I don’t post too much about religion or politics here, mostly because they are not my area of expertise and because others so often say it better. But this defense of old fashioned Catholic rituals and customs from Dappled things strikes me as exactly right. “But it’s a false dichotomy to say one must choose …
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Pig Follies again
A judge has upheld the ruling to kill exotic opigs on Santa Cruz Island, and Animal Rightists are upset, of course. I think Reid Farmer has the right idea: “It’s a scary thought if one of these suits wins. I mean, in principle, I’m all for pig condoms. But I think the plaintiff and his …
Supernova
An interesting new- ish theory on mammoth extinction can be seen here. A supernova caused what are carefully being called “comet- like” events about 13,000 years ago, may have wiped out most of the mammoths, leaving traces in their tusks. This would be a rather local, that is, North American, event, not resposible (probably) for …
Anasazi revisited
Remember this? Well, it appears that snakes with sinister connotations are not unknown in Anasazi sites. “A couple of years back, Ryan was digging out the bottom of another kiva here when she unearthed the 800- year old skeleton of a snake. It had been stretched out on the kiva floor, andits skull was conspicuously …
Giant Squid seen at last!
If you haven’t seen this yet, you should. Apparently it is a lot more active than was suspected.
Don’t eat bats…
The animal reservoir of SARS has just been discovered by two medical teams: the Chinese horseshoe bat (not the civet cat or raccoon dog, which had previously been suspected). Apparently the Chinese penchant for eating ANYTHING, however weird or endangered, has bitten them back. It may make for an interesting cuisine, but is not always …
Animals and Government
I am always amazed how, as society becomes more complex, it inevitably seems to want to control not only your life but your animals. Various reasons may be given– animal welfare, neighbors complaints, disease (“Mad Cow”, SARS, Avian Flu). But the end result is virtually always to confiscate, prohibit, even kill “uncontrolled” and unpopular animals,. …
Zuni Rock Art Blogging
Steve and Matt love birds (as do I!) and I have been wanting to share one of my favorite petroglyphs – the owl seen above – with them for some time. This petroglyph is located near Zuni Pueblo in west-central New Mexico and is in a cluster of panels of prehistoric petroglyphs and very striking …
Indian Whaling
Reid asked me what I thought about this NYT story about the Makah and their attempt to return to their whaling tradition. Did I think it comparable to tribal use– and sometimes abuse– of eagles in the southwest? I replied: “Hmmm– I think I have a rather different take on the Makah. There is an …
Only a bureaucracy..
… could come up with a situation this convoluted. I sympathize with the sheepherders, and with– maybe– the lower- level feds. But when you start shooting endangered species to save them–?? Earth to bureaucrats: THIS DOESN’T MAKE SENSE! Biologists, not politicians, should sort this one out pronto.