) 
 
There are several aspects of Flamin' Hot Cheetos which have sent school administrators 'round the bend:

 
1. Too spicy!
Little kids probably should not be eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Nevertheless, I have to admit that I snorted laughter when I read that children are being admitted to the emergency room for stomach pains. Diagnosis: Too many Flamin' Hot Cheetos. 
 
The super-spicy treats also cause problems at the other end, if you follow me. The high amounts of artificial red color can be alarming to parents and children alike, and the burning sensation is entirely unwelcome.
 
2. Unhealthy!
I'm sure kids bring plenty of unhealthy food to school, and Flamin' Hot Cheetos probably isn't the worst of it. But there will be few defenders of a food that has "26 grams of fat and a quarter of the amount of sodium recommended for a day" in one tiny snack size bag.
 
3. Pollen!
The bright red Cheetos dust gets on everything. I mean, Cheetos dust is bad enough. But the Flamin' Hot Cheetos dust is even worse. Teachers complain about little red fingerprints getting on books, on walls, on clothes, on homework. 
 
4: Germs!
OK, I really feel like they are reaching with this one. But it's a genuine complaint teachers are making: because kids share their Cheetos, they also swap germs. Seriously? This strikes me as a clear example of fear-mongering, but whatever.
 
Honestly, I think it is fine for schools to ban Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Kids are only in school for part of the day, anyway. If they really want Flamin' Hot Cheetos, they can eat them before school, after school, in the middle of the night, whatever. 
 
And the rest of us adults can continue to eat them any time we want. I don't know about you, but I could really go for a bag right about now!

Limbaugh's Libya conspiracy

Submitted by erika on 10/22/12 7:20am
Is Rush aiming to be the new Glenn Beck?

More and more, Rush Limbaugh seems to be taking over Glenn Beck's vacant position as the prime time wacky conservative political conspiracy theorist. His latest assertion is that Obama A) was responsible for removing Gaddafi from power and/or killing him, B) believes that this was a bad idea because the resulting power vacuum allowed Al Qaeda to flourish in Benghazi, and C) is trying to distract everyone from this point.

Where to begin? There is not one single thing about that series of assertions that either makes sense, or is supported by actual facts or documentation. It's all just Limbaugh blowing smoke the way he always does, trusting his audience to have zero knowledge of the incidents involved, beyond what Rush has told them.
 
First of all, you can't look at an evil dictator and say, "Well, but I don't know if we should remove him, because what if the next guy is worse?" You can't leave Hitler in power because you're worried that Hitler's successor will be worse. You can't leave a dog with an abusive owner because you're worried that the dog's next owner will be worse. You have to act with the facts that you have before you. 

American politicians have been working against Gaddafi ever since he seized power in the late 1970s. Reagan himself famously pitched himself against Gaddafi in the 1980s after Gaddafi developed chemical weapons. 
 
Furthermore, Obama and the United States were not solely responsible for Gaddafi's overthrow or death. Everything that happened in Libya was a NATO action. It's not like Afghanistan or Iraq, where the United States was the prime mover. 
 
Libya is a difficult issue. After spending 41 years under the rule of a dictator, the country has been in a state of civil war for over a year. It's not surprising that Al Qaeda would take advantage of that chaos. But it also can't be seen as the fault of the United States. And I'm pretty sure that if this had happened under a Republican president, Rush would be all, "See how badly they need us? We do what we can for the world, and they throw it back in our faces. We must crush them all!"
 
Of course, that's assuming that the Benghazi bombing was the work of Al Qaeda at all. We have no idea at this point; it is little more than a hunch, topped with a dollop of conspiracy theory.

Talking Points: Angel Pagan

Submitted by jemanji on 10/22/12 2:08am
4.9 WAR last year, 5.4 in 2010

Talking points, as opposed to a POTD.  If we had any sort of confident conclusion about a player, we'd have a POTD.  Instead, you get a chat board post.  Ah, the memories.

.

1) The Mariners have two CF's who play approximately as well as Pagan does.  They've got one who will hit 32 homers :- ) for peanuts, and they are paying the other one $7M next season.  

G-Money says:

Buster Olney name-checked us in an Angel Pagan post, in which he said we might help drive up the price to 4/50 or more. We'd better not actually pay that for Pagan. I would be seriously irked to add him to a club that's already paying Guti in CF and with Saunders able to play the position.

Dr. D's memo:  If the M's were going to spend $10M+ per year on a player, you'd think that they would want to emphasize the delta that such an incoming player would give them over their current options.  

On that note, you'd have people arguing that Saunders isn't actually a viable center fielder.  Those people, to swipe Mark Twain's line, would Not be Me.

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2) Pagan is a WAR hero.  In this article, Fangraphs nominates Pagan for the game's most underrated player.  They underline Pagan's 5 WAR this past season, which puts him at over $20M per season on-field value.  They go so far as to deadpan that he's comparable to Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson and Marx Teixeira.  

We don't suppose that you'd hesitate to pay 4/$50M for Granderson or Teixeira, whoever your rookies were.  The logic is sound, if the premises dubious.  (One dubious premise being:  WAR gives a reliable handle on what a player's on-field impact will be in the future.)

Dr. D's memo:  Chone Figgins became a FA superstar on the strength of a 5.0 WAR based on "soft skills."  Hey! The guy is an above average fielder, above average runner, gets on base, above average everything.  Bingo!  He's worth Mark Teixeira's 37 homers and 119 RBI per 162 ballgames.

This "soft skills" 4.0, 5.0 WAR player has become an epidemic problem.  The year before, the very year before, Pagan had a bit of an off year at the plate, and UZR didn't love him any more, and his WAR was ... 0.9.  There you go, gentlemen.  Chone Figgins.

But hey.  If you're into WAR as a reliable paradigm, you're into Angel Pagan.  Why WOULDN'T you pay $12M per, for 5 WAR.  Let's see if anybody does that.  In theory the bidding should easily go past $15M per, past $18M per.

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3) Pagan's REL (reliability) score is scary.  Shander, prior to 2012, wrote of the 31-year-old Pagan that "Another year, another 30 SB, but be careful.  SPD decline suggests these days could be numbered.  Poor health says don't bank on 500 AB seasons.  Some will look at 30 SB as baseline.  You'll heed warning signs and look for premium wheels elsewhere."

Pagan will turn 32 during next year's All-Star Break.  For mediocrities like him, that's about the year you start talking about retiring.  Seriously.  Age 27, maybe 28 is the prime time, and at about age 32 is when they start playing like horse manure.  Figgins is an example.

Dr. D's memo:  I can't tell you exactly what it is that I don't like about short-term 4.0, 5.0 WAR players who don't have any talent.  But am guessing that if I wanted to nail it down, I could.  Maybe I'd start with the idea of "talent."

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4) Angel Pagan and Chris Young have interesting similarities as a comp pair.  Both hit in the 100'ish range as center fielders and both run well, in the 20-30 SB range.  Both are considered plus CF's, though Young's numbers are a lot better.

Billy Beane, who doesn't have a lot of money to spend, just gave Young $8.5 and $11.0M over the next two years -- giving up only a fringy SS, and a Grade C prospect, Carlos Triunfel-lite type to get the contract -- so you could ask how that relates to the Pagan salary baseline.  

I'd rather have Young by quite a ways; he's much younger, has a rep as a true impact defensive CF and he's signed to a 2-year deal.  That's quite a bit different than giving a 3- or 4-year deal to a 32-35 year old.  Still, as you know, Young wasn't a free agent.  But it's worth filing away, that Miami didn't rake in a mint for Young's team-friendly contract.

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=== Dr's R/X ===

A player who scores you a "stealth" 4.0, 5.0 WAR for a year or two?  Good stuff.  That's what Stars & Scrubs is there for.  You seek those whack-a-mole 4.0 WAR contributions on the downlow.

To pay a Scrub coming off a 2010, 2012 Angel Pagan season --- > as though he were a Star?  There's somethin' fishy bout dat.  SSI will be surprised if Pagan gets any GM, any of the 30, to pay Pagan for even 60% of his WAR resume, times a 4-year deal.

Alternatively, maybe you think Pagan really will net you 40-50 runs the next three-four years, hard on the barrelhead -- it's just that he'll do it Edgar-style, in ways that aren't as sexy as Texy.  If so, there's a bargain to be had here.  There are a couple of teams that might be very hot for a decent CF this offseason - the Reds?  maybe?

If Dr. D is a real-life GM, he's betting the under on Angel and on WAR as an inviolable paradigm.  No Chone redux for Dr. D, please.  But hey.  We moved the fences in for Mickey anyhow.

Cheers,

Jeff

 

 

Don’t take my picture!

Submitted by sarajean on 10/21/12 11:14pm
We live in a self-hating culture. And it’s time to knock it off.

Up until a few months ago, I was one of those people.

You know, the ones who jump out of group photographs right before the flash, stammering, “Oh, no no no, not me!” It’s usually a woman—I almost never hear of men doing this—who thinks she looks so incredibly horrible and grotesque that the CIA will somehow find her picture from your daughter’s bat mitzvah and immediately capture her, classifying her as some kind of strange cryptic worthy of international study. Brain removal may or may not be necessary, but why take the chance?

I wish I could shake each and every one of these women and yell, “You’re beautiful, stupid! Don’t not make memories because of your chin or your love handles!” Of course, I don’t think that would help much—and not just because it would be me calling people stupid. Look, if I want to capture your face forever on my phone, it’s because I happen to like said face; I’m not forwarding it to People of Walmart.Of course, if we are at Walmart, I cannot make that same promise.

Who taught you to hate the mirror, to hate having yourself photographed? I bet if I guess somewhere between the media, school, your parents, an ex, and society in general, I’d be right. We are trained as women from day one to value our bodies more than anything else—indeed, that it is our appearance that matters. There’s a reason why both the beauty and dieting industries rake in billions of dollars, and that’s because they feed the self-hate machine that makes us buy their products.

When I realized that I’m still as big as I was seven years ago yet I’m in hardly any photos with my little girl, it made me want to cry. I vowed that I will never duck out of a photo again—unless I’m at Walmart; that goes without saying—least I end up without a single photo of us for her to remember me by later, or for me to remember us together while she’s traveling the world or at college or whatever.

So do me a favor and step into that shoot, giving it your best smile. I know it’s hard. I know it’s even embarrassing sometimes. But don’t you want the world to have some record that you existed? You are so much more beautiful than you give yourself credit for.

So Christians, what’s up with that whole Romney thing?

Submitted by sarajean on 10/21/12 10:56pm
I thought you would vote for, you know…a Christian or something.

One of my friends recently pointed out that it’s weird that we have all of these Christians voting for Mitt Romney on religious grounds. Many of our own Christian and Catholic friends claim they support ol’ Mitt because he’s against abortion and same-sex marriage. Yet Romney is a pretty obvious Mormon, and these same Christians claim that Mormonism doesn’t represent their values.

I suppose these must be the same Christians who claim that President Obama cannot be Christian, as they believe he is a Muslim, no matter how much disclosure he offers nor how many facts he presents.

That’s the problem, isn’t it? Those pesky little facts! God forbid we attempt to humor one, let alone them all! The fact of the matter also remains that the Bible—that Christianity—was used for years by white supremacists who wanted to continue supporting segregation, in completely non-Christian ways. Today it’s being used to suppress the rights of the LGBT community as well as women’s health and reproductive decisions.

Mitt’s Mormonism doesn’t bother me. Some of my friends are Mormons. Now, the whole Mormon support of Prop 8—that DOES bother me. As soon as you start mixing up religion and politics and burning women as witches, well, we’re all in trouble. But as long as you’re doing it, Christian friends, don’t you think you could at least be consistent and choose a Christian man over a Mormon one?

Ahh, I see, it’s the whole black thing, isn’t it? Do you just want a white president? “Oh!” I hear you cry. “That’s offensive! I’m not a racist!” Oh, no? Then what else are we to believe when you have an openly Christian man who is behaving like Christ—being charitable, helping the poor, loving all people and trying to give everyone equal opportunities and healthcare—as president, and you say, “Yeah, no, I’m voting for the Mormon.”

Back it up with something other than religion, folks, because you’re falling flat on your face with this one. I have friends voting for Romnesia because of his economic principles—whatever those are, amirite?—or because they’re afraid of socialism like Baby’s parents were afraid of sex in Dirty Dancing and they want to put America in a corner, for goodness sake!—but none of them claim religious principles, save my Mormon friends, which at least makes sense.

I know you like to pick and choose, conservative evangelical Christian friends. You do it all the time with the Bible and our gay friends. But how about being consistent for a change?

This Means War

Submitted by sarajean on 10/21/12 10:39pm
I think Twilight has turned us into a generation of stalker fetishists.

My best friend assured me that the film This Means War is fantastically funny, and she was right, as usual. I laughed pretty hard. But I didn’t walk away thinking it was a great movie because there were plenty aspects of the film that bothered me.

The obvious problem is that these two covert agents actively spied on the girl they were both dating. They didn’t just Google her like a normal person, or even look up her information and leave it at that; they bugged her house! They followed her everywhere she went! And worst of all, they recorded her on camera, including a scene during which she had sex with one of them. Of course, the more devious of the two was the one she ended up with (no, I’m not bitter that she didn’t end up with my pick—just really, really irritated at what’s passing for romance).

Hollywood, I don’t give a damn what teen girls are telling you they like a la Twilight. Men watching women without their knowledge in the privacy of their own homes—and following them everywhere they go—is not romantic! It is called stalking and it is illegal! And to have a woman actually agree to marry the guy who bugged her and recorded himself sleeping with her—and allowed his work buddies to see it—sends out a misogynistic message loud and clear: it’s okay to invade women’s privacy and break their trust because it’s, like, romantic.

No, it’s not. And the fact that if these two idiots had been doing their job in the first place and monitoring the man they were supposed to instead of this girl, they would have apprehended their terrorist and saved plenty of time, money, damage control, injuries, and possibly lives just kills me. Yes, it’s supposed to be a romantic comedy, but that is just ridiculous. By not doing their jobs while knowing this guy was after them, they put the girl of their dreams in danger—and they knew better.

If this film had had less idiocy and stalking—how about no stalking, actually?—it would have been really fun. I just spent way too much time being angry at the men—and at her for not coming clean about dating two people at once before sleeping with one of them—to really enjoy it all that much.

Cool soundtrack, though.

'Magic Mike,' 'Savages' and 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' lead this week's new DVD releases

Submitted by LauriePerry on 10/21/12 9:05pm
Options are plenty for fans of all genres.

I'm happy to say that the new DVD and Blu-ray releases this week look excellent. Of the top three I've picked, I've seen just one -- but it was a good one. And stop rolling your eyes at me, because yes, it is Magic Mike. I promise it's way more than just a guy stripper movie. Way, way more.

If a great Steven Soderbergh film isn't to your liking, you've got plenty of other options to keep your evenings filled with great movie entertainment this week.First, I'm going to talk about the drama/comedy Magic Mike though, because I feel I can make a solid recommendation since I've seen it. Yes, it's got some incredible eye candy in the form of some of the most beautiful looking guys I've ever had the pleasure of seeing on film. *But* it's also a very well-done film that shows clearly the darker side of the stripping industry. It's a character study, and it's a cautionary tale to be sure. Ladies: See it. Guys? You might not hate it quite as much as you think you will, trust me.

Now on to the two other new DVD releases this week that intrigue me the most: the Oliver Stone-directed suspense drama Savages, and the comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley. I missed both of these in the theater, mainly because reviews for both were mixed (though generally pretty positive). I hear Salma Hayek gives an outstanding performance in Savages, but that it's extremely violent. No problem, if that's your thing, you'll probably dig this movie.

As for Seeking a Friend, I'm just not sure: I really like Steve Carell and I adored him in Crazy, Stupid, Love, so I'll go for a little romantic comedy action from him again and see what happens.

Has anyone seen Savages or Seeking a Friend for the End of the World yet? If so, can you recommend either one? Let's hear it in the comments. Happy movie watching, everyone!

'Paranormal Activity 4' wins the weekend box office

Submitted by LauriePerry on 10/21/12 8:47pm
I didn't see it, but what I saw was my favorite movie of the year (so far).

We love to be scared, and we love our Paranormal Activity franchise, apparently. The latest installment in the spooky series, Paranormal Activity 4, easily won the weekend box office, but interestingly enough, it didn't perform nearly as well as it's predecessors. Bad sign? Probably so.

Somehow, I managed to wiggle out of my promise to see a scary film in theaters before Halloween (whew). I lobbied hard to go see Argo, because the word of mouth from friends was ridiculously strong -- and because I finally got over my cold and felt well enough to brave the theater without infecting my fellow movie goers. The short version: I'm so glad I did. Argo is an incredible movie.Let's take a quick look first at the weekend box office numbers, before I start telling you how amazing Argo is (oh, wait, I just did that...anyway...): Paranormal Activity 4 was first, taking in just over $30 million in its debut weekend. That's not shabby, but it's definitely less than Paranormal Activity 3 last year. I've seen the previous three PA movies, because reviews were pretty decent and word of mouth was good. Not so with this one, so I stayed away -- and apparently, I'm not the only one. I highly doubt PA 4 can keep this momentum going in the weeks to come.

Argo landed in second place at the weekend box office, taking in a very respectable $16.6 million. Hotel Transylvania was third, with $13.5 million, while Taken 2 was fourth, with $13.4 million. And Alex Cross failed to impress in its opening weekend: The movie finished in fifth place with $11.8 million.

Now back to Argo, which I know I've already told you is excellent. Now I need to tell you *why* it's so great: It's timely, it's informative, it's beautifully acted, wonderfully directed and suspenseful -- even if you know the story and the outcome beforehand. Ben Affleck has truly found his calling. I'll be shocked if Argo doesn't get Best Picture and Best Director nominations, and I would love it if Alan Arkin and John Goodman both get Best Supporting Actor noms, too.

Argo, so far, is my favorite movie of the year, and I've seen some great ones. See it!!

Bruce Springsteen stumps for Barack Obama

Submitted by LauriePerry on 10/21/12 8:30pm
The Boss plans a concert in Virginia this week.

No one who's followed Bruce Springsteen's illustrious career should be surprised that he's jumped into the political race, backing Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama. In 2004, The Boss was the star attraction at numerous "Vote for Change" concerts supporting then Democratic nominee John Kerry. And when Obama was inaugurated, Springsteen was there, performing before millions, Pete Seeger-style.

Last week, Bruce Springsteen posted a lengthy missive on his official website, detailing his views and beliefs. Now, he's planning a free concert at a big Obama for America rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Tuesday.In a message dated October 17, 2012, Bruce Springsteen posted "A Message From Bruce" on his site, explaining in great detail why he feels that Barack Obama should be re-elected to office. The next day, thousands turned out for Obama rallies in Parma, Ohio, and Ames, Iowa, where Springsteen performed a few acoustic songs and spent some time firing up the crowds (with the help of former President Bill Clinton in Ohio). Now, he'll rinse and repeat at a show in Virginia this week.

For fans who agree with Bruce's politics, this is a joy to behold. But what about for those who don't? I'm a huge part of the so-called Bruce "community" of fans, and I have friends on both sides. The ones who disagree with Springsteen's politics, for the most part, just kind of let it slide, opting to trust the art and not necessarily the artist. But for those who agree with Bruce Springsteen's political views, well, they're in heaven right about now.

I've been thinking a lot about how much celebrity endorsements matter in elections. Bruce Springsteen is a rock god, to be sure, but does it matter that he's doing all of this? Will an independent, undecided voter who just happens to be a Springsteen fan suddenly decide to vote for Obama after seeing The Boss perform a few poignant songs? Probably not. But these shows at campaign stops probably do help to get the base fired way up, so there's that.

What do you think? If you were an undecided voter, would these kinds of appearances influence your decision in any way? And, if you love Bruce Springsteen but disagree with his politics, are you still a fan of the man's music? Let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear everyone's opinions.

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