Lagardner

From a deformed dolphin taken in by sperm whales to a dog nursing a squirrel—learn why animals sometimes take care of others.

Bee colonies are weaker than ever. Are we doing enough to protect our natural pollinators?

Over at De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children, there’s an interesting post on “Rethinking El Cinco de Mayo.” An excerpt:

El Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in the US more than in Mexico, where these celebrations are common only in the state of Puebla, about 100 miles east of Mexico City. Naval forces from England, Spain and France had traveled to Mexico to collect on various financial debts. While England and Spain quickly settled their conflicts and left, France—assuming an easy victory and the establishment of a French colony in Mexico—stayed to fight. On May 5, 1862, the poorly armed and greatly outnumbered Mexican army rousted the occupying French forces. Although there is limited recognition of this holiday throughout Mexico, the Battle of Puebla remains a source of pride.

During the 1960s, civil rights protests and other activities were strengthening cultural ties between Mexicans, Mexican Americans and Chicana/os. More than 100 years after the Battle of Puebla, El Cinco de Mayo was embraced as a new US-Mexican holiday.

The post goes on to offer suggestions for how the holiday, which has been largely commercialized in the U.S. and associated with drinking alcohol and eating Mexican food, can be rethought in schools with an anti-oppression curriculum.

I was fascinated by this piece because it made me think, instantly, of St. Patrick’s Day. From what I understand, St. Patrick’s Day used to be celebrated mostly in the United States, not Ireland, but in recent years Ireland has taken to celebrating it too. And of course any American will tell you that St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S. is about drinking beer, and maybe eating some corned beef and cabbage on the side.

While Chinese New Year¹ hasn’t yet become synonymous with drinking, I’m starting to wonder if it’s going to get there sooner or later. I grew up in as a Chinese American in a predominantly white community in Colorado, and my experience with Chinese New Year is sort of disjointed.

When I was really little — maybe six or seven or younger — I remember being transfixed by videos sent from China of the lengthy Chinese New Year television specials that air every year there. I loved them. I know I didn’t understand everything (a lot of those shows involve comedy for adults), but I loved the singing and the costumes and seeing Chinese people on TV. And then at home on Chinese New Year, I’d get a red envelope with some money in it, and I think my mom would cook some nian gao, these thick rice noodles that are traditionally eaten on Chinese New Year. That was it.

Nian gao (Photo by Gary Soup)

I remember being kind of startled the first few times a white person wished me a “happy new year” on Chinese New Year. It was … weird. Because I didn’t really celebrate it; it was kind of like a hat-tip situation at my family’s house. It’s only recently that Chinese New Year has become a bigger deal in the U.S., and every year now I’m guaranteed to have somebody who’s not Chinese wish me a “happy new year” and say “gong hay fat choy” to me either online or in person.²

How long will it be until some Chinese liquor company decides to brand Chinese New Year in the U.S. with some ads for Tsingtao beer and potstickers? Oh, wait:

Helpful tip: “Just say Ching-Dow”

So, yeah, I think this plan is already underway. And that little helpful tip at the bottom of the ad, “Just say Ching-Dow,” is already an attempt by the Chinese beer manufacturer to make this holiday more accessible to non-Chinese Americans. Ultimately, what that does is make the holiday less about its traditional Chinese meaning and more about being American.

Similarly, Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day, while they might be rooted in other nations’ histories and cultures, have been thoroughly Americanized. I totally get the desire to change that — to make those events less commercialized and more historically rooted. But I can also see that they are ways for Americans to celebrate Americanness: a hat-tip to where we used to be from (Ireland, Mexico), while celebrating where we are now (in a bar in America, eating immigrant food).

I also understand that celebrating those holidays by eating Americanized immigrant foods can feel problematic to people who are closer to their immigrant roots. I mean, I have to struggle against being offended anytime someone near me wants to eat sweet and sour pork. But simultaneously, I think that the Americanization of ethnic foods is a powerful way to say: you are one of us now.

It doesn’t always feel right, of course. I have mixed feelings. But it’s interesting to think about.

1. I know it’s often referred to in the U.S. as Lunar New Year and it’s celebrated throughout Asia, not just China, but in this case I’m talking about my experience with the Chinese version.
2. Of course, I don’t speak Cantonese. But they don’t know that. They probably don’t even know that’s Cantonese.

The number of honeybees has now dwindled to the point where there may not be enough to pollinate some major U.S. crops, including almonds, blueberries and apples. And this year brought farmers closer than ever to a true pollination crisis.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Click to learn more and comment.

Professor Milgram, by the way, is the mascot of Small Peculiar’s opposition to “advanced imaging technology.” See why here.

Somali pirates have shut down crucial scientific research in the Indian Ocean off the Horn of Africa.

An assignment for Advanced Digital! We were supposed to make a gif portrait of a historical figure. I chose Julie d’Aubigny, 17th century swordsmaster and opera singer, responsible for the deaths of at least ten men in duels, and openly bisexual. After her lover was placed into a convent by the girl’s parents, d’Aubigny took the vows to enter the convent as a novice, then rescued her lover and set the convent on fire to cover their escape. Dang. 

Up until now, the U.S. has had the same rules for all oil pipelines. But the EPA says pipelines that carry tar sands oil, like the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, should have special standards. That's because tar sands oil spills can release harmful air pollution and are vastly more difficult to clean up than conventional oil spills.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Birds on a train, goats on a bus—see some of the weird ways animals get around.

laughingsquid:

Cat Wearing a Shark Costume Chases a Duckling While Riding a Roomba Vacuum

Study on macaque hierarchy finds that middle-ranking monkeys are more stressed, which may explain stress levels in some humans.