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Palindromedary ~ Agreed! However, is it possible to calculate the folding of a Cortex from a fossil? Wouldn't you need a live Neanderthal to make that conclusion? Isn't Aliceinwonderland's contention about the known existence of the creature enough to testify as to it's intelligence compared to modern day man?
Finally, who are you to criticize the intelligence of a whale? Have you given one an IQ test recently? If you ask me, the mere fact that they spend their time in the ocean as far away from man as possible is a decent indicator that they are pretty smart. It is also a known fact that whales are able to communicate with each other over vast distances. Is'nt that also a fair indicator of intelligence? Man, if stuck on an island without technology can't do that. Even the concept of a note in a bottle is useless if he has no paper, pen, or bottle. A whale needs nothing but their brain.
Aliceinwonderland ~ Most intriguing theory. Neanderthals and devolution. We're not progressing we are regressing. Many of the earlier biblical stories would certainly agree. According to the bible, the first humans lived lifetimes of almost 1000 years. As generations progressed the life expectancy slowly regressed. In school the explanation was that this was a result of mankind increasing in sin and decreasing closeness with God. If one--such as an atheist--were simply to replace the word God with the word nature, and sin with crimes against nature, the entire phenomenon would make perfect sense to anyone.
If so, one could easily conclude that if Neanderthals were indeed able to live in far greater harmony with nature, then they were also much closer to the "God" concept. One could also conclude that perhaps that is why they successfully existed so much longer than we have; and, just because they don't appear to us today, perhaps still exist somewhere to this day. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. After all, humans only take up a small percentage of the surface of the known planet. There is also a huge unexplored area undersea and underground; and, that doesn't even take into account all the other planets and moons in the solar system. In addition, no one seems to know what the Sasquatch phenomenon really is all about. Certainly, any advanced intelligent life on this planet would steer clear of interaction with the human species. I know I would--if I could.
It's not only brain size that determines intelligence or ability to learn. Another factor is the body size/weight to the size/weight of the brain. But probably the most important factor is the amount of folding of the Cortex.
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Int5.html
And then, there is the matter of human head size. Are men's heads which are often larger than women's heads indicative that men are smarter than women? Some people may think so...but they are usually men.
If it wasn't for all that folding of the cortex, given the same brain weight, humans would be dumb as snot.
Which lake has the capacity for more beach area a round one or one that has a lot of irregular coves? If most intelligence is a result of the overall inside surface of the cortex then one with lots of folding is the winner. But body weight to brain size is still also important. I wonder if fat people lost all their excessive weight if they would become more intelligent? ;-} Are skinny people more intelligent than overweight ones? I guess there are a lot of factors that one has to consider.
We could do something like this through the tax code. Give individuals (plus dependents) deductions for food, clothing, shelter, transportation, education and medicine. (Some of those would be based on national or state averages, others would be based on individual expenditure.) If the deductions make the taxable income negative, then the positive taxation rate means the government gives that person money.
(Funny story: I came up with that list of 6 deductions back in 2006 or 2007, but David C. Korten's 2009 book Agenda for a New Economy has almost the same list on p. 97, in a list of things that should replace phantom wealth as economic indicators. He left out clothing and said "health care" instead of "medicine".)
And as we all know, a newton equals 0.007 slugs.
The newton (N) is a unit of force, equal to that needed to accelerate a kilogram at a rate of 1 meter per second per second, or equivalent to the weight (on Earth) of about 102 grams (3.6 ounces).
The pascal (Pa) is a unit of pressure, equal to a newton per square meter. Standard atmospheric pressure is 101,325 Pa. This means that over every square meter of the Earth's surface, there is a mass of 10.3323 metric tons of air. To have the same mass of water, it would have to be 10.3323 meters (33.9 feet) deep.
Aliceinwonderland ~ I totally agree. None of my cats were ever de-clawed. Not only are those the only means cats have to defend themselves against other animals and each other, they also allow them to climb and are the closest thing the animal has to fingers. To remove them is truly inhumane and cruel. Some people just don't know any better. No furniture is worth having that makes you have to maim a helpless, innocent animal. Take your pick, the responsibility of pet ownership or the owner of nice furnishings. You can't be both without being a monster.
Thom has been fighting this thing for 2 decades and so far not much has been done. We still use fossil fuels for 86% of our energy in this country and that puts masive amounts of CO2 in the upper atmosphere causing the greenhouse effect.
It is my contention we go to nuclear, at least until the greenhouse gas crisis is stopped and then perhaps go to something "safer" although statistically the only safer form of energy is wind. In 20 years France went from zero to 80% nuclear without a single problem. They now supply other countries with energy from the overabundance thanks to nuclear.
As to the poll, I agree we should not sit on ours hands, which is why I clicked on YES. However it is a sure bet that big oil will prevent any meaningful legislation on this issue, until money IS taken out of politics.
As I understand it, the U.S. poverty level is calculated as three times the cost of a defined basket of food. It does not take into account differential inflation in essentials such as housing costs. Other countries calculate poverty as a percent of median income. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these disparate methods of calculation? It would make a difference in how much a minimum income should be. Neither strategy would, I think, do much to correct our biggest problem: the wealthy are taking almost all newly created wealth. Income disparity will continue to increase despite a 'minimum income' until a progressive income tax is reinstituted.
Marx and others thought technology and the robot revolution would eliminate the need for work, i.e., it would reduce our work week. He thought it would come after the Communist Revolution. It came before and now the one percenters don't need us anymore. They won't reduce our week only us.
No Alice, they'll keep the butlers and maids - and their children for future use as butlers and maids - but the surplus livestock must be allowed to die off as there are so many more than needed, i.e., more than needed by the 1%, their lackeys and wannabes.
Bob, dear comrade, let's not blame the victims! Most of us are just trying to have a life.
Thanks, 10K. I needed that. It's folks like you that keep me coming back for more... - AIW
Since the industrail revolution a modern phenomenon is taking place.so many have so much more people around the world in comparison to 200 years ago have so much oportunity. The Shania Twains of the world work hard enough, they should pamper themselves in any law abiding way they see fit.Union trades cops ect. live like Kings by today standards eg. access to foods and luxuries a century ago we could never imagine yachts cottages trips around the world ect. Good for them.enjoy your lives.
Above Kings of the past the modern Tyrant has his/her over lords the Central banks now in place.These Banksters have the people around the world Dupped into a sleep state and can't see the Huge rip off taking place.this should be where the 99.8% Unify and stop the global gluttany!
The global interest alone paid to these modern scam artist because of War ,contraction of money supply, sell off of the commons to themselves ect. the Monopolization of the money has given this .2% the GWP Skim these crooks planned for over a century.The Crooks just printed 30 TRILLION more!!We the People 99%even more accurate 99.8% could Solve most problems of the World if the system where to change to a more equal footing.
Life liberty the pursuit of happiness!! without the money monopoly
Remember, the victom is the cause of the criminal act. After all they attracted the criminal!
Thom, unless we find a way to isolate psychopathy, and erase it from our DNA and/or the human genome, this is no more than a pipe dream. Because these subhumans (or "lizard people" or whatever you want to call them) are already in the driver's seat, and their plan for the "New World Order" is well underway. The rest of us aren't invited to the party. - Aliceinwonderland
Aliceinwonderland: I certainly agree with your sentiment, but remember we can all easily communicate with each other now in the 21st century. That means the truth can be exposed to the all citizens despite the media attempts to distort it. That also means revolution is inevitable.....we are the millions they are the few!
What cracks me up is how we'll call each other "Neanderthals" as an intended insult, like we assume we're so much smarter than they were. But their brains were larger than ours. Their species lasted WAY longer than homo sapiens thus far (twice as long? Triple as long?) and they lived in perfect harmony with nature. Kinda has me re-thinking what should define "smart", if ya know what I mean...
By the way, this disparity of brain size between us and Neanderthals is another intriguing tidbit of information picked up from yours truly, Thom Hartmann! I heard it in one of those "geeky science" interludes on his radio show. - Aliceinwonderland
Lah-lah-lah, we've seen this movie before. Generation after generation, century after century, millenia after millenia... same old shit. Even the prospect of humanity's self-inflicted demise is not enough to spoil the psychopaths' little orgy. Arrogance & greed will be the death of us yet. - AIW
Loren Bliss: "the bloody lessons taught to Darius"....This tyrant in particular strikes a nerve with me regarding how the same evil souls continue to pop up throughout history, only the names change. Most of us know that Darius and his Achaemenid Empire were greatly humiliated when the Athenians repelled the Persian invasion at Marathon in 490BC. I've always found it interesting that his son Xerxes, once in power, launched a second invasion to in part avenge the failure of his father to get the job done. We all know how that turned out too....."Battle of Salamis!" It cost the Persian Empire a fortune, their entire fleet was destroyed. Seems like I recall a similar situation much more recently regarding the Bush dynasty....when father and son had power. This time it cost the United States empire a fortune.....and now they want our Social Security bond fund to pay for their arrogance.
Yes, Nora, all based on beliefs. My belief (fantasy) is better than your belief (fantasy). Conditioning is very powerful.
Yes! Thank you for zeroing in on BELIEF!
The Immobility of the Power Elite and Capitol Hill's immobility on CLIMATE CHANGE are both reflective of the USA culture of RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT TO END TIMES.
BOTH these groups are averse to creating conservation policy for energy and pollution control.
The Religious embracers of End Times have their scripts laid out in their myths -- with Armageddon and Raptures galore and are happy to deny any policy solutions to the situation because their GOD can't be stopped anyway!
The other group, though -- The Power Elite -- are DO NOTHINGS because doing something might get in the way of their DISASTER CAPITALISM which is constantly capitalizing on the bad weather which is so useful for speculating on crop failures, commodity availability, financing advantages in controlling the number of available construction days or days to transport goods, capitalizing on the increased fuel needs for heating in extreme cold or cooling in extreme heat, making a killing on depressed real estate after storms, floods, fires and economic havoc and the growing need for insurance. Indeed, these 'Dark Side' advantages to the profitable consolidation of wealth from disasters leads me to surmise that the members of the Power Elite are GEO-ENGINEERING CLIMATE INSTABILITY with their access to weather modification technology and this is precisely why we don't see the One Percent in the forefront of ending POLLUTION, and they fail to initiate practices leading to CLEANER INDUSTRY, CLEANER ENERGY, CONSERVATION, or EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGNS!
The apocalyptic descriptions of the climate change scientists feed the mythical mindset of the Christianist Death Cult and Dominionists, and the believers in religious End Times would NEVER step in to PREVENT the events leading their glorious myth of Destruction and Rapture. And, similarly, those who BELIEVE in Science are also unable to extract themselves from the Cultural EMERSION in END-OF-THE-WORLD interpretation of information they are trying to deal with!
The non-religious "DO NOTHINGS" whose 'Dark Side' ideation creates UNINTERRUPTED PROFITS and MORE PROFITS by polluting and externalizing costs (via Cap & Trade schemes and carbon taxes on consumers, and even subsidies for solar conversions (which in this country apply only to those who are profligate in their energy use but do not apply to those who conserve and would like to conserve more)). This group will never move to solve a pollution problem. IMMOBILIZATION on this issue suits their profiteering priorities!
The myth-based delusions of the Rapturists might be easier to understand; they just DESIRE for their End Times Myths to be real! But what can one expect of a 'Dark Side' Power Elite? All I expect is more 'Dark Side' machinations; I speculate they actually help perpetrate the End Times fantasization in popular culture (via media programming investment) because they know that as long as The Public is stuck in an End Times frame of reference, then The Public won't be looking for the truth of what's happening with GEO-ENGINEERING and weather modification, etc.
And what of those who actually BELIEVE in Science and accept that there is something going on? Are they too so steeped in this American Culture of Apocalypse -- with its movies/TV/videogames and war mongering militarization -- just so used to End Times thinking that they cannot PRACTICE SCIENCE in a search for an answer about where the Climate Change is coming from, but must instead BELIEVE only ONE Scientific OPINION about the state of weather on Earth?!
If the USA wasn't dominated by Dominionists, along with a Power Elite that keeps its motives and activities under the radar for as long as possible, we'd probably already have a Continent-wide REFORESTATION program in this country. But with this bunch, and regular folk also being emersed in this dysfunctional culture with its dominant End Of The World group think, we will never get REFORESTATION.
But "jkh", who's gonna clean up their shit and detail & maintain their cars and yachts and private jets, and wash their windows and polish their silver and do their landscaping and cook their food and do all their errands and be nannies to their aristobrats, and chauffeur them around and work in their sweatshops ad nauseam, and shine their shoes and give them manicures and pedicures and style their hair and massage them and wash & iron their clothes and wipe their fannies and... and... You mean they'll have to do all that themselves?!! (Horrors.) Even if they have robots and various forms of automation to do their drudge work for them, who's gonna maintain all that so it functions properly? - AIW
I recall reading in a science magazine about 4 or 5 years ago that it had been observed that several planets in our solar system were warming up, and it was suggested it might have something to do with the regions of space the solar system passes through in its endless travels in the universe. True reason unknown, however. The Earth's magnetic field has been shifting and weakening for many years so that will also have an influence on climate.
THE REPUBLICAN CREED
I AM READING THOM'S CRASH OF 2016. AND the book is reminding me of something I wrote about 8 months ago before the book was released.
THE REPUBLICAN CREED
FACE WALL STREET and say this prayer at the opening and closing of the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE.
REPUBLICANS believe the government should help the rich live long and prosper.
REPUBLICANS believe the government should let the rich exploit the working classes until they die from hard work and exhaustion.
REPUBLICANS believe the government should just let the poor die off from disease and starvation because they will never amount to anything anyway and are just a drain on the rich.
Actually, the difference between the Ukrainian and USian Working Classes -- why Ukrainia gets money and USia gets more austerity -- should be obvious to anyone who is not a die-hard supporter of capitalism.
The Ukrainians -- all but their oligarchs desperately impoverished -- are therefore easily exploitable for maximum profit.
Not only that, Ukraine's industrial potential is enormous. It is the breadbasket of Europe -- the most vast, most productive agricultural land on the entire continent -- and it now effectively belongs to USian imperial agrobusiness. It will thus be farmed by minimum-wage laborers. And since the new Ukrainian government includes declared fascists, its agriculture will no doubt use slave labor too. The profits to the oligarchs and their new USian overlords will be near-infinite.
Ukrainia also contains significant natural resources, including major fossil fuel deposits. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine ) And because of its post-coup chaos, there are no environmental regulations to stop or even slow the rape of the land -- which again means maximum profit for the One Percent, total subjugation of the Ukrainian Working Class.
Contrast this to the USian Imperial Homeland: it is but a husk of its former self. Its natural resources have been been bled dry by the One Percent, its industry has all been outsourced, its Working Class has been methodically disempowered by union-busting. We the People have mostly been reduced to hopeless poverty and are now being slowly exterminated by deliberately genocidal cutbacks in social services. In short, the USian homeland no longer has any of the ingredients of a functioning economy. This means the so-called American Dream is dead; it also means there will never, ever be an USian economic rebirth.
But the USian Homeland still has a charade of constitutional democracy, and -- in a few places -- still has some semblance of genuinely representative local government. Thus the One Percenters' hands remain much more tied here than in Ukrainia.
By contrast, Ukrainia is now ruled by a cabal that includes many declared neo-Nazis in significant positions of power. This means -- exactly as happened in Germany during the 1930s -- Ukrainia will soon be ruled by an exclusively neo-Nazi government. In its inevitable imposition of a torture-state, it will soon be indistinguishable from Nazi Germany or Pinochet's Chile. It will thus become a major element in the USian Empire's 21st Century plan of global conquest -- another slave-state in the USian Empire's de facto Fourth Reich.
That summarizes the main reasons the USian Empire instantly invests money in Ukrainia even as it continues to inflict ever-worsening genocidal poverty on its own people.
We the People are being cast away, discarded as if we were worn-out machinery. We are literally a surplus workforce, deemed useless and abandoned because we are no longer exploitable for significant profit. Such are the consequences of capitalism: infinite greed elevated to maximum virtue -- the deliberate rejection of every humanitarian precept our species has ever espoused.
As more and more of us recognize what is happening and awaken to the core truth our deepening misery is the quintessence of capitalism -- the fulfillment of all Marxist predictions about capitalism (and therefore the ultimate validation of the entire Marxist analysis) -- we by our numbers and our intensifying anger will become ever more dangerous to the One Percenters.
What then will be their response? Will it be the same as that of tyrants throughout history? If so, they will start a major war -- a war big enough to exterminate the surplus Working Class population and ruinous enough to enable the Ruling Class to abolish, forever, any last remnants of constitutional democracy. And by their continued provocation of Putin, it seems they are trying to start just such a war.
At the very least, it seems the One Percenters have convinced themselves the bloody lessons taught Darius, the Mongols, Bonaparte and Hitler no longer apply. At the very worst, their obscene, live-it-up-now-and-fuck-tomorrow arrogance -- a subset of the same capitalist greed that fosters their morally imbecillic indifference to the impending environmental apocalypse -- has rendered them equally indifferent to the fact such a war would be the death of our species.
Russia -- with a long history of having some of the most astute and farsighted intelligence analysts on the planet -- is obviously aware of all these factors. (Note that one should never underestimate Russian intelligence capabilities: One example of Russian skill is the Sepoy Mutiny of 1858, engineered by Tsarist agents, which forever stopped British Empire aggression into the underbelly of the Russian Empire. Another example is the devastatingly effective spy-saboteur-and-resistance network the Nazis eternally cursed as "the Red Orchestra," which GRU established during the late 1920s and early 1930s in anticipation of the rise of fascism and the outbreak of World War II. [See The Red Orchestra, V.E. Tarrant, John Wiley & Sons Inc.: 1995])
With those sorts of analytical capabilities backing him up, it becomes obvious why Putin is responding as he is.
That's why I'm terrified the Ukrainian Crisis is the beginning of World War III -- a war in which the USian Empire suicidally underestimates the indomitable Russian will to "fight to the death": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naUv7V34Sho