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.
I haven’t seen an official announcement of this, though Al Stefanelli mentioned it on his Facebook page, but Ed Kagin’s Wikipedia page does give Thursday as the day he died, and so I’m putting up this brief announcement.
As many of you know, Kagin was the founder of Camp Quest, the first secular summer camp for kids, was the legal director of American Atheists and on the board of the Secular Student Alliance, and was twice named Atheist of the Year. The Wiki page lists many of his other secular activites. He was one of the good ones.
I know someone is going to say the image below is Photoshopped (that’s Coyne’s Second Rule of Blo**ing), but it isn’t. It’s just a very large wild cat, and the way it’s being held makes it look bigger.
Reader Don sent this photo of a Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), one of the four species in the genus Lynx; the other three are the Eurasian Lynx (L. lynx), the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus, the most endangered cat species in the world ) and the bobcat (Lynx rufus).
As Don writes:
This photo was taken March 29, 2005. There were no native lynx remaining in Colorado at the time of this program and the program was successful in establishing a population there. Its size is typical.
DEL NORTE, CO- MARCH 29: Photographer Amy Toensing holds a lynx that is to be reintroduced to the Southern Colorado wilderness March 29, 2005 in Del Norte, CO. The holding facility behind Toensing held 23 lynx that were looked over by a CDOW vet, 18 of which were collared and released that week. In 1999 the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) began a lynx reintroduction program, trapping the animals in Canada and bringing them to Colorado. The goal is to re-establish the lynx population in the state, which has been nonexistent since the 1970s, to a viable level where the population that can sustain itself. The program has brought in 204 lynx between 1999 and 2005. There have been 71 known deaths, and 101 kittens born. The program is considered widely as a success, however the program has also instigated controversy protests from animal rights groups and developers. (Photo by Amy Toensing).
Adult males weight: average 22-31 lb (10-14 kg) Adult females weight: average 18-24 lb (8-11 kg) Length: 3 feet Height: 2 feet
That’s a big cat! Their huge paws act as snowshoes, enabling them to move about the snow to chase their favorite prey, showshoe hare, and the feet are also insulated (and made bigger) because they’re extremely furry. Wouldn’t you like to be Amy in that picture above, holding that large, cute thing? It must have been anesthetized; wild cats don’t let themselves get fusses.
Here’s its range, taken from Wikipedia, a range that closely matches that of the snowshoe hare that Canada lynx love to nom. The cat populations have been severely reduced by trapping, and they almost were extinct in the U.S.
As lagniappe, from Rocket 24 we find that a cat in Japan is wanted for stealing cat food from a 7-Eleven (I didn’t know they had those outside the U.S.). And it has a wanted poster:
The description from the site:
Just look at the kitty pictured above. Cute lil’ guy doncha think?
Wrong! That pilfering feline has stolen hundreds of yen worth of cat food from a helpless major convenience store… possibly to sell on the street for crack-cocaine.
The following notice at a Kanto area 7-Eleven has been retweeted by over 17,000 defenders of justice looking to stop this menace.
I know there are some Japanese-speaking readers here; can you translate the above, plz?
A tentative translation. It’s hard to tell whether there’s only one cat, or a plurality of them, one of which is the culprit. The final phrase is very useful in Japanese (I use it all the time), but I’ve no idea how to translate it. Perhaps something like “Please do whatever might be suitable in the circumstances.”
A (polite) request.
Please don’t feed the cat. It comes into the store and shoplifts the cat food. We forbade Mr. Cat from coming into the store, but he won’t obey us. [He gets the designation for familiar males, namely “-kun” (“neko-kun”).]
I’m not sure why Hili considers the world “hostile,” since she gets ample noms, mice, and has a huge orchard to play around in, as well as two staff who service her and give her fusses. Maybe she didn’t get enough cream. . .
A: What are you doing in there?
Hili: I’m hiding from the hostile world.
A: And will you be there for long?
Hili: No, I will get bored soon.
In Polish:
Ja: Co ty tam robisz?
Hili: Ukryłam się przed wrogim światem.
Ja: I długo tam będziesz?
Hili: Nie, zaraz mi się znudzi.
This post is to celebrate the end of a long, depressing winter. I have had a revelation from Ceiling Cat that there will be no more snow this year—at least in Chicago.
As you know, I’m not much of a sports fan, except when it comes to football (soccer), and I’m really looking forward to this summer’s World Cup. I don’t follow American basketball, but reader Hugo, who does, sent me this link, which included a surprising video. Hugo’s note:
Probably you are not an NBA [National Basketball Association] fan, but those who are both, NBA and WEIT fans, are going to appreciate this. As it happens you seem to share a trait with current Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich (considered by most one of the greatest ever). He gave an interview to former Spurs player Oberto (he is from Argentina as I am) and in the middle of it he asks Pop with whom he would like to spend an hour talking if he had the chance. To my initial surprise, his answer was [NAME REDACTED SO YOU WILL WATCH ONE SECTION OF THE CLIP]. That part starts at ~8:45 and lasts about a minute with Pop expressing his admiration for [NAME REDACTED].
I have to say, Popovich made a good choice.
And if you like basketball, you should watch the whole thing. This clip has gotten very few views.
From Reuters, we learn of another person, a Christian, who was sentenced to death in Pakistan for blaspheming the Prophet. The death sentence was accompanied by a fine as well (talk about adding insult to injury!), making this the 16th person on Pakistan’s death row for blasphemy, with another 20 people serving life sentences for the same crime. (None of the condemned have yet been executed, but that doesn’t make it much better.)
Judge Lahore Ghulam Murtaza Chaudhry sentenced Sawan Masih to hang after a Muslim said he had insulted the prophet Mohammed in the eastern city of Lahore a year ago.
The accusation against Masih sparked a riot in which Muslims burned more than 100 Christian homes.
And this part absolutely floored me (my emphasis):
The law does not require evidence to be presented in court and there are no penalties for false allegations.
Courts often hesitate to hear evidence, fearful that reproducing it will also be considered blasphemous. Activists who want to reform the law say it is often abused by those seeking to grab money or property from the accused.
Often the accused do not even make it to court. At least 52 people accused of blasphemy have been lynched since 1990, according to a 2012 report from the Islamabad-based think tank the Center for Research and Security Studies.
“The severe penalties for Pakistan’s blasphemy law make it one of the most repressive laws in the world,” said a report released this month by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a government advisory panel.
“Blasphemy charges commonly are used to intimidate members of religious minorities or others with whom the accusers disagree or have business or other conflicts.”
Judges have been attacked for acquitting blasphemy defendants, the report said.
This is a prime example of religious delusion—a delusion so powerful that you must snuff out the people who merely criticize your faith. There are no words left to decry the unfairness and barbarism of this practice. Not only are you killed or put on ice for life for simply insulting a religious figurehead, but no evidence is needed to do that.
As Wikipedia reports, “As of 2011, all Islamic majority nations, worldwide, had criminal laws on blasphemy.”
Pakistan takes its place with the barbarous nations of the world, including every one with criminal laws against blasphemy. Every Pakistani should ashamed, though I suspect that few even ponder this issue (or, if they are opposed to blasphemy laws, they won’t say anything). And of course they are America’s “allies.”
I’d love to see what some of those “liberal” British apologists for Islam have to say about this.
I am back in Chicago, and Matthew asked me to post the solution to “Where’s the Ptarmigan [read “nightjar’] post. Here it is:
by Matthew Cobb
A tough one – you couldn’t enlarge the photo, and the bird was some way away. But I managed to spot it! Kate said to me on FB: “It was really tough to photograph, whenever it stopped moving I lost track of it!“
