Author Archives: DCG

NYC “rat czar” doing a bang up job…not!

NYC Rat Czar Kathleen Corradi

New York City has many problems, one of them being an out-of-control rat population. Mayor Adams appointed Kathleen Corradi as the “rat czar” in April 2023, with an annual salary of $155,000.

It’s been almost a year, so how are things going for Corradi in her new position? Just about how you’d expect:

Eric Adams’ war on rats ‘smoke and mirrors’ as NYC rodent complaints spike nearly 8%

From NY Post:

“Rodent complaints have spiked nearly 8% across New York City since Mayor Eric Adams took office — despite his ballyhooed multi-million dollar war on rats and vow from Day One to make headway against the vermin, troubling 311 data shows.

There were 41,748 rat sightings and other vermin-related complaints made through the city’s 311 hotline in 2023, up 1.5% from 41,120 a year before; up 7.6% percent from the 38,809 complaints fielded in 2021 during Bill de Blasio’s final year as mayor; and 32% more than the 31,644 complaints in 2019, a Post analysis of city records found.

For at least the fifth straight year, Brooklyn — where Adams previously served as borough president — was home to more rat complaints than any other NYC borough with 15,769, up 5% from 15,032 in 2022.”

Read the whole story here.

I’m fresh out of sympathy for these democrat-run cities. Y’all voted for this. They got one choice at this point since they never change their voting habits:

DCG

Baby born with spina bifida survives in-womb surgery & goes on to walk & run

This is very good news for the advancement and treatment of birth defects in the womb. Many women whose babies are diagnosed with spina bifida before birth will go on to have an abortion.

Piper-Kohl Kelly is living proof that modern technology can save children.

Piper-Kohl Kelly happy & healthy at five years old/SWNS photo

From The Irish Sun:

A girl whose parents were told she may never walk is now running around — after surgery in the womb. Mum Georgia Axford and dad Tyler Kelly discovered at the 20-week scan their unborn baby had spina bifida, which can paralyse the legs.

They got a £9,000 loan and travelled to Germany for an op where a collagen patch helps repair the spine.

Piper-Kohl Kelly, named after surgeon Dr Thomas Kohl, was then born early (in 2018) but healthy, and a fundraiser helped pay back the loan.

Now aged five, she can walk and run and has taken part in school sports day.

Georgia, 24, from Yate, South Gloucs, said: “Seeing her run on the tracks was amazing. I never thought she’d be able to do something like that. Sometimes it doesn’t feel real. I think back to what we were told, and they were really negative about Piper’s diagnosis. We were prepared to give Piper whatever support she needed. I can’t believe it – we’re so lucky to see Piper achieve what she does.”

Such a happy ending!

DCG

Sunny the Frenchie has a unique way of communicating…

Sunny is cute! Frankly, I don’t know if I could listen to this all day long. Thankfully his momma sure loves it!

Have a Happy New Year!

DCG

NASA captures amazing “Christmas Tree Cluster” of stars

From NASA:

“This new image of NGC 2264, also known as the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” shows the shape of a cosmic tree with the glow of stellar lights. NGC 2264 is, in fact, a cluster of young stars — with ages between about one and five million years old — in our Milky Way about 2,500 light-years away from Earth. The stars in NGC 2264 are both smaller and larger than the Sun, ranging from some with less than a tenth the mass of the Sun to others containing about seven solar masses.

This new composite image enhances the resemblance to a Christmas tree through choices of color and rotation. The blue and white lights (which blink in the animated version of this image) are young stars that give off X-rays detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryOptical data from the National Science Foundation’s WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak shows gas in the nebula in green, corresponding to the “pine needles” of the tree, and infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey shows foreground and background stars in white. This image has been rotated clockwise by about 160 degrees from the astronomer’s standard of North pointing upward, so that it appears like the top of the tree is toward the top of the image.”

Read more about the cluster here.

Truly amazing!

DCG

Momma bear saves her pup Pixel from moose attack

Don’t mess with a momma bear!

DCG

Baby swept away in Tennessee tornado found alive!

Last Sunday Tennessee had a EF-3 tornado which killed six people. A four-month-old baby was swept away and miracously survived!

More from NY Post:

“A Tennessee couple and their two children are seeking a new home after a large tornado ripped through their community and swept up their 4-month-old child, who was found alive in a nearby tree following the tragedy.

Sydney Moore, her boyfriend and their children were inside their home last Saturday in Clarksville when the EF-3 tornado, which left six people dead and more than two dozen injured, touched down in Montgomery County.

Moore said the tornado, which destroyed the couple’s mobile home and other belongings, picked up her 4-month-old child, who managed to survive the horrific event.

Recalling what exactly happened that evening, Moore told the outlet that her boyfriend could see the tornado envelop their home before it was ripped to shreds and the baby’s bassinet was picked up. “The roof came off first, the tip of the tornado came down and picked up the bassinet with our baby,” she said. “He was the first thing to go up.”

“I thought he was dead,” she said. “I was pretty sure he was dead and we weren’t going to find him. But he’s here, and that’s by the grace of God.”

Read the whole story here.

So glad that this baby was found alive!

DCG

Christmas funnies!

Less than two weeks to Christmas, enjoy!

DCG

It’s good to be a Congress critter!

I haven’t checked my investment account in a couple of weeks because the last time I did, it was just too darn depressing.

Shocking no one, therre is an apparent way to avoid this: become a member of the U.S. Congress!

From Daily Mail:

“Investors dedicate countless hours to solving the mystery of how to beat the stock market – and many lose millions of dollars in the process.

But the answer might be simple: Just copy Congress.

A tool which copies trades made by members of Congress and their families has gained nearly 20 percent this year – performing twice as well as the stock market average of eight to ten percent.

And a separate tool which is dedicated to tracking Nancy Pelosi‘s investments reveals her portfolio has returned a remarkable 50 percent in the last 12 months, vastly outperforming the 17 percent gains of the benchmark S&P500 index of America’s top companies.

The tools were created by Quiver Quantitative, which uses public disclosures from members of Congress to mirror their trading activity and track the results.

The disclosures reveal some politicians have displayed a near-prophetic ability to invest in companies just days before their stock prices explode. Some sit on congressional committees linked to the firm’s they’ve invested in.

James Kardatzke, CEO of Quiver Quantitative, told DailyMail.com: ‘You can almost certainly see instances where there seems to be people acting on information that they may have been receiving in committee meetings, or may have been receiving just based on the nature of their job.’

Quiver Quantitative has singled out several trades for their success. None of the members of Congress have been accused of insider trading. 

Quiver Quantitative’s separate tracker for Nancy Pelosi’s trading activity has returned around 50 percent since last December. Pelosi has profited hugely from massive gains this year in the stock price of Nvidia, the chipmaker whose valuation has passed $1 trillion thanks to the AI boom. Pelosi also owns millions of dollars worth of Microsoft and Apple stock, which have both risen by around 55 percent since the beginning of the year.

Current rules allow members of Congress to trade stocks freely, but they must report their trading and they are barred from using non-public information to inform their purchases. But the fine for lawmakers who break the rules is typically just $200.

Read the whole story here.

No matter how we vote, we just can’t seem to drain this:

DCG

Can you imagine? Woman finds opossum in Christmas tree!

My worst nightmare…

DCG

Firemen rescue a big elk from frozen pond

This will put a smile on your face. Kudos to these rescuers!

DCG