tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-336557142024-03-13T08:10:49.803-07:00RocketforgerIt's a human thingDaniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-46141136187040404812011-05-24T08:34:00.000-07:002011-05-24T09:58:24.610-07:00Uncle Sam's Legal Eagle Spam<div class="im">The US District Court of Appeals has been <a href="http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200702/06-5225a.pdf">upholding a bad policy</a> since 2007. It's a bad policy because it's unrealistic. In short, the US gov is requiring all agencies that receive AIDS/HIV prevention funds to uphold the US position to prohibit prostitution and sex trafficking. Prostitution has been around for thousands of years if not more. Longer in fact, that any current government and probably longer than any extant religion. No proclamation of a 200 year old government is going to change it. It seems so elementary that I'm going back to the basics to answer it. <span dir="ltr" id=":2g5">We need a realistic policy that's <a href="http://www.aclu.org/hiv-aids-womens-rights/aclu-and-nyclu-urge-appeals-court-reject-governments-restrictive-anti-prostit">rooted in the basic facts</a>, to wit: </span><br /><br />Look here, Uncle Sam,<br />and belay your legislative spam.<br />History shows us just what is true,<br />that people are people, and people do screw.<br /><br />They'll bang behind bushes,<br />They'll bang on a bus,<br /></div>unhindered by muss,<br />not heeding your fuss.<div class="im"><br />They'll lay who they like,<br />be they Suzie or Mike,<br />and ignore your objections,<br />and puritanical projections.<br /><br />So teach people safety,<br />when getting it on.<br />Denial has gone on,<br /> much, much, MUCH, too long.<br /><br />Let all babies be wanted,<br /></div>and trouser bugs be squashed.<br /><div class="im">Let people be safe and happy<br />when getting wacky in the sacky.<br /><br /></div>Begin with the facts,<br />when discussing the beast with two backs.<br /> It's really important to get this right,<br />because we all know what all those people will be doing tonight.Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-77820958228759091752011-04-08T09:50:00.000-07:002011-04-08T11:26:04.435-07:00Does this sash make my tail look big?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/terminal01/2011/3/29/17/enhanced-buzz-14882-1301433636-3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 338px; height: 505px;" src="http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/terminal01/2011/3/29/17/enhanced-buzz-14882-1301433636-3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br />“Why did you pick that body?” asked Klitik.<br /><br />“It’s the only one I could find that fit,” Ekleat replied, still shuffling the limbs clumsily.<br /><br />Klitik handed her a red sash with some letters printed on it. “I don't think this is gender appropriate.” she said, adjusting the sash in the mirror.<br /><br />Klitik cringed. He was good at human gesture even if certain social customs evaded him. “I hadn’t thought of that. It was just the closest thing I could find to indicate your office.”<br /><br />“Very well. Take me to the meeting.”<br /><br />They exited the restroom, two men in business suits, one with the clumsy gait of a newborn fawn. A smartly dressed woman on her way in did a double take at the “Princess” sash on the limping man. They simply nodded politely per local custom. The princess wobbled across the hotel lobby, oblivious of the stares of the other hotel guests, and occasionally kicking her aide in the ankles. Three hours local time was not enough to acclimate to these legs.<br /><br />A big hand drawn sign next to the door proclaimed the meeting of the Europa Exploration Society was open to members only. They walked into the banquet room to find a few dozen people gathered in small groups. At her entrance, they schooled together to greet her, then fell over each other to introduce themselves. She dismissed them and they scattered to the edges of the room. “My body needs food.” She snapped at Klitik.<br /><br />“Right this way,” It took no time for Ekleat to recognize the improvised badges for the various offices they indicated. The goggles worn by some clearly indicated science officers, and the bigger the goggles, the higher the rank. She had to assume that the man with the telescope slung over his shoulder was the chief officer. The flowered garlands and floral printed shirts identified the anthropological officers. Masked people were obviously diplomats, and the conical, multicoloured hats made the military advisers stand out.<br /><br />They approached the buffet, and Ekleat noticed the name tag of a young female standing behind the table. She tried to discern what office that indicated, then realized she was simply a member of the hotel staff. A human. Ekleat turned and hissed under her breath, “Is it wise to have our meeting in the open like this?”<br /><br />“Oh yes,” Klitik replied. “They think we’re having something called a ‘Science Fiction Convention.’ It’s like...” he struggled for the words. “It’s like a speculation play, but they have many of them. And they gather in groups to... celebrate them. We won’t be noticed.”<br /><br />She curled her tail uncomfortably and stretched inside her body. Klitik put a hand on her shoulder to soothe the spasms of her body and said “Ah... they might notice that.” The young attendant was clearly trying not to notice.<br /><br />“Very well,” the princess snapped. “Just bring my food to the table. Proteins and electrolytes.”<br /><br />She shambled across the room toward the head table, scattering lesser officers in her wake. “Section chiefs report to me now,” she spoke so the whole room could hear her. Even in their human bodies, their submissive curl was detectable, as the chiefs approached the seat she took.<br /><br />“I feel compelled to remind you all the purpose of your mission here: Determining the nature and scope of the human threat. The reports you’ve sent back are very conflicting.”<br /><br />Klitik sat down next to her, offering a plate of food. The princess barely glanced at it, picking up some orange cubes of food to consume while the officers gave their reports.<br /><br />One of the birthday-hatted military men, who also wore an animal character bib indicating his rank spoke first. “The situation is dire your highness. The humans are already speculating about the possibilities of life on our planet, and they have plans to drill through the ice in order to reach our seas and discover our colonies.”<br /><br />“Yeah, but they come in peace, man,” a be-flowered officer put in. His eyes were redder than most humans and his multicolored shirt smelled even funnier than most.<br /><br />“I think his sample is tainted,” the military officer said under his breath.<br /><br />“To be truthful your highness,” offered a diplomat, “Their intentions toward other intelligent species are hard to determine. Some of them willingly sacrifice their own safety and well being to protect unintelligent animals, while others are clearly bent on killing anything with a modicum of intelligence that doesn’t belong to their own particular group.”<br /><br />Ekleat gobbled a round slice of animal flesh from her plate, then washed it down with liquid. “How long will it be before they attempt any landing on... what do they call our world?”<br /><br />“Europa, your highness.”<br /><br />“Silly name,” she spat. “Anyway, how long?”<br /><br />“Probably 50 years or more,” someone offered. “No, they could do it in far less time...” someone objected. “Bah! They won’t get around to it for a hundred years!”<br /><br />“Can’t you people make up your minds?” The princess demanded. They all hunched up again and twitched this time, clearly curling their tails inside their human hosts.<br /><br />She picked up another piece of food but stopped in recognition. The pink curl in the pinch of her fingers was hauntingly familiar. “What abomination is this!?” she cried.<br /><br />“Oh, it’s a shrimp,” Tiklit said, picking one up for himself. He bit the muscle off, leaving just the sad little tail.<br /><br />“Ack! Tiklit, you’ve got to be kidding me!”<br /><br />“Wha?” he smacked his lips. “It’s not like they’re intelligent. They don’ even registher o’ the scale.”<br /><br />“That’s not the point,” Ekleat repressed another cringe and made her decision. “I know exactly what these humans will do if they ever <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> get to our planet. General, speed up the global warming process and flood this damned planet.” </span></span>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-2319939691642422322011-01-13T07:17:00.000-08:002011-01-13T07:37:19.573-08:00Captain Obvious Strikes Again!Probably because I'm a visually oriented person with a long standing love of medieval art and the inherent symbolism it's laden with, I've always wanted some sort of symbol to wear that represents what I believe. Sadly, most of the choices seem hokey, or not quite on the mark. There's the red "A" of Atheism, which is combative and says more about what I <i>don't</i> believe, so that's not quite right. There's the anthropomorphized "H" of humanism, but that doesn't entirely suit me either.<br /><br />Today, while looking at the <a href="http://unitedcor.org/national/page/home">Coalition for Reason</a> website, I was suddenly struck by that one word, "Reason." The etymology of that word traces it's meaning back to the Greek word "Logos" or <span lang="grc">λόγος if you prefer. "Ah-Ha!" I thought, I could simply use the Greek letter Lambda, </span><b>Λ,</b><span lang="grc"> as a symbol!<br /></span><br /><span lang="grc">Which is really a convoluted way of confirming what everyone already knew: I'm a nerd.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/TS8bvfQIcII/AAAAAAAAAEA/hsaRpO9HzHU/s1600/LambdaLambdaLambda.jpeg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 202px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/TS8bvfQIcII/AAAAAAAAAEA/hsaRpO9HzHU/s400/LambdaLambdaLambda.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561694567482814594" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span lang="grc"><br /><br /><br /></span>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-28929938137577693432010-11-15T08:31:00.001-08:002010-11-15T08:31:41.054-08:00What the American People WantIt never fails to unsettle me when politicians say things like, "That's what the American People want." I've heard politicians of every stripe say it, and a good share of time, they're saying exactly the opposite of what I want. And for every time they are actually saying something I like, I can find as many friends as not who DON'T like it.<br /><br />And the key word there is <span style="font-weight: bold;">friends.</span> Amongst my own friends I count people of nearly every political and social bent. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents and people who don't vote. I've talked politics with conservative Christians, agnostic Jews, liberal deists, pagans, atheists, and secularists. And those are just the people I've actually shared meals with in the last year. I know gay people, and people who think they shouldn't marry. I've had beers with hawks and doves. Every last one of these people is a born and raised citizen of the United states.<br /><br />The American People are a highly varied group who want a lot of different things. Only a few of them overlap. So any the only time we should hear a politician say "That's what the American People want," is when he or she is talking about roads.Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-76661547668866186672010-06-03T15:53:00.000-07:002010-06-03T15:55:44.107-07:00What if People Actually Treated Religion as Just a Metaphor (Like Trekkies and Secular Jews)? | Belief | AlterNetI don't often just repost an article, but I think this one is very worth while.<a href="http://www.alternet.org/belief/144070/what_if_people_actually_treated_religion_as_just_a_metaphor_%28like_trekkies_and_secular_jews%29?page=entire"><br /></a>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-25052535479069502662009-12-10T05:30:00.000-08:002009-12-10T09:24:34.908-08:00Secular PolyamoryI've got at least three ideas why secularists should embrace <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/209164">polyamory</a>. They're in no particular order of importance or seriousness. Feel free to add suggestions. Any document about polyamoroy should be a WIKI anyway, lest it be antithetical to it's own subject. Or, if you prefer, this idea has room for more love.<br /><br />First and foremost there is the divorce rate amongst monogamous heterosexuals. Standard married people are dropping like flies, matrimonially speaking. Here in the US the divorce rate is close to half. Half of all marriages end in a discussion over who gets the house and the kids and who gets stuck with the broken down, mismatched bedroom furniture. Divorce takes down a larger percentage of married couples than the Black Plague folks.<br /><br />So here's the thing: Polyamory makes you communicate. You think it's hard reading your spouses mind now? Try having two! Polyamory just doesn't happen without communication. Some churches make you take a little compatibility quiz before you can reserve the chapel for the big day. But when a polyamorist asks you on a date, it usually comes along with a handful of links to websites with dozens of ways to skin one under-fed cat named "Communication." The strong silent types will never make it in this game. These people may talk too damn much, but most relationship experts agree that communication is the best way to avoid having to decide who gets car, and who gets the cat. That's right buddy. Put on the kettle, give that poor cat some friskies, and let's talk.<br /><br />Secondly there's the concept of economic velocity, something I first learned <a href="http://www.polyfamilies.com/polyvelocity.html">here</a>. Now this is a concept that can work even for traditional families if you understand it, but it really takes off when there are more pay-checks under one roof. Put simply for the purposes of polyamory, when more people share expenses and family responsibilities, you get ahead. My own take on this idea is all about leftovers. I throw away a lot of leftovers. Oh, I mean well, and I do eat some of them. But inevitably, there comes a day when opening the refrigerator is accomanied by the Indian Jones theme song, and I have to go in with a pistol and bull whip to clean house. And here's the thing: I paid for that stuff that once was food. I also paid for that dish I just dropped because it seemed to contain a victim of one <a href="http://hazel8500.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/killa-kali-thumb.jpg">Kali's</a> worshipers.<br /><br />So if there are more people hanging around to pay for the food <i>and</i> eat the leftovers, we're all getting more out of our money. More people to help pay the mortgage; more people at home to eliminate day-care costs; more people at the dining room table means you buy in bulk and take better advantage of sales and so on. Since financial woes are also known to be a leading cause of divorce, this also ties back into our first item.<br /><br />Lastly, there is strength in numbers my friends. Sure, multiple partners might seem like a wacky idea on the surface, but let's take a look at another wacky idea that took advantage of this principle and see where it got them. Yep, that's right, I'm talking about the Mormons. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knockin' 'em as a people. After all, they gave us Donnie, Marie, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124819/">Orgazmo</a>, right? But Mormonism does contain some rather wacky ideas. Principally, the founding of the religion is based on a claim that one John Smith was shown some golden tablets by an angel named Moroni and used a couple of stones called the Urim and the Thummim to translate the Book of Mormon from said tablets, which only Smith's close friends and family ever saw.<br /><br />Uh-huh.<br /><br />Personally, I think Smith found a pair smooth river-bed stones that reminded him of his wife's ass, and she caught him having a religious moment which he explained away by calling it just that.* I suspect many religions have similar roots, but this is the only one I have a working theory for. So Smith goes about founding a religion and while he was at it, he decided to secure the opportunity to have the ass of that pretty young thing down the way by giving the green light to polygamy for his flock. (We've already established that he was a randy guy.) Then, after being chased out of two states ahead of angry mobs with guns, they ended up in Utah, and they now run the place. That's reproductive power that can't be denied people. Now I know many of you reading this will point to global populations and say we shouldn't be having so many babies, but I hasten to point out that those with much less ecological conscience than we happy few are out-breeding us like lemmings who can't wait to get to the cliff. Trouble is, they're going to take us over the edge with them!<br /><br />Of course, all of these very well thought out arguments don't even scratch the surface of spicing up your sex life. Hey, Smith isn't the only randy guy with whacky ideas out there. So let's all pony up to the couples bars and get it together! Because together, we'll be unstoppable!<br /><br /><br />* Now before you insist I'm going out on a limb here, let's remember that internet porn wasn't widely available in Smith's time, and even now that it is, some folks are STILL fornicating with their livestock.Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-28344188318043803412009-12-09T08:05:00.001-08:002009-12-09T08:08:09.678-08:00Cain and Able: POX NEWS with Wink and Nod<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Sx_LFwkC-PI/AAAAAAAAADU/HW97W1lf_cM/s1600-h/Wink+and+Nod+on+Oxygenation.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 221px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Sx_LFwkC-PI/AAAAAAAAADU/HW97W1lf_cM/s400/Wink+and+Nod+on+Oxygenation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413268576918501618" border="0" /></a>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-38958953426678247122009-11-25T12:04:00.000-08:002009-11-25T12:07:48.797-08:00Cain and Able - Art Show<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Sw2OT-0_zLI/AAAAAAAAADI/LKenKdc4IdY/s1600/CandA-Title.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 312px; height: 60px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Sw2OT-0_zLI/AAAAAAAAADI/LKenKdc4IdY/s400/CandA-Title.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408135201475775666" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Sw2N5451nlI/AAAAAAAAAC4/SFac9Pcp5DI/s1600/Cain+and+Able+-+Art+Show.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Sw2N5451nlI/AAAAAAAAAC4/SFac9Pcp5DI/s400/Cain+and+Able+-+Art+Show.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408134753208868434" /></a>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-59772175907062638162009-11-17T07:46:00.000-08:002009-11-17T07:48:32.594-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SwLFpJqhqHI/AAAAAAAAACw/xpKNtEGmZvY/s1600/CandA-Title.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 312px; height: 60px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SwLFpJqhqHI/AAAAAAAAACw/xpKNtEGmZvY/s400/CandA-Title.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405099813557610610" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SwLFjD3ofQI/AAAAAAAAACo/NKhWLtrIrkU/s1600/Cand+and+Able+-+Cave+Paintings+.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 301px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SwLFjD3ofQI/AAAAAAAAACo/NKhWLtrIrkU/s400/Cand+and+Able+-+Cave+Paintings+.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405099708922756354" /></a>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-17191616253481250422009-11-11T23:18:00.000-08:002009-11-11T23:24:02.759-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Svu39O3eyQI/AAAAAAAAACg/MSsRfNWW-JY/s1600-h/CandA-Title.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 312px; height: 60px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Svu39O3eyQI/AAAAAAAAACg/MSsRfNWW-JY/s400/CandA-Title.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403114440551745794" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Svu3STVsPnI/AAAAAAAAACQ/hQ3570WiFDI/s1600-h/Cain+and+Able+Pork.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 155px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Svu3STVsPnI/AAAAAAAAACQ/hQ3570WiFDI/s400/Cain+and+Able+Pork.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403113703017823858" /></a>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-71763049470326513142009-11-08T08:09:00.000-08:002009-11-08T08:11:59.747-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Svbtws_rGuI/AAAAAAAAACI/bZjGGFqQ-o8/s1600-h/CandA-Title.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 312px; height: 60px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Svbtws_rGuI/AAAAAAAAACI/bZjGGFqQ-o8/s400/CandA-Title.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401766224045218530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SvbtlTkGcvI/AAAAAAAAACA/ICdDBV-CVIo/s1600-h/CandA-FamilyReunion.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SvbtlTkGcvI/AAAAAAAAACA/ICdDBV-CVIo/s400/CandA-FamilyReunion.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401766028240122610" /></a>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-83816555133851982082009-10-26T09:28:00.001-07:002009-10-28T13:45:13.166-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SuXOYJpL_ZI/AAAAAAAAABQ/EWdJtsdGDDE/s1600-h/CandA-Title.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 312px; height: 60px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SuXOYJpL_ZI/AAAAAAAAABQ/EWdJtsdGDDE/s320/CandA-Title.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396946642774261138" border="0" /></a><br /><r><br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SuXQcczhHBI/AAAAAAAAABo/EuP0TMGCMy8/s400/CandA-Atlatl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396948915660594194" border="0" /><r><br /></r></r><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SuXaQS4YxDI/AAAAAAAAABw/Z7XOAWYTX4o/s1600-h/CandA-Spirits.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 177px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/SuXaQS4YxDI/AAAAAAAAABw/Z7XOAWYTX4o/s400/CandA-Spirits.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396959701954511922" border="0" /></a><r><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Suisql3fbKI/AAAAAAAAAB4/-un_Svzm8qY/s1600-h/Cain+and+Able+-+Answers.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 147px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oIydFIV-HZ0/Suisql3fbKI/AAAAAAAAAB4/-un_Svzm8qY/s400/Cain+and+Able+-+Answers.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397754001122880674" /></a>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-68114907661738492342009-10-13T10:13:00.000-07:002009-10-13T11:05:42.526-07:00Music and More for a Geek NationThe album <a href="http://www.theymightbegiants.com/shop/flood/">Flood</a> by <a href="http://www.theymightbegiants.com/">They Might Be Giants</a> has long been one of my favourites. I'm happy to say that now, with <a href="http://www.theymightbegiants.com/shop/here-comes-science-dvd-cd-set/">Here Comes Science</a>, my kids are fast becoming fans of TMBG as well. I've got <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet the Elements</span> stuck in my head, and my daughter loves <span style="font-style: italic;">I am a Paleontologist</span>. Like TMBGs "friend Danny," she thinks she is one, and might very well be one day.<br /><br />More than just music, and a really fun DVD, this album underscores one of the best things going on these days: the blossoming of <a href="http://geekadvancement.com/">Geek Culture</a>. On the one hand, this movement makes being a geek a lot more fun, but I suspect there may be more to it than that.<br /><br />My mother doesn't really get it. But then, she's not a geek. My mother was mortified when my daughter proudly proclaimed, "I'm a geek!" She gave me that look, "Did you teach her to say that? That's a terrible thing to teach her! You shouldn't tell your kids that they're geeks." She simply doesn't understand what it means to live in the post <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088000/">Revenge of the Nerds</a> world.<br /><br />It's more than living in a world were people hang on the word of guys like <a href="http://www.apple.com/pr/bios/jobs.html">Steve Jobs</a>, or where <a href="http://www.biography.com/articles/Bill-Gates-9307520">Bill Gates</a> is rich and powerful enough to be both revered and hated. It's also a world where geeks make up a big enough a socioeconomic group to justify things like <a href="http://www.giantmicrobes.com/">Giant Microbe Plushies</a>, and get a <a href="http://www.donetheimpossible.com/">Holywood movie </a>made with grass roots support.<br /><br />In and of themselves, these things are no more important than the Bohemian Revolution of more than a century ago. It will certainly produce some lasting art and a fat stripe of material culture, mostly plastic and battery powered. But the question remains, will Geek Culture make a lasting impression on human culture as a whole?<br /><br />If Geek Culture teaches us nothing else, it teaches us that we certainly can have an impact, if we play our cards right. The Geek love of role play is a perfect example. We've built whole cultures out of fandom for everything from Science Fiction to the Middle Ages. Simple customs sprout like weeds in these groups. Geeks make fertile ground for cultural change.<br /><br />Now some will point to things like the internet, and insist that geeks are already changing the world. To some degree that's true, but let's face it, the changes fomented by the internet have more to do with economy at present than they do with any decided intent to change the way people live. That being said, Geek Culture is still relatively young. It's not too late to wonder, what would a world shaped by Geeks look like?<br /><br />It's a question worth asking. It's a question we may yet answer with action, rather than just the fleeting words of the electronic ether. And that's what makes this such a great time to be a Geek. <span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="on down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-68841988699170855802009-05-11T12:32:00.000-07:002009-05-13T07:01:21.911-07:00Multipurpose DroolAs any mortified parent who didn't vacuum yesterday can tell you, a drooling baby picks up dust-bunnies like nobodys business. Having had one to many occasions to contemplate this phenomenon, I've concluded that there's an evolutionary adaptation at work here.<br /><br />First of all, there's camouflage. On a forest floor, that untended baby would be picking up leaves and small twigs, disguising it from predators whilst mommy and daddy are hunting, or gathering or making more siblings or what have you. Pretty hand really.<br /><br />Next, when mommy and daddy catch their breath and notice the baby is beyond dirty, they are inspired to clean it. This is good for the baby. I'm sure there were parents who weren't moved to clean baby under those circumstances. Those babies probably didn't grow up to make more babies. You see how this evolution thing is working.<br /><br />Finally, the mortification of the aforementioned parents at finding baby plastered with dirt inspires a few gray hairs, and shaves a few days off the lifespan, thus shortening the amount of time mom and dad will be around to hog up all the good food. This last element is a process that escalates as a child grows older, culminating in some cases in outright parricide. For examples, see the histories of pretty much any royal family, or spend a few minutes trying to talk to a teenager. Be careful, I'm told they bite.<br /><br />(Neither the author of this blog nor any of his subsidiary contributors bears any responsibility for injuries sustained while trying to discuss the intricacies of baby drool and food supplies with teenagers.)Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-20870616026058865362009-05-11T10:50:00.000-07:002009-05-11T12:04:07.609-07:00Something Old, Something NewA few days ago, I took out a really old piece of family furniture to clean it up and see if I could give it a new life. It's a long low cabinet with an odd history. My great grandfather worked as a delivery man for a dry-goods warehouse back around the turn of the century. The turn of the twentieth century that is. He drove a wagon drawn by a team of horses.<br /><br />The cabinet originally came out of the warehouse where he worked. It stayed in his basement for untold decades, a home for tools, half used cans of paint, and other odds and ends. After that, it made it's way to my dad's garage where it stayed for another few decades. I can distinctly recall the handful of tools, fishing tackle, paint, lawn jarts, car parts and motor oil living there when I was a kid. When my parents sold their old home, it ended up in a storage unit for years, and was nearly let go, but for my saying I wanted it.<br /><br />When I set it down in my driveway to clean it up, it looked used up. Used hard. One end was stained where a pan of motor oil had spilled over the top of it. The doors were stuck closed or broken. Spray paint marred some of them. Another had a few slugs from a long forgotten pellet gun. The dark reddish-brown finish was covered in a century of grime and dust.<br /><br />I took the doors off and set them aside. Then, with a bucket of soapy water and brush, I started scrubbing, inside and out. A few hours later, the rich grain of oak peered out from beneath the grime. The golden color of the wood looked happy to see the sun. The few stains and scars that remain are only smile lines.<br /><br />A little polish and repair work took only a short time more. Now the open shelves are home to a colorful collection of children's toys and books. The television and a couple of houseplants sit on top. Sometimes recycling is a feel good exercise.Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-42557010870686484222009-05-07T06:44:00.000-07:002009-05-07T07:53:53.443-07:00Will legalizing pot help the economy?Well duh.<br /><br />It's remarkable that it's taken a recession of this magnitude to bring marijuana back to the table, but the Governator is finally talking about it. Beyond the legalization, regulation and taxation of the drug itself, there are the numerous applications for the plant fiber. The industry as a whole will more than offset any job-losses in the drug enforcement field. The fiber from the plant will be an ecologically sound boon to paper, clothing and other industries, which will give something of a loss of profit for the cotton industry, which may be the only reason we're having this discussion now, rather than 20 or 30 years ago.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-12642329266619253562009-05-06T13:06:00.000-07:002009-05-06T13:33:10.166-07:00Really Old Fashioned Values.I'd like to make a call for a return to some old traditional values. Really old. Two items from Reuter's last month have stuck in my mind, so now I'm sticking them in yours.<br /><br />First is a report about <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN0747426120090408?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&rpc=69">research</a> at the Max Planck Institute. In short, they've figured out that Bonobos will trade sex for tasty food. In fact, the bulk of research shows that for Bonobos, sex will lubricate just about any transaction.* All humorous analogies about male expectations regarding the value of dinner and movie aside, it's interesting to note this behaviour in our closest biological cousins.<br /><br />Especially in light of a <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE53923N20090410">story</a> that showed up two days later. It seems that a group representing prostitutes in Nevada, where prostitution is legal, suggested that a tax on their services might help the state with budget shortfalls. But a slim majority of state lawmakers turned them down for fear of further lagitamizing an industry they'd rather do away with.<br /><br />For a group that tout's itself as favoring "traditional" values, their behaviour looks a lot more like self denial to me. The oldest profession in the world is not about to go away, just because we want to pretend that our fully opposable thumbs and penchant for hair loss somehow absolves us of our own biology. If the bonobos cared to give humanity a mesage at all, I think it would be a rather simple one. Make love, not war.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">*If anyone would like to throw some rotting vegatables for that comment, I'll gladdly exchange an equal amount fresh fruit for any amount of affection that might be legal in this state or yours.</span>Daniel Pipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14873547453786888315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-87834960897238153442009-02-12T09:56:00.000-08:002009-02-12T13:06:52.248-08:00Darwin's 200th Birthday Dinner: Transitional Species a la carte!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Ambulocetus_four_legs.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 370px; height: 97px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Ambulocetus_four_legs.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I usually try to steer clear of the Evolution vs. Creation debate. OK, I try to stay out of it on this blog. But the 200th Birthday of Charles Darwin seems to have generated at lease as much creationish flak as evolutionist jubilation. One argument that truly baffles me is the assertion that no transitional species are in evidence to support the idea of evolution.<br /><br />I'm not sure what rock one would have to live under to suffer that affliction, er idea, but no matter. The power of Google shall set you free! Would you like those transitional species fossilized, or served live?<br /><br />For species of the fossilized kind, we'll start with whales. There are a number of very good fossils representing a transition from land to sea for this magnificent mammal. Ranging from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutchicetus">kutchicetus </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambulocetus">ambulocetus</a> to the more whale-like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorudon">dorudon</a>. Actually, there are a number of extinct species in the cetacean family that represent significant transition as you can see in this illustration by Carl Zimmer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_k_Q2evbnANQ/SZRwtbAF6QI/AAAAAAAAADk/ffYX71EY75o/s1600-h/whales-graph.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 165px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_k_Q2evbnANQ/SZRwtbAF6QI/AAAAAAAAADk/ffYX71EY75o/s320/whales-graph.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301986586966485250" border="0" /></a>There are some wonderful articles available online about cetacean evolution at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_Cetaceans">Wikipedia</a> and <a href="http://darwiniana.org/landtosea.htm">Darwinia</a>. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. A great deal of doubt about evolution centers on human evolution and the supposed lack of fossils. Again, I'm flummoxed. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_evolution_fossils">Ahem.</a> And also, <a href="http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/species.htm">cough</a>. Lots of fossils.<br /><br />Anyway, I could go on, but maybe you like your transitional species alive and kicking. Or swimming, as the case may be. Now for me personally, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcopterygii">lobe-finned-fishes</a> are enough, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_fish">lung-fish</a> plenty more.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Latimeria_chalumnae01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 118px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Latimeria_chalumnae01.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>But you may want some more visually persuasive examples. Consider for a moment the playful otter. Moreover, consider the otter together with the seal, the sea-lion, and the walrus, coo coo c'choo. Lets not forget those magnificent manatees, or hip hippos. Remember our friends the whales? Evolution isn't just a thing of the past. It's a thing of right now.<br /><br />Just like the biosphere itself, evolutionary science is changing all the time. With each new fossil find, or scientific discovery we learn more, and the edges of the map recede. New ideas like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuated_equilibrium">punctuated equilibrium</a> shed light on some of the puzzles left in the fossil record. But at this stage in the game, the fossil record looks a lot like the Colosseum. Bits of it may be missing, but it's form and purpose are easy to discern.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-75481167483007689832008-12-21T06:04:00.000-08:002008-12-21T06:07:57.796-08:00Lanugo DreamsDeep Magic of lanugo dreams written in patterns of soft hair.<br />They remember to me the tides of the womb, and the sea that was mother.<br />Still they long to rest at her shores.<br /><br />Babies breath music carried on an ocean breeze.<br />Gentle waves of sighs on my senses.<br /><br />For Daniel. For David. And for Arcadia.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-90250031187504163692008-09-20T09:21:00.000-07:002008-09-20T10:01:06.595-07:00CommonalityIt's odd how I'm reminded that I still have a lot in common with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Judeo</span>-Christian roots.<br /><br />A few days ago I picked up a fossil in the yard. No big deal. It's a bit of striated material that might be part of a plant, or maybe even a sea creature like a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">crinoid</span>. It may be something else entirely. They're pretty common around here. I'm always picking up little pieces like that. This one was bit enough and complete enough to make it into the house to be rinsed off an placed in a curio cabinet next to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">megaladon</span> teeth and the trilobites. Treasured like a relic of some long dead saint, revered for being traces of the creatures that shaped the world where our ancestors evolved.<br /><br />Just because it's the new oddity in the collection, I've looked at it several times over the last few days. tracing the rows of parallel lines like footsteps traced in a meditative maze inlaid on some cathedral floor. I am entranced by the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">incense</span> of curiosity and the ancient.<br /><br />And then we come to this morning's coffee. nursed slowly after my shower; I didn't sleep well. I have a big mug filled with creamy coffee that I'd half drained before getting into the shower. I stood in the kitchen taking long slow sips, allowing the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">incense</span> of java sooth me, with my lip and nose ensconced in the mug.<br /><br />The mug is one of clear glass, and so I can see that creamy sacred beverage quite well. The bottom of my mug is filled with a fine haze of black coffee-bean powder that has settled out of the coffee while I was in the shower. And as I tip the cup's contents up to my lip, and away, up to my lip and away, the black dust streams away from the bottom of the cup in a series of lines, just like the lines in my fossil. But they're moving. I've stopped drinking now and I'm just moving the coffee, back and forth, watch the lines move as they evoke in my mind an ancient sea. My movement continues in genuflection to this mirage, imagining delicate life forming in ancient tides.<br /><br />At that point, my wife wanders into the room and asks the perfectly reasonable question, "What on EARTH are you doing?" I tried to explain, and of course failed miserably, then tried to show her, with coffee that was by then <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">hopelessly</span> mixed up. The vision was gone. I shrugged. "I just had the evolutionists' version of finding an image of Jesus in my toast."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-89667814931940135982008-07-01T05:58:00.000-07:002008-07-01T06:16:31.077-07:00Rube Goldberg CultureA <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine">Rube Goldberg Machine</a> is defined as a device that is over-engineered to complete a simple task in too many steps. So as not to emulate, I'll get right to the point.<br /><br />Our lives our filled with labor saving devices. We use them at home. We use them at work, and even at the grocery store. We use them to get to and from work and the grocery store. In fact, we use so many labor saving devices, we're headed for an energy crisis trying to power all of these labor saving devices. Then, we go to a gym to hop on a treadmill to work off the flab we've built up whilst saving all that labor. In all likelihood, that treadmill is also plugged in and using energy in order to make us work harder and beep at us when we've officially worked off enough flab for the day.<br /><br />So we have a Rube Goldberg Culture. Too many steps to achieve a simple set of goals. I could go on, but I've got to go hop on the treadmill. Remember that term now; Rube Goldberg Culture.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-64390603506092842872008-03-02T07:44:00.000-08:002008-03-02T08:30:03.955-08:00Biotech FusionI remember a futurist once predicting that human-made artificially intelligent robots, not humans, would be the "Earthlings" to colonize the universe beyond our solar system, and outlive our own sun. Now enter biotechnology, ala cyberpunk: the <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news122819670.html">Digital Tattoo Interface</a>, shown off at the recent <a href="http://www.core77.com/competitions/GreenerGadgets/">Greener Gadgets Design Competition</a> hints at a different outcome. By the time "Earthlings" leave this solar system, there may not be a difference.<br /><br />It's a sub dermal GUI that works with your <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth">Bluetooth</a>. The simple fact that this little piece of technology is powered by the user's own body instead of some sort of battery makes it attractive from an environmental standpoint. Even better, any risks associated with it are of direct consequence to the user, rather than to comparatively abstract future generations.<br /><br />Of course, beyond the medical implications of being able to monitor things like your blood sugar or vitals, or the impending blood clot and cancer questions, there is a cultural slippery slope. Ad space, skins, pop-ups, and spam will take on whole new meanings when we're wearing the internet, as will nudity. "Ahem. Excuse me, but, you've left your personal skin up..." And for the incurable couch potatoes, the inevitable implant of view screens on our bellies will turn us all into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletubbies">Teletubbies</a>, and give new meaning to the phrase "staring at your navel."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-61917302159536829892008-02-26T20:48:00.000-08:002008-02-26T20:53:18.739-08:00Science: It works, dummies.I'm glad to hear that scientists are actually <a href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080224-getting-the-public-to-pay-attention-to-good-science.html">discussing</a> the problem of getting scientific ideas across to the public. But this article also underscores how much I miss people like Carl Sagan, and dare I say it, even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Everett_Koop">C. Everett Koop</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-55347616023197066472008-02-21T06:12:00.000-08:002008-02-21T06:52:39.256-08:00An Automotive X-Prize HopefulA <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loremo">German automaker</a> out of Munich is scheduled to release a production model entry for the <a href="http://auto.xprize.org/">Automotive X-Prize</a> in 2009. The company boasts their 2-cylinder turbodiesel model, lightweight and aerodynamic, will attain an impressive 130 to 150 mpg. The car looks to be a mixed bag of ingenuity, and small sacrifices to economy. Instead of side opening doors the front of the car, windshield, steering column and all, tilt upward allowing driver and passenger to step into the tight cockpit "like stepping into a bathtub." The base model LS and a somewhat more powerful 3-cylinder GT model will debut in Europe, with plans to hit the US market the following year. The reviews anticipating this car are <a href="http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/06/04/the-loremo-never-before-has-something-german-sipped-so-little/">mixed</a>, but then, nobody thought much of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Beetle">Beetle</a> at first either. With a price-tag under $20K and fuel economy of 150mpg, pocketbooks might be making all the decisions about this one.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655714.post-1069244073012867552008-02-14T07:17:00.000-08:002008-02-14T07:24:34.828-08:00Common Ancestors<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">At least once a day, I receive in my email one of those endlessly forwarded editions of one witticisms. They seem make their way from inbox to inbox like the common cold goes through an elementary school. I rarely take the time to read them anymore, and as a rule, I forward them only very selectively, when I have something to say about them. And though in some ways it will seem like a tired subject, I received one yesterday that I’m compelled to respond to, if only because it’s an idea I hear a little too often. What I read, partway through an otherwise innocuous list of queries about life, was this:<br /><br />> If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?<br /><br />I can answer this one!<br /><br />Because we didn't evolve <i>from</i> apes. We evolved from a <i>common ancestor</i> with apes, and subsequently filled differing, though overlapping ecological niches, both through a process of geographical isolation, and a process called punctuated evolution. Since humans have only been around for a few million years, it can hardly be said that that apes will survive our taking over of those ecological niches. We're competing directly with them for habitat, to say nothing of hunting them for meat or amusement, and we're winning on both counts. Neanderthals also evolved from those same common ancestors, and lived in competition with Homo Erectus (our ancestors), and Homo Sapiens (us). Neanderthals could probably offer you some insight into living in competition with Home Sapiens, but of course, they're extinct. In fact, at one time there may have been as many as five closely-related species of human in direct competition with each other. We are all that remain.<br /><br />The process of evolution is neither as simple, nor as linear as the popular conception depicts. But if you take the time to study and understand it more fully, it's complexity is matched only by it's beauty.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0