Friday, March 03, 2006

obscenity on the internet

as if goodamn cats deserve any attention, now you're putting them on the internet and giving them their own word: goddamn catblogging?

The intro:

IN the vitriolic world of political Web logs, two polar extremes are Eschaton (atrios.blogspot.com), a liberal, often anti-Bush site with a passionate following, and Instapundit (www.instapundit.com), where an equally fervent readership goes for hearty praise of the Administration.

It would seem unlikely that the two blogs' authors could see eye-to-eye about anything. Yet Eschaton's Duncan Black (known as Atrios) and Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds have both taken part in a growing practice: turning over a blog on Friday to cat photographs.

"It brings people together," said Kevin Drum, who began the cat spotlight last year on his own blog, Calpundit (www.calpundit.com). "Both Atrios and Instapundit have done Friday catblogging. It goes to show you can agree on at least a few things."

Yes, let's agree goddamn cats suck. Dogblogging forever.

man, the altruistic ape?

are naked apes more altruistic than their hairy cousins? slate's human nature column has found some experiements that suggest that may be so:

Altruism is more sophisticated in toddlers than in chimps. When a researcher appeared to struggle with a task or accidentally drop an object, 18-month-old toddlers consistently offered to help, but only if the dropping of the object looked accidental rather than deliberate. In a similar experiment, three- and four-year-old chimps often helped, but less readily and only if helping was easy. Theories: 1) Very young humans have both "pro-social motivation" and comprehension of other people's goals. 2) Maybe chimps are less altruistic. 3) No, the chimps handled simpler altruistic tasks well, so the difference must be cognitive. 4) Both the comprehension and the cooperative inclination were probably crucial to our evolution.

maybe the babies were more sophisticated altruists. maybe the other apes just don't like you.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

my spiritual side

apparently, lenten abstinence has become more popular, especially among evangelical protestants who take their cues from mel gibson more and more these days. i've decided to participate even though we know all dogs go to heaven anyway. so yesterday i celebrated the very solemn religious tradition of fat tuesday in true wally style, getting a bag of my Very Expensive Dog Food off the table and eating it in one sitting. whew, it was quite a celebration that kept me (and my naked apes with me!) up all night, though that was really the gas. and for lent, i will give up vegetables. except for baby carrots and tomatoes (which are really fruit anyway). and i can't give up corn. or green beans. or spinach. so basically, no onions or iceberg lettuce for 40 days. and i will even show my commitment by eating EXTRA fish.

and can we have make every tuesday fat tuesday? i'm so holy.

there is no place like nebraska*

look! the cornhusker state is featured in slate's today's pictures feature. but where are the photos of wally's triumphant visit? where are the photos of nebraska embarassing other teams (like wolverines!) in football? and where are the chickendales?

*borrowed from the nebraska fight song with the brilliant lyrics "there is no place like nebraska, dear ole nebraska u, where the girls are the fairest, the boys are the squarest..." oh, nebraska.

Monday, February 27, 2006

if you sell it, they will buy

someone is auctioning 3 grams of "authentic rare unusual pembroke welsh corgi fur" on ebay.

why didn't i think of this first? there's at least three pounds of my fur in the carpet right now.

looming disaster.

i follow the same-sex marriage debate closely because senator rick santorum has informed me that this is one step closer to legalizing marriages between naked apes and their pets (bill o'reilly, being more sensible, has only linked it to marrying dolphins, goats and ducks) which sounds like a great idea to me. health benefits, life insurance, and a generous pre-nup in which rubbing another dog's belly is grounds for losing your property. nice.

anyway, the national review has now sounded a warning that same-sex marriage may lead to something even more horrible--becoming swedish.