Monday: Hili dialogue

Welcome to Monday, January 27, 2025, and National Chocolate Cake Day. Once again I present you with one form in which it’s served in Chicago, as lumps in milkshakes from Portillo’s. I really need to try one of these (see it made at 4:15 in the video below, but watch the whole thing).

It’s also International Port Wine Day, Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (who among us has not popped it?), National Geographic Day (it was incorporated on this day in 1888), and International Day of Commemoration of the Victims of the Holocaust Day, marking the day that Auschwitz was liberated by the Russians in 1945.  A photo of the liberation labeled in Wikipedia: “Still photograph from the Soviet Film of the liberation of Auschwitz, taken by the film unit of the First Ukrainian Front, shot over a period of several months beginning on January 27, 1945 by Alexander Voronzow and others in his group. Child survivors of Auschwitz, wearing adult-size prisoner jackets, stand behind a barbed wire fence.”

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the January 27 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*First the FBI and Department of Energy admitted that the Covid pandemic was more likely the result of a lab leak than a wet-market contamination by the virus, though neither agency had huge confidence in their conclusions. Now, as the WSJ reports. the CIA has also given a higher probability to a lab leak.

The Central Intelligence Agency has now concluded that the deadly Covid-19 pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, lending credibility to a view that has been the focus of sharp debate among scientists and politicians for years.

In doing so, the CIA has now joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Energy Department in identifying a laboratory mishap in Wuhan, China, as the probable source of the Covid virus. It has killed more than 1.2 million Americans and over seven million people worldwide.

“CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting,” an agency spokesman said in a statement released Saturday.

The spokesman added that the judgment was “low confidence” and that the CIA would continue to evaluate “any available credible new intelligence reporting or open-source information that could change CIA’s assessment.”

The agency had previously taken the stance that it didn’t have enough information to assess whether the virus had leapt from an animal to a human or arose from a laboratory mishap.

Covid-19 emerged in Wuhan in late 2019 and then spread rapidly through the world in 2020 and 2021 before the development of vaccines helped limit deaths. It marked one of the worst pandemics in modern history.

But the origins of the virus still divides the U.S. intelligence community, in large part because the Chinese government hasn’t cooperated with international investigations. Four U.S. intelligence agencies have favored, with low confidence, the animal transmission theory. So has the National Intelligence Council, a body of senior intelligence officers that reports to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The fact that the Chinese won’t cooperate with the investigation, which after all can help us understand worldwide epidemics, always makes me think that something fishy is going on, and by that I don’t mean “wet market”.  My friend Luana has always been a big booster of the lab-leak hypothesis, and while I used to be pro-wet-market, I’m not somewhat agnostic leaning towards lab-leak. What cannot be denied is that both Facui and Francis Collins did their best to discourage the lab-leak hypothesis, and not solely on the grounds of science! They simply demonized those who suggested it, which is not a scientific attitude.

*According to CNN, the U.S. has frozen nearly all foreign aid—even to Ukraine, though Israel and Egypt are still getting US $$.

The US State Department has frozen nearly all foreign assistance worldwide, effective immediately, days after President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order Monday to put a hold on such aid for 90 days.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a cable, seen by CNN, to all US diplomatic posts on Friday outlining the move, which threatens billions of dollars of funding from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for programs worldwide.

Foreign assistance has been the target of ire from Republicans in Congress and Trump administration officials, but the funding accounts for very little of the overall US budget. The scope of the executive order and subsequent cable has left humanitarian and State Department officials reeling.

The cable calls for immediate “stop work” orders on existing foreign assistance and pauses new aid. It is sweeping in its scope. Essentially all foreign assistance appears to have been targeted unless specifically exempted. That means lifesaving global health aid, development assistance, military aid, and even clean water distribution could all be affected.

The cable provides a waiver only for emergency food assistance and foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt. The cable does not specifically mention any other countries that receive foreign military financing, like Ukraine or Taiwan, as being exempt from the freeze.

In the coming month, the cable said, the administration will develop standards for a review of whether the assistance is “aligned with President Trump’s foreign policy agenda.”

I happen to favor continued aid to both Ukraine and Taiwan, and so am not keen on this latest decision. Fortunately, it’s only for a short while (but every minute counts for Ukraine). One thing I hope: Trump continues to stop the funding to that Supporter of Terrorism: UNRWA.

* Presidential insanity of the day: Trump has upset the Danes by calling the Prime Minister and hectoring her about the U.S. buying Greenland again (h/t Matthew).

Donald Trump had a fiery phone call with Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen over his demands to buy Greenland, according to senior European officials.

Speaking to the Financial Times, officials said that Trump, then still president-elect, spoke with Frederiksen for 45 minutes last week, during which he was described to be aggressive and confrontational about Frederiksen’s refusal to sell Greenland to the US.

The Financial Times reports that according to five current and former senior European officials who were briefed on the call, the conversation “was horrendous”. One person said: “He was very firm. It was a cold shower. Before, it was hard to take it seriously. But I do think it is serious and potentially very dangerous.”

Another person who was briefed on the call told the outlet: “The intent was very clear. They want it. The Danes are now in crisis mode.” Someone else said: “The Danes are utterly freaked out by this.”

According to one former Danish official, the call was a “very tough conversation” in which Trump “threatened specific measures against Denmark such as targeted tariffs”.

Trump has previously said that the US needs to control Greenland and has refused to rule out using US military force to take over the territory. During a press conference a few weeks ago, Trump said that the US needed Greenland “for economic security”. The 836,300-sq-mile (2,166,007-sq-km) Arctic island is rich in oil and gas, as well as various raw materials for green technology.

The man is nuts, and I can see how his bullying form of conversation would scare the bejeezus out of PM Frederiksen. However, I don’t think that either she or the Danes have much to worry about. This is one case in which I think Ttrump’s threats are simply bluster. On the other hand, we’re learning that he’s serious about his campaign “promises.” He may slap some tariffs on Denmark, but I’m not sure how much damage that would do to the country. At any rate, I’d say, “Hey, Danes, don’t freak out so much. The optics of this are not good for Trump.”

*Heterodox STEM reports a blatant violation of antidiscrimination laws, this time by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This kind of action is palpably illegal by the agency.

By now, most are familiar with the term “People of Color,” but “Geoscientists of Color” was a new one to me—and deeply concerning. As someone skeptical of identity politics, the idea of dividing an already small field (just 24,620 employed in the U.S. as of May 2023, per BLS) by skin color is troubling. However, given the limited pipeline of geoscientists, it’s understandable why the National Science Foundation (NSF) launched the “Geoscience Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity”1 (GOLD) program in 2016, aiming to expand the field through outreach and other lawful means. But just like many of the zealous “diversity, equity, and inclusion” efforts that have morphed into outright unlawful discrimination, the GOLD program’s days are numbered.

The original mission of the GOLD program was “to achieve greater and more systemic diversity by creating a network of diversity and inclusion ‘champions’ who can generate greater implementation of evidence-based best practices and resources.” Reading this mission statement in 2025 certainly triggers a warning that discriminatory “DEI” styled as new-age “antiracism” could be at work. But in 2016, America had not yet seen the avalanche of race-based preferences we have recently witnessed– and certainly not at the hands of Federal agencies.

Indeed, it seems the GOLD program was founded with pure intentions. But as we have seen all too often lately, when individuals have intentionally or unintentionally blurred the line that separates true diversity and inclusion from outright race-based discrimination, the Federal government has not only turned a blind eye to it but thrown hundreds of thousands of dollars at it. But if you’re up to speed on President Trump’s Executive Orders, you know that those days are over.

Consider an incident reported to FAIR about a March 2023 summit organized by the University of San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The event promised an excellent opportunity to participate in a multi-day summit to plan a future professional conference, with housing, meals, travel, and a $500 stipend included. The catch? Only “Geoscientists of Color” were invited. The organizer openly embraced this exclusionary approach, even boasting on X (formerly Twitter): “I want to create a conference for only Geoscientists of Color. If you are a Geoscientist of Color, I invite you to join us.”

At FAIR, we immediately recognized this as illegal under Civil Rights laws and sought to address it. Our investigation uncovered the grant application for the summit, titled “Proposal for a SUMMIT to Plan a Conference Workshop for Minoritized Geoscientists.” The application made clear that participation would be restricted by skin color, yet the NSF’s GOLD program awarded over $90,000 in federal funds without objection. This negligence likely led the organizer to believe no laws were being broken (not that it would have saved UC San Diego from legal liability if they’d gone through with it as planned).

When FAIR alerted Scripps to the issue, they took swift corrective action, removing the discriminatory eligibility criteria and extending the application deadline so that all geoscientists would have ample opportunity to apply. While this outcome was positive, it highlights a broader problem: many federally funded DEI initiatives have been implemented without oversight or accountability, often violating civil rights laws.

*The other day I posted about a law (was it in Egypt?) allowing a husband to have sex with his wife for a certain period after she was dead. A few readers saw no problem with that, and, indeed, it’s somewhat of an ethical dilemma of the kind Jon Haidt used to discuss. But this is a report of behavior that’s clearly illegal: digging up dead bodies of women (to whom you’re not related) and having sex with the corpses. That (h/t Anna) is what a Pakistani man is accused of.

On Friday (9th August), Karachi Police arrested a 40-year-old man who ‘confessed’ to desecrating recently-buried graves and sexually abusing dead women at the Korangi graveyard in Karachi, ARY News reported citing police. For those unversed, committing sex with corpses is called necrophilia. According to the police, the accused confessed that he desecrated four graves of women and subjected their dead bodies to sexual abuse. The locals caught him desecrating the grave of a recently buried 55-year-old woman. They thrashed him before handing over to the Police.

Speaking to a TV channel, crime reporter Tahir Abbas identified the accused as Salman Waheed.

The Police added that the accused, who was arrested from Bagh Korangi Cemetery, confessed to the crime and revealed a shocking tale of sexual abuse and desecration of female graves. According to the Police, accused Saleem used to target fresh graves of women, exhume bodies, and commit sexual abuse.

. . .In a statement, the Korangi police stated that the accused was arrested “on the rape charge” in the Bagh-i-Korangi graveyard.

As per a person’s complaint stated in the FIR, he had buried his mother in the graveyard on Thursday evening. At around 10:30 pm, he learned that the accused desecrated the grave and molested the body. However, some of the locals caught him and thrashed him. They then handed him over to the local police. The FIR states that the accused was found using an emergency light to commit the heinous crime.

During interrogation, he told the police that he used to keep an eye on the burials of women, and during nights he dug up graves to commit the heinous crime against the dead.

. . .Earlier on 22nd June, a shocking incident came to light from Lahore. Hours after the burial, the body of a three-month-old child went missing from the grave. The horrific incident occurred in Miani Sahib Graveyard, Lahore. The child’s father, Abdul Rahman found that the body of the child went missing from the grave the next day, finding the shroud outside. He then alerted the police.

Subsequently, the Police arrested three individuals, including a security guard, in connection with the offense. According to the FIR, the incident occurred on 23rd April this year.

It is pertinent to note that numerous cases of necrophilia have been reported from Pakistan. [The article goes on to describe more, but I’ll refrain . . . .]

Here’s a tweet with the perp:

Police arrested a 40-year-old Muslim Man Muhammad Saleem and booked him on digging up the grave of a recently-buried woman and Raping with the corpse, in a graveyard in Karachi. https://t.co/0pUysfhRON pic.twitter.com/6Yp0U0msIu

— Faraz Pervaiz (@FarazPervaiz3) August 10, 2024

Perhaps one could justify criminalizing raping one’s dead wife because it leads to stuff like this, which is clearly illegal.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Malgorzata explains Hili’s pun:

This must be difficult (or impossible) to understand by a non-Polish speaker. The (mildly) amusing thing is that “hippo” and “hypo” sound exactly the same in Polish.

The dialogue:

Hili: Can a hippo be a hypocrite?

A: You’ll have to ask somebody wiser.

Hili: Czy hipopotam może być hipokrytą?

Ja: Musisz o to zapytać kogoś mądrzejszego.

*******************

From Jesus of the Day:

From Things with Faces:

From Cat Memes:

From Reddit: I have a last found an example of how indigenous knowledge could be usefully incorporated into modern science, in this case giving a suggestion to Elon Musk (h/t Andrzej). I cannot find the original cartoon nor the artist “Roy”.

From Masih, and yes, the Houthis are terrorists. How could anyone maintain otherwise?

Yes, let’s call terrorists by their name: It’s time to END the era of appeasement.

President @realDonaldTrump’s decision to re-designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization is a bold and necessary move. For too long, the Houthis have acted like international pirates,… pic.twitter.com/g22OnDS7kj

— Masih Alinejad Read More