Ever since my days at McGill, I've been interested in studying the brains of Cons, to try to determine what makes them so dumb and so bestial. And for years I've known that what sets those brains apart from those of normal people is the size of the amygdala, or fear gland. Peering inside the brain with MRI scans, researchers at University College London found that self-described conservative students had a larger amygdala than liberals. The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure deep in the brain that is active during states of fear and anxiety. Which in a stressful moment can turn them into fearful creatures, or quivering cowards.
It's amazing what we humans can do when we push the boundaries of science. Like fire off this SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida, deploy a satellite. Then land the first stage on a so-called drone ship in the North Atlantic.
And this is what a new and speeded up video of that landing looks like from the rocket itself.
Well now that I know that Stephen Harper is planning to stay on and lead his Cons into the next election. Unless the Duffy trial starts sooner than he is hoping. And now that I know that despite what he said about Michael Ignatieff...
He's not here for us either, and the next election will be all about HIM.
You know? Depressed by the election results. Feeling a little WILTED? Well now you're not alone.
A plant that blogs has become a minor celebrity in blogging-mad Japan.
The pot plant - a hoya kerii, more commonly known as a 'sweetheart plant' - has been wired with sensors which measure bio-electrical signals and then translates them in to Japanese.
"Today was a sunny day and I was able to sunbathe a lot. I had quite a bit of fun today," reads one of its typical entries.
Hmmmm....wouldn't it be EXCELLENT if all we needed to inspire us was a sun lamp and a watering can? And BTW if we lefty bloggers are like roses and lilies, and rutabagas? Does that mean the Blogging Tories are like stinkweed, poison ivy.... Or this nasty plant?
Stephen? Stephen TAYLOR?
Feed me. FEED me !!! Bring me the head of DION !!!! Yikes. How about Mike Duffy's porky BUTTOCKS? Eh? I mean where's a Roto-Rooter when you NEED one? AAAAARGH !!!!! -------------------------------------------------------- P.S. I must admit that when I first heard that the Japanese had a blogging POT plant I was even MORE excited. "What a grooooooovy day. Turn up the sun baby. Hey YOU !!!!! Keep your hands off my BUDS !!!!!!" But I guess you can't have EVERYTHING...
I've got some good news and bad news on the Abyss/Apocalypse front tonight. The bad news is that I have no idea when the Third World War is going to break out. Because anything could happen in this black hole. The US has strongly criticised Russian military action against Georgia, in the bitter conflict over South Ossetia.
In a telephone call to Georgia's leader Mikhail Saakashvili, the US Vice President, Dick Cheney, said Russian aggression "must not go unanswered". But now that the Dark Lord Dick Cheney is involved it could happen ANYTIME. The good news is that if by some miracle we dodge that missile we could get whacked by an even bigger black hole courtesy of this monster. But at least we know now when that could happen. September 10. So we can be ready. Oh sure. They say it's impossible. But who knows?
They've been wrong before. Which makes me wonder what would be the better Apocalypse....the better way to go. Watching the sky burn and muttering as I fry "South fucking Ossetia???? Who knew???AAARGH!!! " Or falling into a black hole shouting "We discovered the final secret of the Universe !!! WHOOPEE!!!" I'm leaning towards the latter. Even though the first one has a better video....
And you thought I was going to play Georgia on my Mind.
Hell or the Hole. What a choice.
Aren't we fortunate? ---------------------------------------------------- P.S. Do you think we could have the beginning of the Third World War coincide with the end of the closing fireworks show at the Olympics? That would be SPECIAL.....
I see the former French paratrooper who plans to jump from a balloon forty kilometres over Saskatchewan has postponed his first attempt. And I'm not sure whether to be disappointed ..... or RELIEVED. Because something about this story bothers me. I admire the old guy for his guts and for sacrificing everything for a 20-year dream.
And I know how great the feeling of free falling through the air can be...even if Sébastien has to kick me in the butt to get me to jump.
But Michel Fournier is sixty-four, has had a triple bypass, is planning to jump from a height three times higher than he ever has before, and reach a speed almost twice as fast as the great Joe Kittinger. A speed where you could burn, as well as freeze, or have your blood boil. And if French authorities decided the project was too dangerous to allow him to jump over France...who decided it was safe enough for him to jump over Saskatchewan? Just wondering. Oh well. I hope the old guy makes it.
That his dream comes true at last. And that his watch doesn't stop.
So he gets to see our world rushing towards him like the great Joe Kittinger did. Whose bravery has always thrilled me. And who said this week: It was nice to be headed back to earth, because it’s an environment that we can live in... And it’s a beautiful planet, really....”
Really...
Oh well....at least he won't need a surfboard in Saskatchewan.
When I watched the moon turn orange last night. It was easy to imagine how ancient peoples might have thought the world was ending. But for signs of our own apocalypse..... I was watching that other space event. Because if you can shoot down your own satellites like the U.S. and China now have...you can shoot down the satellites of your enemies. Which explains why those enemies weren't happy today. Moscow and Beijing complained that the missile strike smacked of hypocrisy as the US had rejected a joint attempt by the two countries from banning weapons in outer space only a month ago.
And why now they're ALL hypocrites. The Pentagon now spends more than $12 billion annually to develop weapons capable of shooting down missiles entering or leaving space.....The military has also worked on a laser project in New Mexico that could have anti-satellite capabilities, and has launched two small satellites that independent experts speculate could be modified to attack, or defend, larger spacecraft. The Russian program involved launching smaller craft to follow a target and get close enough to blow it up. Early last year, China demonstrated its own capability by shooting a ground-based missile at an old satellite 600 miles in space. Which makes me wonder if people realize where this War in Space race is heading. And whether we'll have the sense to force our leaders to hit eject. Before it's too late...
Uh oh...don't tell the crazy creationists...but the ugly argument over how humans happened just got even uglier....or hairier. A new study by a Canadian professor suggests that not only did humans evolve from monkeys .... they also evolved from neanderthals.
Modern humans may well have evolved from hardy Neanderthals who suffered through a dramatic cold spell that descended on Europe about 40,000 years ago, according to a new study that throws another coal into the already heated scientific debate about our origins.
But really is ANYONE surprised? First they tell us the neanderthals shared 99.5 % of our genes. But they were COMPLETELY different. Then we're told they couldn't talk.
And then that maybe they could. Neanderthals, an archaic human species that dominated Europe until the arrival of modern humans some 45,000 years ago, possessed a critical gene known to underlie speech, according to DNA evidence retrieved from two individuals excavated from El Sidron, a cave in northern Spain. Which makes me wonder when they told us the neanderthals were too dum to make clothes... so they all froze to death. Does than mean that now we should thank the hairy brutes for teaching us not only how to kill with a club ... but also how to SEW? And if you add it all up how DIFFERENT from us were they?
You know if this hairy love story continues.... I wouldn't be surprised if people stopped using the word neanderthal as an insult quite as much as they do. Or if men stopped shaving their chests. Or women stopped shaving their legs. Cave-a-bunga! Never mind the evolutionary implications. Wouldn't THAT be awesome? ------------------------------------------------------------ P.S. I STILL believe that the real reason humans sometimes act like brutes....and have so many sexual hangups.... is that our monkey ancestors went with the chimps instead of the bonobos.
