Friday: Hili dialogue

September 4, 2026 • 6:45 am

Welcome to Friday, September 4, 2026, and National Wildlife Day. Today you should not just photograph the animals with your iPhone camera and move on, but stop to look at the animals. (This is one of my pet peeves about visitors to Botany Pond.) Here are three species of cats I photographed in game reserves in South Africa almost exactly two years ago:

It’s also National Macademia Nut Day (along with cashews, this is the top of the nut scale), Eat An Extra Dessert Day, and National Chianti Day.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the September 4 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*The Trump Administration has taken yet another step in its anti DEI policies, saying it will strip the tax exemption from any schools, public or private, that discriminate on the basis of race or national origin (article archived here).

The Trump administration has proposed stripping private schools of their tax-exempt status if they consider race, furthering the administration’s intense pressure on institutions that have sought diversity in their classrooms.

President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly targeted efforts to benefit Black and other racial–minority students, saying many such policies violate the law in the wake of a 2023 Supreme Court ruling banning the use of race-consciousadmissions. It recently has accused several medical schools of discriminating against White and Asian students in admissions, and has opened investigations into numerous universities.

The IRSand Treasury Department proposal announced Thursday would eliminate tax-exempt status for private schools that discriminate “on the basis of race, color, or national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational, admissions, scholarship, athletic, or other policies.”

The agencies estimate that if it takes effect, the rule could affect as many as 18,000 primary and secondary schools, colleges, universities, professional schools and trade schools.

. . .Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a written statement that the administration is ensuring racial discrimination has no place in American education. “Schools rebranding race-based preferences as equitable, inclusive, or diversity-enhancing does not change their discriminatory nature,” he wrote. “Today’s Treasury and IRS proposed regulations establish a clear standard, and the institutions that continue to use discriminatory practices will no longer receive the benefits of federal tax-exempt status.”

Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, said if the proposal takes effect, it would be hugely impactful.“But it’s not going to come to pass.”

In 1983, the court ruled that Bob Jones University and the Goldsboro Christian Schools in North Carolina were not entitled to tax-exempt status because they practiced racial discrimination — the university prohibited interracial dating and marriage, and the schools did not admit Black students.

Well, doesn’t that cut both ways, i.e., does illegal discrimination go only one way?

Because I still think that some form of preference should obtain, not based on race alone but on palpable disadvantage, I am in favor of this provision:

The Trump administration proposal still would allow schools to help disadvantaged students in admission or financial aid using race-neutral criteria such as family income, hardship or academic achievement.

*After five days of deliberation, the jury in the case of Lindsay Clancy, who pleased not guilty to strangling her three young children on the grounds of “postpartum psychosis,” is still deadlocked (article archived here).

Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial are expected to return for a sixth day of deliberations on Thursday, after growing indications that their impasse could prove unbreakable.

The judge presiding over the case, William Sullivan, read them what is known as a “dynamite charge” on Wednesday afternoon, in a last-ditch attempt to break their deadlock, and then sent them home a little over an hour later.

The jurors, nine women and three men, have now deliberated for about 30 hours over five days, and twice told the judge that they could not come to a unanimous decision as to whether Ms. Clancy should be convicted of murdering her three children.

A hung jury would result in a mistrial, and Judge Sullivan has urged the jurors to keep trying. On Wednesday, he read a set of instructions saying that they should work toward consensus and “consider that it is desirable that the case be decided.”

He has also thanked jurors for their work, noting the extent of the evidence and witness testimony presented during the monthlong trial, which featured often heart-wrenching details.

In the event of a mistrial, prosecutors would decide whether to try Ms. Clancy all over again in front of a different jury, for first-degree murder or less serious charges. Considering their options could take a week or more, experts have said.

. . .Rosanna Cavallaro, a Suffolk University law professor, said that judges “walk a tightrope” when they read the formal “dynamite” instructions to a deadlocked jury.

The goal is to nudge the jurors forward toward consensus, she said, “without making them feel coerced by a judge’s criticism.”

I can understand the jury’s difficulties, as there are at least four different judgments that could be made, including “not guilty,” and the jurors must rule unanimously. But if there’s a mistrial, then the whole expensive and multi-week show has to be repeated, and perhaps with the same outcome. At that point Clancy will apparently walk free, and though she’s partly paralyzed from her suicide attempt, she will suffer no punishment, or even psychiatric treatment in a confined space, for killing her children.

*This is surprising; the WSJ reports that “Hundreds of colleges are sending acceptance letters to kids who didn’t even apply.”

Hundreds of colleges are sending students letters of admission—without even requiring an application.

Schools are increasingly agreeing to admit students based on a handful of criteria, like high school transcripts. Known as “direct admissions,” this expedited process is free and omits required essays, questions about extracurriculars and mandated standardized tests.

In turn, the colleges—which are seeking ways to attract more students amid broader financial headwinds—gain exposure to prospects who may never have heard of them otherwise. They then woo the young people into enrolling.

Proponents call the approach a solution for both sides.

“Instead of a student applying to the institution, the institution applies to them,” said Angel Perez, chief executive of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. “It’s a way for students not to have to jump through hoops in order to get into college.”

Direct admission has ballooned in popularity, particularly among less-selective private schools vying for a shrinking pool of college-goers. On the Common App, the number of participating institutions has more than tripled since 2023-24, representing about a fifth of the app’s partners, said Chief Executive Jenny Rickard. More than a dozen states now have direct-admissions initiatives.

Colleges across America are reckoning with the demographic cliff as the pipeline of 18-year-olds dwindles. Lesser-known campuses sit at the forefront of these enrollment challenges, though cracks are spreading throughout. And since most colleges admit more than half of applicants—the acceptance rate in the U.S. topped 70% among four-year, not-for-profit schools in a 2023 NACAC report—supporters say direct admissions is a no-brainer.

The process aims to be straightforward: students interested in direct admissions fill out a form—not a full application—on various sites that essentially act as matchmakers. The students, or their high schools, also submit their transcripts. From there, the offers roll in automatically. (As with the traditional pathway, though, colleges can yank acceptances if a teen’s grades tank in their senior year.)

I wish they had this process when I was applying to college, as I had good grades and SATs in high school, and it would have saved me some trouble. On the other hand, I applied formally to only one school—William & Mary—for early admission, and I was successful, so I was spared a lot of worry during my senior year of high school.  (I really wanted to go to Princeton because I was enchanged by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first book, This Side of Paradise, but my parents said they couldn’t afford to send me to Princeton. In the end, I think I did better by going to William & Mary. And I still love Fitzgerald. As for this automatic acceptance, well, it seems to apply mostly for schools that are hurting for students, and I have no opposition to it. If the plan doesn’t work, we’ll see.

*In honor of Gloria Steinem’s death, reader Jez mentioned a 2019 article she wrote in the journal Woman’s Reproductive Health, called “If men could menstruate.” It’s not only accurate but hilarious, and you can read it for free at the link. Here’s an excerpt:

What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?

The answer is clear—menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event:

Men would brag about how long and how much.

Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood, with religious ritual and stag parties.

Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp out monthly discomforts.

Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. (Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of commercial brands such as John Wayne Tampons, Muhammad Ali’s Rope-a-dope Pads, Joe Namath Jock Shields—“For Those Light Bachelor Days,” and Robert “Baretta” Blake Maxi-Pads.)

Military men, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists would cite menstruation (“menstruation”) as proof that only men could serve in the Army (“you have to give blood to take blood”), occupy political office (“can women be aggressive without that steadfast cycle governed by the planet Mars?”), be priests and ministers (“how could a woman give her blood for our sins?”) or rabbis (“without the monthly loss of impurities, women remain unclean”).

Male radicals, left-wing politicians, and mystics, however, would insist that women are equal, just different, and that any woman could enter their ranks if she were willing to self-inflict a major wound every month (“you MUST give blood for the revolution”), recognize the preeminence of menstrual issues, or subordinate her selfness to all men in their Cycle of Enlightenment. Street guys would brag (“I’m a three pad man”) or answer praise from a buddy (“Man, you lookin’ good!”) by giving fives and saying, “Yeah, man, I’m on the rag!” TV shows would treat the subject at length. (“Happy Days”: Richie and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still “The Fonz,” though he has missed two periods in a row.) So would newspapers. (SHARK SCARE THREATENS MENSTRUATING MEN. JUDGE CITES MONTHLY STRESS IN PARDONING RAPIST.) And movies. (Newman and Redford in “Blood Brothers”!) Men would convince women that intercourse was more pleasurable at “that time of the month.” Lesbians would be said to fear blood and therefore life itself—though probably only because they needed a good menstruating man.

There’s more, but I’ll let you have the pleasure of reading it yourself. Back in my youth, I saw a cartoon of a man in a bookstore looking for funny books, and the woman behind the counter saying, “I’m sorry, sir, but we have no humor section: this is a feminist bookstore.”  Steinem shows that that’s wrongheaded.

*I’ve started investigated whether someone’s prose involved AI by putting it in the reliable source Pangram (it’s been tested thoroughly), and you get three free tries per day. Disappointingly, many of the people whom I follow on Facebook, and admire for their political or ideological stands, use a lot of AI.  When I see that, I lose interest. (Some nonpolitical sites are 100% AI.). But my philosopher friend Maarten Boudry takes the cake for finding an entire published short story that is not only AI generated, but won a prize! Here’s his tweet:

From Maarten Boudry,

From Maarten’s email to me: “A literary First Prize has been awarded to a short story that is 100%. AI. Do you know Moth Magazine? Never heard of them, but they have 12K followers on X and have a WikiPedia page, so it’s not completely fringe. Maarten’s tweet gives the story, “The Shoulder,” by Jeffrey Michael Kane, and it’s still up.

Maarten added this:

It’s fascinating to read the short story: it’s superficially coherent and vaguely poetic, but once you reach the end you realize it’s going nowhere. Using AI for a literary prize is much worse than for an FB post: it’s cheating, and unfair to the other contenders.
Agreed, but I still think that if anybody uses AI in any substantial way, even writing a Facebook post, they should note that and give us the prompts.  It’s fun to check stuff out yourself, though it’s also disappointing when it’s someone you respected.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is down on philosophers again:

Hili: I feel, therefore I am.
Andrzej: That’s rather obvious.
Hili: Not to philosophers.

In Polish:

Hili: Czuję więc jestem.
Ja: To raczej oczywiste.
Hili: Nie dla filozofów.

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

From Clyde, who said, “This is a beast that I found lurking in the White River in Indianapolis.”

From Cats Doing Cat Stuff:

From TherionArms:

From Masih; a young Islamic man, who already had his eye shot out, may lose his life as well. The charge? “Corruption on earth.”

From Colin Wright on the Nature editorial I wrote about yesterday. Read the whole tweet and be sure to look at the screenshots of Nature articles.

From Luana. Is this the State Department trolling the administration? “Deadnaming”?

From Malcolm; “gifts” from cats:

One from my feed, and yes, it features a cat:

And one I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:

From Matthew: Nice arthopods on the sand. Note the first Latin binomial..

Lots of action around exposed sand banks at Allerthorpe Common @yorkswildlife.bsky.social reserve today. Astata boops seems well established there now and Green Tigers, Ammophila sabulosa, Anoplius nigerrimus all very active in the sun. Super little reserve. 🙂 @ynuorg.bsky.social #hymenoptera

— Ian Andrews (@suillia.bsky.social) 2026-08-26T18:25:24.955Z

A cool paper in which scientists used fossil insects to reconstruct their calls:

THE SOUND OF JURASSIC INSECTSReconstruction of an extinct soundscape reveals ultrasonic communication in the Jurassicwww.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/…

— (@dactylioceras.bsky.social) 2026-08-26T16:29:25.241Z

26 thoughts on “Friday: Hili dialogue”

  2. Hmmm…wonder if the nom de plume jeffrey michael kane has an origin story in fictional Jason Bourne’s more fictional alias John Michael Kane???

    Ai is ubiquitous, but how to address it? I look forward to the commentary on this site over the coming months. President Garber supports incorporating it as a very positive development per an article in today’s Harvard Crimson, while Northwestern’s professors Uzzi and Ottino warn of downside of “self-driving” science in the aeot-oct American Scientist. I think that everyone knows that “I Hate ai”, even having had a T-shirt made proclaiming that. This is based on my familiarity with it from the 1980’s early artificial neural networks days and claims that it could replace human pilots to make flying safer…arrgghh. I was a flight controls engineer and felt a need to keep a watchful eye on such shenanigans…..but, like all technologie, now that it is here, how to manage it?

    Reply

    1. Whenever we did an autoland in our L-1011; we had to rest our hands gently on the controlls. Ocassionally, and usually right about 50 feet above the runway, it would decide that it was done for the day. It would disconnect itself and the airplane would nose dive; so the Pilot Flying would have to jam the trottles forward and yank the nose up, resulting in a “firm” landing. I can’t imagine what might happen if the AI autopilot hallucinated on final approach.

      Reply

        1. We called them “A Gentleman’s Airplane” because it did the emergency procedures for you. All you had to do was “agree the switch.” This eventually resulted in the two-pilot flight crew of today; because the automation made the Flight Engineer unnecessary.
          By”plane guy” do you mean airplane enthusiast or licensed pilot?

          Reply

  3. Ah, yes, The Moth. Remember, this is the same mag that published ‘Bird on the School Path.’ Good to see that their editorial standards have been elevated.

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      1. It gets my vote for the worst poem ever written, or at least the most nonsensical. However, Queens University Belfast does not agree with me. Its take: “The poem is recognized for its lyrical precision and evocative imagery, capturing both the simplicity of a school path and the layered meanings of personal and cultural experience. Its inclusion in Queering the Green highlights its relevance to discussions of queer identity and post-2000 Irish literary expression, marking [Dawn]Watson as a notable voice in this field”
        Go ahead, read it and tell us what you think!

        Reply

    2. I don’t know what it says about my literary tastes, but I have to confess to loving that little poem. However, it’s a very minor work, and I don’t think it really deserves to be held up as an exemplar of literature today, whether one likes it or not.

      Reply

  5. re: Gloria Steinem and humor; before founding Ms. magazine, she was an editor and writer for Help!, a humor magazine created by Harvey Kurtzman, who had also created Mad magazine. The magazine also published early work by Woody Allen, future Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam, and future underground cartoonists Gilbert Shelton and Robert Crumb.

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  6. Our very sweet, but not particularly adept year old cat Sprocket never manage to catch one of the many mice, but once brought us a fully grown pheasant. We watched him struggle to bring it up the 2nd floor stairs to the patio door, and we praised him mightily for this magnificent effort. Then we checked and released the completely unhurt and angry bird. (Cat just had one bite hold between the wings). Pheasant should have rightly been embarrassed to be caught by such a young, inexperienced all white cat with an orange tail!

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    2. Very impressive!! I have found 2 dead mice in the house in the twelve years that I’ve had my current two kitties. Neither one took responsibility. Probably 45 years ago when I lived in a less coyote-filled area and let my kitty go outside, she used to deliver earthworms onto my face in the mornings in bed😹
      I really don’t understand all the screaming about poor little mousies. The snake might be another matter.

      PS I was just told I had made too many requests when I tried to post this single message??

      Reply

    3. Very impressive!! I have found 2 dead mice in the house in the twelve years that I’ve had my current two kitties. Neither one took responsibility. Probably 45 years ago when I lived in a less coyote-filled area and let my kitty go outside, she used to deliver earthworms onto my face in the mornings in bed😹
      I really don’t understand all the screaming about poor little mousies. The snake might be another matter.

      Reply

  7. Nice bit of humor from the state department! While I see the “renaming” of Lake Ontario as completely asinine, I can appreciate the X.

    I’m very much in favor the the administration’s stance against DEI and race-based discrimination. If it’s illegal one way, it should be illegal any other way.

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  8. Seeing the great photos that you took in South Africa reminded me of something else I had been wondering about. PCC(E), at that time you also posted photos and notes about a specific warthog. I shared these with my seven year old great-grand son and he loved them and the story. I think it had a name but I don’t remember. Question for you today is – do you happen to know how that band of warthogs, especially that one, are doing now?

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  9. Thanks for that cat-gift video. It was laugh-out-loud funny! I one time had to live with an 8-inch lizard my cat brought home. After three days it got sluggish enough for me to catch and release it. It was better than the half-a-lizard the cat sometimes brought home, because he would always puke up the other half.

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  10. Like many here, I enjoy writing and would loathe deferring to a machine. But I also stubbornly cling to axes, saws, and other quality hand tools for any physical work that is meaningful to me. Given my selective Luddism, I find the overall AI debate intriguing. I’m confident that few who lament its growing use in the knowledge economy similarly lament the much earlier displacement of physical strength by technology. (They might regret the demise of craftsmanship.) Of course, physical strength is likely not core to their particular reputations, talents, and identities—as it isn’t to mine. I have no idea how sophisticated AI will eventually be, but I envision we may see a diminishing throng of intellectual John Henrys striking blows against the machine.

    Freddie deBoer wrote a piece earlier this summer about glitches in Pangram. He, for instance, had been accused of using AI to write; he denies using AI. Freddie thus ran the suspect 300-word excerpt of his through Pangram and, sure enough, it reported 100% AI written (with high confidence). He then tested the entire 5000-word essay that contained the excerpt and it reported 100% human written, again with high confidence. Clearly, something is amiss. The rest of the article shows how easily he could tilt Pangram to a false 100% conclusion in either direction.

    Until this technology develops further, I would be cautious in my conclusions. There is some irony, is there not, in refusing to use AI for composition but freely outsourcing one’s critical judgment to it.

    https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/i-wouldnt-say-pangram-is-broken-but

    Reply

    1. “Until this technology develops further…”

      And there’s the rub, because it will only be developed further and continue to accelerate. No one will stop it, that’s a forgone conclusion. The real question is, CAN anyone stop it, even if they wanted? I posit, no. I’m reminded of that classic trope when something electronic is going haywire, someone unplugs the device, and it keeps running! AI is just a baby right now. What happens when it’s an adult (maybe another decade or less?) Or how about a pissed off, misanthropic adult?

      To be clear, I’m enthralled by AI. And I can see how beneficial it can be. Human greed will ruin it though. You can probably place a nice bet on that speculation. Thanks AI for all the betting. Bread and circuses, baby!

      Reply

  11. That marauding lion photo is magnificent. Must have been exciting seeing that in real life and then through the view finder. Nice photo-collection of big cats.

    Reply

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