Scientists Have Discovered Non-Human Intelligent Life!

Picture Credit Piotr Siedlecki

What’s the what? Yes, non-human intelligent life has been found. The catch? It’s not alien life. In fact, it’s been in front of our eyes the whole time, right here on good ol’ planet earth. Sorry if I’ve broken your alien dreams but this news isn’t any less fantastic just because it’s on our home planet instead of out there in space somewhere. If you think about it, it actually gives credence to intelligent life off planet since we now understand that intelligent life might not be what we expect it to be.

Here’s the low down. Mammals; some of them have very large brains, enter the dolphins, the whales, the elephants, and the apes. Take into consideration that dolphins and whales, as we know them today, have inhabited this planet, for millions of years prior to homo sapien sapien. In fact, they were the dominant species on the planet long before we were even a spec on the evolutionary scale. We’ve known for some time now that these animals are intelligent but, after watching Nova on PBS last night, I know that there’s a lot more to this intelligence than most people may think.

What are some of the characteristics that scientists look for when determining if life is intelligent? Here’s a few of the biggies; is the animal (and yes, humans are animals) self aware? In other words, do they understand that they are an individual with their own thoughts and can they recognize themselves in a reflection? As a comparison a human toddler is around two years old before they understand that their reflection is not just another child. They are around four to five before beginning to understand that their thoughts are their own. When dolphins were shown their reflections all of them displayed actions which are considered to be signs of self awareness. They examine their teeth, their fins, their eyes just as a human does when we look into a mirror. We and they, tend to look at the parts of our bodies which are otherwise difficult to see.

What about language? We often feel that our ability to develop and use language sets us above the other animals. Well, what if you were to learn that many animals do have a language which they share with others of their kind? We have just been too dumb to learn it. We assumed that because they do not speak in a manner familiar to us, they were unable to form true language. We failed to take into account that the physical attributes that allow us to speak as we do are different in these different animals. Once again enter the dolphins. We now know that the series of clicks, ticks, and other noises dolphins use are quite literally used as language. It is known that every dolphin has their own name and uses it exactly as we do. Yup, they use their name to identify themselves to other dolphins.

Photo Credit Anna Langova

What else? Can an animal think about what another animal is thinking? Experiments with chimps show that they do. Scientists looked for the ability to manipulate another being because it demonstrates that the target animal understands the actions and desires of another animal. In another experiment an ape was placed in a cage without any food. A second ape was placed in a conjoining cage and given fruits and vegetables. The apes did not know each other; they were not related or previously acquainted. The ape with the food, unlocked the conjoining cage allowing the first ape to come through and share the food. Both apes sat together and ate their meal. The compassion from the second ape exhibits a high level of intelligence and ability to empathize with others.

Speaking of empathy, we turn to the elephants. I think most people have heard about the elephant graveyards where family members of passed elephants come to mourn their dead. Did you know that when presented with the bones of other large species the elephants will recognize other elephant bones every time, even if the bones are from unrelated elephants? Another amazing fact is that elephants understand when other animals are in pain and they try to do something about it. They have been seen gently stroking a distressed animal with their trunks in an attempt to comfort them.

Photo Credit Piotr Wojtkowski

All in all animals are, of course, awesome! I think it’s great that scientists are finally beginning to appreciate their intelligence as well as their magnificent nature. And, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense that some of these animals are very intelligent. After all, they’ve been around a lot longer than us. Maybe, just maybe, we’re the ones who need to catch up. Perhaps our animal cousins are sitting back and waiting for us to finally understand we do not own the market on intelligence, and that life and intelligence may not have to be exactly like us to be legitimate. For more information and tons of fascinating facts tune into Nova on PBS. You can catch the whole episode here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/inside-animal-minds.html#animal-minds-smartest

Craftastic Crochet!

Photo Credit - K. Whiteford

Yes! I know there has to be people out there who get just as excited as I do when it comes to crafting. For me, the bug hits hardest when the craft is crochet. Don’t get me wrong, I love to sew and I get bitten by that bug almost as hard. But, I think my heart lies truly with crochet. It’s a very forgiving craft and I love that about it. If something isn’t turning out the way you planned you unravel it and start over, or ditch the project completely and use the yarn for something else. You can’t necessarily do that with sewing. I mean, if you make a mistake cutting the fabric, ouch! It’s all over but the crying, you know? Sure, you can repurpose items but it just doesn’t feel the same to me. I learned how to crochet when I was a young teen and I didn’t sew until I was in my early thirties, maybe that has something to do with it as well.

Anyway...I digress...Crochet is awesome because you are virtually unlimited as to the types of projects you can do and even the mediums that you can use. I’ve seen projects done with everything from trash bags to rubber bands. Each new project idea I see amazes me. Some people who crochet are truly talented and create masterful pieces of art equal to none. If you’ve never taken the time out to look at some of these gorgeous works then you are missing out. In fact, I think I’ll include some links at the end of today’s blog that will demonstrate exactly what I mean. Personally, even though I have crocheted for many, many years, I think some people’s work makes me look like an amateur.

For my latest project I’m using jewelry wire, yes you read that correctly. It’s flexible and twists easily. I’m using a 3.25 mm metal hook and I’m creating a beaded bracelet. Beading any medium can be achieved simply by pre-stringing the beads onto the medium you are using for your project. I chose various sized blue and silver round beads with a few square copper ones for highlight. As you work through the project you just slide the bead up to the hook and crochet it right into the stitch. That’s all there is to it. You do need to be sure to include enough beads for the entire project. I’d rather have too many than not enough, when your project is finished just slide any remaining beads right off. Here’s a picture of the bracelet so far. When it’s complete I intend to add some joining rings and a clasp to fit it to a wrist. I’ll include a picture of it completed in a future post.

As for now, one of the reasons I chose to write about this today is because of a contest that I became aware of. It runs only until April 25th, 2014 so I needed to share it now. Selfishly, I get an extra entry for including the link in my post :-)  But, seriously, if you enjoy crafting you’ll want to enter. The prize package includes many items for various uses, not just yarn for crocheting. Any crafter, I think, would be thrilled to get this prize. I know I would be. The number of products in the prize package are way too numerous to list here, but to give you an idea of what you could win here’s the list of companies providing items for the grand prize:

Coats and Clark, Darice, Design Master, Elmer’s, Fiskars, I Love to Create, Krylon, Leisure Arts, Lion Brand, Plaid Enterprises, Polyform, RIT Dye, Shur Tech Bonds, Simplicity, and Sizzix.

For a complete list of items included in the prize package and to enter go here and enter daily:

The-Super-Spectacular-Grand-Prize-Giveaway   

Now, go and create something beautiful. Get out of the box, let your imagination take over and try something new, even if it sounds a bit nuts. Your results may very well thank you. And as promised, here are some links to some of my most admired crochet work.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/maquissima/103768170/in/faves-katrinkles

https://www.etsy.com/listing/22580286/mothers-day-sale-crocheted-lampshade-in?ref=fp_treasury_3

http://www.crochetconcupiscence.com/2012/07/summer-days-gorgeous-crochet-hammocks-for-relaxation-and-rejuvenation

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/b7/7d/81/b77d81b694d0a6b52df2ccd33af59579.jpg

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a6/ea/da/a6eadaef80279615adbbd34904f25d1b.jpg

A Disturbing Disturbance in the House

Photo Credit: DeeganMarie

Here’s a follow up on Rep. Ryan’s budget proposal. You know the one that is going to almost eliminate Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Americorp and every other safety net the USA has in place to protect the country’s poorest, sickest, and most vulnerable?  If not, refer to my previous article on the topic - http://iseethegreengrass.blogspot.com/2014/04/rep-ryan-is-trying-to-kill-me-and-my-4.html

In a vote today in the House of Representatives his budget was passed. All but 12 members of the GOP and the Democrats voted for the budget, passing it 219 to 205 with 8 members of congress not voting.

While it most likely will not pass through the Democratic Senate, it does set up an example of which side of the budget our congressional representatives are on. Seeming as we have a mid-term election coming our way this year it would behoove an American voter to know where his/her representative stands. If you are one of the many millions who rely on any of these programs, as well as, some that I haven’t mentioned, it may be in your best interest to visit the voting record site to see how your representative voted. Keep in mind that just because it may not pass the Senate does not mean that the representatives who stand behind this budget will stop pursuing major cuts to these programs.

Another situation that could arise would be if the mid-terms end up seeing an end to the Democratic Senate. If this were to happen you can bet that the budget would most likely be met with a grand reception. So here it is, it’s up to you, once again, America. Take the time to see where your representative lies. The following link will take you to the budget vote where you can see just how your congressional representative voted. If you don’t like the vote, don’t put him/her back in office. It’s that’s simple.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2014/h177

Rep. Ryan is Trying to Kill Me and My 4 Year Old Grandson

Picture Credit _ Frits Ahlefeldt

Someone help please! The title of this article is quite literal in my eyes. Yes, it is of a political nature but nonetheless a slow, torturous, means of death for me, my young grandson, and every other American in a similar situation. I’m going to give all of you an insight into my personal life. This is not something that I would normally do; I tend to keep these things very private as I have become pressured into shame over the years because I “Live off of the government.” But, it’s time the TRUE story be told!

I am disabled, I cannot work a regular full time, or even part time job anymore because I have a disease which is slowly turning my ribs, back, and pelvis into one solid bone. I also care for my 4 year old grandson because his mother (my daughter) died. Now, here comes the personal financial stuff. My disability, which I EARNED when I was able to work - *side note here* - Disability is NOT a government handout. It is a payment made to the person calculated according to THEIR earnings, just as Social Security Retirement is a calculated portion of a person’s EARNINGS where we pay into the system from every paycheck we receive, that said...I receive a mere $800.00 a MONTH, along with a $200.00 a MONTH death benefit paid to my grandson (Calculated, again, as a portion of taxes which my daughter paid into before she passed at the young age of 21). So, my grand total of cash that I must live on is about $1000.00 a MONTH - that’s a MONTH people. Let me ask you if you could pay your mortgage, pay for your gas, electric, water, and phone, as well as, put gas in your vehicle and pay its insurance, put clothes on your back, and buy the necessities for your home such as toilet paper, oh and don’t forget paying for a portion of your prescriptions (which in my case are a lot of prescriptions) all on $1000.00 a MONTH? I intentionally did not include food in there because we do get a government “Handout” of $198.00 a MONTH in food stamps and WIC. This is the ONLY food that we get since I only have a $1000.00 a MONTH to live on. My very serious point here is that I am living off an amount of money that, compared to most people, is only about 1/4 to 1/2 of what is considered an average monthly income. Get the picture?

Enter Mr. Ryan whose federal budget proposal will take that measly amount of income I receive and basically slash it in half. His plan will all but eliminate the only life lines I have - The Food Stamp program, Medicare, and Medicaid. He would be willing to plunge me and my grandson into such a sever state of poverty that we would, most seriously, end up dying slowly from a lack of food and medical care. Perhaps the government should just ship us off to Africa because we will be seeing the same type of scenario here in the US as they have in impoverished Africa. I am not exaggerating. Taking away the ONLY lifelines that the very poor and disabled have will create an impoverished and dying population right here in the good ‘ol US of A.

I’m not proud of having to be on assistance and I certainly did not work for a BA in order to “sit on my ass and collect money I didn’t earn” But I think that if Mr. Ryan were in my position he would see things very differently. I’d like to see him squeak out an existence on my income and then tell me that I get too much money from the government so it needs to be cut. America! I’m begging you, please, please help me and my grandson! Tell Mr. Ryan and others of like mind that I’m all ready living on an income incapable of sustaining us and that, in good conscious, he should not be willing to cut the only line of help I have. And then, remind him, that you, and he, are only one illness or accident away from suffering the same fate yourself.

Thank you

You can contact Rep. Paul Ryan at this web address

https://paulryan.house.gov/

Article Information

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/us/politics/paul-ryan-budget.html

PS - I would just like to add that I am painfully aware of the massive number of people in this world that are living in conditions which make my situation look like a dream life. I am sorry if I have offended any of you but I have related this article to people within the US as that is where I reside. 

To Sci-Fi Live or Not to Sci-Fi Live?

Photo Credit - AMC

I’ve decided to write on a topic today that’s not too heavy. I know that a few of my topics can get pretty personal and hit some deep notes for people. Today’s post is not one of those, so prepare to have a bit of fun.

Before I get into the whole story let me explain about “Bubblews” This is an amazing social networking site. “What makes it so amazing,” you may ask? It’s different than any other site because it PAYS YOU for every post, of 40 CHARACTERS or more, which you make. It also pays you every time someone views and/or comments on one of your posts. Yes, you read that correctly. And yes, I wrote that correctly. We’re not talking 40 words, we’re talking 40 characters. Once your total income reaches $50.00 you can cash it out to your PayPal account. Pretty cool, huh? Oh, and it’s FREE to join. I’ve been on the site since February of 2014 and so far, I’ve found it to be all it’s claimed to be. So, what are you waiting for, go join already, but do it AFTER you finish reading this post, thanks. That said, I can now go on and finish today’s post.

I started a post on Bubblews this past week which I intentionally listed under the “Personal” category instead of the Sci-Fi category even though the post is strictly Sci-Fi. Why have I done this? I thought it would be fun to start a story that anyone, and everyone, could participate in. I’m calling it Sci-Fi Live. Here’s what I did.

I made the post appear to be a genuine conversation type topic but it’s not. The story began with an introduction to a strange night at my “boyfriend’s” house. The next post refers to his lost dog, and then finding his dog deceased. The intent behind this is to build a reader base where the reader can also become the writer/creator of the story through participation in the comment section of the posts. For example, in the first post I mention a loud boom that I heard, and then I ask if anyone else heard anything. I had hoped that people would catch on right away, as I included a disclaimer, but so far only one person has *shrug* What are you going to do? It’s for that reason that I decided to write about it here. This way I can explain my intentions without damaging the integrity of the story line.

I plan on leading the story into an alien/zombie apocalypse type scenario and I’m hoping that I can get people to play along. That’s where the whole “Live” portion of the Sci-Fi Live comes into play. I thought it would be a lot of fun to have various people describing their own part in the story. Perhaps they too heard the boom, or maybe they will eventually be fighting off zombie type creatures as they plead for assistance in the comments. Part of the disclaimer reads that any comment made will be utilized in the story line, so maybe John Doe will be telling Jane Smith that their house was over run today and they had to find a new location to hide, ect... I hope I’m making this clear. If not, please let me know and I’ll try to clarify it further.

My overall hope for this effort is that people will begin to start their own interactive stories on Bubblews. I think this could become an awesome medium for people’s creative well being. And, what’s best of all? You get paid to write it! How awesome is that? Every writer I’ve ever known wants to get paid to write and now we have an opportunity to do so, plus we aren’t leashed to a specific topic or condition. It’s all us! I’m really quite excited about this idea if you haven’t noticed and I hope that it takes off, primarily because it has the potential to be really fun. So, I’m going to go and write today’s post on Bubblews and I hope to see you there.

What Does Your Garden Grow?

Picture Courtesy of Lynn Greyling at Public Domain Pictures

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=71091&picture=botanical-gardens-moscow

For years and years now I have gardened. I’ve always enjoyed the feeling of dirt on my feet and hands. I love watching a magnificent plant grow out of a tiny seed. I think it’s miraculous. My favorite things to garden are the vegetables. It gives me great pleasure to tend to the plants, watch them grow, and then reap the rewards of deliciousness.

When we lived in the Fort Wayne area we rented a house and couldn’t have a garden there. I managed to find a couple of community gardens where I planted and maintained a nice little crop. It wasn’t the best of circumstances, for sure, since I had to drive to get to them. It’s not like being able to step out your door and gather up some fresh herbs and veggies for the day’s meals. Things had to be planned, the weather had to cooperate, and that general sense of contentment wasn’t quite as strong. It did, however, deliver and I enjoyed it none-the-less.

Now that I have a home I can call my own, again I long to grow a new garden. There’s just one thing standing in the way, a serious lack of sunshine. If you’re a gardener then you know that vegetables require six to eight hours of direct sunlight each day. That means there needs to be a place in my small yard where the sun always shines. Alas, there is no such space. It’s unfortunate, yes, but not the end of all ends.

I plan to get a few five gallon buckets and, at the very least, plant a couple of tomato plants and perhaps a pepper plant. Certainly this is not comparable to the mounds of succulent summer squash, green beans, and cucumbers that I adore but it’s better than none at all. I figure I’ll be able to move the three plants easily enough and re-positioning them throughout the day should give them adequate sunlight. I shall wait and see.

There are other alternatives. Where there’s a will there’s a way. I know that I can certainly still garden. There are an abundance of shade and partial shade loving plants out there. Many of them are quite beautiful, and I don’t just mean hostas and ferns, although those are nice. I can think of Begonias, Coleus, Geraniums, and Impatiens off the top of my head. All of those will provide gorgeous color and texture. I’m certain there are tons more, so I will need to change the focus of my garden. That’s a very familiar life scenario for me and probably for you too. We need to learn to adapt to change; we need to be able to make something good out of a less than perfect situation. Personally, I know of no other way to live. How else can life remain good? I think that if your life isn’t good, then maybe you should be asking yourself if it’s time to change the way you garden. A person needs to work with what they have and be able to find satisfaction in it or else they’ll wither and die, much like a plant without its proper sun requirement. It’s seriously not a good thing. Life happens, we don’t always get our patch of sunshine but that shouldn’t keep us from blooming.

For now, my garden will be one of shade loving annuals and perennials. I will till the earth, plant the seed, and tend to it while it grows and becomes the beautiful plant it was meant to be. I may be able to squeeze out a tomato or two, I’ll keep my fingers crossed, but either way I’ll still be gardening and I’ll put my brain to work and set myself up a challenge to devise a way to harness that much craved sunshine. How about you? What will you grow?

Soul Searching

Picture courtesy of Joy Shrader at Public Domain Pictures

I was sorting through some papers the other day and came across a piece that I wrote several years back. It was a paper that examined ideas regarding the existence, or non-existence, of the human soul and the juxtaposition of oppositional characteristics of human actions and emotions. In addition, it presented the prospect of a collective soul existing within humanity itself. As I read over it I felt a particular relevance that reminded me of my own advice. Recently I have written about my alcohol and drug addiction which relies on a higher power. This piece calls me on that and gives food for thought. But, there’s something more in it. I found a deeper meaning when I read it. It related to me here and now as if, years ago, when I wrote it I had some link into my future. Maybe I knew that I would need a boost maybe that is why I kept it. I’m referring to the loss of my daughter in 2011 and how that deep soul pain is a part of what makes us who we are now and that there may be hope yet. So, today’s post is that article and maybe it can be the boost you need, too.

What’s the Big About a Soul Anyway?

We make it seem like it’s everything, we search for it. It’s what makes us human isn’t it? The rapid pulsing of life itself, the understanding that draws us into a world that touches other beings. It keeps us going, it cleanses the blood that flows within us. This blood that courses like hot molten steel, forcing us to be more than instinctual.

It drives some people over the brink of sanity and into a world where reality will never be the same. It causes us to love and hate, to bestow charity and to steal, to build and to destroy. It leads us by the nose wherever it thinks we should go. We die for its preservation. We kill for its purification. We justify a hundred thousand reasons of madness just to keep it from burning us to death from the inside out. Our actions are all based on what the soul desires, what it believes to be true. Yet, it leaves so many with an empty bottomless pit feeling in their bellies that their hearts swell like starving African children. It screams out for its own annihilation then begs forgiveness and respite. It knows us all too well.

It gives the ability to move forward while stopping us dead in our tracks. It holds us immovable in space and time when it’s injured and then suddenly flings us into a distant solar system when we least expect it. You know what I’m saying...we have all felt it. You know exactly what I’m talking about, it’s as if we share it, like maybe there’s only one soul to go around; one, which every person on the face of the earth has some part of. How else could we feel, experience, and even know the joys and sorrows of others as we do? How else could we be so cold and hateful in its absence, as if sometimes there just isn’t enough of it to go around? Like a bombed out building that is still hanging on, parts are missing but the structure remains. Some of us struggle to rebuild the monument of humanity, while those that linger in the empty space cling to an invisible thread of hope and desperation that maybe, one day, they’ll again experience what it’s like to be in the remaining I-Beams.

Soul sickness, it comes with the territory. It breaks us down into compost material and leaves us waiting to be fed to those who would thrive on our molecules. The soul spreads like this, into each one of us. Sometimes we’re consumed; sometimes we’re the consumer. Each time we put our soul into something, no matter what it is, we leave ourselves open, vulnerable to the compost heap. Our flowers and fruit spent, then tilled up and thrown out to await our rebirth through the tender sprout of another obsession. We blanket the winter months of our absence with depression, or anger, sometimes hate or just plain empty longing.

Broken and battered we pick up its pieces and attempt to put them back into our work, our thoughts, our feelings, and our lives. We try and try to rebuild the ornament of beauty that links us to life. We fear its loss more than anything but we rarely ever think about it. It delivers us from evil and allows us to think of bigger and better places for it to be than right here where we are. The call of humanity is our own pleading for a sense of connection. The very connection which we dismiss, without a second thought, as soon as the crazy guy in the corner of the restaurant makes eye contact with us. It’s that spark which ignites either yearning or repulsion. It’s what the Gods themselves have longed for. What it means to be human only a human can understand.

So what’s the big? It’s only humanity, our humanity, both individual and communal. It brings a sensation of existence into our world, the link in the missing chain. Still, we can’t even agree that it exists, or if it does, how? In what form? Where is it going to lead us? Does it even know or are we just spinning in a continuum of non-linear existence? Do we expand the collective soul when we become “enlightened”? Can the circular effect grow without end and send humanity beyond the imagination? How can we ignore so blatantly the driving force of our being?

I think, and this thought is coming from my very soul, that a conscious effort to recognize, relate to, and feel one’s soul will send out a vibration that causes the remaining soul to hear music. It’s the song that will echo into the void spaces of the collective and create the necessary expansion into the vacancies of humanity. People can feed their empty swollen hearts. The soul can grow. Somehow, there can be enough to go around. I think the secret lies in the consciousness of each individual. I don’t know how many people it will take to achieve a collective humanity, but I am sure that the more people who are willing to make the effort, the more successful we’ll be. The soul is unique. It is a big deal. We need to acknowledge this or we will all end up in the void, just as it is capable of expansion it is also capable of collapse. The structure of human kind could fold under the weight of emptiness, and vanish into a cloud of dust. It is a big deal. It’s our deal. Nourish the soul, feel it, don’t forget about it. Let it hurt, let it love, let it grow. Deliver us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you have it. My wake up call to myself. I’m going to try to let it hurt, to let it love and hopefully to watch it grow. Thanks for being here. Our journey may be long but I have hope because you’re here....so yeah, thanks.