Note: The Hili Dialogues will be truncated over the next few days as I figure out how to respond to the FFRF’s removal of my piece on biological sex. Bear with me; I do my best. I’m also not sure about readers’ wildlife and the Caturday felids.
Welcome to CaturSaturday, December 28, 2024, the fourth day of Coynezaa, which ends on the 30th, as well as National Chocolate Candy Day, which reminds me of this famous clip from “I Love Lucy”:
It’s also Call A Friend Day, National Card Playing Day, and Pledge of Allegiance Day, the latter celebrating our National Fealty to God (it was on this day in 1942 that Congress recognized the words of the pledge, but the “One Nation, Under God” bit was added only in 1954 in reaction to of Godless Communism.
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the December 19 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
*As always, I’ll steal three items from Nellie Bowles’s weekly news summary at the Free Press, call this week, “TGIF: Welcome to America, Greenland.” And as the items are short, I’ll steal one more as lagniappe:
→ Sinwar shirts: Until people noticed and got annoyed, Walmart was selling shirts online celebrating Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar with the not-at-all alarming URL: walmart.com/ip/Yahya-Sinwar-We-Will-Win-Or-Die-Shirt. Free shipping!
→ UN’s gonna UN: It was a busy year for the United Nations. It condemned Israel 17 times and condemned the rest of the world a combined six times, according to UN Watch. Afghanistan barred women from speaking, and the UN General Assembly couldn’t muster even one of their little fake resolution batons. Meanwhile, UNRWA, a Hamas front that calls itself part of the UN but is based in Gaza, is reportedly selling some of that desperately needed aid. The UN closes out the year stronger than ever.
→ Oh no, not flames! One Canadian headline writer was so determined to avoid saying that an arsonist firebombed a synagogue that they instead wrote this:
Flames. After what they did to that woman on the subway, they’ve had quite a villainous week! And a “place of worship.” If your media company just uses words to accurately describe what is happening, you’re considered a wild, rebellious group of thought criminals.
→ Gaetz situation unfortunate all around: The House Ethics Committee finally released its report on Matt Gaetz this week, giving America a Christmas gift that nobody asked for but everyone expected. The committee found evidence that Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex and drugs, but also for companionship and tenderness. They allege it happened on at least 20 different occasions, one of which involved a 17-year-old girl, violating Florida state laws. This really caught me off guard. Paying minors for sex is illegal in Florida? Gaetz’s die-hard fans (who are these people?) defended him, arguing that two key witnesses against Gaetz have serious credibility issues, which, frankly, no surprises there, since they are 17? There’s nothing I didn’t lie about at that age. My question: Who do you think witnessed Gaetz at his Diddy freak-off–like parties? Honest church ladies? Think again. Gaetz, for his part, released a statement: “It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank, and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.”
He’s just an average frat boy, you see. Boys will be johns. And he’s repented, changed his ways. Nothing else to it. Embarrassing? Yes. Criminal? Probably. I’ll let the dust settle on this one, but for now, my main takeaway is that congresspeople have enough money to spend tens of thousands of dollars on women and drugs and still have the gall to demand a raise. Washington at work, people.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili and Szaron are going to the salon:
A: What are you doing here?Hili: We are waiting for fur care.
Ja: Co tu robicie?Hili: Czekamy na pielęgnację futer.
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From reader Reese Vaughn, who reports, “Woodford got a catnip ball for Christmas.” That cat is baked!
From Now That’s Wild:
. . . and from Cat Memes:
If they’ve removed your piece, I think that the only way is a very public resignation from the board, taking as many others as you can with you.
Disagree. Resigning is a last act if all else fails….and maybe you should not resign but stay on the honorary board as a gadfly until thrown off. It does give you visibility. No, please keep fighting the good fight with your pen.
I agree with you — make them show their true colors by throwing you off. In my small town the newly-elected mayor resigned after some (possibly physical) pushback from newly-elected council members and so left us with a total mess. I wish he had taken it public and rallied supporters.
Yes, I agree. Best to stay and try and right the ship.
Based on my past experience writing them about mission creep with no palpable results, I have no confidence that I have ANY ability to “right the ship.”
You can have some impact, though.
Agreed.
Presence in the honorary board gives Prof. Coyne no visibility if they remove his texts. I think that, on the contrary, it gives them a fig leaf while tarnishing his reputation as implicitly agreeing with their lunacies.
No problem. I think that getting the FFRF gang straightened out with your thinking as a subject matter expert is really a first priority and should not be hurried. I look forward to your piece as it has as much value to WEIT readers as to the FFRF leadership and readers (some of us being both).
And regarding the pledge: i remember when the “”under god” was added and my first grade teacher pointed out that there must not be a pause between the words “one nation” and “under god” because it demonstrates the closeness of our nation to god. I can recall that after all these years.
They removed your article? Feckless.
How you handle this is important! Glad you’re taking your time crafting a reply. As for Yahya Sinwar and the rest of his ilk, the IDF is doing a great job of seeing they get the latter option.
I stopped giving money to FFRF several years ago because of this issue. I wrote them (very politely and succinctly) and told them why. There has been no response.
When I started school in January of 1962, I (of course) learned the Pledge of Allegiance. When I practiced it at home, my mother didn’t think it sounded right. It didn’t. She learned it in the early 1940’s, before “under God” had been added, and it didn’t sound right.
Regarding FFRF, I would reach out to my renowned scientist friends—particularly those who are members—and determine if something might be done together as a group. Other than writing a personal letter of protest, which would need to be done soon, a further action could come in due time. Obviously, the fact that they removed your letter is a travesty. Do what you think is right.
My mother told me that when she was a school kid in the 1930’s, they did not salute the flag by placing their hands over their hearts; instead, they they extended their right arms fully, in the “Roman” salute. (I have seen old photos of kids doing this.) For some reason, this changed after 1941.
Yes. Let Steven Pinker, Sam Harris and other public figures know, if they don’t already. FFRF action needs to be exposed to the light.
Gaetz is a toxic politician. Unwilling to have his sex adventures with minors exposed, he orchestrated the removal of Speaker McCarthy who was going to do it. Many, many thanks to the short-sighted Democrats who voted for it – though there are conspiracy theories that the motif has been more sinister than mere short-sightedness.
Then Speaker Johnson, following Trump’s commands, deprived Ukraine of US aid for more than half a year by simply not putting the act on vote. Ukrainians had to defend their country heavily outgunned. Many thousands died who otherwise would have lived, and Russia stepped on the winning track it still enjoys today.
‘Lord of the Rings’ should be “Smauggie’s jewelry store”