[goldie0608]

Man Takes Wife's Business Class Upgrade and Leaves Her to Sit by Herself During Start of Their Honeymoon

The man's wife wrote on Reddit that he suffers from travel-related anxiety and she was hurt when he ditched her at the start of their vacation to Mexico



A newlywed was left furious after her husband took her business class upgrade and left her to sit alone during the start of their honeymoon.

A Reddit user, who goes by the username Wooden_Disaster9800, shared a post on the website this week, in which she detailed the experience on the "Am I the Assh--- (AITA)" forum.

According to the woman, 33, she and her husband, 30, were boarding a three-hour flight to Mexico for their honeymoon when a gate agent stopped the man to let him know that his seat had been upgraded to business class thanks to frequent flier points his wife had racked up from her travels for work.

As the woman told the agent that it was not okay that she and her husband would be split up, she claimed in her post that her husband said, "No it’s fine, I’ll go to business class."

After boarding the plane, the woman said she was seated "next to an old woman with a baby on her lap" and was annoyed at her husband, who she explained in the post gets "anxiety" when traveling.

"Within maybe 5-10 minutes of sitting there, trying to hold back tears because my husband left me alone on our flight during our honeymoon (and uses MY points for his upgrade no less), he starts to text me saying he feels anxiety over flying. I ignore the texts and stop looking at my phone," she wrote.

The woman said her husband eventually made his way to the back of the plane and brought her "half of his business class breakfast" and asked her why she was ignoring his texts.

"He [told me he] was scared and needed me to tell him it’d be okay since I am such an experienced flyer," she wrote.

After explaining to her new husband that she was frustrated that he left her behind before their honeymoon officially kicked off, the woman said he then got "angry" and told her this may have been his only chance to ever fly business class.

The man, his wife wrote, also gave her half of his meal to make up for his actions. "So I could at least be supportive of his genuine fear," she explained.

Noting that she rolled her eyes and sarcastically thanked him, the poster said her husband then went back to his seat toward the front of the plane.

"When we landed, I tried to just move on and forget about it so that we could enjoy our honeymoon, but he guilt tripped me about not comforting him via text before take-off and now I am wondering if I am being unreasonable and should have just let him enjoy his time in business class and ensure him it’d be okay," she concluded.

In the comments section, the original poster was met with praise from others who sided with her amid the couple's airplane ordeal.

"Your husband made a really questionable decision and he was essentially having to live with the consequence of the decision," one user wrote.

"He thinks flying business class is more important than spending time with you at the start of your honeymoon. His priorities aren't straight," another said.

One other commenter added: "It was selfish and childish of your husband to take the business class seat when you made it clear you wanted to sit together, it's your honeymoon after all. It's even more childish of him to need you to virtually hold his hand during the flight — if he needed that reassurance, he could have sat with you!"

Sleeping more flushes junk out of the brain

Rhythmic activity during sleep may get fluids in the brain moving.



As if we didn’t have enough reasons to get at least eight hours of sleep, there is now one more. Neurons are still active during sleep. We may not realize it, but the brain takes advantage of this recharging period to get rid of junk that was accumulating during waking hours.

Sleep is something like a soft reboot. We knew that slow brainwaves had something to do with restful sleep; researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have now found out why. When we are awake, our neurons require energy to fuel complex tasks such as problem-solving and committing things to memory. The problem is that debris gets left behind after they consume these nutrients. As we sleep, neurons use these rhythmic waves to help move cerebrospinal fluid through brain tissue, carrying out metabolic waste in the process.

In other words, neurons need to take out the trash so it doesn’t accumulate and potentially contribute to neurodegenerative diseases. “Neurons serve as master organizers for brain clearance,” the WUSTL research team said in a study recently published in Nature.

Built-in garbage disposal

Human brains (and those of other higher organisms) evolved to have billions of neurons in the functional tissue, or parenchyma, of the brain, which is protected by the blood-brain barrier.

Everything these neurons do creates metabolic waste, often in the form of protein fragments. Other s
tudies have found that these fragments may contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

The brain has to dispose of its garbage somehow, and it does this through what’s called the glymphatic system (no, that’s not a typo), which carries cerebrospinal fluid that moves debris out of the parenchyma through channels located near blood vessels. However, that still left the questions: What actually powers the glymphatic system to do this—and how? The WUSTL team wanted to find out.

To see what told the glymphatic system to dump the trash, scientists performed experiments on mice, inserting probes into their brains and planting electrodes in the spaces between neurons. They then anesthetized the mice with ketamine to induce sleep.

Neurons fired strong charged currents after the animals fell asleep. While brain waves under anesthesia were mostly long and slow, they induced corresponding waves of current in the cerebrospinal fluid. The fluid would then flow through the dura mater, the outer layer of tissue between the brain and
the skull, taking the junk with it.

Just flush it

The scientists wanted to be sure that neurons really were the force that pushed the glymphatic system into action. To do that, they needed to genetically engineer the brains of some mice to nearly eliminate neuronal activity while they were asleep (though not to the point of brain death) while leaving the rest of the mice untouched for comparison.

In these engineered mice, the long, slow brain waves seen before were undetectable. As a result, the fluid was no longer pushed to carry metabolic waste out of the brain. This could only mean that neurons had to be active in order for the brain’s self-cleaning cycle to work.

Furthermore, the research team found that there were fluctuations in the brain waves of the un-engineered mice, with slightly faster waves thought to be targeted at the debris that was harder to remove (at least, this is what the researchers hypothesized). It is not unlike washing a plate and then needing to scrub slightly harder in places where there is especially stubborn residue.

The researchers also found out why previous experiments produced different results. Because the flushing out of cerebrospinal fluid that carries waste relies so heavily on neural activity, the type of anesthetic used mattered—anesthetics that inhibit neural activity can interfere with the results. Other earlier experiments worked poorly because of injuries caused by older and more invasive methods of implanting the monitoring hardware into brain tissues. This also disrupted neurons.

“The experimental methodologies we used here largely avoid acute damage to the brain parenchyma, thereby providing valuable strategies for further investigations into neural dynamics and brain clearance,” the team said in the same study.

Now that neurons are known to set the glymphatic system into motion, more attention can be directed toward the intricacies of that process. Finding out more about the buildup and cleaning of metabolic waste may contribute to our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. It’s definitely something to think about before falling asleep.

Nature, 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07108-6 (paywalled)

[Zbignieww]

Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings



More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archaeological site in southwest France.

Researchers investigated the unusual position of three female skeletons found in 1985 at the site in the town of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, and concluded that two of the women probably died from a form of torture known as “incaprettamento,” which involves tying a person’s throat and ankles so that they eventually strangle themselves due to the position of their legs.



The researchers also reviewed skeletons found at other archaeological sites across Europe and identified 20 other probable instances of similar sacrificial killings. The practice may have been relatively widespread in Neolithic, or late Stone Age, Europe, according to the study, published in the journal Science Advances last week.

The third woman found at the site was in a normal burial position and “we don’t know how she died,” Éric Crubézy, one of the paper’s lead authors and a biological anthropologist at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, told CNN on Tuesday. “But we can say that they put the three women in the grave at the same time.”

The women’s burial place was aligned with the sunrise at summer solstice and sunset at winter solstice, leading the study’s authors to hypothesize that this site acted as somewhere people gathered to mark the turning of the seasons, which may have involved human sacrifices.

“There is always this idea that somebody is dying and that the crops will grow,” Crubézy added, referencing that belief appearing in other cultures such as the Inca practice of human sacrifice in South America.

Crubézy was part of the original team that excavated the site in 1985 but it wasn’t until the break caused by the Covid-19 pandemic that he and his colleagues set about researching other instances of such sacrifices.

By reviewing the existing literature, researchers pinpointed 20 other probable examples of people being sacrificed in the same way over 2,000 years in the Neolithic period. The study said the actual number was probably higher but there was insufficient information about skeletons at other archaeological sites to draw firm conclusions.

“In different parts of Europe, it was the same type of sacrifice,” Crubezy said. “And this sacrifice is very particular because it’s a cruel one … and you have no blood and no people who killed another, the people killed themselves.”

Though it is impossible to prove definitively that the women in the grave at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux died in situ, their position “stacked atop each other and entwined with fragments of grindstones” implies that they were placed there forcefully and deliberately, “strongly suggesting that their demise likely occurred” in the grave, the study said.



The study can state with “95% certainty that the three individuals were women,” after precisely measuring various characteristics of the pelvic bone, co-author Ameline Alcouffe, a doctoral student at Paul Sabatier University, told CNN in an email.

At the other sites across Europe, men and children as well as women were also found sacrificed in this way, the study said.

In the future, Crubézy says, the researchers intend to analyze the familial relationship between the three women at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and investigate unusual death rites observed in other graves around the site.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/17/euro ... index.html

A Quick Scribble by Michelangelo Sold for Over $200K at Christie’s New York



A small drawing by Michelangelo, accompanied by a letter from the artist’s last direct descendant, has sold at Christie’s New York for $201,600, far outstripping its highest estimate of $8,000.

Found affixed to the back of a frame, the drawing of a block of marble contains the Italian word “simile”, or “similar” in English. It is believed that Michelangelo drew it while working on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, according to a Christie’s specialist. The identity of the buyer has not been disclosed.

A letter written by Cosimo Buonarroti in 1836 offers the piece by Michelangelo to Sir John Bowring, who became the future governor of Hong Kong and whose signature appears at the bottom of the paper.

The letter and diagram were found by Christie’s specialists on the back of another drawing that had been in a private collection for decades, the auction house explained in a statement.

Christie’s confirmed through research that the drawing was made by Michelangelo despite being unsigned.

Most of Michelangelo’s works are housed at the Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence, Italy. Less than ten of the master’s works are believed to be privately owned.

[midgemental]

What's that -- Cat Got Your Tongue



Animal idioms we can’t resist: Why do we say ‘cat got your tongue’ and other popular phrases?

Why do we say “elephant in the room”?

Why do we say “dog and pony show”?

And why do we say “sly as a fox”?

These and many other popular expressions are part of everyday life in the English language — yet most of us don’t really know their interesting origin stories.

Here’s a fun dive into three popular expressions with the common theme of living creatures in their phrases.

How well do you know where these phrases came from — and what they really mean?

3 popular phrases with deeper meanings
‘Happy as a clam’

The phrase ‘happy as a clam’ is commonly used to refer to someone who is elated and extremely pleased about something.

The first recording of the idiom was apparently somewhere between 1830 and 1840, according to Dictionary Online.

‘Happy as a clam’ dates nack to the mid-1800’s.

Some theories suggest the phrase was originally longer, as in “happy as a clam at high tide.”

That’s a reference to the notion that clams, once they’re in the rapidly rising waters, are safer than at low tide and can no longer be dug up by fishermen.

Although no origin is confirmed, many people frequently use the expression almost without thinking.

‘I could eat a horse’

There a various theories as to the origin of the idiom ‘I could eat a horse.’

This phrase tends to refer to someone who is extremely hungry, almost to the point of fatigue.

People might say, for example, that they’re “so hungry they could eat a horse” when dinner time is approaching and they haven’t eaten anything at all that day.

There are a few different theories as to this idiom’s origins.

The first is that it came from Tobias George Smollett in 1824, who said, “For I be so hoongry, I could eat a horse behind the saddle.”

Another theory is that the phrase came from author George H. Johnston in his 1946 “Skyscrapers in the Mist,” in which he wrote, “I’m starved. I could eat a horse.”

An alternative to the popular expression of hunger is, “I’m so hungry, I could eat a brick.”

‘Cat got your tongue’

Same trace the origin of ‘cat got your tongue’ to the Middle Ages. Getty Images/iStockphoto

This popular saying is often used in the form of a question when wondering why someone isn’t speaking up about something.

For example, if two people are in an argument and one is not responding, the other might ask, referring to the silence, “Cat got your tongue?”

Some theories as to where this saying originated include this time: During the Middle Ages, people who did not tell the truth were to have their tongues cut off and fed to the king’s cats.

Cat Whip?

Another theory is that it was originally said by members of the English Royal Navy when sailors didn’t follow orders and were hit with a cat o’ nines tail — also known as a whip.

Others attribute the expression to the first written occurrence in 1881 in the magazine Bayou’s Monthly: “Has the cat got your tongue, as the children say?”

https://nypost.com/2024/04/20/lifestyle ... come-from/

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
SUNDAY APRIL 21
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -5)
3:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)
on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[ozswede]

Molly the magpie reunited with 'best friend' after public outcry

An Australian magpie has been returned to a Queensland couple after an intense debate that gripped the nation.

Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen were granted a special licence to care for the magpie, dubbed Molly, who was held by wildlife authorities for six weeks.

Molly shot to fame via the couple's Instagram account, which documented its relationship with their pet dog, Peggy.

The licence comes with strict conditions barring the couple from profiting from the bird.

In their first Instagram post since Molly's return, Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen said they were "overwhelmed with emotion".

There was, they say, a "little cry of happiness" from the magpie when it was released.


Molly has lived with the Queensland couple for nearly four years

Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen rescued Molly when it was a chick in 2020.

The couple amassed more than 800,000 followers with an Instagram page, which features whimsical pictures and videos of the magpie interacting with their Staffordshire terrier.

But questions were raised about the ethics of keeping an Australian magpie as a domestic pet.

Earlier this year, the Department for Environment, Science and Innovation (Desi) said the magpie had been "taken from the wild unlawfully with no permit, licence or authority".

In an emotional video, the couple announced they had "surrendered" Molly to the authorities on 1 March, because of a "small group of people constantly complaining" about the animal being in their care.

"We are asking why a wild magpie can't decide for himself where he wants to live and who he wants to spend his time with?" the couple said in a post online.

This turn of events sparked mass public outcry in Australia, with more than 150,000 people signing a petition to secure Molly's return.

The uproar led Queensland premier Steven Miles to intervene.

He said returning Molly to the couple would be a victory for "common sense" and urged the authorities to grant the appropriate licence.

After seeking expert veterinary advice, Desi found that Molly was "highly habituated", meaning the bird could never be returned to the wild.

The department says it returned Molly to the couple's care following "extensive legal advice".

Speaking on Molly's return, Mr Miles said: "Molly has received excellent care during this time, and I'm told has been in great spirits throughout.

"I know how strongly people have felt about this - thank you again to everyone who has been in touch about it."


Molly and Peggy are overjoyed at being reunited

Though Molly is back at home, Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen must adhere to strict conditions in order to keep their wildlife carers' licence.

Those conditions require the couple to undertake training, provide evidence of Molly's well-being and make "no ongoing commercial gain" from the magpie.

This last point might prove the trickiest. Ms Wells has already released a book about Peggy and Molly via Penguin Books Australia, and the couple have sold calendars and T-shirts featuring images of the duo.

A post promoting the book - Peggy & Molly: Be Kind, Be Humble, Be Happy - remains pinned at the top of the duo's Instagram page.

Before Molly's return, Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen told Australia's ABC News that they had profited from Molly, though they suggested they had not made very much.

"My intention was not to make money," Ms Wells said. "It's not about that."

"We can't make a living on the money that's been made - definitely not," Mr Mortensen added.



Prof Gisela Kaplan of the University of New England told ABC News people should not raise birds without specialist knowledge, and that she hopes Peggy and Molly's situation is a "one-off".

Australian magpies - which can live up to 30 years - are a protected native species and are considered vital to the nation's ecosystem. They are named after their resemblance to the Eurasian magpie, to which they are not actually closely related.

[Alessa9]

Decades after a US butterfly species vanished, a close relative is released to fill gap

Wildlife experts are bringing butterflies back to the Presidio National Park in San Francisco as part of an effort to restore native ecosystems



More than 80 years ago, a beautiful butterfly called Xerces Blue that once fluttered among San Francisco's coastal dunes went extinct as stately homes, museums and parks ate up its habitat, marking the first butterfly species in the United States to disappear due to human development.

But thanks to years of research and modern technology a close relative of the shimmery iridescent butterfly species has been reintroduced to the dunes in Presidio National Park in San Francisco. Dozens of Silvery Blue butterflies — the closest living relatives of the Xerces Blue — were released in the restored habitat last week, officials said Monday.

Scientists with San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences utilized the Academy’s genetic sequencing capabilities and analyzed Xerces Blue specimens in their vast collection to confirm a group of Silvery Blues in Monterey County, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of San Francisco, could successfully fill the ecological gap left by the Xerces Blue.

“This isn’t a Jurassic Park-style de-extinction project, but it will have a major impact,” said Durrell Kapan, a senior research fellow and the lead Academy researcher on the project. “The Silvery Blue will act as an ecological ‘stand-in’ for the Xerces Blue, performing the same ecosystem functions as both a pollinator and a critical member of the food web."



The iconic butterfly, whose name inspired the Xerces Society, an environmental nonprofit that focuses on the conservation of invertebrates, went extinct in the 1940s.

Chris Grinter, the collection manager of entomology at California Academy of Sciences, said it all started by using their collections and "modern technology, genome sequencing to go back and extract genomes from these extinct butterflies that are over 100, 150 years old.”

Meanwhile, the Presidio Trust and other organizations worked to restore the butterflies’ native dunes, planting deerweed — a preferred host plant of the Xerces Blue and the Silvery Blue butterflies.



Wildlife experts collected dozens of Silvery Blue butterflies in Monterey County, marked them for future identification and transported them to San Francisco, feeding them a few drops of fruit punch-flavored Gatorade along the way.

The team will continue to track their movements using high-resolution photographs to identify their markings and learn ways to replicate the habitat regeneration lessons learned, officials said Scott Sampson, executive director of the California Academy of Sciences.

“The lessons we learn from the Silvery Blue here in our backyard could serve as a model for regenerating other ecosystems across California and beyond,” he said.

[goldie0608]

Man Who Earned College Degree While Incarcerated Gets Accepted to Law School Months After Release

Benard McKinley was sentenced to prison at age 19 for a gang-related murder



A man who was previously sentenced to 100 years in prison is now heading to law school to earn his degree as a free man.

Benard McKinley was arrested for a gang-related murder at age 16 and then sentenced years later at age 19 to serve his time at a maximum security prison, according to ABC News.

After seeing how his legal fees were affecting his family, McKinley, now 39, obtained his General Educational Development diploma (GED) and then opted to continue his education in an effort to learn the law so he could represent himself in court, the outlet said.

"I promised myself before I got out of that bus that no matter what the outcome was that, you know, I was just going to try to do better for myself," McKinley told ABC News. "I knew that I wanted to better myself, and I did that."

McKinley eventually became a part of Northwestern's Prison Education Program (PEP), which program director Jennifer Lackey told ABC News is the only program in the United States that will grant bachelor's degrees to incarcerated individuals from one of the top 10 universities in the nation.

During his time in prison, McKinley took the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and later applied to law school.

His sentence was eventually reduced from 100 years to 25 years, and he was released in December 2023, per ABC News.

McKinley is now set to join the Northwestern Law School class of 2027 when he starts learning at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago later this fall, the outlet said, adding that he is the first graduate of PEP to be accepted into any law school. (Northwestern, per The Guardian, has a 4% acceptance rate.)

“Just months ago, I was still behind prison bars, and not knowing exactly how the future of going to law school would turn out. So to be home and know I’m going to law school … is an amazing feeling,” McKinley told The Guardian.

He added, "It feels amazing. I’m definitely a positive role model for the future generation and my family. So you know, I have a job to do."

Exercise Cuts Heart Disease Risk by 23% With Benefits Doubling for Those With Depression



by Anthony Tran

Regular exercise can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by as much as a quarter, in part by lowering stress, according to a new study.

The research revealed that exercising helped to reduce stress-related brain activity, which is associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases.

The study of more than 50,000 people found that those who met workout recommendations of 150 minutes a week had a 23 percent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those not meeting these recommendations.

And those with stress-related conditions such as depression exhibited the most benefits from exercising.

Experts say the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, demonstrates how physical activity can lead to beneficial effects in the brain.

To assess the mechanisms underlying the psychological and cardiovascular disease benefits of physical activity, the researchers analyzed the medical records and other information of 50,359 participants from the Mass General Brigham Biobank who completed a physical activity survey.

A subset of 774 participants underwent brain imaging tests and had measurements of stress-related brain activity taken.

The study, led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital, found that over an average follow-up of ten years, 12.9 percent of participants developed cardiovascular disease.

Those who met physical activity recommendations had a risk of developing cardiovascular disease nearly a quarter lower (23 percent) than those not meeting the same recommendations—and they also tended to have lower stress-related brain activity.

The researchers found that reductions in stress-associated brain activity were notably driven by gains in function in the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain involved in executive functions such as decision-making and impulse control.

They found the cardiovascular benefit of exercise was also twice as strong in participants who have depression (and higher stress-related brain activity).

Dr. Ahmed Tawakol, a cardiologist at the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center at the hospital, and senior author of the study, hopes clinicians will use the research to persuade more patients to get moving as a way to reduce stress or depression.

"You are not just a way of life, but a symbol of resil­ience" – photographing black cowboy culture across the US
Ivan McClellan travels across the US photographing black rodeo culture, and presents it beautifully in his new book 'Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture'
Source: Digital Camera World


Image: Ivan McClellan

In his first book, photojournalist and visual artist Ivan McClellan takes us on a journey into cowboy culture in the US – and one thing is for sure, it's not like the movies of old.

Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture by Ivan McClellan is the new photography book published by Damiani, and captures a gritty unedited account of cowboy culture in 21st Century America from a unique and personal perspective.

The collection of raw images provides a window into a world that many are not privy to, taking a particular focus on the black rodeo culture within which McClellan found a home.


Image: Ivan McClellan

Ivan McClellan was raised in Kansas City and never gave a thought to the cowboy culture that surrounded him until he attended the USA’s longest-running Black rodeo, the Roy LeBlanc Invitational in Oklahoma.

It was there that he fell in love with the culture. “It was like going to Oz – here was all this color and energy,” McClellan says, “There was a backyard barbecue atmosphere… It felt like home.”

After attending the show in 2015, he spent the best part of the following decade journeying to events all over America, capturing an in-depth look at black rodeo culture.


Image: Ivan McClellan

The title of the book – Eight Seconds – is a reference to the rodeo sport of bull riding, where athletes must remain on the bull for at least eight seconds for their score to count. The sport is extremely demanding, both physically and mentally, as the more erratic the ride, the higher the score.

Publisher Damiani says that the title is an apt metaphor for McClellan's approach and commitment to creating this long-form project, which forced him to "hone his reflexes, endurance, and stamina to get the perfect picture."

The book is a love letter to the cowboy culture that has embraced and taken over McClellan's life, and this is clear through the dignity and integrity with which the project is shot.

You are not just a way of life but a symbol of resil­ience, courage, and determination," writes McClellan. "For centuries, you have braved the harsh conditions of the open range, tamed wild horses, and herded cattle across vast stretches of land. You have faced the unpredictable forces of nature and humankind and embraced a changing world, all while never losing your spirit."

Image: Ivan McClellan


Image: Ivan McClellan

Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture by Ivan McClellan, published by Damiani, is released in the US on April 30, and is available now in the UK for $50 and £40 respectively.

Damiani has published some cracking photography books recently, including Danny Lyon's Memoir and REM frontman Michael Stipe's fourth photography book. The new release by Ivan McClellan looks like another classic in the making!


Image: Ivan McClellan

[Fatima99]

New Way to Heal Broken Bones Faster May Also Make Them 3x Stronger



A new high-tech way of healing broken bones could take less time, and also make them over three times stronger.

The new treatment method uses plasma irradiation to promote faster bone healing in complex fractures, say Japanese scientists.

They have already successfully tested the technique on lab rats.

The team found that bones not only healed quicker but the strength of the healed areas after irradiation was also around 3.5 times stronger than that of non-irradiated ones.

Currently, fractures that are displaced or complex require surgery and possibly lengthy recovery times while the patient remains immobilized.

The research team led by scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan aimed to shorten recovery times and speed up bone healing by using non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma, which is attracting widespread interest for use in medical applications due to its tissue repair capacity.

One group of 24 animals had normal fractures which are generally easy to heal while the other group of 20 had fractures known as “non-union”, where healing is usually prolonged or does not complete.

The irradiation didn’t offer the normal fracture group any significant advantages, but boosted the healing and recovery time of the bones with non-union fractures.

The strength of the healed areas of the irradiated non-union group was also about 3.5 times stronger than that of the non-irradiated group, according to findings published in the journal PLoS One.

In vitro study of cells irradiated with the plasma for five to 15 seconds also showed that the activity of a protein that is an indicator of osteoblast differentiation increased, indicating that maturation of the bone-forming cells was progressing.

“Collaboration between the medical and engineering fields creates new medical technologies that have never before existed,” said Associate Professor Hiromitsu Toyoda.

“In the future, combining this treatment method with current fracture treatments is expected to contribute to more reliable bone fusion and shorter recovery times.”

[rflash8]

100-year-old British train car found buried in Belgium



April 16 (UPI) -- Archaeologists excavating a 19th century fortress in Belgium made a surprising and mysterious discovery: a nearly 100-year-old train car originating from England.

The London North Eastern Railway said the researchers working to uncover the Northern Citadel in Antwerp found a dark red train car marked with the LNER logo.

The company identified the find as a "removals" car, meant for moving property from a person's old home to a new residence.

"The wooden removals truck is thought to be around one hundred years old," consultant archaeologist Femke Martens said in the LNER news release. "It's a mystery as to how the carriage came to be in Antwerp, and unfortunately there's very little left of the relic as it disintegrated while being excavated."

LNER researchers said the car appears to be the very first model of a removals car, and they were used only briefly around 1930 before the company replaced them with updated blue models.

The company said researchers still haven't determined how the car came to be buried 500 miles from LNER's British headquarters.

"This curious find has certainly generated lots of interest and we are delighted the team from the Urban Archaeology department of the City of Antwerp have helped shed more light on the discovery," LNER spokesman Stuart Thomas said. "We're fascinated by LNER's history, and we'd like to thank the team for their help in unearthing more information about LNER's proud past."

[PennySerenade]

Judge orders shared custody of pet dog under new B.C. law



A golden retriever named Stella is now part of legal history in B.C. after an upper court decision based on new laws that recognize pets as family members, not just property.

The ruling is the first of its kind and stems from a claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster by a woman seeking to have exclusive care of the dog after she and her boyfriend broke up last year.

But in his reasons for judgment, Associate Judge Scott Nielsen ordered that custody of Stella be split evenly on a week on/week off basis.

"Both the claimant and the respondent have shown a deep concern about the well being of Stella, and I am satisfied that in the circumstances the custody of Stella should be shared on an interim without-prejudice basis," said Nielsen.

The decision comes three months after amendments made to the Family Law Act clarify that pets or "companion animals" are members of the family and more than the property of whoever bought the animal.

Victoria Shroff, a lawyer who specializes in animal rights, says having a B.C. Supreme Court decision based on the new legislation is an important milestone.

'What's so significant is the way the judge says ... that animals are sentient beings, and we're going to analyze this case in light of that," said Shroff, who was not involved in the case.

"Any time an upper court starts to acknowledge the fact that animals are part of the family — they are our furry family members — it doesn't mean they're not still property under the law, but it means that they have an elevated status above that of a toaster."



The claimant, Sahar Bayat, a nurse, and her former partner, Omid Mavedati, a veterinarian, bought the dog in August 2020 when they were living together. The relationship ended in February 2023, according to the court transcript.

$60K in legal fees
Bayat told CBC News she went to a lawyer after her ex took sole possession of Stella in June of last year because only his name was listed on the dog's birth certificate.

She said she spent more than $60,000 on a lawyer and legal fees to bring the custody dispute to court.

"It was all worth it and honestly I would do it all over again," said Bayat. "I just couldn't live with the pain of regret. I had to fight for her."

Bayat said the new legislation made all the difference in gaining shared custody.

"I'm very happy for the new law," she said. "There's a difference between her and the furniture."

In his decision, Nielson said it was clear Bayat and Mavedati both love the dog, as evidenced by the money and effort invested in the legal proceedings.

He said changes to the laws made in January "essentially put the ownership of a companion animal, such as Stella, in the context of something that goes beyond ownership of a chattel."

The decision outlines how, under the new legislation, the court must now consider eight factors, including the circumstances in which the animal was acquired, the extent to which each party cared for it, any history of family violence, and the bond the pet has with any children.

"B.C., being the first province in Canada to have legislation like this, to say what we're doing here is we're actually treating animals as beyond merely property ... that is huge," said Shroff.

[Misstee]

S.F.’s notorious $1.7 million toilet has finally arrived — at a much lower cost
Story by Daniel Lempres





When Assembly Member Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, announced he had secured funding for one of his constituents’ infrastructure priorities in 2022, he never expected such a negative response. Voters were upset — not that he had gotten the money, but because he had to get so much of it.

So began the years-long saga of a public toilet so expensive that citizens wondered whether it would be made of gold.

Now, after twists and turns, tantrums and triumphs, the toilet has finally been delivered to the city. The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department announced its arrival on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.

“The eagle has landed!” The tweet reads. “The world’s most famous & eagerly anticipated prefab toilet touched down this morning at Noe Valley Town Square, & installation is flowing smoothly. A few final touches, like utility & landscaping, & this project will be in the can by the end of March.”

Noe Valley Town Square was created out of a church parking lot in 2016. At the time, the peaceful common on the 24th Street shopping corridor had umbrellas, tables and a small playground, and played host on Saturday mornings to a bustling farmers’ market.

But what it lacked was a restroom. After public pressure, the city came forward in October 2022 with a long-awaited proposal that carried a projected cost of $1.7 million and was slated to take two years to build.

Haney told the Chronicle in an October 2022 interview that he asked for the amount of money the city’s Recreation and Park Department estimated the bathroom would end up costing. Much like coming out with new trash cans, building the bathroom meant clearing hurdles unique to San Francisco, the same ones that make it the most expensive city in the world in which to build. The project had to be cleared by multiple city departments, presented to the public for community feedback and studied for environmental impact.

After an October 2022 article by then-Chronicle columnist Heather Knight brought attention to the cost, Haney abruptly canceled a celebration he had planned for securing the funding, and Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state would not pay until the city lowered the project cost.

City officials updated their projections in January 2023, announcing the price had been brought down to $725,000. The lower price was possible, officials said, due to a gift of toilet and installation work estimated to be worth $425,000, and to a reduction of $491,000 in project costs.

The project’s timeline also shortened. What was originally predicted to take until 2025 would be ready over the summer of 2023, city officials announced in January 2023. That didn’t happen; city officials told the Chronicle last month they would need until the end of April. Thursday’s announcement that the toilet will be ready by the end of March shortens that timeline by four weeks.