Friday: Hili dialogue

June 1, 2018 • 6:30 am

It’s JUNE! June 1, 2018, and the month that summer begins. It’s National Hazelnut Cake Day, a comestible which I’m sure is delicious, though I’ve never had it.  Further, it’s also Neighbour’s Day, though the link gives no instructions on what to do about it. Borrow a cup of sugar?

On June 1, 1495, the monk John Cor of Fife, probably an apothecary on the side, records the first known mention of Scotch whisky. The data from Wikipedia: “To Brother John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt.” — Exchequer Rolls 1494–95, Vol x, p. 487. 

On this day in 1533, Ann Boleyn was crowned Queen of England; she lasted three years before being beheaded.  On June 1, 1812, U.S. President James Madison asked Congress to declare war on the UK, beginning the War of 1812. On this day in 1916, Louis Brandeis became the first Jew appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, serving until 1939.  On June 1, 1962, Adolf Eichmann, abducted from Argentina, was hanged in Israel.  And a banner day for me: it was on this day in 1967 that the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album was released—the album that made me an atheist. On this day in 1974, the Heimlich maneuver was published in the journal Emergency Medicine. You may not know that it’s not now recommended as the first course of action for conscious but choking people. Or so Wikipedia reportsm (my emphasis):

From 1985 to 2005, abdominal thrusts were the only recommended treatment for choking in the published guidelines of the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross. In 2006, both organizations drastically changed course and “downgraded” the use of the technique. For conscious victims, the new guidelines recommend first applying back slaps; if this method failed to remove the airway obstruction, rescuers were to then apply abdominal thrusts. For unconscious victims, the new guidelines recommend chest thrusts.

Finally, on this day in 2004, Terry Nichols was sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without possibility of parole for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing—a Guinness World Record for the longest prison sentence in recorded history.

Notables born on June 1 include physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1796), Brigham Young (1801), Andy Griffith and Marilyn Monroe (both 1926), ecologist Richard Levins (1930), Pat Boone (1934; he’s still with us at 84), Morgan Freeman (1937), Frederica von Stade (1945) and Heidi Klum (1973).  Those who died on this day include U.S. President James Buchanan (1868), Lizzie “The Axe” Borden (1927), Hugh Walpole (1960), Paula Hitler (Adolf’s sister, 1960), Adolf Eichmann (1962; see above), Reinhold Niebuhr (1971), David Ruffin (1991) and Yves Saint Laurent (2008).

Most of you probably don’t know that Hitler had a sister, who of course kept a low profile after the war. She gave but one interview (excerpt below), and was said by her American interrogators to have had a remarkable resemblance to Adolf. Well, judge for yourself (it may help to Photoshop in a mustache and the Adolfian hairdo:

 

A small bit of the one interview she gave, most of which has been lost:

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, the Hili dialogue needs a bit of explaining. Malgorzata notes, “Andrzej means that the best thing you can do with a good advice is to give it to somebody else and forget it. You can also forget it without giving it to anybody.”

Hili: The weeds under the trees are taken care of but it’s time to mow the grass.
A: I love good advice, I immediately hand it over to others.
In Polish:
Hili: Pod drzewami chwasty wypalone, ale trawę pora skosić.
Ja: Kocham dobre rady, natychmiast przekazuję je innym.
In Winnipeg, Gus ignores the lovely flowers for he sees something else—probably a squirrel, which, he’s heard, tastes like chicken.

 

From Grania, a protective rhino baby (cub?):

https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1001801880765390853

Some history for your delectation:

Please put the sound on; can dogs actually MAKE such a noise?

A historically inaccurate crack about the Roseanne Excuse:

From Matthew, who notes that we all need to learn how to pronounce “Euler”:

This video is said to demonstrate British politeness, but I don’t think it’s polite for a motorcycle to ride between lanes of traffic:

A wingless fly with a funny joke in response:

A video illustrated with a limerick:

Those are some fugly sandals that Einstein bought! But of course he never cared about his appearance.

Pigeon in the airport; one of the comments was: “Surely that’s carrion luggage”:

https://twitter.com/courtesy707/status/1002126498592120837

Reader Gethyn, part of Theo’s staff, sent a video telling us how to keep our cats cool this summer:

And reader Bryan sent me this:

The 2018 Scripps Spelling Bee final word was :

“koinonia”

“The Greek word “koinonia” — most commonly pronounced “koy-nuh-NEE-uh” — is defined as “intimate spiritual communion and participative sharing in a common religious commitment and spiritual community.””
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/us/national-spelling-bee-winner/index.html

Thursday: Duck report

May 31, 2018 • 3:00 pm

If you asked me right now, “Professor Ceiling Cat (Emeritus): What is the purpose of your life?”, I suppose I’d say, “To make sure that all eight ducklings mature and fledge.”  So it goes. Anyway, all eight of them are still here, and growing rapidly (or so Anna tells me; I don’t notice size increases). They all look healthy and vigorous, and tomorrow should get their “duckling starter food” from Purina. I hope to Ceiling Cat they eat it!

While I was feeding the brood this afternoon, Anna dropped by with a grad student, Nora, just to see how things were going. Fortunately, Anna’s learned to carry mealworms with her, as you never know when the urge will strike to FEED DUCKS.  We thus were able to have three people feeding everyone, including the porky Frank and the skittish Hank.

First, the brood:

Aren’t they adorable? Notice that the tips of their beaks are reddish (don’t ask me why); at first I thought it was their tongues, but I don’t think so.

Nora feeding mealworms to the brood. I’m hoping that she develops a “duck bug,” as the more people to help out, the better. It takes a village to raise a brood!

 

Anna and Nora photographing the scene:

One of the few occasions when you can see me smile (photo by Anna). The blue latex glove keeps my hands from getting irritated when I crush mealworms (I’m allergic to them):

Yesterday two little girls helped me feed the ducks. They got to learn a little biology on the side. Their mom is to the right. (Photo by Trevor Price)

Finally, yesterday Anna took two videos. This one, “bath time,” is especially good, as you can see Mom’s ablutions and how the ducklings imitate her. Pay attention to the ducklings who dive completely under water and then, like a cork, pop up a few seconds later in a different place.

Be sure to watch these on full screen.

Here’s Honey shepherding her brood away from the noisome Frank:

Masih Alinejad talks about “My Stealthy Freedom”, “White Wednesdays”, and other travails of women in Iran

May 31, 2018 • 11:00 am

Reader J. J. sent me a link to a National Public Radio interview which, if you have a spare half-hour, will both make you angry (at the oppression of women in Iran and what happens to those who protest), but also happy (at the cheerful and optimistic personality of the subject). But let me just copy J. J.’s email, adding a few comments and links:

Perhaps other followers of WEIT have already sent you the link to today’s “Fresh Air”, but in case not, it’s here.

Terry Gross interviews the exiled Iranian journalist, Masih Alinejad, who started “My Stealthy Freedom” campaign on twitter, against compulsory hijab [JAC: She also started the White Wednesdays campaign in which Iranian women wear white one day a week to protest oppression], and who has just published her memoir, The Wind in My Hair: My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran. Given the nature of her campaign, the import of the title is obvious.  I’m listening right now and must get back to it because I don’t want to miss a second, but I can listen again online. You absolutely must listen from the very beginning to the end (it’s just over 30 min).  She is is amazing.  What a rebuke to Sarsour and all those odious pseudo-feminists with their through-the-looking-glass morals and ethics and sense of freedom (not to mention fashion). She starts off with her experiences wearing the hijab, and goes on from there.

Yes, this is definitely worth a listen. Alinejad, though she’s suffered exile, the inability to see her beloved mother, and the disapprobation of her strict Islamic father (she now lives in the U.S.), not to mention arrest and death threats that continue, is relentlessly upbeat throughout. She’s also a wonderful singer, and gives us two examples of songs. (I didn’t realize that women aren’t allowed to sing in Iran.)

No doubt she’ll be written off as a “native informant” by over-the-top defenders of Islam like Khaled A. Beydoun (if you want to see an unhinged hit job on people like Maajid Nawaz, Asra Nomani, and other reformist Muslims, see Beydoun’s new Guardian article), but to me she’s a hero. As I said yesterday, some people just carp about oppression to flaunt their moral bona fides, but Alinejad has sacrificed her country, her family, and her safety by standing up for women’s rights.  Why aren’t people like Linda Sarsour using her as a role model instead of bigots like Louis Farrakhan? Well, you know the answer to that one.

Here’s Alinejad singing in her car.

More news: Trump pardons convicted felon Dinesh D’Souza

May 31, 2018 • 9:15 am

Well, Dinesh D’Souza has been given a “full Presidential pardon” by Trump (see below). As you may recall, D’Souza was indicted in 2012 for making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to a Republican senatorial candidate, Wendy Long from New York; the indictment also included making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of making straw contributions, and was sentenced to five years of probation, which included living in a supervised confinement center for eight months. He also had to pay a $30,000 fine.

This a federal and Presidential pardon, which means that D’Souza’s conviction remains on the record, although certain rights are restored, which can include, for felons like him, the right to vote and the restoration of the ability to own guns, run for office, and serve on juries. But he remains a convicted felon, and so you can always used those words before his name, as I did above.

As for the “unfair treatment” by the government, well, D’Souza pleaded guilty and saw no jail time. It’s not clear what “unfair” means—but of course it’s never clear what Trump means.

When I posted this picture, taken at the Ciudad de las Ideas meeting in Puebla, Mexico in 2009, I wrote, “I shook the hand that fondled Ann Coulter.”

Readers’ wildlife photos

May 31, 2018 • 8:40 am

It’s a busy day today; I’m writing a bit of science and that, along with tending the ducks, will probably make posting light. As always, I do my best. Send in your good wildlife photos, please, and have a gander at the photos of a new contributor, David Klotz, who graduated from the University of Chicago and will be here for Alumni Weekend on Friday. (He’ll get to see the ducks.)

His notes are indented:

Young gull, probably herring gull (Larus argentatus), on Star Island in the Isles of Shoals, NH

 Another young gull as above:

 

Adult herring gull on Star Island:

Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) off Grand Manan (island in the Bay of Fundy in NewBrunswick); rock is underwater at high tide:

Herring gull on nest, also on Star Island (we go there every summer):

Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) nesting in a porch roof on Star Island:

Mother barn swallow feeding just-fledged young on porch railing on Star Island:

Female mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) in pond in Lincoln Park, Chicago [JAC: maybe a relative of Honey?]:

Green heron (Butorides virescens) in Lincoln Park:

Semipalmated sandpiper (Calidris pucilla; I think!) at Milwaukee lake shore:

News of the day: Kim Kardashian gets special treatment from Trump; preacher who wanted a new jet takes down his importuning video

May 31, 2018 • 7:30 am

Grania sent me this tweet with the note, “Reality is officially worse than satire now.”

Yes, that’s the Donald with the world’s biggest Media Strumpet, talking about policy.  In reality, Kardashian wasn’t in the Oval Office to talk about prison reform and sentencing, but to try to get a pardon for one Alice Marie Johnson, a 63 year old great grandmother who has spent 21 years in prison after conviction for a cocaine trafficking operation and a sentence of life in prison without parole. It was Johnson’s first offense, and she’s reportedly been a model prisoner. I’d say she’s no longer a danger to society, and my guess is that 21 years in the pen for a first offense has served its value as a deterrent.

I don’t know all the details of this case, but kudos to Kardashian for trying to use her undeserved fame to get a pardon for Johnson. What stinks about the case, though—and this is not Kardashian’s fault—is that she is able to get a personal audience with the President to plead her case. How many prisoners who have been unjustly sentenced don’t have advocates like her to help them get justice? It doesn’t hurt, of course, that The Donald, like John F. Kennedy, has an eye for the ladies. The difference is that Marilyn Monroe never discussed government policy (at least publicly) with JFK.  Well, good luck to Ms. Johnson, but I wish the system of justice were more equitable.

In other news, I reported yesterday that New Orleans preacher Jesse Duplantis had asked his flock to ante up $54 million dollars to buy him a fancy new jet (his fourth) so he could preach the gospel around the world with only a single stop for refueling. After all, he said, if Jesus were preaching now, he wouldn’t be sitting on his ass trotting slowly from town to town; he’d be flying in a spiffy Falcon 7X.

This was reported on the NBC News last night, and I was startled to see them use a bit from the YouTube video showing Duplantis wheedling people for donations. Although the anchorperson, Kate Snow, made no remarks about it, it was clear that the point of the story was that this was a ridiculously stupid waste of money being raised by a venal Christian evangelist. When I was a child, this never would have made the evening news, and to me it’s a sign that at least the more extreme versions of Christianity can be mocked, if only implicitly, on national television.

What’s equally interesting is that Duplantis has taken down the video; when you go to the site, you see this:

Copyright claim? I thought Duplantis wanted this video disseminated as widely as possible. Nope, it was taken down out of sheer embarassment.