There is so much we don’t know about the creatures with whom we share the planet. If we could stop pre-judging and projecting and just start observing, what could we learn?
“There are around 1.5 billion heads of cattle in the world, and humans have lived with them for at least 10,000 years. It’s shocking that we’re only discovering this now,” Osuna-Mascaró says. “We know more about the tool use of exotic animals on remote islands than we do about the cows we live with. However, we are now starting to be sensitive enough to observe them and give, at least to a few of them, the life they deserve, one in which they have the opportunity to play, interact with objects, and discover how to use them on their own.”
This big guy lives just down the mountain from us. He's the Guinness World Record Holder! Tommy's owner (try and follow me here) is the father of Jill our fabulous glass artist that I've told you about. Jill's shop is Cheshire Glass Works. This family is simply amazing...and so is Tommy.
Just getting to my coffee here! I had a dinner out last night with some girlfriends and got in late. You wrote whenever you like, I'm always happy to hear from you and I also know things get busy. Fret not, your emails are always welcome. Another cold day here, I'm going to bake cookies again to celebrate warm stoves.
"AI Datacenters Are Driving A Massive U.S. Gas-Fired Power Boom
In 2025, the U.S. nearly tripled the amount of gas-fired power capacity in development, predominantly as a result of projected demand for AI datacenters. If every proposed plant gets built, the U.S.’ existing gas-fired power production would grow by nearly 50%, the report found. “Locking in new gas plants to meet uncertain AI energy demand means hard-wiring decades of pollution into a gambit that could be solved with flexible, clean power,” Jenny Martos, a project manager at Global Energy Monitor, told The Guardian. “As the AI bubble inflates, the US must decide whether it will double down on a fossil future while the rest of the world pivots to renewables," Martos said."
Trump was asked about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping working to improve trade cooperation when his answer took a sudden turn. “It’s very dangerous for them to do that, and it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China,” Trump said. “Canada’s not doing well. They’re doing very poorly and you can’t look at China as the answer.”
“I know China very well, I know President Xi, he’s a friend of mine, I know him very well,” Trump said. “The first thing they’re gonna do is say you’re not allowed to play ice hockey anymore. That’s not good. Canada’s not gonna like that.”
My corvid-loving self doesn’t love the crow-training guy. Leave the birds out of our mess; we’ve done enough polluting their environment. (Sorry, very grumpy here this morning and not amused by our tiresome species. I don’t except myself from this statement lol).
There seems to be a lot of talk about human beings becoming immortal lately. The techbros and billionaires all seem caught up with it. The woo based supplement industrial complex is marketing their crap with it. The Ai industry is making bank by depicting hot and youthful nonagenarians running marathons and doing kung fu in spandex so that snake oil salesmen can con people.
Something about the whole public yearning for immortality smells fishy. I'll admit that my outlook has been tainted by my reading a lot of Science Fiction and Horror genre stuff. It is there that we find the mad scientists and evil wizards who will stop at nothing to avoid death. Doctor Frankenstein and Count Dracula are the best known examples of this immortality fetish being fundamentally wrong. Super-racist HP Lovecraft's worst monsters are particularly caught up with the pursuit of immortality.
If I was given to generalized declarations I would be tempted to say that wherever you find talk of human immortality you will be hearing it from an asshole mad scientist of a shitstain evil wizard. But I could be wrong.
CBS News is going to absolutely burn. I’d say crash and burn but it’s already crashing. My prediction is that in one years times 60 minutes will be gone.
Ahh yes, everyman David Brooks is the perfect bridge between the $20 dollar a pour whiskey crowd and the $60 a pour whiskey crowd at Yale.
Gimme a fucking break. Despite all the raging about DEI, we’ve always had a robust jobs program for mediocre, entitled white guys to be overpaid to do nothing useful.
I was trying to think of someone who had really keen insight into the whole range of "society at large" who could help mend its rift with "the academy" and it is definitely David Brooks.
Chavez-DeRemer has been naughty. Trump can sure pick them!
"Grassley Probes Labor Secretary Over Misconduct Allegations
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is pressing Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to respond to allegations that she committed travel fraud and had an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, marking the first signs she could be losing support from key Republicans." (BGov)
Asked by a reporter this week whether it was appropriate for ICE agents to enter homes without judicial warrants, Grassley replied “Ask a constitutional lawyer, I’m a farmer.”
"...that cod liver oil can treat autism and that conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia can be reversed with the kind of nutritional supplements he also sells on his online store..."
What a wild coincidence that he sells the very quack cures he "studies"! The Guardian article mentions the long-term tech bro funding of many of these people.
"House leaders are preparing to bring up for a floor vote resolutions to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for defying Oversight Committee subpoenas.
The panel wants to question the Clintons about disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Rather than appear for a deposition, the Clintons co-signed a letter to the committee’s chairman, writing, “If the government didn’t do all it could to investigate and prosecute these crimes, for whatever reason, that should be the focus of your work — to learn why and to prevent that from happening ever again. There is no evidence that you are doing so.”
The process of holding an individual in contempt of Congress usually requires a vote by the full House to direct the matter to the Justice Department. Two former Trump aides, Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon, served jail time after being held in contempt." (Bloomberg)
It’s Veronika, the tool-using cow! Find out more here: https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/cow-tools
And your meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/37a05bfc-b622-4014-9245-7c5ea9586d8c?utm_source=share
Someone show this poor creature how to take a shower and apply CeraVe.
There is so much we don’t know about the creatures with whom we share the planet. If we could stop pre-judging and projecting and just start observing, what could we learn?
Ooh, Veronika cow, big whoop! What about Betty cow, huh?
Cash Cow
Veronika could make some cash
If she went out on tour
Because it is a simple case
Of I'll scratch my back
You scratch yours
Cow-a-bunga!
Oh sure, everyone's marveling now, but next thing you know it'll be pitchforks and automatic weapons and a widespread, riotous cowvolution.
Obligatory:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMbXvn2RNI
Antifa Commander, you have set a new bar for Hokey. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Today the pasture, tomorrow the world. An existential threat to hooman dominance
I, for one, am looking forward to my new bovine overlords.
Yeah, they can be bought off with hay!
Holy cow!
Amazing! Animals are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for.
Aww. From https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/first-ever-flexible-tool-use-seen-in-a-cow-suggests-livestock-are-smarter
“There are around 1.5 billion heads of cattle in the world, and humans have lived with them for at least 10,000 years. It’s shocking that we’re only discovering this now,” Osuna-Mascaró says. “We know more about the tool use of exotic animals on remote islands than we do about the cows we live with. However, we are now starting to be sensitive enough to observe them and give, at least to a few of them, the life they deserve, one in which they have the opportunity to play, interact with objects, and discover how to use them on their own.”
Wait’ll she figures out how to wield an axe.
From the second I saw her tongue roll out, I knew that was Veronika!
My very first heifer was a Brown Swiss, who I named Buttercup. She was very sweet, and had fantastic eyelashes.
Gary Larson underestimated them! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tools
Rare footage reveals dolphins turning sponges into hunting gear
https://www.earth.com/news/rare-footage-reveals-dolphins-turning-sponges-into-hunting-gear-pr25/
Quite interesting!
This big guy lives just down the mountain from us. He's the Guinness World Record Holder! Tommy's owner (try and follow me here) is the father of Jill our fabulous glass artist that I've told you about. Jill's shop is Cheshire Glass Works. This family is simply amazing...and so is Tommy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqm_8d98jFw&t=73s
That is an impressive beastie!
Tommy is a big, beautiful boi! I didn’t know Brown Swiss could get that big.
That bit of them walking with him in the field is beautiful!
Good morning! I owe you so many emails now I've lost count. I promise I'll put the proverbial pen to paper this very day!
The video of the grass eating is adorable.
EDIT! The video you sent of your kitty eating grass NOT tommy eating grass. However, Tommy eating grass is also adorable. -- I need another cuppa.
Just getting to my coffee here! I had a dinner out last night with some girlfriends and got in late. You wrote whenever you like, I'm always happy to hear from you and I also know things get busy. Fret not, your emails are always welcome. Another cold day here, I'm going to bake cookies again to celebrate warm stoves.
She would scratch her back with a garden rake
And a certain gleam in her eye
She definitely had a mind of her own
And her name was Veronika
Archie can never find the spot.
Edith haz a sad?
Jughead stole The Move from Archie.
"...you can call me anything you want,
but my name ist Veronika."
-E. Cowstello
We're fucked:
"AI Datacenters Are Driving A Massive U.S. Gas-Fired Power Boom
In 2025, the U.S. nearly tripled the amount of gas-fired power capacity in development, predominantly as a result of projected demand for AI datacenters. If every proposed plant gets built, the U.S.’ existing gas-fired power production would grow by nearly 50%, the report found. “Locking in new gas plants to meet uncertain AI energy demand means hard-wiring decades of pollution into a gambit that could be solved with flexible, clean power,” Jenny Martos, a project manager at Global Energy Monitor, told The Guardian. “As the AI bubble inflates, the US must decide whether it will double down on a fossil future while the rest of the world pivots to renewables," Martos said."
https://globalenergymonitor.org/report/betting-big-on-data-centers-u-s-now-leads-world-for-new-gas-power-development/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/29/gas-power-ai-climate
Trump was asked about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping working to improve trade cooperation when his answer took a sudden turn. “It’s very dangerous for them to do that, and it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China,” Trump said. “Canada’s not doing well. They’re doing very poorly and you can’t look at China as the answer.”
“I know China very well, I know President Xi, he’s a friend of mine, I know him very well,” Trump said. “The first thing they’re gonna do is say you’re not allowed to play ice hockey anymore. That’s not good. Canada’s not gonna like that.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-canada-china-hockey-threat_n_697c2166e4b0c378a7de0e0d?origin=home-latest-news-unit
Money beg donation complete. In addition to my monthly sub. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
My corvid-loving self doesn’t love the crow-training guy. Leave the birds out of our mess; we’ve done enough polluting their environment. (Sorry, very grumpy here this morning and not amused by our tiresome species. I don’t except myself from this statement lol).
Thank you. Love my wonks.
There seems to be a lot of talk about human beings becoming immortal lately. The techbros and billionaires all seem caught up with it. The woo based supplement industrial complex is marketing their crap with it. The Ai industry is making bank by depicting hot and youthful nonagenarians running marathons and doing kung fu in spandex so that snake oil salesmen can con people.
Something about the whole public yearning for immortality smells fishy. I'll admit that my outlook has been tainted by my reading a lot of Science Fiction and Horror genre stuff. It is there that we find the mad scientists and evil wizards who will stop at nothing to avoid death. Doctor Frankenstein and Count Dracula are the best known examples of this immortality fetish being fundamentally wrong. Super-racist HP Lovecraft's worst monsters are particularly caught up with the pursuit of immortality.
If I was given to generalized declarations I would be tempted to say that wherever you find talk of human immortality you will be hearing it from an asshole mad scientist of a shitstain evil wizard. But I could be wrong.
Techbros need to read a basic neurology 101 textbook.
Agreed. What an absurd preoccupation. Contemplating death 5 times a day brings happiness. Bhutanese saying.
Who waits forever, anyway?
https://youtu.be/_Jtpf8N5IDE?si=CJy-jZFknBBOdVHO
CBS News is going to absolutely burn. I’d say crash and burn but it’s already crashing. My prediction is that in one years times 60 minutes will be gone.
I guess the best way to discredit something is to make it repulsive, then get it into the ground ASAP.
Ahh yes, everyman David Brooks is the perfect bridge between the $20 dollar a pour whiskey crowd and the $60 a pour whiskey crowd at Yale.
Gimme a fucking break. Despite all the raging about DEI, we’ve always had a robust jobs program for mediocre, entitled white guys to be overpaid to do nothing useful.
I was trying to think of someone who had really keen insight into the whole range of "society at large" who could help mend its rift with "the academy" and it is definitely David Brooks.
Chavez-DeRemer has been naughty. Trump can sure pick them!
"Grassley Probes Labor Secretary Over Misconduct Allegations
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is pressing Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to respond to allegations that she committed travel fraud and had an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, marking the first signs she could be losing support from key Republicans." (BGov)
Guess Grassley is rallying before the Big One.
Asked by a reporter this week whether it was appropriate for ICE agents to enter homes without judicial warrants, Grassley replied “Ask a constitutional lawyer, I’m a farmer.”
So he didn't read it before he took an oath to defend it.
It's literally the T&C of your job. Read the fine print, Chuck.
And high time he should be put out to pasture.
"...that cod liver oil can treat autism and that conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia can be reversed with the kind of nutritional supplements he also sells on his online store..."
Prove it, or no job hire.
What a wild coincidence that he sells the very quack cures he "studies"! The Guardian article mentions the long-term tech bro funding of many of these people.
Last one, I promise:
Link: https://www.dorktower.com/
Also pretty accurate
So now the Clinton's get subpoenaed? Jail time?
"House leaders are preparing to bring up for a floor vote resolutions to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for defying Oversight Committee subpoenas.
The panel wants to question the Clintons about disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Rather than appear for a deposition, the Clintons co-signed a letter to the committee’s chairman, writing, “If the government didn’t do all it could to investigate and prosecute these crimes, for whatever reason, that should be the focus of your work — to learn why and to prevent that from happening ever again. There is no evidence that you are doing so.”
The process of holding an individual in contempt of Congress usually requires a vote by the full House to direct the matter to the Justice Department. Two former Trump aides, Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon, served jail time after being held in contempt." (Bloomberg)
Ah, here's another strip, a bit more timely:
Link: https://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug
This sure seems accurate, too.