Link roundup for 30 January 2010
Modern government is helpless in the face of the bagel menace (sent by Mendip).
Ragebot reviews the week in death.
Don't leave your "to do" list lying around, if it's like this one (found via Mendip). More Facebook issues here.
What would your last words be?
These actors pushed on-stage realism a bit far (found via Mendip).
CBS: Beer, bathroom humor and anti-abortion propaganda are OK, dating is not-OK.
Shannon Minter reviews the Prop. 8 trial. Short version: the good guys wiped the floor with the bad guys.
This is not the way to improve your kid's grades.
Ranch Chimp has another view of the public option.
Ron Chusid explains the origin of the deficit so even a teabagger can understand it.
The public despises the government, but not Obama. Noteworthy: huge majorities want more regulation of banks and Wall Street.
What is Rahm Emanuel up to?
Annette has a fiery post on infighting within the left. Oliver Willis weighs in here, another view here.
Obama isn't the first President to point out that he's fighting an inherited mess.
In a gesture toward sanity, the Republican party rejects the hard-right "purity test".
A Fox survey shows that Americans are wary of teabaggerdom.
David Neiwert looks at Jonah Goldberg's distortions about fascism (found via Religious Right Watch).
The controversy over those Bible quotes on Trijicon gunsights brings a nasty strain of religious hatred to the surface.
The militia movement hopes for a come-back on the teabaggers' coat-tails.
GodLizard looks at the religious mentality.
The CIA intends to require language proficiency as a condition of promotion (found via The Crossed Pond).
Islam demands respect. Here's an example of the values we're being asked to respect.
Russia rolls out a new fighter plane.
China may re-consider eating cats and dogs.
If it's so warm, how come it's so cold?
Ragebot reviews the week in death.
Don't leave your "to do" list lying around, if it's like this one (found via Mendip). More Facebook issues here.
What would your last words be?
These actors pushed on-stage realism a bit far (found via Mendip).
CBS: Beer, bathroom humor and anti-abortion propaganda are OK, dating is not-OK.
Shannon Minter reviews the Prop. 8 trial. Short version: the good guys wiped the floor with the bad guys.
This is not the way to improve your kid's grades.
Ranch Chimp has another view of the public option.
Ron Chusid explains the origin of the deficit so even a teabagger can understand it.
The public despises the government, but not Obama. Noteworthy: huge majorities want more regulation of banks and Wall Street.
What is Rahm Emanuel up to?
Annette has a fiery post on infighting within the left. Oliver Willis weighs in here, another view here.
Obama isn't the first President to point out that he's fighting an inherited mess.
In a gesture toward sanity, the Republican party rejects the hard-right "purity test".
A Fox survey shows that Americans are wary of teabaggerdom.
David Neiwert looks at Jonah Goldberg's distortions about fascism (found via Religious Right Watch).
The controversy over those Bible quotes on Trijicon gunsights brings a nasty strain of religious hatred to the surface.
The militia movement hopes for a come-back on the teabaggers' coat-tails.
GodLizard looks at the religious mentality.
The CIA intends to require language proficiency as a condition of promotion (found via The Crossed Pond).
Islam demands respect. Here's an example of the values we're being asked to respect.
Russia rolls out a new fighter plane.
China may re-consider eating cats and dogs.
If it's so warm, how come it's so cold?
posted by Infidel753 at 5:42 AM
12 Comments:
I found the news article on the proposed ban on eating cats & dogs in China interesting & contradictory. Obviously it's not about eating pets, as the animals being used for food aren't pets, they would be considered livestock. I have nothing against dogs & cats but I don't see the logic in putting them on a pedestal above other animals that are slaughtered & consumed everyday with impunity. The issue should revolve around the inhumane killing practices of all livestock. I'm guessing some people pushing for this find the practice embarrassing or personally uncomfortable.
Well, cats and dogs are much more intelligent than most livestock animals, thus much more self-aware and capable of suffering (and mentally closer to humans).
This probably accounts for why Westerners find the thought of eating cats or dogs more repulsive than eating, say, beef. The Chinese middle class may be more attuned to Western sensibilities via what international media they have access to.
Pigs are actually similar in mental development to dogs, but trying to get Chinese people to stop eating pork would be hopeless, at least for now.
Frigid Greeting's Mr.Infidel!
Geeeeezzz ... I was just out on the patio wearing my Cowboys training short's and t-shirt, not knowing what the temp was outside, but looked at the thermometer hangin .... it said 25 degree's! It was then I said ... "I reckon I need some pant's" :)
But the piece from Real Climate was a lil complex at first, but one Hell of a read after going over it again ( on .... if were warming, why's it so damn cold?) I get wisecrack's like such from a couple I know locally on day's like today.
That lil ole piece from "Liberal Value's" designed to where teabag's can understand is a good piece, as a matter of fact ... I have noticed that this sight has some good post's as far as figure's and such. I'll tell you what it is with some of these folk's that want to blame this situation on the current administration and last year too is, ... they just WANT TO, they dont give a shit about fact's, figure's, what happened with the last administration ... the one they act like didint exist, they dont want to even hear that, this cesspool of crapolla been taking year's to form, or even acknowledge that the largely unregulated, free ride, private sector play's and their part in this, all they want to say ... is how awful it is now and how this socialist administration is destroyin America ... their all righteous and all good and know it all, and tryin to talk to them is almost like pissing in the goddamn wind. It is nothing but politic's and INTENTIONAL denial.
Great piece from Tele.UK as far as the rape victim getting 101 lashes. We are so quick to bellyache over some guy in his 20's or so having sex with a gal say 15 or so .... yet shy away from this kind of shit, and this value shit of their's they want to bring here as well( dont think they wouldnt if they could), but I frankly dont give a shit about their f'n ragheaded value's, and their not going to bring that shit to our neighborhood! FUCK fundamental islam and their whole f'n cult! I reckon I best shut up before I get some sensitive person upset with my redneck Texas attitude.
German play substituting water with vodka from Mr.Mendip .... loved it! Wish I could have been there!
Burnt bagel evacuation in PDX mayor's office break room, great excuse to take a long paid break! Sam Adams .... good beer! :)
Reading Ragebot mostly made me think of that great deal we got out of Mars Spirit Rover and the longevity, we got alot of additional data from that one!
Politico' about rep's rejecting "purity test" .... they better reject or change something if they want ANY actual serious conservative's to stay with them! I voted republican for year's ... and am about sick and tired of their BS.
Thanx Guy .........
Well, I decided to link to that article & continue the conversation on my blog.
A question for you: Do you think proximity to humans has influenced any animals intelligence in the long run, like for instance, dogs in becoming domesticated over a period of time, or does proximity to certain animals influence our behavior to the point that we attribute certain intelligence to them that isn't really there?
RC: It's certainly true that a lot of teabaggers are impervious to evidence -- they are largely coming from a religious background that privileges faith over evidence, after all. There's always some hope that some may be reachable even if the majority aren't.
I wish all our manufactures exceeded expectations as much as those of the space program. Quite a few of the old probes get working for years after they were expected to run down.
Rita: Dogs have certainly been influenced by humans -- just look at the tremendous physical variation among different breeds, which is all the rersult of selective breeding (both intentional and unintentional) by humans over the 20,000 years or so since they were domesticated.
I don't know much about wolf intelligence, so I don't know whether dog intelligence has increased due to association with humans (I'm sure this question has been studied, though). Certainly over the millennia, dogs which were better at picking up the meaning of human words, or interpreting human tones of voice and body language, would have had an advantage in survival, so selection has operated in favor of those traits -- which explains why dogs today are quite good at those things.
Individual people may well attribute all kinds of traits to animals that aren't really there. When I talk about intelligence of particular species, I'm referring to things that have been deduced by objective study and experimentation.
When I talk about intelligence of particular species, I'm referring to things that have been deduced by objective study and experimentation.
I understand that. It's a hard sell, though.
The fact seems to be animals have a much better chance of surviving if they can push our emotional buttons. Having had rats for pets over the years, I can attest to the fact they are very smart, personable, adaptable, friendly, etc...but, unfortunately for them, not quite as cute & cuddly as cats.
Unfortunately, for pigs, they are not cuddly either & also tasty.
It's a hard sell, though.
One does what one can. Reactions can change. I don't think I would be able to enjoy eating pork or even beef any more. I'd be too put off by the implications of what I knew.
Our closest relatives, the apes, are spectacularly ugly and often hostile and dangerous, yet people who understand current knowledge about their intelligence and emotional development generally come around to acknowledging them as persons, even if not equal to humans.
Anyone interested in the topic should check out the discussion at Rita's blog.
Hey Infidel...many thanks for the mention!
Our closest relatives, the apes, are spectacularly ugly and often hostile and dangerous, That makes them pretty human, doesn't it? :)
That makes them pretty human, doesn't it? :)
I guess it runs in the family:-)
I've been meaning to thank you for the nice linking, I am honored to be listed in such a great list :)
Thanks for visiting -- I'm sure you'll show up in the links again!
Post a Comment
<< Home