tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post2787810580569046862..comments2024-03-18T21:52:45.757-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: From Brain Imaging to Parasite InfestationsDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20967947495153134022012-04-05T15:45:08.153-07:002012-04-05T15:45:08.153-07:00Dr. Brin, I was just rereading your bit on the Ins...Dr. Brin, I was just rereading your bit on the <a href="http://www.davidbrin.com/suggestion07.htm" rel="nofollow">Inspector General</a>. <br /><br /><i>"Wouldn't it make sense to appoint, train, and pay our inspectors through a channel that is completely separate from each department's political chain of command? Indeed, a system that is detached and safe from pressure by the legislative, executive and judicial branches?"</i><br /><br />How <b>would</b> you establish checks and balances with this branch of government? How would they get appointed?<br /><br />Just curious. I reread it and imagined FDR appointing J. Edgar Hoover as IGUS and I shuddered a little at the possible abuses, or even the rise of praetorianism.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41292619186500592092012-04-05T14:04:26.689-07:002012-04-05T14:04:26.689-07:00aaaaaaaand...
...onwardaaaaaaaand...<br />...onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35828593989497620272012-04-05T13:22:16.134-07:002012-04-05T13:22:16.134-07:00Fair enough Rob. Mea culpa and apologies to Randy...Fair enough Rob. Mea culpa and apologies to RandyB.<br /><br />Tho I still think it is pure puppetry....David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1544405385088484262012-04-05T11:23:16.442-07:002012-04-05T11:23:16.442-07:00Ah, Dr. Brin, you were doing so well. And then you...Ah, Dr. Brin, you were doing <i>so</i> well. And then you went in with the personal insult by claiming he's a mindless zombie. Dude. Relax. Attack the position. Don't attack the person. When you attack the person they will never listen to you. Did you attack me concerning my views of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and of the Clinton Presidency? No. And what happened? You got me eventually to realize that my views were knee-jerk and not based on reality.<br /><br />I changed.<br /><br />But if you had called me a mindless zombie for my views on the Clintons then I'd had brushed you off and never listened. Look, I know small steps often seem to never make progress... but they do. It's gradual. But it works. But when you insult someone there's no steps at all, just a digging in of heels.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34529340612967170572012-04-05T09:33:31.867-07:002012-04-05T09:33:31.867-07:00"RandyB said: "The Bush administration d..."RandyB said: "The Bush administration did pursue energy options."<br /><br />Show us this! Top to bottom, their priority was (1) sabotage energy research (and all research in general) and (2) take the remaining "research money and shovel it to friends who would do nothing useful with it.<br /><br />"Gasohol" from corn and "hydrogen power" were the top Bush energy initiatives.<br /><br />Gasohol uses more petroleum to make it than it replaces! It has been a calamity to world food production, and all the money went to big agribusiness buddies of Bush. <br /><br />"Hydrogen power" is utterly impossible with today's materials technology. H2 cannot be piped, stored or delivered to customers in meaningful ways. Yet the billions spent on it went to Bush family friends... and if we ever do get H2 power, it will be distributed along petroleum infrastructure owned by ... wait for it.... Bush family cronies.<br /><br />You think this is an exception? Name ANY aspect of the Bush administration and the story was identical. The wars? Excuses to channel one hundred billion dollars via no-bid contracts directly... DIRECTLY... into the pockets of Blackwater, Haliburton and other Cheney cronies. <br /><br />Randy, this is not "spare change" conspiracy rumor-mongering. The sums are too big for that. It is all public record. Nor does the GOP even care! Because they have guys like you locked in. No facts will sway you, and they know it.<br /><br />Proof? You guys watch Bush walk hand in hand with Saudi Royals and openly avow Prince Bandar "helped raise me"... and ignore the fact that Bush flew every Saudi national away from the reach of the FBI on 9/12 - in taxpayer paid luxury, on the day Americans weren't allowed to fly.<br /><br />And the fact that Rupert Murdoch's top partner at Fox is a Saudi prince.<br /><br />Do on... march to their tune... hands outstretched ... moan... left foot forward... right foot... "braaaaaaaains"...<br />===<br /><br />Ian, we were anatomically human more like 200,000 years ago but 30,000 years ago we had a major cultural leap. Cave art, bone sewing needles, burial rituals, genocide of the Neanderthals, slavery. You know, Progress. But yep, we need to be careful about wiping out all parasites.<br /><br />See "The Giving Plague."David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71915195648743213062012-04-05T07:43:44.929-07:002012-04-05T07:43:44.929-07:00RandyB:
If you mean our support for the insurgents...RandyB:<br /><i>If you mean our support for the insurgents against the Soviets, that was started by President Carter.<br /></i><br /><br />And in your opinion, what were those who protested that war? Were they conservatives because they were protesting against Carter? Or were they lefty-pinkos who were "friends" of the Soviets?<br /><br /><i><br />Sometimes we just have to pick the lesser of two evils. <br /><br />The U.S. supported the Soviets during WWII while Stalin was in power. That was a choice between two monstrous evils.<br /></i><br /><br />Jesus Christ on a pogo-stick! Everyone else is trying to convince YOU that sometimes motivations are complex and not so easily pigeonholed, and you're having none of it. Where do you get off preaching nuance at this late date?<br /><br /><i><br />As for who I voted for over the years, when I voted, you can guess. But I didn't vote in 1980. I don't think I was even in the country on election day.<br /></i><br /><br />Which doesn't negate the point that President Reagan traded arms to Iran and therefore cozied up with radical Muslims. You don't seem to have a problem with that concept if it's being done for right-wing reasons.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14998855857626642592012-04-05T07:24:44.011-07:002012-04-05T07:24:44.011-07:00RandyB:
By "critics of the war," I mean...RandyB:<br /><i><br />By "critics of the war," I meant the far left ones. There are always a few others, such as isolationists on the right, who have other ideas.<br /></i><br /><br />That's exactly what people were (correctly) calling you on. You tar anyone who criticizes the war as friends of the Taliban, but when cornered on the subject, you admit that SOME "critics of the war" have different motivations. So are you sole judge of which "critics of the war" pass muster and which do not? Our own personal version of the House Un-American Activities Committee?<br /><br /><i><br />The far left has been rallying with radical Islamists since 9/11 -- if not sooner.<br /></i><br /><br />This makes as little sense as accusing President Obama of being a Muslim AND a devotee of his Christian preacher at the same time.<br /><br />You right-wing dittoheads usually complain that the far left is too feminist. Feminists, radical or otherwise, are not typically supporters of the Taliban. Try getting your story straight.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85982443490047810002012-04-05T07:13:57.323-07:002012-04-05T07:13:57.323-07:00Paul451:
Has everyone heard of the Hygiene Hypoth...Paul451:<br /><i><br />Has everyone heard of the Hygiene Hypothesis of Autoimmune Disease? That the rise in hay-fever, food allergies, Asthma, and more severe auto-immune disorders (and leukaemia) is due to a lack of exposure to bugs, such as parasitic worms in our gut. We got rid of parasites and bugs thinking we'd be "healthier" as a consequence, but triggered a different set of illnesses.<br /></i><br /><br />I have heard that the polio epidemics of the mid-20th Century may have come about because of widespead use of disinfectants and an emphasis on cleanliness. Whereas most humans had been routinely exposed to trace amounts of pathogens (and therefore developed at least limited immunity to their effects), suddenly people were growing up with NO such exposure until encountering a bug that got them really, REALLY sick.<br /><br />That model seems plausible to me. And if so, it's really scary how inundated our society has become with "antibacterial" everything.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72843897862905997192012-04-05T06:26:05.064-07:002012-04-05T06:26:05.064-07:00I believe that if we had not intervened in Libya t...I believe that if we had not intervened in Libya that what we are now seeing in Syria would have happened there. Yes, what is happening now in Libya is sad... but what is the solution? To sit back and let petty tyrants slaughter their people on a whim to stay in power? To deny our basic humanity to want to protect one another, to deny that democracy deserves a shot everywhere, not just in a few White Northern Hemisphere Countries? <br /><br />Sometimes you have to stand up and say "enough." And if people die? It is sad. You try to reduce the number of deaths and you try to stop the paybacks afterward... but you still try. Because it is far better to try to bring peace and fail than to sit back and watch the world burn.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4462060697300817152012-04-05T04:48:50.533-07:002012-04-05T04:48:50.533-07:00On a different note: people should keep an eye on ...On a different note: people should keep an eye on developments in China over the next year or so.<br /><br />Wen Jiabao was once seen as a reformer - he was an aide to Zhao Ziyang, who was purged after the Tien An Mien Massacre for trying to get the CPC to adopt democratic reform. <br /><br />For the last couple of years, he's been making speeches about the need for democratic reform - but mostly he's done it while overseas and his remarks have generally not been reported in china.<br /><br />A couple of weeks ago he made his boldest speech yet - on live national TV in front of the National People's Congress. (He was standing at the time in the Great Hall of the People a few hundred metres from where he and Zhao net with protesters during the Tien An protests and he alluded pretty directly to the protest in talking about the need to avoid "social turmoil".)<br /><br />He's also led the attacks on Bo Xilai, the leading conservative who was considered a certainty to be promoted to the Politburo until he got involved in a corruption scandal which led to him beign sacked from al lhis party and state posts.<br /><br />Whether anything will come of this is hard to tell but it looks like Wen is trying to prepare the way for his chosen successor Xi Jinping who is also believed to be a liberal.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56193564804757066942012-04-05T02:05:29.887-07:002012-04-05T02:05:29.887-07:00Rob H., I want to make myself clear here, I am not...Rob H., I want to make myself clear here, I am not arguing for super-villain status for America.<br /><br />My entire point is about rejecting American exceptionalism in either direction. America is not different from the imperial nations than preceded it, and that is all.<br />I do find the idea that American soldiers who commit these atrocities must somehow be “deranged” to be a bit clueless. The soldier who killed those 16 Afghans (presuming he worked alone, which the relatives of the victims do not believe) was not having a psychotic breakdown, otherwise he would have murdered other soldiers in the base. He walked over to an Afghan village and murdered 16 villagers because that is exactly what he wanted to do – it was premeditated. It was revenge for the death and maiming of his friends. He equated the enemy with the whole of the Afghan people, and acted on it. <br /><br />That attitude is more widespread in the US military than is let on, and that is why to call that soldier deranged is to make a dangerous mistake. It is to avoid recognizing that you are losing the hearts and minds of your own troops. Here is a good article summarizing this viewpoint:<br />http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-madness-is-not-the-reason-for-this-massacre-7575737.html<br /><br />As for the Afghans acceptance of American reasons for invasion, and acceptance of it, I think you are a bit too immersed in the American version of American imperialism – which is, America is not an imperial nation at all.<br /><br />That is not how America is perceived in the countries that have been on the receiving end of its intervention. How do you think the history of US foreign policy is taught in Latin America, Africa and Asia? What do you think Chilean history books say about 9/11 1973? What do you think Indonesian history books say about Suharto’s rise to power? What do you think Pilipino history books say about their war of independence?<br /><br />You have been taught history from the American point of view, and as such you see America as fundamentally different. It is a weird form of cognitive dissonance, for the greatest imperial nation of history not to recognize the existence of its empire at all. But most of the rest of the world sees things for what they are, and that is what colours their perception of American interventions. <br /><br />Same goes for Syria. You have a splintered protest movement with the support of a majority of the population, and a government with the support of a substantial minority that rightfully fears extermination if the protesters win. And you have, so far, about 8,000 casualties, as opposed to 30,000 in Libya after the intervention. In Libya there also are 7,000 political prisoners being subjected to daily torture, and several low level insurgencies with daily killings, often degenerating into pitched battles, with the simmering possibility of a major war between Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. Meanwhile, thousands of heavily armed Tuareg militants have flooded the northern Sahel. The Malian government, for 20 years one of the few truly free democracies in Africa, is the first victim so far.<br /><br />All of this, based on the faulty premise that massacre in Benghazi would have been inevitable without Western intervention, something that is simply not supported by the facts. <br /><br />We have no idea what the consequences of intervention in Syria would be. And we have no idea what the consequences of intervention in Libya will be. What if it turns into another Somalia? The potential is there.<br /><br />It is not for the West to decide who rules in other countries. The Age of Empire is over. <br /><br />As for RandyB, I’m not sure if I should laugh or cringe at your arguments. The anti-war movement as a Taliban stooge. The Afghan insurgency as being completely lacking in popular support, and yet able to bog down 150,000 NATO soldiers for years on end. And the Afghan elections as having any legitimacy whatsoever. That’s your argument. I think there couldn’t be a better refutation of the entirety of your position on the Afghan war than what you yourself say about it.Hypnoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01409179274970587232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-621399819080055372012-04-04T23:58:44.011-07:002012-04-04T23:58:44.011-07:00Please don't pretend that if not for US interv...Please don't pretend that if not for US intervention the Holocaust wouldn't have been much worse.<br /><br />Intent is really irrelevant to that.<br /><br />Of course, compared to the tens of millions of additional Russian and Chinese deaths (not to mention the likely genocide of essentially the entire population of Australia and New Zealand), the extermination of most Europe's surviving Jews hardly matters.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39369148166980198052012-04-04T23:18:00.753-07:002012-04-04T23:18:00.753-07:00Please don't pretend that the Holocaust had an...Please don't pretend that the Holocaust had anything to do with US involvement in the war. It was all about money. Roosevelt knew Hitler wanted to impose a closed, German-centered economy on Europe. That would've been bad news for US farmers and manufacturers, who would've lost important buyers. <br /><br />Money. That's the only reason the US ever got involved in the war.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61234083858398094792012-04-04T22:47:58.639-07:002012-04-04T22:47:58.639-07:00"And I still say the right choice was to let ..."And I still say the right choice was to let those evils just duke it out in their own little part of the world. Build up a strong defensive navy, of course, lest either get the idea of bringing their war over here, but stay out of it. Choose peace."<br /><br />Yeah, what a few million more dead yids matter?Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44180300048499529392012-04-04T22:28:46.154-07:002012-04-04T22:28:46.154-07:00Sometimes we just have to pick the lesser of two e...<i>Sometimes we just have to pick the lesser of two evils. The U.S. supported the Soviets during WWII while Stalin was in power. That was a choice between two monstrous evils.</i><br /><br />And I still say the right choice was to let those evils just duke it out in their own little part of the world. Build up a strong defensive navy, of course, lest either get the idea of bringing their war over here, but stay out of it. Choose peace.<br /><br />I'm very much enjoying <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=BfdbgjzJfagC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+emergency+state&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4ih9T69TipD1BPyIqZ4N&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=the%20emergency%20state&f=false" rel="nofollow">The Emergency State</a> right now. Chapter 2 is absolutely scathing.<br /><br /><i>[Roosevelt]began to exercise some of the expanded military and political powers of a war president without first seeking the constitutional authority to do so.<br /><br />Disguising and denying his real intentions, Roosevelt the politician stroked, tested, and reassured public opinion, while Roosevelt the chief executive used the diplomatic powers of the presidency and the military authority of the commander in chief to draw American forces steadily closer to armed protection of British cargoes and undeclared naval war against Germany in the open Atlantic.<br /><br />His failure to consult with Congress or keep it accurately informed of his actions on the long road from statutory neutrality to active belligerency set a pernicious precedent for his postwar successors. Congress's constutional authority to declare war becomes meaningless when presidents can commit American prestige and troops before the House and Senate have a chance for informed debate.<br /><br />History has vindicated Roosevelt's miltary judgement. . . But it has not vindicated Roosevelt's methods. IN a constitutional democracy, the ends do not justify the means, especially when thos means turn out to have long-lasting consequences. The Constitutional-bending shortcuts Roosevelt pioneered in these months have been expanded upon by peacetime successors from both parties, with very costly results for America's constitutional democracy and national security.</i>sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77638495460152438862012-04-04T22:12:50.636-07:002012-04-04T22:12:50.636-07:00Apologies if this has been mentioned but to contin...Apologies if this has been mentioned but to continue the speculation about parasites: <br /><br />Modern humans evolved around 30,000 years ago, then seemingly, not much happened for about 20,000 years.<br /><br />Then around 10-12,000 years ago you get the neolithic revolution, one of aspect of this is the emergence of cities and relatively large concentrations of humans. <br /><br />(I posted here a month or two back about research that suggested Neanderthals lived in social groups of fewer than a dozen.)<br /><br />Now the usual theory is that we developed agriculture and improved hunting and food storage technologies and this made it possible for us to support large populations.<br /><br />But let's imagine for a second that a virus made its bearers more sociable, more gregarious - and therefore improved the chances of their transmitting the virus to others. <br /><br />In that case, the means to support large concentrations of people are really a epiphenomenon of a strategy to maximize the virus' transmission chances.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-7791812356499315452012-04-04T22:06:05.259-07:002012-04-04T22:06:05.259-07:00infanttyrone,
If you mean our support for the ins...infanttyrone,<br /><br />If you mean our support for the insurgents against the Soviets, that was started by President Carter.<br /><br />Sometimes we just have to pick the lesser of two evils. The U.S. supported the Soviets during WWII while Stalin was in power. That was a choice between two monstrous evils.<br /><br />As for who I voted for over the years, when I voted, you can guess. But I didn't vote in 1980. I don't think I was even in the country on election day.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-7607291958174659732012-04-04T21:50:06.435-07:002012-04-04T21:50:06.435-07:00AAARRrrrrgghhhh . . .
I'm watching the Georg...AAARRrrrrgghhhh . . . <br /><br />I'm watching the George Lucas episode of "Prophets of Science Fiction."<br /><br />This series is so shallow. They pick and choose a few aspects of a book / movie and then make connections -- sometimes pretty iffy -- to some technology-in-progress. Very little insight into the authors / creators.<br /><br />In the case of Lucas they really have to make a stretch . . . and his imaginings were so derivative!<br /><br />There was nothing about THX-1138.Stefan Joneshttp://twitter.com/#!/StefanEJonesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78163706050385234792012-04-04T21:29:59.587-07:002012-04-04T21:29:59.587-07:00The far left has been rallying with radical Islami...<i>The far left has been rallying with radical Islamists since 9/11 -- if not sooner.</i><br /><br />If you were old enough to vote in 1980, did you vote for Saint Reagan, who did some hard-core 'rallying with radical Islamists', or did you vote for his opponent on the left ?<br />And in 1984 ?<br />1988 ?infanttyronenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15801862611250316542012-04-04T21:08:45.325-07:002012-04-04T21:08:45.325-07:00@Hypnos,
I didn't say they hold sway over the...@Hypnos,<br /><br />I didn't say they hold sway over the Taliban. I said they're friends, which they are, and they would have asked forcefully if they'd cared. Like everyone else, insurgents want some sympathetic publicity, too. They need fundraising and recruiting.<br /><br />As for calling us an "invading Army," yes we are, but do I need to remind you that most Afghans wanted us to be there? They still did in the last poll. Only a small minority of Afghans wants the Taliban back.<br /><br />They've had U.N.-monitored elections since 2004. If they wanted the Taliban back, they'd vote them in.<br /><br /><br /><br />@infanttyrone,<br /><br />In a war with muskets, mingling among civilians is very different than in a war with AK-47s and RPGs. But I was referring to Sociotard's point about who's to blame when civilians are killed. Off hand, other than the Boston Massacre (when the troops were acquitted), I'm not that sure about the temperment of the colonists wrt civilians on the firing line.<br /><br />By "critics of the war," I meant the far left ones. There are always a few others, such as isolationists on the right, who have other ideas.<br /><br /><br /><br />@Rob,<br /><br />Actually, there was something of an outcry against civilian casualties during WWII. One prominent name was Vera Brittain, whose organization published a report on civilian casualties taken from German sources. She was a genuine pacifist.<br /><br /><br /><br />@RL,<br /><br />No, not everyone who opposes the war supports the enemy. But many of these organized "anti-war" movements do have such alliances, and everyone who supports them is, in fact, supporting the enemy. I've linked to one a few pages back -- several times. There are many, many more.<br /><br />If the "anti-war" movement wanted to talk about civilians being protected, they'd know who to call.<br /><br /><br /><br />@Ian,<br /><br />Okay, I stand corrected on Solyndra. But I think I've been fair on that one, and it doesn't change my point. The Bush administration did pursue energy options.<br /><br /><i>"The cartoon is clearly referencing the Bales case."</i><br /><br />The cartoonist is referencing the Bales case, which is a criminal incident, and he's putting it beside an ordinary terrorist as though they're comparable. They're not.<br /><br />It is "the fortunes of war" when soldiers have good reason to kick someone's doors in. It's murder if they do as Bales did.<br /><br /><br /><br />@Paul451,<br /><br />I linked one set of pictures of the far left with supporters of Al-Sadr. I also said there were many other examples. The far left has been rallying with radical Islamists since 9/11 -- if not sooner.<br /><br />I didn't bother with the other examples because it didn't matter.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-81288497730436241702012-04-04T21:03:24.980-07:002012-04-04T21:03:24.980-07:00Science Fiction Authors Invade Small Town
Nice ph...<a href="http://open.salon.com/blog/miguela_holt_y_roybal/2012/03/31/science_fiction_authors_invade_small_town_photo_essay" rel="nofollow">Science Fiction Authors Invade Small Town</a><br /><br />Nice photo-essay about a writer's conference in Portoles.Stefan Joneshttp://home.comcast.net/~stefan_jones/kira_grinning_lo.JPGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8602024415639816782012-04-04T20:55:00.577-07:002012-04-04T20:55:00.577-07:00Re: Parasitic driver of civilisation.
That idea s...Re: Parasitic driver of civilisation.<br /><br />That idea scares the crap out of me. Has everyone heard of the Hygiene Hypothesis of Autoimmune Disease? That the rise in hay-fever, food allergies, Asthma, and more severe auto-immune disorders (and leukaemia) is due to a lack of exposure to bugs, such as parasitic worms in our gut. We got rid of parasites and bugs thinking we'd be "healthier" as a consequence, but triggered a different set of illnesses.<br /><br />What if we clean up an infection like T. gondii and effectively destroy civilisation. Not immediately, not "take a pill and become inhuman", because we're still social animals (and because that would be picked up in testing.) But what if we become more insular, territorial, fearful/angry, as Larry (I think) speculated the opposite happened to him due to exposure to T gondii (or by getting laid.) What if we lose the ability to be "more than ourselves"?<br /><br />... by mistake.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68304059316373063022012-04-04T20:48:17.179-07:002012-04-04T20:48:17.179-07:00Ian,
Ah, right you are.
Corporations are the col...Ian,<br /><br />Ah, right you are. <br />Corporations are the color of paper, not of ink.<br /><br />Paul451,<br /><br />Thanks for filling in the backstory.<br />So, our comrade is not afflicted with the dreaded syndrome of bilateral symmetry.infanttyronenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88255482810318872492012-04-04T20:12:17.943-07:002012-04-04T20:12:17.943-07:00infanttyrone,
"The critics of the war have ha...infanttyrone,<br /><b>"The critics of the war have had over ten years to ask their friends to separate civilians from combatants."</b><br /><i>"Ron Paul and the bulk of his supporters are "critics of the war". This makes them friends of Al Qaeda and/or the Taliban ?"</i><br /><br />Nonono, only the left. RandyB saw a photo once of a protest, where some of the Arabs were supporters of Muqtadā al-Ṣadr, the Iraqi Shiite leader. Therefore... errr... Taliban... something...Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45125210992298359682012-04-04T17:02:27.784-07:002012-04-04T17:02:27.784-07:00One final note on the topic of parasites.
A recen...One final note on the topic of parasites.<br /><br />A recent New Scientist article reported on a species of frog which is immune to the infection decimating other species of amphibian and which is expanding its populations and range as its competitors are wiped out.<br /><br />The article describes this species as a carrier and the infection as a pathogen but wouldn't it be more accurate to describe the relationship as symbiotic? <br /><br />Maybe homo Sapiens wiped out the Neanderthals, Denisovans etc by giving them colds?Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.com