Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Welcome to CaturSaturday, May 16, 2025, shabbos for Jewish cats, and National Barbecue Day. Many countries have barbecue, but the U.S. form, especially Texas beef, is the best. Here’s a giant beef rib dinner from Black’s BBQ in Lockhart, Texas. Look at that plate! (Included: BBQ beans, raw onion, a jalapeño corn muffin, potato salad, and extra BBQ sauce.) I usually get brisket, but that day I treated myself to the pricier beef rib, which turned out to be fabulous. (I did finish my lunch.) If you get to central Texas, be sure to visit Lockhart, which, though small (pop. 14,379), for some reason has become the state’s barbecue capital, with at least five famous joints. I think Black’s is the best.
John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, traveled to Cuba on Thursday, a day after Havana admitted that its fuel oil supplies have been exhausted for consumers and businesses.
Mr. Ratcliffe made the visit to deliver a warning to the government that it had to make economic changes and stop allowing Russia and China to operate intelligence posts in Cuba, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Mr. Ratcliffe is the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Cuba. His trip is part of a multifaceted campaign to escalate pressure against the Communist government and fulfill President Trump’s demand for regime change.
In a statement, the C.I.A. said that Mr. Ratcliffe had traveled to Havana to personally deliver President Trump’s message “that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.”
The C.I.A. said Mr. Ratcliffe had met with Raúl G. Rodríguez Castro, known as “Raulito” or “El Cangrejo” (the Crab), the influential grandson of former president Raúl Castro. Mr. Ratcliffe also met with Lázaro Álvarez Casas, the minister of the interior, as well as the head of Cuba’s intelligence services, a C.I.A. official said.
At the same time, federal prosecutors in Miami were working toward securing an indictment of the elder Mr. Castro, who remains a force in the country’s politics, according to several people familiar with the matter. The scope of the indictment and the number of defendants is being debated, but it could include drug trafficking charges and accusations connected to Cuba’s downing in 1996 of planes run by the humanitarian aid group Brothers to the Rescue, two of the people said.
Mr. Ratcliffe arrived in Cuba the day after Vicente de la O Levy, the minister of energy and mines, announced that oil supplies for domestic use and power plants had been exhausted.
“We have absolutely no fuel oil, absolutely no diesel,” he said. “In Havana, the blackouts today exceed 20 or 22 hours.”
The lack of oil has forced people to rely on charcoal or even wood to cook, and some people have taken to the streets, banging on pots and pans to express their frustration.
The Cuban government has been grappling with a severe energy crisis for more than two years because of crumbling infrastructure and a dwindling oil supply from Venezuela, its longtime benefactor.
Venezuelan fuel stopped flowing to Cuba entirely in January, after the United States seized Venezuela’s leader and took control of its oil industry. Later, the Trump administration imposed an effective blockade barring all foreign oil from reaching Cuba, which had also received shipments from Mexico.
I retain an affection for the people of Cuba, as everyone I know who’s visited the country remarked on the friendliness of the people. I have no use for their despotic government, but does the U.S. have the right (or the ethical impetus) to blockade the oil of that country? I don’t think so. I would dearly love for Cuba to become democratic, and I would like to visit (you can’t now unless you are part of a tour or get an official invite), but the U.S. has no business forcing Cuba to undergo regime change. We are not the world’s police.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, have threatened to sue the New York Times for defamation over the publication of an essay by Nicholas Kristof detailing allegations that Palestinian women, men and children have been raped and sexually abused in Israeli military detention.
“Following the publication by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times of one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press, which also received the backing of the newspaper, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar have instructed the initiation of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times,” Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs wrote in a social media post on Thursday.
“They defamed the soldiers of Israel and perpetuated a blood libel about rape, trying to create a false symmetry between the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Israel’s valiant soldiers,” Netanyahu added in a statement to Reuters. “We will fight these lies in the court of public opinion and in the court of law. Truth will prevail.”
“This threat, similar to one made last year, is part of a well-worn political playbook that aims to undermine independent reporting and stifle journalism that does not fit a specific narrative,” Danielle Rhoades Ha, a New York Times spokesperson, said in a Thursday statement. “Any such legal claim would be without merit.
“Nick has covered sexual violence for decades, and is widely regarded as one of the world’s best on-the-ground journalists in documenting and bearing witness to sexual abuse experienced by women and men in war and conflict zones,” the statement continued.
The paper has repeatedly defended Kristof’s reporting over the last few days.
But can Israel sue a newspaper for defamation? The article implies not:
It is not clear in which jurisdiction Israeli officials would bring the lawsuit or whether defamation claims could even be filed by a government.
“There is no chance a US court would countenance such a case,” said David A Logan, a professor emeritus at the Roger Williams School of Law and media law expert.
There is a legal consensus, he added, that the first amendment bars lawsuits or prosecutions of critics of government brought by the government.
Mark Stephens, an expert in international media law, called the idea of Israel suing the Times “ludicrous”. “Libel is about hurt feelings, being shunned and avoided and isolated as a human (sentient) being,” he said in an email. “This is as much about politics as it is about law – and courts are alert to the difference.”
In some ways this is unfortunate, as Kristof made specific allegations, but perhaps suppose that unnamed Israeli authorities or soldiers could consider themselves defamed if their organization is defamed for sexual assault on Palestinians. I do wish that there were some way that Kristof could be called to account–made to defend his allegations more precisely. We will not, however, see a news piece in the NYT following up on Kristof’s claims. He’s there for good.
*As usual, I’ll steal a few items from Nellie Bowles’s weekly news-and-snark column in the Free Press, called this week, “TGIF: sort of a fat slob.”
→ 2028 coming into swing: Polls for the next presidential race are starting! Already! It’s LOL-a-poll-ooza. And 2028 is going to be our first election without Trump in 800 years, so it’s sure to be very weird. This is the latest from AtlasIntel, a reputable shop, but still, polls now are primarily just licking a finger and waving it around in the wind.
From the Dems, we have, despite no one announcing their candidacy: AOC at 26 percent, then Buttigieg and Newsom right behind her at 22 and 21 percent. From the Repubs, it’s RUBIO at 45 percent, then Vance at 30 percent, and DeSantis at 11 percent. We might have a Latina versus Latino presidential race in 2028, and I, for one, cannot wait. I can see it now. There will be many references to abuelas, debates over whether the American dream is real, or if Cuban counts as Latino at all, a memory hole of Latinx, you know what’s up. We are all going to have to pretend that descendants of the hottest, most ruthless conquistadors are indigenous tribespeople. Okay, that’s just AOC. But I’m really excited. I genuinely like them both. I’m rooting for them both. I’d even love Meatball Ron versus Gavin Newsom.
AOC leading the polls? Shoot me now! But wait!— there’s more!
→ Go ahead, AOC. Say it to Beyoncé: Appearing on comedian Ilana Glazer’s podcast in a May 7 interview, AOC said: “There’s a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned, right? You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that. You can get market power, you can break rules, you can do all sorts of things. You can abuse labor laws, you can pay people less than what they’re worth, but you can’t earn that, right? And so you have to create a myth, that—since you didn’t earn that, you have to create a myth of earning it.” So, you’re saying Beyoncé didn’t earn it? You think she didn’t fight for every penny? How about Oprah? The scoreboard doesn’t care about your excuses, AOC. I dare you to tell Taylor Swift that she’s only a billionaire because she abused labor laws.
→ Oh no, the Russian nuke ship accidentally sank:
The only thing I share with antisemites is a belief that when something mysterious happens, I figure it must be Israel.
→ NYU kids vs. Jon Haidt: In an episode so validating it almost feels made up, NYU’s Student Government Assembly issued a statement opposing the selection of Jonathan Haidt as the Class of 2026 commencement speaker, because of what they say is his “disturbing rhetoric.” They call his selection “deeply unsettling.” Haidt is the author of The Anxious Generation and has been a major figure in the movement to reduce screen time in childhood. He also warned that shielding students from opinions they disagree with, or even find offensive, might be to their detriment. Here’s from the NYU Student Government Assembly letter protesting him:
Since the announcement on Thursday, April 30, many students have reported feelings of disappointment, disgust, unenthusiasm, defeat, and embarrassment—feeling that their commencement, intended to be a celebratory moment, has instead become another instance of being misunderstood.
Well, indeed. His graduation speech, delivered this week, spewed vile bigotry such as: “What you pay attention to shapes what you care about. And what you care about shapes who you become.” It included these deeply disturbing lines from a poem by Mary Oliver: Pay attention. / Be astonished. / Tell about it.Students booed. And I stand with them. Why? Because it’s enough already, Jon Haidt. Your book was on the bestseller list for, what, a billion weeks? (Actually, 106 weeks. One hundred and six weeks.) Leave some room for some other heterodox Free Pressers. When I think about that fact and your literary success, well, Jon, I also report feelings of unenthusiasm and defeat.
Haidt in fact turned out to be a good graduation speaker, but what he said doesn’t matter to the kids; he’s demonized for his (entirely reasonable) books. You can see part of his speech here.
A 38-year-old Washington man has been arrested for allegedly throwing a rock at a monk seal on the shores of Maui in early May, an incident that was caught on video and quickly went viral.
The monk seal is well-known to locals who have named her “Lani.” [JAC: I think they’ve now determined it was a different monk seal, but still one known to locals.]
“Lani, we have your back,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a May 7 statement via Instagram. “And we hope to see you swimming by Front Street for many years to come.”
Mayor Bissen noted that members of his team in the Lahaina area of Maui have been tracking and looking out for Lani the seal “for some time now.”
“Lani is not just a seal to us,” he said. “She is part of our ocean ‘Ohana in Lahaina. Many of our residents know her, watch over her, and care deeply about her well being.”
. . .Special agents with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrestedIgor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk near Seattle on Wednesday, May 13. Lytvynchuk, 38, is a resident of Covington, Wash., roughly 30 miles southeast from Seattle.
On May 5, bystanders took video of a man walking along the beach in the Lahaina area of Maui as he followed a monk seal, Lani, in the nearby shallow water. The seal was swimming and pushing a log. The man then took a large rock — one witness described it as the size of a coconut — and threw it at the seal, nearly hitting its head.The seal was startled and reared out of the water. Lani was motionless for a time, avoiding the shore, after the scare.
“Let me be clear, this is not the kind of visitor we welcome on Maui,” Mayor Bissen said in his May 7 statement. “We welcome respectful visitors who understand that our culture, environment, and wildlife must be treated with care and aloha. Behavior like this will not be tolerated.”
After obtaining video of the incident, agents were able to compare images of the man with Lytvynchuk’s Washington state driver’s license photo. They then tracked him down at a nearby resort. He was contacted there and exercised his right to remain silent.
Lytvynchuk has now been charged with harassing and attempting to harass an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, which is a violation of the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. He made his first court appearance Thursday morning at the federal courthouse in Seattle.
Shortly after the rock-throwing incident, witnesses confronted the man and said they had called police. According to charging documents, the man told witnesses that he was “rich enough to pay the fines” and walked away as Lani was immobile in the water. Such fines could add up to $50,000 for violating the Endangered Species Act, and up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. He also faces a potential year in prison and supervised release, if convicted.
I am happy they found this jerk, and I hope that, if he’s convicted, they throw the book at him, including locking him up. I think he’s being outed and shunned on social media, and I’m not weeping about that, either. You can see the criminal complaint here. Here is the first page of the full complaint and a picture of the accused (from the complaint):
*Margaret Sullivan was the last “public editor” of the NYT, responsible for publicizing and correcting errors in the paper. As I said yesterday, the paper did away with those editors. But the last one commented yesterday on the paper, her old job, and Nicholas Kristof’s odious column. Here’s the caption from Facebook:
The Times’ last public editor has reshared Hen Mazzig‘s essay “The Last Public Editor,” about the New York Times’ ethical collapse since getting rid of public editors.
Danish authorities were checking on Friday if a dead whale found in its waters might be a humpback nicknamed Timmy whose protracted rescue and release captivated neighboring Germany.
The juvenile male was guided through a freshly dredged channel onto a water-filled barge before being taken out to the North Sea earlier this month in an operation funded by two wealthy Germans off Timmendorfer beach for which it was named.
That split public opinion, with some Germans saying it would be better to put down the whale as it appeared to be disoriented or ill and would suffer too much stress in the operation.
Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency said the dead humpback found near the small island of Anholt in the Kattegat strait about 200 km (124 miles) away could be Timmy and tissue samples had been collected for potential identification.
Timmy was also carrying a temporary GPS tag, which could also serve as potential identification. It would be very sad if he died, but many experts said that the removal exercise was probably futile.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is anxious:
Hili: The vastness of the universe terrifies me.
Andrzej: Ignore it, or go see a psychotherapist.
In Polish:
Hili: Przeraża mnie bezmiar wszechświata.
Ja: Ignoruj to, albo idź do psychterapeuty.
From Masih, who argues that Iran is buying time until the Democrats get into power in the U.S. Have a look at the figures shown at the beginning of this clip.
From Luana: Maeve Halligan, an LGBTQ activist at Cambridge University, argues that some full-alphabet gender activists are making life hard for gay and bisexual people (11.5 minute video, and worth watching):
“No, I don’t subscribe to this ‘kindness’ – I’ll tell the truth instead.”
I spoke at the Cambridge Union last night about LGBs, children’s safety and women’s rights. Full video here: pic.twitter.com/XpUFS4hYjU
I love this annual tour. Translation from the Korean below:
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a cat tour is held every year. Residents seat their cats by the windows, and hundreds of people come out to the streets to see those cats. This year marks the eighth time. The world’s most peaceful event truly exists.
미국 미네소타주 미네아폴리스에서는 매년 고양이 투어가 열린다. 주민들이 자신의 고양이를 창가에 앉혀두고, 수백 명이 그 고양이를 보러 거리로 나온다. 올해로 8회째다. 세상에서 가장 평화로운 행사가 실제로 존재한다. pic.twitter.com/P5BCEckdYN
— 고양이 트윗 번역계猫ポスト翻訳垢🐱 (@nihongowacaran) May 15, 2026
One I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:
This Dutch Jewish girl was gassed as soon as she arrived in Auschwitz. She was 7 years old and would be 91 today had she lived.
And two from Dr. Cobb. First, North America’s only marsupial:
North America's only marsupials, opossums have a 13 day gestation.After birth, the bee-sized babies spend 6-9 weeks in the pouch attached to a nipple, then another 4-5 months riding on mom's back.During the 'baby-bus' phase, she continues to forage.This momma has a mustache made of baby tails.
Duck: King Eiders, which some (mistakenly) think are the world’s most beautiful ducks. In fact, they rank third—after the Mandarin Duck and the Wood Duck.
Birding day with @welshnaturelady.bsky.social few RTD, GND at Tarbet Ness. Osprey at Loch Fleet also King Eider at mouth of Loch Fleet by Littleferry, oddly enough one was reported twice on birdguides at the same time off Skelbo on Bird Guides#BirdingScotland
This year is the seventieth anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. After last year when Israel won the popular vote and came second overall, there were accusations from other countries that Israel cheated. The organisers rejected the accusation, and this year, five countries, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia have pulled out in protest at Israel’s continued participation.
Here in the UK there have been demands from the usual suspects that the BBC should no longer take part, but they have been ignored, and we will be there as usual, even though we usually come last.
The last time we won was in 1997, which meant that we hosted the contest the following year when it was won by Israel represented by Dana International, a trans-sexual woman.
I shall be watching this year with interest, although I fear that Israel’s representative is likely to get a hostile reception.
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This year is the seventieth anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. After last year when Israel won the popular vote and came second overall, there were accusations from other countries that Israel cheated. The organisers rejected the accusation, and this year, five countries, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia have pulled out in protest at Israel’s continued participation.
Here in the UK there have been demands from the usual suspects that the BBC should no longer take part, but they have been ignored, and we will be there as usual, even though we usually come last.
The last time we won was in 1997, which meant that we hosted the contest the following year when it was won by Israel represented by Dana International, a trans-sexual woman.
I shall be watching this year with interest, although I fear that Israel’s representative is likely to get a hostile reception.