The earliest known records of domesticated elephants, which belonged to the Asian elephant species (Elephas maximus), tell of tamed elephants being used as beasts of burden at least 4,000 years ago during the Indus Valley civilisation (of the present-day region of Pakistan/India)
Tamed and domesticated are not the same thing. Taming can be done to an individual, domestication is a genetic change as a result of breeding for many generations.
I don't trust that source, especially since it use no sources and the date is obviously bogus. But it did motivate me to look into it a bit deeper, and I found this interesting and recent article that says there is some proof that elephants self-domesticated.
Self-domestication does make a lot of sense. Both for humans and the animals they closely interact with. I will resist claiming the domestication process for humans is either incomplete in a major way or reverting to it's former 'red in tooth and claw' format as physical interaction begins to wane. I'm just an old cynic and social evolution outruns physical evolution all the time.
I love today’s TAB’s gif. My lovely lady watches YouTube channels of elephant sanctuaries and those magnificent creatures are quite interesting both as herds and individuals. They have so much personality.
The GOP should be stripped of the elephant as their mascot since they are none of the things that elephants are: strong but gentle, intelligent, noble, and playful.
Coincidently, we at the dog park were having a discussion about the length of pregnancy in elephants. They win for the longest in mammals, around 22 months!
Watching those two pachyderms playfully wrestle made me think the R party chose their mascot wrongly and should have went with something like a botfly larvae.
The Republican party did not "choose" their mascot. It was pinned on them by cartoonist Thomas Nast, who depicted Republican voters as enraged stampeding elephants. (The Democrats did not choose the donkey either: that's from another Nast cartoon "A live jackass kicking a dead lion!" about a pointless Congressional committee investigation.)
"but John Fetterman’s gone around the fucking bend."
Maybe he's pursuing another Black jogger?
If only there had been signs that John Fetterman wasn't a good person, even though people got boners imagining him backhanding Republicans across the room. IF ONLY.
“Vimes found it better to look to Authority for orders and then filter those orders through a fine mesh of common sense, adding a generous scoop of creative misunderstanding and maybe even incipient deafness if circumstances demanded, because Authority rarely descended to street level.”
ME, VT, MA, CT and RI all signed onto that letter re: trans health care. New England united, except…way to go NH (my state).
On a related note, while all the surrounding states have increasing goals for percent of renewable energy in their power grids, NH currently has a bill in the State House to eliminate our pathetic single goal of 25%.
And yet we STILL continue to elect Democratic federal congressfolk. WTAF?
DOJ Is Not Charging Project Veritas Following Ashley Biden Diary Probe: Report
"The Justice Department has decided to not bring charges against anyone tied to Project Veritas following a lengthy probe into the right-wing group's efforts to obtain and publish a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, former President Joe Biden's daughter, The New York Times reports. James O'Keefe, the group's founder, is considered a Trump ally. It's unclear if their relationship played a role in the department's decision."
Worse yet, they fired the woman who was head of the Coast Guard (because she's a woman, obvs) and gave her three hours to vacate her official quarters.
I'm sorry that NBC News thinks you ought to see ads on their web site along with all the others they show you on teevee, but that was the nearest link I could find. Others say she got two weeks notice.
They can have any fucking government "they" want with no foreign policy or ability to attack Israel. Let's get the place fixed so people can live there...do you think they would have more governmental authority in Refugee or Prison camps?
Unrealistic expectations are part of Fetterman's logic here...
After Oct. 7 I believe a UN run area is best for a bit to rebuild, feed and care for and house the people and let the UN throw a little sand in Bibi's eye.
Still feeling sad and a little bleak after the last 2 years er... weeks of Trump, plus the news about Walter and Villago last night. Also heartened by the pushback against the Project 2025 insanity. Confusing times.
Slate: Pam Bondi Instructs Trump DOJ to Criminally Investigate Companies That Do DEI
"On Wednesday evening, newly installed Attorney General Pam Bondi sent staff in several divisions of the Department of Justice more than a dozen memos within a 15-minute span, laying out the agency’s new policies on issues ranging from reviving the death penalty, to targeting sanctuary cities, to enforcing a strict return-to-office policy.
One memo, headed with the subject line “ENDING ILLEGAL DEI AND DEIA DISCRIMINATION AND PREFERENCES,” instructs the Civil Rights Division, historically charged with protecting the rights of vulnerable minorities, and the Office of Legal Policy, to take a number of steps to attack any private companies that prioritize diverse workforces through DEIA programs. Bondi has given those departments a March 1 deadline to submit a report with their “recommendations” “to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including policies relating to DEI and DEIA.”
The memo then asks for a list of business “sectors of concern within the Department of Justice” and the “most egregious and discriminatory DEI and DEIA practitioners in each sector of concern.” It also asks for “litigation activities” and “other strategies” to target these private sector companies, evidently envisioning a coordinated, agency-wide onslaught that would divert many attorneys’ attention away from their normal areas of practice. Bondi says the DOJ will also be working with the Department of Education to make sure that universities are in compliance with the administration’s new anti-DEIA mandate.
Finally, and perhaps most shockingly, the memo implies that some private companies may face criminal penalties for DEIA initiatives. Specifically, Bondi requests that the plan from the Civil Rights Division and Office of Legal Policy include “specific steps or measures to deter the use of DEI and DEIA programs or principles,” as well as “proposals for criminal investigations and up to nine potential civil compliance investigations” of these companies within the “sectors of concern.” The memo specifically cites the section of Trump’s DEIA executive order targeting “publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars.” https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/pam-bondi-trump-doj-memo-prosecute-dei-companies.html
Two things, most important thing first--like so many here, I am just CRUSHED to hear that our Walter Wellstone and VDE are gone. I don't have words. They were both so very kind and smart and funny I miss them in my soul. My love to those who knew them. My love to you all, in fact. You are very important to me and make my life better.
*record scratch*
Totally different thing--I watched Rage Yam's appearance at the prayer breakfast because apparently I'm a crazy person. I hope we get a whole article here about how wingding he was, because there was a lot, and that weird droning when he's reading without understanding what's been written, mixed with his little asides and then HUGE departures. But one of the most HIM things was that he meandered into "spirit", like, "national spirit" and claimed that actually, now that he's back spirit is very high, and that it's "up 49 points", which is the highest "they've" ever seen in the history of that poll.
Also, after the assassination attempt (he as always left out that others were injured and killed) he claims that Don Jr's faith in God increased by 25%.
I did all I could to try to enjoy Emilia Perez and I could see some glimmers of why it’s lauded in the cinema community simply because of its ambition but to me it’s nothing special. And was kind of boring. I was done 40 minutes in really and I’ll sit through anything.
But to each their own. Maybe that it’s all in Spanish makes it harder to connect and that being said I can see why it might win best foreign film but to win best picture? Yeah, no.
Apparently the Actor has made a bunch of racist and problematic comments and the French director stoked the enmity of Mexicans because there are no Mexicans involved in the filming (which was in France) and they think the plot/story is stereotypical.
The way the Trans transition is handled has the individual abandoning their family, which they say is a harmful trope.
i don't know if I will watch it...What do other Wonks think?
Your dirty, dirty hed gif info link: https://open.substack.com/pub/martiniambassador/p/mom-gets-muddy
And meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/2493a231-a1c6-47ed-bcce-8bb724eb46a8?utm_source=share
It struck me seeing this morning’s gif that elephants have a matriarchal social structure. Such smart creatures! ;)
Ah, nice trunkation.
If you haven't checked this out, you should get a load of our newest addition to the zoo in Portland: https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/2025/02/oregon-zoos-new-elephant-baby-is-really-keeping-mom-on-her-toes.html
I wanna see the vid of the baby butting the camera!
Enjoy! https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/lifestyle/oregon-zoo-debuts-its-newest-star-a-baby-elephant/vi-AA1yoa6l?t=4
I bet they're tough on the furniture, elephants...
Critters at play delight me, spontaneous smiles help people live happier
Elephants have dangly snoots
For probosci are they known
As babies they are awfully cute
But just wait till they get grown.
I'd like to go adopt one
But that would be insane
I saw one plopping at the zoo
They cannot be housetrained.
Some have been trained to track poachers
Talk about landmines.
Use one or two "landmines" to fertilize your golf course.
They cannot be housetrained? I'm not so sure about that.
But step one would be domestication and apparently that hasn't happened yet.
Indian elephants have been domesticated for a long time. But they are still definitely outdoor pets.
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-domestication-of-elephants
The earliest known records of domesticated elephants, which belonged to the Asian elephant species (Elephas maximus), tell of tamed elephants being used as beasts of burden at least 4,000 years ago during the Indus Valley civilisation (of the present-day region of Pakistan/India)
Tamed and domesticated are not the same thing. Taming can be done to an individual, domestication is a genetic change as a result of breeding for many generations.
I don't trust that source, especially since it use no sources and the date is obviously bogus. But it did motivate me to look into it a bit deeper, and I found this interesting and recent article that says there is some proof that elephants self-domesticated.
https://www.sciencealert.com/wild-elephants-seem-to-have-been-domesticated-but-not-by-humans
Self-domestication does make a lot of sense. Both for humans and the animals they closely interact with. I will resist claiming the domestication process for humans is either incomplete in a major way or reverting to it's former 'red in tooth and claw' format as physical interaction begins to wane. I'm just an old cynic and social evolution outruns physical evolution all the time.
I completey agree that humans are not "reverting", you would notice. The visible/phenotypical changes of domestication are not small.
Oh, this made me giggle, thank you!
LOL! But think how handy a house elephant would be for reaching things up on high shelves.
You can "symbolically" adopt one with a donation to the World Wildlife Fund. That seems to be the best adoption option.
I guess I’ll have to keep using step-ladders 😞
You'd need it anyway, to change your elephant's diapers. Careful with that safety pin...
I had to get creative to dissuade my father and older sister from stepping on chairs (!) To reach the top of the china cabinet.
Or get a tall friend.
Pretty petite pachyderm!
I love today’s TAB’s gif. My lovely lady watches YouTube channels of elephant sanctuaries and those magnificent creatures are quite interesting both as herds and individuals. They have so much personality.
The GOP should be stripped of the elephant as their mascot since they are none of the things that elephants are: strong but gentle, intelligent, noble, and playful.
The large piles of manure track, though.
Coincidently, we at the dog park were having a discussion about the length of pregnancy in elephants. They win for the longest in mammals, around 22 months!
This kiddo is worth it!
Cue the Henry Mancini.
"Hatari!"
Yes! It was in that movie (perhaps written for it?) and on the sound track album. My dad had it way back in the 60's!
It was one of the themes in the movie.
Babby elephant crawling over the head of the big elephant, omg the squee!!!
That was damned delightful. They're happy as pigs in mud.
That gif reminded of the Babar books I read when a youngster. Good memories.
I sometimes think it’s a difficult thing to be cuter ‘n an babby elephant.
Watching those two pachyderms playfully wrestle made me think the R party chose their mascot wrongly and should have went with something like a botfly larvae.
The Republican party did not "choose" their mascot. It was pinned on them by cartoonist Thomas Nast, who depicted Republican voters as enraged stampeding elephants. (The Democrats did not choose the donkey either: that's from another Nast cartoon "A live jackass kicking a dead lion!" about a pointless Congressional committee investigation.)
Now, look, when my great-grandfather was one of the founders of the party, it was different from the fascist horror it has become.
Brainworm?
Now there's an idea!
Wait’ll ya see *this*…
https://www.hereisoregon.com/experiences/2025/02/today-show-calls-oregon-zoo-elephant-calf-cutest-animal-of-2025-move-over-moo-deng.html
Ohhh, that babby fuzz.
What a precious pachyderm!
So teeny!
Happy heffalump wrassling!
WHAR WOOZLES?
Elephants are noble animals. repubs aren't worthy to have them as a mascot.
Their new mascot is the Maggot.
For the Democrats I propose the Sloth.
I second both motions.
Fair.
Certainly not at this point.
couldn't.agree.more
And they're intelligent, too, need I say more?
The Onion nails it again.
"but John Fetterman’s gone around the fucking bend."
Maybe he's pursuing another Black jogger?
If only there had been signs that John Fetterman wasn't a good person, even though people got boners imagining him backhanding Republicans across the room. IF ONLY.
“Vimes found it better to look to Authority for orders and then filter those orders through a fine mesh of common sense, adding a generous scoop of creative misunderstanding and maybe even incipient deafness if circumstances demanded, because Authority rarely descended to street level.”
― Terry Pratchett, Night Watch
ME, VT, MA, CT and RI all signed onto that letter re: trans health care. New England united, except…way to go NH (my state).
On a related note, while all the surrounding states have increasing goals for percent of renewable energy in their power grids, NH currently has a bill in the State House to eliminate our pathetic single goal of 25%.
And yet we STILL continue to elect Democratic federal congressfolk. WTAF?
HuffPost (referencing NYT):
DOJ Is Not Charging Project Veritas Following Ashley Biden Diary Probe: Report
"The Justice Department has decided to not bring charges against anyone tied to Project Veritas following a lengthy probe into the right-wing group's efforts to obtain and publish a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, former President Joe Biden's daughter, The New York Times reports. James O'Keefe, the group's founder, is considered a Trump ally. It's unclear if their relationship played a role in the department's decision."
Bring back the Fetterman who pwned Dr. Oz during his campaign. I don’t care for this Fetterman atall.
I would visit the SoFi Lincoln Memorial.
Worse yet, they fired the woman who was head of the Coast Guard (because she's a woman, obvs) and gave her three hours to vacate her official quarters.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-administration-evicts-former-coast-guard-linda-fagan-3-hours-rcna190820
I'm sorry that NBC News thinks you ought to see ads on their web site along with all the others they show you on teevee, but that was the nearest link I could find. Others say she got two weeks notice.
I’m betting she got zero notice.
Because dignity is only for Trump's donors.
"Palestinians for years have ‘refused or have been unwilling to deliver a government that provided security and economic development for themselves.’”
He's not wrong here...
We need an answer that circumvents this....UN Control as a Protectorate for a decade, perhaps...?
I guess I don't understand why it is that WE get to decide what kind of government they have. Can we do that everywhere?
They can have any fucking government "they" want with no foreign policy or ability to attack Israel. Let's get the place fixed so people can live there...do you think they would have more governmental authority in Refugee or Prison camps?
Unrealistic expectations are part of Fetterman's logic here...
After Oct. 7 I believe a UN run area is best for a bit to rebuild, feed and care for and house the people and let the UN throw a little sand in Bibi's eye.
Still feeling sad and a little bleak after the last 2 years er... weeks of Trump, plus the news about Walter and Villago last night. Also heartened by the pushback against the Project 2025 insanity. Confusing times.
Someone posted Schuman's Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 last night, and its yearning sad beauty had me in tears: https://youtu.be/VLR7s8Rq7Dw?si=wQwl9XsnBOQRjyYn
And this one too, has been running through my mind: The Great Mandella, by Peter Paul and Mary:
https://youtu.be/C12SwHLtAAg?si=HB1tquz29YnPs_vf
The last verse:
Tell the people they are safe now
Hunger stopped him, he lies still in his cell.
Death has gagged his accusations
.
We are free now, we can kill now,
We can hate now, now we can end the world
We're not guilty, he was crazy
And it's been going on for ten thousand years!
.
Take your place on The Great Mandala
As it moves through your brief moment of time.
Win or lose now you must choose now
And if you lose you've only wasted your life.
Slate: Pam Bondi Instructs Trump DOJ to Criminally Investigate Companies That Do DEI
"On Wednesday evening, newly installed Attorney General Pam Bondi sent staff in several divisions of the Department of Justice more than a dozen memos within a 15-minute span, laying out the agency’s new policies on issues ranging from reviving the death penalty, to targeting sanctuary cities, to enforcing a strict return-to-office policy.
One memo, headed with the subject line “ENDING ILLEGAL DEI AND DEIA DISCRIMINATION AND PREFERENCES,” instructs the Civil Rights Division, historically charged with protecting the rights of vulnerable minorities, and the Office of Legal Policy, to take a number of steps to attack any private companies that prioritize diverse workforces through DEIA programs. Bondi has given those departments a March 1 deadline to submit a report with their “recommendations” “to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including policies relating to DEI and DEIA.”
The memo then asks for a list of business “sectors of concern within the Department of Justice” and the “most egregious and discriminatory DEI and DEIA practitioners in each sector of concern.” It also asks for “litigation activities” and “other strategies” to target these private sector companies, evidently envisioning a coordinated, agency-wide onslaught that would divert many attorneys’ attention away from their normal areas of practice. Bondi says the DOJ will also be working with the Department of Education to make sure that universities are in compliance with the administration’s new anti-DEIA mandate.
Finally, and perhaps most shockingly, the memo implies that some private companies may face criminal penalties for DEIA initiatives. Specifically, Bondi requests that the plan from the Civil Rights Division and Office of Legal Policy include “specific steps or measures to deter the use of DEI and DEIA programs or principles,” as well as “proposals for criminal investigations and up to nine potential civil compliance investigations” of these companies within the “sectors of concern.” The memo specifically cites the section of Trump’s DEIA executive order targeting “publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars.” https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/pam-bondi-trump-doj-memo-prosecute-dei-companies.html
How long until she starts prosecuting abolitionists and re-authorizes slave patrols? And addresses the threat of women working outside the home?
Protest pics from yesterday. 50 protests, 50 states
https://dougporter.substack.com/p/photo-essay50-protests-50-states
I went to Daily Kos and they had no coverage of this at all that I could see...that ship is sinking....
Two things, most important thing first--like so many here, I am just CRUSHED to hear that our Walter Wellstone and VDE are gone. I don't have words. They were both so very kind and smart and funny I miss them in my soul. My love to those who knew them. My love to you all, in fact. You are very important to me and make my life better.
*record scratch*
Totally different thing--I watched Rage Yam's appearance at the prayer breakfast because apparently I'm a crazy person. I hope we get a whole article here about how wingding he was, because there was a lot, and that weird droning when he's reading without understanding what's been written, mixed with his little asides and then HUGE departures. But one of the most HIM things was that he meandered into "spirit", like, "national spirit" and claimed that actually, now that he's back spirit is very high, and that it's "up 49 points", which is the highest "they've" ever seen in the history of that poll.
Also, after the assassination attempt (he as always left out that others were injured and killed) he claims that Don Jr's faith in God increased by 25%.
Thank you for your concern- it was at the Boise 50/50/1 protest yesterday.
Check my Substack for Notes and you can see the segment.
Hey, Bae, hope you are well....
Hanging in there--hope all's well with you too, my friend!
It's been rough, but I was on TV yesterday on the news...
I hope it was for a good reason and not something awful--were you nervous? Did they interview you or were you on the scene of something?
Here it is
https://substack.com/@gary7seven/note/c-91409251?r=r437l&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Gotta have my Tab's and Coffee in the morning ☕💯👍
I did all I could to try to enjoy Emilia Perez and I could see some glimmers of why it’s lauded in the cinema community simply because of its ambition but to me it’s nothing special. And was kind of boring. I was done 40 minutes in really and I’ll sit through anything.
But to each their own. Maybe that it’s all in Spanish makes it harder to connect and that being said I can see why it might win best foreign film but to win best picture? Yeah, no.
Apparently the Actor has made a bunch of racist and problematic comments and the French director stoked the enmity of Mexicans because there are no Mexicans involved in the filming (which was in France) and they think the plot/story is stereotypical.
The way the Trans transition is handled has the individual abandoning their family, which they say is a harmful trope.
i don't know if I will watch it...What do other Wonks think?