Arrrr, matey, welcome to the cruelest day, Tuesday, September 19, 2023, and National Butterscotch Pudding Day, the favorite dessert of pirates.
It’s also International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Meow Like a Pirate Day,and National IT Professionals Day.
And here’s how Muppets talk like pirates. ARRRRRR!
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this by consulting the September 19 Wikipedia page.
I’m off touristing today, so posting will be light.
Da Nooz:
*We’re facing yet another government shutdown, thanks to House speaker Kevin McCarthy and his party.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s bid to gain the upper hand in a battle over federal spending hit stiff opposition from within his own ranks on Monday, leaving him with dwindling options and little time to find his way out of a funding impasse that could lead to a government shutdown in less than two weeks.
Roughly a dozen Republicans made it clear that they were staunchly opposed to the proposal unveiled on Sunday, which combines a stopgap spending measure with steep funding cuts and new border controls, indicating they could not be induced to change their votes through leadership pressure. The measure had little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, but Mr. McCarthy, who has made it clear he is desperate to avoid a politically damaging shutdown, has promoted it as a way to pressure the other chamber to come his way on spending.
Yet the internal resistance made it clear he is well short of the votes to pass it.
. . . With Mr. McCarthy’s slim majority, opposition from a dozen Republicans would make it impossible for him to advance the bill, as Democrats are uniformly opposed and so far are in no hurry to bail out the speaker. As he arrived at the Capitol on Monday, Mr. McCarthy suggested that lawmakers might change their minds once they were able to fully digest the legislation, but he conceded he faced a tough sell.
*The WSJ ranks the “best colleges in America,” but does so purely on an expected income basis:
What makes a college like Princeton great?
There are the facilities and the faculties, the coursework and the camaraderie, the skills and experiences and knowledge that prepare students for their lives and their careers. No doubt these are important. But in addition, our ranking puts even greater emphasis on two practical and measurable questions about each school: How much will the college improve its students’ chances of graduating on time? And how much will it improve the salaries they earn after receiving their diplomas?
This is the consumerist attitude towards colleges, and it’s not great. Here are their rankings for the top ten (note the expected incomes):
*Self-aggrandizement of the week: “Coyne of the Scientific Realm“. Plaudits for my article with Luana written by a well known systematist and entomologist.
*Headline of the week (from the AP): “Bears raid a Krispy Kreme doughnut van making deliveries on an Alaska military base.”
Two bears on an Alaska military base raided a Krispy Kreme doughnut van that was stopped outside a convenience store during its delivery route.
The driver usually left his doors open when he stopped at the store but this time a sow and one of her cubs that loiter nearby sauntered inside, where they stayed for probably 20 minutes Tuesday morning, said Shelly Deano, the store manager for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson JMM Express. The bears chomped on doughnut holes and other pastries, ignoring the banging on the side of the van that was aimed at shooing them away, Deano said.
“I was beating on the van and they’re not moving. I could hear them breaking open the packages and everything,” she said. “I was like, ‘They don’t even care.’”
LOL. Why SHOULD they care? Free doughnuts! It goes on:
When the bears couldn’t be roused, base security was called and sounded sirens meant to scare away the bears, she said.
A photo with the AP caption. Good for the bears! They were here long before the advent of doughnuts!
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili still doesn’t like Kulka, and probably never will. Here she tattles on Kulka!
Hili: Feline dignity must be defended with claws.A: Against whom?Hili: Against Kulka. She is hiding under the stairs.
Hili: Kociej godności trzeba bronić pazurami. Ja: Przed kim?Hili: Przed Kulką, schowała się pod schodami.
And a photo of the despiséd baby Kulka:
******************
From Jesus of the Day:
From the Absurd Sign Project 2.0. Given my experience with British sandwiches and coffee, I’m betting this is from the UK:
From Merilee. And I doubt that they all sound like “quack!”. (“Coin” in French, though, sounds like “qwaaaa”.)
Masih makes a power plea for Western feminists to pay attention to the oppression of women in Iran and Afghanistan (sound up):
It's one year since #MahsaAmini's death in police custody sparked protests across Iran. In May, @AlinejadMasih spoke powerfully about the situation of women in Iran and Afghanistan at the @sirharrysummit. https://t.co/srNarzhlGA
— Durham University (@durham_uni) September 18, 2023
Barry says he cannot figure out this flag. Can you?
I am both an American and a Cultural Anthropologist who specializes in semiotics and religion.
I do not understand what is going on in this flag.
At all. pic.twitter.com/JGzjwMs5mh
— Dr. Holly Walters (@Manigarm) September 18, 2023
Titania is still tweeting; check the third panel.
This empowering book for young children reminds us that leather fetishists are some of the most oppressed people in society.
If Rosa Parks were alive today, she’d be wearing a gimp suit. ✊🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/hsZtn6HadB
— Titania McGrath (@TitaniaMcGrath) June 2, 2023
All the winners are biological men (see the summary here), who win money for their efforts. Biological women who are “nonbinary” didn’t stand a chance.
See official results here:https://t.co/skJa3PiJPP
— Margo 🏃♀️ (@is_a_woman) September 17, 2023
Did you know this? Ms. from the British Museum:
Papyrus of Ahmose or Mathematical Rhind (1500 BC); an oldest Manuscript written in Algebra and Trigonometry.
Manuscript shows that Egyptians used first-order equations and solved them in several ways. They also know quadratic equations and solve them. They also know numerical… pic.twitter.com/DfGruw15KX
— Archaeo – Histories (@archeohistories) September 18, 2023
From the Auschwitz Memorial, a man of Ukrainian origin gassed upon arrival. He was 77.
19 September 1865 | A Jewish man, Abraham Joseph Zousman, was born in Bardichev. He emigrated to Belgium.
He arrived at #Auschwitz on 26 October 1942 in a transport of Jews deported from Malines / Mechelen. After the selection he was murdered in a gas chamber. pic.twitter.com/Uevf13V5hx
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) September 19, 2023
From Cate. A game of fetch—with a beluga!
This man is playing fetch with a Beluga Whale. This is INCREDIBLE.
We honestly don't deserve these Majestic Creatures.
Protect them at all costs. pic.twitter.com/iQjdctRT8l
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) September 8, 2023
Tweets from Dr. Cobb. First, a cool trick. Try it–it’s easy!
Hold your hand out straight to the camera or person you are performing for.Line other hand directly behind and move it towards front hand, In one motion put the fingers of back hand in between the front hand fingers.Close front hand into a fist while pulling the back hand back👍 pic.twitter.com/5w80J23rBl
— jim rose circus (@jimrosecircus1) September 17, 2021
You can’t blame AI for this one; it took the phrase literally.
AI created image from the phrase, “Jesus flipping over the tables in the temple.” pic.twitter.com/DgXNodYbES
— Rick Lee James (@RickLeeJames) September 16, 2023
How does one evaluate this (the WSJ is paywalled for me)? Graduates of prestigious colleges will indeed tend to earn more, but mostly because prestigious colleges recruit the most capable students. So what’s the control sample? How does one find a control sample that is matched for the ability of the student intake?
Let me guess, they’re doing the usual blank-slateist thing of presuming that all kids are the same, and then attributing all of the difference in salaries to the “added value” of the college?
Not only are they the best students but they tend to also be from well connected families who can get them good jobs right out of school. I think a better metric would be how much the income of the graduate deviates from the income of their parents. Colleges that provide more upward mobility get ranked higher.
Great suggestion, Neil.
There’s an archived copy of the WSJ article here: https://archive.ph/ZfM79
Enough slanders on British food! Unless the UK has started using dollars, I think you might lay blame for that pathetic pizza a little closer to home.
Related thought: I read the other day that the only way to survive what has become of French food is to eat breakfast three times a day. And then I thought about it—is it not the case that any national cuisine is best coped with by eating breakfast three times a day?
Agreed. Sandwiches in Britain are a lot different than they were a few decades ago. Having lived in both countries for a while, I’d say a good British sandwich far surpasses a “good” American one. The latter usually consists of identical layers of sliced meat, the height of gastronomic laziness.
And don’t get me started on curry…
The 3.99 price tag does indeed seem to be preceded by a $ rather than a £ 🙂
British food is marketted in grams only, ounces (oz) went out years ago
On this day:
1778 – The Continental Congress passes the first United States federal budget.
1796 – George Washington’s Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public.
1846 – Two French shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, experience a Marian apparition on a mountaintop near La Salette, France, now known as Our Lady of La Salette.
1852 – Annibale de Gasparis discovers the asteroid Massalia from the north dome of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte.
1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The siege of Paris begins. The city held out for over four months before surrendering.
1893 – In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.
1939 – World War II: The Battle of Kępa Oksywska concludes, with Polish losses reaching roughly 14% of all the forces engaged.
1940 – World War II: Witold Pilecki is voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp to gather and smuggle out information for the resistance movement.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Hürtgen Forest begins. It will become the longest individual battle that the U.S. Army has ever fought.
1946 – The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich.
1970 – Michael Eavis hosts the first Glastonbury Festival.
1982 – Scott Fahlman posts the first documented emoticons 🙂 and 🙁 on the Carnegie Mellon University bulletin board system.
1985 – A strong earthquake kills thousands and destroys about 400 buildings in Mexico City.
1985 – Tipper Gore and other political wives form the Parents Music Resource Center as Frank Zappa, John Denver, and other musicians testify at U.S. Congressional hearings on obscenity in rock music.
1991 – Ötzi the Iceman is discovered in the Alps on the border between Italy and Austria.
1995 – The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber manifesto.
2010 – The leaking oil well in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is sealed. [Four months, 4 weeks, and 2 days after the explosion that started the environmental disaster.]
2021 – The Cumbre Vieja volcano, on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, erupts. The eruption lasts for almost three months, ending on December 13.
2022 – The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is held at Westminster Abbey, London.
Births:
1560 – Thomas Cavendish, English naval explorer, led the third expedition to circumnavigate the globe (d. 1592).
1867 – Arthur Rackham, English illustrator (d. 1939).
1889 – Sarah Louise Delany, American physician and author (d. 1999).
1905 – Judith Auer, German World War II resistance fighter (d. 1944).
1911 – William Golding, British novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993).
1928 – Adam West, American actor and businessman (d. 2017).
1934 – Brian Epstein, English businessman, The Beatles manager (d. 1967).
1941 – Cass Elliot, American singer (d. 1974).
1945 – Kate Adie, English journalist and author.
1947 – Lol Creme, English musician, songwriter, and music video director.
1948 – Jeremy Irons, English actor.
1949 – Twiggy, English model, actress, and singer.
1952 – Nile Rodgers, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer.
1958 – Lita Ford, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
1963 – Jarvis Cocker, English singer-songwriter and guitarist.
1974 – Jimmy Fallon, American comedian and talk show host.
When I die, I’m leaving my body to science fiction:
1692 – Giles Corey, American farmer and accused wizard (b. c. 1612). [Crushed in an effort to force him to plead in the Salam witch trials. He died after three days of this torture, with his last words reportedly being “more weight”.]
1906 – Maria Georgina Grey, English educator, founded the Girls’ Day School Trust (b. 1816).
1942 – Condé Montrose Nast, American publisher, founded Condé Nast Publications (b. 1873).
1944 – Guy Gibson, Indian-English commander, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1918). [First Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the “Dam Busters” raid in 1943, resulting in the breaching of two large dams in the Ruhr area of Germany. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, in the aftermath of the raid in May 1943 and became the most highly decorated British serviceman at that time. He completed over 170 war operations before being killed in action at the age of 26.]
1973 – Gram Parsons, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1946).
1985 – Italo Calvino, Italian novelist, short story writer, and journalist (b. 1923). [A brilliant writer with an exceptional range.]
1998 – Patricia Hayes, English actress (b. 1909).
2003 – Slim Dusty, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1927).
2004 – Skeeter Davis, American singer-songwriter (b. 1931).
2006 – Martha Holmes, American photographer and journalist (b. 1923).
2008 – Earl Palmer, American rhythm and blues drummer (b. 1924).
2021 – Jimmy Greaves, English footballer (Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, national team), world champion (1966 FIFA World Cup) (b. 1940).
My inner misanthrope prompts me to highlight this sentence from one of the Xtweets today:
“We honestly don’t deserve these Majestic Creatures.”
The Egyptian math tweet is interesting but it really isn’t surprising that the culture that built the great pyramids had some understanding of how triangles work.
The flag is, I kid you not, to honor christian police dogs (‘Merican, of course)
One source is Ama*on, so, as with many of their products, the design may have some questionable features
What police department employs chihuahuas?
All I know: https://www.amazon.com/Gaotaju-Vertical-Chihuahua-Christian-Aesthetic/dp/B0B65HFHXX
The real explanation almost certainly rests on the facts that the folks flying the flag own at least one chihuahua, and the theme of said flag can be roughly interpreted as a dog being revealed as a revealed Christian.
Do Christian dogs go to heaven? What if Jesus was more of a cat guy?
Furthermore, since God did not create the Chihuahua he might abhor it as one of the twisted acts of man, who took the mighty wolf and inbred it into an insect.
What police department employs chihuahuas?
Titania is still tweeting; check the third panel.
It is claimed that there are various hidden queer theory messages in the book – and the author has previously said that he does indeed include hidden symbols in his work for close friends to appreciate.
The pepperoni pizza appears to be from Sprouts Farmers Market, an Arizona-based chain of ‘natural’ food stores (think of a cheaper Whole Foods).
I think I predicted a few months ago that ‘non-binary’ race categories would be swamped with mediocre male competitors. And now it’s happening.
I agree about the pepperoni pizza. If you go to sprouts.com and search for “frozen pepperoni pizza”, then click on the first result ( an organic Margherita pizza) and zoom in on the graphic logo at the top of the image, it’s clearly the same as in the image in question.
I don’t know how you figured this out, but I started with my best guess at what the ‘watermark’ said – “serouts market” and Sprouts’ homepage was the first Google result! Amazing.
That “Coyne of the Scientific Realm” piece was excellent – congratulations to our host and Luana. (A shame that the author called Star Trek’s Mr Spock “Dr Spock” and slipped an erroneous apostrophe into the final sentence, though.)
It seems that whether animals (especially pet dogs) can go to heaven is something that worries Christians (deep thinkers). One truth is that only man is accountable to the creator and that animals (men are not animals) only exist in the physical realm. No heaven for Chihuahua. No hell too, so I wouldn’t be worried if I were a Chihuahua.
Other truths differ. I read somewhere that there is something in the book of truths about wolves, sheep, leopards, and goats living together in God’s kingdom. Even if it is true, and true it must be, it does not mean that your pet dog will be there.
We shall have to wait and see.
It’s Isaiah 11:6:
The same sentiment is doubless expressed similarly elsewhere in the book, given its repetitive nature…
I once had a Sunday school teacher who explained there would also be dinosaurs in heaven “all god’s creatures” but they wouldn’t be mean. All of us youngsters ate that up like a T. Rex eating a goat. 😉
Yet it does highlight the desperation in which adults try and lure credulous children into their crazy superstitions.
For a few days now, I’ve been getting an annoying pop-up message (takes a few tries to get rid of it), telling me to subscribe to keep reading and access the full archive. I’ve “subscribed” via an RSS feed for years. I don’t want to get an email every time something new pops up.
Does anyone else see this?
It is really annoying.
Yes! I was thinking of mentioning that too. It’s quite annoying to encounter it virtually every time I come to the site and it is not easy to get rid of for some reason.
I just figured it is something new with wordpress. I just click continue or something and it goes back to the top of the post and I have to scroll down to comments. Very strange. It is kind of asking you to subscribe every time you go to comments?
I was going to mention this too, once our host gets back from Israel. The annoying message (and its annoying habit of taking you back to the top of the post) seem to go away the second time I go to comments.
Yeah, I think Jerry knows about this, but I’m not entirely sure. It’s been happening to me for a couple weeks. WordPress is wonky.
Yes, it is a really irksome issue.
Race results summary:
AVERAGE TIME
MEN 1:29:13
WOMEN 1:43:50
NON-BINARY 1:29:44
OVERALL 1:35:48
No SD supplied but those means look kind of binary to me.
Does one run faster with abdomen exposed?
I can’t remember the details, but when a similar result occurred in another race someone suggested – apparently in all seriousness – that there should be separate prizes for “non-binary (male)” and “non-binary (female)”. I guess that makes as much sense as anything else to do with this idiocy.
“The whale in the video is actually already well-known: it’s Hvaldimir, a beluga whale presumed escaped from a Russian military facility. He turned up in the waters off the fishing village of Tufjord, on an island at the northern tip of Norway in April this year. He had a harness attached to his body labelled with the words, ‘Equipment of St Petersburg’, and harassed fishermen’s boats by approaching them and tugging on straps and ropes hanging off the sides. Cetacean experts eventually managed to undo the harness, and have been tracking the whale’s movements ever since.”
https://observers.france24.com/en/20191113-norway-cute-viral-video-whale-rugby-fetch
The Pythagorean relation was known to the Babylonians and the Chinese before the Egyptians, but there is no record that any of them had a general proof of it. It worked, and they used it. There is a single Chinese diagram that proved it specifically for the 3-4-5 triangle, but that’s all. What the Greeks contributed was the concept of logical proof of general statements, finally turning it into a theorem. They created mathematics as we know it today.
The Rhind Papyrus is full of procedures for solving specific sets of equations, but is devoid of any logical arguments for the validity of those procedures.
Brings to mind learning calculus. The first segment was learning all of the tedious, pages long proofs that calculus is based on. (That’s what the Greeks did.) It was more than enough to turn one off of calculus for good. But once past that it was the easiest math course I had in high school.
Maybe 25 years ago, at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Washington, I spent 10 minutes watching a seagull (a volunteer, of course, not a zoo resident) repeatedly dropping a pebble into the beluga tank, and a beluga repeatedly retrieving it and putting it on the ledge at the edge of the tank. They both seemed to be having a great time. Likewise the human onlookers.l
“Jesus flipping over the tables” is brilliant. Solid gold. I laughed so hard!