(no subject)

another great thought from ran prieur (http://ranprieur.com/) - the bold emphasis is mine:

This interview (http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/to_be_a_baby/) covers the latest findings about the intelligence of the very young:

"...children are like the R&D department of the human species. They're the ones who are always learning about the world. But if you're always learning, imagining, and finding out, you need a kind of freedom that you don't have if you're actually making things happen in the world... The way that evolution seems to have solved this problem is by giving us this period of childhood where we don't have to do anything, where we are completely useless. We're free to explore the physical world, as well as possible worlds through imaginative play. And when we're adults, we can use that information to actually change the world."

Clearly, human evolution hasn't gone far enough, because look at all the terrible stuff we've done by "making things happen" and "changing the world". Traditionalists are always complaining that 30 year olds are still slacking off like kids instead of going out and doing something useful, like building suburbs or designing killer robots. I say, let's extend childhood until age 70, and then retire!

Seriously, let's just restrict the definition of "useful" to providing necessities like food and water and shelter and clothing, and devote all the rest of our energies to harmless imagination and learning.

(no subject)

some more great reframing from derrick jensen by way of mcmillan - bold emphasis mine:

"Think about global warming and attempts to 'solve' or 'stop' or 'mitigate' it. Global warming (or global climate catastrophe, as some rightly call it), as terrifying as it is, isn’t first and foremost a threat. It’s a consequence. I’m not saying pikas aren’t going extinct, or the ice caps aren’t melting, or weather patterns aren’t changing, but to blame global warming for those disasters is like blaming the lead projectile for the death of someone who got shot. I’m also not saying we shouldn’t work to solve, stop, or mitigate global climate catastrophe; I’m merely saying we’ll have a better chance of succeeding if we recognize it as a predictable (at this point) result of burning oil and gas, of deforestation, of dam construction, of industrial agriculture, and so on. The real threat is all of these."

from the first of a series of columns he's doing for orion magazine: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/4697/

this is pretty huge

(the senate seat up for grabs soon (that crist is vying for) is an important one as, if the democrats win, it gives them the majority and the ability to pass any law that they want. obvious, for both parties, that is unacceptable. nelson is a democrat and already a senator, crist is the governor running for senate and is a republican)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/accidents/article1005034.ece

TAMPA — Sen. Bill Nelson is asking Florida's governor to reopen an 11-year-old cold case involving the highway death of Kevin McGinley.

"At this point, only you have the authority to settle any lingering questions regarding this tragic case by ordering an independent third-party review," Nelson wrote Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday.

The letter was a welcome one for Kevin's parents, Hugh and Jill McGinley. "That's wonderful, that really is wonderful," said Hugh McGinley. "Let's hope that Charlie Crist pays attention."

Crist spokesman Sterling Ivey said the governor's office is reviewing the request and has no comment.

For 11 years, the McGinleys have pleaded with government agencies to reopen the Florida Highway Patrol's investigation into how their 21-year-old son died on Interstate 275 in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 13, 1998. They contend the initial investigation was botched. At each turn, the McGinleys have been met either with silence or rejection, a cold trail that left them fearful they would never know the circumstances surrounding their son's death.

The McGinleys, who live in Indian Shores, believe that someone pushed their son into the path of a truck near the Howard-Armenia on-ramp. The British immigrants have spent more than $500,000 collecting and analyzing evidence that contradicts the initial Highway Patrol finding that Kevin already was in the road when he died in a hit-and-run crash.

More than a year ago, the St. Petersburg Times published a special report about the investigation, exposing missteps, contradictory testimony, tainted evidence and promising leads that were ignored. Two months after the story, the Highway Patrol decided to conduct its own investigation into the conduct of the troopers who worked the case.

That report was released in March and concluded that, while major mistakes were made in the first investigation, these errors didn't undermine its accuracy. Hugh McGinley called the follow-up report an "utter disgrace."

McGinley, in contact with Nelson's office for the past two years, said he e-mailed the senator's staff last month. A Nelson aide, Dan McLauglin, said after receiving the e-mail, the staff reviewed available public records on the case and the Times stories.

Those stories raised significant questions and helped convince Nelson that another investigation was necessary.

"For Floridians to have complete confidence in law enforcement, there must be accountability and transparency," Nelson wrote. "In the case of Kevin McGinley, these appear to have been lacking."