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A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

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Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Friday Evening Open Thread: ‘Asymetric Bias’

Friday Evening Open Thread: ‘Asymetric Bias’

by | 132 Comments

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gop reloading toles

(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)

.

Make of this what you will:

When dogs wag their tails, they can convey not just happiness but a wide array of emotions. As Italian researchers reported in 2007, a wag to the left indicates negative emotions; a wag to the right indicates positive ones.

Now the same team of scientists has found that no one knows this better than other dogs.

In a new study reported in the journal Current Biology, the researchers had dogs watch videos of other dogs wagging their tails. When watching a tail wag to the left, the dogs showed signs of anxiety, like a higher heart rate. When the tail went in the opposite direction, they remained calm…

***************

What’s on the agenda for the start of the weekend?

Reader Interactions

132Comments

  1. 1.

    aimai

    I totally do not believe this. I’m sorry, but I don’t. Not that dogs don’t have ways of signaling distress or pleasure, but the tail wagging to the left or right.

  3. 3.

    PsiFighter37

    Went for a run – it’s a very temperate day to start off November in NYC – but I really wish I hadn’t eaten Chipotle for lunch.

    Aside from that – taking it easy. It’s marathon weekend here, so may drop by Central Park Sunday to check it out.

  4. 4.

    gbear

    a wag to the left indicates negative emotions; a wag to the right indicates positive ones.

    I blame Obama.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    the researchers had dogs watch videos of other dogs wagging their tails

    Sounds similar to my agenda for the weekend.

  6. 6.

    scav

    I’m rather enjoying the image of the wild mood swings of most dogs I meet. Happysadhappysadhappysadhappysadcroctchcrochcrotchhappysad!

  7. 7.

    ranchandsyrup

    Our cattle dog reserves his circular tail wag for the people he really likes.

    Family coming into town to see the baby. Going on a kayak adventure with my lovely wife (and the cattle dog too) on Sunday for my bday (while family babysits). Haven’t gotten out in a while so really looking forward to it.

  8. 8.

    Suffern ACE

    I guess I should run my own experiments, but I’d have a tough time explaining to the partner why I was spending so much time away from home lookng for some tails, I might as well just believe these scientists.

  15. 15.

    Ben Franklin

    Haven’t heard any newsreaders cry ‘The Banshee screams for Buffalo Meat’ as yet. The LAX shooter is from NJ, but it would be geographically convenient if something happened on the West Coast.

    Aurora, Newtown and Boston didn’t move the needle enough in California for Jerry Brown to sign the assault-weapon ban.

    What do we have to do to make gunz Public Enemy #1.?

  16. 16.

    Anne Laurie

    @gbear: I figure it’s like heraldry (says the former SCA nerd) — if the dog facing you wags ‘to the right’, you see his tail going left, correct?

  17. 17.

    WereBear

    lolwut?

    Every dog I have known wags both ways! What the heck? Where do we categorize the tail wagging so hard the whole behind swings?

    In other news, I have joined NaNoWriMo. Under the user name WayofCats. Do something with me… I guess.

    It’s my first try.

  19. 19.

    Quicksand

    Which side of the dog do I need to be standing on for this to work? Is this from my perspective or the dog’s perspective?

    I NEED ANSWERS!

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    @WereBear:

    I enjoyed NaNoWriMo the one time I did it but, sadly, my carpal tunnels did not. :-( They just can’t keep up with the volume required.

    For folks who do it, don’t forget to check for local events in your area — there were some fun ones with prizes in my neck of the woods.

  21. 21.

    Anoniminous

    fuckitydamnshitfuck.

    The next leg of the long voyage was from Osaka to San Francisco and for most of that trip the desolation was tinged with nauseous horror and a degree of fear. “After we left Japan, it felt as if the ocean itself was dead,” Macfadyen said. “We hardly saw any living things. We saw one whale, sort of rolling helplessly on the surface with what looked like a big tumour on its head. It was pretty sickening. “I’ve done a lot of miles on the ocean in my life and I’m used to seeing turtles, dolphins, sharks and big flurries of feeding birds. But this time, for 3000 nautical miles there was nothing alive to be seen.” In place of the missing life was garbage in astounding volumes. “Part of it was the aftermath of the tsunami that hit Japan a couple of years ago. The wave came in over the land, picked up an unbelievable load of stuff and carried it out to sea. And it’s still out there, everywhere you look.”

  22. 22.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    a wag to the left indicates negative emotions; a wag to the right indicates positive ones.

    Yes but everyone knows that the tail is actually wagging the dog. Thus, if a tail wags to the left, the dog is actually wagging to the right. Since everyone also knows that it’s moving to the right that causes anxiety and negative emotions, this all sounds plausible to me.

  24. 24.

    KG

    @Ben Franklin: honestly? Probably something none of us would want… Like a high profile assassination attempt. That got us the Brady Bill

    Or a homegrown terrorist/militia group going on a wide range spree. Then again the DC sniper didn’t do that in the aftermath of 9/11… So who knows?

  27. 27.

    Chaoticgnome

    I’m ordering some pizza for the evening but the website isn’t accepting the coupon code I have. Clearly this pizzeria is a train wreck and needs to be razed to the ground

  28. 28.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    D’oh. Too late to edit. Didn’t read thread before posting.

    Or, TLTE, and DRTBP.

    Oh and GMTA, and other appropriate initials.

  30. 30.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @gbear: Known as the Broder-Zeno paradox. No matter how far you move in the direction of the Republicans, you will always be halfway from the center. On the left of course.

  34. 34.

    shelly

    Never knew about this side-to-side thing. I always put stock in the height of the tail. Tail curled up, high and jaunty. Everything’s A-OK.
    Tail starting to droop downward. Uh-oh. Disturbance In The Force.
    Tail tucked tight between the legs. May-Day! May-Day!

  37. 37.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @KG:

    I think not even that. Even if it was a tea party hero like Cruz or Bachmann that was killed (and I do mean killed: “attempt” doesn’t move the needle) they’d just blame it all on The Enemy and discuss the need for MOAR GUNZ to defend themselves.

    Remember (although I’d rather not), this is the country that saw 17 kindergarteners murdered by a crazy man who stole his mother’s legally-owned .223 (and killed her with it) and was still too fucking scared of the NRA to do anything. Even anything purely symbolic.

    When I think about anything that could possibly create demand strong enough for gun regulations that the NRA couldn’t to stop it, I think it have to include the phrase “hundreds dead”. Maybe right-wing extremist terrorists hijacking a DC-area train (the sort of train that politicians and Villagers would take, say), systematically killing everyone onboard, and saying that their motive was to directly attack and spread fear throughout the home city of the Federal government. And maybe? Maybe not even then.

  39. 39.

    Adam Lang

    I’ve been watching for the tail thing with the dogs I meet (and I meet a LOT of dogs, in the course of my blog-related activities) and I have thus far been unable to discern a pattern. Although I do find that I can almost always tell what the mood of a dog is, and I often do not know what cues I’m actually relying on. So there’s that.

  40. 40.

    BGinCHI

    @ranchandsyrup: Righteous rant:

    It is time for me to walk out of the airport now. I am leaving behind a terrible event. But I am not leaving behind something accidental. I am leaving behind what America has determined must happen from time to time, if we are to be a free people. I am leaving behind what America has determined is part of the cost of being an American. I am leaving behind the blood that I am told I must accept as part of the price of being a member of a free society. I am leaving behind a place of death, and I am joining my fellow citizens, as we make an odd pilgrimage out of a place that is now another altar of the blood sacrifice that I am told we must make, regularly, in order to be truly free. I am a free citizen, I am told, of the Republic of Murder, my rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Moloch. I am leaving.

  44. 44.

    Adam Lang

    @Spaghetti Lee: ‘Hundreds of RICH PEOPLE dead.’

    I am not looking forward to watching a gang of right-wing gun nuts running rampant through San Francisco, killing everyone in sight, and not just because I’m not unlikely to be one of the victims. But, even with the conservative ‘they deserved it for living in San Francisco’ line, it could well be the only thing that actually sparks real gun reform.

  45. 45.

    ranchandsyrup

    @BGinCHI: I agree with him that we have chosen insanity over reason, with our eyes wide open.

    ETA: I linked to Pierce’s piece on FB. A robust discussion arose about whether it is appropriate or not to link to the thoughts of others including exhortations to me to think for myself.

  47. 47.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @BGinCHI: I just remember everything we learned about signalling that month, I wonder if they’ll discover that it means something if you tap with the left or the right foot.

  49. 49.

    R-Jud

    It’s my birthday for about 35 more minutes. I have had a very pleasant day and a lot of very pleasant Champagne. I have also finished off what little Halloween candy we had. This house is clean.

  51. 51.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Tweety just said, in a response to a “when will moderate republicans step up” question from Twitter, he actually said “I think it’s up to Democrats to find deals moderate Republicans can accept”

    David Broder will never die.

  55. 55.

    Hill Dweller

    The wingnuts filibustered another Obama Circuit Court nominee, and a sitting congressman’s nomination for the first time in 170 years. They also let food stamp funding for millions of Americans. The Beltway couldn’t be bothered to mention it.

  56. 56.

    jacy

    @WereBear:

    Hey, I’m doing NaNoWriMo for the first official time too. Hopefully it’ll be the kick in the butt I need to finish the most recent novel I’ve been writing on and off (mostly off). I tried to find your name, but the search engine snubbed me. I’m under KeriKnutson if you want to connect.

  57. 57.

    Dee Loralei

    @WereBear: We can be buddies over there! I’m Dee Loralei. I’m in Mainstream Fiction, what about you?

    Jacy, I’ll look for you too.

  58. 58.

    Hungry Joe

    Weekend agenda:

    Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.*
    A Dinosaur Victrola
    list’ning to Buck Owens
    Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ out my back door.

    * Actually succulents and DG, but you get the idea.

  63. 63.

    Roxy

    Which left and which right was the scientists studying the wagging. Was it in front of the dog they were observing the wagging or behind the dog? You know this could really change what left and what right means.

  69. 69.

    Litlebritdiftrnt

    Skeeter has a tail, Flossie does not, being a pure bred boxer. I have to say that there is probably a good reason that Boxers tails are docked, they are a lethal weapon. They are hugely strong and if you get whacked with it you can suffer injuries. They can knock anything and anything off any surface, smack a cat in the face to the point of injury and wander around the house waving the flag of defiance.

    I am worried for my babies going into Kennels for the first time. I have chosen the nicest place in town (and most expensive of course) but I am concerned that they will somehow think they are being punished. They will be in an indoor/outdoor kennel together, and will be fed well and taken care of but I cannot help but think they are going to be miserable. I really hope that they don’t hate me for it.

  70. 70.

    cckids

    @PurpleGirl: I have a soft spot for Hal; he’s just such a little energizer bunny. Reminds me of my daughter!

    ETA: And Glados has to be one of the most beautiful cats I’ve ever seen.

  71. 71.

    Trooptrap Tripetrope

    I’m semi-impressed that they somehow compelled dogs to pay attention to a television screen.

  73. 73.

    pseudonymous in nc

    America’s pastime has devolved into “crazy white guy shooter or crazy brown guy shooter?”

    Which never questions whether the whole “crazy guy shooter” thing is actually the problem.

  74. 74.

    Mnemosyne

    @Litlebritdiftrnt:

    One time, we had to put two of our cats (the now-late Boris and Natasha) at the vet’s for boarding for the week, which they hated. When we got back from our trip, we brought them back to the apartment, let them out of their carriers, and Boris (as was his tendency) fell asleep.

    At one point, he woke up, looked around, and we could actually see him thinking, Wait, I’m at home! It was all just a horrible dream! And he fell back asleep, purring hard.

    IOW, your dogs probably will barely remember it happening once you get back and bring them home again. They’ll be fine.

  75. 75.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @ranchandsyrup: My dad has an expression he inherited from his dad, “You talk like a boy with a paper ass.” I once asked him, not immediately after it was directed at me, what the expression meant. He said, “I have no idea, but does it sound like something you want to be?” It was usually used in response to a less than adequate and/or patently unbelievable explanation for some action or inaction on my part.

  76. 76.

    ranchandsyrup

    @Omnes Omnibus: That is outstanding Omnes. My office mates asked why I’m laughing so much. Thx.

    Related: When I was a young redneck, I asked my mom if I could get my hair cut with a “rat tail”, rat tails being in fashion at the time in our burgh. She told me to ask my dad. He answered, “Do you want to look like a horse’s ass?” I did not get a rat tail. I went mullet instead.

  77. 77.

    Anne Laurie

    @Litlebritdiftrnt:

    I am worried for my babies going into Kennels for the first time. I have chosen the nicest place in town (and most expensive of course) but I am concerned that they will somehow think they are being punished. They will be in an indoor/outdoor kennel together, and will be fed well and taken care of but I cannot help but think they are going to be miserable. I really hope that they don’t hate me for it.

    Think of it as the doggie equivalent of summer camp. (I know that is probably a very American concept, but you can look it up.) Your dogs will be very, very miserable for the brief period until their attention is distracted (look! treats! other dogs!) and then they will be very busy enjoying all the new experiences until you return. At which point they will tell you, in all sincerity, that they’ve done nothing but suffer & mourn forever! ! ! since you so cruelly abandoned them. But they will still have happy memories of “camp” to share.

  78. 78.

    Redshift

    Ah, executives and numbers… (via USA Toady):

    During the first few weeks of Healthcare.gov’s launch, people waited an average of eight seconds for each page to load.

    As of yesterday, they’re waiting less than one second, the Obama administration reported Friday.

    “This is more than an 80% improvement,” said Jeffrey Zients, the former Office of Management and Budget deputy director brought in to manage the site’s upgrades.

    I’m guessing he calculated “7/8 less is 87.5% better, right?” Sigh. It’s more than eight times as fast, a 700% improvement.

  80. 80.

    TrishB

    Doggie owners: How do you know it’s time? How much sleeping, just standing and staring before you figure this out (from the pup)? Pepper had an overnight at the vet for iv fluids and some glucose monitoring. Today, she’s miserable because she (herself) removed both the first and second catheter, which of course hurts (like hell). But no more Deramaxx for pain, because the liver enzymes were crazy. However this is all better than her worst possible. She’s blind (cataracts, KSC, glaucoma), she’s diabetic (insulin shots 2x/day, special kibble), Oh, and I didn’t mention the whole Cushing’s disease thing, which complicates the diabetes and any healing she may need. Oh, and adds a chemo type drug.

    These are all manageable diseases, but as Pepper approaches 13, I know she’s very, very old 13 for a schnauzer.She still seems happy to have time out in breezy sunlight and time with me.

    Thanks for any response. The family has all of its collective heads up its collective orifices at this point (for good reason), so I can’t poke raw spots with them. Yeah, Pepper’s about to be 13, ya know?

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    It was a crappy week — not just stressful, but we had three family member deaths at our division, including my boss’s elderly mother.

    I am looking forward to going home, making meat and potatoes for dinner, and having a glass of wine. Or two. Or three.

  83. 83.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @TrishB: If the dog is in pain and not enjoying life and the condition can’t be fixed or managed. How you figure that, though, is tough. The only time I have had to deal with it was with a 12 y/o English cocker. He had been healthy, just sleeping more and going slightly deaf, as he aged until his kidneys failed. The vet tried the options available and none worked. It was very obvious in our case when it was time. Other cases, I am sure, are less clear. My sympathies for your situation.

  84. 84.

    Hill Dweller

    Pierce was also pretty good on the Wingnuts in the senate obstructing Obama’s nominees:

    Right now, the entire Republican party — and not just its Tea Party wing — is demonstrating quite clearly that no Democratic president ever is going to be allowed to govern as a Democrat as long as the Republican party exists on a national level. Period. Refusing to give Mel Watt a vote to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency is the very beau ideal of Republican obstructionism — it’s a minor office and the candidate is an African American. You can’t get more Republican than that. Oh, yes, and the opposition is led by cowards and liars.

  85. 85.

    WereBear

    @TrishB: Dogs don’t have the “looking forward” thing we do. When they suffer in the NOW, it’s a long long time.

    For me, a higher mammal pet who has 20% of their time in misery?

    That’s too much.

  87. 87.

    Dee Loralei

    @TrishB: I’m so sorry. It’s always a huge wrenching decision. I let a cat go too long because I couldn’t say goodbye. I’ve been kicking myself ever since after that.

  92. 92.

    Dee Loralei

    @satby: Great what’s your name over there?

    I’m still getting either the error message page or not found reply. Maybe if we try by novel title?

  93. 93.

    sphex

    @aimai:
    These findings are actually based on some really cool and elegant science, and I totally buy it. Since first reading the original study, I’ve definitely noted it in my Australian Cattle Dog. It’s subtle, but it’s there.

    @Adam Lang:
    It’s a small difference, but definitely visible, especially in the smaller wags. I’ve noticed it’s easier for me to “see” in dogs I know well.

    @Quaker in a Basement:
    The dog’s right for positive, the dog’s left for skeptical/negative. One hypothesis for the reason underlying it is that the left hemisphere (which controls the right side of the body) may be more involved in positive emotions (in humans there is evidence supporting this), while the right hemisphere (which controls the left side of the body) is more involved in negative emotions. So the asymmetrical tail wags could be driven by more activation of one hemisphere over the other.

    @WereBear: It IS both ways (back and forth), but with an emphasis towards one side or the other.

    @Mike E: They have the persistance of vision (although I’m not sure I understand what that means), but what they have is a faster flicker-fusion rate, meaning that they see “faster” than we do. So some TV might look more like “flip-book” motion to them (like a bunch of stills rapidly presented) rather than the “smooth” motion we see. But still enough to infer movement. I haven’t read the original study yet (I will!), but it’s possible that the researchers took this into account and presented the dogs with movies that contained more frames per second than would be required for *us* to see smooth movement.

    / geekdom. I’m a cognitive scientist, and I find dog cognition to be super cool. If you do too, you might like Alexandra Horowitz’s book “Inside of a Dog”. :)

  95. 95.

    TrishB

    @Omnes Omnibus: Thanks to you and the others who replied. Pepper has been my best buddy for 13 years now, so it’s very, very difficult to decide when to call time. Hey, she lasted longer than any vet thought she would, she lasted longer than my marriage – and she’s the best thing I grabbed from that crap situation.

  98. 98.

    ruemara

    The last baby goes on his flight Monday, 7 a.m. We are in extended cuddle marathon sessions. Luckily, he’s not the brightest light in the sky.

  99. 99.

    hildebrand

    Feeling exceptionally grumpy, I applied for a position for which I was very well qualified – right in my field, perfect fit,I have pumped out a good number of articles over the last two years, great teaching evaluations from students and peers, blah, blah, blah – and received the standard rejection letter today. Didn’t even make it to the interview stage. Bah. Really seriously thinking of giving up on ever landing an academic job. Time to start looking for a position in the ‘real world’, I guess.

  100. 100.

    Dee Loralei

    @TrishB: Oh honey, that even makes it a wee bit sadder still. When I met with my divorce atty I said I only had to have 3 things out of the divorce, my son, my dog Paisley and my car. I got her the first Christmas after we got married and she was my son’s “big sister”. We had to have her put down 7 years or so after that, when she was 15+, which is damned old for a chow. That day I told my son he was the only thing I had left to prove I was ever married.

  102. 102.

    satby

    @TrishB: Trish,If Pepper is miserable and at the vets constantly it may just be time. I think we tend to hang on too long to a suffering pet too often too, I know I have because it is so hard to admit it may be time. But if you think it is, and there’s no real hope for a better life then it probably is time. So sorry, but she knows how much you love her, and at 13 she’s had a long and happy life with her people and that is heaven on earth for a dog. Best wishes to you all.

  103. 103.

    satby

    @TrishB: Trish, if Pepper is miserable and at the vets constantly it may just be time. I think we tend to hang on too long to a suffering pet too long as well; I know I have because it is so hard to admit it may be time. But if you think it is, and there’s no real hope for a better life then it probably is time. So sorry, but she knows how much you love her, and at 13 she’s had a long and happy life with her people and that is heaven on earth for a dog. Best wishes to you all.

  106. 106.

    satby

    @Dee Loralei: same name, Darby. I’m in Scotland at the moment and just realized what day it is, so signed up today. I may not even be active yet. I’ll look for all of you too. I’m gonna need all the encouragement I can get!

  107. 107.

    Dee Loralei

    @satby: excuse me for being blonde, but your sn here is satby, so how can it be the same name as Darby? Do you have a title yet? That might be easier, because I got about 20 hits for Darby.

  113. 113.

    Dee Loralei

    @satby: the only thing under satby I’m seeing is a book called Chase for the Marion about a character named Jack Satby

  117. 117.

    SectarianSofa

    @Dee Loralei:
    Hey, I’m also doing nanowrimo. Signed up there as jubilant_nettle (I had username writer’s block). Supposed to be writing an adventure tale (some features of Jules Verne, Philip Dick, Frank L. Baum) perhaps with robots, but definitely with gods in a boat. I’ve failed miserably the last two years, so I’m hoping to have a better showing this year.

  119. 119.

    satby

    @Dee Loralei: Dee, my novel’s name is The Offender and it’s under mainstream fiction. And I can’t believe satby is being used for someone’s character name. It’s a childhood nickname that’s a phonetic play on my real initials.

  123. 123.

    TrishB

    @Dee Loralei: It was rather special, the ex announced he “needed” a divorce, I pointed at the dogs and said “Well, I’m keeping them!” Perhaps not my finest moment, but they are very good doggies.

  129. 129.

    TrishB

    @GHayduke (formerly lojasmo): Thanks. But given everything that was stupidly ugly/messy, I was the one who ended up with 2 beautiful mini schnauzers. Now, they are both getting old and needing crazy help. Well, I did own this part, too. Just doesn’t mean I’ll never grumble about it.

  130. 130.

    JR

    @TrishB:

    Personally, I think she’s done, with all those problems.

    While my wife was in the hospital two cats we’d had for 18 and 12 years suffered kidney failure. Rufus the red and Harvey the invisible. To keep warm the old guys would slip into bed and rest against my bald head. I wished I had done the last vet appointment sooner, as they were both pretty sick the last few days.

    Then a couple of wonderful dogs went – we’re down to 2 dogs and 2 cats, the smallest count in years.

    We have a small farm in the woods, so the “kids” can go outside as they wish… Except for the coyotes, of course, which can catch pets late at night.

    But if you have a big family with different needs and opinions, that’s different… But try not to wait too long, it’s our hardest and most important obligation to our fuzzy family, to minimize their end-of-life suffering. Good luck!!

    I’m sorry for your hardship, pain, and loss.

  132. 132.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    @TrishB:

    I would say it’s time to have the discussion. We let a cat go to long about a year ago. That was a mistake.

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