Pluvialis, who should be well- known to readers of this blog, may be better known to the world as Helen Macdonald, lecturer at Cambridge, falconer, author of this good book, and poet. I have been spending a lot of time with her poetry lately as an anecdote to some difficult work and to charge (recharge?) …
Category: Uncategorized
Zebra Mussels and Natural Selection
Just a note: It seems a contractor has successfully eradicated invasive zebra mussels from a quarry in Virginia using massive doses of potasium chloride—toxic to mussels (not so good for death row inmates, either). After the evident die-off, live mussels were sent down in a sack to serve as aquatic canaries, and they promptly died …
Geronimo’s Bones
An article in the Hartford Courant suggests that the Yale secret society Skull and Bones at least THINKS it has Geronimo’s bones. ” A journalist has uncovered evidence that members of Yale’s secretive Skull and Bones society may have robbed Geronimo’s grave during World War I and brought the Apache warrior’s skull and other remains …
Kurds
Steve Sailer has a fascinating post on Kurds, Turkey, Iran, the breakup of Iraq, and strange alliances. Here is a quote from his correspondent: “The Turks I know socially are all non-typical (educated, secular, military families) and they think that the Islamists in Ankara have been living on borrowed time. A secular Turkish military regime …
The Black Hole…
… is what Australian naturalist Tim Flannery calls the mouth of Paleolithic man, down which the megafauna may well have disappeared. Matt just sent me this article about recent studies by Paleontologist Dale Guthrie (whose recent book The Nature of Paleolithic Art is one of the best I have read this year) that seems to …
“I was working, really!”
… says Roseann. A likely story!
“A Kind of Paganism”
…. is how the pope’s astronomer thinks of creationism. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that… ” (Hi Chas).
Pitbulls in Indiana
A correspondent from Indiana who will be be known hereafter as “the lady with the funny black dogs” has checked in with some news about how the plain folks of that state are reacting to the AR agenda. “The Pit Bull hearing in Anderson was very interesting … It was quite clear that WWIII was …
Great Quote..
.. from Wendell Berry on livestock breeds– hat tip Matt: “The great diversity of livestock breeds, along with the great diversity of domestic plant varieties, can be thought of as a sort of vocabulary with which we may make appropriate responses to the demands of a great diversity of landscapes. (Emphasis mine). I hope to …
Ivorybills
Tim Gallagher sent me this thoughtful story on the continuing controversy over the rediscovery of the Ivorybilled woodpecker , a story in which he is a major player. The writer focuses on the inherent ambiguities of the sightings; he MAY even have seen one himself: “The ivory-billed woodpecker is, essentially, Schrödinger’s cat, the famous physics …