The Sunday Cat could favor panda cubs

though she remains very fond of chatting porcupines.

Panda Babies (video fron Nov. 3)

The cubs are unveiled at the Chengdu Panda Base in southwest China

Young Pandas (from from July 2012

Young pandas have been enjoying their first experience on a custom-built slide at China’s Chengdu Panda base. The pandas were filmed sliding down the wooden chute, rolling around in the grass and playing on specially designed climbing frames at the centre in southern China. The video was released to mark the first ever Panda Awareness Week. Pandas are one of the planet’s most endangered species. They are threatened by loss of habitat and poor breeding capabilities.

It’s about politics, not morality.

Says the one of the strategists who helped put the marriage amendment on the Minnesota ballot this year; the proposed amendment would amend the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Brodkorb was former Deputy Chairman of the State Republican Party and top Senate staffer, and says GOP Senators knew a driving force behind the gay marriage amendment wasn’t morality. It was political reality.

Top GOP leaders thought they couldn’t beat incumbent Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Republicans would stay home.

“The belief was, the United States senate race was not going to be close, and that Republicans needed and social conservatives needed a reason to get to the polls in November,” he said.

Dialogue’s 50th Anniversary Special Issue: Where Are the Women?

Members of the Canadian Philosophical Association receive a subscription to the journal, Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review, as part of their membership. Yesterday, all members were informed of a special on-line issue marking the occasion of Dialogue‘s 50th anniversary.  The editors “selected twelve articles from the journal’s archive which highlight the journal’s breadth and quality of research.” Not a single article by a female philosopher (Canadian or otherwise) made the cut. That’s not to say that women have never been published in this journal. But the final product suggests that the editors didn’t believe representing any of their work would help “highlight the journal’s breadth and quality of research.” The editors might want to have a look at the Gendered Conference Campaign blurb if they’re uncertain about why their oversight is harmful and misrepresentative of the discipline. There’s a lot more we could say about this, but right now “sigh!” is just about all I can muster.

Halo 4, Xbox Live, and all sorts of awesome

Kiki Wolfkill and Bonnie Ross, Halo 4 developers, talk about sexism in gaming and the responsibility of those in the industry. It’s a little thrilling for this to be so explicitly addressed by higher-ups (and that women are in charge of Halo 4!).