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Strange Creatures Of The Amazon

Deep in the Peruvian Amazon lurk strange creatures and unique animals and sights, including spiders that make large spider-shaped decoys in their webs and the unusually hairy caterpillars.

Please click the photos for larger images:

The larval form of a flannel moth, also known as a puss caterpillar. (Photo: Phil Torres/ LiveScience)

A spider that makes a “decoy” that looks like a much larger spider. (Photo: Phil Torres/ LiveScience)

The cocoon of a urodid moth. (Photo: Jeff Cremer)

Macaws and other birds gathering at a “clay lick,” which contains minerals not found elsewhere in the area. (Photo: Jeff Cremer/ LiveScience)

Beautiful But Dangerous: Deadly Poisonous Garden Plants

Lots of people grow these beautiful plants in their gardens because they have beautiful and colourful flowers.

Some have nice smelling flowers too, like Lily-of-the-Valley and Oleander.

My grandmother grew some of these beautiful plants in her garden too.

But do you know that they are very poisonous?

So please be careful of these poisonous plants because they can cause death.

Please click the photos to learn more about them.

Larkspur (Delphinium consolida). Part of the buttercup family of flowers. Deadly parts: The entire plant, though the young leaves and the mature seeds contain the highest concentration of toxic alkaloids. Toxic toll: These enticing blue growers are definitely just for looking—not eating. Immediately after ingestion, nausea, burning in the mouth, vomiting, and slowing of the heartbeat set in. Seek treatment right away, because six hours is all it takes for this flower to become lethal.Photo by Flickr user Alwyn Ladell

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). Deadly parts: The entire plant, especially the leaves of the upper stem, which are rich in digitalin, digitoxin, and digitonin—chemicals, that while used medicinally, are deadly in high doses.Toxic toll: The same thing that makes these lookers toxic to deer won’t sit well with your—or the family pet’s—digestive tract. Twenty minutes after a little nibbling, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea set in. Depending on the amount ingested, untreated poisoning leads to death by bradycardia (lowered heart rate) or ventricular fibrillation (a rapid, irregular rhythm in the lower heart chambers). Keep in mind, however, that children have died just from sucking on a part of the plant.Photo by Flickr user Kristian Thy

Poet’s Narcissus (Narcissus poeticus). Deadly parts: The entire plant, especially the bulbs, which are potent emetics, inducing vomiting.Toxic toll: If the scent of a narcissus bouquet in a closed room is strong enough to cause a headache, just imagine what eating an entire bulb might do. Think severe nausea, convulsions, fainting, paralysis and eventual death. Still want to plant them? Watch any open wounds you may have while tending to them—coming into contact with their bulb secretions has produced staggering, numbness, and heart paralysis.Photo by Flickr user AnneTanne

Purple Nightshade (Atropa belladonna). Deadly parts: The entire plant, particularly its berries, roots, and leaves.Toxic toll: Don’t mess with this one—pop a handful of berries in your mouth, and you’ll physically be unable to call for help. After you lose your voice, respiratory complications, intense digestive disruption, and violent convulsions begin, the combination of which has proven fatal.Photo by Flickr user peganum

Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). Deadly parts: The entire plant, especially the flower buds.Toxic toll: Swallowing hydrangea is like popping a cyanide pill. The present poison, hydragin, is a cyanogenic glycoside, meaning it will cause shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, and a rapid pulse, along with a drop in blood pressure that can cause convulsions and death.Photo by Flickr user Mauricio Mercadante

Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia). Deadly parts: Leaves, twigs, flowers, and pollen.Toxic toll: Mountain laurel parts are full of andromedotoxins, which go to town on your gastrointestinal tract. Watering of the mouth, eyes, and nose are common, as is shortness of breath and slow heartbeat. Kidney failure can occur, as well as convulsions, paralysis, coma, and death.Photo by Flickr user James Gaither

Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis). Deadly parts: The entire plant, particularly the leaves.Toxic toll: Sure, they make for an attractive flower arrangement, but even the water you place cut lily-of-the-valley flowers in contains deadly traces of convallatoxin, which intensifies the heart’s contractions. Just a bite causes headaches, hot flashes, hallucinations, and irritability, not to mention red blotches on cold, clammy skin. The heart will also slow down, potentially leading to coma and death.Photo by Flickr user Stadtkatze

Rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum). Deadly parts: The entire plant. Toxic toll: Who knew both West Virginia and Washington’s state flower was a silent killer? Swallow any part of this plant, and you’re going to look as bad as you feel. While drooling from the mouth and teary-eyed, you’ll begin vomiting violently, just as your pulse slows down and low blood pressure sets in. Death can occur shortly after falling into a coma or during a violent seizure.Photo by Flickr user Ryan Somma

Mistletoe (Phoradendron flavescens). Deadly parts: All parts, especially the berries. Toxic toll: Munching on a couple of leaves, berries, or shoots—or drinking mistletoe-flavored tea—will cause abdominal pain and diarrhea. Cases where mistletoe ingestion were fatal involved gastroenteritis (an inflammation of the stomach and small intestine), followed by cardiovascular collapse. The berries are particularly potent when it comes to pets, so mind your cats and dogs around this plant.Photo by Andrew Dunn

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). Deadly parts: The milky sap found in the veins of the plant.Toxic toll: Despite its toxic reputation, poinsettias will never top the list of most poisonous plants, as there’s only been two documented cases of them causing human death. But you’ll want to teach kids not to touch or consume the plant, nonetheless. And as far as cats and dogs are concerned, keep poinsettia plants out of reach—unless you want to clean up after pet vomit and diarrhea. Take extra precautions if you have elderly, ill, or young pets.Photo by Flickr user Mauricio Mercadante

Oleander (Nerium oleander). Deadly parts: The entire plant, including its nectar and sap. Toxic toll: Think twice about growing one of these babies in your yard, especially if you have little ones: A single leaf contains enough toxins to be lethal to an infant or small child. Like other poisonous plans, ingesting it first affects the digestive system with vomiting and diarrhea, then poisoning progresses into life-threatening circulatory problems. If your heart’s still ticking after that trauma, oleander can also deal a fatal blow to your central nervous system, causing seizures, tremors, and coma that can lead to death.Photo by Flickr user Hovic

Water Hemlock/Spotted Parsley (Cicuta maculata). Deadly parts: The whole plant, especially the roots of early growth.Toxic toll: This wildflower has been dubbed “the most violently toxic plant that grows in North America” by the USDA. True to its killer reputation, water hemlock can strike you dead within 15 minutes of ingestion. The poison cicutoxin wastes no time in attacking the central nervous system, causing severe seizures and convulsions that turn deadly as a result of asphyxia and cardiovascular collapse.Photo by Flickr user Fritz Flohr Reynolds

Spring Snowstorms

Daffodils hang under the weight of snow near the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park on Sunday, March 24, 2013, in St. Louis. A storm dumped 7 to 9 inches of snow from eastern Kansas into central Missouri before tapering off this morning. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, J.B. Forbes)

It is now spring.

But in U.S. it is still snowing!

Here are some beautiful photos of the snow in America.

Please click the photos for larger images.

Snow begins to gathers on a statue on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kan., Saturday, March 23, 2013. The area is under a winter storm warning. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

A tractor sits in a snow-covered field in western Lenexa, Kan, on Sunday, March 24, 2013. A storm that dumped up to 15 inches of snow on parts of Colorado and Kansas is making its way east, with winter storm warnings and advisories issued for today and tomorrow as far east as Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Chris Ochsner

Snow covers flowers in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington, March 25, 2013. In their first-ever review of same-sex marriage laws, the nine justices on the country’s highest court are hearing arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday on one of the most politically charged dilemmas of the day, bound with themes of religion, sexuality and social custom. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES – Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT)

University of Kansas alum Geoff Folker applies food coloring to his snow sculpture at his home on Park Street in Olathe, Kan., on Sunday, March 24, 2013. A storm that dumped up to 15 inches of snow on parts of Colorado and Kansas is making its way east, with winter storm warnings and advisories issued for today and tomorrow as far east as Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, John Sleezer)

A man waits for help after becoming stuck in snow along West 6th Street in Lawrence, Kan., Sunday, March 24, 2013. Few signs of spring are being found in parts of the Midwest as a snowstorm brings heavy snow and high winds. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

The Belton Street department crew works to clear snow off 163rd Street in Belton, Mo., on Sunday, March 24, 2013. A storm that dumped up to 15 inches of snow on parts of Colorado and Kansas is making its way east, with winter storm warnings and advisories issued for today and tomorrow as far east as Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Joe Ledford)

Giant panda Mei Xiang looks over a stone wall in her enclosure at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in this handout provided by the Smithsonian National Zoo during a spring snow in Washington, D.C. March 25, 2013. REUTERS/Connor Mallon/Smithsonian’s National Zoo/Handout (UNITED STATES – Tags: ENVIRONMENT ANIMALS SOCIETY) NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

With the Capitol in the background, a person walks through the fallen snow across the National Mall in Washington, Monday March, 25, 2013. A wide-ranging storm hit the East Coast after blanketing the Midwest and burying thoughts of springtime weather under a blanket of heavy wet snow and slush, though less snow was predicted to fall as the storm moved eastward. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

A late season snow clings to blossoms and berries in Arlington, Va., outside Washington, Monday, March 25, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Tahlil Arwah Ustaz Muhammad ‘Uthman El-Muhammady

Jenazah Ustaz Muhammad ‘Uthman El-Muhammady telah selamat dikebumikan.

Tahlil arwah Ustaz Muhammad akan diadakan malam ini selepas solat Isyak di Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan Jalan Duta.

Sila hadir dan mohon disebarkan.

Video: 10 Anwar’s PRU 13 Surprises

Credit to Badut Rakyat (http://badutrakyat.blogspot.com/2013/03/hot-news-anwar-ibrahim-akan-buat-10.html)

Ustaz Muhammad ‘Uthman El-Muhammady Passed Away

My father just called and told me a very sad news that Ustaz Muhammad ‘Uthman El-Muhammady just passed away this evening.

I’ll be missing him very much.

Al-Fatihah.

Baghdad: Before and After

This Wednesday, March 13, 2013 photo shows a general view of Firdous Square at the site of an Associated Press photograph taken by Jerome Delay as the statue of Saddam Hussein is pulled down by U.S. forces and Iraqis on April 9, 2003. Ten years ago on live television, U.S. Marines memorably hauled down a Soviet-style statue of Saddam, symbolically ending his rule. Today, that pedestal in central Baghdad stands empty. Bent iron beams sprout from the top, and posters of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in military fatigues are pasted on the sides.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

 

Scenes from Baghdad today, ten years after the Iraq War was declared on March 19, 2003.

(Please click the photos for larger images)

In this Wednesday, March 13, 2013 photo, Iraqi policeman Ahmed Naji stands on the grounds of the Iraqi National Museum at the site of an Associated Press photograph by Murad Sezer showing a U.S. Army tank parked outside the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad on Tuesday, May 6, 2003. Tens of thousands of artifacts chronicling some 7,000 years of civilization in Mesopotamia are believed to have been looted from Iraq in the chaos which followed the the US-led invasion in 2003. Despite international efforts to track items down, fewer than half of the artifacts have so far been retrieved. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

In this Saturday, March 16, 2013 photo, motorists fill the main street in Baghdad’s busy shopping district of Karrada, at the same site of an Associated Press photo taken by Hadi Mizban on Friday, Friday, March 7, 2008 after a bombing that killed 53 people and wounded 130. Bloody attacks launched by terrorists who thrived in the post-invasion chaos are painfully still frequent, albeit less so than a few years back, and sectarian and ethnic rivalries are again tearing at the fabric of national unity. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

This Thursday, March 14, 2013 photo shows a general view of the crossed swords monument at the site of an Associated Press photograph taken by Karim Kadim of U.S. soldiers taken on Nov. 16, 2008. The crossed-sword archways Saddam Hussein commissioned during Iraq’s nearly eight-year war with Iran stand defiantly on a little-used parade ground inside the Green Zone, the fortified district that houses the sprawling U.S. Embassy and several government offices. Iraqi officials began tearing down the archways in 2007 but quickly halted those plans and then started restoring the monument two years ago. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

This Tuesday, March 12, 2013 photo shows a general view of Abu Nawas Street in Baghdad, Iraq, at the site of a photograph of Iraqi orphan Fady al-Sadik waking on the street, taken by photographer Maya Alleruzzo in April, 2003. The park that runs along Abu Nawas Street, named for an Arabic poet, is now a popular destination for families who are drawn by the manicured gardens, playgrounds and restaurants famous for a fish called mazgouf. Ten years ago, the park was home to a tribe of children orphaned by the war and was rife with crime. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

This Tuesday, March 12, 2013 photo shows a general view of Abu Nawas park in Baghdad, at the site of a photograph taken by Maya Alleruzzo showing Iraqi orphans playing soccer with a U.S. soldier from the Third Infantry Division in April, 2003. The park that runs along Abu Nawas Street, named after an Arabic poet, is now a popular destination for families who are drawn by the manicured gardens, playgrounds and restaurants famous for a fish called mazgouf. Ten years ago, the park was home to a tribe of children orphaned by the war and was rife with crime. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

In this Saturday, March 16, 2013 photo, shoppers walk in Baghdad’s busy shopping district of Karrada, at the same site of an Associated Press photo taken by Hadi Mizban on Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 after a bombing that killed 22 people. Bloody attacks launched by terrorists who thrived in the post-invasion chaos are painfully still frequent, albeit less so than a few years back, and sectarian and ethnic rivalries are again tearing at the fabric of national unity. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

Tolak Tangan Asing

From Paneh Miang’s post, ‘Tolak Tangan Asing’.

Janji Bulan dan Bintang, By #NoDirectionShow

Yesterday, as I was writing a post, I switched on the YouTube channel which upload the #NoDirectionShow songs, waiting for their latest song to be uploaded.

At 6:00 p.m. I refreshed the tab of the YouTube channel but the song was not yet uploaded.

So, I timed another five minutes and waited while writing my other post.

Before the time was up, my big sister came asking whether the video-clip could be watched yet.

I refreshed the page, and there was, ‘#NoDirectionShow – Janji Bulan Dan Bintang’.

I really enjoy this latest video-clip.

#NoDirectionShow had earlier released two hit video-clips, ‘Krisis Air’ (please click here to watch the video) and ‘Cerita Pasal Tanah’ (please click here to watch the video).

Anyway yesterday evening it took a very  long time to get the video loaded; as slow as a crawling turtle – it was like the old days when internet was really slow …

Here’s the video-clip…