Cute Cat Friday 2015-06-26: Introducing Freddie

This is Freddie, the latest addition to our family.

We had thought of waiting longer before adopting another cat, but Belle seems to really miss having another feline for company, and when we dropped by the Blue Cross shelter last week Freddie captured our hearts at once. We brought him home on Sunday and so far he is settling in nicely.

Freddie is a one year old male, named for Freddie Mercury because of his exuberant and outgoing nature. He is one of the friendliest cats we have ever met, and demands affection any chance he gets. We think he may be either a Bombay cat or a Burmese-domestic cross; but no matter his ancestry, he's a very handsome, playful and affectionate feline. He even tolerates being poked, prodded and grabbed by our baby son without complaining.

For now we are keeping Freddie separate from Belle in the spare room. They have glimpsed each other a few times when the door is open and neither one seems at all hostile, so we are optimistic they will soon be getting along well.

Here's to Freddie having a long and happy life in our home!

Death and Facebook: Now with extra creepiness

Somewhere in the Facebook servers, an algorithm "pushes" anniversary reminders of your posts. Today, it pushed a photo of my cat Dexter, taken exactly three years ago:

As regular readers of this blog will know, Dexter passed away six weeks ago tomorrow.

How dare Facebook pretend that it cares?

The Downfall of Sir Tim Hunt

A couple of weeks ago, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir Tim Hunt made some highly sexist remarks in a speech to the World Conference of Science Journalists. Soon after, he resigned his post as an honorary professor at University College London.

Sir Tim Hunt. Source: BBC News

Hunt is reported to have said:

Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them they cry.

There are two aspects of this I find interesting: The depth of Hunt's cluelessness, and the question of whether he should have kept his job.

Cute Cat Friday 2015-06-19: In memoriam Dexter

We will scatter Dexter's ashes in our back garden tomorrow.

Below the fold are some more pictures of our much loved cat, as a chronicle of his life with us.

Not just a cat

Something a family member said, talking about Dexter's passing last month:

You tell yourself he's just a cat, but it still makes you sad.

She's lost pets herself, and knows how hard it is; but in fact, I don't tell myself that. There is no "just" about it. He was a cat, no more and no less.

Belle and Dexter in the garden.

Cute Cat Friday 2015-06-12: Belle

I have captured the fuzzy red toy. It is mine now.

Why can't you be happy: Follow-up

Reflecting on yesterday's post, the interests of the English left and Scottish nationalists are in conflict at a very basic level.

By definition, the English left wants to reform the British state.

Short of the breakup of England into independent statelets (not a likely or widely desired prospect) or a violent revolution (likewise), they are stuck within existing structures. Any change must come from incremental reform of those structures. Historically speaking, Scotland and Wales have made a strong contribution to progressive reform of the UK. English leftists hope this will continue in the future.

By definition, Scottish nationalists want to leave the British state.

The inclusive, civic, mildly socialist strain of Scottish nationalism is admirable in its way; but it deliberately contrasts itself with the rotten condition of Westminster. These nationalists believe attempting to reform the UK is not worth the effort. Instead, they want to set up a shiny new state of their own.

Maybe their analysis is correct about what is best for Scotland. There are certainly rational arguments to support it. However it carries an implicit message to English reformers: We are not committed to helping you. Our priority is to get out. We wish you well, but in the end, any aspirations you may have for England are not our concern.

When you put it like that, it is hardly surprising the English left regards Scottish nationalism with distrust and hostility.

If you ask the English left to support Scottish independence, you are asking them to sacrifice tangible interests for a point of principle -- specifically, the natural justice of an independent Scotland -- with which most of them do not agree in the first place. No matter how you spin that, it's a tall order.