America the Revolutionary Power
The Times asks: What has America Ever Done for Us?
Long live the glorious American revolution!
Archive for March 2005
When Chimps Attack
Some of you may know that in the dim past I supported wild chimpanzee research in Africa. My first day in the field, my research group was tracking the main body of chimps that included the Alpha Male, his “posse” and a large group of females. Late in the morning the group, including many females carrying young, began to climb trees with each chimp ascending a tree. At the top of the trees was a large group of red colobus monkeys that leapt from tree to tree attempting to escape from the chimps as they ascended.
Within minutes the air was filled with the scent of blood and wild screams as the chimp group attacked and decimated the red colobus group, wrenching baby monkeys from their mothers and killing them with a bite to the face. 11 monkey babies and juveniles were caught and killed by the wild chimps during that incident, one of many hunts and attacks that I witnessed that emphasized to me the following:
1. Chimps are strong.
2. Chimps are smart.
3. Kipling was spot-on when he wrote “nature red in tooth and claw”.
During our research, you never ever underestimated what chimps were capable of because when you did, you paid a price. Most of the time the price was small – a slap on the back or being hit by a tossed rock or branch – but some researchers have paid a much higher price.
Don’t get me wrong: I believe in chimpanzee conservation – but to me the term means protecting their habitat and leaving the things alone.
The people in this story obviously forgot what they were dealing with, and paid a high price as a result.
What does this symbol mean?
UPDATE: While researching another story, I discovered that this symbol is known as the “heartagram” and is the symbol used by the Finnish heavy metal band “HIM“.
Goddamned kids, messing with the heads of their elders…
I’ve seen this symbol occasionally on bumperstickers.
Does anyone know what it means?
Here are my guesses:
1. Member of the Illuminati - They changed the symbol after my membership expired so it could be…
2. Member of a menage a trois – These are about as stable as a two-legged chair, but you never know.
3. The driver is gay – Since the rainbow has become a cliche, what better way to advertise one’s sexual preference on the bumper of one’s car. Then again, why does anyone feel like doing that in the first place?
4. Geometry Lover’s Association – See you’ve got the triangle and the heart…
5. Illegal Abortion Lover’s Association – You’ve got a coat-hanger and a heart…
6. The driver loves Satan. If you look carefully, the rounded “lobes” of the heart can be stylized points of the pentagram.
Allright, I’m out of ideas. Anyone know?
HydroElectric Power Threatens Planet
... if you believe in global warming it does.
According to this week’s issue of New Scientist:
Hydroelectric dams produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, and in some cases produce more of these greenhouse gases than power plants running on fossil fuels.
It turns out that methane is 21 times worse than carbon dioxide when it comes to global warming, and decaying vegetation in reservoirs produce alot of methane.
It must be hard to be anti-nuclear power and believe in global warming, since nuclear power is the only reliable power source that does not add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Wind turbines kill birds, blight the landscape (or seascape – if you are Walter Cronkite) and only work in places with a steady supply of wind. Solar power is possible if the sun is shining – but dependent on batteries to store the power for use at night, and battery production uses alot of electricity and produces toxic waste.
That leaves, what? What energy source is environmentally friendly AND does NOT contribute to global warming?
None. Steven Den Beste drove the stake through eco-friendly energy in an article that I can’t find because his archive is down. Dang…
