Leopards

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Michael

I recently watched a Nature special about leopards that was absolutely fascinating. Of all the big cats, it seems that leopards may be the most intelligent, relying on cunning more than muscle. If you have an hour, here’s the video:

I’ve always thought of leopards and their non-immediate kin of pumas, cougars, and jaguars as little more than small, solitary lions: strong, fast hunters that rely on brute force. Not so. They lurk in the shadows, hiding from troops* of baboons and other potential enemies. When they make a kill and a clan** of hyenas wants a piece, leopards have little problem giving up their entire meal. They don’t go looking for a fight.

Unsurprisingly, leopards are doing spectacularly well. (This fact may vary for their taxonomic Family I’ve mentioned, but if so, only very slightly.) Whereas lions, cheetahs, and tigers face serious threats to their overall numbers, leopards enjoy a population of around a half million. Even the black panther (of the leopard variety) seems to do okay, despite its seemingly detrimental recessive gene.

I think a lot of people appreciate the awesomeness of big cats like lions and others when they seem them taking down a large animal, but leopards don’t seem to enjoy quite the same esteem. That has been true even of me (at least until now). I think part of the reason is simply how difficult it is to record these beasts. They’re quite wary of everything that isn’t food, and that includes humans. This would make particular sense if our ancestors treated them the way our ape cousins do. (Yet despite this wariness, they do often live very near humans, even invading villages with utter stealth on a frequent basis.) It really is a fascinating animal.

*A group of baboons is also known as a congress. They cooperate better than ours, though.
**Appropriately, a group of hyenas is also known as a cackle.

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One week

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Michael

This is where I’ll be headed to climb one week from today:

Aconcagua

Filed under: Hiking | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

Remember this about Political Figure Antonin Scalia:

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Michael

Earlier this year I made a prediction about how Political Figure Antonin Scalia will rule when he finds legal briefs on marriage equality for gay people on his desk: I don’t think he will hold to any of the ‘principles’ he has spent the past several decades selectively applying. Specifically, he has said that the ruling in Lawrence v Texas opened the door for equality in marriage:

“Today’s opinion dismantles the structure of constitutional law that has permitted a distinction to be made between heterosexual and homosexual unions, insofar as formal recognition in marriage is concerned,” Scalia wrote.

Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion said the Court’s ruling against anti-sodomy laws “does not involve whether the government must give formal recognition to any relationship that homosexual persons seek to enter.”

Scalia’s retort: “Do not believe it.”

“This case ‘does not involve’ the issue of homosexual marriage only if one entertains the belief that principle and logic have nothing to do with the decisions of this Court,” he wrote.

First, I find it abhorrent that part of this guy’s ‘logic’ in his dissent was nothing more than a slippery slope argument he needed to make in order to defend the personal political and religious agenda he was clearly infusing into his response. Second, it is abundantly clear that if he has any integrity, he must force himself to rule in favor of marriage equality, regardless of how much it offends his personal sexual immaturity and bronze age ideas of morality.

I’m not expecting anyone to be surprised after this ruling, though.

Filed under: Politics and Social, Rights, Same-sex marriage | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Thought of the day

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Michael

An outright rejection of cursing has always struck me as wildly immature. I know, I know, the assumption is usually that a person who swears is immature, but that’s quite a false assumption. Language is expansive and should be treated as such; a person who swears too much is only slightly worse than a person who absolutely refuses to swear. On the one hand is an excessive embracing of a particular set of words and on the other hand is a distancing from certain words. Both are instances of linguistic restriction. It’s the sort of thing I expect out of a giggly child who substitutes “thingies” for breasts or testicles.

And, well, shit. There are just occasions where a person needs to sprinkle a little kick into the conversation.

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Know your charities

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Michael

If you’re going to give to a charity this holiday season (or any other time), make sure you pick the right one. There are a lot of scams out there, of course, but there are also a lot of charities that are just, well, shitty:

The Salvation Army recently released a statement:

“Scripture forbids sexual intimacy between members of the same sex. The Salvation Army believes, therefore, that Christians whose sexual orientation is primarily or exclusively same-sex are called upon to embrace celibacy as a way of life. There is no scriptural support for same-sex unions as equal to, or as an alternative to, heterosexual marriage.”

I would recommend giving to Red Cross or, heck, Atheists of Maine’s fundraiser for Camp Sunshine. There’s no need to support a charity that is out to promote a bunch of garbage. Whatever good the Salvation Army may do, there are hundreds of charities out there that do just as well – and without the bigotry.

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Thought of the day

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Michael

From time to time I’ll see those on the right attempt to deflect their side’s tendency towards science-denialism by pointing out that it is often those on the left who favor homeopathic medicine or are highly weary of vaccines. Of course, it’s true that there is a lot of unscientific garbage on both sides of the aisles. Those on the right are undeniably the biggest offenders, what with their positions on the age of Earth, global warming, and evolution, but there’s plenty of crap on the left, too. Generally, the crap on the left, however, is also associated with New Age thinking and the ever-nebulous idea of spirituality. I bet you’ll never guess what underlies so much of this strain of thought:

Faith.

That’s the problem. Most of those on the right are filled with faith – people usually become Republicans because they’re deep into Christianity – so it isn’t a surprise when we see the vast majority of their positions in conflict with science. Nor, indeed, is it a surprise when we see those on the fringe left doing things like denying the efficacy of vaccines. (Of course, Michele Bachmann’s linking of vaccines to autism proves there is some common ground between our political parties.) It is faith – believe without evidence – that is the problem.

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That Christian love

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Michael

From AoM:

We’re having our third Atheists of Maine meeting this Saturday in the Auburn Public Library from 11am-1pm and it looks like we’re going to have a decent turnout. Bolstering us at least a little will be the presence of a few of our members’ kids (who, sometimes, are also active members themselves). One person, however, wanted to be sure it would be fine if he brought his 14 year old son. Of course, we’re always delighted to give anyone and everyone an honest introduction into what atheism is (something Christians seem to routinely fail miserably at doing), so we let him know that. Unfortunately, one of this person’s distant in-laws saw that he had posted on our page and…well, see for yourselves:

AoM

And, lo, the Lord did say, “He who hath doubted me is not only a fool, but too is he retarded.” And, hail, Jesus did that thing kids do with their hands against their chests to indicate retardation. Later, some bears attacked a bald guy for some reason, but the Lord doth digress.

~KJV, somewhere in the back

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Thought of the day

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Michael

Sure, I’m an atheist (because there is no evidence for any gods), but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the Christmas season. It’s a joyous time during a period when it keeps getting darker earlier and earlier, and I definitely enjoy the family Christmas party. (I, unfortunately, will not be attending it this year as I will be in Argentina on a hiking expedition to the highest peak in the Andes. Woe is me.) I even like Christmas music. And here’s the real good news: Christmas has become a largely secular holiday. Of course, it still has its Christian background, but I don’t think it’s a religious day for most people any longer; the day has begun to turn back to its pagan origin – an origin so many Christians seem so fond of ignoring, sometimes even denying, whether through ignorance or blatant dishonesty.

So I say, merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Festivus, happy holidays, and all that. This really is a time for the secular and religious alike to come together to celebrate a season filled with holidays of both pagan and religious origins.

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It’s out there

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Michael

I can’t say that I absolutely believe there is life teeming about throughout the Universe, but I believe there is good reason to think there is.

Goldilocks zone

Filed under: Astronomy/Cosmology/Physics | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

Oh, Billo

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Michael

I wasn’t surprised when I starting seeing around the Interwebs that Bill O’Reilly, in an interview with David Silverman of American Atheists and meme fame, claimed that Christianity was a philosophy rather than a religion. What did surprise me, however, was that he was so adamant in the claim. I had figured he just said yet another stupid thing in passing, but that wasn’t the case. He really meant it. Check out the video.

Billo goes on to call atheists fascists for having objections to government-endorsed religious icons, symbology, and content. That, of course, was quite silly. I think Silverman held his own quite well, not letting Billo push him around. I do, however, think he had two points of falter. First, he said atheism was a philosophy. It isn’t. It is highly compatible with certain philosophies, such as humanism, but it is not itself a philosophy. It can’t be. It’s descriptive. Second, he said he would be forced to take Christmas off because it’s a federally mandated holiday. I think what he meant was that federal employees and those who work in certain other areas of the economy would be forced to take the day off, being prevented from conducting business as usual at the post office, city hall, etc. This was a small trip due to a lack of specificity. Overall, I think he did very well.

All that said, I do happen to be okay with Christmas’ status as a federal holiday. Past court rulings have provided a legitimate basis for why this is not an endorsement of religion: The day has been sufficiently secularized. Between the commercialism and routine traditions such as vacation time (and maybe even watching A Christmas Story), the day is not about Christianity as far as the government is concerned. Perhaps 100 years ago a different ruling would have been in order (though, given the cultural context, unlikely), but such a reaction is no longer needed today.

But then, what do I know? I’m just a fascist.

Filed under: Atheism/Humanism, Politics and Social | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

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