You know, sometimes the world
seems like a pretty mean place.
That’s why animals are so soft and huggy.

― Bill Watterson

The snake caterpillar uses a clever disguise to ward off  predators. Photo/Daniel Janzen/Janzen.UPenn.edu/Caters News

By David Strege
GrindTV, May 28, 2014

Professor Daniel Janzen photographs the snake-like bug that wards off
predators by looking and acting like a snake; found in Costa Rica,
Guatemala, and Belize

A caterpillar in Costa Rica uses a unique disguise to ward off predators and the costume is quite striking, as is its response should it be approached.

The caterpillar cleverly camouflages itself as a slithering snake and comes with a head that looks like a snake. The snake caterpillar, in its larval state before becoming a moth, will also strike harmlessly if approached, just as a snake would, with the exception of a potential bite.

According to Caters News Agency, the bug creates the illusion of looking like a dangerous reptile by expanding parts at the end of its body.

Daniel Janzen, a professor of biology at the University of Pennsylvania, took the photos you see here while cataloguing caterpillars in the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Caters News Agency released the photos on Tuesday.

“To normal people this caterpillar might look weird and scary, but for me it’s just a walk in the park,” Janzen told the U.K. MailOnline.

“Every caterpillar in Costa Rica looks like something else, be it a leaf, twig, or in this case, a slithering snake.”

Janzen knows a few things about caterpillars. He’s been tracking them in Costa Rica since 1978 and has been an insect expert for 50 years, according to MailOnline. He spends half a year at the university and the other half in Central America searching for unusual creatures like the snake caterpillar, which can be found in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico. He said they are part of the hemeroplanes species.

“Over the years, I’ve seen and photographed so many different types of bugs [that] I’m never surprised,” he told MailOnline. “But they always interest me.”

It might not surprise him, but we’re certainly surprised.

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Stanzas of Victory

The recital of the Jayamangala Gatha, a set of eight benedictory stanzas extolling the virtues of the Buddha, is usually done on important occasions or when inaugurating any venture of significance. The contents of the stanzas, when recited clearly, are intended to bring happiness and success in all good endeavours we embark upon. These verses have come to be called “The Stanzas of Victory” or Jayamangala Gatha. A unique feature that concludes each verse is the line “By virtue of this, may joyous victory be yours.” These stanzas are regarded as efficacious because they relate to eight occasions, each based on beautiful story, where the Buddha triumphed over his powerful opponents by the sheer power of good.

Through these verses, one will realize that true victory is JOY; where none is left dejected or in pain. Each time the Buddha triumph over His adversaries, He left them with realizations and awe over the pure powers of generosity, patience, self control, loving kindness, serenity, peace, truthfulness and other virtues. The vanguished never leaves without lamp of wisdom being lighted; ensuring them greater happiness.

While the origin of these stanzas is shrouded in mystery, it can be stated with certainty that they were compose in Sri Lanka by a devout Buddhist poet.

Reuters, May 29, 2014

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to unveil his top 10 policy priorities on Thursday, seeking to unblock an investment logjam and setting deadlines for action in order to revive the economy.

A top aide flagged the action points ahead of a cabinet meeting at which Modi will begin the task of meeting the aspirations of voters who handed his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the strongest electoral mandate in India in 30 years.

Narendra Modi gestures towards his supporters from his car during a road show upon his arrival at the airport in New Delhi May 17, 2014. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

“The entire machinery will be geared up to fulfil the mandate of the new leader,” Nripendra Misra, newly named as principal private secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, told The Hindu in an interview.

Misra said that Modi’s policy priorities will “necessarily have to be implemented in a time-bound manner”. They would focus on overcoming delays to major infrastructure projects and addressing why India has become a coal importer, he added.

Reuters reported exclusively last week that Modi was considering restructuring Coal India (COAL.NS), the state-controlled mining behemoth, in a bid to halt a decline in output.

The Prime Minister’s Office is expected to become a powerful centre of policy making under Modi, who has named loyalists such as Arun Jaitley to key posts like finance but whose cabinet team lacks strength in depth.

Modi was due to chair a cabinet meeting at 11 a.m., his office said, with a briefing to follow afterwards.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nigam Prusty; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

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Elephants love reunions. They recognize one another
after years and years of separation and greet
each other with wild, boisterous joy. There’s bellowing
and trumpeting, ear flapping and rubbing. Trunks entwine.

― Jennifer Richard Jacobson, Small as an Elephant