In honor of my friend over at The Daily Texican who got awoken by a rooster this morning and witnessed chickens in Austin, I offer you an equal unnatural mix of the rural and urban:


What are these people looking at?

The picture is from when Sara and I lived in Italy. I took it from our apartment's bedroom window. If you look closely, on the hood of the dark car there is a chicken! The man closest to the car is actually a police officer. In classic Italian fashion they stood around for a while arguing about what to do. The police officer made a few feeble and unsuccessful attempts to catch it and then he rejoined the ongoing argument. Eventually an old woman arrived with a cardboard box. She walked right past everyone without saying anything. She put the box over the chicken and took it away [presumably for dinner that evening].

In other news, a student with whom I am collaborating with on a research project and I won an award from the college. The award is to promote joint research between a student and faculty member on the issue of multiculturalism. We each get $1000 and together we get $500 for research expenses.

All that stuff I posted a while back on meat and the workers who bring it to you...that came out of this research.

[By the way, the vote to decertify the union was successful, although the union is challenging the vote. Since the National Labor Review Board is in the pocket of the Bush Administration, it is likely that the challenge will be unsuccessful. So if you are buying Tyson meats or meat products, don't be surprised to find bits of human fingers, flesh, or blood in your food].

It is nice to get some recognition, especially in the wake of some job rejection letters. The money is nice too.