Ocelots

Nature 3 Minutes

The ocelot also known as the dwarf leopard, is a wild cat.

Ocelots live primarily in the rain forests of South America. They also live in Central America, Mexico and even some as far north as southern Texas.

Ocelots are found in a variety of habitats, including tropical forests, savannas, grasslands, mangrove forests and marshes, and thorn scrub regions.

Their primary habitat requirement is dense vegetative cover. Ocelots are found in open areas only when it’s cloudy or at night when there is a new moon.

They generally live at elevations below 3,937 feet, but have been sighted at 11,482 feet as well.

Average lifespan of ocelot is 10 to 13 years in the wild and up to 20 years in captivity.

Ocelots range in color from light yellow to reddish gray, with dark spots and stripes. They have dark stripes on their cheeks and their tailed have rings of dark fur.

The ocelot ranges from 27 to 39 inches in length, plus 10 to 18 inches in tail length.

Weight for females is from 14.3 to 25.3 pounds, and for males is from 15 to 34 pounds.

Ocelots are nocturnal, meaning they’re most active at night. During the day, they rest in the hollow trees, on the branches or dense vegetation.

Like all small cats, ocelots have very good vision and hearing.

Their eyes have a special layer that collects light.

They use their sharp vision and hearing to hunt: rabbits, baby peccaries, young deer, rodents, iguanas, frogs, fish, monkeys, sloths and birds.

When they’re ready to eat, the wild cats don’t chew their food—instead they use their teeth to tear meat into pieces and then swallow it whole.

Ocelots have raspy tongues, which successfully remove every little piece of meat from bones.

Although predators themselves, ocelots occasionally become the prey of harpy eagles, pumas, jaguars, and anacondas.

Ocelots spend most of their time on the ground but are strong swimmers and good climbers and jumpers.

Ocelots communicate with each other using body language, scent marking, and vocalizations.

Ocelots are territorial and solitary creatures.

Ocelots are very active,traveling from 1.1 to 4.1 miles per night. Males traveling nearly twice as far as females.

Their home ranges are between0.7 and 12 square miles, depending on habitat. Male ranges are larger than females and do not overlap with those of other males. But male ranges tend to overlap with those of several females.

Female ocelots are called Queens while male ocelots are called Torns.

Males and females gather only during the mating season. In tropical areas, ocelots can reproduce throughout the whole year. In temperate climate, ocelots mate at the end of the summer.

An ocelot family is made up of an adult female and her young. After breeding, the male and female ocelots go their separate ways. The female is pregnant for a little over two months before she gives birth in a hollow tree, rocky bluff, cave, or secluded thicket to usually 1 but sometimes up to 4 kittens.

The kittens are born with their spots but have gray coats and blue eyes that turn golden brown when they’re about three months old.

The youngster begins to walk when it is 3 weeks old. As the kitten grows, the mother ocelot teaches it how to hunt, usually at four to 6 weeks of age, and the kitten is able to eat solid food at 8 weeks, although it may continue to nurse for 6 months.

By the time it is8 months old, the youngster’s adult teeth are in, and it can hunt for itself, but may stay in the mother’s home range for up to 2 years.

From the early 1960’s to the mid 1980’s, Ocelot fur coats sold for $40,000.00 and the live animal as a pet sold for $800.00. At one time, more than 200,000 ocelots per year were killed for their coats. Today, with laws prohibiting hunting for the fur trade, there are no Ocelot coats for sale, and the “pet” Ocelot is a thing of the past.

Today, the Ocelot is listed by the IUCN as being a species that is of Least Concern of becoming extinct in their natural environment in the near future. Although some populations are small and unstable, the Ocelot is widespread but the general population trend is now decreasing. This is mainly due to habitat loss as vast areas particularity in the Amazon, are subject to drastic deforestation and no longer provide the dense cover and adequate food supply that the Ocelot needs to survive.

It is estimated that there are anywhere from 800,000 to 1.5 million left.

Salvador Dali frequently traveled with his pet ocelot Babou, even bringing it aboard the luxury ocean liner SS France.

Its name came from the Mexican Aztec word tlalocelot, which means field tiger.

The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped animals and often depicted the ocelot in their art.

The Belizean name for the ocelot is the same as the margay – ‘tiger cat’.

The collective name for a group of Ocelots is a clowder or clutter.

 Source:justfunfacts

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Published by pat frederick

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146 thoughts on “Ocelots”

  1. Good morning, Pat and Filly. The Ocelot is a beautiful cat. Note – the ears – which are more rounded than other feline varieties.

    Words of wisdom from our N FL Cat:

    And our great Georgia Girl – MTG who is a wildcat for sure:

    Liked by 2 people

    1. i had a hard time getting out of bed this morning!
      I awoke at 2:30 to a noise–sounded bizarre–then when i was fully awake, I realized if was just hubby. the tag on the down comforter was rubbing along his night stand because his hands were restless underneath it. till i figured that out though, I was wide awake.
      he slept blissfully unaware…lol

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Morning, Pat! Aren’t men always blissfully unaware??? Yesterday was a weird one for me. Spent a lot of time in my chair reading and dozing. This morning, I finally pulled that molar that was so loose – it was really beginning to aggravate me and it wasn’t hurting much. Took 3 tugs with barely a twinge and no bleeding! So they only have 7 teeth to pull tomorrow! Yeah!

        Liked by 1 person

          1. Well, they are doing it as a courtesy so what the heck – I’ll let them dig out the ones that are broken off or still firmly seated. I have 3 that are still not loose at all. That’s why I kept telling them that they’ll have them all out w/in a half-hour!

            Liked by 1 person

              1. Oh, if only you knew….I’ve been thru all the levels, from laughing to screaming to throwing things. More than anything, I’m just so fricking tired of this crap – I want it over!!! But I try not to bring it to the blogs and that keeps me somewhat distracted from it all at least. Sometimes I don’t quite make that goal but I try. At this point, I am just soooo relieved to have this part resolved so they will address the rest of the problem.

                Liked by 1 person

              3. Oh, well, that’s a different kind of “pissed off.” I do that every day!!! ROFL – at some point of every day, you will find me yelling at the TV or the computer! Guaranteed! But I spout off and it’s over…moving on….😉😛🙃😜😝🤗🤩😘

                Liked by 1 person

              4. it’s good to have an outlet!
                hubby gives me a good one…he’ll say…so what did you read today?
                which is my opening to vent about everything that pissed me off.
                (he is meanwhile engaged in his computer)

                Liked by 1 person

              5. Hey, you have a system that works for you – that’s all that counts! Jake is used to it and doesn’t even look or wake up. And….ok, I’m going to let on how weird I really am….I have entire conversations with people, out loud, as if they were sitting across the table from me. And I mean LITERALLY out loud. I say my part, play in my head what the other person might say, then reply out loud. You’d be surprised how many ideas I’ve gotten and problems I’ve worked out that way. Told ya’! I’M WEIRD!!!! But I’m always alone and NEED conversation so….I make my own. At least, what I can’t get on-line and there is not nearly enough of that these days so I’m starting to get involved on some of the comment threads of some substacks. Still checking in now and then on WalkAwaySocial but they are coming after Brandon again – someone with some stupid civil charge, I think. SMDH

                Liked by 1 person

              8. no.
                i think i told this story before. my dad encouraged debate at the dinner table. and you couldn’t pick the same side repeatedly. you had to be able to argue both sides.
                and so i tried to anticipate the coming argument and refute it.
                still doing it somewhat to this day…thanks Pop!

                Liked by 1 person

            1. you do have outlets, right?
              I mean when things eat at you, you can work it off–walk it off–or scream it off if necessary?
              I’m here to listen, if you need to get things out!

              Liked by 1 person

    2. No law can stand if it is seen by the Demoncraps as an impediment to their agenda. This is just a small taste of the horrific things to come if Demoncraps succeed in their plans.

      Like

  4. East Palestine Soil Contains Dioxin Levels Hundreds of Times Over Cancer Risk Threshold
    “I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable living there,” said one organic chemist.
    JAKE JOHNSON
    Mar 17, 2023

    East Palestine, Ohio residents’ concerns about the enduring impact of last month’s fiery train derailment are likely to intensify following the release of data showing that levels of dioxin in the soil near the wreck site are far higher than the cancer risk threshold recommended by federal scientists.

    Dioxin is a toxic and carcinogenic byproduct of burning vinyl chloride, a hazardous chemical that at least five Norfolk Southern train cars were carrying when they derailed in early February, sparking a full-blown environmental and public health disaster.

    Citing a report that Pace Analytical prepared for Ohio’s neighbor Indiana, The Guardian reported Friday that “East Palestine soil showed levels of ‘2,3,7,8 TCDD toxicity equivalence’ of 700 parts per trillion (ppt),” potentially stemming from the controlled burn of vinyl chloride in the wake of the crash.”

    https://www.commondreams.org/news/east-palestine-dioxin-levels

    Liked by 1 person

    1. there really needs to be a new standard. any expert HAS TO live where they say it’s safe with their families for a MONTH. take the damn drugs they’re pushing (and WE get to pick who injects them to be sure it’s the same drug) and all the rest.
      LIVE like you want us to.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Except for refusing to do it and walking off the job, this isn’t the fault of the employees actually doing the testing, tho. I am the kind of person who would walk away in that case – indeed, I have done so – but where are you going to find people who will do that today? Who CAN do that, since they all have families to feed, mortgages to pay, health care costs, etc., etc.? Back when I was a single parent, I had valuable skills and many job opportunities. Not so in many cases, especially with those who are specialized. This has to be fixed at the governmental level, as well as the top tier management.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. and the alternative? claim something is safe when it’s not? and I don’t just mean the lowly techs–I mean the presidents of the company–I want everyone putting their lives and families on the line. or be held responsible for every death or injury.
          we let too many “companies” off the hook. make them PERSONALLY responsible from the lowly to the penthouse office.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. OK, good – I don’t want the lower employees punished for – as you say- the Presidents and on up who are driving the corruption. But when it starts at the governmental level……there is almost no avoiding it for ANY company if they don’t want to be drummed out of business. If the government makes it the law….. Companies are formed to make money, period. That IS their whole reason for being and, human nature being what human nature is……it just all starts at the top in government and trickles down from that source. JMO

            Liked by 1 person

            1. maybe…but that’s “i was only doing my job” gas chamber thinking.
              whistleblowers need protection, because they are speaking out against this attitude.

              Liked by 2 people

              1. So true….the onus increases each level you go up the chain…..most of the lower-level workers don’t even KNOW what they are being told to do is wrong. They should not be punished. Those are the ones I’m talking about – they have no choice but to trust their supervisors. Once they become aware, tho, that is when the responsibility begins, IMO.

                Liked by 1 person

    1. you know what’s frustrating?
      trying to figure out what to focus on. they are overwhelming us purposefully. so we don’t knwo what is the distraction and what is the thing they want to distract us from.
      banking failure? our gov’t developing bioweapons? ultra maggot’s treason?

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Citizen 817
    March 19, 2023 12:22 am

    🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
    Stephen Miller – Senior Advisor to President Trump / Founder America First Legal

    The idea that a routine private settlement, unconnected to any campaign activity, is a criminal offense because the settlement should have been paid with official campaign funds is the most preposterous, ludicrous, idiotic, indefensible, fraudulent “legal theory” conceivable. 1/3

    Under this “theory,” candidates must use federal campaign funds for private, personal or corporate matters—an exact inversion of federal law. Indeed, DOJ prosecutes those who use campaign funds for expressly non-campaign purposes. Of course, the “theory” is all bogus pretext. 2/3

    No serious human believes that Manhattan DA’s office believes any of this. They understand this is a purely partisan exercise in vengefully prosecuting a political enemy precisely as is done is repressive third world nations, despotic regimes and marxist authoritarian states. 3/3

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Citizen 817
    March 19, 2023 12:23 am

    @WallStreetApes

    3h
    You know @realDonaldTrump is promising quick trial & death penalty for drug dealers/ drug traffickers. Small minded people take that to mean your average street dealer but I think there’s a much bigger move being made. The worlds worst traffickers of drugs are the banks & government…

    They could be going after him because the 1% knows that some of their lives are literally on the line

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Citizen 817
    March 19, 2023 12:25 am

    @TheLastRefuge2

    .@RonDeSantisFL is the male version of @NikkiHaley, only with better upper-level management.

    Same consultants, poll testers and sentiment readers. Almost an identical process, and only a slightly different outcome based on targeted audience (Ukraine example).

    I do not look for @GovRonDeSantis to have any voice in opposition to the enemy surrounding President Trump. His prior five days of silence in August ’22 laid the groundwork to understand, DeSantis is with them – not us.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. From SD:

    “There is so much to say…. and so much that needs to be said. But for now, we establish the core of the matter…

    “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

    ― Theodore Roosevelt

    Liked by 1 person

  16. “Archbishop Viganò: Reject Soros, Schwab, and Gates, ‘We Need an Anti-Globalist Alliance'”
    Amy Mek, March 19, 2023

    EXCERPT: “We cannot be surprised that, after de-Christianizing the Western world, this elite considers Russia an enemy to be overthrown.”

    On March 14, 2023, Former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, gave a powerful speech at the Founding Congress of the International Movement of Russophiles. Guests from 40 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as the United States, attended the first gathering, which is meant to celebrate the country.

    Archbishop Viganò addressed the event in Moscow in a live video and took sharp aim at Globalists such as George Soros, Klaus Schwab, and Bill Gates. “We need an Anti-Globalist Alliance that returns to citizens the power that has been taken from them and to nations the sovereignty eroded and ceded to the Davos lobby.”

    Meanwhile, he warns against Globalists’ schemes, such as their woke ideology, Great Reset, and Agenda 2030, which constitute an enormous threat to the survival of mankind. He reminds listeners that “victory belongs to Christ and to those who choose to align themselves under the holy banner of the Cross.”

    https://rumble.com/v2dlpqk-archbishop-vigano-epic-speech.html

    President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory telegram to the “fledgling social movement,” contrasting it with what he described as “anti-Russian hysteria deliberately whipped up in many countries.”

    “We highly appreciate your firm determination to oppose the Russophobic campaign and your desire to develop dialogue and mutually beneficial humanitarian cooperation,” Putin said.

    As the the Moscow Times reports, Russophile movement’s proposed manifesto declared the need to promote Russian culture and spirituality, “reliable information” about Russia, and to strengthen “people’s diplomacy in defense of a multipolar world.”

    Russian officials’ distancing of the country from liberal Western values has escalated sharply since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine one year ago.

    Speech Transcript:

    https://rairfoundation.com/archbishop-vigano-reject-soros-schwab-and-gates-we-need-an-anti-globalist-alliance/

    Liked by 2 people

  21. THIS. IS. PATHETIC.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Liked by 1 person

  32. This is looking like some eye-opening info about FL laws and DeSantis. Dr. Jane claims FL is thought to be one of the most free states but is actually one of the least free. According to this guy, FL has a law on the books that protects hospitals and doctors….

    ” …in FL, we have what is called the “Free Kill” law which is essentially, if you don’t have a spouse or minor children, a doctor is free to kill you in FL and you can’t bring a malpractice claim. [not just COVID] under any circumstances.”

    “In this stunning after talk, Atty R. Shawn McBride drops a bombshell that even Dr. Jane didn’t know about! Florida is dangerous to visitors and residents alike, join the fight to help change it.”

    https://rumble.com/v2d9ncq-after-talk-atty-shawn-mcbride.html

    Liked by 2 people

    1. “Senate effectively ends efforts to overturn Florida’s ‘free kill’ law protecting doctors in malpractice lawsuits”

      By Melissa Hernandez De La Cruz
      February 9, 2022 Fresh Take Florida, Health and Science

      EXCERPTS: “Florida’s Senate has effectively abandoned bipartisan efforts to overturn what critics have derided as the state’s “free kill” law, which generally prevents families from filing medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors or hospitals when the victims are adults.

      Consumers said the decision in the Republican-controlled Legislature improperly shields negligent doctors. It represents a victory for doctors and hospitals in Florida – and the state Chamber of Commerce – who said the current limits in the law keep their malpractice insurance premiums affordable.

      Similar efforts to overturn the law failed in the Legislature last year, too.

      After roughly four weeks into the 60-day legislative session in Tallahassee, the Senate Judiciary Committee last week postponed consideration of a bill, SB 262, that would have allowed parents of their adult children to win pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.

      The committee, led by Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, had the last of its seven meetings Monday with no further ones scheduled, effectively killing the bill, sponsored by Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Doral. It is possible, but not likely, that the Senate president could authorize another committee meeting unexpectedly.

      A related bill, SB 560, also sponsored by Rodriguez, would have allowed adult children to sue over the deaths of parents in malpractice lawsuits. Senate leaders directed the Judiciary Committee to consider the bill, but it never scheduled any hearings or votes on the measure.

      Companion bills were making little progress in the House. One, HB 6011, sponsored by Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers, passed a House Judiciary subcommittee vote 13-5 earlier this month. Another, HB 6039, sponsored by Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson, D-Gainesville, had made no progress since she introduced it in October.

      Hinson said her 33-year-old disabled niece, who died recently, was the victim of medical malpractice during the last five months of her life she spent hospitalized.”

      https://www.wuft.org/news/2022/02/09/senate-effectively-ends-efforts-to-overturn-floridas-free-kill-law-protecting-doctors-in-malpractice-lawsuits/

      Liked by 1 person

  36. they always want to subvert actual governments and place themselves ABOVE them and us.

    Liked by 1 person

  38. the crux of it
    FTA
    While Bragg has not announced specific charges, legal scholars such as George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley are predicting an indictment for falsifying business records under New York Section 175. Such a charge would likely be based on Trump’s labeling his reimbursement of Cohen as a legal expense.

    Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina has argued that Trump’s payment to Cohen was in fact a legitimate legal fee. Trump, he noted, never directly paid Daniels any money. Rather, he only paid his own lawyer for services rendered, i.e. legal fees.

    “The payments were made to a lawyer, not to Stormy Daniels,” Tacopina said last week on MSNBC. “The payments were made to Donald Trump’s lawyer, which would be considered legal fees. Michael Cohen … was his lawyer at the time and advised him that this was the proper way to do this to protect himself and his family from embarrassment. It’s as simple as that.”

    The host then argued that the money Trump paid to Cohen went to Stormy Daniels and was therefore not a legal fee.

    “It went to Stormy Daniels from Michael Cohen,” the Trump attorney countered. “He decided he was going to do it this way and asked for the reimbursement of what he billed as legal fees. That is not a crime.”

    Ordinarily, such a charge would be considered a misdemeanor subject to a two-year statute of limitation, meaning Bragg cannot pursue it solely on this basis. Bragg does, however, have the discretion to convert it into a Class E felony, if he can prove that Trump’s alleged “intent to defraud involved further criminal intent to either hide the commission of another crime or to assist in the commission of that other crime,” according to Saland Law.

    In order to meet even the threshhold standard for prosecution, Bragg would therefore need to argue that Trump falsified business records concealing his reported “hush money” payment to Daniels with the intent to conceal another crime.

    As a hush money payment to ensure silence about an affair would not be illegal in and of itself, Bragg’s case would likely hinge on a possible campaign finance violation. If Cohen’s payment to Daniels constituted an illegal campaign contribution, then the falsification of records would have concealed an underlying crime, providing legal predicate for a Class E felony charge of first degree falsifying business records. Trump would face up to four years in prison if convicted on the charge.

    Bragg, therefore, needs to demonstrate that the payments occurred specifically with the intent to affect the election, a prospect Turley called “extremely difficult,” given the myriad other legitimate reasons Trump might have for wanting to keep an alleged affair out of the spotlight.

    Tacopina argues that the payment was not an illegal campaign contribution, both because Trump used his own money and because he would have made the payment regardless of whether he was running for president.

    “This is Donald Trump paying with his own money,” he told MSNBC. “Here’s the bright line test, and here’s where this case falls miserably … If the spending were the fulfillment of a commitment or the expenditure would exist irrespective of a campaign, it’s not a campaign law violation.

    “End of story. This would exist irrespective of the campaign.”

    Characterizing the payment as a “nuisance settlement,” Tacopina explained that people make such payments to make embarrassing problems disappear but that does not mean the claims are valid, noting his client “vehemently denies an affair.”

    https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/manhattan-das-trump-case-rests-shaky-legal-ground-legal-experts-say

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Liked by 1 person

    1. Liked by 1 person

  45. Burundi is completely insane. vaccine induced polio outbreaks in Burundi outnumber “wild” cases. so Burundi, of course, decides to VAMP up vaccines.
    FTA
    An outbreak of vaccine-induced polio has been declared by Burundian health officials, marking the first time the paralyzing disease has been detected in the East African nation in more than three decades, ABC reported.

    A four-year-old child in western Burundi who had not been vaccinated and two other children who had come into contact with the child have all tested positive for polio, the Burundi government confirmed in a statement on Friday.

    It was determined that the virus that caused the children to become ill was a mutated strain of polio originally contained in the oral polio vaccine.

    According to CDC, a vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain related to the weakened live poliovirus contained in oral polio vaccine (OPV). If allowed to circulate in under- or unimmunized populations for long enough, or replicate in an immunodeficient individual, the weakened virus can revert to a form that causes illness and paralysis.

    “VDPVs can cause outbreaks in places where vaccine coverage is low. In addition, people with certain immunodeficiency disorders can shed the virus for long periods of time, during which the virus can continue to change and can infect an unvaccinated person,” the agency added.

    The vaccine-induced polio is actually more prevalent than the wild-type poliovirus.

    Despite the fact that the polio vaccine was the root cause of the outbreak, the Burundi government is planning to launch a vaccination campaign within the next few weeks to safeguard all children under the age of seven.

    “We are supporting the national efforts to ramp up polio vaccination to ensure no child is missed and faces polio’s debilitating impact,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa director.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/african-country-burundi-detects-polio-outbreak-linked-to-polio-oral-vaccine-vaccine-induced-polio-is-now-more-prevalent-than-the-wild-type/

    Liked by 1 person

  46. Issue: March 19, 2023
    “Lowes introduces surveillance robots that monitor license plates, mobile devices, to detect repeat offenders — A new trial in select stores.”
    By Didi Rankovic
    Posted 12:48 pm

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “Home improvement products retailer Lowe’s has started using security robots manufactured by Knightscope in four stores in Philadelphia. The robots, K5’s – first launched in 2015 – are supposed to help the retailer collect evidence in case of criminal prosecutions, and act like “security guards.”

    Even though the K5 can detect persons, has 16 microphones, and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), as well as sonar sensors, along with four 360-degree high definition wide angle cameras, it does not have facial recognition software baked into it. (But Knightscope offers that feature – “seeing” a person, and knowing who it is – in the K1 Tower and KA Hemisphere models.) K5’s other features include a security button on the back that people can press to summon help, what seems like limited communication letting users send customized messages through it and, as it patrols parking lots, the robot can emit a sound.

    By using the robots to identify license plates and mobile devices, Lowe’s is able to cross-reference that data with an existing database of previous “offenders.”

    According to Knightscope execs, the robot looks for a pretty broad range of “known threats” – from persons with existing criminal trespass records and domestic abusers, to sacked employees. Lowe’s has been deploying K5’s via a renting arrangement since February in parking lots to identify license plates and any thermal anomalies (which indicate a person should not be in a place at a certain time of day) that are reported in real time, and pays $6-9 per hour for the robots, which have been mockingly nicknamed, “snitchBOTs.”

    The local press reveal that it’s a play on words referring to “hitchhiking robot” hitchBOT.+ that met its inglorious end in Philadelphia, where it got “decapitated” – after two years of successfully traveling through Canada and Europe. The implication is that Philadelphians are not exactly robot-friendly, but up to date, no K5’s have been destroyed in that city. There has reportedly been an incident when somebody repeatedly hit one with their car (a Reddit user pinned the blame on the robot, though).

    Elsewhere, this model has faced some hiccups in interactions with humans. A child was hit by one in Palo Alto (this time, the maker, Knightscope, blamed the child saying it had “ran backward” into the robot). Another K5 got “toppled” a few years later, and there’s also political drama involved: In San Francisco, SPCA was accused of using one to scare off the homeless (the organization said its K5 was there to prevent vandalism and burglaries.)

    But – try to “mess” with it, and Knightscope will, apparently, mess with you. “We have had people attempt to mess with our robots in a similar way that hitchBOT was and we have actually prosecuted those people to the fullest extent,” is how the company’s executive VP and chief client officer, Stacy Stephens, put it. And even though the K5’s deployed by Lowe’s in order to “heighten the security” of the retailer’s locations are safe for now, it doesn’t mean that customers are thrilled to see them. The machine is 5-foot-tall, weighs 400 pounds, and is shaped like an egg.

    CyberLink is producing a robot that has potentially far more sinister capabilities than K5, including sophisticated biometric tracking, but this company is making its products “look and feel” warm (literally) and cuddly – and the marketing goes all the way to naming the thing “Lovot” (a word blend from, “love” and, “robot”), and promising the small, Teletubby-like, not physically threatening machine is “a companion that fills owners’ lives with comfort and peace of mind.”

    But this “sense of comfort” is there to mask a powerful biometrics-powered surveillance machine, that, according to Groove X (who partnered with CyberLink to produce it) got in demand in elementary schools and daycare centers during the pandemic.

    Here are some of the features included in the “cuddly” robot, which, according to its makers, is designed to appeal on people’s emotions: 50 sensors and “advanced AI features” including deep-learning real time decision making, and then, “an internal heating system that makes it warm to the touch; can recognize household members (personalized interactions trigger AI facial recognition for different household members), can identify individuals at an angle, with identity processing of 0.2 seconds resulting in 99.7 percent accuracy.”

    Liked by 1 person

  47. “Donald Trump Doubles Down on Reports About His Imminent Arrest, Accuses Biden of Being Behind It All — Former President Barack Obama and former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton had similar campaign violations, but neither were arrested.”
    Kyle Becker
    16 min ago

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “Donald Trump in a series of Truth Social posts on Sunday to put to rest any reports that he is “walking back” his comments about being arrested this week. Trump doubled down on his comments about the Soros-backed Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, and even accused President Joe Biden of being involved in the “witch hunt.”

    “Biden wants to pretend he has nothing to do with the Manhattan D.A.’s Assault on Democracy when, in fact, he has ‘stuffed’ the D.A.’s Office with Department of Injustice people, including one top DOJ operative from D.C. who is actually running the ‘Horseface’ Witch Hunt,” Trump railed. “Bragg is a (Soros) Racist in Reverse, who is taking his orders from D.C. I beat them TWICE, doing much better the second time, and despite their DISINFORMATION campaign, they don’t want to run against ‘TRUMP’ or my GREAT RECORD!”

    “When Alvin Bragg first attained office, he made it very clear that, like many other prosecutors, there was no case against Donald J. Trump,” he continued. “Then the Biden Administration, the Democrats, and the Fake News Media began pushing him, and pushing him hard, and low and behold he said that there might just be a case after all. I knew what that meant — He was being pushed to do something that shouldn’t be done. He wasn’t willing to stand up to Soros and the Marxists that are destroying our Country!”

    “There was no ‘misdemeanor’ here either,” he continued. “There was no crime, period. All other of the many Democrat law enforcement officers that looked at it, took a pass. So did Cy Vance, and so did Bragg. But then, much latter, he changed his mind. Gee, I wonder why? Prosecutorial Misconduct and Interference with an Election. Investigate the Investigators!”

    Fox News had earlier reported that Donald Trump appeared to be “walking back” statements about his arrest on Tuesday.

    However, the Manhattan D.A. seemed to confirm there was some merit to Trump’s concerns by issuing a statement on Saturday night saying his office will not be “intimidated” about potential blowback. “Please know that your safety is our top priority,” Bragg’s email read in part. “We have full confidence in our outstanding security staff and investigators, along with our great OCA and NYPD colleagues, and will continue to coordinate with all of them. We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York.”

    “Our law enforcement partners will ensure that any specific or credible threats against the office will be fully investigated and that the proper safeguards are in place so all 1,600 of us have a secure work environment,” the email continued. “This office is full of the finest public servants in the country,” the message added. “I am committed to maintaining a safe work environment where everyone is able to continue to serve the public with the same diligence and professionalism that make this institution so renowned. In the meantime, as with all of our investigations, We will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly, and speak publicly only when appropriate.”

    Constitutional attorney Jonathan Turley is among critics of the Trump prosecution that believes the charges against him are “short on the law.” “Although it may be politically popular, the case is legally pathetic,” Turley argued. “Bragg is struggling to twist state laws to effectively prosecute a federal case long ago rejected by the Justice Department against Trump over his payment of ‘hush money’ to former stripper Stormy Daniels. In 2018 (yes, that is how long this theory has been around), I wrote how difficult such a federal case would be under existing election laws. Now, six years later, the same theory may be shoehorned into a state claim.”

    “It is extremely difficult to show that paying money to cover up an embarrassing affair was done for election purposes as opposed to an array of obvious other reasons, from protecting a celebrity’s reputation to preserving a marriage,” he continued. “That was demonstrated by the failed federal prosecution of former presidential candidate John Edwards on a much stronger charge of using campaign funds to cover up an affair.”

    “In this case, Trump reportedly paid Daniels $130,000 in the fall of 2016 to cut off or at least reduce any public scandal,” he added. “The Southern District of New York’s U.S. Attorney’s office had no love lost for Trump, pursuing him and his associates in myriad investigations, but it ultimately rejected a prosecution based on the election law violations. It was not alone: The Federal Election Commission (FEC) chair also expressed doubts about the theory.”

    In addition, Hillary Clinton similarly ran afoul of FEC regulations in regards to improperly claiming legal expenses and merely had to pay a fine. “The Federal Election Commission has reportedly fined Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee over complaints that they violated federal law in improperly describing expenditures to law firm Perkins Coie, who then hired research firm Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on then-candidate Donald Trump,” Fox News reported at the time. Former President Barack Obama in 2013 was fined $375,000 for campaign reporting violations, one of the largest fines ever doled out by the FEC. Neither were arrested.”

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  48. Well, I’m going to sign off. I doubt that I’ll be on tomorrow morning since I have to leave here by 7:30. Will check in when I get back – not sure how late that will be, tho. Have a good night!

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  49. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

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