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THE MUTANT BUTTERFLIES OF FUKUSHIMA

The Fukushima nuclear disaster is one of those news stories that we – including the MSM – all tend to forget once the furor has died down. Perhaps we shouldn’t. 

"Radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster caused mutations to butterflies, researchers show in a new study. The study, published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, documented physiological and genetic damage to the pale grass blue Zizeeria maha, which was overwintering as larvae when the nuclear disaster began.

The researchers write that "the Zizeeria maha population in the Fukushima area is deteriorating physiologically and genetically. Most likely, this deterioration is due to artificial radionuclides from the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP, as suggested by our field work and laboratory experiments." "It has been believed that insects are very resistant to radiation," lead researcher Joji Otaki from the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, told BBC news. "In that sense, our results were unexpected," said Otaki.

As ABC News explains the experiment, scientists first began tracking common butterflies around the nuclear plant two months after the disaster. They collected 121 insects, and found 12 percent of them had unusually small wings. That number jumped more than 5 percent when butterflies collected from the plant site had offspring of their own.

In another group of butterflies collected six months after the disaster, scientists found 28 percent had “abnormal” traits. That number nearly doubled among the second generation born. Researchers noted other abnormalities including malformed antennae and appendages. The researchers say the information found in their study "has invaluable implications for the possible future effects of radiation on animals."

Click here for Mothra Remix

The secret word is Caterpillar

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN RADIOACTIVE MUTANTS WERE MADE OF STERNER STUFF

THIS WON’T HURT A BIT

THE FROZDICK FAMILY

Vladimir Frozdick parked where he liked.

GRATUITOUS BARDOT

RUNNING FROM REALITY

NASA drops a vehicle the size of a jeep on the Martian surface. I applaud. Texas Republicans want the state’s children taught that the Earth is only 6000 years old and, by logical extension, so is Mars. (Although by some mutation of string theory, logic may not function in Texas any more even though it’s gripped by the drought and fires of climate change.)  I sigh. Homicidal Nazis can’t tell Sikhs from Moslems or Batman. I weep. Then Pussy Riot puts me to shame. MC5, Joe Strummer, or even The Deviants never did time for just performing. Is the battle outside raging? Will it soon shake our windows and rattle our doors? Or will the distractions prove too great? The 2012 Olympics threw the UK into a maelstrom of gaudy and undignified patriotism. Winston Church, William Blake, the Industrial Revolution, David Bowie, and Naomi Campbell are rolled out to celebrate. Such is our national pride. I try to ignore all the inappropriate Union Jacks but I sense Theme Park GB draws near. So issue the fucking Robin Hood costumes and Womble suits and let’s get to our total humiliation. Or are those V For Vendetta Guy Fawkes masks also part of the deal?   

Click here for Lennon

The secret word is Entrapment

JAMIE REID SEZ…

"Please like, forward, steal, tweet, print out and paste up, whatever works."

TRUTH IN TOY MANUFACTURING

WOD NUTSHELL

The War on drugs is a failure.  
The war on drugs does not keep anybody from using drugs.
It does not save any lives of any health.  
It is bad for people and bad for society.
All related laws should be repealed and all prisoners whose only crime was possession should be released.
Why not try this in one state and see what will happen.  That would be the scientific method, and we believe in science do we not? 

(Found by chance on the interwebs)

MARILYN SEZ…

“Remember kids – drugs are the road to nowhere. But at least they take you via the scenic route.” 

(Line supplied by UK Steve)

GRATUITOUS ELVIS

DOC40 WILL BE CLOSED FOR REPAIRS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS

GORE VIDAL – RIP 

MARILYN SEZ,,,

“Does that mean I get time off from all the smartass one liners?”

SUNDAY BREAKFAST

But how long are we going to be able to afford it? Let’s not forget that US food prices effect us all.

“The record drought gripping half the US will help push food prices up by 3 per cent to 4 per cent next year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. "In 2013 as a result of this drought we are looking at above-normal food price inflation. ... Consumers are certainly going to feel it," USDA economist Richard Volpe said on Wednesday. The drought has sent corn, soybean and other commodity prices soaring in recent weeks as fields dry out and crops wither across much of the country's midsection. Meteorologists are predicting that conditions behind the drought will continue, putting crops at risk and raising food prices as well as the specter of a food crisis. "This drought was a surprise for everybody," Volpe said. "The USDA was forecasting a record year for the corn crop until this drought materialized. Now we're not going to get that." "The drought isn't merely bad because the crops are parched. Climate change has nudged the temperature more than a degree higher than the previous record-breaking US drought in the 1950s,” says author, economist and food policy expert Raj Patel.” Click here for more

Click here for The Band

The secret word is Dire 

MARILYN SEZ…

“Am I real or am I Photoshop?”

THE FROZDICK FAMILY

Liam Frozdick took his anonymity to extremes.

A LOBSTER DINNER

SPACE OPERA

(Image by Raccoon-Nook)

I DON’T MIND WINDMILLS

The Olympics start today. Will I turn on the TV and watch what Danny Boyle has been up to or will I try to think about something else despite the UK media barrage? One thing that’s grazed my brain of late is the way that I turn on the local news and find groups of middle-aged folk – seemingly both conservative and green – protesting the building of windfarms. Frankly I don’t get it. Okay, so birds do fly into the blades, but I have to figure that there will be a Darwinian solution to this, and also the number of birds killed by windmills is a fraction of a percentage point of the number of birds killed by cats. The other complaint is that they are unsightly – ugly even – but I find them rather beautiful. When I lived in Los Angeles, the windfarm out along the I10 near Palm Springs was a joy to behold.   

Click here for All Angels, about the scariest cover of Bob I have ever encountered.

Click here for the GTOs by way of an antidote.

The secret word is Gust

DOES ANYONE, ANYWHERE, STILL DOUBT THE CATAPOCALYPSE?

AND IF THE CATS HOOK UP WITH THE DOLPHINS, HUMANITY IS TOAST

GRATUITOUS KRISTEN STEWART

…since she currently graces every celeb gossip medium I happen across.

42 YEARS AGO TODAY...

Russell emailed me this morning reminding me that today is the 42^nd anniversary of Phun City. I had totally forgotten, but my memory for dates is nothing compared with his. Above is a shot of Brother Wayne Kramer at full power on the day.

Click here for MC5 – probably the stars of the show excluding the naked Pink Fairies 

The secret word is Edward

AN APT QUESTION?

GRATUITOUS PINK FAIRIES (at Phun City)

HOWDY NEIGHBOUR

Did you ever have one of those days when you needed some distance from reality? American homicide, capitalist corruption, Syrian tyranny – please gents, could I take the day off? Seemingly we have a new hot nearby planet.

“Scientists have discovered what appears to be an alien planet just two-thirds the size of Earth, a heat-blasted world perhaps covered in molten lava, a new study reports.

Astronomers discovered the newfound alien planet, known as UCF-1.01, using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The diminutive world is just 33 light-years away, making it a near neighbor of Earth in the cosmic scheme of things. "We have found strong evidence for a very small, very hot and very near planet with the help of the Spitzer Space Telescope study lead author Kevin Stevenson, of the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, said in a statement. "Identifying nearby small planets such as UCF-1.01 may one day lead to their characterization using future instruments."

Click here for Scientist

The secret word is Galaxy

MARILYN SEZ…

“What happened to Sunday breakfast?”

THIS IS MORGAN FREEMAN – HE’S COOL

“Marijuana! Heavens, oh yeah. It’s just the stupidest law possible, given history. You don’t stop people from doing what they want to do, so forget about making it unlawful. You’re just making criminals out of people who aren’t engaged in criminal activity. And we’re spending zillions of dollars trying to fight a war we can’t win! We could make zillions, just legalize it and tax it like we do liquor. It’s stupid.”

FLY TO DIE FOR

GRATUITOUS MILA KUNIS

WTF?

I imagine the academics will soon be on TV with a whole slew of spurious theories and explanations. Right now, I wouldn’t hazard a guess at the reality of the madness, except to note that Aurora and Columbine are both suburbs of Denver,

The secret word is Insanity 

IT’S HAPPENING AND IT’S HAPPENING NOW

While the oil industry continues to pump millions into climate change denial, our pals at Common Dreams bring us this bit of scary intelligence.

“A massive iceberg twice the size of Manhattan has broken off one of Greenland's major glaciers -- a development which scientists say is due to alarming warming in the region.

The iceberg, measuring 46 square miles, is the second of its nature to break from Greenland in just two years. In 2010 an iceberg twice its size, one of the largest ever recorded in Greenland, broke free. "It's dramatic. It's disturbing," said University of Delaware professor Andreas Muenchow, one of the first researchers to notice the break. "We have data for 150 years and we see changes that we have not seen before. It's one of the manifestations that Greenland is changing very fast." "This is not part of natural variations anymore," said NASA glaciologist Eric Rignot, referring to the vast changes the glacier has seen in the past three years. Scientists are concerned about rising sea levels due to melting ice in the north. The Arctic had the largest sea ice loss on record for June, scientists reported this week, and Northern Greenland and Canada are warming five times faster than the average global temperature. "The Greenland ice sheet as a whole is shrinking, melting and reducing in size as the result of globally changing air and ocean temperatures and associated changes in circulation patterns in both the ocean and atmosphere" 

Click here for Tiny Tim

The secret word is Wet

CRUMB

THE FROZDICK FAMILY

Luther Frozdick was inordinately proud of his bomb collection.

CHRISTIAN TRAMP STAMP

GRATUITOUS FRIDA KAHLO

WILL I SURVIVE THE OLYMPICS?

They increasingly encroach on my TV. They delay traffic as their absurd torch passes through the town. London public transport may collapse under the strain. Helicopter gunships are promised, cruising overhead like we were still in Saigon waiting for a mission. Warships are parked in the Thames. Residents’ protests are ignored as SAM missiles are mounted on the roofs of tower blocks. 3,500 squaddies have been recalled from leave to bail out G4S after the security giant failed to complete a contract with the wholly inept Tory Home Office to train and deploy the 10,000 security staff. But, on the other side of the cluster-fuck, corporate goons in purple uniforms – with the power to enter shops and offices near Olympic sites and hand out $31,000 fines for the 'misuse' of words such as "gold", "silver" and "bronze", "summer", "sponsors" and "London." – will prowl the streets of East London protecting the sponsorship rights of McDonald's, Coca-Cola, BP Oil, General Electric, Adidas, Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble and the rest. These manifestations of the 2012 Olympic spirit seem just a tad too shamefully  reminiscent of 1936 and the picture above. And maybe I’ll be arrested for writing this under one of the new Olympic laws we don't know about.

Click here for Velvets

The secret word is Run


Kitty Wells – RIP 

AND WHILE WE’RE ON THE SUBJECT…

BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE

Click here for Jim

DO YOU STILL DOUBT THE CATAPOCALYPSE?

(Pic supplied by HCB)

GRATUITOUS KRYSTEN RITTER

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WOODY

Today is Woody Guthrie’s 100^th birthday.

Click here for Bob

The secret word is Organize

THE END IS AT HAND ALL OVER AGAIN

A few months ago archaeologists supposedly laid to rest the idea that time, the universe, and everything would come to end when the Mayan calendar runs out on December 21^st of this year. Unfortunately we have another set of researchers who now claim the end may be at hand after all. For my part I’m hoping some of us might come together to stage some kind of event on the last day, either to go out all together, happy and loaded, or laugh at the stupidity of it all. 

“Now, researchers exploring the Maya ruins of La Corona in Guatemala have unearthed another reference. On a stairway block carved with hieroglyphs, archaeologists found a commemoration of a visit by Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' of Calakmul, the most powerful Mayan ruler in his day. The king, also known as Jaguar Paw, suffered a terrible defeat in battle by the Kingdom of Tikal in 695. [...] In an effort to tie himself and his reign to the future, the king linked his reign with another 13th cycle — the 13th bak'tun ending on Dec. 21, 2012. David Stuart, a professor of art history at the University of Texas at Austin, recognized the reference to the date among 56 glyphs that were carved on the stone block. "It was a time of great political turmoil in the Maya region, and this king felt compelled to allude to a larger cycle of time that happens to end in 2012," Stuart said in a statement released by UT.”

Click here for Elvis’ opinion on the matter.

The secret words are That’s, All, and Folks

AND WHILE WE’RE WAITING FOR THE END LET’S NOT FORGET…

“The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That’s why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system.” This may sound like the pronouncement of some bong-smoking anarchist, but it was actually Arthur C. Clarke, who found time between scuba diving and pinball games to write “Childhood’s End” and think up communications satellites.”