Bear, Redux

Despite being chased away by our three dogs at 9:30, the bear was back at ten, pounding the empty seed can, exploring where the turkeys had been, wandering across the yard to knock over the chickens' water cans and scratch the shed door in frustration (he opened it the other night), sniffing at the composter (apparently bear-proof), and otherwise owning the yard. Paul tiptoed downstairs and turned the light on, to see a head "ten times the size of Alex's" staring in at him. Now we think this is a second bear. The camera goes back up tonight.

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Paul's Weekend

The earlier sap turned amber; the later sap is molasses-colored. He boiled it in the garage on two turkey fryers and finished it inside. Yum.

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Required Reading

Gail Collins on why keeping the minority party weak and meaningless leads to bad karma.

Until 2008, Democrats were the perpetual minority party in the Senate. And what kind of people do you think run for a job that involves collecting a paycheck and staring at the ceiling? A handful of sterling characters bent on change and a large bunch of slugs who spend their entire legislative careers trying to raise enough money to build a new softball field or a Cucumber Museum back in the home district.

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Evolution Revolution

Both PZ and Mark sent me this, so I guess I ought to post it.

In an evenly split vote, the State Board of Education on Thursday upheld teaching evolution as accepted mainstream science.

But social conservatives on the board, using a series of amendments tailored to particular school subjects, succeeded in requiring teachers to evaluate critically a variety of scientific principles like cell formation and the Big Bang.

Since Texas remains the largest single purchaser of textbooks in bulk, this is an influential decision in terms of how language is used in science texts. My feeling is that Texas is becoming less relevant over time, and that the current economic situation precludes printing up special Texas editions or buying textbooks on a short, three-year turnover schedule. We'll see.

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A New Year, a New Bear

He looks smaller than last year's. Paul will try to get better pix tonight. Weirdly, the camera also captured a coyote wandering around.

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He's Baaaack!

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A Loooong Meeting

Our budget meeting Monday went till nearly midnight. We were talking about people's jobs, so the public forum response was both vehement and heartfelt. Luckily, the DES PTA fortified us beforehand with a nice lasagna dinner. Nevertheless, we were drooping toward the end. People always seem to believe they can read things into our body language, but sometimes it's just plain exhaustion.

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