Benchley back in sharks’ turf Mendelian genetic…

Benchley back in sharks’ turf

Mendelian genetics… Rather than having one quarter of his grandfather’s talent, Peter Benchley has none of it.

The Nando Times: Arab League chief warns U.S. agai…

The Nando Times: Arab League chief warns U.S. against wider war

Lots of chuckles in here…

The United States and its allies should not pursue “hidden agendas” in their widening war on terror because the campaign is not the world’s main concern, the head of the Arab League said Friday.

Rather, the Arab world’s major worry is “the Israeli military occupation of Arab territories and the infringement of the rights of Palestinians,” Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said…

He also argued that terrorism is not linked to any one region, race or religion.

“We see an attempt to link Islam to terrorism,” Moussa said. He also criticized unspecified nations and governments for allegedly “accusing all Arab or Muslims of terrorist intentions and cultures.”

Bozo. Nobody has accused all Muslims, or all Arabs, of being terrorists. Nobody in power, anyway. But it’s kind of hard to avoid noticing when a bunch of Arabs get together and knock down the world’s largest office complex with several thousand people inside.

The anti-Israeli stuff doesn’t help his cause either.

The New Republic Online: West Bank The SFSU ant…

The New Republic Online: West Bank

The SFSU anti-Semitic riot story returns.

Earthquake at Yucca Mountain I’m sure that if w…

Earthquake at Yucca Mountain

I’m sure that if we’d started storing nuclear waste there, it would have been perfectly safe. It’s not like it was a big earthquake. And hey, who cares if Nevada is buried in nuclear waste anyway?

Where Are They Now? The Palm Beach Canvassing Boa…

Where Are They Now?

The Palm Beach Canvassing Board

ESPN.com: MLB - No typo: Rios sixth in NL outfield All-Star voting

Armando Rios is a journeyman outfielder, currently on the DL. And he’s sixth in the voting among National League outfielders.

African States Seek Lifting Ban on Ivory Trade …

African States Seek Lifting Ban on Ivory Trade

Southern African states, that is: South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. (Hey, I bet a lot of Mugabe-bashers don’t have any problem with this. And a lot of his backers probably do. I do, and I’m a basher. I feel somehow pure.) These countries all have significant stocks of elephant tusks they’d like to sell off, but I don’t think there are many elephants left in southern Africa. The big elephant homelands, India and Kenya, not only oppose the idea but want tougher standards, and I’ve a feeling they’ll win out. It’s possible the southern countries will be allowed to sell off their stocks, but I don’t expect a ban on hunting or harvesting any time soon.

Oh, and Japan is back at it with the whales, again. Once again, they’re going against worldwide opinion and want to be allowed to hunt whales for meat. I really have to hand it to them, it takes a lot of gumption to continually ask for the whaling ban to be lifted, knowing it won’t be. Is whale meat really that good?

New Zealand Travel - nz - On the dark side of the …

New Zealand Travel - nz - On the dark side of the New Zealand paradise

In addition to killing possums, hunting of wild pigs is popular in New Zealand; about a quarter of the population are hunters, fishers, and/or shooters. Like deer in the US, you have to have hunters to control populations, because pigs don’t have any natural enemies there. (Unlike the US, where the predators — wolves, bears, and pumas — have mostly been killed off by humans, there were never any natural predators for pigs in NZ, because they’re not native to the islands but were introduced by humans.) I leave you with something any number of blogospherians will appreciate:

In this climate, anti-bloodsports groups struggle to make their voices heard. Protesters who pursued duck shooters down the Waikato River a few years ago fled after the sportsmen turned their guns on them.

Whooping crane recovery spreads new wings - 6/14/2…

Whooping crane recovery spreads new wings - 6/14/2002 - ENN.com

“Lucky” is the first whooping crane born in the wild in the United States and able to fly on its own since 1939. I hope he can make it; the whooping crane has come a long way from near-extinction, but there are still only 270 individuals.

Yahoo! News - UK Firm Tests Anti-Smoking Vaccine …

Yahoo! News - UK Firm Tests Anti-Smoking Vaccine

A bit inaccurate, that… What they’re testing is something that bonds to nicotine and would prevent it from reaching the brain. They’re trying something similar with cocaine. Nice, if it works.

Microsoft accidentally distributes virus - Tech Ne…

Microsoft accidentally distributes virus - Tech News - CNET.com

What the heck is going on up in Redmond? This time, they sent the Nimda worm to Korean developers. It’s a daily occurrence now, the Microsoft announcement of some horrific screwup.