"Each of us, he says, has different values. What’s more, we often disagree about our values. “So,” he concludes, “values are subjective.”"
Well, no. Our values are shaped by our experiences - our experiences with other humans. Compared to the ideals in Plato's cave, their rough particularity may not look like much but they are related. Jumping from individual perspective to disagreement to a verdict of "values are subjective", even if only to keep the group from dozing off, seems to amputate the individual from the fabric of human interactions in which that individual lives.
Sometimes people need help undestanding what they are seeing. Somewhat embarrassing story: long ago as a young engineering co-op student, I and another student were given the job of calibrating a piece of analytical equipment. Calibration was something i had never given any thought to before - a machine was made by the manufacturer and that was that, it did its thing. The idea of mere co-ops tampering with the manufactured perfection was almost blasphemous.
Humans need feedback to calibrate their understanding of other human beings, some more, some less. We need to pay close attention. We need to talk. We need to ask questions, "Hey, how come you never ask me to.....?" (doesn't need to be said in an ugly tone of voice). "I'm sorry - I wish you had explained that part, that was not how I understood your request. I certainly meant no disrespect."
We need trusted feedback: Once I was invited to watch a group of elementary students perform a dance at the end of one of their final practices before the performance. They were terrible. The performance would have been appropriate for the end of the first practice session.
Their teacher told them they did great, seemed to mean it and my heart ached for them. She let them dance but did not appear to have given any feedback on how to keep in rhythm or coordinate movements, on the visual impact of everyone holding their arm out at the same angle. It was her job to see them as they could not see themselves and, to the 10 year old still lurking inside me, she failed them. They trusted her but she, in her "enlightened" thinking allowed them to go on stage in front of the whole county and expose themselves to the unenlightened judgment of fellow fourth graders.
The therapy methods described in this article seem to have the potential to be the same type of betrayal.
We were talking about movies, and a remake of Harry Potter, etc.
In case anyone might be interested, my husband got me started on a wonderful series, “The Thursday Murder Club.” I’m about halfway through the second one, and it might be better than the first. I’m sure any of them would make a fantastic movie IF there was a good producer.
It probably appeals to me because it’s a group of “oldsters” who are into solving crimes, and they’re delightfully good at it. Very clever, fun read. And very uplifting for us older folks, although young people could enjoy them too.
HA....as I never had the desire to have children ( though I love my nieces and nephews, and spent a lot of time with them when they were younger), it must not work on me...lol...babies terrify me to be honest, ( I have lots of speculation as to why, and it started early on, I never even played with baby dolls)I am better when they start talking and stuff...lol...
Morning all, my last day of my 4 day week end...think I am ready to go back to work tomorrow, I have a huge project now that the 2021 taxes and financial reports and banking reconciliations are all straightened out ( mostly due to the previous bookkeeper really being in way over her head , both with Quickbooks and computer knowledge in general...lots of errors we had to correct). I now have to re do every 2022 reconciliation and get it in line for the upcoming taxes...I actually like doing this kind of stuff , I may even put off taking down Christmas to get it started....
I have nothing significant to offer on today’s topic, but very much enjoyed the conversation.
One thing I don’t understand about the new Dispatch website is how limited the replies are. Speaking of “science,” I commented on not particularly liking those yard signs, got some pushback, and I can’t respond! It’s frustrating because I wanted to clarify my position to a couple of people, and I can’t.
I want to deduct $25 from my yearly subscription about now.
Thank you, Cynthia! After a couple of responses, I looked at my husband and asked, “do (not does!) those signs bother you?” They made me feel as though I was completely unreasonable, especially compared to some of the truly disgusting signs being displayed in MAGA yards. Well, I get that, too. However, that wasn’t my point. (Jay was there; he knows.)
There are some streets where it’s house after house, and there is something obnoxious about it.
It is true that the most vociferous of anti-Democratic Party signage is pretty ugly. That is irrelevant to the point you were making, with which I agree: The "We Believe" signs are not, in fact, statements of belief in the content-free tautologies they list. They are statements of belief in a whole array of religious, political, and policy views which the people are not willing to state outright, and, when there are a lot of them, they convey the message that strict adherence to the complete ideological package is expected.
For example, "No human being is illegal" equals "I support open borders." That's a legitimate policy position. However, it is one for which there are strong arguments in opposition.
You are much better at arguing a point than I am. I know what it is that I don’t like about it, but it can be hard to defend myself when I’ve got several people coming after me.
I don’t like BLM signs either, and that’s not because I don’t like blacks. Who says they “don’t” matter? I’m sure there are a few, but that’s beside the point. Generally, I like “people,” unless they give me a reason not to. Of course, I didn’t bring that up because I knew I’d be ganged up on.
"Black Lives Matter" is another slogan that is a marker either for basically nothing except, "I'm a good person," or for an array of ideological dogmas regarding economics, anthropology, and governance. Jonah, I think, would call it a "motte and bailey" starting point: "Too many black people are killed by police" leads to "abolish the traditional, parents-and-children family and replace the market economy."
It's hard to hold a good argument with a lot of different people at one time, even when the people are arguing fairly.
It’s hard to hold a good argument online, I think. You can’t *hear* someone’s voice, and you can’t *see* their expression.
I think most of us live our lives with good intent. I don’t approach anyone with malice, and I find the majority of people that I engage with one on one are very nice.
What I dislike these days are the assumptions, and both sides do it. We’ve been inundated with slogans and scorn, so seeing it displayed in someone’s yard, on their car or on a t-shirt is not helpful in bringing people together.
I don’t even understand putting stickers for the people you voted for on your car, especially these days. It’s fine as long as you’re in a place where everyone agrees (which is really the point, anyway), but what about driving into a neighborhood where people don’t agree. I’m not assuming anything bad is going to happen, but I also wouldn’t assume it couldn’t.
I don't see many yard signs, but a catchphrase I would put in the same category is "enough is enough." If you think about it, it steals a lot of bases. Enough of what? Can you explain when and how it exceeded a limit and what that limit is based on? What response are you implying should take place, who is authorized to do it and why, and can you justify it as proportional and appropriate to the problem?
I’m happy I’m here. I rarely ever comment on any of the website postings because if I don’t word things very carefully, someone feels the need to rip me a new one.
My main point was that I disliked signage in general. Why does everyone need to know what others think? We complain about polarization, and then do this.
"Kindness" means different things to different people. Some variation is individual, and some is cultural.
I read a book recently that was about cultural variations in emotional interactions. One example the author, who is Dutch, gave was that in Dutch culture, thanking a host for his hospitality is rude.
I think he’s the one who responded to my complaint about OMG, and I will say that he was very quick to help me.
I’m patient, for the most part, when it comes to getting websites together, but it seems like some of the things should have been addressed by now. If other places are able to do it, why can’t TD?
Forget the study. If you've held an infant you know it does something to you. The pic brings back memories of holding my daughter's head in my hand and her lying on her back on my forearm. Oddly, I remember washing dishes while holding her like that.
Almost no one I know can resist a baby. My family was blessed that a few weeks ago my nephew and (mostly) his wife delivered a healthy baby boy. His "big" brother (a 3 year old) is ecstatic. Also, received news that my niece is expecting. My sister will have four grandchildren by this year's end. My son and his girlfriend are still working on their scholarly pursuits and not ready for children for a couple years so I still remain the cool eccentric Auntie.
I looked at Mr. Henderson's item about babies. It is "science": science is a set of procedures for learning facts about reality, and the referenced study seems to have followed a set of procedures in order to gain some knowledge about reality. The next step would be to replicate the results, then to conduct larger studies, etc.
I know Mr. Henderson is a popular blogger rather than a science writer, but as a grammar crank, I was unhappy to read in his piece, "Thus, babies evolved a mechanism to enhance their odds of survival by manipulating parental behavior in opposite directions."
"Babies evolved," really? "Babies" is not a species or any other taxonomic sub-category (subspecies, breed, variant, race, etc.). Being a "baby" or a very immature individual is a life stage of every species. The wording is sloppy and philosophically misleading.
It would be interesting to know whether the same chemical is found in other infant mammals and whether it affects the mammal parents.
I'm thinking about this pheromone thing and wondering if it works cross-species. The phenomenon of dogs seeming to recognize that human babies are the equivalent of puppies, and therefore are to be protected and nurtured (and their random behavior tolerated), could have a scientific basis.
Of course the fact that we know the mechanics of how these things happen should take nothing away from our appreciation of them.
The actual research paper refers to other research literature about mammal pheromones and their socio-behavioral effects, pointing out that there has been little achieved in the [research] area of humans and pheromones. (The authors also explain why they don’t say “pheromones” but I can’t recall why.)
That’s a fun point about babies and evolution. There’s a lot of sloppy writing that results from using figurative language when trying to reduce ideas down as much as possible, I suppose. I’m sure I perpetrate plenty of it.
I could have said “science” with the typographical potholders really. I’m still annoyed by the modern propensity among some to think declaring something “Science!” is a way to end debate, discussion, intellectual pursuit…
Also, I’m a bit wary of p-hacking and other statistical tricks trying to make something science-ish out of nothing—which sloppy reporting often helps to popularize.
Good points. In popular writing about biology, it is nearly universal to present "science," "nature," or "evolution" - or in this case, "babies" - as an active subject using a plan and volition to produce the currently observable phenomena. Commonly used verbs include "planned" and "designed."
In many cases, "God created" could be substituted for the Scientistical wording, and the meaning would stay the same: some all-knowing, all-powerful Agent intentionally acted to produce the outcome.
Something i never understood about evolution ( I even asked this question of Discover Magazine but they didn't answer , they did answer my question about itching...lol)..since there is no actual plan or discussion or maybe even brain involved, how does it happen? Like how did some creature in the past determine that it needed a new limb , or didn't need one or another , so lost or gained it , and it spread...it can't be all random because the point is to improve the species. I mean I get intuitive, it just seems a mystery to me the mechanics of how this happens?
I could take a crack at explaining how evolution works at the 'mechanical level' to benefit a species, but there are those here who could do a much, much better job of that than I. But if one wants to know how evolution works in general for the benefit of a species, one need only follow the evolution of a pun through various threads here. Which is to say that sometimes it works pretty well, sometimes not so much. And sometimes not at all.
The ubiquity of the descriptions suggests that we, as a species, are disposed ("evolved"?) to believe in an Agent even if we say we don't, even if we consciously oppose the Agent's existence.
Whatever baby MG chooses for testing, for the sake of accuracy in the results - and for his own olfactory comfort - he should do his testing when said baby is in possession of a clean diaper. Otherwise, too many variables in play.
Granting the just-so premise for discussion purposes, I wonder whether the survival benefit might be in deterring aggression in non-parent males. In some mammal species, including some primates, males are inclined to kill the offspring of other males.
Activating the involvement of non-parent females might also be valuable for humans. Human mothers have a much higher maternal mortality rate than other species.
There are other follow on research questions. Such as the effect on adoptive parents. Also, is the baby scent additive, hence a mother of multiple children might be even more aggressive than of just a single child. Of course the additional children might tire out the mother, so she may be too tired to be too aggressive.
Also, have they controlled for multiple children for the husband? Maybe the reason they are less aggressive is they too are tired from the other lil' nippers as well.
Yep—it has a scheduling feature. That came in handy when I was traveling last week. It also permits me to get ahead by a day or two so that I can do better last-minute proof-reading. If I could get a couple weeks ahead, I might actually do some better editing. OTOH, I have to keep this from eating up all my available time… 😬😬😬
"No announcement" is their default. Perhaps informing the subscribers about changes in the schedule of products would be too much like admitting that they work for us.
That's one reason why I object to being classified as a "member." It conveniently ignores the whole question of who's paying and who owes what to whom.
I guess they assume the whole subscriber base has an observable holiday today. Although I would like to point out when it comes to "daily" news Monday is still Monday and I have a new issue of the NYT (as I also had a Sunday paper on the actual holiday from my local news purveyor). Maybe TD needs typographical potholders on their "daily." At any rate, I find some pods and newsletters have prepared ahead of time for holidays and put something together (not all reprints, some saved an interview or interesting story) for their readers. I did notice that David French showed his professionalism with his column. Yes, I am keeping score.
I did as well. I bet he probably had it written ahead of time and had it auto-posted for Christmas though. I bet as a kid he always had his big papers completed days prior to the deadline.
And I didn't even get into the hazards of frozen slush because nobody will accept the obligation to remove snow from the curb by the bus stop. You can't walk on that stuff without literally risking injury.
Oh, the city collects lots of money from us to pay for services (and who knows whose pocket much of that winds up in). The thing is, each of the different departments goes through its motions, and if that lets anything important fall through the cracks, each of them in their little silo shrugs and says they did their job, so what's the problem? City Hall and the aldercreatures don't see that they're responsible for the big picture and making sure it all actually works.
Today’s special animal friends are Nine Ladies Dancing. More than nine, actually: the flamingos. Three species are typically found together in Argentina: the Andean flamingo, Phoenicoparrus andinus; the Chilean flamingo, Phoenicopterus chilensis; and James’s flamingo, Phoenicoparrus jamesi.
… and an unspecified number of Cows being a-Milk-ed by Eight Maids. The cows were probably Holstein-Friesians descended from stock imported from the Netherlands in the 17th century. The same breeds were introduced to North America in the early colonial period, 1621-1664.
(I realize the cows are an obvious choice, but nothing else came to mind that wasn’t inappropriate.)
… and Seven Swans a-Swimming. They are the Mute Swan, Cygnus olor, which is not actually mute, just less vocal than other species of swans. They are common in Northwestern Europe.
Mute swans are not exactly domesticated, but colonies or “swanneries” were managed as sources of food and feathers. Today, they are mainly ornamental waterfowl. They can be banded to indicate ownership. The Crown of England, in conjunction with London’s Vintners’ and Dyers’ Guilds, owns all unmarked mute swans in England, which is adorably medieval. Swan control is probably not something King Charles gets involved with much, but some royal and/or guild functionaries actively manage the geese in the Thames and around Windsor Castle.
Ahhh...The ubiquitous Holstein-Friesian, commonly known now-a-days as just Holstein. Perhaps dropping the Friesian part was done to avoid confusion with another Friesian:
Or perhaps those Dutch folks bred for a bit of color, as horse folks say, for a similar reason, being that milking the former can be a profitable endeavor, while attempting same with the latter would prove udderly futile.
Too much? Probably. But...not sorry. (Insert emoji of ducking man covering his head in anticipation of flying door emoji.)
And, corporations are people, too! Therefore, if corporations = people, and people = mammal, corporation = mammal. But what species? In some cases, with corporations as with people, one might ask is horse's ass is a distinct species, or just an anatomical term? But having previously noted my lack of expertise in taxonomy, which by now must be absolutely self-evident, I guess I'll leave that one to the experts.
(Don't ask me where the hell this came from. I really have no rational explanation. But if that were required of all of us here, there'd be a whole lot of 'splainin' going on.)
I posted this deep within a comment thread, triggered by a bad "grazing" pun, but (I think) ithis '60s tune deserves wider exposure. Call it payback to the punsters.
I dig it, baby. I liked it there, and I like it here, though you obviously didn't like my dessert suggestion earlier. So, we can skip that. In its place, one last dig: playback for punsters.
Ha! Try to catch me before I slip back out again on my own!
That video on Holsteins shows, besides the common black-and-white Holsteins, the less common "red Holsteins" (actually brownish). I have heard of them but never have actually seen them.
But they are big, gentle animals. I have had them take my hand in their mouth and suck on it.
Expect you're familiar with Dutch Belted. Freaked me out the first time I saw a herd of them at a farm a few miles from me some years ago. Had never seen one or even knew they existed. Though the 'belt' runs in the wrong direction, they brought to mind an image of giant skunks. When 20 or 30 of 'em decide to 'heap up' in the shade to beat the heat and insects, it's quite a sight.
I’m guessing that’s what they are. It’s just odd seeing a cow with a black “belt” going around its middle. I wonder when they started becoming popular? I usually see them mixed in with Holsteins.
We had a wonderful neighbor farmer when I was growing up, and I loved going to see the calves. They loved to suck on your fingers! Holsteins really are nice, and probably one of the reason so many farmers have them. Plus, I believe they are good milk producers.
They produce the most milk of any of the dairy breeds, but at a lower butterfat content. Jersey cows, the smaller light brown cows, are the exact opposite, low production but high butterfat.
The whole area of disappearing domesticated animal breeds is interesting—came across that when reading up on guard geese. Quite a few breeds sre nearly extinct, and they wouldn’t survive in the wild. It does make sense, though, considering that farms are increasingly scarce: more large-scale than small.
I like farm animals. I’ve come across a couple of videos (I think one was yours) that were so interesting. I think people who farm and raise animals really love them, although I know they are careful about getting attached. My problem would be exactly that.
My girlfriend’s daughter and SIL have some property and a few barns. They raise beef cattle, chickens (mostly for eggs), and probably some other fowl I’m forgetting. I used to go over there to get eggs, and then I’d walk through the barn to look at all the animals. He took very good care of them. It wasn’t a big operation, so no crowding and very clean.
Besides Holsteins, Jerseys and Brown Swiss, the other 2 common dairy breeds are Ayrshires and Guernseys. Holsteins are the easiest to identify, being black and white.
I like that we got three SAFs this morning! I especially liked “(I realize the cows are an obvious choice, but nothing else came to mind that wasn’t inappropriate.)” 🤣
Finally, the flamingo video was the best!! Do you think ballet choreographers have copied this move? It looks familiar for some reason.
I like cows, but glad we don’t own any. They are very hard on fencing, plus I can’t imagine having to milk them, and I can see why the factory farms (which I don’t like at all) have become more common.
Cows are curious! We had a few cows on our property for awhile, and even let the horses in with them. But, I still recall riding up the road, coming to a neighboring farm, and when the cows spotted us, they came running. The horses were not happy.
That is what the *smaller* farms are going to now. We have one place that has a huge heard of black angus. In the spring, there are lots of calves, which is always wonderful to see. They are much more shy than the dairy cattle.
Dairy farming is a hard way of life. Cows want to be milked twice a day, and no weekends or holidays off. Our "family vacation" growing up was taking the cows to the county fair.
These days, it's probably hard to make a living at it if you don't have a factory size operation. Our herd was never that large.
Most of the farmers around us have gone into strictly crops, and I can understand why. We have one factory farm just up the road from us, and he’s not too bad. His property seems to be mostly away from people’s homes, so when he sprays liquid manure we aren’t getting blasted.
But further up the road someone sprays several times a year, and it makes your eyes water. This is probably my main objection to them.
I don’t mind the smell of farms, although cow manure (even horses) can be pretty rank when it’s fresh and there’s lots of it! The thing about the stuff they spray is I’m sure it’s mixed with urine, which only makes it more intense. I really feel for the people living next to those fields; they built before these places consolidated and started spreading liquid manure.
Can't say I have any experience with the smell of liquid manure. We used an old-fashioned manure spreader that distributed the solid stuff in the pasture, and sometimes in the crop fields.
You referencing that milk commercial where at the end the (supposed) dairy farmer looked at the cow, said "sit", and when the cow failed to do so, turned to the camera and deadpanned "bad dog"?
Speaking of sides of the album variety (ok, you weren't, but so what?), Crosby's The Udder Side of Midnight ain't half bad. But it's not really what you'd call "catchy", so earwig infection, for those concerned about it, not likely.
"Each of us, he says, has different values. What’s more, we often disagree about our values. “So,” he concludes, “values are subjective.”"
Well, no. Our values are shaped by our experiences - our experiences with other humans. Compared to the ideals in Plato's cave, their rough particularity may not look like much but they are related. Jumping from individual perspective to disagreement to a verdict of "values are subjective", even if only to keep the group from dozing off, seems to amputate the individual from the fabric of human interactions in which that individual lives.
Sometimes people need help undestanding what they are seeing. Somewhat embarrassing story: long ago as a young engineering co-op student, I and another student were given the job of calibrating a piece of analytical equipment. Calibration was something i had never given any thought to before - a machine was made by the manufacturer and that was that, it did its thing. The idea of mere co-ops tampering with the manufactured perfection was almost blasphemous.
Humans need feedback to calibrate their understanding of other human beings, some more, some less. We need to pay close attention. We need to talk. We need to ask questions, "Hey, how come you never ask me to.....?" (doesn't need to be said in an ugly tone of voice). "I'm sorry - I wish you had explained that part, that was not how I understood your request. I certainly meant no disrespect."
We need trusted feedback: Once I was invited to watch a group of elementary students perform a dance at the end of one of their final practices before the performance. They were terrible. The performance would have been appropriate for the end of the first practice session.
Their teacher told them they did great, seemed to mean it and my heart ached for them. She let them dance but did not appear to have given any feedback on how to keep in rhythm or coordinate movements, on the visual impact of everyone holding their arm out at the same angle. It was her job to see them as they could not see themselves and, to the 10 year old still lurking inside me, she failed them. They trusted her but she, in her "enlightened" thinking allowed them to go on stage in front of the whole county and expose themselves to the unenlightened judgment of fellow fourth graders.
The therapy methods described in this article seem to have the potential to be the same type of betrayal.
We were talking about movies, and a remake of Harry Potter, etc.
In case anyone might be interested, my husband got me started on a wonderful series, “The Thursday Murder Club.” I’m about halfway through the second one, and it might be better than the first. I’m sure any of them would make a fantastic movie IF there was a good producer.
It probably appeals to me because it’s a group of “oldsters” who are into solving crimes, and they’re delightfully good at it. Very clever, fun read. And very uplifting for us older folks, although young people could enjoy them too.
Ferb, I know what we’re going to do today!
HA....as I never had the desire to have children ( though I love my nieces and nephews, and spent a lot of time with them when they were younger), it must not work on me...lol...babies terrify me to be honest, ( I have lots of speculation as to why, and it started early on, I never even played with baby dolls)I am better when they start talking and stuff...lol...
Morning all, my last day of my 4 day week end...think I am ready to go back to work tomorrow, I have a huge project now that the 2021 taxes and financial reports and banking reconciliations are all straightened out ( mostly due to the previous bookkeeper really being in way over her head , both with Quickbooks and computer knowledge in general...lots of errors we had to correct). I now have to re do every 2022 reconciliation and get it in line for the upcoming taxes...I actually like doing this kind of stuff , I may even put off taking down Christmas to get it started....
Plus, I miss Bill...lol
I'm not surprised by this study. But I don't think it is original. W.C. Fields once said he loved babies.
Granted, he liked them boiled, but I assumed that was a distillation process to increase the strength of the baby scalp scent.
I have nothing significant to offer on today’s topic, but very much enjoyed the conversation.
One thing I don’t understand about the new Dispatch website is how limited the replies are. Speaking of “science,” I commented on not particularly liking those yard signs, got some pushback, and I can’t respond! It’s frustrating because I wanted to clarify my position to a couple of people, and I can’t.
I want to deduct $25 from my yearly subscription about now.
Yes, it's very irritating that we eventually can't reply, although it's better than the original version with four replies then the wall.
I agree with you about the signs. "Science is real." DUMB! "Love is love." So you support pedophilia? and so on.
Thank you, Cynthia! After a couple of responses, I looked at my husband and asked, “do (not does!) those signs bother you?” They made me feel as though I was completely unreasonable, especially compared to some of the truly disgusting signs being displayed in MAGA yards. Well, I get that, too. However, that wasn’t my point. (Jay was there; he knows.)
There are some streets where it’s house after house, and there is something obnoxious about it.
It is true that the most vociferous of anti-Democratic Party signage is pretty ugly. That is irrelevant to the point you were making, with which I agree: The "We Believe" signs are not, in fact, statements of belief in the content-free tautologies they list. They are statements of belief in a whole array of religious, political, and policy views which the people are not willing to state outright, and, when there are a lot of them, they convey the message that strict adherence to the complete ideological package is expected.
For example, "No human being is illegal" equals "I support open borders." That's a legitimate policy position. However, it is one for which there are strong arguments in opposition.
You are much better at arguing a point than I am. I know what it is that I don’t like about it, but it can be hard to defend myself when I’ve got several people coming after me.
I don’t like BLM signs either, and that’s not because I don’t like blacks. Who says they “don’t” matter? I’m sure there are a few, but that’s beside the point. Generally, I like “people,” unless they give me a reason not to. Of course, I didn’t bring that up because I knew I’d be ganged up on.
"Black Lives Matter" is another slogan that is a marker either for basically nothing except, "I'm a good person," or for an array of ideological dogmas regarding economics, anthropology, and governance. Jonah, I think, would call it a "motte and bailey" starting point: "Too many black people are killed by police" leads to "abolish the traditional, parents-and-children family and replace the market economy."
It's hard to hold a good argument with a lot of different people at one time, even when the people are arguing fairly.
It’s hard to hold a good argument online, I think. You can’t *hear* someone’s voice, and you can’t *see* their expression.
I think most of us live our lives with good intent. I don’t approach anyone with malice, and I find the majority of people that I engage with one on one are very nice.
What I dislike these days are the assumptions, and both sides do it. We’ve been inundated with slogans and scorn, so seeing it displayed in someone’s yard, on their car or on a t-shirt is not helpful in bringing people together.
I don’t even understand putting stickers for the people you voted for on your car, especially these days. It’s fine as long as you’re in a place where everyone agrees (which is really the point, anyway), but what about driving into a neighborhood where people don’t agree. I’m not assuming anything bad is going to happen, but I also wouldn’t assume it couldn’t.
I don't see many yard signs, but a catchphrase I would put in the same category is "enough is enough." If you think about it, it steals a lot of bases. Enough of what? Can you explain when and how it exceeded a limit and what that limit is based on? What response are you implying should take place, who is authorized to do it and why, and can you justify it as proportional and appropriate to the problem?
I’m happy I’m here. I rarely ever comment on any of the website postings because if I don’t word things very carefully, someone feels the need to rip me a new one.
My main point was that I disliked signage in general. Why does everyone need to know what others think? We complain about polarization, and then do this.
Excellent points. Down with vapid aphorisms!
“Be Kind” NO! I like being mean.
"Kindness" means different things to different people. Some variation is individual, and some is cultural.
I read a book recently that was about cultural variations in emotional interactions. One example the author, who is Dutch, gave was that in Dutch culture, thanking a host for his hospitality is rude.
You always know a lot of interesting things, especially language related.
Maybe he meant Ruud.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruud_Lubbers
Maybe I'll find time this month to compose a follow-up message to Young Ryan.
I think he’s the one who responded to my complaint about OMG, and I will say that he was very quick to help me.
I’m patient, for the most part, when it comes to getting websites together, but it seems like some of the things should have been addressed by now. If other places are able to do it, why can’t TD?
They should know how to do things with dispatch.
Lol!
I feel as though it should be a lot better by now.
I'll probably mention those points in some way.
Forget the study. If you've held an infant you know it does something to you. The pic brings back memories of holding my daughter's head in my hand and her lying on her back on my forearm. Oddly, I remember washing dishes while holding her like that.
Almost no one I know can resist a baby. My family was blessed that a few weeks ago my nephew and (mostly) his wife delivered a healthy baby boy. His "big" brother (a 3 year old) is ecstatic. Also, received news that my niece is expecting. My sister will have four grandchildren by this year's end. My son and his girlfriend are still working on their scholarly pursuits and not ready for children for a couple years so I still remain the cool eccentric Auntie.
Yeah, I am the real odd duck on this one, why I can't really join this conversation
Hang in there. This topic, too, shall pass.
Ha...yeah it will...
Kids need cool, eccentric Aunties.
I suspect Cynthia's kids have a cool, eccentric mom!
I prefer "kooky old bat."
Is that your brand?
I'm chirping hypersonically.
Thanks.. I am the one that says, "hey kids, want to paint?" The murderous looks my sister gave me were priceless.
Congratulations on your new family members!
Thanks! Little Negen is a cutie.
Oh, that, too!
I looked at Mr. Henderson's item about babies. It is "science": science is a set of procedures for learning facts about reality, and the referenced study seems to have followed a set of procedures in order to gain some knowledge about reality. The next step would be to replicate the results, then to conduct larger studies, etc.
I know Mr. Henderson is a popular blogger rather than a science writer, but as a grammar crank, I was unhappy to read in his piece, "Thus, babies evolved a mechanism to enhance their odds of survival by manipulating parental behavior in opposite directions."
"Babies evolved," really? "Babies" is not a species or any other taxonomic sub-category (subspecies, breed, variant, race, etc.). Being a "baby" or a very immature individual is a life stage of every species. The wording is sloppy and philosophically misleading.
It would be interesting to know whether the same chemical is found in other infant mammals and whether it affects the mammal parents.
I'm thinking about this pheromone thing and wondering if it works cross-species. The phenomenon of dogs seeming to recognize that human babies are the equivalent of puppies, and therefore are to be protected and nurtured (and their random behavior tolerated), could have a scientific basis.
Of course the fact that we know the mechanics of how these things happen should take nothing away from our appreciation of them.
I wonder if the dogs react to a scent or to the behavior of the adult humans.
The actual research paper refers to other research literature about mammal pheromones and their socio-behavioral effects, pointing out that there has been little achieved in the [research] area of humans and pheromones. (The authors also explain why they don’t say “pheromones” but I can’t recall why.)
That’s a fun point about babies and evolution. There’s a lot of sloppy writing that results from using figurative language when trying to reduce ideas down as much as possible, I suppose. I’m sure I perpetrate plenty of it.
I could have said “science” with the typographical potholders really. I’m still annoyed by the modern propensity among some to think declaring something “Science!” is a way to end debate, discussion, intellectual pursuit…
Also, I’m a bit wary of p-hacking and other statistical tricks trying to make something science-ish out of nothing—which sloppy reporting often helps to popularize.
"Typographical potholders" - brilliant!
I liked it, too. Forgot to mention that!
Good points. In popular writing about biology, it is nearly universal to present "science," "nature," or "evolution" - or in this case, "babies" - as an active subject using a plan and volition to produce the currently observable phenomena. Commonly used verbs include "planned" and "designed."
In many cases, "God created" could be substituted for the Scientistical wording, and the meaning would stay the same: some all-knowing, all-powerful Agent intentionally acted to produce the outcome.
Sage. I’ve also noticed the propensity for descriptions that sound like motivated evolution...
Something i never understood about evolution ( I even asked this question of Discover Magazine but they didn't answer , they did answer my question about itching...lol)..since there is no actual plan or discussion or maybe even brain involved, how does it happen? Like how did some creature in the past determine that it needed a new limb , or didn't need one or another , so lost or gained it , and it spread...it can't be all random because the point is to improve the species. I mean I get intuitive, it just seems a mystery to me the mechanics of how this happens?
I could take a crack at explaining how evolution works at the 'mechanical level' to benefit a species, but there are those here who could do a much, much better job of that than I. But if one wants to know how evolution works in general for the benefit of a species, one need only follow the evolution of a pun through various threads here. Which is to say that sometimes it works pretty well, sometimes not so much. And sometimes not at all.
The ubiquity of the descriptions suggests that we, as a species, are disposed ("evolved"?) to believe in an Agent even if we say we don't, even if we consciously oppose the Agent's existence.
Exactly. Also, MarqueG's desire to go sniff a baby raises the question as to whether one can sniff any ol' baby, or it has to be one's own.
Whatever baby MG chooses for testing, for the sake of accuracy in the results - and for his own olfactory comfort - he should do his testing when said baby is in possession of a clean diaper. Otherwise, too many variables in play.
Granting the just-so premise for discussion purposes, I wonder whether the survival benefit might be in deterring aggression in non-parent males. In some mammal species, including some primates, males are inclined to kill the offspring of other males.
Activating the involvement of non-parent females might also be valuable for humans. Human mothers have a much higher maternal mortality rate than other species.
There are other follow on research questions. Such as the effect on adoptive parents. Also, is the baby scent additive, hence a mother of multiple children might be even more aggressive than of just a single child. Of course the additional children might tire out the mother, so she may be too tired to be too aggressive.
Also, have they controlled for multiple children for the husband? Maybe the reason they are less aggressive is they too are tired from the other lil' nippers as well.
Inscentives vs. instinks, etc.
🧐🤔
New Year, new stories. Hopefully not more bad puns (is there any other kind?)
Yes, there is, any that make me giggle are great...lol
If we don't pun, what will you do with the supply of doors you laded in for the new year? In fact, with no puns, what will you do?
Relax and enjoy the badinage, of course.
But not the BAD-inage, I imagine.
Scheduled this for 7:30 release for reasons I can’t recall… that’s normally the weekend posting schedule.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You can tell it what time to post, regardless of when you wrote it?
Yep—it has a scheduling feature. That came in handy when I was traveling last week. It also permits me to get ahead by a day or two so that I can do better last-minute proof-reading. If I could get a couple weeks ahead, I might actually do some better editing. OTOH, I have to keep this from eating up all my available time… 😬😬😬
This post may have to tide us over, as it doesn't look like there will be a TMD today.
Does it occur to you that they're busy reading us here?
I noticed that too.
Yeah, very annoying though that there was no announcement of the 3 day weekend in Friday's TMD.
"No announcement" is their default. Perhaps informing the subscribers about changes in the schedule of products would be too much like admitting that they work for us.
That's one reason why I object to being classified as a "member." It conveniently ignores the whole question of who's paying and who owes what to whom.
I guess they assume the whole subscriber base has an observable holiday today. Although I would like to point out when it comes to "daily" news Monday is still Monday and I have a new issue of the NYT (as I also had a Sunday paper on the actual holiday from my local news purveyor). Maybe TD needs typographical potholders on their "daily." At any rate, I find some pods and newsletters have prepared ahead of time for holidays and put something together (not all reprints, some saved an interview or interesting story) for their readers. I did notice that David French showed his professionalism with his column. Yes, I am keeping score.
DF even worked on Christmas, albeit with an article that was about 1/3 its usual length, but I still appreciated the effort.
I did as well. I bet he probably had it written ahead of time and had it auto-posted for Christmas though. I bet as a kid he always had his big papers completed days prior to the deadline.
The Wall Street Journal doesn't publish if the stock market is closed.
And yet tomorrow would be the date today's nonexistent stock market results would have been published.
Kevin Williamson's newsletter is out today.
Good catch! But not 'The "Daily" Dispatch'...
Yeah, I worked 6 hours at the store New Year's Day. And the paper wasn't delivered early enough to take it along with me.
It's funny how nothing reportable happens in the world on government employees' days off.
I was starting to worry that you'd been hit by a bus.
These days, at least in my city, it's more likely that the bus you're expecting never shows up, and you'll be freezing to death on a street corner.
I used to take the bus a lot in San Antonio, but it usually wasn't cold there.
And I didn't even get into the hazards of frozen slush because nobody will accept the obligation to remove snow from the curb by the bus stop. You can't walk on that stuff without literally risking injury.
They're collecting money to pay for that service. It's a slush fund, of course.
Oh, the city collects lots of money from us to pay for services (and who knows whose pocket much of that winds up in). The thing is, each of the different departments goes through its motions, and if that lets anything important fall through the cracks, each of them in their little silo shrugs and says they did their job, so what's the problem? City Hall and the aldercreatures don't see that they're responsible for the big picture and making sure it all actually works.
Lazy.
Happy 9th Day of Christmas!
Today’s special animal friends are Nine Ladies Dancing. More than nine, actually: the flamingos. Three species are typically found together in Argentina: the Andean flamingo, Phoenicoparrus andinus; the Chilean flamingo, Phoenicopterus chilensis; and James’s flamingo, Phoenicoparrus jamesi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLV_K7DVeyU
… and an unspecified number of Cows being a-Milk-ed by Eight Maids. The cows were probably Holstein-Friesians descended from stock imported from the Netherlands in the 17th century. The same breeds were introduced to North America in the early colonial period, 1621-1664.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxiwDXnrzu4
(I realize the cows are an obvious choice, but nothing else came to mind that wasn’t inappropriate.)
… and Seven Swans a-Swimming. They are the Mute Swan, Cygnus olor, which is not actually mute, just less vocal than other species of swans. They are common in Northwestern Europe.
Mute swans are not exactly domesticated, but colonies or “swanneries” were managed as sources of food and feathers. Today, they are mainly ornamental waterfowl. They can be banded to indicate ownership. The Crown of England, in conjunction with London’s Vintners’ and Dyers’ Guilds, owns all unmarked mute swans in England, which is adorably medieval. Swan control is probably not something King Charles gets involved with much, but some royal and/or guild functionaries actively manage the geese in the Thames and around Windsor Castle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGpMSXKE8A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FSJmMGKMUI
Mute swans are very territorial and can be dangerous. They are invasive in the United States.
Ahhh...The ubiquitous Holstein-Friesian, commonly known now-a-days as just Holstein. Perhaps dropping the Friesian part was done to avoid confusion with another Friesian:
https://www.nationalequine.org/basics/friesian-horse/
Or perhaps those Dutch folks bred for a bit of color, as horse folks say, for a similar reason, being that milking the former can be a profitable endeavor, while attempting same with the latter would prove udderly futile.
Too much? Probably. But...not sorry. (Insert emoji of ducking man covering his head in anticipation of flying door emoji.)
Horses are mammals, too!
And, corporations are people, too! Therefore, if corporations = people, and people = mammal, corporation = mammal. But what species? In some cases, with corporations as with people, one might ask is horse's ass is a distinct species, or just an anatomical term? But having previously noted my lack of expertise in taxonomy, which by now must be absolutely self-evident, I guess I'll leave that one to the experts.
(Don't ask me where the hell this came from. I really have no rational explanation. But if that were required of all of us here, there'd be a whole lot of 'splainin' going on.)
The Post Office is a sloth.
Lockheed Martin used to have its Skunk Works.
The Wolverine company makes work boots.
I posted this deep within a comment thread, triggered by a bad "grazing" pun, but (I think) ithis '60s tune deserves wider exposure. Call it payback to the punsters.
Baby can you dig it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UhResTVZ6s&t=25s
I dig it, baby. I liked it there, and I like it here, though you obviously didn't like my dessert suggestion earlier. So, we can skip that. In its place, one last dig: playback for punsters.
Ha! Try to catch me before I slip back out again on my own!
😂
That sound, I remember that well
"𝙈𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨."
I'm not worried. The last two times anyone from England attacked us we kicked their butts back across the Irish sea.
The last invasive pest they were able to successfully infect us with were the Beatles.
It’s true, Jay. I have to admit that I was a huge Beatles fan as a young person. I still like their music, but there’s that ear worm thing.
That video on Holsteins shows, besides the common black-and-white Holsteins, the less common "red Holsteins" (actually brownish). I have heard of them but never have actually seen them.
But they are big, gentle animals. I have had them take my hand in their mouth and suck on it.
Expect you're familiar with Dutch Belted. Freaked me out the first time I saw a herd of them at a farm a few miles from me some years ago. Had never seen one or even knew they existed. Though the 'belt' runs in the wrong direction, they brought to mind an image of giant skunks. When 20 or 30 of 'em decide to 'heap up' in the shade to beat the heat and insects, it's quite a sight.
I’m guessing that’s what they are. It’s just odd seeing a cow with a black “belt” going around its middle. I wonder when they started becoming popular? I usually see them mixed in with Holsteins.
We had a wonderful neighbor farmer when I was growing up, and I loved going to see the calves. They loved to suck on your fingers! Holsteins really are nice, and probably one of the reason so many farmers have them. Plus, I believe they are good milk producers.
They produce the most milk of any of the dairy breeds, but at a lower butterfat content. Jersey cows, the smaller light brown cows, are the exact opposite, low production but high butterfat.
I was thinking about Brown Swiss, too. We have a few herds around here, and I’ve heard that they’re also more temperamental.
We honestly don’t need any additional fat in anything where I live!!
Very informative. I haven't given much thought to dairy cow breeds.
The whole area of disappearing domesticated animal breeds is interesting—came across that when reading up on guard geese. Quite a few breeds sre nearly extinct, and they wouldn’t survive in the wild. It does make sense, though, considering that farms are increasingly scarce: more large-scale than small.
I like farm animals. I’ve come across a couple of videos (I think one was yours) that were so interesting. I think people who farm and raise animals really love them, although I know they are careful about getting attached. My problem would be exactly that.
My girlfriend’s daughter and SIL have some property and a few barns. They raise beef cattle, chickens (mostly for eggs), and probably some other fowl I’m forgetting. I used to go over there to get eggs, and then I’d walk through the barn to look at all the animals. He took very good care of them. It wasn’t a big operation, so no crowding and very clean.
Besides Holsteins, Jerseys and Brown Swiss, the other 2 common dairy breeds are Ayrshires and Guernseys. Holsteins are the easiest to identify, being black and white.
I like that we got three SAFs this morning! I especially liked “(I realize the cows are an obvious choice, but nothing else came to mind that wasn’t inappropriate.)” 🤣
Finally, the flamingo video was the best!! Do you think ballet choreographers have copied this move? It looks familiar for some reason.
I like cows, but glad we don’t own any. They are very hard on fencing, plus I can’t imagine having to milk them, and I can see why the factory farms (which I don’t like at all) have become more common.
Cows are curious! We had a few cows on our property for awhile, and even let the horses in with them. But, I still recall riding up the road, coming to a neighboring farm, and when the cows spotted us, they came running. The horses were not happy.
I think cows are very interesting. There were a lot of beef cattle around when we lived in Texas.
That is what the *smaller* farms are going to now. We have one place that has a huge heard of black angus. In the spring, there are lots of calves, which is always wonderful to see. They are much more shy than the dairy cattle.
Dairy farming is a hard way of life. Cows want to be milked twice a day, and no weekends or holidays off. Our "family vacation" growing up was taking the cows to the county fair.
These days, it's probably hard to make a living at it if you don't have a factory size operation. Our herd was never that large.
I had herd you need a lot of dairy cows to make any dough.
So you're milking this too? 🚪
🧐!
Most of the farmers around us have gone into strictly crops, and I can understand why. We have one factory farm just up the road from us, and he’s not too bad. His property seems to be mostly away from people’s homes, so when he sprays liquid manure we aren’t getting blasted.
But further up the road someone sprays several times a year, and it makes your eyes water. This is probably my main objection to them.
Ah, that farm-fresh smell. 🙂
I don’t mind the smell of farms, although cow manure (even horses) can be pretty rank when it’s fresh and there’s lots of it! The thing about the stuff they spray is I’m sure it’s mixed with urine, which only makes it more intense. I really feel for the people living next to those fields; they built before these places consolidated and started spreading liquid manure.
Can't say I have any experience with the smell of liquid manure. We used an old-fashioned manure spreader that distributed the solid stuff in the pasture, and sometimes in the crop fields.
My dad used to have a dairy farm with Holsteins, probably the predominate dairy breed in the US.
The Chik-Fil-A commercials feature Holsteins, which is odd, because (one would think) beef breeds would want us to "Eat Mor Chikin".
I wonder if the ad designers felt that viewers would perceive a dairy breed as "cuter."
Probably so.
And no doubt, since most people didn't grow up on a farm, they figured few would notice.
Wait! Those are cows? Not just really big dogs? Like St. Bernards or something?
You referencing that milk commercial where at the end the (supposed) dairy farmer looked at the cow, said "sit", and when the cow failed to do so, turned to the camera and deadpanned "bad dog"?
Gotta' admit, that one cracked me up a bit.
Me too.
Not when viewed from the udder side.
Speaking of sides of the album variety (ok, you weren't, but so what?), Crosby's The Udder Side of Midnight ain't half bad. But it's not really what you'd call "catchy", so earwig infection, for those concerned about it, not likely.
I knew this was going to happen!!! 🤭
I was afraid we would end up with bad cow puns. 🚪
Cows. Got it. When they fall ill, are the hills alive with the sound of moo-sick?