२८ एप्रिल, २०१४

Things named after Obama.

1. Aptostichus barackobamai — the new trapdoor spider.

2. Caloplaca obamae — a lichen.

3. Etheostoma obama — a fish.

4. Paragordius obamai — a parasitic worm.

5. Obamadon — an extinct lizard.

6. Barack Obama College Preparatory High School.

The first 5 items on the list are all collected at this link, sent to me by a reader who suggests that I use my longstanding, much-loved tag "insect politics." But a spider is not an insect, so I'm stuck with my arachnids tag. I have tags for insects and insect politics, but no specialized arachnid politics tag, because have you ever heard of arachnid politics? Neither have I! Arachnids don't have politics. They're very brutal. No compassion. No compromise. We can't trust the arachnid.

२८ टिप्पण्या:

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

Missed the Obama tag!

sojerofgod म्हणाले...

Wow. A little arachnophobia much?
Nature makes no judgments. A plant, an animal is neither good nor bad, noble or evil. Humans impart characteristics of themselves on other creatures. Nature just 'is'.
I read that somewhere, I paraphrase somewhat since I can't remember where I saw it. Anyone care to add, enlighten the benighted or illuminate me?

अनामित म्हणाले...

RE: "They're very brutal. No compassion. No compromise. We can't trust the arachnid."

Sounds like predictable, consistent behavior. You can put trust into consistent behavior. You might not like it, but you can trust it not to change on you.

madAsHell म्हणाले...

You forgot Obamacare!!

अनामित म्हणाले...

The best part of "Barack Obama College Preparatory High School" is that no one will ever see your grades.

अनामित म्हणाले...

"If you like the blood you've got now, you can keep it." --Aptostichus barackobamai

"If you've got a digestive tract-— you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." --Paragordius obamai

Curious George म्हणाले...

Every other inner-city school in the near future...this despite the fact that all Obama has done for blacks is to offer freebies to ease the pain of crushing poverty that he has created.

Deirdre Mundy म्हणाले...

The thing that surprised me most about the Obama High (teehee) story is that it took this long for it to happen. Good grief, people! The man's had a Nobel Prize for 5 years, and you're only just NOW getting around to this?

Talk about microagression, Rahm.

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

We can't trust the arachnid.

As I mentioned in the cafe-in-a-tree thread, Planned Parenthood once put out a comic-book with Spider-man.

Will Cate म्हणाले...

#5 is my favorite.

mccullough म्हणाले...

You forgot Obamacare and Obamaphones. Though they are the unofficial names.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

This doesn't purport to be a list of everything named after Obama…

Also, this list is only official names.

FWBuff म्हणाले...

Although Obama gets a lot of (well-deserved) criticism, his first and last names are great for wordplay -- Obamanomics, ObamaCare, Obamarama, BaRock and Roll, O-bomber, etc. His name is so malleable, it's almost as if it were something that anyone could shape into their vision of what that name should be . . . .

David म्हणाले...

Do they devour their young?

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Aptostichus barackobamai

The guy who named this also came up with Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi and Aptostichus stephencolberti, indicating that They should come up with a different method for naming new species.

sojerofgod म्हणाले...

I don't understand why ANY official name/title/whatever should be tagged for a politician; sitting, former, or expired. My Side! Politicians as a class of creature should rate somewhere north of the arachnids, far below that guy who cleans up after your dog in the yard. (Honest work imparts it's own nobility. Value highly the man with rough hands as far less likely to pick your pocket that the one with the smooth)

MadisonMan म्हणाले...

Selective enrollment schools are highly competitive. This school year, the district received applications from 16,440 students for 3,200 seats. More than 2,400 students were denied.

The journalist who wrote this studied math at Barack Obama College Prep High School.

Larry J म्हणाले...

Paragordius obamai — a parasitic worm.

Fitting. Very, very fitting.

Jeff with one 'f' म्हणाले...

6. Barack Obama College Preparatory High School.

I read this as "Predatory High School"

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

The journalist who wrote this studied math at Barack Obama College Prep High School.

The same for their reading comprehension:
"The freshmen-on-track graduation rate has gone up from 57 percent in 2007 to 82 percent, according to the University of Chicago study,..."

In that study, "on-track" is very vaguely defined and doesn't mean "graduated"; they give the graduation rate as 65.4%
http://ontrack.uchicago.edu/pdfs/CPS_Grad_Rates_and_ACT_scores.pdf
(ACT scores have increased...to the 28th percentile!)

RecChief म्हणाले...

barack obama college prep high school? are the grades sealed there too?

अनामित म्हणाले...

And yet the spider's web is a metaphor of long standing in politics.

wildswan म्हणाले...

Politically I think spiders are colorful OccupyTheCorner anarchists trending toward nihilism, not totalitarianism. Though they do have a lot of eyes in every direction.

This is based on the macro photos of spiders by Thomas Shahan. For those who dare, Thomas Shahan has great macro photos and videos of spiders. There is one video of the courtship behavior of a Male Platycryptus undatus Jumping Spider and another video of letting a female black spider crawl on him and many great photos of these disgusting creepycrawlupyous that almost make you like them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dw3-w4JyyI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4OftWZn5BU

https://www.flickr.com/photos/opoterser/

ken in tx म्हणाले...

Arachnid? I am surprised no one mentioned 'Starship Troopers'. A form of that word was the name of the home planet of the bug enemy.

"Mobile Infantry made me the man I am today."

Smilin' Jack म्हणाले...

They all seem oddly appropriate. And they all will probably outlive the rest of his legacy.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe म्हणाले...

Mt. McKinley comes to mind. What else, other than being shot, was that President known for?

Ken in Sc-

Service guarantees citizenship. Maybe not a bad idea.

Black Dog म्हणाले...

Shouldn't all parasitic worms be named after politicos?

RonF म्हणाले...

Someone named a parasitic worm after Barak Obama?

Heh.