Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
My next post will be about the kerfuffle at Laurier University in Canada, in which a graduate teaching assistant was reprimanded for presenting her class with views deemed ideologically incorrect. (In one of her classes she showed a video clip of a television panel on the “pronoun” controversy to stimulate a discussion.) It’s a disgusting tale of a Regressive university’s efforts to enforce a particular point of view and keep any alternative from being presented—even though the teaching assistant’s own views aligned with those of the university—but, as you’ll soon seen, it ended fairly well.
The Jesus and Mo artist created a timely cartoon stimulated by this, and added a note in his/her/hir/their/its email:
Reader Andrée Sanborn from Vermont sent a series of pictures of an unusual insect that were taken in July (but sent in mid-October). Her captions are indented.
This was an exciting find for us. It wasn’t just a lifer, it was one of an entire subfamily that I had never known or seen. We all know leaf beetles to some extent: seed beetles, tortoise beetles, calligrapha beetles, the Colorado potato beetle, flea beetles, even ladybugs. But this is the larva of another: a case-bearing beetle: “Larvae are casebearers, living in and protected by a case constructed of their fecal matter and sometimes plant debris. The case is shorter than the larva that remains folded inside it. Eggs are laid in carefully sculpted packets formed from feces and abdominal secretions. . . “
I saw a minute lump (or dot) on an alder leaf. A flea beetle was inspecting the lump. I could tell immediately that this was a living creature because of the color and pattern. I did some shots, took the leaf, and took it home for inspection. We had a great time figuring out what it was: we went through sawfly larvae, spiders (at one point, it looked like spider legs coming out of the case), until finally, after all the photos and observations, I thought of case bearers. The only case bearers I knew of at that point were moths, but I searched for others and found Cryptocephalinae. Discovering the ID of a new insect without help from scientists is one of the most exciting things to do. Of course, what those entomologists have taught me through discussions of their finds and my photos is what prepared me to be able to figure this out. That excitement is why I have submitted only this individual in this email.
I kept the larva in a mason jar with alder leaves for a while but I didn’t like how the life cycle was progressing so set it free. Unfortunately, I have never found another. I so wanted to see the adult.
By the way: if anyone is interesting in insect hunting, I suggest groves of alders. They sustain a huge assembly of insects and, therefore, birds, especially warblers, that feed on them.
The fecal-looking larva in the field:
The rest of the shots were taken inside:
A photobomb from one of the cats of one of my daughters for Caturday (I shouldn’t judge. My Oliver is awful.):
To give an idea of what adults look like, here’s an adult from what is probably a different species, Cryptocephalus nitidus:
Good morning on the day before Thanksgiving in America: Wednesday, November 22, 2017. The campus is empty, and all employees (and most faculty and grad students) will be gone till next Monday. I’ll be here all week folks; don’t forget to try the roast beef! It’s National Cashew Day, the world’s second best nut (macadamias are first). Actually, cashews are technically not nuts but seeds, so it’s the world’s best seed. It’s also The Day of the Albanian Alphabet, celebrating the meeting in 1908 that standardized what had been at least six separate alphabets.
On this day in 1718, the British pirate Edward Teach, better known as “Blackbeard“, was killed in battle against a Royal Navy ship. On November 22, 1928, the first performance of Ravel’s Boléro was held in Paris.
Of course this day is etched in American memories as the day in 1963 when Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, also killing a police officer (J. D. Tippit) and wounding Texas governor John Connelly. Exactly five years later, the Beatles released the “white album”, technically known as “The Beatles”. On November 22, 1975, Juan Carlos became the King of Spain after Franco finally joined the Choir Invisible. Exactly two decades later, the movie Toy Story was released as the first full-length film created entirely from computer-generated images. Finally, it was on this day in 2005 that Angela Merkel became Germany’s first female Chancellor.
Notables born on this day include Abigail Adams (1744), George Eliot (1819), André Gide (1869), Charles de Gaulle (1890), Benjamin Britten (1913), Terry Gilliam (1940), Billie Jean King (1943) and Mariel Hemingway (1961). Those who expired on November 22 include, besides Blackbeard and John F. Kennedy (see above), Walter Reed (1902), Jack London (1916), Arthur Eddington (1944), Shemp Howard (1955; He was, for a while, one of the Three Stooges, but not a popular one. Wikipedia notes “he was called “Shemp” because ‘Sam’ [his real last name was Horowitz] came out that way in his mother’s thick Litvak accent), C. S. Lewis (1963; died on the same day as JFK), Mae West (1980), Hans Adolf Krebs (1981), and Lynn Margulis (2011).
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, we have another enigmatic Hili Dialogue. When I told Malgorzata I didn’t understand it, she replied:
Oh! It can be a cultural problem! In Polish there is a saying that a person is like an open book which means straightforward, easy to understand, just go and read it. Now, Hili tries to read books which are above her ability to understand. So she mistakenly associates this saying with something that is difficult to fathom. She is now trying to decipher the traces on the floor and it’s not so easy. Hence her comment. It’s funny: I can’t imagine a Pole who would’ve any trouble with understanding this dialogue.
Well, the phrase is similar in English but the dialogue is still enigmatic:
Hili: A floor is like an open book.
A: What do you mean?
Hili: That it’s not always possible to understand.
In Polish:
Hili: Podłoga jest jak otwarta książka.
Ja: To znaczy?
Hili: Nie zawsze daje się zrozumieć.
I found this tw**t; be sure to watch the video—the best Christmas video ever!
Window cleaning bosses baffled after it emerges that this window in particular takes seven times longer to clean than other windows of similar size. pic.twitter.com/rCnaz2ZkNs
Even Republicans have distanced themselves from the hyperconservative creationist Alabaman Roy Moore, now accused of sexual assault and harassment, and previously infamous for installing the Ten Commandments in front of the Alabama Supreme Court and having been removed from a state Supreme Court judgeship not once, but twice. As you probably know, he’s now running as a Republican for Jeff Sessions’ Senate seat. The Republicans have run away from Moore faster than if he were a skunk with his rear pointed at them, and even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has floated the possibility of expelling Moore from the Senate for immorality and unfitness for office were Moore to be elected.
When someone’s seen by Republicans as a a discredit to their own party, you know he’s a disaster. Yet, according to CNN, Trump has just “all but endorsed” Moore:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended embattled Alabama Republican Roy Moore, all but endorsing the Senate candidate who has been accused of sexual assault.
“He denies it. Look, he denies it,” Trump said of Moore. “If you look at all the things that have happened over the last 48 hours. He totally denies it. He says it didn’t happen. And look, you have to look at him also.”
Several women have come forward and accused Moore of pursuing romantic relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, and several others also have accused him of assault.
. . . “We don’t need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones. I’ve looked at his record. It’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible on the border. It’s terrible on military,” Trump said. “I can tell you for a fact we do not need somebody who’s going to be bad on crime, bad on borders, bad for the military, bad for the Second Amendment.”
Trump on Tuesday left the door open to campaigning with Moore.
“I’ll be letting you know next week,” he said, when asked whether he will campaign with Moore.
Trump repeatedly emphasized that Jones has denied the allegations brought against him.
Trump declined to say whether he believed Moore’s denials, but when asked he again pointed to the denials.
“Well, he denies. I mean, he denies. I mean, Roy Moore denies it. And by the way, it is a total denial. And I do have to say 40 years is a long time. He’s run eight races and this has never come up. Forty years is a long time,” Trump said, pointing to the amount of time that has passed since the alleged behavior.
And indeed, Moore does deny it, so I, at least, wouldn’t immediately pronounce him guilty of the initial count, and can’t really rule him unfit for having asked out women of legal age when he was older. But I believe that other allegations of sexual assault have come forth since I’ve been in Mexico and without the American news.
Regardless, though, even if he’s completely innocent of the accusations, he’s still unfit to serve. The man is simply a brainless ball of right-wing ideology marinated in evangelical Christianity. It’s a recipe for disaster, even for Republicans. If Trump had any brains (a debatable issue), he wouldn’t endorse or campaign for Moore. But who has ever praised the neuronal complement of The Donald? So while the Republicans are destroying themselves through a lack of cohesion and an inability to get anything done, even with a Republican legislature, President, and Supreme Court, the Democrats have a chance to pull together. Sadly, we’re just as riven by identity politics as the GOP is by various degrees of cluelessness and stupidity.
Where is our candidate: the Democrat who can win in 2020?
One day during the meeting, my affable host Juan Matienzo offered to take me out for a typical Puebla lunch. There was, he said, a special goat dish served only in November, made with goats that had been taken on long hikes (I don’t know what that does to the meat). I instantly acceded, of course, and we drove off to a remote region of town to try this delicacy.
Welcome to El Burladero, which I believe refers to the wooden barrier around the edge of a bull ring where the banderilleras and matador stand when not engaged with a bull (yes, there are still cruel bullfights in Mexico).
One wouldn’t know, from this unprepossessing facade, of the culinary delights within. First, you park in a courtyard. . .
. . . and then enter the bullfight-themed restaurant, which has been there for decades. The restaurant was almost empty as we were there at 2 p.m., which apparently is early for lunch in Mexico. Most Mexicans, I’m told, have a reasonable breakfast in the morning, then the big meal of the day (comida) at about 2:30-3:30 pm, and a lighter dinner at about 9 p.m. When we had finished our meal, the restaurant was full, and everyone was eating the same thing: a tureen of stewed goat (see below).
We were handed menus and, as one should, I told Juan that he should do all the ordering as he was a local and had been there several times before. So here’s my report on the meal. Juan ordered, and I sat back to await the viands. The first dish, one of three appetizers, was chalupas, small corn tortillas with green or red sauce and shredded chicken.
Then guajolotes (“turkey”), a small sandwich made with turkey, guacamole, crema, and other stuff that I didn’t notice while I was wolfing it down:
Third appetizer: mollejas, deep-fried chicken gizzards served with guacamole, lime, and various salsas. You make your own nosh by mixing these ingredients in a fresh, warm tortilla.
Then the pièce de résistance: mole de caderas, made from the hip of one of those hiking goats, stewed in a thick and savory broth. It was a huge hunk of meat which you could put into tortillas or simply fork off the bone. Then you’d drink the soup, which was incredibly luscious, meaty, and savory. It was a spectacular dish:
Here’s Juan with his portion. I believe these are from the hips of the goat, but perhaps a local can enlighten us:
During lunch the tiny but friendly owner, Don Onésimo, came by several times, as Juan told him I was from America and had come to eat his food. He seemed pleased, and even more so when I told him I greatly enjoyed his meal. We posed together under a bull’s head. This owner has managed the restaurant for 53 years, and had another restaurant before that!
I found a video made by the restaurant with bullfighting music, prominently featuring the goat, which is what the restaurant is known for. But they also show the chalupas and other dishes.
Many thanks to Juan not only for taking me here for lunch, but for his attentive hosting throughout the meeting. Muchas gracias, amigo!
I’ve often complained about National Geographic‘s recent trend towards osculating religion, extolling the virtues and verities of faiths without questioning them in the least (see here.here, here and here, for instance). This is clearly an editorial decision, perhaps exacerbated after the magazine was purchased by Rupert Murdoch.
What bothers me about all this is the totally uncritical acceptance of the claims of religion, which is just not proper for a magazine dedicated to the natural world. It’s not just that National Geographic shows how religious people behave throughout the world, which is within the magazine’s remit, but that it not only celebrates faith but takes the truth claims of religions like Christianity for granted. But if Jesus was just a myth, or a rabbi with no divine origin, then Christianity can hardly have a firm basis. But you’ll never see National Geographic examining with a cold eye the historical evidence for the existence of a Jesus-person, for that evidence is very, very thin. That wouldn’t be a way to sell magazines.
Here’s the latest issue demonstrating the credulous acceptance of the truth claims coming from revelation and scripture. “The real Jesus” is the title article, and you can see from that and the subtitle that there’s not a scintilla of doubt that Jesus really existed. “What Archaeology Reveals about His Life,” they say breathlessly, as if there were any evidence.
Below is the magazine’s summary. As you can see, there’s more than just an article on “the real Jesus,” but also an “editorial” by the Editor in Chief that accepts and extols Jesus, a piece by the archaeology editor and a writer about how Jesus’s life fits into the archaeological data, interviews with those two authors, and added Jesus Features to enhance your experience and strengthen your faith.
Can we expect articles like “The real Muhammad?” and “The real Vishnu?”
Reader Gary F, who read this article, sent his take, which I quote with permission:
The article begins with a visit to the archaeologist and Catholic priest Eugenio Alliata as an authority. Then it goes on to point out the importance of Christianity and thus Christ, by the great number of Christian believers in the world, and wastes no time dismissing the skeptics who argue that Jesus didn’t exist. The author clearly has a great sympathy for the spirituality of Christianity, visiting the holy sites with great reverence and awe. The only substance seems to be the discovery of archeological sites of the sort mentioned in the Gospels, thus adding to credibility of the Gospels, thus adding to the awe and reverence. It is also argued that we shouldn’t expect to find much about one person living at that time so long ago, being careful to set a low burden of proof. (Apparently God didn’t want to establish the truth about his greatest message.) The last sentences, after the author visits a holy site and is inspired [JAC’s emphasis]:
“At this moment I realize that to sincere believers, the scholars’ quest for the historical, non-supernatural Jesus is of little consequence. That quest will be endless, full of shifting theories, unanswerable questions, irreconcilable facts. But for true believers, their faith in the life, death and Resurrection of the Son of God will be evidence enough.”
The Editor in Chief’s column ends with: “…sites that are monuments of archaeological significance as well as vibrant centers of pilgrimage and faith. How gratifying, in this season of goodwill, to see the scientific and spiritual coexist.”
Ugh! But you have already mentioned the decline of the magazine several times on WEIT.
Look at the bit in bold. It basically says, “Christians don’t need no stinking evidence, for their evidence comes from faith alone.” What a dire and miserable attitude to foist on readers of a magazine about the world! And, of course, it’s a slap in the face to those Sophisticated Theologians™ who claim that faith is more than “belief without evidence”.
It’s a good thing I don’t have a subscription, as I would have canceled it a long time ago.
