The Goat Pen

Billions of bugs wiped out on Dutch roads

AMSTERDAM | Tue Jul 12, 2011 1:33pm EDT

(Reuters) - Dutch motorists kill about 133 billion insects a month, splattering bugs on their vehicles and eliminating important members of the food chain, according to a study released this week.

Biologists at Wageningen University in the Netherlands enlisted the help of 250 drivers for a "splash teller" study. Each motorist had to wipe his or her car license plate clean then tot up the bug body count at the end of their drive.

"They are by far the richest species groups in all countries, and therefore play an essential role in the food chain," biologist Arnold van Vliet, one of a team working on the project, told Reuters.

"Many birds such as swallows, who hunt for insects, depend on insect density. If insect numbers are low they inevitably face severe problems finding food for their young," he said.

Insects are not only important pollinators of commercial and wild plants, but also form a crucial part of the diet of many animals including birds and bats.

The study showed the most dangerous parts of the country for a flying insect are the coastal provinces of Zeeland, Friesland and Groningen -- which Van Vliet said was possibly a reflection of the fact the human inhabitants are more likely to drive longer distances in these less densely populated areas.

Van Vliet said the scientific study was inspired by a similar project in the United Kingdom, carried out in 2004.

(Reporting by Jennifer Martin; Editing by Sara Webb)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/ ... YK20110712

Police: Woman Cut Off Husband's Penis, Threw It in Garbage Disposal

Authorities say the woman called 911 and told officers that the victim "deserved it"

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local ... 23033.html

Pat Caddell hasn't been a dem pollster for the last 30 years. But he has been the Fox News 'house dem' - and a hater of all dems born after the Korean War. Currently he is working for Michael Bloomberg's 2012 presidential campaign.

Don't let facts get in the way of a good point, damn it!

bluetick wrote:Pat Caddell hasn't been a dem pollster for the last 30 years. But he has been the Fox News 'house dem' - and a hater of all dems born after the Korean War. Currently he is working for Michael Bloomberg's 2012 presidential campaign.

lol...however, according to wikipedia besides working for the Carter '80 campaign he worked for Gary Hart '84, Joe Biden '88, and Jerry Brown '92. So immeasurable success everywhere he's gone.

But yeah, every time I see him labeled a "Democratic pollster" or "Democratic strategist" it's amusing. I've never heard the guy say one good thing about a Democrat.

So did Mitch McConnell just sign his political death warrant today?

besides working for the Carter '80 campaign he worked for Gary Hart '84, Joe Biden '88, and Jerry Brown '92.

every time I see him labeled a "Democratic pollster" or "Democratic strategist" it's amusing.

tick and dsl,

I don't understand.

Weren't Carter, Hart, Biden, and Brown dems? As far as Bloomberg goes, he was a dem much longer than he was a repub - and is closer to being a dem now that he is "independent" than any repub on the market. According to wiki, he is pro abortion, pro government stem cell research, anti death penalty, a supporter in the belief of man made global warming, and friendly to illegal aliens and homos.

So, saying Caddell is a dem doesn't seem like a big stretch to me.

AlabamAlum wrote:

besides working for the Carter '80 campaign he worked for Gary Hart '84, Joe Biden '88, and Jerry Brown '92.

every time I see him labeled a "Democratic pollster" or "Democratic strategist" it's amusing.

tick and dsl,

I don't understand.

Weren't Carter, Hart, Biden, and Brown dems? As far as Bloomberg goes, he was a dem much longer than he was a repub - and is closer to being a dem now that he is "independent" than any repub on the market. According to wiki, he is pro abortion, pro government stem cell research, anti death penalty, a supporter in the belief of man made global warming, and friendly to illegal aliens and homos.

So, saying Caddell is a dem doesn't seem like a big stretch to me.

I guess in part it's because he currently works for an Independent/Republican in Michael Bloomberg, but is still referred to (By Fox) as Jimmy Carter's righthand man. He's a less extreme version, but it would be the same as if Fox called Dick Morris a "Democratic Pollster" because he once worked for Clinton, but has spent the past decade blasting Dems left and right.

Caddell's not quite Morris but every time I see him on Fox he's highly critical of the Democrats while either not mentioning or praising Republicans.

Senator Rockefeller calling for an investigation into News Corp. and whether they broke any US laws

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14132168

Police officers accuse News International of deliberately trying to obstruct their investigation into the phone hacking scandal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14132168

I guess in part it's because he currently works for an Independent/Republican in Michael Bloomberg,

You include 'repub' in Bloomberg's designation? Like I said, his platform makes him seem like a card-carrying dem to me. What am I missing? And certainly, Carter, Hart, Biden and Brown were dems. I think they use the Carter tag with him because that campaign was successful. Carter became president. If you say, "He worked on the Hart and Brown campaigns," most people will say "who?"


Now, there is no doubt that Caddell is critical of dems, but I don't think you can say he is a repub in dems clothing. To me, there are two likely answers to why he says what he says:

1. Integrity: He believes what he says and is anxious for his party to change their ways realizing that because of his dem background, his words may be better heeded (something he himself has said a few times). For example, I am more critical of my son and my employees than anyone. It's because I want and expect the most out of them.

or...

2. Money. He is using his dem background to blast dems because he knows that his former campaign work makes him sought after by certain right-wing shows (he now has a nice salary for yapping about politics).

Which you chose is no doubt influenced by your own political perspective. If you are to the right, you choose #1 and if you are to the left, you choose #2.

Dr. Strangelove wrote:So did Mitch McConnell just sign his political death warrant today?

Heard what you are talking about. It can't possibly be true. If it is, then he is indeed a dead man walking.

OMG IT IS TRUE.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/07/12/ ... ?hpt=hp_t1

That is probably the most insane thing I have ever heard.

I seriously distrusted both McConnell and Boehner as leaders since the last time they were in power (under W) they borrowed and spent almost as flagrantly as Democrats. After their dismal performance before the R's lost both houses of Congress, I said neither should be reelected as Speaker and Majority leader. But they were. I was willing to give them one more chance, thinking maybe they learned their lesson.

The first hint that they had gone back to their old ways was when their "budget deal" was advertised as saving $38 billion. It turned out the deal only saved a few hundred million.

This latest charade confirms my worst fears. They are ready to turn over to Obama the Constitutional responsibility of Congress to pass budgets. They are both spineless naifs. They should both be removed from their leadership posts tomorrow by their peers.

Looks like I'm going Libertarian again.

Republicans suck.

Unfortunately, dems suck worse...

[youtube]OCcYSRACwx0[/youtube]

Show of hands for everyone who remembers puter predicting, well over a year ago, what's going on in Washington right now?

:::raises hand:::

And now, in another unsurprising turn of events, Obama is threatening to make the citizens pay if he doesn't get what he wants...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162- ... 03544.html

Good Lord, the liberal "Harvard" institutional docs are now advocating taking obese children from parents. Ivory tower eletists for sure.

On the same note, it is now being reported that one of the reasons the jury didn't like the prosecution in that Kayce Anthony case is because they didn't tell the jury "good morning" every morning like the defense team did. That was reported on GMA this morning as bing a significant issue during the deliberations.

So the fact that she didn't report the kid missing, the fact that her and her mom lied through their teeth, the fact that the kid was found with her mouth duct taped shut had less bearing on the case than the fact that the prosecuting team didn't say "good morning" to the jury.

The new standard is not beyond a "reasonable" doubt, it's beyond any doubt what so ever but on the other hand if you are talking about stealing money from someone through the courts that standard is "if someone has a bad thing happen SOMEBODY has to pay". Jeeze.

Big Orange Junky wrote:Good Lord, the liberal "Harvard" institutional docs are now advocating taking obese children from parents. Ivory tower eletists for sure.

It's a Constitutional right. No matter what the well-intentioned ivory tower types try to do, they're not going to avoid that.

Big Orange Junky wrote:On the same note, it is now being reported that one of the reasons the jury didn't like the prosecution in that Kayce Anthony case is because they didn't tell the jury "good morning" every morning like the defense team did. That was reported on GMA this morning as bing a significant issue during the deliberations.

So the fact that she didn't report the kid missing, the fact that her and her mom lied through their teeth, the fact that the kid was found with her mouth duct taped shut had less bearing on the case than the fact that the prosecuting team didn't say "good morning" to the jury.

The new standard is not beyond a "reasonable" doubt, it's beyond any doubt what so ever but on the other hand if you are talking about stealing money from someone through the courts that standard is "if someone has a bad thing happen SOMEBODY has to pay". Jeeze.

Well, I'm glad to see that you still fancy yourself as a legal expert, which is going to be a hoot when you're sued for malpractice. The Plaintiff's attorney is going to love you. I hope you enjoy getting a new asshole reamed.

Do I think she did it? Yes. Did they prove that she did it? No. The closes they got to that was saying that at one time her car smelled like a body, and that "expert" testiomy has all sorts of issues. I don't know if Florida is a "Daubert" state--NC is not--but there were major issues regarding the prosecution's experts.

They showed that the entire family was a pack of lying, crazy fucksticks, but they didn't show where anyone actually killed the child. So, the jury had a duty to acquit the Defendant.

I'd rather have ten guilty people go free than have one innocent person go to jail, and so would our Founding Fathers. That's why this nation has "innocent until proven guilty" (which was a groundbreaking concept at the time...and still is in the vast majority of the world), the need for unanimous verdicts (which is still a groundbreaking concept in the vast majority of the world) and the "beyond a reasonable doubt standard."

The thing that was shocking to a layperson is, what is the standard? Do we have to have a written confession and a video tape of the crime?

1. Not reporting her baby "missing" for 31 days.
2. Partying while the baby was missing for a month.
3. Lying about a nanny taking the baby.
4. Google searches for how to break a neck and how to make chloroform.
5. Expert testimony re: the smell of decay in her car.

Now, given the above, and replace the baby with my wife and I honestly believe I would be doing hard time now.

Yea, but you associate Pat Caddell with dems for some strange reason, so you don't know sh!te!!