The news will be light today as I’m dealing with duck and duckling issues.  The upshot is that I’m worried we may not keep our six ducklings on the pond this year, thanks to Facilities’ desire to prioritize plants over ducks.  Stay tuned, but posting will be very light or even nonexistent until Monday. Bear with me; I’m doing my best.

Welcome to Friday, May 9, 2025, and National Butterscotch Brownie Day. These are also known as “blondies”, and have their own Wikipedia page. A photo of a hazelnut brownie (they are made with brown sugar and butter, hence the “butterscotch”):

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the May 9 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*Habemus papam.  They not only elected a new Pope relatively quickly, but he’s an American-born pope—the first one! Not only that, but he’s from Chicago! Here’s a picture with the Pope as a Chicago dog dragged through the garden. I believe this is from the Onion (h/t Merilee):

He’s young, too (for a Pope): Just 69.  I think they want to elect popes who won’t serve for long, but it is a job for life.  The pope is entitled to a modest salary (a few hundred euros a month), but Pope Francis refused it; all the other needs of the pope, including travel, are met by the Vatican.

The morning after his stunning election in a papal conclave, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Sistine Chapel on Friday to preside over his first Mass as leader of 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, calling for “missionary outreach” to restore faith in the church.

Evoking the teachings of his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo XIV delivered a homily rich in theological references. Speaking to a solemn gathering of the cardinals who had elected him, he said that a loss of religious faith had contributed to “appalling violations of human dignity” around the world.

Pope Leo in fact went to Catholic theological seminary here in Hyde Park, near the University of Chicago. Of course he was all over the local news last night.  He is also a White Sox fan, being from the South Side, and is rumored

. . . As he did yesterday in his first speech in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV evoked Pope Francis’ teachings in his homily — a sign of continuity with his predecessor. He tackled the issue of a loss of faith, which he said is often “tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violation of human dignity in its most dramatic forms, the crisis of the family.”

In some situations, he said, the Christian faith is considered to be something for the weak and unintelligent, so people pursue things like technology and money instead. It’s for this reason, the pope added, that “our missionary outreach is needed.” According to experts, Pope Leo XIV’s pastoral approach was important in lifting his candidacy.

. . . What’s in a name? A lot, it turns out.

Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost’s choice to be called Pope Leo XIV had been a clear and deliberate reference to the last Leo, who led during a difficult time for the Roman Catholic Church and helped marshal it into the modern world.

Leo XIII — who was head of the church from 1878 to 1903, one of the longest reigns in papal history — is known for his 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which strongly defended the rights of working people to a living wage and set the tone for the church’s modern social doctrine. He became known as the “pope of the workers.”

*As usual, I’ll steal a few items from Nellie Bowles weekly and snarky news column at the Free Press, called this week, “TGIF: In this $TRUMP economy.”

→ This is how the Trump economy works: Let’s say you run Freight Technologies, Inc., a cross-border shipping logistics company. Heavy new tariffs seem like a risk to your business, right? Maybe not! All it takes is this one weird trick called Buying Trump’s Crypto Token, which is a scam “currency.” As the chief executive officer of Freight Technologies, Inc. put it in a recent press release: “We believe that the addition of the Official Trump tokens are an excellent way to diversify our crypto treasury, and also an effective way to advocate for fair, balanced, and free trade between Mexico and the U.S.” Buying $TRUMP tokens—$TRUMP is the official name of the corruption coin, not some mockery I’ve made up here—is how you advocate for yourself these days. Want to keep doing business in Indonesia? Buy some $TRUMP first, you globalist piggy. Pulled over for speeding? Go to CoinBase.com, get yourself a $TRUMP card, and we’ll see about the points on your license. Skip the IRS bill, and instead pay taxes directly in $TRUMP. It’s that easy! There was a song popular in my youth called “Gangsta’s Paradise,” and it’s been stuck in my head for weeks. Soon our only currency will be baseball cards with Eric and Don Jr.’s faces on them, and I’ll be the poor sucker with nothing but Tiffany’s.

→ Americans disapprove of all their politicians on all topics: Trump’s approval rating on a swath of issues is negative. But for some reason, Dem approval ratings are also really low? People don’t seem to be thinking more favorably of Dems. They’re just hating both sides, equally, week over week. America is like me when someone asks who my favorite child is: The answer is neither. The right question is who do I dislike less.

→ And how are things for the Jews? Oh, the usual. Students for Justice in Palestine at Temple University hosted a panel honoring Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is in prison for the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer. Panelists said things like: “We know it’s a victory when a red triangle goes above an Israeli soldier’s head, and a pig gets iced.” I love our new hippies. And: “We will free Mumia because it is our job to destroy imperialism, destroy the United States, and destroy capitalism.” I didn’t see any protests after this. It’s just a completely typical panel from a student group at a normal American university.

Then, over at a Barstool Sports event in Philadelphia last week, someone held up a sign in the crowd that read “Fuck the Jews,” as people laughed and cheered. A young man named Mo Khan then allegedly posted a video of the sign on his Instagram. The head of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, quickly disavowed all this. But then we got to witness the birth of a new media star. Khan posted a video, saying: “Dave Portnoy and the greater Jewish community are acting as if they are the victims, when this whole time I am the victim.” He appeared on The Stew Peters Show, where Stew said: “You’re an innocent man, but over the past few days, this disgusting Jew has internationally destroyed your reputation. . . . Would you call that Jewish supremacy?” Khan replied, “To an extent, yes.” Stew said that Portnoy is “a filthy Jew.” In the final step of the 2025 antisemitic media-darling cycle, Khan then posted a call to action for his followers to buy $JPROOF—as in Jewish-proof—a cryptocurrency for neo-Nazis, I guess. My biggest takeaway here is that if Bari doesn’t stop spending so much money on face serums, I’m transferring our assets into $JPROOF to keep them safe.

*Our trade with China is tanking, as expected with the tariffs, but they’re redirecting their goods to other countries.

China said exports to the U.S. plunged in April, as the Trump administration’s tariff assault forced the world’s second-largest economy to redirect more of its goods to Southeast Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

Overall, China said its export growth demonstrated surprising resilience last month, with the headline figure showing exports rising 8.1% in dollar-denominated terms in April from a year earlier.

But beneath that rosy number was a marked shift in the composition of outbound shipments from China, which has spent the past three decades building up its status as the world’s factory floor.

Chinese shipment of goods to the U.S. dropped 21% in April from a year earlier, while exports to the bloc of Southeast Asian nations known as Asean surged 21%, according to official trade figures released Friday by China’s General Administration of Customs. Exports to Latin America jumped 17%, while shipments to Africa soared 25%, the data showed. Chinese exports to the European Union rose 8.3%.

The figures underscore the degree to which U.S. tariffs on China, which have been cranked up by 145% in President Trump’s first three months in office, have altered the global trade map.

U.S. and Chinese officials are set to meet in Switzerland this weekend to talk, potentially paving the way for broader trade negotiations. Both U.S. and Chinese officials have indicated that the key objective for the weekend meeting is to de-escalate tensions amid what some White House officials have described as a total trade embargo between the two countries.

The figures for April represent China’s first release of official trade numbers since Trump ratcheted up tariffs on all Chinese goods by a cumulative 125% in a series of actions throughout April, on top of 20% levies placed on the country for its role in the fentanyl trade. Later in the month, he exempted smartphones and other electronics goods, many of which are made in China.

The fentanyl trade is just an excuse, though China does have a big role in supplying fentanyl-making drugs to other countries, which then make the final substance and send it to the US. No, the tariff wars are expressions of Trump’s desire for revenge, and he doesn’t give a damn that it’s likely to promote a recession in America.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is amazed at woodpeckers’ tenacity. In fact, the answer to her question is in Why Evolution if True, and it reflects the power of natural selection:

Hili: I’m amazed.

A: What are you amazed about?

Hili: That woodpeckers do not suffer from constant headaches.

Hili: Podziwiam.

Ja: Co podziwiasz?

Hili: Fakt, że dzięcioły nie cierpią na ustawiczne bóle głowy.

And a photo of Baby Kulka:

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

From Private Eye, a British satirical magazine that hits its target this time. Click to enlarge (h/t Andrew)

From Things with Faces, an evil Couch Clown:

From Meow, and look at that pattern!

From Masih: another political prisoner murdered in Iran:

The Islamist regime in Iran has murdered Mohsen under the pretense of “espionage for Israel” and “waging war against God.” But we all know this wasn’t about Israel. This wasn’t justice. This was revenge, a brutal message disguised as law.

This is not justice.
This is not law.… https://t.co/EsHPvH9KeW pic.twitter.com/KycjNXHLV4

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) April 30, 2025

From Malcolm: a great cat mother:

Every 10 steps she takes, she looks back to check her little one pic.twitter.com/RxP770PRsW

— Posts Of Cats (@PostsOfCats) April 30, 2025

From Simon, who’s amused:

The Vatican keeps in tradition of having a Pope who doesn't like JD Vance.

— The Lincoln Project (@lincolnproject.us) 2025-05-08T17:55:17.914Z

One from the Auschwitz Memorial that I reposted:

A Hungarian Jewish boy was gassed to death upon arriving at Auschwitz. He was about five.

— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2025-05-09T11:36:47.859Z

You can find this tweet here; I can’t embed it. It’s not only Britain’s sharia law, but official blasphemy:

From Matthew, who is abed with an infection (he’ll be okay). His caption is, “Wtf? Oh forget it”.”

🐡

— でんか (@k-hermit.com) 2025-05-06T12:21:04.493Z

Welcome to CaturSaturday, May 3, 2025, and besides being shabbos for Jewish cats it’s Kentucky Derby Day. Put on your hat and have a mint julep! Be;pw is the fabulous Secretariat, Triple Crown winner, setting the 1.25-mile record for the track in 1973, a record that still stands after more than 50 years: 1:59.4—less than two minutes. He was euthanized at 19 because of an intractable hoof condition.

It’s also Astronomy Day, National Homebrew Day, World Press Freedom Day, Beer Pong Day, HerbDay, National Raspberry Popover Day, National Chocolate Custard Day, and Start Seeing Monarchs Day (seen any?)

Some frat guys at the University here were playing Beer Pong two days ago. Here’s a short video about how it’s done:

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the May 3 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*The new Trump budget looks uber-dire, but, you know, it’s going to pass because Congress is majority Republican. Less help for people and more weapons! But there’s some hope that the courts will put a damper on it.,

The White House released a partial budget proposal Friday calling for $163 billion in cuts to federal spending in the next fiscal year, pushing reductions to health care, education and many other government programs while boosting spending on defense and homeland security.

The White House’s 2026 fiscal budget plan would codify for next year many of the spending cuts already unilaterally implemented this year by President Donald Trump or billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service. The administration has struggled to convince Republicans in Congress to enshrine even a small portion of those cuts into law, and the courts have also ordered the White House to resume much of the spending, leaving the fate of the changes unclear for now.

The $163 billion in requested cuts amount to nearly 23 percent. They would come from a portion of federal outlays known as “nondefense discretionary” spending, which excludes the Pentagon as well as programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — which collectively make up the bulk of what the government spends every year. The cuts would fall on child care, education programs, climate assistance, funding for research and development and a range of other government functions.

The budget also proposes $1 trillion in defense spending, a 13 percent increase, as well as more money for charter schools and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.It would also increase funding for immigration enforcement by $175 billion.

“The recommended funding levels result from a rigorous, line-by-line review of FY 2025 spending, which was found to be laden with spending contrary to the needs of ordinary working Americans and tilted toward funding niche nongovernmental organizations and institutions of higher education committed to radical gender and climate ideologies antithetical to the American way of life,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said in a letter to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top Republican appropriator.

Trump’s budget would bring nondefense discretionary spending to the “lowest level on record, by far,” said Bobby Kogan, an analyst at the Center for American Progress, a center-left think tank.

Damn military-industrial complex is taking over everything. Libraries will close, science will be squeezed, and the quality of American life will be dragged down.  The solution? See the next item!

*In his new column “How to survive the Trump years with your spirit intact“(article archived here), NYT columnist David Brooks suggests either religion of spiritual humanism. And once again he touts the “religious revival” in America for which the evidence is thin (and he admits that):

. . . . Apparently, I’m not alone. Something’s going on in our culture. The decline of religious participation, which was so rapid between 2010 and 2020, seems to have stopped. There has been a relative surge in religious interest among young men. According to research by the evangelical Christian polling group Barna, 66 percent of Americans say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus — a 12-percentage-point jump since 2021.

. . .In his book “The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God,” Brierley notes that the New Atheists were all the rage several years ago, but now it’s unlikely believers like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Jordan Peterson and the rock star Nick Cave. Vanity Fair recently ran a story headlined “Christianity Was ‘Borderline Illegal’ in Silicon Valley. Now It’s the New Religion.”

This movement was already underway before Trump was elected to a second term. It’s a response to a series of gods that failed: The belief that science and tech could solve our quest for meaning. The belief that we can live like hyperindividualists and still experience a sense of communal belonging. The belief that the right B.M.I. could lead to purpose and peace.

Are we on the cusp of a new religious revival? The evidence is still much too flimsy and fresh to justify that kind of sweeping assertion, so color me skeptical. I think it’s more accurate to say that there is currently a great spiritual yearning in the populace, which the religious institutions have not yet risen to meet.

But I do think we’re on the cusp of a great cultural transition. On the one hand, the eternal forces of dehumanization are blowing strong right now: concentrated power; authoritarianism; materialism; runaway technology; a presidential administration at war with the arts, universities and sciences; a president who guts Christianity while pretending to govern in its name.

On the other hand, there are millions of humanists — secular and religious — repulsed by what they see. History is often driven by those people who are quietly repulsed for a while and then find their voice. I suspect different kinds of humanists will gather and invent other cultural movements. They will ask the eternal humanistic questions: What does it mean to be human? What is the best way to live? What is the nature of the common humanity that binds us together? As these questions are answered in new ways, there will be new cultural movements and forms.

As the theologian Dallas Willard put it, there has been, over the past decades of neglect, a loss of moral knowledge. We came to a spot in 2024 in which 77 million Americans took a look at Trump’s moral character and didn’t have a problem with what they saw. But the consequences of those character failings are becoming evident in concrete ways.

New winds are going to blow.

Is there really a new spiritual yearning, or just a yearning to stop the madness that’s infecting our society? Are we a society of Hirsi Alis who need to fill our God-shaped hole? I for one, feel no divine lacuna in my body, but stay tuned. Already the pundits are blathering about how religion is coming back, or at any rate things that can substitute for religion.

*There’s no doubt that China exports fentanyl precursors throughout the world, and that many of them, made into the deadly drug, find their way into Americans. That’s the excuse Trump has used to impose stiffer tariffs on China, but now China itself is feeling squeezed, and has proposed talks around the drug (article archived here.) These may lead to an easing of the trade war.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s security czar, Wang Xiaohong, in recent days has been inquiring about what the Trump team wants China to do when it comes to the chemical ingredients used to make fentanyl, the people said. Chinese companies produce large quantities of the chemicals known as “precursors.” These are sold over the internet, flowing from China to criminal groups in Mexico and elsewhere that produce fentanyl and traffic it into the U.S.

Part of Beijing’s thinking involves dispatching Wang, who is the minister of public security and a senior leader within the State Council, China’s cabinet, to the U.S. to meet with senior Trump officials, the people said, or have him meet with U.S. officials in a third country.

The discussions remain fluid, the people cautioned, while adding that Beijing would like to see some softening from President Trump on his trade offensive against China.

The latest development in Beijing comes as its trade war with the U.S., which has led to both sides essentially imposing trade embargoes on each other, is starting to take a toll on a Chinese economy already struggling with a multiyear property crisis, deflationary pressure and weak consumer and business confidence.

While the Xi leadership is preparing the nation for a long struggle against the U.S., continuing to strengthen central control over the economy and overall society, the intensifying economic pain also provides Beijing with incentives to engage with Washington to alleviate the near-term pressure.

In a clear shift in tone Friday, China’s Commerce Ministry said it was weighing starting talks with the U.S. to halt a trade war while expressing Beijing’s wish for the Trump administration to “show sincerity” to talk. Previously, the ministry had demanded that Washington slash its steep tariffs on China first as a condition for negotiations.

“Fentanyl can be the icebreaker for the two countries to start with a more positive tone,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank. “Both sides are eager to get some negotiations started.”

This shows what everybody knows: tariffs and trade wars are bad for everyone.  The U.S. is going to be suffering big time soon, and China is already suffering. If Trump had any smarts, he’d simply back off on the tariff wars, but of course that would mean he’s admitting he was wrong, and narcissists don’t do that.

*As always, I’ll steal a few items from Nellie Bowles’s snarky and weekly news summary at The Free Press, called this week “TGIF: Gangster Government.”

→ Plague season: Measles is likely to become endemic in the U.S. within the next 25 years if current vaccination rates hold, according to a new study out of Stanford University. Predicted rates of infection would lead to 170,000 hospitalizations and 2,500 deaths over this time. Millions of cases are expected should vaccination rates drop, as they have over the past few years. See, right now the anti-vaxxers (most of my friends) can rely on vaccinated sheeple like my children and me. We are the herd providing broad immunity, we bags of aluminum, we duffels of autism shots and yogurt pouches. I get vaccines I don’t even need. Once, before a big backpacking trip, my doctor asked if I wanted the rabies vaccine, and do you know what I said? “Hell yeah.” I got three rabies shots over three weeks, and each time I’d get a rabies sweat fever that told me it was working. When the injection spot gets inflamed, I know the science is being followed. I look up new vaccines on ChatGPT to ask my doctor if I qualify. But you people. As more and more join the unvaccinated few, y’all are gonna bring back measles and I’m not going to help. I’ve told you so many times, over brunch after brunch, and now here we are: I’m having quiche and you’re covered in shingles.

→ The U.S. economy contracts: Our GDP has started contracting at an annualized rate of 0.3 percent, after three years of robust growth. Usually there’s a logical reason for something like that (a pandemic? A housing market collapse? I take a week off from this column?), but this time it’s just a group of the most gin-drunk, sunburnt-from-golf economists and one stone-cold sober president who has decided to give chaos a try. One day, it’s big tariffs! The next day, maybe not. The day after, big tariffs but special exceptions for companies that donate to something helpful for Republicans. Then after that, it’s tariffs? Are you drunk? But yes, tariffs on China for sure.

Trump, who previously took credit for the stock market jump after the election, is now saying the economic slump is entirely on Biden: “This is Biden’s economy because we took over on January 20th. And I think you have to give us a little bit of time to get moving.”

Also, people need to stop complaining about rising costs due to tariffs, and simply buy less from China: “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” said our degrowth president. Personally, my children only have simple toys made by Norwegians—hits such as a single unpainted wooden ball, and “books”—so I do support this part of the agenda. But the trouble is, the tariffs are on everything and everyone, even on the felted wool puppets I buy for my children that are itchy and stiff. That wooden ball already costs, I don’t know, $80? I already cannot justify this. . .

→ BBC for the win: Several BBC Arabic journalists have been openly calling for the death of Jews, according to a new Telegraph investigation. To take one example, Samer Elzaenen, a Gaza-based BBC contributor, once posted to Facebook that his message to “Zionist Jews” is: “We shall burn you as Hitler did, but this time we won’t have a single one of you left.” He posted to Facebook in 2022: “When things go awry for us, shoot the Jews, it fixes everything.” What an interesting policy point! He has appeared on the BBC’s Arabic channel more than a dozen times as a balanced newsman, posting pics in a press vest, reporting soberly from Gaza. It remains to be seen if a statement so subtle and clearly just related to Zionism will impact his role with the network. He simply wants to burn Jews, like Hitler did. What, now that suddenly crosses a line with you snowflakes? What did you think decolonization meant? Vibes? Papers?

Mohsen Mahdawi, who has been one of the people at the center of Trump’s terror-sympathizer deportation battle, was flagged a decade ago by a gun store owner as an alarming guy with genocide on the mind. The gun store owner apparently told Vermont cops that Mahdawi said he “had considerable firearm experience and used to build modified 9mm submachine guns to kill Jews while he was in Palestine.” Mahdawi also allegedly told a museum volunteer: “I like to kill Jews.” (Mahdawi later denied saying these things, according to court documents, but I will say, things must be bad for a Vermont gun shop owner to talk to the cops.) Or, as The New York Times put it in their coverage:

*Everybody who lives a very long time, say 100 years or more, is asked what the secret is to such a long life.  For cats or 30+ years, it’s a diet of asparagus, bacon, scrambled eggs, and coffee with cream. For humans, it’s simply their recounting how they lived, and every “secret” is different. Here’s one from the world’s oldest living person.

For Ethel Caterham, the trick to a long life — and in her case, it really has been — is not to argue.

Caterham, who is 115, became the world’s oldest living person, according to the Gerontology Research Group, after Sister Inah Canabarro, a Brazilian nun and teacher, died on Wednesday at the tender age of 116.

“Never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like,” she said from her nursing home in Surrey, southwest of London, on the secret to her longevity.

She was born on Aug. 21, 1909, in the village of Shipton Bellinger in the south of England, five years before the outbreak of World War I. She was the second youngest of eight siblings.

Travel has been in her blood, it’s clear. In 1927, at the age of 18, Caterham embarked on a journey to India, working as a nanny for a British family, where she stayed for three years before returning to England, according to the GRG.

. . .Hallmark Lakeview Luxury Care Home in Camberley, where Caterham is a resident, posted pictures of her cutting a cake and wearing a “115” tiara in a Facebook post on Thursday.

“Huge congratulations to Lakeview resident, Ethel on becoming the oldest person in the world! What an incredible milestone and a true testament to a life well-lived,” it said in an accompanying statement. “Your strength, spirit, and wisdom are an inspiration to us all. Here’s to celebrating your remarkable journey!”

The title of the oldest person ever is held by French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.

Here’s a short news clip of Ethel, who’s characterized only as the “oldest living person in the UK.” True, but incomplete:

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is fed up and doesn’t want to take it anymore:

A: What are you doing here?

Hili: I’m hiding from the news.

Ja: Co tu robisz?

Hili: Ukrywam się przed wiadomościami.

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

From Meow:

From Jesus of the Day:

From Things with Faces, an ET popover:

Masih is STILL quiet, but JKR retweeted this gasbag emitting helium on Triggernometry.  “These are my ideas, which are mine, and they are from a book of ideas.”

This is, without a doubt, the most (unintentionally) hilarious, stupid, long winded, nothing response to “are transwomen women?” that I’ve ever heard. It deserves a prize for the sheer brilliance of its nonsense. A+. No notes. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/Ow5O2UTgLS

— Sall Grover (@salltweets) May 2, 2025

A post sent by Simon, who says, “The universe is huge.” Indeed!

This is a new image from #JWST.The bright points with spikes are stars in the Milky Way.Everything else is a galaxy.Everything. Else. Is. A. Galaxy.

— Paul Byrne (@theplanetaryguy.bsky.social) 2025-04-29T18:47:17.815Z

From Malcolm, a lioness screws up badly but fortunately rescues her cub. Lordy!

Lioness pushes her cub not knowing that it is waterpic.twitter.com/bxx0vV2oBF

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) April 20, 2025

Two from my feed. Look at this idiot drive away!

If you miss your exit, do NOT do this. Ever. pic.twitter.com/kb7weaQ9kN

— Matt Bruning (@mbruning81) May 1, 2025

Bird wins! Bird wins!

No way
pic.twitter.com/f5uD5QRg15

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) May 1, 2025

One that I reposted from the Auschwitz Memorial:

A girl with her ball and teddy bear. She was Jewish (and Dutch) and therefore was gassed to death as soon as she arrived at Auschwitz. She was twelve.

— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2025-05-03T10:23:42.019Z

Two posts from Dr. Cobb.  The first one shows something I’m sure nobody knows here (or only one or two people):

Water buffaloes act as giant buffets for marsh frogs, who forage on the flies from buffalo fur. Buffet-loes.Research by Piotr Zduniak, Kiraz Erciyas-Yavuz and Piotr Tryjanowski:oaj.fupress.net/index.php/ah…🧪🐸🐃

— Joanna Bagniewska (@joannabagniewska.com) 2025-05-02T15:54:45.673Z

This really is a milestone. Kakapos, the world’s only flightless parrots, have all heretofore been placed on a predator-free island off New Zealand. Now they’re established in a fenced sanctuary on the North Island! Sound up to hear the booming:

A milestone: #kakapo mating calls have been heard on the North Island of NZ for the first time in over a century. At least 2 of the 3 #kakapo males at the fenced sanctuary of Maungatautari have "boomed" this summer. #conservation http://www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-r… Video: http://www.scienceagency.co.nz

— Andrew Digby (@digs.bsky.social) 2025-05-01T02:52:36.731Z

Welcome to The Cruelest Day: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, so tomorrow is the last day of the month. It’s National Zipper Day.  Here’s a good short explanation of how zippers work, and I swear, I didn’t know until I saw this! Modern zippers were patented in the U.S. by Whitcomb L. Judson, a Chicago inventor, in 1892.

It’s also National Shrimp Scampi Day and National Rugelach Day, celebrating one of the few contributions of Jewish culture to world food cuisine. Here are rugelach cut open to show the filling of these crescent-shaped pastries:

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the April 29 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*The Goose Won.  

— Andy Craig (@andycraig.bsky.social) 2025-04-29T03:29:06.050Z

Mark Carney’s Liberal party won the Canadian elections, a consequential result that barely gets space in the NYT.

*Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker seems to be stepping onto the road of being the next Democratic candidate for President.  Yesterday he spoke in New Hampshire, and certainly made pre-candidate noises with an excoriating attack on Trump:

In a fiery address to New Hampshire Democrats on Sunday night, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker condemned what he described as President Donald Trump’s “authoritarian power grabs” while also blasting the “do-nothing” Democrats in his party — stating it is “time to fight everywhere, all at once.”

The billionaire Democratic governor repeatedly brought the crowd to its feet with acidic attacks on the morals and ethics of the president, adviser and top donor Elon Musk, as well as members of the president’s Cabinet. He slammed their efforts to dismantle government programs that the most vulnerable Americans rely on and said the Democratic Party must “abandon the culture of incrementalism that has led us to swallow their cruelty.” It is time for his party, he said, to “knock the rust off poll-tested language” that has obscured “our better instincts.”

Pritzker was most searing in his condemnation of what he cast as the Trump administration’s infringement on the rights enshrined in the Constitution, stating that it should be easy for Democrats to say, “It’s wrong to snatch a person off the street and ship them to a foreign gulag with no chance to defend themselves in a court of law.”

“Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now,” Pritzker said to a standing ovation accompanied by whistles and cheers from the audience. “These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They must understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soap box and then punish them at the ballot box.”

. . . .Turning to his own party, Pritzker argued that Democrats have spent too long listening to voices who “would tell you that the house is not on fire, even as they feel the flames licking their face,” and called out politicians “whose simpering timidity served as a kindle for the arsonists.”

. . . In a 2028 field that is likely to be dominated by governors, Pritzker has positioned himself as one of the most forceful and consistent critics of Trump’s actions while pointing to his record in Illinois as a template for improving the lives of working-class voters.

Pritzker has been a good governor, and attacked Trump early on. What is lacking in the speech above is a program for Democrats; all he says is that Democrats haven’t been sufficiently aware of Trump’s dangers. But that alone won’t win elections.  It’s too early for Pritzker to start touting his accomplishments in our state, which are substantial and admirable, but up to now I thought he wasn’t interested in the Presidency.  Now I’m not so sure, and I, for one, would be in favor of his candidacy.

*Reader Debra sent me the tweet below, and I was puzzled. It must have been a fake ad, right?

Why do you keep failing, @Nike? pic.twitter.com/AjEbj8WqWI

— The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome (@TheMossadIL) April 28, 2025

But no! A Spectator piece by Jonathan Sacardoti, “Nike’s ‘never again’ slogan is a disgrace,” reveals that, while it may be unwitting and hamhanded, it’s an “insulting and profoundly distasteful” reference to the Holocaust. (The “never again” slogan is  well known referece to the mass slaughter of Jews during WWII.)

Fifty-six thousand runners completing the London Marathon yesterday may well have gasped the words ‘never again’ as they staggered across the finish line. I have never been a runner, but I imagine that even those who willingly endure the 26.2-mile ordeal must feel not only a profound sense of accomplishment but also, at the very least, a fleeting pang of regret.

Yet when I saw the Nike advertisement – hoisted from a crane like an executed Iranian dissident, swaying precariously in front of that modern-day emblem of our capital city, the London Eye – bearing the slogan “Never again. Until next year,” my mind immediately traveled to darker places. What, I wondered, has a running race to do with the Holocaust?

Only last week, my essay commemorating Yom HaShoah, the Jewish Holocaust memorial day, was published in these pages. It focused entirely on the solemn imperative embodied in the promise of “never again,” especially at a moment when Jews worldwide feel increasingly imperilled by a new, unashamed surge of hatred and discrimination. I argued that “never again” cannot simply be reduced to a catchphrase; that remembering the Holocaust is not itself sufficient to fulfil the pledge; that to honour it fully, we must recognise and confront contemporary manifestations of Jew-hatred.

. . .For a moment, I questioned myself. Perhaps I was overreacting. After all, can any single historical catastrophe – or any one persecuted group – claim exclusive ownership over a phrase? Perhaps Nike’s marketing team didn’t even think of the Shoah. Perhaps the creatives who conceived the idea – seated high in their glass towers – simply did not think along those lines. Never. Again. Just two simple words. What else might a runner exclaim upon crossing the finish line to collect a medal and a time slip? Perhaps their managers, toasting another advertising triumph over boozy lunches, were equally oblivious. Perhaps the technician who programmed the screen, and the team that hoisted it skyward for all to see, were simply unaware of the phrase’s gravest historical weight.

But then I remembered how upset it made people when anyone veered too close to ‘black lives matter’ or other popular slogans of our day. My anger only deepened. How could they? How could a giant like Nike – and all the many people involved between conception and execution – fail to recognise the most solemn and famous usage of those words? Or worse, perhaps they did, and decided it did not matter.

It is difficult to extend them the benefit of the doubt. It would have taken just one set of discerning eyes, one solitary voice, one ‘sensitivity reader’ to raise a gentle objection. Did not a single Jew suggest that it might be inappropriate? Did not a single non-Jew, with a grasp of history or an awareness of today’s climate, flag it? If not, why not? Was this ignorance, carelessness, or a chilling indifference?

Well, I will extend them the benefit of the doubt, simply because I cannot believe that they would appropriate a Holocaust trope to advertise a marathon.  Perhaps Nike will issue a statement.

*Somewhat frustrated in his attempt to deport people, Trump is, according to the WSJ, preparing a list of “sanctuary cities and states” that don’t cooperate with the Administration in deportations. This is done, of course, so he can promulgate more deportations as well as punish those who try to protect undocumented immigrants.

President Trump plans to sign an executive order on Monday escalating his battle against Democratic-led states and cities that don’t fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities, a key barrier to the mass deportations he has promised.

The order, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, directs the attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security to identify within a month cities and states that aren’t complying with federal immigration laws, designating them as “sanctuary jurisdictions.”

The cities and states on the list could face a cutoff in federal funding and possible criminal and civil suits if they refuse to change their laws or practices.

“It’s quite simple: obey the law, respect the law, and don’t obstruct federal immigration officials and law-enforcement officials when they are simply trying to remove public safety threats from our nation’s communities,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday at a briefing alongside Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar.

Trump will also direct the Justice Department to pursue civil-rights cases against cities or states that, in its view, favor immigrants in the country illegally over U.S. citizens. The order cites policies that treat immigrants more leniently in criminal cases or sentencing and state laws that provide immigrants in-state tuition rates at public universities but deny the lower rates to out-of-state U.S. citizens. At least 25 states have adopted such laws in some fashion.

Sanctuary cities and states have become a major obstacle for Trump as he has sought to drive up deportations in line with his campaign pledge. Most immigrants in the country tend to cluster in large cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and the administration has a tougher time arresting those here illegally if local police refuse to assist.

I wonder if the American people, seeing the kind of deportations that have occurred, will change their stand from the opposition to illegal immigration (a stand that helped Trump win) to an anti-Trumpism reflecting disgust with how he’s carrying out his campaign promises.  There’s no doubt that the man is on a tear, and doesn’t have much to lose (save what reputation he has).  I do agree with many who thought the “border problem” needed fixing during the Biden administration, but I can’t imagine a worse way of doing that fix.

*Here is a passionate 10-minute speech by Natasha Hausdorff on overcoming the international hatred of Israel.  And it looks as if it was extemperaneous, since she’s not using or looking at notes.  I always feel heartened that a person that I am on the side of a person this learned, smart, and eloquent.

The YouTube notes explain a bit: “Natasha Hausdorff, UKLFI Charitable Trust Legal Director, addresses the inaugural International Policy Summit of the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem on Sunday, 27 April 2025, on ‘The UN and International Courts: Law, Legitimacy and Bias’.” (There’s a 12-minute interview with her at the same conference here.)

And, click on the screenshot below to see Fareed Zakaria’s take at CNN on how Trump’s assault on science, including discouraging immigrants who want to do science, is damaging America. Reader Pat, who sent me the link, describes it:

For his opening essay (take) on Sunday on CNN, Fareed Zakaria discussed the rise of science in the USA after WWII, the importance of immigrants to those efforts, the current dismantling by the Trump administration and the fact that those actions may have more long-term negative consequences for the country than things garnering all the attention, like tariffs.  The video is 5:41 long.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is pensive. Malgorzata explains, “Just that some decisions have unintended consequences and it would be better without them. They were not neededas they made the problem worse instead of better.”

Hili: We have to make a few important decisions.

A; Sometimes important decisions lead to unnecessary changes.

In Polish:

Hili: Musimy podjąć kilka ważnych decyzji.

Ja: Czasami ważne decyzje prowadzą do zbędnych zmian.

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

From Duck Lovers:

From America’s Cultural Decline Into Idiocy:  Look at that bill!

From Now That’s Wild. This cannot be real!

Masih is still quiet, but here’s JKR responding to a video interview, but actually she pens a long tweet in defense of classical feminism:

Women fought for years, not to pretend they weren’t women, but to seek to redress the wrongs done to their sex class because of their biology.

Women and girls are coerced, persecuted and controlled all over the world by the larger, stronger male. Even in our most liberal… https://t.co/5qkbZR8mRX

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 28, 2025

From Enrico: identity-based publication in the Harvard Law Review:

There really is no way to sugarcoat how illiberal and harmful these practices at the Harvard Law Review are. Similar practices have been in place at other elite law schools, alas. https://t.co/FAbkDidUia

— Nicholas A. Christakis (@NAChristakis) April 26, 2025

A funny one from reader Simon.

— George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 (@gtconway.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T18:30:19.432Z

From Malcolm. It’s very sad if true, but I always wonder if cats really express sorrow this way:

This cat’s best friend dies, & his human follows him leaving home & finds out he visits his grave. Every living being has a soul & knows love. pic.twitter.com/yB4pQwqSmh

— Hakan Kapucu (@1hakankapucu) April 18, 2025

From my feed. It’s 100 seconds long but listen to the whole thing—it’s amazing!

Imagine being lost in the woods hearing this pic.twitter.com/Q93t4RpJYe

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) April 27, 2025

From the Auschwitz Memorial, one that i reposted:

A Dutch Jewish girl, gassed to death upon arriving at Auschwitz. She was ten.

— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2025-04-29T11:53:37.082Z

Matthew’s getting some feline help with finishing up his biography of Francis Crick:

Pepper helping me with the last stages of proof-reading.

— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb.bsky.social) 2025-04-27T11:40:01.876Z

A thread of store names with puns. I like this one:

This is my favourite, the bar is very close to where I live.

— PeteZab (@petezab.bsky.social) 2025-04-27T09:08:59.995Z

Welcome to Friday, April 25, 2025, the last Friday in April, and National DNA Day, for it was this day in 1953, that the papers on the structure of the molecule were published in Nature.  Here’s the most famous one:

Here’s an image of the DNA double helix taken with an electron microscope. Amazing stuff goes on there.

It’s also ANZAC Day, National Crayola Day (remember “burnt umber”?), National Plumber’s Day (which plumber is being celebrated?), Holocaust Remembrance Day, National Hairball Awareness Day, National Steak Day (in the UK), National Zucchini Bread Day (gag), and, best of all, World Penguin Day.  Here’s a photo of a colony I took in 2019:

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the April 25 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz: Once again the nooz may be truncated, this time due to duck issues (stay tuned; they are okay, I think).

*Well, Trump’s peacemaking efforts in the Ukraine (“The war will be over on Day One when I take office”, Trump said) isn’t coming to much. Russia launched a big-time attack on Kyiv, and Trump rebuked Putin. That, of course, won’t stop Putin, who badly wants Ukraine. (Article archived here.)

Lord knows what Trump is doing here, nor do I quite get why

*From the WSJ: “Tipping is everywhere and consumers are fed up. Here’s how some are coping.” (Article archived here.)

The issue:

Tipping quandaries are causing discomfort at checkout counters, sparking fights between spouses and sullying the enjoyment of eating out.

Some solutions:

During a recent fishing and hunting trip to South Texas, David Savage surveyed his friends on tipping. Their consensus: Service has declined—and so has their generosity.

Savage, a 64-year-old retired energy executive, too frequently finds his restaurant orders arrive with errors, or take forever. His server forgets to fill his iced tea glass, while his wife’s salad drowns in dressing.

“These servers seem to resent being there or are clearly overworked with too many tables,” said Savage, who eats out multiple times a week. Poor service knocks Savage’s tip to 10% from his standard 18% to 20%, and he won’t return.

Industry data shows that consumer views of full-service restaurants have improved since the pandemic, but Journal readers aired plenty of gripes. Many respondents said they are less patient with bad service or irked about ordering via QR codes, and aren’t afraid to tip less in response.

I haven’t noticed an increase in bad service, and my lowest tip is 15%, but my usual tip at restaruants is 20%.  I do resent being asked by a machine to tip when I am, say, buying a $2.00 baguette in a bakery.  If people think that servers deserve more, no matter how bad they are or how little they do, I think we should go to the European system of raising prices and giving servers a living wage. Some places already do that, but how do you know?  I’d be glad to pay more for food than have to deal with figuring out tips.

Janet Fannin tips restaurant servers, maids and the hairdresser. But the 60-year-old retired occupational therapist draws the line at other businesses, like minimarts or her local soap store.

“I pay the bill and that’s where it ends,” said Fannin, of Cathlamet, Wash. She still tips generously when eating out, recalling when she earned $2 an hour as a waitress in the 1980s.

Many say they’re wearied by digital tipping prompts spun around on screens at coffee shops and concession-stand counters. A survey of around 1,500 adults by market-research firm Intouch Insight found that 46% of consumers dislike the specific tip percentages suggested by digital screens. Only 13% found them helpful.

I hate those digital tipping prompts, so I join the majority about that.  Fortunately, I tip mostly when I get a haircut (20%) or when eating out (usually 20%), but neither of those involve those %^&&%)(^?,%-^@+> screens!

*I have to say that although I think RFK Jr. was Trump’s worst appointment, I am in favor of getting rid of petroleum-based food dyes, many of which, I hear, are banned in Europe. There are plenty of plant-based dyes that have been tested and can add color to food. The science on the dyes we use now, says the WaPo, seems equivocal in some cases:

The Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it plans to phase out petroleum-based food dyes from the nation’s food supply. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, has called the dyes “poison” and long blamed artificial additives for chronic disease and illness in the United States.

Companies add dyes to food, such as candy, cereals, drinks and snacks, for brighter, attractive colors. The dyes are either natural, such as red beet juice, or synthetic.

“The ingredients used in America’s food supply have been rigorously studied following an objective science and risk-based evaluation process and have been demonstrated to be safe,” Melissa Hockstad, the chief executive of Consumer Brands Association, a food industry trade group, said in a statement. “Removing these safe ingredients does not change the consumer packaged goods industry’s commitment to providing safe, affordable and convenient product choices to consumers.”

But consumer advocacy groups said there is sufficient evidence that the dyes may cause some harm to some children. They argue that artificial dyes are not worth the potential risk given their lack of nutritional value.

“From the vantage point of consumers, it boils down to why do we want to take a chance on these things when it comes to the health of our children?” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports. “Even if it doesn’t technically point to causing cancer, there is risk involved in terms of how it impacts neurobehavior in children.”\

Note that the speaker here is with Consumer Reports, a reputable organization.

The Washington Post spoke with food scientists and nutrition experts to answer questions about the synthetic dyes in food.

Here’s one case:

*Trump’s orders have been overturned in court again, but it’s a lower federal court.

 A judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from immediately enacting certain changes to how federal elections are run, including adding a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form.

President Donald Trump had called for that and other sweeping changes to U.S. elections in an executive order signed in March, arguing the U.S. “fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections” that exist in other countries.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington sided with voting rights groups and Democrats to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the citizenship requirement from moving forward while the lawsuit plays out.

She also blocked part of the Republican president’s executive order requiring public assistance enrollees to have their citizenship assessed before getting access to the federal voter registration form.

But she denied other requests from a group of Democratic plaintiffs, including refusing to block Trump’s order to tighten mail ballot deadlines. Also denied in the order was the Democrats’ request to stop Trump from directing the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Government Efficiency to review state voter lists alongside immigration databases.

The judge’s order halts the Trump administration’s efforts to push through a proof-of-citizenship mandate that Republicans have said is needed to restore public confidence in elections. Voting in federal elections by noncitizens is already illegal and can result in felony charges and deportation.

Almost all of this is going to go up to the Supremes, and I have to say that I have some confidence in Roberts, at least, even though he’s a conservative. He’s made statements about the judiciary having to maintain its power and reputation, and they’re not going to do that by ruling against the Constitution. About the Constitutionality of these election laws, I don’t know.

*At the WaPo, columnist Perry Bacon has a clickbaity piece called, “Democrats need to win moderates. This is how”  (article archived here). I can’t resist a piece like that because I want the Democrats to win and not blow it.  He lists five different kinds of “moderation”, and I’ll give just two examples, which come with suggested candidates for each strategy:

A lot of political commentary implies there is a moderate or centrist playbook that aspiring Democrats can easily follow and win.

The reality is more complicated. Democratic candidates are winning in red and purple areas across the country. Not all is lost. But they are using a variety of tactics and strategies. The real question for Democratic candidates and the party overall isn’t whether to appeal to moderate voters (of course they should) but how.

There are at least five kinds of Democratic moderation.’

Bipartisanship/not being too anti-Republican

Examples: former president Joe Biden, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, Slotkin

Potential 2028 candidate: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Upside: appeals to anti-Trump Republicans

Downside: may annoy progressive base; minimizes threat of the right

These politicians are stalwart Democrats but take pride in maintaining relationships with some Republican politicians and being able to reach agreements with them. This approach sometimes helps them attract independents and swing voters, including some Trump-skeptical Republicans.

But not always. Biden’s poll numbers dropped dramatically in his first two years in office, even though he repeatedly signed bipartisan bills into law. The endorsements of former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney and other prominent anti-Trump conservatives didn’t help Harris much last year.

This strategy comes with a substantive cost. To court Republican voters and lawmakers, these Democrats at times downplay the extremism of today’s GOP.

. . . . .Centrism on cultural-social issues

Examples: Clinton, Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, New York Rep. Tom Suozzi

Potential 2028 candidates: former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Upside: could appeal to culturally conservative swing voters

Downside: bad on policy; may depress progressive vote

In his 1992 campaign, Clinton defended the use of the death penalty, distanced himself from Jesse Jackson and took other steps to address the perception that the Democratic Party was too liberal on values issues. Many centrist Democrats believe the party needs a similar repositioning now, to connect with voters who are more conservative on immigration, policing and transgender rights in particular.

In his Senate campaign last year, Gallego criticized the Biden administration for not doing enough to stop illegal immigration. His approach seemed to pay off, with Gallego winning in Arizona while Harris lost there by six percentage points.

The potential upside of this strategy is obvious. There are more White Americans than people of color; more native-born than naturalized citizens; more who are heterosexual and cisgender than LGBTQ+. Being the party that defends minorities almost certainly turns off majority groups.

There are three more forms of appealing to moderates, each with candidates and upsides and downsides. This is a column worth reading and thinking about.  One of them is my erstwhile favorite Democrat, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, who falls in the “bipartisanship/not being too anti-Republican” class.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is curious:

Hili: What secrets are hidden in this box?

A: Old papers which somebody may ask about sometime.

Hili: Jakie tajemnice ukrywa ta skrzynia?

Ja: Stare papiery, o które ktoś kiedyś może zapytać.

And a photo of Baby Kulka about to pounce:

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

From The Dodo Pet:

From Cats and Coffee, cartoon by Scott Metzger:

From Jesus of the Day, a new ice cream flavor:

Masih is still quiet, so we get JKR, always good for some amusement as well as defense of women’s rights. Here she takes up the quesiton of whether sex is “bimodal” (answer: not really). Do watch the video:

You all can watch the video here 🙂

Poor @Femi_Sorry.https://t.co/1I9JPbiQOD

— Zachary Elliott (@zaelefty) April 24, 2025

From Luana: two more tweets:

Make it make sense? pic.twitter.com/iH38w3JFns

— Mary Liggio Ross 🟣⚪️🟡 (@MaryRoss815) April 21, 2025

From Malcolm.   I  think I’ve been to this place, which looks like Torres del Paine National Park–one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.

The otherwordly landscape of Patagoniapic.twitter.com/vszSc9SVix

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) April 23, 2025

From my feed: sexual dimorphism (but the lioness does all the heavy lifting!):

The insane size difference between a Lion and a Lioness. pic.twitter.com/29Lmu7pXWy

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) April 24, 2025

From the Auschwitz Memorial, one that I reposted:

This Polish Jew lived but one week in Auschwitz.

— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T09:51:01.654Z

Two posts from Dr. Cobb. I’ll see if I can post on the first paper:

New genomic & genetic insights into Mendel’s pea genes, including previously uncharacterised alleles159 years after Mendel published his work, this is a real delight (especially for a geneticist)🧪@nature.com http://www.nature.com/articles/s41…

— Magdalena Skipper (@magdalenaskipper.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T05:37:58.954Z

Vicious comb jellies (ctenophores). There’s a thread.

Watching animals eat is like my biology crack. I don’t need it, I don’t have to do it, I don’t even always like it, but there’s just something about critters noshing on one another that leaves me gobsmacked. And nothing does it like the comb jelly Beroe [Thread 🧵]📽️ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xkN…

— Rebecca R Helm (@rebeccarhelm.bsky.social) 2025-04-21T20:55:33.379Z

Here’s a full YouTube video of ctenophores nomming other ones:

Thank goodness most of my major tasks for the week have been done, and now it’s Thursday, April 24, 2025, and National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day. These are tasty miniature hot dogs, ideally wrapped in croissant dough: a favorite at adult parties in the Fifties. I haven’t seen one since I was a shaver, but here they are from Wikipedia:

You do not put mustard on them, even in Chicago!

It’s also Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (yes, Cenk, it happened), and World Day for Laboratory Animals. It always makes me sad to think about them. Here’s a monument to the cats used for lab experiments at the University of St. Petersburg. I (actually someone else) took this at a meeting in Russia in 2011.  At least the cats were honored, though that didn’t help them.

There’s a Google Doodle today with an “April Half Moon” theme, and if you click on it (below) you can play a game against an online opponent (I haven’t tried it):

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the April 24 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz: will be short today as I’m still doing writing and also had a new laptop installed and tweaked. Bear with me!

*J. D. Vance, for whom I’ve lost every shred of respect, has not finished humiliating Ukraine’s president Zelensky. Now he’s told Zelensky that Ukraine better accept the U.S. terms for a peace deal with Russia–or else. And they are of course terms that favor Russia.

Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday called on Ukraine to accept an American peace proposal that closely aligns with longstanding Russian goals, including a “freeze” of territorial lines in the three-year war, acceptance of the annexation of Crimea by Russia and a prohibition on Ukraine becoming part of the NATO alliance.

It was the first time a U.S. official had publicly laid out a plan to end the war that favors Russia in such stark terms.

A peace plan that leaves Russian forces deep inside eastern Ukraine would be welcome news in Moscow. President Vladimir V. Putin has said for almost year that he would accept a cease-fire in which Ukraine withdraws troops from the four regions that Russia has claimed as its own and drops its aspirations to join NATO.

The comments by the vice president appeared designed to increase pressure on President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who has long refused to accept Russian’s occupation of his country’s lands, including the seizure of Crimea in 2014 and territory taken by Russia after it invaded Ukraine in early 2022.

In a second blow to Mr. Zelensky, President Trump lashed out at the Ukrainian president on Wednesday afternoon, writing on Truth Social, his social media site, that “he can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years.”

Mr. Vance, speaking during a trip to India, said the United States would “walk away” from the peace process if both Ukraine and Russia refused to accept the American terms. But Mr. Zelensky was clearly the target.

This is the way our “democracy” makes peace: by allowing a dictator to invade another country and let it keep its own land. Granted, Russia isn’t going to leave Crimea or eastern Ukraine without a military defeat, but there should be condemnation by the UN and the International Court of Justice for this violation of international law.

*Hamas, in conjunction with Qatar and Egypt, have offered a ridiculous cease-fire deal that will leave the terrorists in power forever. Sorry, but Hamas has to surrender unconditionally and disband, which is the only way Israel can not be constantly threatened.

The Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reports that Hamas is expected to propose a new ceasefire framework for Gaza as its representatives arrive in Cairo.

According to the report, the proposal includes the release of all remaining hostages held in the Strip in one phase in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of IDF forces from the Gaza Strip to the positions held under the recent ceasefire deal, a halt to military operations, and the entry of humanitarian aid.

According to the report, Hamas will also demand a five-year ceasefire with international guarantees.

The report adds that the proposed agreement includes the establishment of a technocratic committee for civilian governance in the Gaza Strip, based on an Egyptian proposal published in recent months, and openness for a reconciliation agreement with rival Fatah.

The report is consistent with other items in recent days. Earlier this week, officials familiar with the matter told the Times of Israel that Hamas had informed Arab mediators it was willing to enter into a long-term truce with Israel, during which it would halt all military operations, including the development of weapons and the digging of tunnels.

This is ludicrous. A FIVE YEAR CEASEFIRE? That will give Hamas plenty of time to rebuild its organization (Fatah won’t survive with Hamas.) We do not know how many hostages are living or dead, as Hamas won’t say (another bit of horror that the world has ignored), and I’m betting that Hamas will demand the release of ALL Palestinian prisoners. The “technocratic civilian government” will be Fatah + Hamas, with Hamas soon killing off Fatah, and of course Hamas still gets to keep its weapons.  I don’t believe a word of thie proposal and Israel should not accept it.

*Trump has apparently realized the foolishness of his tariff wars, especially with China, and he’s starting to walk it back. About time, with inflation and a recession looming.  The markets, at least, believe him, and have risen sharply in the last three days.

The Trump administration is considering slashing its steep tariffs on Chinese imports—in some cases by more than half—in a bid to de-escalate tensions with Beijing that have roiled global trade and investment, according to people familiar with the matter.

President Trump hasn’t made a final determination, the people said, adding that the discussions remain fluid and several options are on the table. One administration official said Trump wouldn’t act unilaterally and would need to see some action from Beijing to lower tariffs.

One senior White House official said the China tariffs were likely to come down to between roughly 50% and 65%. The administration is also considering a tiered approach similar to the one proposed by the House committee on China late last year: 35% levies for items the U.S. deems not a threat to national security, and at least 100% for items deemed as strategic to America’s interest, some of the people said. The bill proposed phasing in those levies over five years.

“President Trump has been clear: China needs to make a deal with the United States of America. When decisions on tariffs are made, they will come directly from the president. Anything else is just pure speculation,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.

Later on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that Trump hasn’t offered to take down U.S. tariffs on China on a unilateral basis, Bloomberg News reported.

Trump said Tuesday that he was willing to cut tariffs on Chinese goods and that the 145% tariffs he imposed on China during his second term would come down. “But it won’t be zero,” he said. The development was welcome news to investors who had been spooked by the White House’s aggressive moves in recent weeks.

The thing is the tariffs SHOULD be zero, whatever tariffs China charges on American goods. And If there must be tariffs, 50% or more is still WAY too high!

*Another factor driving the economy to ground is Trump’s senseless attacks on the Federal reserve bank and its chairman Jerome Powell. Trump apparently thought that blaming Powell in advance for a recession or for inflation would exculpate the Orange Man, as Trump (who HIRED Powell) has been beefing about Powell not lowering interest rates.  Trump is now cooling his jets about that. ‘

President Donald Trump’s abrupt shift in rhetoric Tuesday toward Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell reflected the private lobbying of some of his senior advisers, who had urged the president to back off his incendiary attacks on the central bank, three people familiar with the matter said.

On Monday, the stock market fell precipitously as Trump attacked Powell as a “major loser,” fueling speculation that the president would move to fire the Fed chief. But by Tuesday afternoon, Trump appeared to dial back his rhetoric, saying he had “no intention of firing” Powell and arguing that the “press runs away with things.”

Stock futures jumped overnight, and markets surged Wednesday as trading opened.

The president’s shift followed the counsel of several administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations. The officials cautioned that the administration did not need further disruption in financial markets from an all-out battle with the Federal Reserve and that it already had several major economic fights on its hands, including new tariffs, the people said. The turmoil in financial markets made Trump more open to leaving Powell in his position than he would have been a month ago, one of the people said.

“I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” Trump said Tuesday. “It’s a perfect time to lower interest rates. If he doesn’t, is it the end? No, it’s not, but it would be good timing. It would be. … It could have taken place earlier. But no, I have no intention to fire him.”

Remember, Trump said he WANTED to fire Powell, so his backing off is a big deal. Note that it was Trump’s advisors who had to advise Cheeto of the damage, as Trump couldn’t see it himself, even though I bet nearly all of us could!

*Finally a 28-minute video from reader Enrico. We’ve seen the identical and amazingly similar Australian twins Bridgette and Paula Powers, who can’t even help themselves from talking the same way, saying the same words, and using the same cadences. They’re called the “twinnies” in Oz, and have established a bird rescue organization. Here’s a stunning half-hour video about the pair.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili’s getting antsy for her dinner:

Szaron: It’s getting dark.

Hili: Yes, but it’s still a long time until supper.

Szaron: Zapada zmrok.

Hili: Tak, ale do kolacji daleko.

And a photo of Baby Kulka on her window blanket.

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

From Animal Antics:

From Strange, Stupid or Silly Signs (Florida State is one of America’s biggest “party schools”):

From The Dodo Pet:

Masih is still quiet but J. K. Rowling is a reliable tweeter. Here’s a new one:

Blindly tribal leftists who STILL haven’t realised what a spectacular own goal it is to frame the defence of women’s rights as ‘MAGA’ are dumber than house bricks. https://t.co/htYFThgqgq

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 23, 2025

From Luana:

pic.twitter.com/TskpjoobJe

— Jane, Empress of the Known Universe (not GP)🏳️‍🌈 (@blablafishcakes) April 21, 2025

From Simon, emitted byu Mark Hamill:

Wishing you all a peaceful holiday Sunday filled with joy & love rather than nightmares & trauma. 🐰 🥚 🐰 🥚🐰 🥚🐰 🥚🐰 🥚🐰 🥚🐰 🥚🐰 🥚🐰 🥚🐰 #HappyEaster

— Mark Hamill (@markhamillofficial.bsky.social) 2025-04-20T18:28:42.338Z

Jez thought this was funny, and so do I:

At this point you just have to fake a new lactose intolerance and take it to the grave pic.twitter.com/GLDswY3sg8

— Hazel Appleyard (@HazelAppleyard_) April 23, 2025

More beautiful places from Malcolm:

15. The eye of the Earth, Croatia 🇭🇷

It is one of the main sources of the Cetina River.
The exact depth of the lake has not yet been determined but divers were able to explore up to 155 meters.
pic.twitter.com/OSl9CVWzMq

— Raghu (@IndiaTales7) April 19, 2025

From the Auschwitz Memorial, one that I reposted:

Gassed to death upon arriving at Auschwitz. He was twelve.

— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T10:36:37.379Z

Two tweets from Dr. Cobb. This first one is great:

The reason for the season:

— Ward Q. Normal (@wardqnormal.bsky.social) 2025-04-20T15:56:45.555Z

. ,. ,.  and a clower of cats:

85 cats escaping from a log cabin in the book 170 Cats by Zhenya Gay and Pachita Crespi, 1939.

— Cats of Yore (@catsofyore.bsky.social) 2025-04-19T18:37:37.129Z