By Nature's Kind Hand

Luna is a cat who lives both in my favorite cafe and the bicycle shop above it. I took this shot of her fuzzy head while waiting for my bike to be repaired today. Later I posted it on Facebook with the following text:

BREAKING NEWS: Members of the Science Committee at the Occupy Philly encampment announced today that the fur pattern on the top of a cat's head is absolutely unique to the individual animal, like a snowflake or a fingerprint.

"It's a fantastic breakthrough," said Dr. Leo Gartman, a member of the committee. "We may be able to use this knowledge to track feral cat migrations, or identify lost cats so they can be re-united with owners.

Asked where he earned his degree and other details of his CV, Gartman replied, "Never you mind. All I need now is the standing I earn in this occupation and the others like it. The old system is hopelessly corrupted by big business anyway. When my former position was phased out, I had the time to photograph the pates of over 17,500 cats and then compare them with software of my own design. Just look at Luna here and say it ain't so! If you can find a cat print that's exactly the same as Luna's, you'll prove me wrong --but believe me, you can't. Every cat is a unique creation of Nature.""

Thus far the comments are about cat-fur patterns being created in the womb, which is getting interesting. I hope someone asks me who the hell Leo Gartman is.

The Occupy Philly encampment is growing, tent by tent. Support for it is growing too. I swung by and stayed for a plate of food --bread with hummos, fancy lettuce leaves, and a mixtire of macaroni and beans (all donated). When all this started I was picturing undercooked potatoes, stale bread, and boxes of half-rotten cabbage. But no, this is bigger than business-as-usual. This is the turn of a page of History.