August saw a fair bit of vacation crammed into a single month for your favorite blogger, with one result being a post-less month. The month began with a canoe camping expedition in Algonquin Provincial Park with two Aussie diplomats and Brooklyn poet (not to mention the lovely lady pictured above and several of her friends, along with mink, bullfrogs, loons, mergansers, and other critters). Follow-up expeditions in New England – a 100 mile running relay down route 100 in Vermont and a climb to the Lakes of the Clouds hut on Mt Washington, complete with a mountaintop wedding – kept the action and adventure going. But, in the words of the great minstrel Marshall Mathers, it’s time to snap back to reality.
Part of that snap means once again meeting my obligations to the Running On faithful (I know the six of you have been waiting with bated breath), and several posts will be forthcoming in the fall. Before getting to those, however, I need to address a few things in my last few posts.
Firstly, re-reading “The root of all evil?” I feel a little funny for picking on an Islamic creationist while letting all of the fundamentalist Christian nutjobs off the hook. To be sure, Mr. Yahya deserves the criticism I directed toward him for taking the extraordinary step of trying to forcefully inject his pseudo-science into the academic world, a step I have yet to see be taken by a Christian creationist or “intelligent design” proponent (Dr. Michael Behe notwithstanding). However, in decrying creationism, I should have thrown in a jab at the Bible thumpers in the interest of balance (although I will most definitely go here if I’m ever in the ‘hood). Also in the interest of balance, have a look at this excellent essay on the profound contributions of Islamic scholars in days gone by to the global body of scientific knowledge, a tradition that has sadly been greatly diminished (but not lost).
Onto “Symbiotic Betrayal”: Sigh. On the plus side, my hunch on the “scumbag or not a scumbag” question concerning Michael Vick has proven to be correct (of course, when the feds hand down a 19-page indictment, they've usually got their man).
Part of that snap means once again meeting my obligations to the Running On faithful (I know the six of you have been waiting with bated breath), and several posts will be forthcoming in the fall. Before getting to those, however, I need to address a few things in my last few posts.
Firstly, re-reading “The root of all evil?” I feel a little funny for picking on an Islamic creationist while letting all of the fundamentalist Christian nutjobs off the hook. To be sure, Mr. Yahya deserves the criticism I directed toward him for taking the extraordinary step of trying to forcefully inject his pseudo-science into the academic world, a step I have yet to see be taken by a Christian creationist or “intelligent design” proponent (Dr. Michael Behe notwithstanding). However, in decrying creationism, I should have thrown in a jab at the Bible thumpers in the interest of balance (although I will most definitely go here if I’m ever in the ‘hood). Also in the interest of balance, have a look at this excellent essay on the profound contributions of Islamic scholars in days gone by to the global body of scientific knowledge, a tradition that has sadly been greatly diminished (but not lost).
Onto “Symbiotic Betrayal”: Sigh. On the plus side, my hunch on the “scumbag or not a scumbag” question concerning Michael Vick has proven to be correct (of course, when the feds hand down a 19-page indictment, they've usually got their man).
On the down side, I grossly overstated the nature of our relationship with our canine friends. If I had stopped to give it a half-second’s thought, I would have quickly realized that what we now have is in fact domestication and not symbiosis. The relationship started as a symbiosis, when wild dogs would scavenge at the fringe of hunter-gatherer camps, and in return for the free feed would probably warn the people in those camps about lurking sabretooth tigers or whatever nasties might be nearby. However, once we took them in and began controlling their breeding, learning, feeding, etc., the relationship became something very different from a true biological symbiosis. I think I was a bit fired up about Vick and wanted to make a statement, so I needed to cram it into the context of the blog. I also think I wanted to include a picture of the mighty Caz, as well as the long and varied list of services provided by dogs. And it is because of those latter two elements that I am leaving the post up rather than hide my scientific shame. It took a LONG time to find all of those dog links!
Some final comments on Vick and dogfighting: Some have argued, including one RO loyalist, that the Vick situation is a witch hunt, is far less important than other issues, and has parallels with other sensationalist news stories, such as OJ, Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole, Britney, Lindsey, etc. I agree to a point. There are more pressing issues, but that doesn’t make this OK and shouldn’t let him off the hook. It is not comparable to the other celeb tales listed because those are the isolated cases of a few wackos who live in a world so far removed from that most of us know as to make them mere freak shows, distractions and nothing more. That’s not to say that murder, pedophilia, drug abuse, etc., are not real problems, but we will learn very little about those issues by obsessing on these extreme outlier situations (how many cases of pedophilia – alleged or otherwise – begin with a former child star who grows up to have his own theme park and bizarre skull collection???).
Vick’s case, on the other hand, is symptomatic of a larger problem. He was immersed in this culture, one not unique to sports stars. And therein will lie the true test of our outrage. If we are on more than just a witch hunt, then we will demand that this deplorable practice be stamped out across the country now that this high-profile case has called it to our attention. PETA and the Humane Society will offer Vick a chance at redemption after he serves his time by serving as an anti-dogfighting spokesman, donating a portion of his future salary to the cause (he will play again; pro sports have no shame – just ask Latrell Sprewell), and so on, and we will put our money where our mouths are in supporting them. However, once Vick is sentenced and in jail, if we then simply turn to watch what Joey is able to do with the Falcons (well, or something less gruesome), then our righteous indignation will prove to be little more than a big pile of dogshi…
Vick’s case, on the other hand, is symptomatic of a larger problem. He was immersed in this culture, one not unique to sports stars. And therein will lie the true test of our outrage. If we are on more than just a witch hunt, then we will demand that this deplorable practice be stamped out across the country now that this high-profile case has called it to our attention. PETA and the Humane Society will offer Vick a chance at redemption after he serves his time by serving as an anti-dogfighting spokesman, donating a portion of his future salary to the cause (he will play again; pro sports have no shame – just ask Latrell Sprewell), and so on, and we will put our money where our mouths are in supporting them. However, once Vick is sentenced and in jail, if we then simply turn to watch what Joey is able to do with the Falcons (well, or something less gruesome), then our righteous indignation will prove to be little more than a big pile of dogshi…
