Welcome to Thursday, January 22, 2026, and National Southern Food Day. This is the finest regional cuisine of America, and extends from the meat-and-three plates of the South to the BBQ of Texas. Here is the apotheosis of the genre: a plate of BBQ at Black’s in Lockhart, Texas, photographed (and eaten) by me in 2021. There’s a huge barbecued beef rib, a jalapeño corn muffin, beans, potato salad, raw onion, and pickles. On the side, not visible, is a huge beaker of sweetened ice tea. I had banana pudding for dessert. Kings don’t eat that well!
We are under an extreme cold alert in Chicago. Here’s the forecast for today’s temperatures (right now it’s -8°C or 18°F), as well as for the next week’s highs and lows. I’ve shown Celsius temperatures, but it’s equally cold in Fahrenheit. Brrrrr! Snow on Saturday! But at least we’re not getting the huge accumulations in the NE United Sates.
Comments on this site are dropping, which makes Professor Ceiling Cat (Emeritus) sad. There’s no point writing if nobody reads.
It’s also Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day (the most common is “when are you gonna feed me?”), National Blond Brownie Day, and Roe vs. Wade Day (the decision, now overturned, came down on this day in 1973). Below is plaintiff “Jane Roe,” whose real name was Norma McCorvey. She died in 2017 at age 68.
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the January 22 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
*In what is likely to be a Supreme Court loss for Trump, questioning in arguments today suggest that the Justices are not going to let Trump fire Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook, whom Trump accused of mortgage fraud:
The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed poised to reject President Trump’s bid to immediately remove Lisa D. Cook from the Federal Reserve board, with key justices expressing concern about undermining the longstanding independence of the central bank.
Justices from across the ideological spectrum questioned whether the allegations President Trump lodged against Ms. Cook — an unproven assertion that she engaged in mortgage fraud before taking office — were serious enough to allow the president to fire her.
They suggested it was premature for the court to resolve the case when there were still factual disputes over those allegations, and they sounded skeptical that Ms. Cook had received sufficient notice of Mr. Trump’s accusations and an opportunity to respond.
After about two hours of argument, a majority of the justices seemed likely to order additional proceedings, perhaps in the lower courts, meaning the Supreme Court’s ruling may not be the final word in the case. But if the justices agree to allow Ms. Cook to keep her job in the meantime, the result would be that the president’s effort to reshape the Fed would be frozen for now.
The court’s conservative majority has repeatedly allowed Mr. Trump to oust leaders of other independent agencies as he moves to expand presidential power and seize control of the federal bureaucracy. But the justices have signaled that the Fed may be different and uniquely insulated from executive influence because of its structure and history.
Key justices sharply questioned the Trump administration’s lawyer about the implications of the president’s position for the independence of the Fed and the economy.
Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, who are often in the majority, noted that former Fed chairs and Treasury secretaries had warned against allowing the president to immediately remove Ms. Cook.
Accepting the president’s view, Justice Kavanaugh said, would “weaken, if not shatter, the independence of the Federal Reserve,” he said, opening the door to future presidents trying to dismiss officials at the Fed “at will.”
The justices agreed to hear Ms. Cook’s case on an expedited basis and are expected to rule in the coming weeks or months. The final outcome of the case could determine how much latitude presidents have to influence the direction of the powerful central bank, which Congress intentionally tried to insulate from political pressures.
This represents a curbing of Trump’s attempt to expand a President’s powers, as no previous President has tried to monkey with the Fed board; the organization is supposed to be independent. At any rate, even a ruling in favor of Cook won’t end the case, as the justices will just allow her to stay on while the case is adjudicated in lower courts, and that could take a very long time.
*Andrew Sullivan latest weekly dish article, “Greenland is a red line,” dilates on the insanity of Trump’s Greenland ambitions, ambitions that are simply not justifiable under any argument:
The essence of tyranny is the imposition of one man’s will on an entire polity — with no checks, balances, or even reasons cited to back him up. It is, to coin a phrase, a triumph of will. In fact, you could argue that a tyrant aims for exactly such a demonstrable act of pure solipsism as soon as he can pull it off — against all elite and popular opinion and common sense — because it proves by its very arbitrary irrationality that only he matters.
That’s why President Trump’s threat to the sovereignty of a NATO ally, Denmark, is a red line. No one — neither Greenlanders nor Americans — wants what is an insane idea. No one needs it. No reason can be given for it. And yet Trump keeps insisting, like a mafia boss, that he will take it. He must be stopped.
The reasons given have changed, as they do when they are being invented on the fly to justify something already decided and totally bonkers. We were first told that this was about national security, because the Arctic — thanks to the climate’s rapid heating of the North Pole — is becoming a far more disputed part of the globe, with more valuable shipping lanes and military activity. Russia and China have their eyes on it. And so should we.
Fair enough. In fact, let’s get to it. Greenland is already in NATO, and the Danes and Greenlanders would be more than happy to have all the US bases that were once there to come back, and more if necessary. The Danes, after all, are among the finest members of the alliance, committing to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, for example, for many long years, with many fatalities. When Germany and France refused to send troops to accompany the US and UK in Iraq, the Danish parliament voted to support the US. Danes have literally died for us — and now we repay it by threatening to invade and conquer them. It’s a disgusting and shameful idea.
This week, Trump tried to suggest that unless the US occupies Greenland against the wishes of its people, Russia and China will. There is no substance to this absurd lie. If Russia or China were to threaten Greenland’s sovereignty, NATO would invoke Article 5. Which is why Russia and China haven’t. The only reason they might is if Trump effectively ends NATO, as he is now apparently planning. And let’s be honest: if we’re not buying Greenland, and not allying with it, we are illegally invading and occupying a sovereign country — an action opposed by a super-majority of Americans (75 percent per CNN, 86 percent per Quinnipiac).
So what’s left to defend the madness? According to Trump, the “psychological” benefit of “owning” the place. The best way to understand that, I think, is simply that Trump wants, like all tyrants, to expand the footprint of his domain. We missed this in the first term. But it’s just what tyrants do, what tyranny is — as Plato first explained. It’s what Putin is trying in Ukraine; and Xi in Taiwan and Tibet; and Netanyahu in Gaza and the West Bank. Trump wants to see the stars and stripes extend on a Mercator map to make America look BIGGER. So he can gain GLORY. That’s it. Yep. That’s really all this is.
. . .More troops please. NATO needs to make it very clear that a war on Greenland is a war on NATO, and Article 5 will be triggered. And the Congress needs to act now with a vote upholding the integrity of NATO and the inviolable sovereignty of our great ally, Denmark. Every second a NATO ally is threatened in this way damages the alliance deeply and endangers the order of the entire world.
This is not a drill. The madman must be stopped now. Or he will become unstoppable.
And the latest from Davos; Trump backs off on Greenland!
President Trump said Wednesday that he had reached the framework of a deal with NATO over Greenland’s future, hours after alliance officials separately discussed the possibility of the United States obtaining sovereignty over land for military bases, according to three senior officials familiar with the talks.
Mr. Trump’s announcement was among a series of moves on Wednesday that appeared to draw the United States back from the possibility of military and economic conflict with his allies over Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Mr. Trump also withdrew the threat of additional tariffs for European allies that had resisted his insistence on owning Greenland, and said he would not use force to assert American ownership.
. . . The officials said that Mr. Rutte [the NATO Secretary General] had been pursuing a compromise this week, but they did not know if the concept of the United States having some sovereignty over small pockets of Greenland for military bases was part of the framework announced by Mr. Trump.
One of the officials, who attended the meetings, compared the concept to the United Kingdom’s bases in Cyprus, which are regarded as British territory. A second official who was briefed on the discussions also confirmed that the idea for Greenland was modeled after the sovereign British bases in Cyprus.
Asked for details of the framework that Mr. Trump announced, NATO said in a statement that “negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the United States will go forward aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain
It looks as if the crisis is over for now, though getting sovereignty over bases in Greenland means that those bases are on United States territory. In other words, if this happens under the unspecified agreement, the U.S. will own a small part of the island. But at least we won’t be going to war with NATO.
*When I was younger, people would regularly commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, which almost guarantees that you’ll die when you hit the water (a few have survived). Now, thanks to nets installed along the bridge, and a video monitoring system, the suicide rate has dropped nearly to zero:
The Golden Gate Bridge, the iconic span that hangs between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean, has been the site of more than 2,000 confirmed suicide leaps since its completion in 1937. The true death toll is certainly higher, since not all jumps are witnessed and not all bodies are recovered.
In 2006, at least 34 people jumped to their deaths by crossing the four-foot rail and plunging more than 200 feet into the strait below. It was also the year that Paul Muller and two others with family members who had jumped from the bridge decided to do something.
That something slowly evolved into a complicated, miles-long series of stainless-steel nets — a “suicide deterrent system” — now strung on both sides of the bridge. It is out of sight to the millions of people who cross the bridge every year, but plainly visible to anyone standing at the rail, looking down.
For decades, there had been an average of 30 suicides at the bridge each year. In 2024, as the final pieces of the net were installed and tweaks were made, there were eight.
In 2025, the first full year with the nets in place, there were four, and none between June and December.
That annual total is surely among the fewest ever recorded at the bridge, and seven months might be the longest stretch without a suicide at the bridge, though early records are sparse.
“The last seven months there were zero, so the results couldn’t be better,” Mr. Muller said.
Mr. Muller was disheartened to learn that there has been one suicide early in 2026. But the goal all along was to save lives, and to eventually undo the dark magnetism of the bridge as a place to die.
. . .“The assessment is that the net is working as intended,” Mr. Mulligan said. “We’re trying to reduce the number of deaths. That’s what government should do, is protect the public. We were candid up front that nothing’s 100 percent, but that we think this is a worthwhile endeavor and good for the community. And we think a lot of people are alive today because of the project.”
Mr. Mulligan also oversees a vast electronic surveillance system and a team of on-bridge officers whose responsibilities include identifying and stopping those who are considering a leap. Last year, there were 94 successful interventions, about half as many as the average before the nets.
The rate of survival from jumping used to be 1%, but now people look at the nets and just don’t jump. Looking at the nets, though, it seems that a determined self-harmer could simply crawl to the edge of the nets and jump off there. Perhaps people are just so conflicted about jumping that the mere sight of a net is enough to dissuade them. I do think that someone with extreme suicidality that has tried everything to get cured, but failed, should be allowed to have medical euthanasia, but many people disagree. (This kind of assisted suicide is legal in places like the Netherlands.)
*The AP reports what is purported the oldest rock art (and oldest depiction of animals) known. I’ve put a video below.
Handprints on cave walls in a largely unexplored area of Indonesia may be the oldest rock art studied so far, dating back to at least 67,800 years ago.
The tan-colored prints analyzed by Indonesian and Australian researchers on the island of Sulawesi were made by blowing pigment over hands placed against the cave walls, leaving an outline. Some of the fingertips were also tweaked to look more pointed.
This prehistoric art form suggests the Indonesian island was home to a flourishing artistic culture. To figure out how old the paintings were, researchers dated mineral crusts that had formed on top of the art.
Upon seeing the new study, independent paleoanthropologist Genevieve von Petzinger said she “let out a little squeal of joy.”
“It fits everything I’d been thinking,” she said.
Indonesia is known to host some of the world’s earliest cave drawings, and scientists have analyzed countless examples of ancient art across the globe — including simple marks on bones and stones that go back hundreds of thousands of years. Cross-hatched markings on a piece of rock in South Africa have been dated to about 73,000 years ago.
ADThe new art from southeastern Sulawesi is the oldest to be found on cave walls. The stencils also represent a more complex tradition of rock art that could have been a shared cultural practice, said study author Maxime Aubert with Griffith University, who published the study Wednesday in the journal Nature.
It’s not yet clear whose hands made the prints. They could be from an ancient human group called Denisovans who lived in the area and may have interacted with our Homo sapiens ancestors before eventually going extinct. Or they may belong to modern humans venturing away from Africa, who could have wandered through the Middle East and Australia around this time. Fine details on the cave art, including the intentionally modified fingertips, point to a human hand.
ADOther drawings discovered in the same area of the island, including a human figure, a bird and horse-like animals were found to be created much more recently, some of them about 4,000 years ago.
There’s likely more art to be found on nearby islands that could be even older than the handprints. Future studies may help scientists understand how these artistic traditions spread across the globe and how they’re woven into the fabric of humanity’s early days.
“For us, this discovery is not the end of the story,” Aubert said in an email. “It is an invitation to keep looking.”
But wait! Wikipedia says this under “prehistoric art“:
In September 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the earliest known drawing by Homo sapiens, which is estimated to be 73,000 years old, much earlier than the 43,000 years old artifacts understood to be the earliest known modern human drawings found previously.
That’s about 5,000 years older than the present discovery, but maybe handprints don’t count as “drawings” (but the handprings were modified). You be the judge. At any rate, here’s a 2½ minute video showing some of the art found on Sulawesi.
*I had no idea that some young folks have pledged a “no-buy January, a vow not to buy anything non-essential for an entire month. Well, I’ve pretty much been doing that for entire years. From the WSJ:
This January, Americans aren’t just giving up alcohol. They are giving up buying anything at all.
Fueled by social media, some consumers are starting the new year with “No Buy January.” It is a challenge to eliminate purchases of anything nonessential—like clothes, skin-care products and electronics—for the entire 31 days of January.
Brent Parsons has taken up the idea. His family of five is typically mindful of expenses, buying meat on sale at the grocery store and clothing at a discount.
This year, Parsons, 44 years old, locked the family credit card. Anyone who wants to make a purchase needs to make a case for why gas, fast food and other potential items are needed.
“Basically it was like, if we don’t take some drastic measures to change our behaviors now, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble,” he said.
Brent Parsons and his family are trying to save money by locking the family credit card. Erica RodriguezLow- or no-buy years or months have gained in popularity. Google searches for “No Buy January” hit a five-year high in December, driven largely by Gen-Zers and millennials, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Meanwhile, social-media posts setting the rules typically peak in December and again in January, as purchase avoiders track their progress, the firm said.
Americans’ monthlong exercises in restraint have been known to affect sales of everything from razors in November to alcohol at the beginning of the year and snacks as some take on a one-month sugar detox.
A survey conducted for NerdWallet of more than 2,000 U.S. adults found that more than a quarter have tried a no-spend January, with 12% joining in the trend this year. Nearly 45% said life feels expensive right now, which might be a reason people are trying the challenge.
Gillian Shieh is one of them. “Looking at my finances, they look OK,” she said. “But just emotionally, it feels stressful.”
Well, I’m not giving up alcohol, but I think I have all the wine I need for several years, and have stopped buying more. (For example, it would be useless for someone at my age to buy young vintage port.) But I’m wondering if nonessential items means restaurant meals, which I’m still indulging in from time to time. Books I get free from our library, and I have enough cowboy boots and cigars (which I no longer smoke) to last a lifetime. I see no issue with no-buy-periods since everyone has too much stuff anyway. I once thought, based on seeing Gandhi’s possessions in Delhi (false teeth, a bowl, a stick, a dhoti, and a few other things that he carried) that people shouldn’t own more stuff than they can carry. But then I thought about my car. . . .
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Andrzej and Hili have an intellectual chinwag, one in which evolution appears:
Hili: Does history repeat itself?
Andrzej: I think it’s similar to evolution – ideas undergo mutations, results are never quite the same, yet the aggressiveness of some ideas seems to reappear, though in altered shapes.
In Polish:
Hili: Czy historia się powtarza?
Ja: Mam wrażenie, że z historią jest podobnie jak z ewolucją, idee mutują, efekty są różne, zjadliwość niektórych idei wydaje się powtarzać, chociaż wyglądają inaczej.
*******************
From Merilee: Greenland defends itself!:
From Jesus of the Day:
From Stacy:
From Masih: TWO linked tweets about a lively and lovely young woman shot in the lung and killed by the Iranian authorities. Be sure to watch both the videos:
The most heartbreaking war crime of the Islamic Republic against the Iranian people is this:
Iran’s brightest, most talented, and most beautiful children are being murdered by the most ignorant, uneducated, vicious, and dangerous criminals on Earth.
Raha was full of life and… https://t.co/OpTcQ7xXWI pic.twitter.com/ay0GIZ4wPK— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 20, 2026
From Luana; the head of the UK’s Liberal Democratic Party takes a “free speech, but. . . ” stand which is odious. He wants to suspend X (Twitter):
The government must suspend X and urgently review if it should be allowed in the UK.
In the meantime, we will continue to be the liberal voice against divisive populism wherever it appears online. pic.twitter.com/xl3nFEeXlx
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) January 15, 2026
The first one is from Jay: this is indeed cool. The second one is a bonus linked to the first
This video of him showing how you could get stuck in space if you don’t have something to grab onto is so cool.pic.twitter.com/BH59c1CLd7
— Earth & Beyond (@astraterra_) January 20, 2026
One from my feed; cat singing opera:
A woman was filming herself singing a vocal piece when a cat suddenly barged in, crossing right in front of the camera, and started singing in a voice tone exactly like the woman’s, as if saying “I can sing well too, you know!”… pic.twitter.com/pdBLXeErNG
— Wholesome Side of 𝕏 (@itsme_urstruly) January 21, 2026
One I reposted from the Auschwitz Memorial:
This French Jewish girl was gassed to death as soon as she arrived in Auschwitz. She was five years old. Had she lived, she’d be 88 today. https://t.co/mYae2LrmNd
— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) January 22, 2026
Two from Matthew. First, an astronomical cat photobomb (I can’t guarantee it’s authentic). Matthew calls this “cat god.”
Cat wandered in front of the camera during the #aurora long exposure
— danniemcq (@danniemcq.bsky.social) 2026-01-20T00:48:26.798Z
“Knob” is a largely British usage for male genitalia, but “love handles” are on both sides of the pond. This poor girl pines for her ex when she sees a can opener:
Everything reminds me of him…
— Faye Hill (@squangles.bsky.social) 2026-01-17T17:34:24.164Z
Cat singing opera gave me a smile to open the day. Stay warm.
I am withholding judgment on the “craziness” of the Greenland proposition until I hear whether the US reaches an agreement on control or acquisition of rare earth metals on the island, particularly at Kvanefjeld and Tanbreez. One can criticize Trump’s approach on this as on many other things, but it simply isn’t true that Greenland is of no potential value to the United States or that everything the US wants is already available to it; China’s near-stranglehold on rare earth processing is a significant national security vulnerability. Nor—contra Sullivan—is it a fact that constantly changing reasons always means there are no legitimate reasons—sometimes a flurry of justifications is to downplay the real motive(s). If Trump secures an agreement on mining—and if the Greenland independence movement strengthens or maintains existing security relations with the US—he will have achieved what I suspect are the primary goals. If neither of those are part of the outcome, I’ll accept he has been having wet dreams over a territorial acquisition that would have secured him a prominent place in the history books. And, yes, even if he achieves his objectives one can criticize his means.
Chaos, uncertainty, bellicosity, and outright lying has been the Orange Toddler’s method for decades. It’s how he ran his businesses and why they failed. My question, Doug; Do you think, if getting the bases was his objective, that the way he went about it is a good, bad, or meh, way for a president to comport himself? Do you really think a president of the US should behave in such an insane, and belligerent way?
One thing the Greenland independence movement has already gained is a dramatic warning that supping with the devil would be a very bad idea, despite glittering promises.
Indeed Doug. And I think you touch on a deeper point. Whenever the words “Donald Trump” are mentioned, the world goes feral and any notion of rational discussion/thought of his means and ends goes flying out the window. But then rationality doesn’t sell whereas hysteria does.
Recall his “bullying/attacking our allies/destroying the NATO alliance” nonsense when all he was after was demanding NATO countries stop sponging off the US and pay their bills – 2% GDP – PER THE NATO AGREEMENT! And it worked. But did he get any credit? Did Andrew Sullivan et. al. admit such?
As I write this (09:45 Melbourne time), I’ve just heard on the news that he’s secured an agreement re Greenland but “details are unclear”. Bull in a china shop he may be but his tactics (sometimes) get results. And if this all pans out, we can expect the TDS brigade to go deafeningly silent coz if there’s one thing they hate more than Trump it’s Trump getting results.
Suppose that there is no agreement on the control or acquisition of Greenland’s rare earths – then what? Greenland may be/hold items of potential value to the US, but that doesn’t mean that the US is entitled to decide what Greenland may do with them. Would you accept the same reasoning if the person speaking were Xi Jin Ping or Vladimir Putin rather than Donald Trump?
Canadian PM Carney was right when he said “Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
Trump has TACO’d out – yet again – on his threat of tariffs against European nations over their support of Greenland/Denmark, at least for the moment; and neither Mark Rutte nor NATO can make a deal on Greenland, it’s not theirs.
If Trump wants to isolate the US on the world stage, leaving Xi free to feel that he can take over Taiwan and Putin free to destroy Ukraine, he’s going the right way about it – but I hope that he does not, as we will all lose.
I find myself not commenting because I don’t have much to say right now.
I also don’t comment because others say what I want so much better than I could but I do read this every day.
If I were a scientist, I’m sure I would comment more. However, in my ignorance, I have found one thing to comment on in today’s post: “and Netanyahu in Gaza and the West Bank.” No. Just no. Israel is trying to protect itself. Period.
That jumped out at me too. Not the same at all.
Same for me, John, as for your first point. Very definitely the same on the second point. No Koranic-inspired violence in the Arabs’ weird obsession with destroying the state of Israel and any Jews who get in the way and I’d bet Mr Netanyahu and his government would have no need of trying “to be tyrants.”
Yup. I yelled at my computer a bit over that one.
It’s either a net or Emo Phillips.
Maybe the lack of comments is not about lack of interest in your website. Maybe it is more about general despair. Like many people I have cut back on how much news I consume. I’m drowning in the flood of chronic, chaotic, bad news in America. I find myself socializing less, talking less. I’m turning into Eeyore.
Me too, Jeannie. I spend very little time reading the news anymore. It’s just so depressing. Cat posts, reader’s wildlife photos, good commentary; WEIT is a sanctuary in the internet cesspool.
“Comments on this site are dropping, which makes Professor Ceiling Cat (Emeritus) sad. There’s no point writing if nobody reads.”
– One of my editors tells me the number of comments have a natural variation pattern over time. He learned that after 20 years editing and freaking out whenever there was a dip.
Plenty of people read and don’t comment, not everybody is a loudmouth who has to be reminded of Da Roolz frequently. 😉
They’ve been working on the Golden Gate suicide problem for MANY decades. Good the latest solution works (they’re copying it at a similar bridge in Seoul actually). Esp in flat areas (like Melbourne, Oz) high buildings become famous suicide magnets. I agree with PCC(E)’s unpopular position re: Dutch euthanasia.
Don’t freeze people,
D.A.
NYC
I was wondering if that stemmed from comments in the books and movies post. But I thought Jerry did one of those about a month ago — we just don’t have much new to report.
Replying here to group on topic, Dutch euthanasia.
The various euthanasia laws around the world confer no new rights on citizens. Everyone in the WEIRD countries already has the right to refuse all treatment, even food, even if incapable. (A substitute decision-maker can refuse in your stead.) Everyone also has the right to (try to) kill herself and to ask any person to help her. No crime is committed by the asking. What is prohibited as murder is for anyone to accede to the request. The law binds the would-be murderer, not his victim.
Where euthanasia is legalized, a doctor is exempted from being charged with murder if he does the killing under regulated medical practice. All that changes is the relationship between the doctor and the state. The relationship between the petitioner and the state is unchanged. It is an error to frame euthanasia as “winning the right to die.” Rather, doctors gain a new privilege to kill in the public interest.
Does a doctor’s new freedom to kill a patient on her request equate to his obligation to kill her? All thirteen self-regulators in Canada say it does: they interpret the “right to die” as conferring an obligation to kill anyone eligible who asks, or refer to someone who will.* (Patients with only mental health problems are not yet eligible under the Criminal Code.) This changes the doctor’s relationship with his patient: he now commits the civil tort of professional misconduct against her if he refuses to kill her.
I’m not sure that the Netherlands really is down with doctors killing physically healthy but chronically suicidal people who, miraculously, never quite succeed. The cases have aroused debate as to whether that’s what the 2002 legislation intended to permit. Certainly Dutch doctors are not obligated to honour requests in these edge cases — some killed patients have had to badger the system for years to find one willing. I think that’s how the Dutch finesse it. As long as only a few psychiatrists are willing to kill people who say they want to commit suicide but haven’t, they can avoid punishing the majority who quietly want nothing to do with it, even if they are OK with accelerating Nature in terminal cancer.
(*If no one will, then the original doctor must.)
“Pro Forced Lifers” or “those who aren’t bothered by people at the end dying in agony”… make a point of publicizing edge cases to paint a killing fields like picture which, as a doctor, you’ll know is dishonest.
My living will instructs the plug to be pulled if I have a bad hair day… almost!
D.A.
NYC
There is no need why anyone should die in agony, David. No one needs to be killed to prevent that from happening. Rather, euthanasia is a way of imposing one’s chosen method of dying on someone else to do it for one. Additionally, killing people who have chronically unsuccessful suicidality isn’t even preventing agony “at the end.” These folks will live for many years if not killed. Euthanasia itself is a kind of niche concern if you are just trying to reduce painful suffering.
I’m sure you know that your living will doesn’t bind the doctors who are keeping your plug in the wall. You have to have named someone who is willing to speak for you in real time to tell them to pull it out, which is perfectly legal everywhere now and isn’t the same thing at all as euthanasia. The state won’t let doctors stop life support (unless you are brain-dead) merely on the strength of their interpretation of words you wrote on a piece of paper many years ago. And euthanasia will never be allowed for any indication in someone who can’t change his mind right up to the lethal injection. (This is the lawyers talking, not the doctors.) So liberalization of the murder law to allow euthanasia isn’t going to do anything for people who worry about lingering unconscious on a ventilator, or dependent in diapers from advanced dementia.
“Imposing”? Are you suggesting physicians who oversee euthanasia are coerced into “doing it for you”?
What about DNR notices in one’s home, Leslie? I’ve had one on my refrigerator for years. I certainly hope it will be honored. Maybe you can’t answer that– you’re a physician, not an EMT. For in the hospital, if I wind up there, I’ve got what David’s got and have told my health care proxy that they damn well better follow my living will or I’ll haunt them till eternity.
I occasionally post on subjects of which I have some knowledge (food, literature, politics, pop culture, and, of course, cats) but I would feel completely out of my depth if I attempted to comment on anything scientific. One reason that I value this blog is the high quality of the comments.
My non-shopping goal for January is to refrain from Amazon purchases. I’ve also imposed a moratorium against buying more books until I read at least 5 books that I own but have not read.
On Trump backing off on Greenland and tariffs: Well look at that! Trump as prevented yet another war! How many is that now? Nine wars? Ten wars? And yet the media never gives him credit!
Ha!
The appropriate responses 😉
I love them. Someone is remarkably talented in making these.
Did you know that the Democratic Penguins Republic predates Greenland? – demonflyingfox made a couple of DPR videos when Trump imposed tariffs on the MacDonald and Heard Islands (tiny uninhabited Australian islands deep in the Southern Indian Ocean).
I tend to feel that my comments are usually irritating–even to me, when I reread them. But I read this website every workday. It is honestly one of my “routines”, without which I would feel at least temporarily confused and bereft. No pressure.
I too, would feel bereft without WEIT. It is part of my morning routine, after chores. I don’t always feel that I have anything important or valuable to add to comments, especially science ones.
Here’s something I can talk about though: cats! Last year I rescued 2 siblings, a male and a female, who were found on a street in a town nearby, without a mother and barely weaned. They were taken to a shelter, where they lived ’till they were about 7 months old. That’s when I found them and brought them home. They are Collin (named after Ricky Gervais’ tuxedo cat), and Rosy. It took a while, but now they are sweet and affectionate and very happy to live with me.
Yesterday, I had an hour to kill in town while my computer was being serviced, so I went to the pet store to see what treat I could buy for them. I chose some loose catnip, plus a catnip-filled toy. Of course, they went crazy over both and played all afternoon with the toy, rolling in the loose catnip as well.
Usually they eat only small amounts of food, with some always left over in the bowls in the morning. But, this morning, each bowl was licked clean! They also ran around all night more than usual. Pretty sure they were totally stoned and got the munchies.
This is way more fun to talk about than Trump, whose appearance at Davos was embarrassing. And I’m not even an American.
The more I hear about Trump, the more I love hearing about your cats.
🙂
Does iDJT have any pets? Surely a fawning dog would be to his liking.
A BIRTHDAY THOUGHT:
Words, when written, crystallize history; their very structure gives permanence to the unchangeable past. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (22 Jan 1561-1626)
This website is one of only two that I read at least once per day. It has enriched my life.
The other website you read once per day? Just wondering, thanks.
Ditto. My favorite part of the internet by a long way.
D.A.
NYC
My day doesn’t start until I have read Why Evolution is True. That includes the comments that are so well written and insightful. I particularly enjoy reading Leslie Macmillan’s comments that provide a Canadian perspective.
I am in awe of your ability to put together such a high caliber site every day. The daily photos of the children who died in Auschwitz are a reminder to stay vigilant so it never happens again.
Your blog provides the fodder for many discussions during the day in our home.
Thank-you.
I’m glad that President Trump averted the NATO crisis for now, but I don’t think that this will be the end of the story. Trump said that there is now a “framework” for a solution and that he would not use force, but (AFAIK) he did not say that he is abandoning his goal of acquiring Greenland. He can be cagey that way.
“Comments on this site are dropping, which makes Professor Ceiling Cat (Emeritus) sad. There’s no point writing if nobody reads.”
I believe Neil Young said it best: “Ain’t tongue-tied, just got nothin’ to say.” He followed this line with,”I’m proud to be livin’ in the USA.” I am proud too, but just as I support Israel in spite of Netanyahu, I support America in spite of the current administration. And, very often, the news is so shockingly bad that words fail.
I’m afraid I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment on most things posted. I do have my opinions but see no need to just add what some have written better than me.
WEIT has been a lifesaver to me in that so many comments are informative besides just the incredible knowledge I gain from the posts.
The hate and chaos right now in this country keeps me a bit introverted and anxious.
Every time the Supreme Court pushes back on one of Trump’s excesses, I breathe a sigh of relief. I’ve heard so many people insist that Trump “owns” the court that any evidence to the contrary is cheering.
I hope the Justices are also keenly aware that they’re commonly supposed to be nothing more than the President’s puppets. I hope that pisses them off. I hope it pisses them off so much that they decide, on a regular basis, to show the American public that hey, he’s not the boss of THEM. That would be even more cheering.
That President Trump goes to the trouble of appealing adverse lower Court rulings up the chain, instead of just defying them, should provide some interim cheer even before the Supreme Court rules. He must know that the civil service will not obey executive orders that the Courts have enjoined. There was a recent case in Minnesota where there was an injunction against ICE tactics toward mostly peaceful demonstrators who weren’t directly interfering, which the Administration appealed and got overturned. This is how the system is supposed to work. You also have to accept that if the Supreme Court does rule that he has the power to, say, impose import tariffs, that is now the law of the land even if it’s bad political policy. Cuts both ways.
In most countries, and in all Parliaments, the elected legislature is supreme over the executive and can pass any law it chooses. (In federations there has to be a written constitution for dividing power between the federal government and the constituent states/provinces, which neither level can arbitrarily legislate contrariwise. But on its own turf, the legislature is supreme.) The Founding Fathers took a big chance in putting nine appointed judges as ultimate arbiters of the public interest. But that’s part of the bargain in “Congress shall make no law . . .”
Consolidating comments as per Da Roolz: unrelated to anything you said, Sullivan’s swipe at Prime Minister Netanyahu is a serious blow to his (Sullivan’s) credibility on President Trump. In any event, if he really is a madman, then let the Cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment. Or Congress can impeach. Put up or shut up. (Again, not directed at you, Sastra.)
And, IMO, the Justices are cognisant that if he succeeds in arbitrarily removing inconvenient executive branch officials then he will likely hunger to do the same to the other branches, including theirs. CYA.
Sullivan: ” . . . a demonstrable act of pure solipsism . . . – against all elite and popular opinion and common sense — because it proves by its very arbitrary irrationality that only he matters.”
Per
http://www.cnn.com/2026/01/21/politics/scott-bessent-denmark-us-investment?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc&recs_exp=most-popular-article-end&tenant_id=popular.en,
the inestimable Scott Bessent manifests symptoms of this solipsistic distemper, declaring from Mount Davos that “Denmark’s investment in US Treasury bonds – like Denmark itself – is irrelevant.”
This is to say that Danes are “irrelevant.” From a modest internet search, the Danes answered the U.S. call in Iraq and Afghanistan, on a per capita basis among “the coalition of the willing” suffering no less than the third-highest casualty rate in those adventures.
I wonder if he similarly dismisses as “irrelevant” “the European Union collectively owning $8,000,000,000,000 of America’s Treasuries, making it the largest financer of US debt”; the current $38,000,000,000,000 U.S. national debt; and the opposing opinion of a minimum 75% of Americans regarding acquisition of Greenland. (Ah, but what do these “irrelevant” Great Unwashed know?)
“Comments on this site are dropping, which makes Professor Ceiling Cat (Emeritus) sad. There’s no point writing if nobody reads.”
Not commenting isn’t the same as not reading. I read every day but this is only the second time I’ve commented.
The temp in Chicago is genuinely appalling. Such weather is not fit for man nor beast. If early humans had been like me, we’d never have left Africa.
Here in Atlanta, it appears we’re doomed to at least 24 hours of freezing rain and dog knows how many cold, dark days without power.
For me, personally, the tedium is usually the worst part. Since we don’t have equipment for clearing ice from the sidewalks and roads, I and everyone else will be stuck indoors until most of the ice melts on its own. And after only a few hours, my laptop and pathetic iPhone will go dark, and I’ll be forced to entertain myself by reading those ancient things called books. I just wish I’d thought to go to the library in time.
Anyway, farewell in advance, WEIT. I’ll miss reading you with my morning coffee. Come to think of it, without power, I won’t have any morning coffee, either. Dammit.
Surely “no-buy January” exempts basic (non-luxury) items in the four essential food groups: chocolate, coffee, alcohol, and cheese.
Pizza. You forgot pizza.
Mea culpa. OTOH, pizza is a compound item, one which does contain essential cheese. I haven’t looked at the detailed rules, but it would be reasonable to also exempt compound items that consist mainly¹ of essential ones. IMO, pizza, with all that bread, tomato, and other inessentials would not qualify. I try to be fair.
…………
¹ The vagueness here can be exploited by those who really want to, using the common justification of posset esse peius.
I suppose a determined person would not go to a bridge, but jump at the first opportunity from any tall enough location, or use another method. What stops a bridge jumper is the fear that if stopped by a net, they would have to go through the decision not once but twice. They are more afraid of how they would feel after the first jump than of dying. They are afraid of the fear.
Regarding the commenting issue, I’ve always felt a bit like Mr. Ed, who never speaks unless he has something to say!
Sometimes I come in late and, as others have noted, someone has already voiced my thoughts, and — the other part — spirited debate — these days I just don’t feel like getting into disagreements online. I’ve learned a few things here, and found areas of agreement — and differences.
I come to this site nearly every day — I’ve been taking no-computer days lately. I’m fortunate that I have plenty to do outside. But I doubt my photo documentation of Reed Canary Grass rootballs or Eurasian/Evergreen blackberry roots or other restoration work would be good wildlife photos.
Re Greenland — I believe Trump simply followed his own playbook, as Eva Roytburg describes here in Fortune:
“For critics baffled by President Donald Trump’s Greenland gambit, there is an overlooked advantage in covering this president. Unlike most political figures, Trump has already published a user’s manual for how he negotiates: the classic Art of the Deal, from 1987, cowritten by journalist Tony Schwartz…”
The “5 key rules” of Trump’s strategy, says Roytburg, are these:
Rule 1: Aim high
Rule 2: The BATNA
Rule 3: Use leverage
Rule 4: Let others find the middle
Rule 5: Play to fantasies
BATNA is “the best alternative to a negotiated agreement.” Trump’s strategy is to manipulate the BATNA:
“‘Sometimes it pays to be a little wild,’ Trump writes in The Art of the Deal, after recounting how he once threatened a scammy banker with a murder charge. After nearly a week in which analysts and policymakers, for the first time since NATO’s founding, were seriously weighing the possibility that the United States might destroy the alliance by aggressively pursuing Greenland, Trump had created leverage….
“…By making the alternative to a deal look costly and destabilizing, Trump artificially inflates the downside risk, positioning America—and himself—as the least bad option.”
https://fortune.com/2026/01/22/trump-greenland-nato-taco-deal-military-art-of-the-deal/
Like several other commentators I read this site everyday. It gives me a sense of understanding the strangeness of current USA politics.
An excellent documentary about suicides off the Golden Gate Bridge is called simply “The Bridge.” I highly recommend it. The filmmakers interview relatives of those who committed suicide by jumping. One man who survived his attempt now runs a support group for loved ones of jumpers. I highly recommend “The Bridge.” It’s very moving.