..is proposing an interesting new way to redraw the map, highlighting real regions as opposed to top- down constructions. Check it out here.
Quantum Catfish..
…is a hilarious new illustrated blog, featuring the philosophical dialog of several fishermen in a boat. Think Day by Day, only with fish, and southern. Thanks to Dymphna of Gates of Vienna.
It might not be a good idea…
..to buy Chinese beauty products. They are using executed prisoners and probably aborted fetuses to extract collagen. From The Guardian: “Agents for the firm have told would-be customers it is developing collagen for lip and wrinkle treatments from skin taken from prisoners after they have been shot. The agents say some of the company’s products …
“Bells & Smells”
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 …
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,. …