Inside the Asylum

This is kind of interesting. Previous experiments had seemed to confirm that hyper-aggressive males got more sex, cutting out the less aggressive ones, but this was only because experiments were conducted under conditions where the females couldn't move away from the area.

However, when the researchers opened gates between the chambers so they were all connected and the insects could range more freely, things changed. Females left areas where they were harassed and congregated in regions of the tank that had only non-aggressive males. As a group, those males had significantly more successful matings than did the hyperaggressive males...

"The naive view of Darwinian evolution is that it always favors the most savage, brutal and selfish behaviors. It doesn't -- and this is one example of that. In nature, groups of cooperative individuals are more successful than groups of selfish individuals."

OK, we're talking about water striders, but it certainly sounds like it might have broader significance. It would be interesting to see a study of human female mating choices comparing situations where the women felt like they had little chance to leave an area, compared to females who could easily relocate. Would the ease of female relocation have an impact on male behavior as well?

We've already had the stink about the tire tax Obama imposed on Chinese imports, which seriously annoyed the Chinese. So what can he do for an encore? I know ... another tariff on Chinese goods at the request of his union backers.

The US Commerce Department has imposed anti-dumping tariffs of up to 99 percent on imports of Chinese tubular goods."

As could be expected, the Chinese are less than impressed.

The Chinese commerce ministry said that China "firmly opposes the abuse of protectionism and will take measures to seriously protect the interests of the domestic industry." It called the US tariffs "discriminatory" steps that would "have a serious impact on the Chinese steel industry's exports."

So who is happy about it?

United Steelworkers (USW) union hailed the move as "an overdue message for thousands of American laid off workers that trade laws are being enforced."

There's a surprise.

Seriously ... the Obama Regime are a pack of moronic amateurs. Obama is going to China in less than two weeks. Couldn't they have at least waited? I guess they think the Chinese will be overwhelmed by Obama's sparkling personality? Good luck with that.

[Update] But wait: there's more! It's even worse than I thought.

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday it would impose punitive tariffs ranging from 2.02 percent to 437.73 percent on imports of steel wire decking from China.

And the Chinese come right out and say it: The United States is acting the part of the hypocrite.

It is hardly a week after Washington pledged actions against trade and investment protectionism at the 20th China-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) talks in China's eastern city of Hangzhou. The United States vowed to refrain from any new trade protectionism measures at the event...
Trade protectionism is a poison, which, if not properly handled, will reverse the first signs of world economic recovery. The United States, as the world's major economy, should take the lead in advocating responsible trade policies. Recent protectionist moves in the United States are closely linked to its sluggish economic growth and domestic political tussles, but a strong leader should have the guts to be more far-sighted and deliver the pledge he or she has made.

So to summarize: the Chinese government controlled Xinhua news agency has just said that Barack Obama is irresponsible, weak, gutless, short-sighted, a liar, doesn't understand economics, and is putting the recovery at risk. Those inscrutable orientals. It's so hard to figure out what they're thinking.

Further to Egyptian action against Lebanese hottie Wehbe, now they're getting worked up about Beyonce.

"Why are you encouraging this insolent sex party?" lawmaker Hamdi Hassan from the opposition Muslim Brotherhood wrote in a letter to the government. "You are accused of disturbing social peace and stability, encouraging vice and debauchery."
Another Islamic lawmaker, Ali Laban, called for banning the "nudity concert."
A Facebook campaign against Beyonce's concert collected nearly 10,000 supporters.
But the war of words has not derailed the glitzy concert, due hundreds of miles south of Cairo in the luxury Red Sea resort of Port Ghalib.

They're certainly doing a good job of promoting the event. Event organiser Ahmed Beltagi said

"We should salute her instead of criticising her," he said of the diva.

It seems he's in favor of insolent nude sex party concerts.

Those filthy disease ridden primates (homo sapiens) having been spreading pestilence left right and center. First they infect poor innocent pigs, and now a cat has caught swine flu. In Egypt they slaughtered the entire pig population because they were afraid they'd spread swine flu (with a bunch of unforeseen consequences which shows they didn't listen to Heinlein's warning about the dangers of indiscriminately killing hogs (and dragons)). When everyone was worried about Chicken Flu, they slaughtered two million chickens in Holland at least 1.4 million in Hong Kong, plus at least 80,000 in India, another 35,000 in England and who knows how many world-wide? Well, now those dirty primates have started spreading a flu virus across species, what are we going to do about it? Filthy creatures.