Reid sent me a link to this fascinating LAT story about homing pigeons being used for remote monitoring of pollution. “Pigeons wearing tiny backpacks and cellphones will roam the skies of Northern California this weekend as part of an unusual art project. “Equipped with miniature smog sensors, the birds will transmit air pollution data to …
Book Review
American Working TerriersBy Patrick Burns272 pages in soft cover with b/w photographs$35.14 from http://www.lulu.com/pburnsIf you travel much along the back roads of the Mid-Atlantic States, along hedgerows and small farms or woodlots, you might spot a digger and his dogs. He’d be a quiet figure in workman’s clothes, walking beneath a load of tools. His …
Cougars, Science and “Sport Hunting”
Steve and Reid could each provide good commentary here, but with their indulgence, I’ll take first dibs. Reuters carried this story earlier in the week, reporting the release of a study finding no evidence for the notion that hunting cougars reduces the incidence of cougar attacks on people or livestock. Given only that information, I …
Iris Pigmentation
As Carel says, a catalog devoted to the iris colors of 5620 vertebrates, with commentary, would probably not have existed without the internet. But I love it! Carel’s owl painting is worth linking to for itself.
One More Grim One..
China is massacring dogs. Worse, if that seems possible, they may be doing the same to believers in Falun Gong and harvesting their organs. Libby suggests that both may be as much demostrations of the omnipotence of the state as anything. Behave or else..
Writer’s Fight Song
And now for something completely hilarious: a song against procrastination for writers. A few lines? “MAKE THEM FIGHT AND MAKE THEM SCREWMAKE THEM DO WHAT BAD FOLKS DOMAKE THEM MEAN AND LET THEM FUCKGIVE THEM REALLY CRAPPY LUCK “WRITE EDITDELETE DELETEWRITE WRITEEDIT EDITPANIC PANICWRITE WRITE WRITE!” (Snip) ……….. “WRITE EDITDELETE DELETEWRITE WRITEEDIT EDITPANIC PANICWRITE WRITE …
“Natural Religion”
The ever- brilliant Fred Turner has an esay on the nature and importance of religion here. I have long admired Fred for everything from his epic poetry to his ability to reconcile supposedly opposing viewpoints.
Alan Furst
Enough gloom: the wonderful spy novelist Alan Furst, who has no competitors since John Le Carre turned into Michael Moore, has a new book out. He deals with the period before World War II. Think “Casablanca” (yes, he’s that good, that romantic, and the dialog is also that good). Think, as Libby says, “rain at …
Some Gloom from Mary
Prarie Mary writes with her usual elegance of being poor and no longer young, and of some problems of the west and of rural life today. “The message is that life for humans on this planet is becoming increasingly dependent on individual prosperity. If one is old, weak, troublesome, ill, or simply not like everyone …
An Interview with Bob Kane
Here, fighting AR loonies for us everywhere. Support him!