Of war and elephants*

Modern warfare is not natural; our bellicose human habits violate long-evolved prosocial norms shared by animals everywhere, including the mighty, brainy elephant. Elephant society only fell victim to "soldier's heart" when culls, poaching, and habitat destruction shattered social structures that provided young elephants inoculation against trauma. Human culture, not elephant nature, is responsible for the onset of wildlife mental breakdown. Our aggressive excesses are no longer justified by saying, "nature made me do it."

G. A. Bradshaw and Edward Tick, "Of Pachyderms and Paratroopers".

* ... a tip o' the nib to the authors for their title, and to The Huffington Post for the article.

Photo of elephant by Scotch Macaskill via his website, Wildlife Pictures Online.

I weep ...

... and I suspect that the president did, too, when he returned to the White House after today's pre-dawn ceremony to receive and honour 18 soldiers who were recently killed in Afghanistan ...

More here...

I don't know whether to laugh or cry in the long run ...

... but right now, I'm losing it like a kid who's farted in church. That photo makes me explode. (With laughter!)

What you see is a motorized La-Z-Boy chair. Its owner, adaptor and operator was recently busted for a DWI in Duluth, Minnesota. Seems the perp knocked back eight or nine beers at a bar, then rammed his lounger into a parked car on his woozy way home.

OK; I'm laughing so hard now that my feet are sweating. I'm gasping. I mean, how fast was the old fart going? Was he wearing a seat belt?

This sounds like something Bob and Doug McKenzie would do, eh? I mean, if you gave it a quick look-see, that decal on the chair could be the NHL logo. Beauty, eh?

... but wait. Didn't the movie Fargo take place in Minnesota? ... Yes, it did!

Can you see Marge Gunderson busting this guy?

"Oh my. Where? Yeah? Aw geez."


Gee, I'd go treat myself to a little Fargo right about now, but I don't wanna wake up my husband, ya know. He's got ta get his eight hours or he's right fit to be tied. And he says I laugh like a horse, I'll wake him for sure, so what can ya do? I won't be goin' out to the barn to watch a movie, no way. So I'm gonna stay right here and look around online, and whaddya know, here's Marge interviewing Sarah Palin, you betcha!

Oh, and here's something for you Fargo fashionistas out there. Will ya look at that -- Coen couture!

Oh, dear.

Tonight I wrote FUCK DEATH! in my journal.

Jaliya down the rabbit hole.

I woke up this morning in the wake of an epic dream about Barack Obama. Dammit, I can't recall details, except that I was chasing after my friends, all of whom had met him. He was everywhere -- on a lawn, on a stage; in a house, on a stair. On a couch, on a chair; over here, over there. My friends were ecstatic; I was a wreck. Where was Barack? -- Off on a trek.

I keep pondering ways that I could make scads of money -- impractical, whimsical ways. Such is my capitalist mind. (NOT!) Today's ponderables include two books: Where's Barack? and something along the Cat in the Hat line -- Barack on the Track or Barack on a Yak or Barack's Got the Knack -- the man's always moving, dammit, and I can't find him!



Once I'm conscious enough to fire up the computer, I do ... and the first headline I see is this: BRITNEY SPEARS VOTED BEST CELEBRITY MOTHER.


I did not find this headline at The Onion.

Has the collective unconscious gone completely insane?! Humanity, I decide, has gone belly-up; non compos mentis to the nth degree.

I'm going back to bed.

My two cents about the Nobel Peace Prize

My first thought upon reading the news of Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize win was, "For the man he chooses to be, he deserves it."

For what he's accomplished ... I think he's done what he can so far. I can't imagine the push and pull the man experiences every day. What stands out for me is the man's character and his cool. His sanity.

How many other people would really want to tackle the profession of US President in the wake of Bush and Cheney?

To the naysayers -- Enough. You try doing the job with its (for me) unimaginable stresses. You try keeping your cool when every jabbering nitwit on the planet seems to be deriding and insulting you for having the courage to attempt what might be an impossible job. You try cleaning up the filth that BushCo left behind; you try toning down a war or two. You try being called "Hitler" for your sincere attempts to right the Krazy-Glue injustices of entrenched and mired institutions.

Barack Obama was chosen to receive recognition for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." That's good enough for me, and it's a whole lot more than the naysayers are doing.

A semi-snarky affirmation for depression ...

When it's pissing rain inside and out, remember that rainbows also exist!