Whole Latte Talent, Day Two
March 5, 2008
Mr Bean
March 5, 2008
Researchers have concluded that if you find the man in 3 seconds the right half of your brain is better developed than most people.
If you find the man between 3 seconds and one minute, then your right
half of the brain is developed normally.
If you find the man between one minute and 3 minutes then the right
half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more
protein.
If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the right half of your
brain is a mess, and the only advice is to look for more of these types
of exercises to make that part of the brain stronger.
The man is really there. Keep looking!
“We demand the extension of the community of equals to include all great apes: human beings, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans.
The community of equals is the moral community within which we accept certain basic moral principles or rights as governing our relations with each other and enforceable at law. Among these principles or rights are the following:
1. The Right to Life
The lives of members of the community of equals are to be protected. Members of the community of equals may not be killed except in very strictly defined circumstances, for example, self-defense.2. The Protection of Individual Liberty
Members of the community of equals are not to be arbitrarily deprived of their liberty; if they should be imprisoned without due legal process, they have the right to immediate release. The detention of those who havenot been convicted of any crime, or of those who are not criminally liable, should be allowed only where it can be shown to be for their own good, or necessary to protect the public from a member of the community who wouldclearly be a danger to others if at liberty. In such cases, members of the community of equals must have the right to appeal, either directly or, if they lack the relevant capacity, through an advocate, to a judicial tribunal.3. The Prohibition of Torture
The deliberate infliction of severe pain on a member of the community of equals, either wantonly or for an alleged benefit to others, is regarded as torture, and is wrong…
Their motto is “Equality Beyond Humanity.”
These are same people who can’t be bothered to be outraged at the atrocities in Darfur. We could go on, but you can see where we are going.
Madrid – In earlier times, man was seen as a special creature – the image of God and the lord of creation.
Yet with the Spanish parliament preparing to debate the rights of great apes as ‘persons,’ the traditional view of man and animal could be about to definitively change.
‘I am an ape,’ says Pedro Pozas, secretary-general in Spain of the international Great Ape Project, which wants the United Nations to grant gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutangs and bonobos something comparable to human rights.
Humans and great apes are part of the same hominid family, champions of ape rights say, stressing that the behaviour of apes resembles that of humans more than had previously been recognized.
Spain’s governing Socialist Party is promoting an initiative to recognize great apes as different from other animals, to protect their habitat and to prohibit their use in circuses.
The measures would also ban scientific experiments with great apes, something that has already been practically abolished in Europe.
Spain would thus become the first European country to adopt measures such as those proposed by the decade-old Great Ape Project, which seeks three basic rights for apes: the rights to life, to liberty and to not being tortured.
‘The only other country to have adopted comparable measures is New Zealand,’ Pozas told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in a telephone interview.
Currently, Spanish zoos and circuses often keep apes in small cages. They may be castrated, have their teeth removed or vocal cords cut to control them.
Environment Minister Cristina Narbona believes promoting the rights of apes would increase the general consciousness of animal rights in a country known for its bullfights and bloodsports.
The Socialist initiative is, however, facing opposition from critics ranging from the Catholic Church to human rights activists.
‘Too much progress becomes ridiculous,’ archbishop Fernando Sebastian said, criticizing moves to promote the rights of apes when abortions violated the human rights of embryos.
Amnesty International representative Delia Padron stressed that not even the rights of all human beings were being respected.
The police trade union ASIGC called the initiative ’silly,’ asking ironically for ‘ape rights’ for its members who were attempting to improve their labour conditions.
Champions of ape rights counter that awareness of animals as suffering beings increases awareness of human rights.
Orangutangs, gorillas and chimpanzees share between 96 and 99 per cent of their genetic material with humans.
‘Great apes have self-control, a sense of the past and of the future, a capacity to mourn’ and to use tools, explained Francisco Garrido, the MP who launched the ape rights initiative in parliament.
‘Not only can chimpanzees learn up to 500 words and communicate through a computer, but they also use up to 50 medicinal plants for diarrhoea, vomiting or parasites,’ primate expert Jordi Savater Pi said.
‘When a chimpanzee takes your hand to tell you something, you feel that you are dealing with a special creature,’ Pozas says.
He concedes that apes are not like humans, but describes them as ‘kinds of persons.’
Western man’s traditional view of himself as a unique creature has already been modified by evolutionist theories, Pozas observes.
‘We need to break the barrier between the species,’ he says, adding that such a change would help man preserve the environment instead of destroying it.
Pozas expects the Spanish parliament to approve the ape rights initiative, which has received backing from academics in some 70 universities around the world.
He stresses it is not sufficient to recognize rights for great apes, whose survival is threatened by deforestation, hunting, trafficking and disease.
‘We need to help developing countries protect the forests where apes live,’ Pozas says.
From Orangutan.org.au:
The Great Ape Debate Unfolds In Europe
By PETER SINGER PRINCETON, New Jersey –
In his “History of European Morals,” Published in 1869, the Irish historian and philosopher W.E.H. Lecky wrote:
At one time the benevolent affections embrace merely the family, soon the circle expanding includes first a class, then a nation, then a coalition of nations, then all humanity and finally, its influence is felt in the dealings of man with the animal world.
The expansion of the moral circle could be about to take a significant step forward. Francisco Garrido, a bioethicist and member of Spain’s parliament, has moved a resolution exhorting the government “to declare its adhesion to the Great Ape Project and to take any necessary measures in international forums and organizations for the protection of great apes from maltreatment, slavery, torture, death and extinction.”
The resolution would not have the force of law, but its approval would mark the first time that a national legislature has recognized the special status of great apes and the need to protect them, not only from extinction, but also from individual abuse.
I founded the Great Ape Project together with Paola Cavalieri, an Italian philosopher and animal advocate, in 1993. Our aim was to grant some basic rights to the nonhuman great apes: life, liberty and the prohibition of torture. The project has proven controversial. Some opponents argue that, in extending rights beyond our own species, it goes too far, while others claim that, in limiting rights to the great apes, it does not go far enough.
We reject the first criticism entirely. There is no sound moral reason why possession of basic rights should be limited to members of a particular species. If we were to meet intelligent, sympathetic extraterrestrials, would we deny them basic rights because they are not members of our own species? At a minimum, we should recognize basic rights in all beings who show intelligence and awareness (including some level of self-awareness) and who have emotional and social needs.
We are more sympathetic to the second criticism. The Great Ape Project does not reject the idea of basic rights for other animals. It merely asserts that the case for such rights is strongest in respect to great apes. The work of researchers like Jane Goodall, Diane Fossey, Birute Galdikas, Frans de Waal, and many others amply demonstrates that the great apes are intelligent beings with strong emotions that in many ways resemble our own.
Chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas have long-term relationships, not only between mothers and children, but also between unrelated apes.
When a loved one dies, they grieve for a long time. They can solve complex puzzles that stump most 2-year-old humans. They can learn hundreds of signs, and put them together in sentences that obey grammatical rules. They display a sense of justice, resenting others who do not reciprocate a favor.When we group chimpanzees together with, say, snakes, as “animals,” we imply that the gap between us and chimpanzees is greater than the gap between chimpanzees and snakes. But in evolutionary terms this is nonsense. Chimpanzees and bonobos are our closest relatives, and we humans, not gorillas or orangutans, are their closest relatives.
Indeed, three years ago, a group of scientists led by Derek Wildman proposed, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that chimpanzees have been shown to be so close to humans genetically that they should be included in the genus Homo.
Like any important and novel idea, Garrido’s proposal has aroused considerable debate in Spain. Some are concerned that it will interfere with medical research. But the only European biomedical research that has used great apes recently is the Biomedical Primate Research Center at Rijswijk, in the Netherlands. In 2002, a review by the Dutch Royal Academy of Science found that the chimpanzee colony there was not serving any vital research purposes. The Dutch government subsequently banned biomedical research on chimpanzees. Thus, there is no European medical research currently being conducted on great apes, and one barrier to granting them some basic rights has collapsed.
Some of the opposition stems from misunderstandings. Recognizing the
rights of great apes does not mean that they all must be set free, even those born and bred in zoos, who would be unable to survive in the wild. Nor does it rule out euthanasia if that is in the interest of individual apes whose suffering cannot be relieved. Just as some humans are unable to fend for themselves and need others to act as their guardians, so, too, will great apes living in the midst of human communities. What extending basic rights to great apes does mean is that they will cease to be mere things that can be owned and used for our amusement or entertainment.A final group of opponents recognizes the strength of the case for extending rights to great apes, but worries that this may pave the way for the extension of rights to all primates, or all mammals, or all animals. They could be right. Only time will tell. But that is irrelevant to the merits of the case for granting basic rights to the great apes. We should not be deterred from doing right now by the fear that we may later be persuaded that we should do right again.
Peter Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University. His most recent book, coauthored with Jim Mason, is “The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter.
It is clear that stupidity is a commodity given out by God, in great abundance.
See ‘Care About People? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ People, for more insanity on ape’s rights.
Portions of this post have been previously published.
The Crown Jewels
March 5, 2008
Yesterday, we wrote Looking For Mr Good Enough, in which we discussed how the search for the perfect relationship can keep what might be a wonderful relationship at bay. We were commenting on the The Atlantic article, Marry Him! by Lori Gottlieb, in which she reflects on being an unmarried woman at age 40.
By 40, if you get a cold shiver down your spine at the thought of embracing a certain guy, but you enjoy his company more than anyone else’s, is that settling or making an adult compromise?
I realize that if I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life, I’m at the age where I’ll likely need to settle for someone who is settling for me. What I and many women who hold out for true love forget is that we won’t always have the same appeal that we may have had in our 20’s and early 30’s…
‘Holding out for true love‘? Maybe.
What is ‘true love’ when you are 20 is very different from what is ‘true love’ when you are 30 and what is ‘true love’ is probably very different from what is ‘true love’ when you are 40.
A sign of maturity is recognizing and understanding that we cannot hold our past as iconic or sacred. Our real value as individuals is our potential to positively influence our own future and the future of others. If we allow the best of ourselves to be defined by our past, we have sent the message that we have refused to grow up.
Laurie Kendrick responded to our efforts with a post of her own, Emotional Settlers. She addresses the issue of ’settling’ square on:
I’m talking about women who intelligently relinquish hopes of ever applying a death grip on that completely non-existent solid brass ring.
These smart, emotionally enterprising women are the ones who’ve lived enough life to understand that very often, a nice, brass plated ring works just as well.
Laurie Kendrick welcomes women and men to the real world. Kendrick, a writer of note and media personality, is familiar with words and their impact. She could have used other words, but it is clear she chose those and other words carefully because they reflect reality. She is talking to the every day people in us, the get up and work and clean and laugh and cry people we really are. She could have chosen to address the Sunday Best in us, but she knows better. She knows which side of us needs to get the message.
Not all jewelery has to be 24 karat gold. Sometimes, 18 karat or even 14 karat pieces are the perfect accompaniment and accessory. As a matter of fact, a favorite accessory might be a lesser grade of gold, and at the same time be just the stunning and perfect piece to ‘bring it all together.’ Would you reject that piece because it wasn’t 24 karat gold? Of course not.
Most of us go through life with less than perfect realities- and those are the ones we cherish most. While we may at time collect and receive ‘perfect’ gifts that are 24 karat gold, it is usually true that the emotions and feelings of the giver are of far more value to you than the trinket given. The time a child spends on a hand drawn Birthday Card or Get Well card has infinitely more value than the Hallmark classic- and certainly more real value to us than that 24 karat bauble.
Kendrick focuses her critical and sharp eye- on herself and her expectation:
Settling.
I really loathe the term. It implies reluctant acceptance of second best or not good enough and frankly, I don’t think that’s the case at all. Well, it isn’t all the time. There are many exceptions.
To me, it’s merely representative of change. It marks an important paradigm shift in your thinking with regard to your relationships and yes, it applies to both genders…
After my last relationship ended…I spent four years trying to figure out what the hell I had been doing and why. I was in my mid-40’s and like Lori Gottlieb, love—real love—had been elusive. But for the most part, I was the reason why. I had to come to terms with my complicity in my own unhappiness. I failed at every relationship because I had failed me [emp- SC&A]
After years of of painful introspection, I was able to reconcile this. I forgave myself and made it my life’s ambition to rectify all my mistakes and quell my anger.
The result? Incredible acuity.
I was not only able to see my mistakes, but the mistakes that many of my friends, my family and colleagues had made.
So many friends would call me, literally crying and they’d ask me–of all people–where was their perfect Mr. Man? I would tell them that right man for them is out there. He’s in the library…shopping for cucumbers at Kroger’s….he’s driving down the Interstate….sitting as his computer reading Drudge or Huffington (depending on her politics–I’m delightfully “cadgy” that way) and maybe, just maybe, he’s wondering where she was.
And then they’d spoil the moment for both us by asking if I thought “he’d be cute”.
A wise observer once wryly noted that given the right circumstances, any two people could fall in love. Whether we care to admit that of not, we all know there is a lot of truth to that.
At some point in our lives, we have to create the right set of circumstances to be able to love someone who we might have otherwise pushed aside. Expanding horizons is always a remarkably beneficial thing to do, because that is the vehicle for all growth in every endeavor.
Kendrick, again:
We love who we love.
I knew a guy in college who was by definition, gorgeous. He went for gorgeous women. I had no doubt that this man with Hollywood good looks would eventually marry a model…or two…and life would be pretty for them both. We both graduated and he went his way and I went mine and I didn’t hear from him for five years. He called me one evening to tell me that he was finally getting married. He sent me her photo. She was, compared to the women I’d always seen him with in college, quite plain, but he told me that she was the love of his life and the most beautiful women he’d ever known.
I cried when he told me that.
See? He didn’t settle…
We all want to be swept off our feet. Women want their knight in shining armor and men want the beautiful princess.
When we are young, what it means to a knight and princess are clear. Cheering and adoring crowds, grateful throngs and great physical beauty are the definitions. ‘Look at me! Look at what I have at my side’ are the clarion calls of youth.
As we mature, we learn about the other kind of knights and princesses, the silent kind. There are those who bring meaning and light to those near and dear. There are knights and princesses for whom the well being of those around them are more important than the stage others so desperately seek.
Those knights and princesses say little and they usually shy away from the spotlight. They prefer their actions and character speak for them. They ask for little, seeking only a bit of warmth, so that they might redouble their efforts the next day.
Laurie Kendrick closes her post not by talking in grand terms. Rather, she again embraces the mundane and in the process she makes clear her point:
Make the necessary emotional adjustments.
It’s like this: Look at the pretty Lamborghini and admire it’s sleek lines. Ogle it’s power, imagine it’s performance, but fall in love with the solid, dependability of the Honda Civic. It’s pretty, too–just in a different, more practical way and it takes less to maintain and it always gets you where you need to go. It is a wonderfully comfortable ride.
And if you take care of a car like this, it will take care of you. All it takes is a little effort.
Learn to replace spark plugs yourself. Change the oil, buy a new air filter from time to time and fine tune the engine every six thousand miles to always “keep it humming”; learn to listen to the motor; it’ll let you know when there’s a problem and when there’s a problem, fix it. Plain and simple. But you can eliminate so many future problems with simple maintenance; maintenance that’s routine ONLY if you allow it to be.
And finally…never, ever settle. Get the car you want and the one you really need. Wait for the best deal, if you have to. Waiting is OK. Patience can be a virtue in love and car buying.
Accept anything less, and you can end up with a car you’ll never drive.
And a love you’ll never know.
Over the long haul of a lifetime, 24 karat gold and flawless diamonds are no match in value to the shared efforts of building a relationship or the hand drawn cards that mark our passages through the brief time we are here. They are the real Crown Jewels.
