Just when I thought to expect the worst from press coverage of our strange and wonderful old sports, Anne Hocker sends this good story from outdoor writer Joe Doggett of the Houston Chronicle. Here’s a sample: “Peregrines are intelligent yet easily ‘manned’ to accept proximity to people. Regardless of raptor, manning is perhaps the most …
Month: February 2006
Intact Tomb in the Valley of the Kings
Egyptian Antiquities authorities announced yesterday that a team of American archaeologists from the University of Memphis (how appropriate!) have discovered an intact tomb in the famed Valley of the Kings. It dates to the 18th Dynasty (1500-1300 BC) and is the first intact tomb found there since the discovery of Tutankhamen tomb in 1922. It …
Urfa and the Clash of Civilizations
We based in Urfa when we went toTurkey in December– please see archives. Despite some odd moments, I think Turkey, and even more, the “Stans” to the northeast, are the best hope for Islam to make it sanely through the next century. Therefore, Im not sure how to feel about some of the factors in …
A Curious Double Standard
Here is a link that contrasts the difference betweeen the treatment of protestors defending the right to hunt foxes and those defending the right to behead infidels. “A demonstration against the fox hunting Bill, outside Parliament: “Instantly, the police responded with a flail of truncheons. For a moment, they resembled beaters driving birds towards guns. …
Target: Coursing
As many regular readers will know, I hunt with coursing dogs– in my case, Asian tazis from Kazakhstan. Being a primitive who lives deep in the boonies, not to mention an enthusiastic carnivore, I am a hunter plain and simple. We go out, we chase, we sometimes catch, we eat (a hare recipe was recently …
California Wildfire: ABC News “Discovers” Coursing
In defense of all good things old-fashioned, we present this recent story by ABC News: a pitifully slanted piece of writing that “exposes” open field coursing (in this case, rabbit hunting with sighthounds) in California and—tiresomely, predictably, maddeningly—its presumed “cruelty” to animals. At least one state legislator, having seen video of rabbits killed by sighthounds, …
The Wonderful World of Leeches
“Lost worlds” right beside us– Carl Zimmer on leech scientist Mark Siddall. A sample: “…. scientists need to find leeches with big bacteria-housing organs to dissect. It turns out that some of the biggest are in a species that lives just on the rear end of the hippopotamus. So Dr. Siddall has traveled to South …
Lost World!
Reid, Walter Hingley, and others have been sending me news of the wonderful “Lost World” found by ornithologist Bruce Beehler and his colleagues in New Guinea– go here and here and here for reports. Matt says: ” “He [ Beehler ] added, ‘The fact that scientists can still findnew species means there are still wild …
..and some fascinating additions to the post below
…by Jeff Lockwood: ” In particular there were three intriguing elements that you draw out from the various sources (including mine, for which I am deeply appreciative). “First, we worry about fossil fuels when, at least in principle, these natural resources are fungible (we could conceivably shift to wind, solar, nuclear or whatever). On the …
Prairie Mary Guest Post
My reading has been giving me some sharp jolts and new thoughts lately. One came from a random remark on 2blowhards.com that at the time the United States were uniting and declaring independence, the people of India — then under British rule — were dying by the millions because of famine brought on by mismanagement. …