winged cat/The Unforgiven
“The earliest currently known report of a winged cat is from Henry David Thoreau: ‘A few years before I lived in the woods there was what was called a ‘winged cat’ in one of the farm-houses in Lincoln nearest the pond, Mr. Gillian Baker’s. When I called to see her in June, 1842, she was gone a-hunting in the woods, as was her wont … but her mistress told me that she came into the neighborhood a little more than a year before, in April, and was finally taken into their house; that she was of a dark brownish-grey colour, with a white spot on her throat, and white feet, and had a large bushy tail like a fox; that in the winter the fur grew thick and flattened out along her sides, forming strips ten or twelve inches long by two and a half wide, and under her chin like a muff, the upper side loose, the under matted like felt, and in the spring these appendages dropped off. They gave me a pair of her ‘wings,’ which I keep still. There is no appearance of a membrane about them. Some thought it was part flying squirrel or some other wild animal, which is not impossible, for, according to naturalists, prolific hybrids have been produced by the union of the marten and the domestic cat.’”
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“In the Middle Ages, marten pelts were highly valued goods used as a form of payment in Slavonia, the Croatian Littoral and Dalmatia. The Croatian word for marten, kuna, is the name of the modern Croatian currency.”
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“The high mountains of the region help the coast maintain a milder Mediterranean climate relative to inland areas. The area is also known for the Bora, a type of katabatic wind.”
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“Examples of true katabatic winds include the Bora (or Bura) in the Adriatic, the Bohemian Wind or Böhmwind in the Ore Mountains, the Mistral, the Santa Ana in southern California, the Tramontana and the Oroshi in Japan.”
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“The winds carry Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii spores into nonendemic areas, a pathogenic fungus that causes Coccidioidomycosis (“‘Valley Fever’).”
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“California state prisons, as far back as 1919, have been particularly affected by Coccidioidomycosis. In 2005 and 2006, the Pleasant Valley State Prison near Coalinga and Avenal State Prison near Avenal on the western side of the San Joaquin Valley had the highest incidence in 2005, of at least 3,000 per 100,000.”
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“Noteable inmates: Anerae Brown aka X-Raided - Convicted for the murder of a woman during a home invasion robbery.”
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“X-Raided’s next album Unforgiven came in 1999, and was also recorded surreptitiously while in prison. A guard helped X-Raided access the equipment necessary to record his vocals, and even his cell mate, Dott Dogg, made an appearance on the album.”
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