Wednesday: Hili dialogue – Why Evolution Is True Skip to content Why Evolution Is True Why Evolution is True is a
blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics,
culture, and cats. Post navigation Prev Previous post: The gang’s all here!Next Next post: Jesus ‘n’
Mo ‘n’ irony Wednesday: Hili dialogue July 22, 2026 • 6:45 am Welcome to a Hump Day (“Ghjornu di
a Gobba” in Corsican): Wednesday, July 22, 2026, and National Mango Day, celebrating my favorite fruit. I have
visited India quite a few times, but my biggest regret is that I’ve never gone in the summer, which is mango
season (the photo below shows a small selection of the varieities available). It’s bloody hot then, and I
haven’t been willing to trade off eating mangos for being broiled. SnapMeUp, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
It’s mango season in Pakistan, which is said to produce the world’s best mangos. This man is trying the
King of Mangos (note that they’re expensive!): It’s also National BLT Sandwich Day, National Penuche Fudge
Day, and Pi Approximation Day (The date written the European way is 22/7, which is an approximation of pi: 3.1428. . .)
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the July 22 Wikipedia page. Da
Nooz: Ripped from today’s headlines: *The Trump administration is now going to allow Saudi Arabia to make nuclear
weapons. The Trump administration plans to announce Wednesday that it has reached a broad nuclear agreement with Saudi
Arabia that could lead to the country enriching its own fuel for nuclear reactors, U.S. officials said. The accord is
intended to further bind the United States with the Saudi government as the war with Iran strains the relationship. The
Trump administration, according to officials, estimates it will provide billions of dollars for the U.S. nuclear
industry — starting with Westinghouse, which designs many of the reactors sold abroad. The Trump administration plans
to formally sign and announce the agreement with the Saudis on Wednesday, said two U.S. officials, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. It would announce the details to Congress soon afterward.
Although the agreement likely would have support among many Republicans, some U.S. lawmakers from both parties along
with Israeli officials have expressed opposition to such a plan, fearing that the kingdom could use a civilian nuclear
project to eventually develop nuclear weapons. What’s the point? To keep Iran at bay? I don’t think so. *And
the Houthis are threatening to block the Red Sea passage. If the Houthis make good on their threat to blockade ships
traveling to and from Saudi Arabia via the Red Sea, it would yet again upend global oil markets by compromising a
crucial fallback for the Strait of Hormuz. Since the early weeks of the war with Iran, Saudi Arabia has been relying on
a pipeline that bisects the country to reroute millions of barrels of oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea. Most of
that oil gets to market via the Bab al-Mandab strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen and near
territory controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia. A smaller portion goes north to the Mediterranean Sea, via a
pipeline that crosses Egypt or, in the case of oil-derived fuel, via the Suez Canal. Any disruption to those
alternatives would further restrict the supply of oil and fuels to a market rattled by renewed attacks on vessels in the
Persian Gulf. The threats already appear to be having an impact. Two oil tankers, the Rodos and the Xin Long Yang, that
were headed toward the Bab al-Mandab made U-turns on Tuesday, according to the maritime data firm Kpler. Here’s
a map from Wikipedia showing the chokepoint. The article adds, “The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is 26 kilometres (14
nautical miles) wide at its narrowest point, limiting tanker traffic to two 2-mile-wide channels for inbound and
outbound shipments.” Archer90, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons *The NYT has finally published an op-ed (by
Omar Bartov) declaring the Israeli attack on Gaza a “genocide.” In the earlier case of genocides that
“succeeded” because of impunity at the time or the absence of subsequent accountability, the perpetrator state went
on to benefit from its criminal actions. The invention and codification of the concept of genocide after World War II
was meant to prevent the persistence of this dynamic of impunity and profit. What we have seen unfold in Gaza, where
Israel stands accused in the International Court of Justice of committing genocide in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas
attacks, appears to portend a new future for the crime. It is a future in which other nations or leaders may have an
incentive to pursue genocidal policies knowing they will not only get away with murder but may even benefit from it. It
is a future in which the countries and international organizations that had been committed to stopping and punishing
genocide may give license to its recurrence. Since the current cease-fire in Gaza went into effect on Oct. 10, and
President Trump’s 20-point plan was endorsed by the Security Council on Nov. 17, more than 1,000 Palestinian
civilians have been killed by Israeli attacks. The military now controls nearly 70 percent of the Strip. Two million
Palestinians, who had previously lived in one of the most densely populated areas in the world, are now confined to a
third of it, trying to survive in devastated spaces lacking the most basic humanitarian infrastructure. . . . Israel is
unlikely to face a reckoning for its actions. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Mr.
Netanyahu and his former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as for a
Hamas official, who turned out to have been killed. The United States has tried to undermine the court, and Mr.
Netanyahu has repeatedly visited the White House to, among other things, try to reportedly persuade Mr. Trump to launch
his attack on Iran. Israel may eventually be found guilty of genocide by the International Court of Justice, where South
Africa has lodged a separate case against Israel, but the implications of such a ruling are unclear as long as Israel
retains U.S. support on the U.N. Security Council, which acts as the enforcement arm of the I.C.J. . . . Some may argue
that the case of Gaza is singular because Israel enjoys a unique international position thanks to its tight alliance
with the United States and its reliance on the legacy of the Holocaust. Perhaps other states cannot expect to be
rewarded and may even be punished for genocide. Yet what we are seeing today sets an extraordinary precedent, one that
has the potential of undermining the entire premise of genocide as a crime punishable under post-World War II
international law. Two points here. Bartov mentions Hamas only twice, one in the third sentence of this extract (and
in the whole article). There is no criticism of Hamas, nor any recognition that its attack on October 7 was intended to
begin a real genocide. The original Hamas Charter of 1988 explicitly calls for the killing of Jews, and while the later
2017 charter has effaced the antsemitism, it’s still antizionist, calls for a Palestinian state from the
“river to the sea” and does not recognize the state of Israel. It now uses the words “Zionist”
and “Zionism”, but nobody’s fooled by that. Palestinian children are still taught to kill Jews and
become martyrs, and the PA still has its “Martyr’s Fund” to reward Palestinians jailed for killing or
attacking Jews. Does Bartov not recognize the explicit genocidal intent of Hamas? Second, what did Bartov want Israel
to do in the face of repeated terrorist attacks on Israel culimating on the October 7 massacre? Did he expect the
Israeli army to go into Gaza, shoot a few bullets at Hamas without harming the populace in which they were embedded, and
then withdraw? What would he have done to stop the terrorism? *Over at It’s Noon in Israel, Amit Segal says that
Iran’s nuclear program is “buried but not dead.” And the WSJ has an exclusive called “Israel
believes Iran moved nuclear centrifuges into PickAxe Mountain“. t’s Tuesday, July 21, and buried at least 100
meters deep beneath a mountain near the city of Natanz lies a critical piece of Tehran’s nuclear program. But it
isn’t enriched uranium that makes Pickaxe Mountain the stuff of Israeli nightmares. According to The Wall Street
Journal, Israeli intelligence has determined that Iran moved thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges into tunnels
deep within the mountain last fall, following the 12-day war in June. If accurate, this represents a significant
acceleration of Iran’s path to reviving its nuclear program—one that both the U.S. and Israel believed was
effectively dead and buried. Pickaxe Mountain has been under construction since the fall of 2020. At the time, Iran
claimed the underground halls would replace the destroyed above-ground centrifuge assembly facility at Natanz’s main
site, which was severely damaged in an explosion widely suspected to have been an act of sabotage. Iran describes the
facility publicly as a centrifuge assembly plant. Israeli intelligence, however, indicates the purpose is far more
ambitious: The site is believed capable of supporting not just assembly operations but limited uranium enrichment. Over
the past 15 months, satellite imagery has documented steady activity: truck traffic, tunnel reinforcements, and
expanding security perimeters. The assumption had been that U.S. overflights and the implicit threat of precision
strikes would deter Iran from restarting its nuclear program—but that calculation appears to have been wrong. The
facility was not targeted during last year’s Israel-Iran war, nor has it been struck during the current round of
U.S.-Iran fighting, either because operators assessed that bombs would have minimal effect or because the site remained
under construction. But that calculus may now be shifting. Last week, Donald Trump broke his public silence on Pickaxe
Mountain. “Pickaxe is a possible target for a nice big fat shot right near the front door,” Trump said. . . . and
from the WSJ’s similar report: Known as Mount Kolang in Iran, Pickaxe has been under surveillance by the U.S.
and Israel for years, and what little is known about Iran’s activities at the site suggests it would present
challenges to any airstrikes. Located near one of Iran’s main nuclear installations, Pickaxe was commissioned as an
underground replacement for an Iranian centrifuge-assembly facility that was badly damaged after a 2020 explosion,
which might have been an act of sabotage. Activity has continued there steadily for the past 15 months, with truck
traffic, tunnel reinforcements and a security perimeter springing up, said the Institute for Science and International
Security, a think tank on nuclear and nonproliferation issues. There was also work around an older tunnel network that
dates from 2007, which Iran has since sealed up. “It is plausible that Iran moved centrifuges into the tunnels” in
Pickaxe, said David Albright, the institute’s president. Experts estimate that the subterranean complex reaches 300
to 450 feet deep beneath solid rock, with enough room to accommodate several nuclear-related facilities. It still amazes
me that any sentient being thinks that Iran will obey an agreement to not construct nuclear weapons. That is its
overweening task, and if it agrees to abandon the drive for nukes, it is lying. And, of all people, Trump seems to
believe it, too. If he was serious in saying that no agreement to end hostilities can be made without Iran promising to
never make nuclear weapons, he was deluded. Besides, we’ll have a new President in 2029, and all bets are off.
*Jake Altman tells all in the Free Press: “I was in the DSA. Here’s what they really believe.” (DSA is
the party Democratic Socialists of America.) I’ll bite: I was a member of the DSA from the 2010s until 2022.
During that time, I witnessed a rise in extremism, ranging from an eagerness to collaborate with Leninist groups to a
growing animosity toward the U.S. and the West. My final departure was prompted by a DSA statement that attributed
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine to American “imperialist expansionism.” So what does the DSA stand for? An
answer to that question arrived last week in the form of a new platform. Among the DSA’s core aims are ending the
presidency and Supreme Court. Abolishing prisons. Universal free housing. The elimination of all debt. Closing all U.S.
military bases overseas. Lifting all sanctions from Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. And so much more. “Workers Deserve
More!”—the title of the new platform—is meant to present a friendlier face to the world and overcome the radical
reputation the organization has developed in many corners of the public. That makes it even more remarkable that the
document is still so radical on its face. It advocates the elimination of capitalism, not a thick layer of
redistribution on top of the current economy. It prompts readers to imagine a world where the profit motive has been
squelched out of existence. “You have no debt. You don’t need health insurance. You don’t pay a mortgage or have a
landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right. Your retirement is publicly funded.” It goes on to promise
open borders, the abolition of the police, “free” everything, and guaranteed jobs, all with less effort from the
individual. This is the stuff of fairy tales, but instead of a fairy godmother, the reader is greeted by an agent of the
secret police. . . .Crucially, DSA’s foreign policy positions ignore America’s enemies: While DSA targets U.S. and
Israeli leadership for prosecution, the platform is silent on the actual atrocities committed by the Russian, Iranian,
Venezuelan, and Chinese regimes. In early 2019, when I argued that the DSA should denounce the Nicolàs Maduro regime
for mass persecution, abuse, torture, and murder, a local leader told me that to advocate against the Maduro
administration would be to play into U.S. war propaganda. It is always the U.S.—so-called American imperialism—that
comes in for the harshest criticism while America’s authoritarian enemies get apologia. For the DSA, the world’s
most authoritarian regimes deserve political cover. DSA blamed NATO and Western “imperialist expansionism” for the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. October 7, 2023, the DSA first expressed its solidarity with Palestine and then laid the
blame for Hamas’s terror attacks on Israel. After the Maduro regime brutalized and murdered its opponents, DSA members
were happy to visit him and celebrate his regime. Meanwhile, the West is expected to dismantle its military
capabilities. Part of the DSA program is an attack on the forces of law and order. The DSA continues to push for police
and ICE abolition while simultaneously establishing what sounds like a paramilitary wing. The DSA has formed a group
called the Red Rabbits to prepare for a “national uprising against federal agents and police brutality.” So it’s
a paramilitary force for the DSA, but no protection for the rest of us. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters,
and dare I say comrades?: this is what the mayor of NYC wants, along with AOC, Rashida Tlaib, and Bernie Sanders (the
former two card-carrying DSA Congresswomen, and Bernie a running dog. Some day, when AOC tries to realize her ambition
of becoming a Senator, or even President, this will come back to haunt her. Well, it should. Read the platform for
yourself (it’s short) and see if you want to live in an America like that. *More ideological corruption in
publishing: the Times of Israel reports that a U.S. publisher refused to publish a book, Cartoonists Against the
Holocaust, containing 150 political cartoons published in the U.S. during the Nazi era, unless the author let the
publisher add an anti-Israel statement. This is unbelievable. A US publisher canceled a book about the Holocaust because
the author refused to add text denouncing Israel to the book, the StandWithUS advocacy group said this week. Dark Horse
Comics was scheduled to publish the book, “Cartoonists Against the Holocaust,” by Dr. Rafael Medoff, this summer,
but informed the author’s team last month that publication had been canceled. The book uses 150 editorial cartoons
that had been printed in US newspapers in the Nazi era, alongside commentary from Medoff, to show what Americans knew
about the Holocaust at the time. An editor at Dark Horse last year told Medoff that he would add a statement to the book
accusing US President Donald Trump of “attempting to create concentration camp-style prisons,” among other offenses,
according to correspondence shared by StandWithUs. The proposed addition also included a paragraph condemning Israel.
Get a load of this “addition”: “A country populated by a [sic.] ethnoreligious group who were immorally
and horrifically tortured and killed in the Holocaust for their ethnicity is led by a Prime Minister that the world’s
top war crimes court has issued warrants for his alleged acts of war crimes an [sic.] crimes against humanity,” the
paragraph said. In a response emailed to the editor, Medoff pushed back against “politicizing our book” and called
the claims “factually inaccurate.” The email also said that, during a phone conversation, the editor had demanded
Medoff accuse Israel of genocide in the book’s introduction to prevent people from getting “mad.” Medoff said the
editor’s proposals amounted to minimizing the Nazi genocide and Holocaust inversion. “What you are saying, in plain
English, is that the Jews were victims of the Holocaust and now the Jews are committing another Holocaust,” Medoff
wrote. “I understand it has become fashionable in certain circles today to accuse Israel of mass murder. But being
fashionable is not the same as being right.” More of the same—every damn day. Here the publisher wanted to establish
purity by damning Israel, in a book that was about the Holocaust in WWII. Relevant? No. Shameful? Certainly. *On
Saturday a Scottish runner, Josh Kerr, broke the men’s record for running the mile; the old record had stood for
27 years (the mile is not an international event, but is still an iconic distance). Scottish middle-distance runner Josh
Kerr became the fastest man in world history over four laps on Saturday, clocking 3:42.66 to break a world record set 27
years ago by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco. The historic run at the London Diamond League fulfilled Kerr’s season-long
Project 222 quest, so named for the number of seconds required to break 3:43.13, the standard set by El Guerrouj in 1999
at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, the site of his still-standing world record of 3:26.00 in the 1500 meters set a year prior.
Prior to this race, Kerr was the sixth-fastest man in world history with a personal best of 3:45.34. Kerr’s Brooks
Beast teammate Brannon Kidder of the United States and Zan Rudolf of Slovenia paced the attempt with splits of 54.75 and
1:50.63. With a lap and a half to go, Rudolf stepped off the track and it was up to Kerr, who led American Yared Nuguse
and Germany’s Robert Farken through 1200 meters in 2:46.39 with a quarter-mile split of 55.76. The final result was
never in contest as the Brit powered home in a new world record. Nuguse finished a well-beaten second in 3:45.69, a
season’s best. . , ,Kerr has built a reputation as one of the most confident middle-distance runners in the world. On
Saturday, he said he relied on the pacemakers to carry him through. “The best analogy we worked with today was that my
two pacemakers set the tone, the river,” Kerr said to FloTrack. “They set the stream and all I had to do sit in
that water for as long as I could, follow it, and not fight it. I said I wasn’t on a chase today. I was flowing with
the conditions that were set and I just needed to not slow down.” It took year to shave off half a second from the
previous record. Of course there is a physiological limit to how fast it can be run: humans cannot run a mile in ten
seconds but they can in 3:43. And the time is reaching an asymptote, though we don’t know what it is. .
Here’s the record run: Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Szaron is lording it over Kulka (Hili hates Kulka but Szaron
doesn’t mind her): Szaron: Kulka is right below you. Hili: Everyone ought to know their place. In Polish: Szaron:
Pod tobą siedzi Kulka. Hili: Każdy powinien znać swoje miejsce. ******************* From Addicted to Ducks. And
this is true, too! In French, for example, duck noises are “kwan kwan” (IPA: /kwɛ̃/), with the vowel
nasal. From Beth: From Bad Spelling or Grammar on Signs and Notices: From the Free Press via Masih: two young Iranians
just executed for sheltering protestors. The regime continues to kill left and right, but “regime change” is
not on Trump’s agenda: Two Iranian teenagers were just executed for opening their doors to fleeing protesters.
They are only the latest victims of a regime that uses the world’s distractions to carry out mass killing, writes
Masih Alinejad. https://t.co/2OabCNqUqL — The Free Press (@TheFP) July 21, 2026 Larry caught a mouse! But after all,
he is the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. I think this is his second mouse ever. No harm in showing the new boy that
I’m an asset https://t.co/TynFehhv1E — Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) July 21, 2026 And Larry’s catch made
big news! Photo du Jour: Members of the press photograph a dead mouse caught by Larry the Downing St cat (left). By
Stefan Rousseau/PA pic.twitter.com/2TrY1OFJh8 — Stefan Rousseau (@StefanRousseau) July 21, 2026 From Luana;
disproportionality in a “studies” department: Penn State has 42,000 undergrads. Exactly 10 graduated in
women’s, gender & sexuality studies (WGSS) in 2023–24. The department lists 28 professors. The
“studies” department racket is real: every department combined—area, cultural, gender, black, Asian,
Native American,… — Brandon Fuller (@fuller_brandon) July 20, 2026 One from my feed; a lovely baby otter and its
mom: The embrace between Sea Otters and their babies is one of the most tender behaviours in the animal kingdom. The
mothers hug them against their bellies to keep them warm, groom them, and prevent the current from carrying them
away.#WildlifePhotography #Otters 🦦 🎦 Credit:… pic.twitter.com/6ESIjciwf6 — PROTECT ALL WILDLIFE
(@Protect_Wldlife) July 21, 2026 And one I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial: This Dutch Jewish girl was gassed as
soon as she arrived in Auschwitz. She was eight years old. https://t.co/VTHrFrj4AK — Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue)
July 22, 2026 Two from Doc Cobb. He posted this one about a man part of whose job is to remove knobs from the Tour de
France course. He’s been doing it for 15 years! The guy who artfully removes the knobs from the Tour de France
roads so TV viewers will not be shocked by infantile graffiti. — Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb.bsky.social)
2026-07-21T11:39:44.961Z And a “fossilized” keyboard. Proof that the Earth is less than 50 years old! The
famous fossilised keyboard in Norwich — Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb.bsky.social) 2026-07-21T08:08:55.375Z Share
this:Tweet Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Posted on July 22, 2026July 22, 2026 by
whyevolutionistruePosted in Hili Dialogue Posted at 6:45 am Post navigation Prev Previous post: The gang’s all
here!Next Next post: Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ irony 37 thoughts on “Wednesday: Hili
dialogue” Coel says: July 22, 2026 at 7:03 am We have a new Cabinet in the UK. None of them has any background in
science or technology (only 1 studied science as an undergraduate). None of them has any real experience in business or
wealth generation. Typically they studied arts/humanities degrees as undergrads, got involved in student politics,
became assistants to MPs, then became MPs, and now cabinet ministers. Where they do have any wider experience, it’s
usually with charities or NGOs (that is, spending money and activism, not creating things or generating wealth).
There’s more or less nobody who has had any notable track record or success outside politics. Reply Chetiya Sahabandu
says: July 22, 2026 at 7:23 am I read ‘only 1 studied science as an undergraduate’ as ‘only I studied
science as an undergraduate’ and thought for a few seconds that you were in the cabinet. Smart people who want to
serve in government don’t waste their time studying science! Reply Coel says: July 22, 2026 at 7:30 am 😀 So,
for example, the new Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Science studied politics as an undergrad, then
trained as a solicitor for a while, before becoming an assistant to an MP and then an MP. So no background at all in any
of Business, Innovation or Science. 🫨 Reply Starwolf says: July 22, 2026 at 10:44 am If you want to be a politician,
or an advisor. To politicians, why would you study science? Science degrees require far more work than degrees in the
humanities or social sciences, and much of the work involves quantitative subjects. Why put yourself through all that
when you could be making connections, joining student political organizations, virtue-signaling, and all the other
things that a student is supposed to do—having fun? The skills that one acquires with a science degree are not really
very useful in today’s political world. there are very few positions for a C.P.Snow or a Vannevar Bush, and their
opinions would not count for much anyway. It is more useful for a politican’s office to hire a Gender Studies graduate
than a graduate in Physics or Biology: employing the latter won’t bring in many votes. Reply Neil Wolfe says: July 22,
2026 at 11:23 am Of all people, it is humanities majors who should know that Plato’s Ship of State is a warning
not a guidebook. Alas…. Reply Jim Batterson says: July 22, 2026 at 7:07 am Sal Mercogiano has a good 20-minute
video summary of the current situation for shipping in both straits this morning. He has had an inside joke for some
time about taking a drink every time he mentions the Bab al Mandab, so do not be distracted by an occasional
“cheers”. But I think he lays out the confusing and dire situation for cargo and in particular the merchant mariners
that are on these ships. His “whats going on with shipping?”, Guardians of the Strait of Hormuz edition should be at
url Reply DrBrydon says: July 22, 2026 at 7:18 am Yes, letting Saudi Arabia have nukes is not a good idea. On the other
hand, it’s about time they used their army and dealt with the Houthis. Reply Frau Katze says: July 22, 2026 at
11:41 am I agree. They’re not much of an improvement on Iran, although the current leader (a hereditary prince) is
making some vague modernization efforts. Also, I don’t think the government funds terrorist groups all across the
Middle East. But their austere version of Islam inspired 9/11. Reply Loretta Michaels says: July 22, 2026 at 8:31 am I
also love mangoes, but I learned a harsh lesson about them years ago. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi, I got
invited to a soccer game, where some kid was walking around with a basket of mangoes, so I bought one, peeled it and ate
it while watching the game. It was delicious, of course, but in due course I had the worst itchy rash all over my chin
and neck. Turns out the sap has an ingredient in it that can cause a poison ivy-like reaction in some people. Who knew?
I still eat mango, but only after it’s been cut up. Reply Brooke ONEILL says: July 22, 2026 at 10:52 am I’m
allergic to mangoes too (see my comment below). Lucky us. I first learned that when I helped a neighbor peel a whole
basketful of the things. Since it was such a messy job, I wore a skimpy two-piece bathing suit, got juice all over my
skin, and developed a horrid, itchy, whole-body rash afterwards. Since you like mangos, you might want to try marinating
– or maybe the word is pickling – mango pieces in soy sauce. My neighbor’s family loved them that way.
Reply Lou Jost says: July 22, 2026 at 8:07 pm I have the same problem, which developed late in life after I had a bad
reaction to a local Ecuadorian poison ivy tree. You ask “Who knew?” Well, it actually does make perfect
sense, since mangoes are in the same plant family as poison ivy. The family Anacardiaceae. Be careful of other members
of that family! Reply Starwolf says: July 22, 2026 at 10:00 am Benny Morris has a very good article about Omer Bartov on
Quillette: https://quillette.com/2026/07/20/omer-bartov-what-went-wrong/ Regarding Israel’s war against Hamas: One
wonders what any other country would do if it’s civilians were attacked as were ours on 7 October, with an enemy
promising to do the same again if given the opportunity, and openly saying that the goal was to eradicate Israel. Begin
with the fact that many people were accusing Israel of genocide prior to the Israeli response. And given the shrillness
of those people, as well as the large Muslim population in many democracies, politicians have climbed aboard the
bandwagon accusing Israel of the worst crimes against humanity—all the while ignoring far worse crimes committed by
Israel’s enemies. I am no supporter of the current Israeli government. But any other leader would have also sent the
IDF against Hamas. The major difference is that any other government would have laid calculated a strategy for the day
after in Gaza—Bibi, because of political difficulties, has feared to do so, leaving people ordinarily sympathetic to
Israel wondering just what Israel means to do. It is easy for certain politicians to attack Israel. After all, it is far
easier to attack Israel than to deal with their own local problems—the ones that they were elected, or trying to be
elected, to solve. Mamdani and El-Sayed are just two examples. And given the shrillness of the “free Palestine”
crowd, it is somewhat of a litmus test for Democratic candidates to join in. While there are exceptions, of course, that
seems to be the rule for the Democratic Party these days. The nepo-baby perpetual student socialists are trying to take
over the entire party, and they may well succeed. And then they can continue to fight the good fight against Jews (and
Western liberalism) from the comfort of Manhattan, Seattle, Denver, and San Antonio. Reply Kristan says: July 22, 2026
at 10:22 am Hear hear. Reply xcellken says: July 22, 2026 at 7:13 pm San Antonio ??? Reply Starwolf says: July 22, 2026
at 8:19 pm Maureen Galindo did not come out of nowhere. I mentioned Seattle, San Antonio, and Denver because they are
places that I love, and that I know are still populated by sensible people, despite some of the candidates that their
more progressive citizens support. Reply Frank Youell says: July 22, 2026 at 10:15 am Low enriched Uranium (1-3% U-235)
can be used to run power reactors (and is in the US and elsewhere) and can not be used to make bombs. High enriched
Uranium (60-90% U-235) can be used to make bombs and run research reactors and produce medical radioisotopes. IAEA
inspectors are aware of both and check for both. If the Saudi program only produces low-enriched Uranium, little harm
will come of it. Iran has produced bomb-grade Uranium for purposes they claim are benign. I don’t believe them.
Note that Uranium enrichment (for non-military purposes) occurs all over the world (Europe, the US, the FSU, etc.).
Indeed, the modern process (centrifuges) was actually developed by German engineers working in the FSU. The same process
is also used to produce bomb grade Uranium. The Gas Diffusion process (pioneered by the US) is obsolete. Reply Michael
Cole says: July 22, 2026 at 5:54 pm “Iran has produced bomb grade uranium for purposes they claim are benign” There
are ZERO benign purposes for uranium enriched over 25 or 30 percent. If the Iranians think they have a benign purpose
for uranium enriched over 60%, they really should tell the world exactly what it is. Nuclear scientists and engineers
all over the world would be interested to hear about it. Most modern reactor designs only require a couple percent
enrichment. Some older designs require as much as 25 to 30%, but not more and, indeed, can’t work with fuel that is
more highly enriched. Only very small nuclear reactors such as the ones on nuclear submarines and ships are sometimes
designed to run on weapons grade uranium. Reply Frank Youell says: July 23, 2026 at 12:02 am In the US, bomb grade
Uranium has been use for university research and training reactors. See “Uranium Reactors on Campus Raise Security
Concerns” (https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/15/us/uranium-reactors-on-campus-raise-security-concerns.html). Reply
TexasLinguist says: July 22, 2026 at 10:16 am There maybe few graduates in some Humanities department, but the main
issue is not how many students graduate with a major in these area, but how many students take courses there. Area
studies educate a huge amount of students who take foreign languages, study abroad, etc. One cannot say the same for
gender/various ethnic studies. Reply Brooke ONEILL says: July 22, 2026 at 10:30 am Since I grew up in Hawaii, I have a
lot of feelings about mangos. Unfortunately, none of them are good. This is due to two things: one, everyone had a mango
tree in their yards, and two, as a kid and a teenager, I was always barefoot and spent half my waking hours in a bathing
suit. Consequently, during fruiting season – and boy, do those trees produce! – I couldn’t help but
step on the ooey gooey guts of the rotting fruit where it lay on the ground or, even worse, making accidental contact
with the sap, which I’m as allergic to as poison ivy. And to top it all off, I don’t even like the way they
taste. Anyway, enough with hating on mangos. Let’s hate on Jews instead. God, human beings are a dismal species.
Maybe the aliens in Bugonia had the right idea. Reply Norman Gilinsky says: July 22, 2026 at 10:42 am Underlying the
genocide charge discussed above is an exploding antisemitism that has taken on a life of its own. The latest
manifestation is in the form of a never ending list of “charges.” You’ll hear and read these charges over and
over, often several of them in the same sentence. —The genocide charge being applied to Israel, rather than to Hamas.
—The colonialist charge being applied to the anti-colonialist project of restoring an indigenous people to its
ancestral homeland. —The apartheid charge being applied to the only democratic, multicultural, society in the entire
Middle East. —The hidden power charge being applied to Jewish lobbying organizations behaving no differently than any
other interest group. —The redefinition of Zionism from the Jewish movement for self-determination to a sneer that
connotes pure evil. —The lie that none of this is antisemitism, that these charges are just “policy disputes.”
Modern Jew hatred rarely manifests explicitly. Rather, it has condensed around a socially sanctioned series of
“charges.” As so many have said and written, antisemitism morphs to meet the times. How long will this list of
“charges” become? And what can we do about it? Reply Roger Lambert says: July 22, 2026 at 11:11 am And what can we
do about it? We can get rid of the regimes in Iran and Qatar, that’s what. The explosion in global antisemitism is
not homegrown – it is the fruit of a decades-long program of manipulative propaganda across all social media and
academia generated and financed by the very deep pockets of Islamists and their allies, all aligned with anti-Western
agendas. And the fact that on October 8th organized protests exploded across the world with pre-printed placards and
unified messaging proves this. Reply Norman Gilinsky says: July 22, 2026 at 11:35 am That would be a good start. Reply
Frau Katze says: July 22, 2026 at 11:55 am Iran is a root of so many of these problems. It’s very disappointing that
the regime is holding on so tenaciously. Qatar and al-Jazeera are pretty bad too. Reply Doug says: July 22, 2026 at 1:49
pm “The explosion in global antisemitism is not homegrown – it is the fruit of a decades-long program of
manipulative propaganda . . .” I’m hesitant to hand the Jew haters a “devil made me do it” escape. Your point is
not without merit, as long as we clarify that Iranian and Qatari propaganda efforts amplified grassroots antisemitism.
They stoked a fire already burning. The simplistic oppressor/oppressed dynamic that flowed out of Western universities
in recent decades and into a subset of our simultaneously overeducated and underthinking population would have been
sufficient on its own, especially given the centuries-long backdrop of antisemitism in our societies. And no additional
propaganda efforts were needed in many Muslim countries. That said, while I have no qualms about expressing sneering
disgust toward the Jew haters, I think the propaganda efforts in the West succeed most in those whose emotions lead
their sense. Some of them are my friends and family. They are not antisemites, but they do lazily glom onto terms like
“genocide” and “war crimes” when they see pictures of dead children. Perhaps you think it is these people who
account for the “explosion.” My concern, however, even with this group, is the growing tendency for dislike of the
Israeli government to morph into an unfavorable view of the Israeli people. And when people advocate policies that would
amount to civilizational suicide, does it really matter whether they are prompted by rabid hatred of Jews (whites,
colonizers, supremacists, the rich, etc.) or are simply misguided bleeding hearts? They must be opposed. Reply Roger
Lambert says: July 22, 2026 at 3:34 pm I consider “the simplistic oppressor/oppressed dynamic that flowed out of
Western universities in recent decades…” to be part of the propaganda effort of Islamism. While we can not
know how much money Qatar alone has spent subverting academia at the collegiate and K-12 level, it is documented that
they have spent at least $9 billion dollars toward that end, and experts at the ME Forum who track this sort of thing
think it may be an order of magnitude higher. It is not a simple financial calculation for Qatar. Their ruling families
have all taken a solemn religious vow of the highest order to accomplish that mission. Their total wealth, like the
Saudis, is, believe it or not, not actually known. Reply Doug says: July 22, 2026 at 5:33 pm The oppressor/oppressed
lens was already well developed in Western academia in the 1970s and 80s. It emerged from Marxism, the Frankfurt School,
and various strands of postmodern thought, all Western intellectual products that predate Qatari funding by decades. So
did the rise of activist “studies” departments that substituted ideology for knowledge. I fully accept that foreign
money has turbocharged this noxious environment, but in following the money, you mistake exploiter for source. Ultimate
responsibility is much closer to home, among many of our colleagues, families, friends, and neighbors—both as
instigators and enablers. If only it were so easy to blame sheikhs in the sand. I am not saying your position lacks
value, Roger. But in leaning so heavily into the Islamist funding side, I think you let secular Western intellectuals
off the hook as passive victims rather than as active agents who helped create this toxic brew. In doing so, you don’t
wrestle with the deeper, homegrown problems in our institutions. Frank Youell says: July 22, 2026 at 10:52 am The US in
WWII used several other processes to produce enriched Uranium. The US used a process called ‘thermal
diffusion’ to produce (in large quantities) 20% enriched Uranium. The US also used calutrons (giant mass
spectrometers) to produce bomb-grade Uranium. Saddam (apparently) tried to use the same approach. A book (‘The
Girls of Atomic City’) was written about this. There is a rumor the Israel has developed yet another approach to
enriching Uranium. Supposedly, Israel has perfected laser enrichment. It is not clear to me, if this is true. Of course,
Plutonium is an alternative to highly enriched Uranium. Any number of countries (the US, the FSU, N. Korea, Israel,
etc.) have produced Plutonium. Don’t get me started on Tritium. A big subject, in its own right. Reply Norman
Gilinsky says: July 22, 2026 at 11:30 am Just read the DSA platform. The language of “workers” is creepily
reminiscent of the Soviet state. One thing I never see addressed is innovation. Without incentives, who will step
forward to innovate, for example, to take the risk to develop new drug for cancer? If incentives aren’t monetary, what
are they? A larger living space? Better food? A boat? (Oops. Can’t have that.) How would the socialist life ever be
anything more than subsistence, a kind of gray stagnation? Reply Barbara KNox (CoC) says: July 22, 2026 at 4:05 pm AIUI,
after enough time living under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, a New Soviet Man would emerge with different
motivations than the greedy Capitalists. They really should have tried a proof-of-concept pilot project first. Reply
Norman Gilinsky says: July 22, 2026 at 4:45 pm LOL. Maybe the incentive for innovation can be medals of commendation.
Have you even seen how those Soviet-era military officers are weighed down with all that brass? They can barely support
their own weight. But then again, there have been pilot projects, no? 🙂 Reply Barbara KNox (CoC) says: July 22, 2026
at 10:43 pm Of course the problem with medals (in addition to the weight 🙂) is that they are a fiat currency, so
medal inflation seems an attractive solution to current problems, eventually making them valueless. “We pretend to
work, and they pretend to pay us.” AIUI, foreign tourists were offered medals for sale very cheaply. Current
Western versions of this are where everyone must get prizes, high grades, etc. etc. It doesn’t end well. 🎶🎶
“When every one is somebody / Then no one’s anybody.” (G&S, The Gondoliers) Reply Darryl R says:
July 22, 2026 at 1:23 pm The questions I have after reading the DSA platform is, “Where does the money to do all
this come from?” How they plan to eliminate the current offices of President and the Supreme Court and replace
with congressionally-chosen executive and judiciary is also a big question. Overall, it’s childish platform.
However, if we end up with an AOC + DSA VP 2028 Democratic ticket, so-called moderate Ds who are today complaining about
the DSA will still pull the blue lever, unless it’s a meaningless vote in a hard blue state. People will jump
through all sorts of mental hoops to justify why the DSA platform is better than the horrors that they think will occur
if an R wins. The ironic thing is that the DSA knows this and has expressly stated that they’re only working
through the Democratic party as a means to obtain power. Reply Roger Lambert says: July 22, 2026 at 3:45 pm If
it’s Rubio vs DSA anywhere on the ticket, I think it will be the end of the DSA and the end of this incarnation of
the Democratic Party as well. The DNC will be where the Republicans were after Goldwater. Reply Barbara KNox (CoC) says:
July 22, 2026 at 2:37 pm The European way of writing dates could also be called the common way or the unexceptional way.
The three exceptions are the US, the Philippines, and Belize; Canada is ambivalent 🙂. Reply Darryl R says: July 22,
2026 at 6:26 pm Kerr’s record is amazing! I didn’t realize that the record was so far below 4 minutes. Reply
Starwolf says: July 23, 2026 at 3:46 am Several people have commented about Qatar funding universities to “educate”
young Americans according to their beliefs. And indeed, the acceptance of Islamic extremism is worrisome. But the
American young are easy targets. I often complain about ignorance of science, but ignorance of history is worsening in
America. It’s not that college students can’t name Millard Fillmore’s vice-president, it’s that they are
ignorant of systems of government that have killed millions of people—by design. And then when some social media
personality, whether a Nick Fuentes or a Hasan Piker, come along and praise these systems of government to young
Americans who are not vaccinated with knowledge, we have a recipe for disaster. Worse, candidates for national office
campaign with these “influencers”. Who would have thought that a candidate for the Senate would want to campaign
with a moral idiot who praises the Chinese Communist government in general and Mao in particular. The average college
student in the US has probably never heard of the Cultural Revolution, the Great Leap Forward, etc., but they should
really try n talking to people who have lived under the system during those days. And Hasan Piker is praising that
system (all the while denigrating the US)? And candidates for national office, instead of calling him out, are rushing
to be interviewed by that guy? This is what happens when knowledge of history is replaced by knowledge of officially
sanctioned pronouns. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are
marked *Comment * Send me an email notification when someone replies to my commentName * Email * Website Save my name,
email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ Buy Faith vs.
Fact Amazon Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk Barnes & Noble Buy WEIT Amazon Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk Barnes & Noble
Books-A-Million Bookshop Powell's About the Author Email Subscription Enter your email address to subscribe and receive
new post notifications by email. Email Address Sign me up! Join 29.3K other subscribers Search: Search for: Recent Posts
Thursday: Hili dialogue The gang’s still here! The shameful reaction of “humanitarians” to to the war
in Gaza Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ irony Wednesday: Hili dialogue Recent Comments Starwolf on Wednesday:
Hili dialogueLaingholm on The shameful reaction of…Duncan on The shameful reaction of…Jared Miller on
Tuesday: Hili dialogueFrank Youell on Wednesday: Hili dialogue Archives Archives Select Month July 2026 June 2026 May
2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August
2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October
2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December
2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February
2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April
2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021
June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September
2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November
2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January
2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March
2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017
May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August
2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October
2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December
2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February
2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April
2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012
June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September
2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November
2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January
2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March
2009 February 2009 January 2009 ____________ The Archive ____________ Da Roolz! (Commenting Guidelines) ____________ How
to send me wildlife photos ____________ Cat Confessions Contest: all entries ____________ Halloween Black Cat Parade
____________ © Copyright notice