Why Evolution Is True

As you may know from following the Botany Pond reports here, Vashti had one brood that vanished from the pond two days after the babies jumped into the water with Mom. I was out of town and nobody has any idea where it went. About a week ago, another (unnamed) hen jumped down to the … Continue reading Turtle yoga at Botany Pond

Presumably you have put together a bunch of good wildlife photos this long weekend. Well, we need ’em, so please send them in. Thanks! Today’s batch comes from Rik Gern of Austin, Texas, who sends us photos of seeds and seed pods. Rik’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photos

Welcome to Monday, May 25, 2026: it’s Memorial Day, a holiday in America. From Wikipedia: Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It is also considered to be the unofficial beginning of summer. Memorial Day is … Continue reading Monday: Hili d…

“Peace for our time” was, of course, the phrase uttered by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on September 30, 1938 after he returned from signing The Munich Agreement with Hitler. That treaty allowed Nazi Germany to occupy the Sudetenland, part of Czechoslovakia, in return for Hitler’s promise to leave the rest of Czechoslovakia—and Europe—alone. That … Continue reading Peace for our tim…

Once again I’ve stolen some photos (with permission) from the Facebook page of Scott Ritchie of Cairns, Australia. Scott has documented a trip to Queensland, and his text and IDs are indented. You can enlarge his photos by clicking on them. Artemis Station, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. The name that signifies excellence in Australian … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photos

Welcome to Sunday, May 24; the Sabbath that was made for gentile cats, and Asparagus Day.  And here’s the answer to everyone’s question about asparagus (and yes, I am one of the victims): It’s also Brother’s Day (but which individual brother do they mean?), the Declaration of the Báb, the running of the Indianapolis 500, … Continue reading Sunday: Hili dialogue

Welcome to Saturday, May 23, 2026. Posting will probably be limited to this very short Hili today; I am dispirited because the brood of nine mallards (plus mom) that I rescued yesterday was driven out of the pond area by aggressive mallards.  I do not know if they will return. This is of course the … Continue reading Saturday: Hili dialogue (and discussion)

It’s a long story but I got all eight and rescued one yesterday that went to rehab.  Mom and eight are in the pond. I need a name for the hen. They came out of nowhere. Vashti’s brood is still being incubated. I do not know this mother.

We have made it through the work week intact: it’s Friday, May 22, 2026 and World Paloma Day, celebrating a cocktail that I haven’t had, much less heard of.  It sounds good: a mixture of tequila, lime, and either grapefruit soda like Squirt, or grapefruit juice.  Here’s one from Wikipedia: It’s also Canadian Immigrants Day, … Continue reading Friday: Hili dialogue

“Chiropractic” (a name that in my mind should really be “chiropracty”) is a form of treatment for various disorders in which the cure supposedly comes from mechanical manipulation of the body, especially the spine. It is considered “alternative medicine,” and, as Wikipedia says, is of dubious efficacy for everything: Many chiropractors (often known informally as chiros), especially those in … Con…

A reader sent me this “paper” and asked me if I really wrote it. It is not only garbage, but, in parts, complete gibberish. I’ll use this space to assert that NO, THIS IS A FAKE.  The “Journal of Evolutionary Genetics and Adaptation” does not exist. Googling it yields no results, and asking Grok yields … Continue reading I did not publish this dreck

Welcome to Thursday, May 21, 2026, and Hummus Day (the third Thursday in May). Didn’t we just have one? Well, it’s good stuff, and I ate a ton of it when I visited Israel in 2023.  Here’s a nice plate from Jerusalem with plenty of tahini in it: It’s also American Red Cross Founder’s Day, … Continue reading Thursday: Hili dialogue

After announcing that it would “de-extinct’ the Woolly Mammoth, and that it had in fact “de-extincted” the Dire Wolf, the company Colossal Biosciences is now making big noises about its effort to bring back extinct big birds: the giant moas of New Zealand (driven extinct by humans around 1300 AD) and the dodo of Mauritius … Continue reading More on Colossal’s futile efforts to “de-extinct” ancien…

Today’s strip is an oldie called “idea”, and came with the following note from the author: There’s an old strip up at J&M, page It’s Draw Mohammed Day, and I’m away, so here’s an oldie from 2013. Remember: “There is no god, and Mohammed is his prophet.” Help J&M to keep going by becoming a … Continue reading Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ shahada pants

Pratyaydipta Rudra is back with part 2 of his duck photo series (part 1 is here), which of course features DUCKS. Pratyay’s IDs and comments are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them: Here is the second part of the series of photos that I took while spending time with a … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photos

Welcome to a Hump Day (“ਹੰਪ ਡੇ” in Punjabi): it’s Wednesday, May 20, 2026 and National Pick Strawberries Day. Here’s the world’s heaviest strawberry as certified by Guinness. It was grown in Israel and weighed over ten ounces: Ariel Chahi (Israel) has grown a supersized strawberry that weighed 289 g (10.19 oz) on 12 February … Continue reading Wednesday: Hili dialogue

If you’re getting weary of the endless but necessary attacks on Nicholas Kristof for his misleading and almost antisemitic column about Israel’s “policy” of sexually assaulting Palestinian prisoners, Roy K. Altman has written in the Free Press the definitive critique of Kristof’s column—that is, until investigations by Israel reveal more information. Wikipedia identifies Altman as … Continue read…

This is the last full batch of photos I have save a few singletons and doubletons. But I ain’t too proud to beg. . . Today we have some lovely photos by Ephraim Heller on, of all things, herring. Ephraim’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photos

Welcome to the Cruelest Day: Tuesday, May 19, 2026 and once again it’s Malcom X Day (he was born on this day in 1925, and was assassinated at 39).  May 15 was also Malcolm X Day, but today is the biggest one as some cities give people the day off. In fact, according to Wikipedia … Continue reading Tuesday: Hili dialogue

Right now I’m reading Steve Stewart-Williams’s new book: A Billion Years of Sex Differences: How Evolution Shaped the Minds of Men and Women. It is neither a pure blank-slate social-constructivist book nor a hereditarian, genetic-deterministic book, but takes an evidence-based middle ground, asking to what extent behaviors and mindset are molded by evolution and to what extent … Continue reading …