I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Yorkie -- I wonder if these dendrites are responsible for the same animals' abilities for self-recognition, or self awareness?  Haven't done any research on this, just superficial stuff from wikipedia:

Animals that have been observed to pass the mirror test include:

• All great apes:Bottlenose dolphins^[18]
  • Humans – Humans tend to fail the mirror test until they are about 18 months old, or in what psychoanalysts call the "mirror stage".^[2][3][4]
  • Bonobos^[14][15]
  • Chimpanzees^{[1][14][16][15]}
  • Orangutans^[15]
  • Gorillas – It was initially thought that gorillas were unable to pass the test, but there are now several well-documented reports of gorillas (such as Koko^[17]) passing the test.^[15]
• Orcas^[19]
• Elephants^[20]
• European Magpies^[21]

[edit]

Blue, loved totally all of your pictures.  You find ones that have a lot of depth to them. 

yorkie..thank you, thank you.  I knew there was something.  I too, hate knowing what is killed in the name of industry.  Call it God, a higher power, supreme intellect or any other thing that may resonate with you, but if you really look into an animals eyes -- if you really feel that they too have a soul ( though it may not be quite like ours ) and are here doing the best they can....then I think you are quite a person if you can then shoot this being.  Certainly not a person I will have good thoughts about either.  I do believe for the vast majority of us, hunting is not really necessary. 

Thank goodness we live in a small rural area and I often dramatically slow my car if a squirrel or deer is going across the roadway.  Dh will stop ( the lane to our house is a one-lane road ) when a turtle is crossing the road and put him on the side he is facing when found.  We seldom have snakes in our yard ( too many good areas for them else-wise ) but when we do, Dh gets a long stick....lets the snake wrap around it, and then sets him back out in the wooded ravines around us.   I'll admit....I haven't looked into a snakes' eyes and probably won't, and I don't like coming upon them unawares....but neither do I wish to kill them just because I saw them.   They take care of other rodents ( rats and field mice ) that we don't wish to share our house with any time soon...so they are not totally un-welcome, but I do need a bit of distance. 

Sitting here watching sleet and hearing that it would easily turn into 6 inches or more of snow.  Oh....hello spring, goodbye.

Jackie

Sorry about the big about-face, but I saw this and instant thought was Farce Faux news and others:

Jackie,

I'm just outside Chicago and we are still waiting for the snow to begin.

Wow, Athena,what  incredible pictures!

Hey, all . . . remember a week or so ago, when I wrote about my super-stressed college sophomore daugher's near meltdown?  You all were incredibly supportive, and then of course I failed to let you know that she survivied -- as you all promised she would -- and in fact did just fine on all her various papers, oral exams, etc.

So, are you ready for the next installment?  You know it's not going to be good news when your 20-year-old daughter calls you at 1:30 am.  That said, it could have been a lot worse. 

The story as I understand it: there was a fire on her dorm floor last night, starting in the apartment diagonally across the hall from her and her roommates.  They're all fine (as are the kids in the apartment where the fire started, as far as she knows), but their place sustained significant water damage (it sounds like the apartment with the fire was pretty much destroyed) and they're being housed in temporary quarters for at least the next week or two, possibly longer.

She's had limited access to her room, so doesn't know for sure how much of her stuff was damaged, and how badly.  The big ticket items -- laptop, ipad -- are OK.  Anything on the floor was soaked.  (If she'd been home, that would have been basically everything she owns, but she's much neater at college, lol.)  Oh, and it's possible the water was mixed with sewage, as the firefighters had to remove a toilet -- not in their apartment, fortunately -- to drain all the standing water after they put out the fire.

The fire started when the kids across the hall got a late-night craving for DIY hot wings and decided to fry some up.   At some point a grease fire flared up, they panicked, and it spread out of control.  I'm assuming they weren't totally sober at the time.  I feel bad for them, but also -- frankly -- pissed.

Linda

Wow....it could have been worse, but who needed that stress right now Linda.  I assume that the building/apts. are up to present day safety codes for just these sorts of incidents.  I'm glad that all the people ( hopefully all the apt. occupants from across the hall at origination point ) seem fine for the obvious reasons.  Good that there is another building for right now, but a lot of in-convenience.  I don't know where the school is but hope the weather isn't a further factor to have to consider. Hoping it goes well and turns out to be only in-convenience for everyone. 

Jackie

IL, what a cutie patootie!

juliaanna, mine ended up being pretty much totally correct for me as well. Probably a good explanation, but my mind doesn't seem to work that way anymore.

Jackie

Thanks, ladies.  Jackie, she's in Chicago, so it was a long cold wait outside for everyone until they got the all-clear in the wee hours of this morning.  She hasn't had to change buildings . . . her dorm (a high rise with apartment-style units) doubles as housing for conferences and visiting faculty, so they're housing them in the conference section.  It sounds like it was only 6 units that were affected, so in the scheme of things it wasn't a big deal . . . unless, of course, yours was one of the unlucky units.

Linda

Too funny - the NRA is being beaten at its own game:

The chief executive of the National Rifle Association said Sunday that his organization would lead a national campaign against efforts by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York to persuade Congress to adopt stricter gun controls.

The mayor and the rifle association executive, Wayne LaPierre, appeared separately on the NBC News program “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire and a registered independent, said he was spending $12 million on advertising in support of pending federal legislation to curb gun violence. In reply, Mr. LaPierre, said, “He can’t buy America.’’

More here:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/n-r-a-chief-says-he-will-counter-gun-control-campaign-by-bloomberg/?hp

As if the NRA hasn't tried and succeeded- in buying America (meaning, buy those cowards in congress).

More from the same story:

Mr. LaPierre said that gun owners would make up a political counterweight to the mayor. “We have people all over, millions of people, sending us $5, $10, $15, $20 checks, saying, ‘Stand up to this guy that says we can only have three bullets,’ which is what he said,’’ Mr. LaPierre said. “ ‘Stand up to this guy that says ridiculous things like the N.R.A. wants firearms with nukes on them.’ I mean, it’s insane, the stuff he says.’’

Mr. Bloomberg said the N.R.A.’s power was “vastly overrated.’’ Moreover, he said he was “cautiously optimistic’’ that Congress would follow public opinion and vote for stricter gun controls. The Senate is expected to begin debate on gun legislation next month after it returns from a two-week break for the Easter and Passover holidays.

“Ninety percent of the public, 80 percent of N.R.A. members even, say that they think we should have reasonable checks before people are allowed to buy guns,’’ Mr. Bloomberg said. “They all support the Second Amendment, as I do. There are an awful lot of people that think that this is one of the great issues of our times. We have to stop the carnage.’’

And he had a warning for lawmakers who oppose stricter gun controls. “If 90 percent of the public want something and their representatives vote against that, common sense says they are going to have a price to pay for that,’’ Mr. Bloomberg said.

“We’re running ads around the country,’’ Mr. Bloomberg said. “We’ve got people manning phone banks and calling. We’re trying to do everything we can to impress upon the senators that this is what the survivors want, this is what the public wants.’’

The bill going to the Senate floor is expected to include enhanced background checks for gun buyers.