Sorry, I should have slashed an ‘s’.

Thanks Heather, I’m glad you like them.:)

Thank you! I was able to go through a few of your photos. There were several I wanted to fave, but it wouldn’t let me without joining.

Wow! What a CV! That’s all so outrageous I don’t even know where to begin!

Some spider shots:
Apricia/Breda jovialis from above
Apricia/Breda jovialis side view at 1.5x magnification

Just to add to the merriment, I think the CSIRO’s recently released field guide lists this species as Ocrisiona jovialis

I’ve got shots a little over 20 spider’s on Flickr. Here is one of an Areneus sp., just because I think it is pretty.

“I don’t know how people have the gall to take these jobs they’re so clearly unqualified for.’

The problem is that she thinks she is qualified. She:
1/. Is Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and Director of the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. A “Think Tank” that appears to indulge solely in polemic, with no investigative component.

2/. Worked for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality,including a stint as its Chairperson. This Commission is claimed to be the second largest environmental regulatory agency after the EPA.

3/. It seems she doesn’t think science addresses truths, and even if it did it should be ignored when it conflicts with profit. Therefore disagreeing with, or ignoring science is not a problem. A quote from her interview with The Rolling Stone, Sept 2016: “We’re not a democracy if science dictates what our rules are.”

4/. Thinks carbon dioxide is merely a plant nutrient, and that ozone and airborne particulate matter have no adverse health effects except at extreme concentrations.

5/. Co-authored the book that informs nearly all Trumps energy and environmental policy — Fueling Freedom.

6/. Worked for the Trump campaign.

There is a truck load more of this, but I think this will do. So, she has worked in this area, has the right attitude and opinions, deserves it, and is one of the very few people who can be trusted to make the right decisions. The fact that after years working in the field she has learnt nearly nothing, and understands even less, may well be something she sees as an advantage. It’s like dealing with creationists.

I knew nearly nothing about Hartnett White before her testimony, so I went and looked her up. I wasn’t surprised to find she used to work for the Cattlemen’s Beef Association. An organization that in part empowers the sense of entitlement of the likes of Cliven Bundy.

If only! Just like the Supreme Court is supposed to be apolitical! This is the US dude. If Republicans dominate the committee and the president is Republican, the most incompetent candidates can get through. They’ve already got Scott Pruitt, as well as Betsy de Vos in education, and more.

Yes, land mammal. There are native marine mammals.

And then kiwis are honorary mammals, as it were.
I heard there is also a ‘lesser short tailed bat’ that is very ‘terrestrial’, moving through the leaf-litter on the forest floor. Might be a lumper/splitter question for all I know.
I also think you meant native land-mammals, since NZ has quite a few seals and whales. IIRC, Hector’s dolphin is even endemic to NZ waters.
There was also the now extinct St Bathan’s mammal. It is thought to have been a very ‘primitive’ mammal surviving in NZ into the Miocene. It is known from only a lower jaw and femur…