Dog vs. cat IQ death match

According to the Daily Beast, dog wins.

They are more intelligent than cats -- even if cats act like they're smarter.

I have to admit, I have mixed feelings about this.

On the whole, I think I'm probably more of a dog person than a cat person. (Although I'm allergic to both.)

I was bitten by a dog when I was a kid which pretty much soured me on dogs for my entire childhood. But, now that I'm less afraid (although not entirely cured) I like a dog's enthusiasm; I like their unqualified affection; I like the fact that a dog is accepting and loving.

Cats have way too much of a glib, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sort of attitude.

Many years ago, Ron Rosenbaum made the argument that this was actually a case for feline superiority -- you have to earn your cat's love. The fact that a dog will love anyone who feeds him makes their love essentially worthless. (My favorite line in the piece is, "After 11 years, I'm still not sure if I have the love or respect of my cat Stumpy.")

It's an interesting point... but I'm not sure pet/human relationships really should center around such things. You didn't buy a cat so that you could woo this cat into loving you, did you? Don't you just want to come home to something that holds you in high regard? Who is grateful for the food and water you put out? Who is happy to see you?

I mean, how much work is Rosenbaum really proposing putting into this relationship?

Always good for a punchline...

Another article worth a look in today's Sunday Times is Virginia Heffernan's piece about how Hitler's rant in the movie Downfall has been turned into a mini-sensation on youtube.

If you haven't seen the movie Downfall, it's basically about the final days of Hitler in a Berlin bunker. The movie uses as its primary source Joachim Fest's book, Inside Hitler's Bunker and Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich. (I haven't read Fest's book, but I can't imagine that it could improve upon the official British account by Hugh Trevor-Roper which was eventually published as The Last Days of Hitler. If you can get a hold of the Trevor-Roper book, buy it!)

To set the scene, all is pretty much lost. The Russian army is in the Berlin suburbs and will be in the city shortly. Hitler is meeting with his must trusted generals to discuss the situation. And somehow, this scene can be turned into really funny satire. How? Instead of translating Hitler accurately in the subtitles you sub in whatever you want.

I watched a few of these satires earlier this year and thought it was hysterical. The best one, of course, is Hillary Clinton discussing the fate of the superdelegates when it wasn't at all certain that she would concede defeat. Check it out!

Quote(s) of the day

From Ron Rosenbaum in Slate:

Need I suggest that those who spend time doing crossword puzzles (or sudoku)—uselessly filling empty boxes (a metaphor for some emptiness in their lives?)—could be doing something else that involves words and letters? It's called reading.

That line is nearly topped a few paragraphs later with this:

It suddenly occurred to me that things must be even worse for the newspaper business than I had imagined. Crosswords and sudoku may be all that holds up the bottom line. Truly, the last days are upon us: People apparently now buy the newsprint editions only because you can do the puzzles in them.

Ha! (And "Sigh!") For the record: I've always sucked at crossword puzzles. And Scrabble. But I'm not bad at charades. And I kick ass at Trivial Pursuit.