Welcome to Thursday, October 2, 2025, and Yom Kippur, which occupies all day and ends at sundown (it began at sunset yesterday). Considered the holiest day of the year by religious Jews, it’s the Day of Atonement, marked by fasting, praying, and confessing. There is no work for the very observant: no turning on ovens and lights, and no tearing of toilet paper (it must be pre-torn). You can eat after the sun goes down. As you’ll see below, the holiday didn’t deter a Brit from attacking a synagogue in Manchester.
Here’s a painting by Maurycy Gottlieb called “Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur.” Gottlieb died in 1879 at only 23. After he heard that a woman he desired, and who rejected his marriage proposal, wed another guy, Gottlieb, according to Wikipedia, “knowingly exposed himself to the elements, dying of complications from a cold and sore throat.” Now that is tragic unrequited love. As you see below, the guy had talent.
It’s also Audiophile Day, National Produce Misting Day, World Day for Farmed Animals, National Fried Scallops Day, International Day of Non-Violence, and National Poetry Day, but in the UK only.
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the October 2 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
*Obituaries first: The much-admired primatologist Jane Goodall has died at 91. (I saw her speak once, and the room, as always with her, was jammed.) From the WSJ:
Jane Goodall always remembered the first time a wild chimpanzee took a banana from her outstretched hand.
In that moment, she would often say, the chimp—a grizzled male she had dubbed David Greybeard—welcomed her into a community of humanity’s closest living relatives. It opened a relationship with wildlings that in due course upended scientific misconceptions about chimpanzees and turned her into a global icon of conservation.
As an untrained young woman in the summer of 1960, she first ventured into the forests of what is now Gombe National Park near Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania to study chimpanzees, equipped with little more than a notebook, a pair of binoculars and almost infinite patience. For five months, though, the wary creatures evaded her. In fact, no one had ever been able to study them at close hand.
By winning Greybeard’s trust, she gained entry to the troop of wild chimps that became the focus of her life’s work. “The chimps had accepted me. And gradually I was able to penetrate further and further into a magic world that no human had ever explored before: The world of the wild chimpanzees,” she said in a 2017 documentary.
Goodall died Wednesday in California, according to a social-media post by the Jane Goodall Institute. She was 91 years old.
. . . .“At that time in the early 1960s, it was held at least by many scientists that only humans had minds,” she said. “Only humans were capable of rational thought. Fortunately I had not been to university and I did not know these things. I felt very much as though I was learning about fellow beings capable of joy and sorrow, fear and jealousy.”
Once in their confidence, she quickly discovered that chimpanzees like David Greybeard made and used tools, a talent then considered uniquely human. Her revelation rocked the research world. “My observations at Gombe would challenge human uniqueness and whenever that happens there is always a violent uproar,” she said. Inspired by her meticulous fieldwork, scientists have since cataloged at least 10 primate species of monkeys and apes and 30 species of birds, thought to use sticks, rocks or leaves as tools. Goodall also discovered chimps had lasting relationships between family members that extended beyond mother-infant bonds.
She learned, too, that chimpanzees weren’t vegetarians, as animal experts had believed, but avid meat-eaters. She was dismayed to discover that these chimps also were capable of warfare, infanticide and cannibalism. “I thought they were like us, but nicer than us,” she said. “Then suddenly we found that chimpanzees could be brutal—that they, like us, had a darker side to their nature.” Her findings revolutionized primatology, and laid the foundation for other women researchers, like Dian Fossey, to later take the lead in the field.
Here she is celebrating World Chimpanzee Day last year (listening time: 8:40).
. . . and a famous Gary Larson cartoon about Goodall and the chimps. See the second paragraph, and read the whole story here, including the Jane Goodall Institute’s strong letter of offense.
*The U.S. government is still shut down since Congress can’t reach a deal on a budget that satisfies both parties. Trump, with his usual retribution, has punished Democratic states by freezing some of their funds.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday froze $26 billion for Democratic-leaning states, following through on a threat to use the government shutdown to target Democratic priorities.
The targeted programs included $18 billion for transit projects in New York, home to Congress’s top two Democrats, and $8 billion for green-energy projects in 16 Democratic-run states, including California and Illinois.
Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, warned that the administration might extend its purge of federal workers if the shutdown lasts more than a few days.
The moves made clear that Trump would carry out his threat to take advantage of the shutdown to punish his political opponents and extend his control over the $7 trillion federal budget, established by the U.S. Constitution as the domain of Congress.
“Billions of dollars can be saved,” he wrote on Truth Social late on Wednesday.
The government shutdown, the 15th since 1981, suspended scientific research, financial oversight, environmental cleanup efforts and a wide range of other activities.
Some 750,000 federal workers were ordered not to work, while others, such as troops and Border Patrol agents, began to work without pay. The Department of Veterans Affairs said it would provide burials at national cemeteries, but would not erect headstones or mow the grass.
Vance said at a White House briefing that the administration would be forced to resort to layoffs if the shutdown lasts more than a few days, adding to the 300,000 who will be pushed out by December. Previous shutdowns have not resulted in permanent layoffs.
. . . . Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, said the funding freeze for subway and harbor projects in his home of New York would throw thousands out of work.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, also from New York, said Trump was targeting regular Americans for partisan aims.
“He is using the American people as pawns, threatening pain on the country as blackmail,” Schumer said.
Great—punishing Democratic states for the shutdown. Is that even legal? If you want to know why the country remained divided, the buck stops at the White House. But, sadly for Trump, the American public is, according to the Washington Post, largely blaming Republicans for the shutdown:
By a 17-percentage-point margin, the poll found more saying Trump and Republicans are responsible for the partial government shutdown than Democrats in Congress, while a sizable 23 percent say they are not sure. In an open-ended question, those blaming Trump and Republicans cited a refusal to compromise, the party’s control of the presidency and Congress, and Trump’s actions. People who blamed Democrats also criticized the party for refusing to compromise or said that they always oppose Trump’s actions. Some also echoed false claims by Trump and Republicans that Democratic lawmakers are trying to force the government to offer full health care benefits to people who are in the country illegally.
The Post’s figures:
*Speaking of Trump, he’s pulled another doozie, asking 9 colleges to sign a pledge to abide by Trumpish principles, and, if they do, they get big benefits. Oy! Have a gander at this:
The White House on Wednesday sent letters to nine of the nation’s top public and private universities, urging campus leaders to pledge support for President Trump’s political agenda to help ensure access to federal research funds.
The letters came attached to a 10-page “compact” that serves as a sort of priority statement for the administration’s educational goals — the most comprehensive accounting to date of what Mr. Trump aims to achieve from an unparalleled, monthslong pressure campaign on academia.
The compact would require colleges to freeze tuition for five years, cap the enrollment of international students and commit to strict definitions of gender. Among other steps, universities would also be required to change their governance structures to prohibit anything that would “punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”
Colleges that sign the agreement would receive “multiple positive benefits,” according to a letter included with the compact signed by Education Secretary Linda McMahon; Vince Haley, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; and May Mailman, the White House’s senior adviser for special projects.
Colleges that agree would get priority access to federal funds and looser restraints on overhead costs. Signed compacts would also serve as assurance to the government that schools are complying with civil rights laws. Federal civil rights investigations have been used to halt much of the research funding that the administration has blocked so far this year.
Letters on Wednesday were sent to the University of Arizona, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia.
The nine schools declined to comment or did not immediately respond to messages late on Wednesday.
Again, is this legal? Three of the schools mentioned are private schools, and I can assure you that at least one, Vanderbilt, will not only refuse, but do so strongly. Yes, changes should be made in these colleges, but not under the gun, and not with the promise of a big carrot at the end. Clearly Trump wants to see if he can control the University system in America–and beyond his term (five years). That of course will change if we elect a Democratic President in 2028.
*Greta Thunberg and her Global Flotilla were, as expected, intercepted by the Israeli Navy. This was inevitable, though I’m glad there was no violence.
Israel intercepted more than a dozen boats with activists from around the world who were part of a flotilla trying to bring humanitarian goods to Gaza and protest the war there, according to statements from organizers early on Thursday morning.
More than 150 activists from more than 20 countries had been detained, and about 30 boats are still making their way to Gaza, flotilla organizers said. Those boats are about 46 nautical miles from the enclave’s shores, the group said.
The Israeli foreign ministry had said on Wednesday night that “several” vessels had been safely stopped and that the passengers were being transferred to an Israeli port. The ministry posted a video that showed the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, one of the passengers, calmly engaging with a person wearing military gear.
The boats are part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, run by activists protesting Israel’s war in Gaza by trying to deliver food and other goods to the enclave, in defiance of a longstanding Israeli blockade. Parts of Gaza have been suffering from famine in recent months, according to a United Nations-backed panel of food experts, whose findings Israel has rejected.
A video posted by flotilla organizers shows Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist on the group’s steering committee, on one of the boats, responding to an audible demand to turn back by saying that the group was on a humanitarian mission and carried only food, medical supplies and items like water filters.
The flotilla organizers said that Israeli naval forces had “illegally intercepted and boarded” boats in international waters, calling it “an illegal attack on unarmed humanitarians.” They also posted video showing some boats being targeted by water cannons.
The office of Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, dismissed the flotilla’s efforts as a public relations “stunt” in a statement on Wednesday night and said passengers would be promptly deported.
Countries whose citizens had participated eventually urged the Flotilla to stop:
After those episodes, Italy and Spain sent naval ships to accompany the flotilla for parts of its journey, and Turkey had drones monitor the boats and document potential attacks.
But as the flotilla drew closer to Israel, those countries urged its members to turn back.
On Wednesday, the Greek and Italian foreign ministries issued a joint appeal asking the group to transfer its aid supplies to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which would deliver it on their behalf. They said they were concerned that the activists could jeopardize the peace plan that the United States proposed on Monday.
“At this delicate juncture, everyone must refrain from initiatives that could be exploited by those who still reject peace,” they wrote.
Spanish officials also called on the boats not to proceed farther into what Israel described as a closed military zone because doing so would “severely jeopardize their own security,” according to Spain’s state broadcaster.
Here’s that Israeli video showing Greta being given water and a jacket (not hers)
Already several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port.
Greta and her friends are safe and healthy. pic.twitter.com/PA1ezier9s— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 1, 2025
And a video of the interception, with interviews with the activists:
There are more ships in the flotilla; they will also be stopped. Given that Israel offered to deliver the aid from the flotilla to Gaza (see video above), it’s clear that this was more than an attempt to convey humanitarian aid; it was an attempt to break the blockade and humiliate Israel. That’s wasn’t ever going to happen (the blockage was not a violation of international law, and if you thought Greta & Co. would set foot get on Gazan soil, you don’t know Israel. Another issue raised above is that a landing may have jeopardized the peace talks, which are at a delicate stage.
I suspect that Greta will find a new cause since global warming isn’t cutting the mustard for her any more, and she cannot bear being out of the limelight.
*Finally, Matthew reports, via the Guardian, that in his town of Manchester a synagogue was just attacked and four people, presumably Jewish, stabbed and injured by the suspect’s vehicle (he was shot).. This was on Yom Kippur the holiest day of the year. Bolding is the Guardian’s:
Police say suspect shot after four people suffered injuries caused by car and stabbings
Greater Manchester Police said a suspect has been shot and four people have suffered injuries caused by a vehicle and stabbings at a synagogue in Crumpsall, north of the city.
The force said:
Police were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, on Middleton Road, Crumpsall, at 9.31am by a member of the public, stating he had witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public, and one man had been stabbed.
GMP declared PLATO and a major incident at 9.37am. Shots were fired by Greater Manchester Police firearms officers at 9.38am. One man has been shot, believed to be the offender.
Paramedics arrived at the scene at 9.41am and are tending to members of the public, currently four members of the public with injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds.
Members of the public are asked to avoid the area while the police continue to deal with the incident.
. . . .The nature of the target and attack led to increases in security away from Manchester.
In London, home to a significant part of Britain’s Jewish community, the Metropolitan police has increased patrols around Jewish religious and cultural sites, a source said, as a precaution.
Police assets are being deployed to synagogues across the country, says Starmer:
Keir Starmer has said “additional police assets are being deployed to synagogues across the country”.
Speaking before he flew back from Copenhagen to chair an emergency Cobra meeting on the incident, the prime minister said:
The attack in Manchester this morning is absolutely shocking, and all of our thoughts are with those affected.
I am on my way back to London. When I arrive, I will chair an emergency Cobra meeting. I’m already able to say that additional police assets are being deployed to synagogues across the country, and we will do everything to keep our Jewish community safe.
I’ve spoken to Mark Gardner of the CST [Community Security Trust], and Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester.
I want to thank the emergency services for the speed of their response.
Remember, this is on Yom Kippur. Matthew noted that it is “Just possible it was a coked0up driver who got angry at the crowds (that’s what happened in Liverpool a few months back at a football parade) but I presume it’s some antisemitic bastard. Hence the knife.” We shall see. Imagine being a Jew and feel that nearly the whole world hates you. And they hate you even if you have nothing to do with the war in Gaza.
UPDATE: Reader Jez says two of the attacked are now confirmed dead and, unofficially, the attacker.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili sits by the firewood:
Andrzej: We need more warmth.
Hili: Statistically or actually?
In Polish:
Ja: Potrzeba nam więcej ciepła.
Hili: Statystycznie czy realnie?
*******************
From CinEmma:
From The 2025 Darwin Awards!!!/Epic Fails!!!:
From The Language Nerds:
J. K. Rowling breaks her silence on Emma Watson’s many criticisms of Rowling’s views over the years. Apparently Watson has recently been making nice towards JKR. It’s a long post from Rowling, and not too friendly to Watson:
I’m seeing quite a bit of comment about this, so I want to make a couple of points.
I’m not owed eternal agreement from any actor who once played a character I created. The idea is as ludicrous as me checking with the boss I had when I was twenty-one for what opinions I should… https://t.co/c0pz19P7jc
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 29, 2025
This tweet links to an hourlong conversation between Steve Pinker and Coleman Hughes, apparently dealing largely with Steve’s new book:
I was honored to chat with Coleman Hughes at the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village in his series “Conversations with Coleman.” You can watch the video here: Steven Pinker on How Common Knowledge Rules Our Lives https://t.co/UymFzOQrHi
— Steven Pinker (@sapinker) September 29, 2025
I asked Simon, who now stays on Bluesky, to send me a post that doesn’t make fun of Trump (either that’s all there is over there or Simon is fixated on Trump). He said about this one, “I took me some searching, but here’s one.”
How many of you didn't get the reference? #booksky #bluesky #blacksky
From Malcolm. I may have posted this before; if so, skip it, but I find it mesmerizing:
A bird house with a solar powered camera inside was installed at the Historic Cemetery in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Here’s what happened next.
[📹 historiceastoncemetery]pic.twitter.com/gIB9ruuJoC
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 13, 2025
One from my feed, depicting great relief (I’ve never seen geese on a Polish train):
The passenger who got on the train in Poland, when he noticed the goose he had forgotten behind, he went back and took it and everyone took a deep breath.
— Enezator 1 Mn (@Enezator) September 30, 2025
One I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:
2 October 1934 | A Jewish girl, Klara Weisz, was born in Milan. A daughter of Arpad Weisz, a Hungarian Jewish football player and coach.In October 1942, she was deported to Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber with her mother and brother. Arpad perished in the camp in January 1944.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@auschwitzmemorial.bsky.social) 2025-10-02T14:00:39.046371863Z
Two posts from Matthew. Look this moth! Its wing patterns are said to resemble a fly eating bird droppings, so it may be cryptic.
MOST importantly, I found a single specimen of Macrocilix nr. maia in the unsorted/pro tempore section, the magnum opus of visual ecology
— Ainsley S (@americanbeetles.bsky.social) 2025-09-04T17:45:14.152Z
Yee haw! A raccoon riding a wild pig!
South Texas game cam catches a raccoon riding a javelina (Dicotyles tajacu).The deer feeder corn attracts a lot of other species, but maybe we should worry about them all teaming up against us?(📷: Jeff Davis, TAMU-Kingsville alumni forum)
— c0nc0rdance (@c0nc0rdance.bsky.social) 2025-09-25T14:50:20.652Z
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 Oct 1869-1948)
There’s a fair likelihood that it wasn’t a British person, but a Muslim immigrant (I’m saying this partly because, if it had been a British person**, the BBC, The Guardian and Keir Starmer would by now be jumping up and down blaming the “far right”).
[**I do realise that, in woke parlance, immigrants become “British” after about six weeks, in contrast to, for example, white South Africans, who don’t become “African” but remain “settlers” even after 400 years and 10 generations.]
The Telegraph published the picture of the stabber, and I think we can guess who he is:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/02/manchester-synagogue-stabbing-police/?WT.mc_id=e_DM697466&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Brk_New&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Brk_New20251002&utm_campaign=DM697466
Update: The BBC is saying: “Officials believe they know the identity [of the attacker] but are unable to confirm owing to “safety reasons at the scene”.”
Translation, it’s a Muslim immigrant. Also confirmed by the fact that Starmer’s remarks make no mention of the background of the culprit.
Re: the attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
I’m afraid we have to again ask the question: Did the rhetoric of the likes of PZ Myers, Hemant Mehta and Nick Fish (of American Atheists) contribute to this racist act of violence?
/s
Greta and the other members of the “selfie flotilla” refused numerous offers, including one from the pope, to safely deliver the (insubstantial) “humanitarian aid” to Gaza but refused. Instead they put it into small floating containers that have practically zero chance of reaching anyone who needs it. https://x.com/HenMazzig/status/1973356268820504925
Jane Goodall: Alas, one of the last of my childhood heros is now gone.
Jane Goodall. A titan of primate research.
RIP! 🙁
Maurycy Gottlieb had some real talent – what a waste!
Loved the pub sign, the co-parenting birds, and the riding trash panda!
And likely an unnecessary waste. The Wikipedia cited source says [emphasis added]:
WTF?! A sort-of Romeo and Juliette for the modern age? What’s in a name…
Upon hearing of his death, the former Miss Rosenfeld and never-to-be Mrs. Gottlieb was heard to mutter, “Dodged a bullet there, I did.”
LOL
And inquiring minds still want to know how and why the subsequent actions of LR I. who is said to have been well out of the picture (even if she was in the painting) affected him so strongly, despite him having LR II on deck. Still carrying a torch? Completely unable to take a “hint”? Pathologically stubborn wishful thinking? It’s a mystery. And good tragic drama.
Boy – what a lot of antisemitism is about! And on YK no less. I know it is the availability bias (and Zionist twitter where I almost LIVE now is no help).. but it seems like the new “Islamic Republic of the United Kingdom”.. isn’t going well. May Allah send his blessings.
Doooon’t even start me on narcissist Swedish truant yachties taking up Israeli time, money and military resources in the MIDDLE OF A WAR! I’d never hit a woman but …especially with that damn kiddie green frog hat…. spare me.
Psychologically we often miss female narcissists – we think of it as a male trait, and it is indeed male skewed if you look at the numbers, but statistically there are millions of “toxic female” examples. I hope they put her in Jerusalem Prison, built by the British in the 30s which, upon entering “One would think one had killed Jesus” -a former inmate observed. They won’t, they’ll give her cutlets and a flight home. (sigh) – the price of being a civilized country I suppose.
Wish I’d have known Pinker and Coleman were talking (was it public?), I could have walked to the venue!
happy YK friends!
D.A.
NYC
The name of the terrorist suspect in the Manchester synagogue attack has been released. His first name is, fittingly, Jihad.
Re female narcissism, yes it’s a thing. But AIUI, males have a lock on combined narcissism + sociopathy, which is what we’re all having to live with now.
I love how the goose spreads its wings when the man returns to pick it up. Could be a coincidence in timing but still.
And now I know how to pick up a goose.
My only response to the boulder in the road is a simple “meep meep”, I’ll get my coat.
Nice one.
✔️
Here’s the tribute to Jane Goodall I posted on my FB page:
So sad to hear of the loss of someone inspired me greatly. I was privileged to meet her twice, and was greatly moved by reading her work, which has changed the way we think about our relationship with the natural world, and especially to our closest cousin species, the chimpanzee. As a result of Dr Goodall’s work we know so much more about the place of human beings in the universe. She also made a great contribution to animal conservation, to children’s education about the natural world and in doing so contributed to the humanity of all of us. The way the world has changed recently she was a link, a connection, to a lost, better world, we all needed her positivity, her “Reason for Hope” and her wisdom, and, my own world feels a poorer place for her passing.
The WSJ got it wrong. It wasn’t a banana: Here’s a short extract from Goodall’s book “Reason for Hope”:
“What happened […] remains as vivid in my memory now, nearly forty years later, as it was at the time. When David Greybeard moved off along a well-marked trail, I followed. When he left the trail and moved through some dense undergrowth near a stream, I was sure I would lose him, for I became hopelessly entangled in the vines. But I found him sitting by the water, almost as if he were waiting for me. I looked into his large and lustrous eyes, set so wide apart; they seemed somehow to express his entire personality, his serene self-assurance, his inherent dignity. Most primates interpret a direct gaze as a threat; it is not so with chimpanzees. David had taught me that so long as I looked into his eyes without arrogance, without any request, he did not mind. And sometimes he gazed back at me as he did that afternoon. His eyes seemed almost like windows through which, if only I had the skill, I could look into his mind. How many times since that far-off day I have wished that I could, even if just for a few short moments, look out onto the world through the eyes, with the mind, of a chimpanzee. One such minute would be worth a lifetime of research. For we are human-bound, imprisoned within our human perspective, our human view of the world. Indeed, it is even hard for us to see the world from the perspective of cultures other than our own, or from the point of view of a member of the opposite sex. As David and I sat there, I noticed a ripe red fruit from an oil nut palm lying on the ground. I held it toward him on the palm of my hand. David glanced at me and reached to take the nut. He dropped it, but gently held my hand. I needed no words to understand his message of reassurance: he did not want the nut, but he understood my motivation, he knew I meant well. To this day I remember the soft pressure of his fingers. We had communicated in a language far more ancient than words, a language that we shared with our prehistoric ancestor, a language bridging our two worlds. And I was deeply moved. When David got up and walked away I let him go and stayed there quietly by the murmuring stream, holding on to the experience so that I could know it in my heart forever.”
I get a lump in my throat whenever I read this. For me this was – one of, if not – the most important event in human history. It was First Contact with a member of our nearest evolutionary cousin species. Why do we not think of advanced animals like apes, cetaceans and elephants as non-human people when their worlds match so closely with ours, even if we can’t deny that they are people in a different way to the way we are people?
Sorry if I’ve exceeded the world limit!
Here’s Ep 5 in my podcast series where I spell this argument out in more detail (transcript available): https://www.buzzsprout.com/2001904/episodes/11261730
Thanks for this.
That’s a nice tribute Mr. Fisher. Goodness I remember her work making a deep impact on me in the 70s as a kid. Like David Attenboro. She must have advanced our understanding, and even moral reasoning a long distance.
best,
D.A.
NYC
Thank you, Peter.
Thank you, Peter. I’m saving it for the long lonely weekend ahead.
It looks like Gottlieb painted himself in the picture. From the Wikipedia page he looks like the man standing next to the seated rabbi who holds the Torah.
“Imagine being a Jew and nearly the whole world hates you.”
Sadly and anxiously, I sure can.
I love the swan and mallard logo. Well done!
The Dems increasingly remind me of Prince Prospero. They think they can live in the Blue Sky bubble, call half the country fascists, and expect things to continue as usual.
Meanwhile, Trump sees a large picture of his mugshot on his way to the Oval Office each day.
“Given that Israel offered to deliver the aid from the flotilla to Gaza (see video above), it’s clear that this was more than an attempt to convey humanitarian aid; it was an attempt to break the blockade and humiliate Israel.”
I had exactly this thought yesterday. The fact that Israel offered to deliver the aid safely to Gaza is all one needs to know about this flotilla. The protestors don’t give a whit about getting aid to the people of Gaza.
I didn’t know that you couldn’t tear toilet paper on Yom Kippur. Live and learn. If you didn’t tear your toilet paper in advance, would you have to use the entire roll? Maybe that’s why the toilet paper we’ve always used comes pre-perforated. No tearing required. Does separating pre-perforated sheets of toilet paper constitute tearing? One would need to consult the Talmud.
Just as synagogues in the United States need security personnel and security screenings in order to conduct services, the same seems to be true in Great Britain. The worldwide effort to intimidate Jews seems to be working. Many of my Jewish friends and relatives are retreating into their own secret worlds, hiding any visible evidence of their Judaism. This isn’t new.
I had always wondered about the risks that Jane Goodall was taking, as she was often alone with her chimps. Males seeking to rise in status can be murderously violent, and I think she was taking a lot of chances there.
I seem to remember that in her autobiography she said she was more worried about venomous snakes and leopards than the chimps. It is certainly true that adult male chimps have the potential to do immense damage; I can’t remember the figure but I think it has been calculated they are something like 4-5 times stronger than adult human males. Fortunately, like humans, they seem to be more preoccupied with the complexities of their soap-opera, social lives than ripping the arms off any nearby human, although it would not be wise to let it be known that you had taken a side in a chimpanzee dispute. Again, like humans, there could be a threat from a particular individual. Goodall’s all time favourite chimp, David Greybeard, was gentle, curious and somewhat timid in his interactions with others. On the other hand another chimp, Frodo, was an obnoxious character who would often whack field researchers on the back for fun. He was a bully, disliked by both human and chimp. Most people are surprised by the similarities between apes and humans, but that’s because they don’t adopt an evolutionary perspective. If we have the attributes that make us what we think of as “people” why shouldn’t they?
Regarding the Far Side comic, the link you listed only gave a summary of the story. Gary outlined his side of things in one of his collections, and later Jane give her side of things in the forward to another of his collections.
Gary was horrified when he received the letter, as he highly respected Goodall’s work. It was only later that National Geographic asked if they could put the cartoon on a t-shirt, and he declined stating Jane’s objection to the cartoon. They responded that that didn’t sound like Jane, checked with her, and found out that she loved it.
One of Jane’s staff sent the letter without checking with her first. When she saw the cartoon she laughed at it, and meant to contact Larson. However she didn’t get around to it until National Geographic contacted her. She then invited Gary to visit her and the chimpanzees, which he did.
Another case of someone taking offense for someone else, when they weren’t actually offended.
And as I followed the story from back then this morning, I noticed that it appears that the executive director who wrote the complaint no longer worked for JGI by the end of the year, 1987. Some Executive directors, like deans, seem to display an incredible level of incompetence at times.
At times? I’m amazed when someone in an executive position actually helps the organization instead of furthering their own career.
Just for the record, as many readers will know, we are only more than 98% identical to chimps for the regions of the genome that we share with chimps. Both chimps and humans have hundreds of genes that are not found in the other species, and these are excluded from the calculation. The value of ~98.5% identity is the best reflection of time since divergence (~7My), but our genomes are considerably less than 98% identical.
RIP Dr. Goodall. I found your work fascinating and enjoyed reading your books. In addition to your human friends and admirers, you may also have simian friends who would be sorry to know that you have passed on to the great beyond.
Re The Post’s shutdown-blame poll results —
(1) When a system is sufficiently broken that the patches to keep it running usually cause more problems than they fix, a technical term for that is death spiral. Assiduously allocating blame doesn’t help at all. As we say in the software biz, “the code doesn’t care”. As they say by their deeds in the politics biz, “The time for action is past. Now is the time for senseless bickering”¹.
(2) Regardless, here is my futile attempt at allocating a big chunk of the blame. Look again at The Post’s figures. Yes, the figures are there, but the bulk of the “infographic” is devoted to groups of coloured dots, presumably because The Post believes its readers to be functionally innumerate. According to recent testing results, they’re not mistaken. And similar results for functional illiteracy are even more ominous. IMO the graphic is suitable for an America’s Decline into Idiocy item. “2 + 2 = 5” used to be an absurd Orwellian nightmare; but now?
“Before making the thing right, check you’re making the right thing.”
. . . . .
¹ Best read with a deep Churchillian voice and pacing.
Re the Don (Capo di Tutti-Frutti) and his latest university extortion racket, I’m particularly distressed that his “compact” makes no pretence of even a fig-leaf of fairness. I guess I’m not keeping up with the zeitgeist. What ever happened to good old-fashioned hypocrisy? Now it’s just brute force.
And, re things changing under a Democratic President, they’ll change all right, but I doubt you’ll enjoy it. IMO there will be a dramatic change in polarity, but not in approach. I will not be the least bit surprised if the revised compact forbids disrespecting progressive ideas.
Indeed. Real women have penises, no human is illegal, the only solution to past racial discrimination is present racial discrimination, Islam is the religion of peace, Israel is the cause of all the world’s ills, and 2+2 = 5 will be the “new math”.
I presume penes will not be required for real womanhood.
Re JKR, I hereby nominate her for the Natasha Hausdorff award for exemplary grace under pressure.
A comment further down on that JKR tweet gives an excellent quote….
“Like other people who’ve never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma has so little experience of real life she’s ignorant of how ignorant she is. She’ll never need a homeless shelter. She’s never going to be placed on a mixed sex public hospital ward. I’d be astounded if she’s been in a high street changing room since childhood. Her ‘public bathroom’ is single occupancy and comes with a security man standing guard outside the door. Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool? Is she ever likely to need a state-run rape crisis centre that refuses to guarantee an all-female service? To find herself sharing a prison cell with a male rapist who’s identified into the women’s prison?”
So true, and that is the case many celebrities who wouldn’t know real life if it hit them in the face.
JKR didn’t have it easy. She was a battered wife and a single mother, but TRAs feel free to attack her without knowing anything about her, one posted this 🤦♀️…..
“Everything Rowling said about Emma Watson’s privilaged life could be said about Rowling herself, only multiplied by 100. Playing the “you’re to rich to understand ordinary people” card is pretty shabby.”