Tags
animal rights, brain biology, Bush, chimpanzees, Humor, memes, Star Trek, Travis
Mauigirl, bless her heart, tagged me with the meme that’s been a traveling around the bloggy land these past few days. Since I haven’t a great deal to say today, (so far that is), and it’s an easy one, I thought I’d take a stab.
The hysterical thing is that I had no idea that google had a separate search engine for images. You cannot imagine how long it takes me sometimes to find a pretty picture for the post. And all posts look better in my opinion, with a picture. I’ve recently discovered Art.com which is wonderful by the way, with something like half a million poster shots to choose from. I ‘ve been finding pics quite easily that way. But now I have the google image search. Go figure, I am a bit dull in the old crank case some times.
To get to the meme:
- Grab the nearest book, and open to page 25.
- Count to the tenth word
- Google the word in google images
- post the third pic
- link to the person who tagged you
- tag 4 others
Well, I cheated somewhat, but here goes:
The book nearest me was “Fear and Trembling” by S. Kierkegaard. The tenth word was with, and the next one was is, so I continued to the next which was “countenance.”
I googled that and the third pic was this one:
Well just imagine my horror. Thought I was done with Chimpy for ever!
But I dutifully fell to my knees and thanked the good Lord, Kublai Khan and the tooth fairy that said simian was no longer pretending to run the government of the US of A.
This pic looks like he just lost out to be called on by the teacher and is pouting.
Anyway, that’s just about it, but it does lead me to another subject. Oh and those that wish to, go ahead and do the meme. It takes little time, especially if you are a whit smarter than me, and that would be most of ya, and, it might, as it did me, suggest another subject to pontificate upon.
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Speaking of chimps, most everyone is saddened and appalled at what happened to the chimp Travis in Connecticut.
It is just awful that the victim of his attack will be permanently disabled and will spend untold surgeries just getting a face back.
It is equally awful that Travis was killed. This was not his fault. He was merely acting as an animal can on occasion.
It is easy to understand why someone would fall in love with such an animal. With such a fine intelligence and mannerisms so human like, it’s easy to think of them as a super pet, nearly one’s own child. I think some do traverse the line and make them children.
But they are apes. Anyone who has spent time watching nature shows, especially those by Jane Goodall, is not at all confused about the fact that they are animals, not humans. They can and do act in ways that we find horrifying at times, even killing each other for reasons that seem unclear to us. (Of course, much of human killing human is also tragically unclear to us as well, but that is another matter.)
This all around tragic occurrence points up once again that animals have rights, and one of those rights is not to be placed in situations that they may be ill prepared to cope with. And when things go awry, sometimes the only immediate answer is the killing of the animal. It seems to in this case at least.
Poor Travis paid the price for human error. While there is not lack of sympathy for his victim, Travis cannot be held to any human standard of conduct, and thus he is not at fault here from my point of view. While I don’t wish jail for his “owner” I hope that this event, horrible as it is, will point out to people, that such “ownership” of wild animals is simply inappropriate.
No doubt many will claim that the alternative is some caged existence. That is not right either of course. These animals deserve either their freedom if that can be secured in a reasonable manner, or at least life in a troupe of chimps, normal to his species, with a realistic lifestyle similar to that in the wild.
I’m really getting to a place where I find their use for human entertainment just plain wrong. I haven’t gone so far as to say zoos are wrong, and most aren’t. Today, modern zoos provide a life experience that is both safe for the animal and is appropriate to their native conditions. But the traveling circus and using them as props in movies and the like is probably wrong, and we should be looking to end the practice in my opinion. Nuf said.
~~
OKJimm thought it was funny that I said yesterday that I had a “bad habit of thinking.” Well, I do aim to make you chuckle, but I can assure you, no hilarity was intended. It is a bad habit, but one that I take most seriously, and with great fear and trepidation actually. I am compelled to continue doing it for survival purposes.
Some of you may not be aware, but the original Star Trek television show, answered in one episode or another, most all of lifes pressing questions. I highly recommend it if you have burning questions about war, disease, love, God, or, as I said, most anything. The answer can be found in one episode surely. No need to read vast tomes written by highly educated intellectual elites. Just set the old Tivo and wait for TVland or SciFi Network to run some, and tape away. It’s pretty much all the philosophy you will need in life.
As to thinking:
In Dagger of the Mind, a “neural neutralizer” is being used at a penal colony to treat the criminally insane. The machine wipes the mind.
Of course, when a person is left attached to the machine and is unattended, all of his thoughts are removed, and his mind is emptied. He then dies, having nothing to think about.
Well, you can be sure, I have determined, that it is essential to keep thinking at all times. I’m always worried of course at night when I sleep, but so far so good! It’s no laughing matter at all and certainly is not meant to be humorous! I’m alive today because of Star Trek and just how many people can say that?
Existential Ennui 