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 got this idea from a friend, whose colleague, aware that the decision to ban race-based affirmative action in college would lead to new workarounds, used Chat-GPT to generate one of those workarounds: the “adversity essay.” That is, the Supreme Court left open the option that, although you couldn’t check a box labeled “race” on your college application, nor could colleges give you a boost simply because of your race, you could still write an essay emphasizing your ethnicity, explaining how it was associated with adversity that eventually led you to become a resilient proponent of DEI. This potential way to evade race-specific admissions has led some to say that many colleges will change their entrance essays (as well as eliminating standardized tests) into questions that can be answered by explaining how you overcame adversity, giving you ample opportunity to emphasize your minority status while not violating the Supreme Court’s standards.
The essay that gave me this idea came from my friend’s colleague asking Chat-GPT this question, “Write a college essay explaining why stubbing my toe in the 4th grade gave me the desire and character to become a neurosurgeon. Make it a good essay, not too stuffy, and mention my background as a child of carnies [carnival workers] as a reason why I have overcome adversity.” The answer was funny, but I didn’t want to just reproduce that exchange.
I decided to use my real ethnicity (99% Ashkenazi Jew) and write a college essay to work around a fictional scenario, a Supreme Court ruling that colleges could not have affirmative action favoring Jews. But my question was based on a real incident: at the school-bus stop in ninth grade in Germany, a group of (American) bullies started calling me a “dirty Jew”. That precipitated the only fistfight I’ve ever been in. I decided to use that incident as the basis of a college-admissions essay. Here’s the question I asked Chat-GPT:
Write a college essay explaining why, when a group of bullies called me a “dirty Jew” in high school, that gave me the will, desire, and character to become a biologist. Make it a good essay and concentrate on how overcoming this adversity was instrumental in my success.
And, sure enough, the AI program came through. Now you tell me why this wouldn’t get me into college!
Title: Embracing Diversity: How Overcoming Adversity Paved the Path to Becoming a Biologist
Introduction
High school, often described as a formative period in one’s life, can present both opportunities for growth and challenges that shape who we become. My personal experience with a group of bullies calling me a “dirty Jew” during those years not only ignited a deep sense of determination but also instilled in me a fervent desire to pursue a career in biology. This essay explores how overcoming this adversity became instrumental in my success as a biologist and how it shaped my commitment to understanding the intricacies of life.
Finding Strength in Diversity
As the echoes of those hurtful words reverberated in my mind, I realized that their cruelty stemmed from ignorance and a lack of understanding of diversity. Instead of letting their words define me, I decided to use the experience as a catalyst to explore my roots, culture, and heritage. My Jewish identity became a source of strength, reminding me that embracing diversity is vital in fostering a harmonious and inclusive society. This realization not only empowered me to stand tall against bigotry but also kindled a passion for understanding the diverse ecosystems that make up our planet.
Fostering Curiosity and Intellectual Resilience
Overcoming adversity can often fuel a profound sense of curiosity, prompting individuals to seek answers to complex questions. As I faced the challenges thrown my way, I found solace in exploring the natural world. I immersed myself in biology textbooks, documentaries, and scientific journals, seeking to comprehend the inner workings of living organisms and the broader ecological systems. Each discovery felt like a triumph against the bullies’ attempts to bring me down, reinforcing my dedication to the pursuit of knowledge.
From the Depths of Discrimination to the Heights of Empathy
Experiencing discrimination firsthand cultivated empathy within me. I realized that just as I yearned for understanding and acceptance, so did countless other beings across the natural world. This empathy became the driving force behind my decision to become a biologist with a focus on conservation. By dedicating myself to preserving biodiversity and protecting vulnerable ecosystems, I could extend the lessons I learned from my own experiences to advocate for a more compassionate and interconnected world.
Channeling Adversity into Advocacy
My encounters with prejudice taught me the importance of being an advocate for change. As a biologist, I saw the opportunity to not only study and research but also to contribute to larger societal conversations about diversity, inclusion, and environmental conservation. Through my scientific endeavors, I aimed to educate others about the interconnectedness of all life forms and the significance of cherishing our shared environment. In this way, I could transform my own painful experiences into a catalyst for positive change on a broader scale.
Conclusion
In retrospect, the bullies’ derogatory comments were a crucible that forged my character and led me on a path towards becoming a biologist. The adversity I faced taught me to embrace diversity, foster curiosity, and develop intellectual resilience. It instilled in me a profound sense of empathy and ignited a passion for advocacy and conservation. The lessons I learned from those challenging times have not only shaped my career choice but also motivated me to strive for a world where understanding and compassion prevail.
As I pursue my journey in biology, I remain committed to using my knowledge and experiences to build bridges of understanding, promote diversity, and contribute to the betterment of our global community. I firmly believe that it is through overcoming adversity that we discover our true potential and, in turn, find the strength to make a meaningful impact on the world around us.
Isn’t that great? Even I couldn’t have thought of this angle!
From Bored Panda, an endless fount of animal fun, comes some “hilariously relatable” (oy!) memes showing what staffing a cat is really like. Click on the screenshot to see fifty. I’ll put up a few.
I’m sure I’ve posted the following photo before, but it never gets old:
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Click to read some excerpts of the L.A. Times article:
An excerpt:
Ten months had passed since long-haul truckers Alfonso and Sherrie Meletiche lost their family cat, Baby, while making a delivery in Southern California.
The couple had pulled over at a stop in Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County when a loud noise caused the feline to break free of her harness and run away.
A search team could not find her. Weeks turned into months. Hope turned into despair.
. . .Ten months later the Meletiches, who live in Fort Myers, Fla., got a surprise call. It was Gail Landau, the founder of Catmosphere Laguna Foundation, which finds homes for rescued and abandoned cats and kittens.
Baby, a Maine Coon mix, had been located. It turned out she had been masquerading as a guest at the five-star Montage Laguna Beach hotel. Landau was able to find her owner because the cat had been outfitted with a microchip, a tiny transponder about the size of a grain of rice implanted in the animal’s skin.
Here’s Baby. Nobody puts her in a corner!
A year earlier, Alonna Meletiche, Alfonso and Sherrie’s daughter, had taken the cat to the veterinarian for its shots and made the decision at that time to have her microchipped, which has become increasingly popular as a way to reunite pet owners with their lost animals.
. . .“I was shocked,” Alfonso said of Landau’s call. “I couldn’t believe it because I, myself, gave up. I said, ‘There’s no way. There’s no way that we’re ever going to get her back,’ but when Gail called, I was overwhelmed, and I was also shocked.”
He immediately booked an airline ticket to California. But then just as quickly he had to cancel his trip when Baby disappeared again from Landau’s house in Mission Viejo.
“I said, ‘Oh my god.’ It’s like feeling this emptiness all over again,” Alfonso said, “just when she was right there within reach.”
Baby would eventually be found again — at the Montage.
. . .When Baby was hanging around the Laguna Beach hotel the first time, passersby had taken to feeding the cat, including resident Nancy Welch, who wound up corralling the feline after her second flight.
“The big mystery is how did the cat get down from Mission Viejo to Laguna,” said Welch, who commented that Baby was living her best life at the luxury resort. “What I keep laughing about is… it’s like a marketing ad for the Montage, that the cat got herself back to the Montage after being at Gail’s house.”
The Meletiche family received the good news. Alfonso flew into John Wayne Airport this week, nervous that Baby might not remember him.
She did.
And here’s Baby, back with her owners after her luxury vacation. Your take-home lesson: GET YOUR CAT CHIPPED, and DO IT NOW!
Alfonso and Baby were on flight home to Florida on Monday.
***********
Finally, a cat reacts to a cake made to look like the cat! This video, put up two years ago (without any notes) has since accrued 23 million views! The cat freaks out when the staff cuts into its head.
Today we have a photo-and-text story by Athayde Tonhasca Júnior. His topic: plants and gnats. His text is indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Pesky little helpers
“He could put up with his meaningless office-life, because he never for an instant thought of it as permanent. God knew how or when, he was going to break free of it (…) The types he saw all around him, especially the older men, made him squirm. That is what it meant to worship the money-god! To settle down, to Make Good, to sell your soul for a villa and an aspidistra!” (Keep the Aspidistra Flying, 1936).
In George Orwell’s (1903-1950) novel, Gordon Comstock leaves a successful career in advertising (‘the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket’) to become a poet. But Comstock’s literary shortcomings push him slowly and inexorably into poverty, so the idealist and bitter writer pontificates about the materialism, dryness and mediocrity of the English middle class. And nothing could better symbolise society’s predictability and pedestrianism than the common aspidistra, aka bar room plant, iron plant or cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior). A native of Japan, the common aspidistra is widely cultivated as a houseplant around the world. Because of its sturdiness and tolerance to neglect, it became a favourite in English homes in Victorian times, although its popularity has since waned a bit.
W. F. Harvey (1885-1937), the Quaker author of macabre and horror stories, told the tale of Ferdinand Wilton, who tried unsuccessfully to destroy aspidistras, only to get some creepy just deserts… Image from Tatler magazine, 1930, British Library:
Orwell would be pleased to know that other characters could have embodied dullness and obscurity in Comstock’s social narrative: gnats.
‘Gnat’ is a loose term to refer to small (usually less than 1 cm), unremarkable and poorly known flies in the suborder Nematocera, which include crane flies, mosquitoes, black flies, and midges. Gardeners will be familiar with one particular group: the dark-winged fungus gnats (family Sciaridae). These tiny black flies make a nuisance of themselves by flying erratically and in great numbers around potted plants, often finding their way to rubbish bins, kitchen drains, window panes, and fruit bowls. The adults feed on nectar or on nothing at all (they have very short lives), and the larvae eat mostly fungi or organic matter in damp soil – that’s why potted plants are ideal for them. Fungus gnats are largely harmless, but if their larvae became too abundant, they may start to feed on plants’ tender roots, damaging them or transmitting pathogens. Seedling ‘damping off’ is a sign of possible fungus gnat infestation. Predictably, if you search for ‘gnats’ in the internet, most pages will be focused on ‘how to get rid of’.
Fungus gnats may be an occasional headache in households, but these uninvited guests represent a minute portion of their fauna. Besides the 2,500 or so species of Sciaridae, there are more than 4,500 species in the family Mycetophilidae and numerous species from related groups. Most of these fungus gnats live in shady, damp spots under forest canopies, along water courses or wetlands – places offering ideal conditions for their larvae. These permanently moist environments may be great for gnats, but are not so good for most pollinating insects, who require warmer, drier habitats and open spaces. So plants in fungus gnat territory. such as Aspidistra spp., have to find alternatives.
Flowers of the common aspidistra are nothing to look at. Oddly shaped, fleshy and coloured with a purple-reddish hue, they emerge directly from the rhizome at ground level or are sometimes hidden underneath the litter. People may not even notice their potted aspidistra has bloomed. And no aroma wafts from this plant: only a faint musty odour that some people can’t even detect. Everything from this flower gives it a mushroom appearance, so it’s far from ideal to bees and butterflies. And there’s more to put off run-of-the-mill pollinators: to access the pollen, they have to squeeze by a large stigma (the female part of the flower) to reach the pollen-producing stamens tucked underneath; only the smallest insects can do it. You probably can see where this is going.
The common aspidistra and related species cannot self-fertilise, but their pollination mechanism remained a mystery for years. Slugs, snails, springtails and other ground-dwelling invertebrates have been suggested as potential pollen vectors, but none of these candidates were backed up by data. Enter Suetsugu & Sueyoshi (2018), who spent two years investigating the common aspidistra in Kuroshima Island, Japan, where this plant grows wild. Their efforts paid off: they recorded two species of fungus gnats covered in pollen leaving and landing on flowers, and observed the successful development of fruits in gnat-visited flowers. These observations suggest the puzzle has been resolved. The researchers proposed, reasonably, that Aspidistra have evolved flowers that look and smell like fungi, thus becoming irresistible to fungus-eating gnats.
Flies are considered the second most important group of insect pollinators after bees; house flies (Muscidae), blow flies (Calliphoridae), flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) and especially hover flies (Syrphidae) pollinate a range of crop and wild plants. Some flies are essential pollinators in high altitudes, where bees are scarce or absent. Fungus gnats are hardly thought as members of the pollinators club because they don’t seem to have what it takes: they are too small to carry a decent pollen load, their ‘hair’ (bristles) – an important pollen-carrying apparatus – are puny, and they are weak fliers. Yet, pollination by fungus gnats occurs in 20 genera of eight plant families over the world.
Fungus gnats and other small dipteran insects such as midges and drosophilid flies are diverse and abundant, but we know very little about most of them because they are difficult to identify and study in the field. Worse yet, many species are nocturnal, and the flowers they visit are inconspicuous. So just like the midge-pollinated cacao, the gnat-pollinated aspidistra suggests there are many discoveries to be made about these pesky little flies.
Welcome to CaturSaturday, July 22, 2023, shabb0s for all cats of the Jewish persuasion and National Penuche Day, celebrating a fudge made without chocolate (it has brown sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla flavoring). It’s better than no fudge, but substitute maple syrup for the brown sugar:
Tony Bennett, a singer whose melodic clarity, jazz-influenced phrasing, audience-embracing persona and warm, deceptively simple interpretations of musical standards helped spread the American songbook around the world and won him generations of fans, died on Friday at his home of many decades in Manhattan. He was 96.
His publicist, Sylvia Weiner, announced his death.
Mr. Bennett learned he had Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, his wife, Susan Benedetto, told AARP The Magazine in February 2021. But he continued to perform and record despite his illness; his last public performance was in August 2021, when he appeared with Lady Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in a show titled “One Last Time.”
Mr. Bennett’s career of more than 70 years was remarkable not only for its longevity, but also for its consistency. In hundreds of concerts and club dates and more than 150 recordings, he devoted himself to preserving the classic American popular song, as written by Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Duke Ellington, Rodgers and Hammerstein and others.
From his initial success as a jazzy crooner who wowed audiences at the Paramount in Times Square in the early 1950s, through his late-in-life duets with younger singers gleaned from a range of genres and generations — most notably Lady Gaga, with whom he recorded albums in 2014 and 2021 and toured in 2015 — he was an active promoter of both songwriting and entertaining as timeless, noble pursuits.
RIP Tony. Here’s my second favorite Bennett song, “The Good Life” (1963). It was originally a French song:
. . . (originally “La Belle Vie” in French) a song by Sacha Distel with French lyrics by Jean Broussolle, published in 1962. It was featured in the movie The Seven Deadly Sins.
The federal judge overseeing former President Donald J. Trump’s prosecution on charges of illegally retaining dozens of classified documents set a trial date on Friday for May 2024, taking a middle position between the government’s request to go to trial in December and Mr. Trump’s desire to push the proceeding until after the 2024 election.
In her order, Judge Aileen M. Cannon said the trial was to be held in her home courthouse in Fort Pierce, Fla., a coastal city two-and-a-half hours north of Miami that will draw its jury pool from several counties that Mr. Trump won handily in his two previous presidential campaigns.
. . .The timing of the proceeding is more important in this case than in most criminal matters because Mr. Trump is now the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination and his legal obligations to be in court will intersect with his campaign schedule.
The date Judge Cannon chose to start the trial — May 20, 2024 — falls after the bulk of the primary contests. But it is less than two months before the start of the Republican National Convention in July and the formal start of the general election season.
. . . By scheduling the trial for the middle of the presidential campaign, Judge Cannon implicitly rejected another argument that Mr. Trump’s legal team had raised in court on Tuesday: that the former president could never get a fair jury during an election cycle because of what one of his lawyers, Christopher Kise, called “the extraordinary and unrelenting press coverage.”
Moving the trial after the election is what Trump really wanted, as if he happens to win (Ceiling Cat help us), it would almost render the trials moot. That’s the other argument: he couldn’t get a fair trial AFTER the election cycle!
A federal judge in West Virginia has ruled that the state corrections agency can’t force an incarcerated atheist and secular humanist to participate in religiously-affiliated programming to be eligible for parole.
In a sweeping 60-page decision issued Tuesday, Charleston-based US District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin said Saint Marys Correctional Center inmate Andrew Miller “easily meets his threshold burden of showing an impingement on his rights.’’
The state’s “unmitigated actions force Mr. Miller to choose between two distinct but equally irreparable injuries,’’ the judge wrote. “He can either submit to government coercion and engage in religious exercise at odds with his own beliefs, or remain incarcerated until at least April 2025.’’
Goodwin issued a preliminary injunction requiring West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials to remove completion of a state-run and federally funded residential substance abuse program from Miller’s parole eligibility requirements. The agency did not return a request for comment Thursday.
Miller filed suit in a federal district court in April, alleging the state is forcing Christianity on incarcerated people and has failed to accommodate repeated requests to honor his lack of belief in God.
This would seem to be a no-brainer: an arrant violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Since this is a federal case, it could be appealed up to the Supreme Court, but it won’t. And seriously, how could they force religion on an atheist, regardless of how Catholic or conservative they are?
*Andrew Sullivan’s Weekly Dishdiscusses Marty Peretz’s new memoir, The Controversialist: Arguments with Everyone, Left Right and Center. You may recall that Peretz was editor and publisher of The New Republic from 1974-2008, the period when most of my writing in the magazine appeared. Sullivan’s connection with him is because Sully was the head editor from 1991-1996, a period when he published many of the articles that helped advance gay rights.
It’s an interesting read and a particularly good piece of writing (and a favorable review of the book) by Sullivan, who calls it “a candid snapshot of American political and cultural history: lively, literate and easy to read.:But two bits related to Judaism stuck out to me (Peretz was a big booster of Israel). Here, for example, is good writing:
I didn’t know what to expect with “Marty” either, and was still a bit baffled by him not being known at least as Mr Peretz. And when he showed up, he looked like someone I’d only ever seen in a Woody Allen movie: a huge rabbinical beard, a blousy shirt unbuttoned to near his navel, a Star of David necklace buried in chest hair, a gravelly voice and a mischievous grin. When he told me he was defending Israel at Oxford, I told him he was fucked, but not to worry. He’d lose the vote, but he should go down blazing anyway. Go for it, I advised. Fuck ‘em. (And in the end, in fact, his side won.)
. . . and this, which saddened me:
Although the far left regards [Peretz] now as some kind of reactionary, his liberal credentials, as you’re reminded here, are hard to impeach: working with Bayard Rustin preparing for the 1963 March of Washington, and then, with his second wife’s large fortune, financing and organizing the anti-Vietnam movement, pioneering the Eugene McCarthy campaign that caused LBJ to drop out of the race after New Hampshire, and trying to forge a synthesis of the civil rights and the anti-war movements by organizing the ill-fated National Conference for New Politics in 1968.
That year, of course, was the critical moment when the old Jewish-black Democratic coalition fell apart, and Marty’s world shifted. Planning for the conference was held at Marty’s rented place in Wellfleet:
One night, after most people had gone back to their motels, I came downstairs to find blacks and whites together on my porch singing anti-Semitic songs about Jewish landlords overcharging and evicting black tenants in Harlem. Most of the whites singing were Jews, and I could see they were enjoying a kind of vicarious thrill, a subversive titillation, that went through them as they sang. I threw them off the porch.
The whole incident is a kind of metaphor: what happens when a left-liberal alliance degenerates into left-illiberalism. It’s where we are again today, with the totalisms of critical race, gender and queer theory displacing the much more limited and humane principles of gradualism, reform and liberalism.
*Nellis Bowles is back doing the weekly news summary at The Free Press; this week’s column is “TGIF: Swifties save the economy.” As always, I steal three items.
→ Now that’s what I call racism: The word is now used to describe any white girl who wears a sombrero, so we forget what racism actually is sometimes. Well, it’s definitely this: the administrators in the town of Newbern, Alabama, are doing just about all they can to block the first black mayor from succeeding. Read this enraging story by Alabama-based writer Lee Hedgepeth, who exposed it, and this additional reporting from Capital B, a nonprofit newsroom focused on black issues.
→ Excuse me, what? In Florida, the state Board of Education passed a new standards package. Lest we think only the left can go mad, this is an example of what educators are expected to add to history courses now: “Slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” So teachers have to talk about, yes, slavery’s good bits.
→ Only one state needs to go: The Middle East is a picture of harmony. Religious minorities live in peace with each other. The only bad place happens to be the tiny Jewish state. The latest episode in this classic new left antisemitism is from Democratic congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who this week said: “As somebody who’s been in the streets and participated in a lot of demonstrations, I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state,” she said.
All of this was in the lead-up to Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s address to Congress, which The Squad boycotted, naturally. Jayapal couldn’t make it because of a “scheduling conflict.”
Jayapal is an odious anti-Semite, though some of my friends in Boston like her “progressivism” LOL.
Oh hell, Nellie put up a song I like so I’ll add this:
→ And for your listening: May I recommend Luke Combs’ beautiful new cover of “Fast Car,” which is topping the country charts? The song, of course, is originally by the iconic Tracy Chapman. There’s a culture war around this cover (five guesses why people are mad!). Anyway, TChap loves it. Bar told me I make too many lesbian jokes, so I won’t make one here, which is easy because there’s nothing funny about My National Anthem.
I haven’t heard that song in years, and forgot how good it was.
Actor and comedian Diane Morgan has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the university in her home town of Bolton. And the Cunk and Motherland star had the audience in stitches as she delivered a heart-warming and hilarious graduation speech.
Morgan, who was raised in Farnworth, also took the opportunity to have a little dig at Rishi Sunak’s plans to make everyone study maths until they’re 18, revealing she got a G in the subject, before adding: “Everyone told me I wouldn’t be able to make it as an actress.
“That it was an impossible dream. That you need maths! You don’t need maths. You don’t need maths for anything – take that Rishi Sunak.”
The Bafta-nominated actor, 47, also discussed some of the jobs she’d had, including working in a chippy and ‘packing worming tablets’, as she tried to break into acting. And she revealed she’d been sacked from the tea rooms at the Last Drop Village hotel in Bolton ‘for not knowing what a cream tea is’.
She said: “I should not be here today – I shouldn’t. There’s been a dreadful mistake.
No mistake: she’s DR. Cunk now! Here’s video proof.
From Masih: apparently the disbanding of the Iranian Morality Police was “fake news.” The report is in English but the Farsih can be translated this way:
The removal of the Irshad patrol was a fake news that the Islamic Republic sent to the western media, the Irshad patrol never went anywhere but suppressed the different tactics of women without the hijab, “No to the hijab” has become the symbol of “No to the Islamic Republic”, so the answer is prison, flogging and murder. Interview with ABC
حذف گشت ارشاد یک خبر فیک بود که جمهوری اسلامی به رسانههای غربی فرستاد، گشت ارشاد هرگز جایی نرفت بلکه تاکتیکهای متفاوت زنان بدون حجاب را سرکوب کرد، «نه به حجاب» شده است نماد «نه به جمهوری اسلامی»، برای همین پاسخ رژیم زندان و شلاق و قتل است مصاحبه با ABC pic.twitter.com/Wl28Q9X4Ur
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 22, 2023
Tweets from Matthew. First from his colleague Emma Hilton. Here’s the poll as of noon yesterday. As was made clear in the movie “Cheaper by the Dozen,” the best way to button any shirt is from the bottom up, for that way you never mis-button. If you start from the top, as do Emma and Matthew, you have a serious chance of getting the buttons misaligned with the holes.
Remember Jonathan, the world’s oldest living animal, born in 1832? Here’s some contemporaries:
Also born in 1832 were Jonathan’s contemporaries Lewis Carroll, Louisa May Alcott and Édouard Manet and boy, does he have some stories about them! https://t.co/aR8YpmEDgh
Lagniappe. This is the Furnace Creek Visitors Center in Death Valley, where I spent many hours sorting flies in the “changing room” behind the auditorium.
We’re still schlepping a cart of water and food to the dorm ducklings three times a week. As you can see, they’re growing rapidly, and now have most of their feathers. Some are even flapping their tiny stubs of wings. They are using their “pools” more, but come Monday we’ll put in a larger and deeper tub of water for them.
It’s a bit sad, because although we’ve kept the family together and the ducklings are thriving, they really should be in a place where they can swim freely. They haven’t had a normal duckling life. On the other hand, they’ve been protected and cosseted by the three Team Duck members since we first saw them. They are fat, healthy, and lively.
Here are a few pictures and two movies taken today and Wednesday.
Ready to drink:
Yes, these are scruffy teenaged ducks (Wednesday). Note the mixture of down and feathers.
Their nap after feeding (the first order of business) and after their swim:
Here’s a lone duckling enjoying a swim and then quickly leaving the tub for some lunch:
It took a few days for them to get brave enough to go in the tub, but now they can fit in there, but only eight at a time. The others wait their turn:
A closeup of the pile o’ ducks:
Lunch! Duckling starter chow and mealworms, which they love:
More napping:
A video of naptime. They preen, peep, and open and close their eyes. Not being dumb, they always find a convenient patch of shade:
The watchful Maria. She was there Wednesday, but today had flown off to have a proper bath and a swim. She’ll be back! She’s sleepy in this pic from Wednesday
And more pictures of the duckling pile:
Note the closed nictitating membrane on the duckling at left:
Yep, they’re in their awkward and unsightly teenage stage. The ducklings with orange beaks are probably females, with drakes having green beaks:
A drake to be!
Excuse me, but NO COMMENTS? If someone doesn’t comment, I’ll shoot these ducklings.
Well, the great singer lived a long, full life, making duets with Lady Gaga into his nineties. He died today at 96. I’ll say a bit more in tomorrow’s Nooz, but here’s a pair of songs that are among my favorites. What a rich voice the man had!
I’ll put up first my favorite Bennett solo, though not many people know of it and it never appears on Bennett “best of” lists. It’s “Love Look Away” from the musical “Flower Drum Song.” This song, with its gorgeous melody and Bennett’s belting, always gives me tingles. It was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein and first performed in 1958, the year of this recording.
I found one site that said this: “While the score is quite beautiful, Flower Drum Song is seldom performed today due to concerns regarding Asian-American stereotypes.” Perhaps that’s true (I’ve never seen the play or movie), but I can’t say that this song evinces any stereotypes.
This is the best of quite a few covers of this song (you can hear the original cast recording here and see the movie version here).
This is my favorite duet: Bennett and Lady Gaga singing “The Lady is a Tramp“, again written by Rodgers (but this time with Lorenz Hart) for the 1937 musical “Babes in Arms.” What fun these two are having!
The dean of the law school, Jenny Martinez, wrote a letter of apology to the Stanford community for the demonstrations (you can see it here). In response, the obstreperous SLS students demonstrated in Martinez’s class, and shortly thereafter Dean Steinbach was put on leave.
On March 10, FIRE wrote a letter to Stanford’s President (now replaced after allegations of scientific misconduct), which ended this way:
When the university allows speakers like Judge Duncan to be silenced, it sends the message to all in the Stanford community that those who engage in unlawful, disruptive conduct have the power to dictate which voices and views may be heard on campus. If reports about last night’s disruption are accurate, Stanford must take immediate steps to reaffirm its commitment to n expressive rights for all. Failure to do so quickly and clearly will be to Stanford’s lasting shame.
Given the urgent nature of this matter, we request a substantive response to this letter by Tuesday, March, 14.
I don’t know if FIRE ever got a response, much less a substantive one, but it was announced by Martinez (and put in a tweet by a FIRE attorney), that Steinbach will be “leaving her post.” Ten to one she was fired.
Stanford Law Dean Jenny Martinez: "Associate Dean Steinbach and I both hope that SLS can move forward as a community from the divisions caused by the March 9 event."
Here’s the statement, which you can click to enlarge. It’s written as if Steinbach decided to “pursue another opportunity,” but I bet what happened is that she was given the choice of leaving or of being fired. Stay tuned for more (I’ve asked FIRE).
Finally, below is a new emailed statement from FIRE’s Director of Campus Rights Advocacy Alex Morey:
The Stanford Law shoutdown made everyone question whether Stanford really cared about free expression. What set the event apart was DEI dean Tirien Steinbach, who, for all intents and purposes, facilitated the shoutdown when she should’ve been enforcing the rules.
Stanford recommitted strongly to free speech in the weeks that followed. Today’s announcement that Steinbach will leave her post is hopefully another signal that Stanford intends to adopt a no-tolerance policy on viewpoint discrimination.
Stanford’s brand new interim president, Richard Saller, has some solid free speech bona fides, including coming from ultra-speech-friendly UChicago, and having previously been on record about the importance of academic freedom.
We’re hopeful that after some administrative house cleaning over the last 48-hours, today represents a promising new day for higher ed best practices at Stanford.
I wonder if the SLS students have learned anything from this whole dismal affair. This just underscores the need for all serious universities in America to have a section on “freedom of speech” during student orientation.
