CONSTANTLY LEARNING AND FINDING EARLIER THINKING FLAWED IS EXCITING

Science News published an article about the true origins of farmers in Europe 8i000 years ago.  Do you ask why I state it so assuredly?  Because they seem to have proven it through DNA testing.  The article writes:  "A team of international researchers led by ancient DNA experts from the University of Adelaide has resolved the longstanding issue of the origins of the people who introduced farming to Europe some 8000 years ago."   To see the complete article, click here.

This following paragraph illustrates why I find this information so energizing.  "Project leader Professor Alan Cooper, Director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) at the University of Adelaide, says: "This overturns current thinking, which accepts that the first European farming populations were constructed largely from existing populations of hunter-gatherers, who had either rapidly learned to farm or interbred with the invaders."  I enjoy proof that nothing is explained from the past unless it can be proven.  It is why I have absolutely no respect for people who still think that evolution is just a theory.

It has always confused me to be surrounded by so many people who have no curiosity at all while I have wanted to learn as much as I could cram into my head daily.  Science News is as wonderful site with which you should hook up...and for free you can learn more than you ever imagined is available to you without having to pay exorbitant tuition.  To subscribe, for free, here is the site. Scroll down on your right a few inches to read how to do it.

COMMON SENSE IS IMNPORTANT BUT DOESN'T ANSWER IT ALL

Wikipedia defines common sense as: "Common sense, based on a strict construction of the term, consists of what people in common would agree on : that which they "sense" as their common natural understanding. Some people (such as the authors of Merriam-Webster Online) use the phrase to refer to beliefs or propositions that — in their opinion — most people would consider prudent and of sound judgment, without reliance on esoteric knowledge or study or research, but based upon what they see as knowledge held by people "in common". Thus "common sense" (in this view) equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have. Another meaning to the phrase is good sense and sound judgment in practical matters."

If common sense, alone, were the answer to our national problems, then anyone raised at their grandmother's knee might qualify to be President of the United States.  However, that is NOT the answer anymore than it would be common sense to guess at the results with an 'educated eye' rather than do good, solid research.  Many are born with great potential but never achieve their full potential because they rely on their native 'common sense' and 'intuition' (translate to guessing odds).  Doctors cannot treat patients using common sense alone.  Inventors cannot invent on common sense alone.  If this were the case, there would be no need for higher education nor for professions to keep au courant with CEUs (Continuing Education Credits) in order to maintain their licenses.  If fact, there wouldn't even have to be licenses if a particular standard of qualification wasn't required to safeguard the population.  Why then do we require less of the most important job in our country, the Presidency?

During my lifetime I have had a great many hobbies.  The most useful lesson they taught me is that the saying, "You don't know a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins' is worth heeding.  For all the things I knit, embroidered, hooked,  soldered, strung, created or lots of other verbs which could be used,  I learned that unless you have been there-done that yourself it is difficult to understand the training and effort that goes into any results.  That Sarah Palin has the colossal arrogance to assume she is ready to be President demonstrates that point completely.

While philosophers, psychologist and many others can discuss  the elements necessary for common sense, society seems to agree that you do well if you have it  A synonym for common sense is good judgment.  While many people have it, there are also many reasons people don't always exercise it.  Substances like drugs and alcohol may steer it off course.  Chemical imbalances such as schizophrenia, bi-polar illness, toxicity, brain washing,l rigid training and deprivation of choices, education, training, modeling also are contributors.  Human psychological  defenses like denial of reality figure prominently with the loss of good judgment as well.

Our leaders on all levels of life have often failed us.  Doesn't that mean we need to rely more on ourselves to learn life's rules?  The Golden Rule is a really good way to start, is it not.  It works well for me and does not come to me through religion.

THE LAST DELAY FOR TOM DELAY

Corruption has been so rife in the Republican party but, assisted so heavily by the 'Rush Limbaughs' and radio and media support, the public has been fooled for years,. and continues today.  Mr. DeLay, known as 'the Hammer' for his power tactics and strong arming, indicted in 2006, has consistently denied wrongdoing but it had been clear for a very long time that he held power and his ethics and consideration for honesty were flawed.  While he was forced to step down as Speaker, he managed to get publicity (and money) by being on  Dancing with the Stars.  It was DeLay's misfortunes that opened the path for John Boehner to become the next Republican Speaker.

An article published in Austen, Texas, by James C McKinley, Jr. reads:  "Tom DeLay, one of the most powerful and divisive Republican lawmakers ever to come out of Texas, was convicted Wednesday of money-laundering charges in a state trial, five years after his indictment here forced him to resign as majority leader in the House of Representatives."  He was indicted for violating campaign finance laws.  His power as Speaker of the House was massive.  He restructured districts to help his party win seats.

Today's finding of guilty raised hope in me that finally not all lies were believed nor those in disagreement powerless to react against them.  I've too often wondered why the Obama administration is seeming so absent in decrying the lies against the Democrats.  I can only hope there is a master plan somewhere and those bumper sticker that read 'I Voted for Obama - My Bad' will be torn off all vehicles.  People are expecting too much from a human being who has Republicans opposing everything he suggests and needs to make most Americans' lives improve.  McConnell runs a tight ship.  One can only hope that
Americans who voted for so many untried Republicans will come to their senses by the next election and reverse the damage.  Dare I hope that our country will leave the grips of those multi-billionaires who have seized control of it?

INABILITY TO ADAPT TO CURRENT CHANGES

Almost 50 years ago, an adolescent psychotherapy patient of mine announced there were only 23 more shoplifting days until Christmas.  At the time, the girl shocked me with her sincerity and thought that taking from a store was different than taking from a person.  When people feel anonymous, they are far more daring.

Little has changed in those years regarding moral and ethical values in the US.  Any change would appear to have loosened the structures rather than improving them.  More than ever, it is not the action that causes problems, it is getting caught that is the culprit.  Cheating the government out of income tax it might otherwise have claimed tops the list of "It's okay as long as I don't get caught" mentality.choices.

As a child I don't ever recall meeting anyone who simply had to 'have it now'.There was much longing for more during the depression but the wants were simple; food, comfort, and things that other kids seemed to have.  Today there is an endless choice of 'things to have' and as soon as you get one of them, a new and improved one is trying to squeeze into its space.

Modesty seems to be an unknown concept in college dorms.  Voyeurism has risen while post adolescents flagrantly and publicly perform rather obvious carnal acts.  However, despite all these lapses of acceptable conduct in prior years,  these behaviors cannot be blames for the lies and obstinacy of the Republicans who are determined to make Obama fail. 

The under 30 crowd has lost its shyness and sexual embarrassment.  Roommates no longer seem to need the privacy they once claimed. Reading a book published in 1999, there was a refernece to Alvin Toffler who write Future Shock.  from Wikipedia  Future Shock is a book written by the sociologist and futurist Alvin Toffler in 1970. It grew out of an article "The Future as a Way of Life" in Horizon magazine, Summer 1965 issue.^[1][2][3][4] The book has sold over 6 million copies and has been widely translated.
Future shock is also a term for a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies, introduced by Toffler in his book of the same name. Toffler's shortest definition of future shock is a personal perception of "too much change in too short a period of time".  For all the article, click here.

People who rely on the Bible to determine their life choices in the 21st C, (some research I wrote about some time ago), says the Republicans have more difficulty with those changes than the Democrats.  Is it a surprise that the Teapartiers chose a logo that fits the birth of this nation over 200 years ago?

Must the rest of the country be held back by these people whose brains cannot evolve and adapt as fast as the rest of us?  Is that what happened to make the dinosaurs extinct?  I see a similarity here.  Animals and people become extinct when they can no longer adapt to the changes necessary for their survival.  The analogy to the Republicans is blatant.

HELP DESKS FROM AFAR

Live chat help desks are usually very efficient.  Last night I needed one well after midnight to adjust an Amazon order.  I'm not sure if I would have been able to reach anyone in the USA at that time, likely beyond business hours, but of course, I instantly (well, pretty quickly, at least) got someone in India on the chat Help Desk.  A Mr. Prakash, I think was his name, was efficient, pleasant and solved my problem immediately, with courtesy.  However, I thought an American could have done the same.  It might have cut into the Amazon profit a tad, but with the economy as it is, an American worker would help to improve the economy and get off unemployment rolls.  Amazon would probably make more sales, ergo more profit, with a healthier buyers and the could afford to pay their local help a bit more.  However, the fact that it is an endless loop of perpetuating American poverty by continuing to use foreign help to such a degree

Mr. Prakash spoke with an Indian accent but was easily understood by me, having been raised bilingually, as I have far less difficulty with accents than many of my friends,   I have done a great deal of business with Amazon and know that my boycotting them would not make a bit of difference in their business practices and would deprive me of an excellent purchasing resource.  If anyone has any idea how to bring our outsourced jobs back to the USA, it should be shouted out loud and clear.  If the un-American employers were taxed so that they would be paying their employees overseas as much as if they hired Americans in the US, we might get back the jobs.  

THREATS TO INTERNET USAGE

You are being referred to an article to illustrate many aspects of the news we receive.  First, this article mentions actions by China that were not, if at all, broadly covered in the general press.  Secondly, the addenda at the end lists a few rather significant (at least they seemed so to me) errors in the original article.  

The media emulates 'Chicken Little' rather frequently and scare tactics have been used by governments (our own as well), forever.  The need for combative war will soon be obsolete though politicians and men who think power is in violence may continue to try to use it.  Instead, power throughout the world is being redefined.  One thing that has not and probably will not change is the power of money.  There is also a power usurped in the guise of religion.  Today, however, the greatest power lies in ways that limiting or corrupting use of the Internet can cripple a country as quickly as arms and bombs..


I would welcome the thoughts of others to my own.  Read the article and comment.  Click here.
This article tells how China meddled with the Internet.  While China claims it was an accident and no harm was done, there are clearly those knowledgeable in the Internet workings who raise alarms. 


The Internet has become critical for instant information and news dissemination, calling for help, social networking, marketing and sales, entertainment, human cohesiveness globally, and so many more functions that are too numerous to mention.  As a somewhat non-sequitor of information, I am including a site forsome Internet statistics.  Click here.

ENDAGERED OR THREATENED SPECIES...WE STILL NEED THEM AROUND.

"An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has calculated the percentage of endangered species as 40 percent of all organisms based on the sample of species that have been evaluated through 2006."    Read more on this.

 IN SIMPLE TERMS
Endangered species are at the brink of extinction now.
Threatened species are likely to be at the brink in the near future  (Found on the US Fish  and Wildlife Service site.)

After looking at the lists of endangered and threatened species, I feel sorry for the Siberian Tiger but can only say, "I'm happy he got kicked out of MY neighborhood!'

While it may appear that we don't need so many of these animals, birds, bugs, etc,  one should always remember not to make assumptions on value of things you will never see again should you lose them.    I do not mean to profile, but when the teeth are al long as my fingers, it is hard for me to garner sympathy that gets them to the top of my caring and giving list.