Yes We Toucan

I like sitting in my living room surrounded by my books and my art and my various knick knacks. Feels like home....... Wait, I am home............. I did a small painting of a toucan yesterday (you can see it in the upper left of the photo). They are such colorful birds and a remarkable destination point for evolution and adaptation. Although the beak is the largest feature of the bird, it is very light and made up of bony struts filled with soft tissue and keratin and serves a thermoregulation function as well as enabling the bird to reach into holes in trees to find food. My five minutes of research did not find an explanation of the coloration of the beaks, but I'm guessing it might be related to diet, or mating behavior, or camouflage adaptations. Toucans "are members of the family Ramphastidae of near passerine birds from the Neotropics. The Ramphastidae family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often-colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over forty different species," according to an on-line encyclopedia. Toucans inhabit tropical and sub-tropical areas and are also the official mascot of the Brazilian Social Democrat Party. I'm telling you all this because, well, I have to write about something when I send out these blogs. * * * * * * * * * * * On the political front, J. Lord Dampnut lost another court battle over the Ban Muslims executive order when the 9th Circuit Federal Court upheld an injunction against the ban. Showing his extreme displeasure with that ruling, J. Lord Dampnut tweeted in ALL CAPS. * * * * * * * Canada threatened to go to war with the United States if J. Lord Dampnut appoints Sarah Palin as Ambassador to Canada. "We would consider that an act of war," said a member of Quebec's parliament. "We have tanks. Not that many, but we have tanks. Vive Canada," said Canada's Prime Minister. * * * * * * * Kellyanne Conway, White House Propaganda Minister, got a slap on the wrist for pushing Invanka Trump's clothing line on Fox News. I can't help but point out that her father, J. Lord Dampnut, has not put his businesses in a blind trust, is profiting from his world wide empire, and is in constant and direct violation of the Constitution's emolument clause. * * * * * * * * * * J. Lord Dampnut apparently left a national security briefing early in order to tweet against Nordstrum for dropping the clothing line of Ivanka Trump. * * * * * * * * *Turns out J. Lord Dampnut accidentally appointed Steve Bannon, apocalyptist, to his National Security Council.* * * * * * * * * During a call in which Putin from Russia offered to extend the 2010 Start Treaty in which the two countries agree to limit nuclear weapons, J. Lord had to interrup the call and ask his aides just what that was. Maybe a little prep before phone calls would be a good idea. * * * * * * ** * Betsy DeVos, the new Secretary of Education who knows nothing about education, started her tenure with a tweet in which she joked about not being able to find the pencils. Tweeterdom responded with stories from all over the country about teachers having to purchase pencils, paper, and other supplies for their classrooms. * * * * * * * *Republicans holding town halls meetings in their districts are being shocked to discover that people who finally have affordable health insurance are not so crazy about having it taken away. * * * * * * * * And from France came one of the most bizarre and frightening headlines I've seen lately: Investigators Say French Police Who Sodomized Black Man With A Baton Did So By Accident. * * * * * * * * * By the way, the Toucan painting is for sale. $50.