Where’s the Outrage?

A recent article in New Scientist magazine says human beings are not as unique as they imagine.

Above is a photo of sheep living in Austria. Here is a story about the minds of sheep.

The article says animals have newly discovered and surprising abilities in ways people once thought as specific to humans.

For example, killer whales have been found to have distinct ways of communicating and hunting depending on if they live in a stable pod or are more transient. This speaks to culture among non-human species.

Some chimps use tools. Many people have seen the pictures of chimps using sticks to fish termites out of the termite mound. This is an example of tool use by animals.

Elephants grieve for dead herd members. Many animals have been noted for apparently emotional reactions. Humans are not the only species that experience emotion.

Beyond culture, tool use and emotion, some animals may possess distinctive personalities, morality, and the ability to understand the mind and intent of another.

Humans are clearly unique.

We are just not as special as we figure.

Who is as special as they figure?

Here is a BBC article on the subject of the minds of animals.

Below are lyrics from the Talking Heads song Animals.

They say they don’t need money
They’re living on nuts and berries
They say animals don’t worry
You know animals are hairy?
They think they know what’s best
They’re making a fool of us
They ought to be more careful
They’re setting a bad example
They have untroubled lives
They think everything’s nice
They like to laugh at people
They’re setting a bad example

Tags: General, Science by Texas Liberal
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The week John McCain’s campaign seems to be looking for their own voice that will bring in donations. It is well known that money has been tight around the McCain campaign headquarters ever since… he began his campaign. So, he has beaten around the edges and that hasn’t worked. So, it is time for him to pull out his big guns. It is time to start with old tried and true - Democrats can’t keep America safe. McCain’s henchmen (James Woolsey and Randy Scheunemann) attacked Barack Obama stating that they had a September 10th mindset when it came to fighting terror. There are so many ways to go with this. It is hard to know where to start.

Let’s start with James Woolsey former CIA director and cheerleader for the Iraq war. He was such a cheerleader that he was a lobbyist for the Iraqi National Congress and their leader the fraud Ahmed Chalabi. He has the judgment to question anything that anyone says? Let alone Barack Obama? Woolsey also saw Saddam behind the Oklahoma City bombing.

So, who would raise his 9/11 head during this dust up, Rudy Giuliani?!!! (Rudy, Rudy, Rudy) Now, that brings a smile to my face. No one has been better at flaming out this campaign season than Rudy Giuliani. He had the nerve to say that Obama would make America take a defensive posture when we need to stay on the offense. Really?!?! He hasn’t used that line before has he? Only 1000 times per day on the campaign trail.

Obama has stood up and firmly smacked down McCain and his boys. Stating that he will not be lectured to by a group who lost Bin Laden and invaded the wrong country. Now, this is what I have been waiting for since 2003. I have been waiting for a democrat to stand up and be strong. I have been waiting for a democrat to say that we can keep our constitution and defeat the terrorists. Man, it is sooo good to hear what I have been saying for 5 years.

Tags: 9-11, Election 2008, Terrorism by ecthompson
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• First, an update to a story that I posted yesterday. It was about the Texas GOP and a vendor at the state convention that had a “special” Obama button. Well, the Texas GOP has decided that they didn’t want them. They have been booted.
• Coca production in Columbia is up. When we talk about wasteful spending when are we going to add the War on Drugs which has been a huge failure.
• Washington paid tribute to Tim Russert.
• More flooding in the midwest. When is our president going to actually go to Iowa and Illinois?
• Tiger Woods is out for the rest of the season to have knee surgery that he should have had 10 months ago.
• The Boston Celtics win the most anti-climatic NBA finals, ever. Every knew who was supposed to win since the start of the season.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Sports by ecthompson
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Michelle Obama on the View. The thing that I truly like is that Michelle Obama can laugh at her situation. As Fox News goes on and on about her fist bump with Barack Obama (was it a terrorist pump). I think that she come off as real and genuine.

Tags: Election 2008, Television by ecthompson
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I wrote this last August. I hope you still find it relevant.

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For the last 25 years, we, the American people, have been sold a bill of goods. The pitch, on one level, appeals to our natural sense of right and wrong. We’ve been told that we pay too much in taxes. We get taxed in the morning. We get taxed as we drive to work. We clearly get taxed on the money that we make it work. We come home and we kiss our spouse. We get hit with the marriage tax. As we make our way to the kitchen we trip over toys that we bought for our kids and of course, those toys were taxed. We get taxed morning, noon and night. Finally, when we leave this earth, we get taxed again with the death tax.

We’ve also been told that our government is not to be trusted. If you give money to the government it is almost equivalent to flushing the money down the drain. Some of our elected leaders have gone so far as to say flushing the money down the drain is actually a better use of the money. The take home lesson is our government is wasteful and we get taxed to death. Cool story. Unfortunately, reality is different than this fantasy world. This week, in my opinion, we saw clearly the result of 27 years of cutting government programs and government spending. The evidence has been all around us but we’ve refuse to see it. Our infrastructure is crumbling around us. We’ve invested almost nothing in our schools, roads, government buildings, levees and, of course, bridges.

As I’ve pointed out in my book, A Letter to America, taxes are like membership fees to an exclusive club. The United States of America is the club that we belong to. Our club used to treat us like exclusive members. If you work hard in school you were almost guaranteed a job for which you can be well-paid. You could be secure in the knowledge that you would have this job until you retire. Once we retired we had a generous pension that made all those years of work, pain and suffering, worth it. Well, like any club, when you reduce the membership fees too far, the perks that made that club special are now not affordable. [Read more →]

Tags: Budget, Domestic Issues, Newsletter, Tax by ecthompson
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Happy Friday the 13th, a day late.  Tim Russert has died at age 58.  My Guests - Daniel Weiss from the Center for American Progress and Heidi Shierholz from the Economic Policy Institute.  Outstanding show.  Enjoy.

 

 The Errington Thompson Show 06-14-08 [40:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Big Oil, Economy, Podcasts by ecthompson
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