Open Thread - Thurs 22 Feb 2024 - Amphibians - And Roman Recycling!

Submitted by Sima on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 5:00am

Amphibians - And Roman Recycling!
The other night I was doing the usual round of taking Jaska outside several times. The usual night has about 4 or 5 of these outs. The last out is always the coyote patrol, which we still do faithfully. The coyotes visit a couple of times a week but we've had no coyote problems since we started doing the patrols over a year ago!

Anyway, I saw this little one during one of those earlier outs, right at the side door of the garage, frozen in place. It was in the same position and spot at 8:30 pm, 11 pm, 1 am and 2:30 am after the coyote patrol.

newt_19_feb_2024_small.jpg
Picture taken by my husband. The little one is about 6-8 inches long, nose to tip of tail!

Is this a newt? It could be a Rough-skinned newt, but it seems to be too 'wet' and it doesn't have the orange underside the newt has. So it's probably a salamander (a Northwestern salamander most likely). I might have seen one of these once or twice before, but certainly not very often in the 30 or so years I've lived here. It was really cool to see the little one, and really interesting to see how still and careful it was while waiting for total darkness (no garage light). It stayed in exactly the same alert position for hours. I kept thinking it would move while Jaska and I were inside (which was almost all of the time), but it didn't until I finally clued in and turned out the garage light to make it totally dark. At last, in total darkness, it was able to move under cover and out of sight. How it got to the garage doorstep, I don't know. Maybe a cat brought it? Or it was just wandering and ended up there by accident? Who knows. Whatcha think?

On an Entirely Different Topic:
I recently ran across an article about Romans and recycling (Romans were early Pioneers of Recycling and the academic article: Crisis? What Crisis? Recycling of silver for Roman Republican coinage), specifically the recycling of silver for coinage. This reuse and recycling led to the reduction of lead pollution in Greenland, because lead pollution is a by-product of Roman silver mining. Not, I think, that the Romans knew, or even if they did know, really cared about that.

Recycling like this has always been a part of human society, I think. It's interesting how it can turn out, and how it can help the environment with things like lead poison, even if people do not intend such. I wonder what the Roman equivalent of plastic was? Or if there was one? Medieval equivalent? What metal, glass, fabric, whatever from/in the past couldn't be used, or reused, or broken down and turned back into soil? Is there such a material? Can you guys think of any like this? I think I need to do some research! Fun stuff!

Thanks for reading and here's the open thread - and remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!

Tags: 
Open Thread
#amphibian
#romans
#recycling
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Submitted by Sima on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 4:05am
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Works for me Smile . Hope all is as good as it can be for you and yours today. I have been examining the 1/2 inch tall seedlings in the greenhouse - peppers, onions, broccoli, lettuce, herbs... gonna plant some more in a day or two. So the season is starting, no matter what it feels like right now!

I wanted to thanks to everyone (like OTC) for having me give hugs to Jaska. She is really enjoying them! Post whatever in the comments below, let us know what's up with you!

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by Lookout on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 6:49am
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The Romans invented cement and glass. I suspect glass was their plastic. There is some talk they had a flexible glass.

I'm not sure what type of salamander you saw. We see them often under logs and things, but ours tend to have some bright colors. The only one in the west in this guide is:
Western Tiger Salamander - Ambystoma mavortium

We've got seedling up too. Cabbages in the garden are heading and broccoli heads are forming.

Take care and thanks for the OT!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 12:25am
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@Lookout
That probably was their plastic, but it could be recycled. A lot of little pieces of glass are found at archaeological sites. I didn't know about the possibly flexible glass.

Pretty sure the salamander was a northwestern salamander. I liked looking through the link you gave, amphibians are so colorful and pretty.

Have fun with the seedlings! We had a sunny day today, and about 10 more pepper seedlings popped up Smile

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 9:15am
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boatload of salamanders known as slender salamanders (Batrachoseps) that range from Baja to Oregon, but it is also alleged that some of them have ranges including MT, ID, and up around thataway, so they could possibly be just about anywhere. We find them in our garden now and then. here's a wiki, who knows how complete it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender_salamander#Diet_and_physiology

The Bay Area has about a dozen kinds of salamanders and newts in addition to the slenders, and some might well have ranges extending well beyond our area. Probably you need to google /yandex/duckduckgo something like "salamanders found in ( ) county".

Be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 12:33am
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@enhydra lutris
I think I saw slender salamanders, often, when I was a kid in the Santa Cruz mountains. The pic in the link reminded me of them!

I checked out the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and found the link to the Northwestern Salamander and some pics. So I think that's what I saw.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by Smile

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 9:04am
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@Sima

but didn't want to suggest it until you checked yourself so as not to prejudice anything. That salamander, btw ranges all the way into NW California.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by on the cusp on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 9:37am

Must go to court.
PSA: If your spouse of 20 years suddenly pressures you to get breast implants (cheap)down on the Mexican border, then bitches because the surgery disfigured you, I urge you to get a divorce before surgery, instead of having to wear certain bandages and braces to divorce court afterwards.
Give Jaska a really big hug for Aunt OTC!
Thanks, Sima! Thanks Jaska!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 12:37am
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@on the cusp
the breast implants and divorce. Wonder if the husband got a... mmmmmmmmwerewmufflewerfl implant? Turn about is fair play, right? Smile Anyway I hope court wasn't too bad today.

Jaska is really enjoying her hugs! Thank you so much for them. I cheated and passed one on to Lily, I hope you don't mind. She was after a hug and some scratches as well!

Have a great weekend, with lots of good food and some music!

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2 users have voted.
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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 9:15am

@Sima out of the Hug Fest.
Court went great.
Now, another of my divorce cases involves the husband who waited until he was into his 60s before he got his magic implant. The wife filed for divorce so as not to have to live with a monster.
Enjoy your weekend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by kelly on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 1:14pm

Salamander burning bright. always exciting to see. Used to encounter Dicamptodon in caves and forests. Rode down to the Mojave with a fellow from Berkeley (iirc) who was studying Ensatina, a species complex group that has various populations differing in interesting ways in their sort of island geographies throughout their range. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensatina
Something of a mutual interest with my cichlid species flocks "studies" at the time.
Lot of electrophoretic soup stocks prepared, I suspect.
Interesting cohabitants. The Ensatina are a colorful lot.

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Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 1:31am
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@kelly
What great things to have studied, so pretty! It sounds fun and exciting! I think, after looking those up and looking up the ones in WA state, that the salamander could have been one of those. Or, a Northwestern. It resembles the pic of the Northwestern salamander more, but who knows. It was dark after all Smile

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

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3 users have voted.
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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by humphrey on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 2:01pm

There are interviews and then the are interviews. It all depends on the setting.

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Submitted by QMS on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 2:00pm
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@humphrey
-
are we supposed to watch Biden stumbling
and exlensky pretending to be a president?

force fed stupidity c/o the medias

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question everything

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 1:36am
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@QMS
exactly!

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2 users have voted.
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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 1:35am
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@humphrey
were funny in a sad way. Apt comparison. I wonder when they are going to just wheel Biden up into the airplane? As for the setting for the interview with the nanofuhrer, that was nuts. What are they thinking?

Thanks for posting these, such apt comparisons. Have a great weekend!!

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3 users have voted.
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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by humphrey on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 1:59pm

approaching it is all about grabbing the headlines facts are not required.

BTW get congress to send more money to Ukraine.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-putin-space-satellite-weapon-nuclear-1...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the U.S.

Putin’s statement follows the White House confirmation last week that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said it would violate the international Outer Space Treaty, but declined to comment on whether the weapon is nuclear-capable.

The treaty signed by more than 130 countries, including Russia, prohibits the deployment of “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in orbit or the stationing of “weapons in outer space in any other manner.” The White House said it would look to engage the Russians directly on the concerns.

“Our position is quite clear and transparent: we have always been and remain categorically opposed to the deployment of nuclear weapons in space,” Putin said. “Just the opposite, we are urging everyone to adhere to all the agreements that exist in this sphere.”

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Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 1:40am
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@humphrey
Made me laugh. 'Gimme Money' indeed. As for the scary stuff about Russia and weapons I don't actually believe any of any of it. Or so I tell myself. If Russia might be doing it, the USA has already done it, unless, unless, our capabilities are so poor now. Quick give the MIC another 5909808234trillion!

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2 users have voted.
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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by humphrey on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 2:11pm

https://www.barrons.com/news/white-house-says-russians-must-return-naval...

Russian authorities must return the body of Alexei Navalny to his mother, the White House said Thursday, days after the opposition leader died in an Arctic prison.

"The Russians need to give her back her son," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington, so that Navalny's mother can "properly memorialize... her son's bravery and courage and service."

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 3:21pm
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@humphrey

asked to leave Gaza by the international court because that would make them feel insecure.

And they scolded Putin for giving Kim a car like the one Putin has because of the sanctions put on North Korea by the UN Security Council.

This is more of the rules based order.

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 1:48am
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@snoopydawg
But not for them!

Good to see you, Snoopydawg. Hope you are doing well and gearing up for a good weekend!

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2 users have voted.
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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 1:43am
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@humphrey
Dang. But not unexpected. I want the Brits to grow a pair and let him go, or at least send him home to Australia, even if it's to prison there.

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2 users have voted.
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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by QMS on Thu, 02/22/2024 - 2:22pm
QMS's picture

-
will be another false flag?
setting it up that way

no longer doubt the evil
being blamed on the 'enemy'
is here in the homeless land

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question everything

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 02/23/2024 - 1:46am
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@QMS
I think even the weather forecast is a planned false flag, some times. It sure seems like everything else in the mainstream media is that way.

up
2 users have voted.
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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so