The poisoned- wheat- gluten- in- pet- food scandal continues to unfold. China now claims it had nothing to do with it— I’d advise skepticism on that. Patrick has the word on the seitanic substance…
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Blog Friends News
First, congratulations to the lovely Heidi— who hardly looks “hick” in these photos– and her talented husband Jethro. More material for fiction too, Heidi? And speaking of our beautiful websisters, Larissa has posted an essay in defense of sloth. I prefer not to know what those noodles are, though.
What Is On My Desk?
Inspired by Doc Hypercube’s bookshelf series, I sent him a slice of one of mine and then turned the camera to my desktop. How many objects here can you identify? The bejewelled crane skull is the work of local artist and friend Yvonne Magener. She may have a website and if so I’ll add a …
Banned in Beijing
Terrierman Patrick Burns seems inordinately proud of the fact that his blog has been banned by the Chinese government. Steve wants to know what we’re doing wrong that they haven’t banned us.
Hawk Nest
I mentioned to Steve on the telephone the other day that the first week we were here at Moonshine Gulch, I had seen a pair of red-tailed hawks mating in a grove of cottonwood trees south of the house – a first for me. They have apparently set up housekeeping in a well-established nest in …
Backyard Pests? Think of Them as Dinner
This NY Times piece chronicles a dinner party given in New York by Steven Rinella, author of The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine. Actually the title is somewhat misleading, as most of the dishes feature venison, elk, caribou, moose, bear, and goose – not exactly backyard pests in New York. The local contributions are squirrel …
DNA Stalkers
Amy Harmon of the NY Times tells us in this story that DNA research has added a whole new dimension to the study of genealogy, something I’ve talked about here before. Harmon tells us that this has bred a whole new group of people so obsessed with obtaining DNA confirmation of their research that they …
Etruscan Emigration?
Nicholas Wade of the NY Times brings us another fine effort in the DNA/archaeology beat that he works so well (please read his book Before the Dawn!) with a report of studies that indicate the classical Etruscan civilization of northern Italy originated with a group migration from the Near East. This seems to confirm a …
Archaeology of the Exodus
The day after Passover the NY Times has a piece discussing the lack of archaeological evidence for the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt. The report focuses on the archaeology of an Egyptian border fort in the Sinai that dates to the right time period. As the article points out, I’m not surprised that there is no …
Panorama
The Peculiars were down last week and Mr. P. took this splendid panorama of our home town nestled beneath its foothills. The higher peaks of the Magdalena Range are obscured behind clouds to the upper left.