First an earthquake, then a hurricane, and now — the dreaded Gambian Pouched Rat:

A photo making the rounds shows Housing Authority worker Jose Rivera minutes after he speared the humongous rodent with a pitchfork at the Marcy Houses.

It’s covered in white fur and looks well-fed. It appears to be about three feet long, including its hideously dangling tail.

And Rivera, 48, says it’s not the only one. He insists that while he was filling a rat hole last week, three came running out — but he was only able to nail one.

The photo is so violent, so disturbing, so Shocking! we insist you sign a release before continuing.

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Anderson Cooper is so big, hurricanes come to him.

“Rebel fighters who ransacked Gadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound have been turning up some bizarre loot, including the Libyan leader’s eccentric fashion accessories and his daughter’s golden mermaid couch. The latest discovery is a photo album filled with page after page of pictures of Rice, the former secretary of state who visited Tripoli in 2008.” [MSNBC]

“Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, is considering a run against U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur in 2012, according to Republican Party sources. Jon Stainbrook, chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party, said there is ‘high-level interest in the national Republican Party’ in a potential Wurzelbacher candidacy.” [Toledo Blade, via Political Wire]

We’re starting to like Rick Perry. A lot. Here’s why:

Since leaping into the GOP presidential race, Texas Gov. Rick Perry hasn’t been asked if he thinks gays are born or made. But in a little-noticed passage in his first book, “On My Honor,” a encomium on the Boy Scouts published in 2008, Perry also drew a parallel between homosexuality and alcoholism. “Even if an alcoholic is powerless over alcohol once it enters his body, he still makes a choice to drink,” he wrote. “And, even if someone is attracted to a person of the same sex, he or she still makes a choice to engage in sexual activity with someone of the same gender.”

In “On My Honor,” Perry also punted on the exact origins of homosexuality. He wrote that he is “no expert on the ‘nature versus nurture’ debate,” but that gays should simply choose abstinence. Perry’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether he maintains this view.

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Our guest columnist is the Manhattan District Attorney, describing Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s $3,000-a-night hotel suite.

Three of the other stains on the carpet contained the semen and DNA of three different unknown males, and one other stain contained amylase and a mixture of DNA from three different unknown individuals. The stain on the wallpaper contained the semen and DNA of a fourth unknown male. As there is no evidence that any other person was present during the charged incident, the circumstances under which the unidentified DNA was deposited are unrelated to the incident under investigation.

The Guests Who Never Left Strauss-Kahn’s Hotel Room [NYT, via @Slate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbwrR91He84

[via Rachel]