Tuesday: Hili dialogue

March 25, 2025 • 6:45 am

Welcome to the Cruelest Day: Tuesday,  March. 25, 2025, and International Waffle Day. The home of the waffle in America is, of course, Waffle House, with more than 2,000 locations.  Here’s Anthony Bourdain with Sean Brock eating at the Waffle House for the first time. Bourdain was dubious, but, as you’ll see, liked it! It’s the quintessence of America.

It’s also Pecan Day (see pecan waffle above), National Lobster Newburg Day, and National Medal of Honor Day, honoring the recipients of the nation’s highest military honor.  My father was friends with one medalist: Lew Millett, who led the last American bayonet charge during the Korean War.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the March 21 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*At the NYT’s “The Conversation” between Bret Stephens and Gail Collins, they talk about many things, including Chuck Schumer:

Gail: About Schumer, by the way: I think we agree that he did the right thing in voting with the Trumpians to keep the government operating. I’ve always liked Schumer and the things he stood for. But should he continue to be Senate minority leader? If so, he has to rally the Democrats around a serious message of reform. And by that I don’t mean tax cuts.

Bret: Schumer did something genuinely brave: He took a bullet for his party. A government shutdown would have been blamed on the Democrats, giving Trump the talking point that the absence of government was wholly the result of the Democrats caring more for ideology than they do for the country. And it would have given the president carte blanche to decide for himself what parts of the government he deems critical — and which parts are even more disposable.

Gail: Absolute agreement.

Bret: The larger question you raise is whether Schumer is the right messenger for reform. And I guess my answer is whether the next Democratic leader will be someone in the Elizabeth Warren progressive mold or a centrist like Colorado’s Michael Bennet. If the former, I’d say to Chuck: Hold on with your fingernails.

So who would you prefer as the reformer? And what would be your message of reform?

Gail: Tough question, which the Democrats in Congress are far from together answering. I’d love to see the caucus acknowledge that it’s not a bad thing to cut some funding for programs that haven’t been trimmed down in a while. After coming up with new plans to accomplish the original goals.

I’m pretty much with Stephens on this one. Schumer did a brave thing that also helped the Democrats, although the “progressives” are now screaming for him to resign. That’s misguided. And I also agree with Stephens about Bennet over Warren. I’ve never trusted Warren since she lied about her “indigenous” background.

*This morning, based on some news that the gene-sequencing/ancestry company 23andMe is going belly-up, I went over to the site, signed in, and told them to eliminate all my data before they sell it to some other company (there’s already been a data breach at that company).  Now the WSJ tells us that the company is filing for bankruptcy:

23andMe, the buzzy consumer technology startup that convinced millions of people to spit into test tubes to determine their ancestry, filed for bankruptcy late Sunday night and announced the resignation of its chief executive.

Shares dropped about 50% Monday after the late Sunday bankruptcy filing. It marks a stunning fall for a health technology company that more than 15 million consumers have used to gain new insight into their lineage and health risks.

CEO Anne Wojcicki, who is stepping down from her position but remaining on the board, has so far tried unsuccessfully to rescue the business by buying it back.

Wojcicki said in a late Sunday post on X that she still aims to buy the company’s assets. “I remain committed to our long-term vision of being a global leader in genetics and establishing genetics as a fundamental part of healthcare ecosystems worldwide,” she wrote.

23andMe traded at $0.91 per share early Monday afternoon, the second time its stock has fallen below $1. The company did a reverse 20:1 share split in October to boost its price above the threshold needed to comply with listing requirements for Nasdaq.

The company said its chapter 11 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri is “the best path forward to maximize the value of the business.”

23andMe’s global database has grown into a virtually unprecedented repository of human genetic information that could be sold in bankruptcy proceedings.

Why did it go bankrupt? Because of a bad business model:

Six years ago, 23andMe was one of the hottest startups in the world. Its tests had won the support of the Food and Drug Administration, and, with an affordable price tag, became popular Christmas stocking stuffers.

Accounts of test-takers discovering life-altering details about their lineage—siblings they never knew or finding unknown parents—led to news stories and namechecks on Saturday Night Live and in a chart-topping song. Its tagline “welcome to you” sold users on the promise of learning more about themselves.

But 23andMe never solved its central business problem: Customers only need to take its DNA test once.

It tried alternative business strategies, including selling subscriptions, but those never caught on. It also sought to license its data to outside pharmaceutical companies to help with their drug-development efforts. But there, too, it struggled to find significant recurring revenue.

I’m glad I got rid of my data, as it includes personal details as well as DNA sequences. I know what I need to know already (I’m 98% Ashkenazi Jew and the other 2% Eastern European, probably Jew as well), and that is all ye need to know.

*An article in the Friends of Animals tells us that it’s time to stop hunting ducks.

I get a kick out of seeing mallards upend themselves, tail feathers to the sky, while they search for tasty plants and insects. I don’t take it for granted that I can see these ducks, as well as osprey, blue heron, kingfishers, cardinals, robins, tufted titmouse, and other birds whenever I want at this marvelous land trust property.

That’s why it was troubling to learn this week that ducks, who were once a conservation bright spot, are now declining in the U.S., according to the 2025 State of the Birds Report released by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI). The report reveals the total number of dabbling and diving ducks is down about 30% from 2017. Loss of grasslands habitat and a prolonged drought affecting the wetlands of the Great Plains’ prairie pothole region have taken a toll, the report says.

Among all the waterfowl, numbers are down 20% since 2014, the report found. Overall, at least 112 North American bird species have lost more than half their populations in the past 50 years.

Commenting on the report, co-author Mike Brasher of the duck-hunting group, Ducks Unlimited, said, “These are the very real consequences if we are unable to conserve and protect the crucial habitats that birds need.”

Of course, Friends of Animals agrees that we need to protect wetlands and grasslands, but how about not shooting ducks? How about banning duck hunting in the U.S. and then studying their populations?

Brasher conveniently neglects to mention hunting as a stressor on ducks, since Ducks Unlimited was founded by hunters in 1937. The majority of DU’s financial contributors and 90 percent of its members are hunters.

If that weren’t the case, perhaps we’d see “Stop Shooting Ducks” at the top of the list of the of actions people can take to help protect birds in decline. It’s sickening to know that people can shoot mergansers, mallards, pintails and gadwalls for fun, the creatures that make the preserve near me so magical.

I sent the article to my friend Jim, who commented, with a point: ”

But the duck article failed to mention how hunting fees pay for habitat, or how daily limits are set based on population sizes, which to me says that the author knew the conclusion before ever starting.  Back in the 1980s, you could shoot 10 pintails in a day (if those were your only ducks).  The population plummeted, and the limit has been 1 pintail per day for a couple of decades.  Next year, it looks like it will go to 3 here.  I can assure you that any attempt to ban duck hunting will result in an ever stronger support of the Republican party.  Of course, an attempt to ban hunting of any kind will never get off the ground – hunting is a sport for the elite and wealthy, who can influence politics.

All I know is that I personally could not shoot a duck.

*Arizona state legislatures appear to be largely immune from criminal and civil charges if they’re committed when the legislature is in session. Now there will be a bill about this insupportable regulation. It’s not just traffic tickets, either.

Soon after his black sedan was clocked speeding 18 miles an hour over the limit through a western-themed town north of here, Arizona state Sen. Mark Finchem (R) wanted to make sure he would not be treated like an ordinary person.

Writing on his office letterhead, Finchem sought assurances from a police chief that he would be spared from a traffic ticket. He cited a provision in the state constitution that shields lawmakers from certain penalties while the legislature is in session.

“Perhaps the officer is unaware of the law in this regard,” he wrote about his Jan. 25 citation. “For my part, I was unaware that the stretch of the road I was driving on was 30 MPH … Regardless, under Article 4, Part 2, Section 6 of the Arizona Constitution, I ask that the citation be voided and stricken from the record.”

The senator was one of three MAGA Republicans in the state pulled over for speeding over the past year who benefited from legislative immunity that either shielded them from punishment or delayed it.

By using the law in their favor, they have sparked debate about the fairness of a constitutionally enshrined justice system that protects those in power from the same type of immediate consequences their constituents face every day. Their moves have been received by some members of their own party and Democrats as evidence they were acting with impunity. Supporters of the immunity provision say it ensures that those in power cannot use the law — even in the form of traffic violations — to target critics.

But a Republican Arizona House member wants to end the two-tiered justice system for traffic scofflaws. Rep. Quang Nguyen has introduced a resolution that would let voters decide during the 2026 midterm election whether lawmakers should continue to be immune from traffic violations while they are in session. The resolution passed the House this month with bipartisan support, but its fate in the Senate is unclear.

And it’s not just traffic violations, either:

In Arizona, legislators are free from arrest and questioning in all cases except for treason, felony and breach of the peace, starting 15 days before the legislature convenes and lasting throughout the session. In 2011, police said a Republican senator claimed immunity after a fight with his girlfriend; he disputed the allegation, according to press reports. He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge.

The upcoming bill should prevent immunity for all violations, not just traffic tickets. Oh, and it’s not just in Arizona:

In 1996, a Virginia Republican state lawmaker invoked the privilege during the legislative session after exposing himself in a Richmond park. He got a charge of indecent exposure against him thrown out, but it was reinstated after the General Assembly adjourned, according to press reports. In 2019, a Democratic lawmaker from West Virginia claimed the privilege and then avoided a misdemeanor charge after he was accused of forcefully opening a door into a capitol employee and elbowing a colleague.

Nobody, but nobody, should be immune from the law, and that includes the President. If America means anything, it is supposed to mean that we are all equal under the law.

*A while back, an 18-carat solid gold toilet was stolen from Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill. But at least two potty thieves have been arrested and now convicted. You can see the toilet in the video below:

A thief who swiped a golden toilet from an English palace was convicted Tuesday along with an accomplice who helped cash in on the spoils of the 18-carat work of art insured for nearly 5 million pounds (more than $6 million).

Michael Jones had used the fully functioning one-of-a-kind latrine as he did reconnaissance at Blenheim Palace — the country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born — the day before the theft, prosecutors said. He described the experience as “splendid.”

He returned before dawn on Sept. 14, 2019, with at least two other men armed with sledgehammers and crowbars. They smashed a window and pried the toilet from its plumbing within five minutes, leaving a damaging flood in their wake as they escaped in stolen vehicles.

“This was an audacious raid which had been carefully planned and executed,” prosecutor Shan Saunders said. “But those responsible were not careful enough, leaving a trail of evidence in the form of forensics, CCTV footage and phone data.”

The purloined potty has never been recovered but is believed to have been cut up and sold.

As Wikipedia notes (it of course has an article on the precious potty), it was put in Blenheim Palace after being shown (and used) at the Guggenheim Museum:

Maurizio Cattelan created the toilet in 2016 for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. It was made in a foundry in Florence, cast in several parts that were welded together. Made to look like the museum’s other Kohler toilets, it was installed in one of the museum’s bathrooms for visitors to use.  A special cleaning routine was put in place.  The museum stated that the work was paid for with private funds.

According to the museum, over 100,000 people waited in line to use America, and a security guard was posted outside the bathroom. According to Cattelan, the work was made of 103 kilograms (227 lb) of gold, which in September 2019 was valued at more than four million dollars as bullion.  As an artwork, it has been estimated as high as six million.

In September 2017, when the museum declined a White House request to loan its 1888 Van Gogh painting Landscape with Snow for then President Donald Trump’s private rooms, curator Nancy Spector offered to loan America instead. Any reply by the White House was not reported.

In September 2019, America was installed at Blenheim Palace in the United Kingdom, where it was available for use as part of an exhibition of Cattelan’s works. It was placed in a water closet formerly used by Winston Churchill.

From Wikipedia, the precious john:

stu_spivack, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A video showing the theft is below. The toilet was apparently broken up and sold; it is an ex-commode, flushing in the Bathroom Invisible:

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is hunting for Kulka, but if she finds Baby Kulka, a hissing spat will ensue:

Andrzej: What are you doing?
Hili: I’m hunting for Kulka
In Polish:
Ja: Co ty robisz?
Hili: Poluję na Kulkę.

And here’s Baby Kulka; I hope Hili doesn’t find her!

*******************

From Jesus of the Day:

From Meow:

From The Absurd Sign Project:

Nine minutes of Masih telling Maria Bartiromo about the assassination attempts on her, as well as her views on the politics of the Middle East, particularly Iran.

From Luana, “Jerry, be nice.”

From Colin Wright, an absurdity:

And from Luana, a heartwarmer, at least to me.  Thank you, Simon.

Two from my feed. They’ll be afraid of this little guy soon enough:

Baby tigers!

From the Auschwitz Memorial, one that I reposted:

If this French Jewish boy, aged six, hadn't been murdered upon arrival at Auschwitz, today would be his 89th birthday.

— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2025-03-25T10:30:02.674Z

One from Matthew today; snow leopards!

Footage of four, rarely-seen snow leopards clambering up snowy cliffs in northern Pakistan has created a frenzy of excitement among conservationists.www.cnn.com/2025/03/18/a…

— Tom Fitton (@tomfitton.bsky.social) 2025-03-20T17:12:03.501Z

18 thoughts on “Tuesday: Hili dialogue”

  2. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
    There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the Establishment — and nothing more corrupting. -A.J.P. Taylor, historian (25 Mar 1906-1990)

  3. Immunity from arrest during the sitting of a legislature is common (at least in the Anglo world) and has a long history, going back to the English Parliaments of the sixteenth-century, at least. The idea is that the Monarch should not be able to intimidate legislators or interfere with votes with harassing arrests. As mentioned, such immunity only lasts while the legislature is in session.

  4. A few days ago, Jerry lamented the demise of the humble sloppy joe. I mentioned the post to my wife and, as she is prone to do, assuming I must mean or am suggesting something other than the literal and simple words I use, I found a dinner before me of sloppy joes—made with lentils! Delightfully talented cook that she is, I can now say with utmost confidence that it is neither the sloppiness nor the sauce that is lodged in the lip-licking recesses of childhood culinary memory.

    Perhaps today I should talk to her about Esther and Mordecai. But no hunting.

    2. I refuse to submit to DNA testing, if given a choice. At least until it becomes the general legal standard that nobody has the right to anyone’s genomic information without explicit and revocable permission. This restriction would include government agencies, insurance companies, and parents and any other relatives. The exception to restricted access would be for descendants, but they would need have the individual’s permission unless he or she is no longer living.

      This is unlikely to be enacted in my lifetime so they’ll not get my sequence voluntarily.

      Additionally, I find it appalling that a private entity can sell access to you most private information.

      2. A lot of questions raised in your comment, Eric.

        Submitting to DNA testing is always a choice. Except when it’s not, just like being searched or fingerprinted or photographed or being made to submit a specimen for drug and alcohol testing. Then, when there is a lawful reason to, the police will hold you down and do whatever test the law allows in the circumstances.

        For voluntary recreational or medical DNA testing you should be aware before submitting the specimen that no “private” information, even confidential medical information, is absolutely privileged. Some test results and diagnoses the doctor or lab must by statute report to various government public health, motor vehicle, or child protection agencies. Further, the Courts can order the production of any thing, including any piece of private personal information like DNA sequences, necessary to administer justice or, from the point of view of the defence, to prevent a miscarriage of justice.

        There is no possibility that DNA information would ever be granted some higher status that would empower you to prevent the holder from producing it when law enforcement or the defence team made a proper demand for it. You can’t compel the destruction of your own medical information held by a hospital, doctor, or lab as it is a legal record of care provided. You also can’t compel a business to delete its customer information about you, as the information serves a legitimate business purpose and they may need it to defend a lawsuit or document compliance with the law. If 23andMe allowed a customer to have his DNA deleted, it’s only because it said so. Your best course for privacy is not to do recreational testing at all.

        Otherwise privacy laws prevent DNA testing labs from releasing your information to any random curious person without your consent. Read carefully the contract you sign for any testing done for non-medical entertainment reasons to make sure you aren’t giving them consent to do exactly that. After all, the reason the Internet is mostly free is because almost all of us are happy just by clicking Yes to let companies sell our information to whomever wants to pay them for it.

        A life insurance company can’t snoop through your information files without your consent but if you didn’t want to share a piece of health information they asked for, including genetic information, they would decline to sell you the life insurance. Life insurance is a wager, and the company would conclude that you are hiding something that would stack the odds against it. (Commercial health insurance I know nothing about, being a foreigner.)

        It’s a good question who owns or will own 23andMe’s database after the bankruptcy dust settles, and what the owner’s responsibilities will be to its former customers. I will say I couldn’t care less about my DNA sequences. They are much less deeply private than my Internet search history. And no one will ever let me delete that.

  6. I, too, bailed at 23andme.

    Arizona (and elsewhere): so much for equality under the law.

    Finally, that’s some toilet! I’ve been following this story—not because I’m so interested, but simply because all the news outlets are covering it. Make sure to use non-abrasive cleaner if you want to prevent scratches.

  7. Wow! Our host’s father’s friend Lew Millett was a seriously brave guy.

    I see that he was also court-martialled for desertion – having become disillusioned with the failure of the US to fight in WWII he had deserted and hitchhiked to Canada, joined the Canadian Army, and served as an anti-aircraft radar operator in London during the Blitz. He transferred to the US Army in 1942, since the Americans had now started fighting, where his desertion came to light. A few weeks after his court-martial he was given a battlefield commission to second lieutenant.

  8. I wonder if Mr. Millett had a specific No Later Than date when the U.S. should have entered WW II.

  9. I remember PCC(E)’s fun with 23 and Me, though the results weren’t terribly surprising! Oy veh.
    My own ancestry is similar to his but with more missing spaces HOWEVER… as a former criminal lawyer I’ve always avoided genetic hobbies like 23/me. As some criminal cases have shown we’re really giving up info for more than just ourselves.

    And also.. personally.. I’m just not that interested in my genetic past.

    There’s no right answer here of course and I did enjoy the Prof’s adventure as well as other friends’ family stories. (They have an equivalent for dogs now you know: is your mutt as “pure” as sold to you? We live in crazed times…).

    How the company is going BK – despite its huge stockpile of information on tens of millions (by association, hundreds of mil) of people… perplexes me as a person who used to work in finance and company valuations. I’d buy the company if I had the dosh…. for the IP-intellectual property haul alone!

    D.A.
    NYC

  11. It seems 23and me have nothing on the US war machine think(?) tank.
    …that would be in this case:
    Vice President JD Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and a few others… like a journo from the Atlantic.It’s a pity they didn’t invite Bill Maher in on the conversation for laughs.
    Rubbishing the Europeans, doing a strike no one asked for but let’s bill them, show the American tough guy image before they got pipped by the IDF.
    What movie are we watching here? and where’s Arney? we know where the wallys are. Cue the grinning Putin… LOL and ‘they’ don’t seem to give a toss.
    “This is America! Fuck Yeah! Team America World Police.

    2. Yeah, this is huge news, still making the rounds and gathering steam. Another proof of Trump administration’s amateur incompetence. People have gone to prison for less- “loose lips sink ships”. Trump et al. “nothing to see here…move along.” And it’s only been two months. Oh boy, what a shit show.

      I’m just happy JD Vance is now accompanying his wife to Greenland to shore up something or other. America has lost its “brand” and that is never a good thing. Look what’s happening to Tesla. FAFO

  12. I do have a notable event to mark. I was booking down the road, doing 50 in a 55 mph zone, looking for my turn off to a Wildlife Management area where I was going to hike, and the car behind me hung back, he didn’t crowd me, and I made my turn without cringing that I’d be hit. You should have been there.

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