Dr Irek Malecki, of the School of Animal Biology at The University of Western Australia (UWA) collecting semen from a male emu, who is much gentler than a male ostrich, using an artificial cloaca. [Aren't you glad you can't quite make out the details in the picture?] WARNING! The details of the following post will have way-too-much-information.New research helps ostriches orgasm (ScienceAlert)

tags: male ostrich, animal biology, dirty jobs, malecki, al gore, cloaca, uwa, western australia, semen, emu, nan, orgasm, science

Members of North Seattle's 46th District went home after last night's nominating convention thinking they had chosen a nominee for state legislature from their district. (Unlike the intransigent members of the 36th District, the 46th agreed to abide by a Democratic Party-sanctioned scheme to anoint a single "official" candidate in the wake of a court decision upholding Washington's top-two primary.) That nominee, chosen by a group of 100-plus precinct committee officers in the district ...

tags: longtime party activist, precinct committee officers, final vote count, seattle city council, arcane system, party activists, democratic nomination, weighted votes, 36th district, pollet, north seattle, nominating convention, e mail, legislative district, nand, rank and file, shenanigans, pcos, state legislature, hanford

Joshua Green (The Atlantic): Obama is a gifted politician by anyone’s measure, but what distinguishes him from earlier insurgents is his ability to fully harness the excitement that his candidacy has created, in votes and in dollars. Three forces had to come together for this to happen: the effect of campaign-finance laws in broadening the number and types of people who fund the political process; the emergence of Northern California as one of the biggest ...

tags: campaign finance laws, silicon valley entrepreneurs, gifted politician, democratic money, venture capitalists, day jobs, money machine, silicon valley, obama, national politics, candidacy, business practices, northern california, emergence, insurgents, joshua, excitement

William Shatner guests on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and talks about Gorillas, George Takei... and his new book.

tags: conan o brien, late night with conan o brien, late night with conan, george takei, william shatner, gorillas, night with conan

This is a big victory for gay and lesbian couples in California."SAN FRANCISCO — Gay and lesbian couples in San Francisco rejoiced on Thursday over a State Supreme Court decision affirming their right to marry even as political leaders on both sides of the issue girded for an extended fight over the ruling in the courts and at the ballot box." But the battle is far from over. "Opponents of same-sex marriage said they had gathered 1.2 million signatures to place ...

tags: gay and lesbian couples, health care crisis, california san francisco, supreme court decision, state supreme court, current health, constitutional amendment, man and a woman, godspeed, ballot box, political leaders, nan, opponents, signatures, victory, priority, marriage, squabbling