#And yes--that gorilla is Koko

[roguekhajiit]

A debate I had on Reddit about abortion rights.

The person I'm arguing with is an active participant of the Mensa subreddit, so they already fancy themselves a genius to some extent.

Me:

No arms, no legs, no heart, no brain. Just a blood vessel pumping blood from the host to the clump of cells.

And the "But there's a heartbeat" excuse is a lie. You're only hearing the host's blood pumping into cells cause the heart isn't fully formed until 10 weeks. Additionally, the brain isn't even fully developed until 24 weeks. No heart organ, no brain, it's not a viable life outside its host body.

Them:

Yeah that's an empirical argument to deny ontology. That's not convincing to anyone who thinks there is an essence to being human that isn't tied to having arms and legs.

Me:

I'm sorry, but are you trying to use philosophy to argue whether or not someone is capable of living without a heart, brain, and lungs?

Them:

How do you determine what is human and what is not? Arms and legs? What do you call someone without arms and legs? Or a mechanic heart? You can't answer the question 'what is human' based on physical qualities only. So yes, logically you cannot answer the question without philosophy.

Me:

I think you are confusing personhood with the human species.

A person is someone who can think, breathe, and exist on their own. They have a personality and their own opinions on subjects like abortion.

A human being or homo sapiens is a species on earth that evolved enough to form social groups and cultures and, therefore, are capable of personhood. Some other more complex animals might be capable of personhood, like Koko the Gorilla. She was intelligent, learned to communicate using sign language, and even had her own pet.

I'm not discussing this subject in terms of personhood. A fetus isn't developed enough to form a sense of personhood if it can't even survive on its own at 2 months gestation.

Them:

I'm talking about the essence of what makes one a living human. As long as pregnant women before the 3rd month believe they're carrying a child, which is all of them who want to *keep* the child, I am not appealed by the argument that it's suddenly no longer a child but rather a fetus for biological/scientific/empirical reasons when there are various financial and social advantages of it being so.

The points you mention are even still different from mine.

Me:

>The points you mention are even still different from mine.

Correct because again, you fail to see the point of the argument.

You yourself say;

>As long as pregnant women before the 3rd month believe they're carrying a child, which is all of them who want to *keep* the child,

That's all fine and dandy cause it's her *choice* to do so, not yours and not the government's. But it's not yours or anyone else's place to force your philosophical or religious views on an entire nation and bully us all into following them by making your opinions a law.

Them:

It's a choice to recognise a human as a human, you're saying? So where's the end to that travesty of logic? A cat is a dog, a man is a woman, that dog is a man and that man is a dog. That's a wild world you're living in. I don't see the world that way, it defeats both logic and common sense. But it surely makes a way to justify doing whatever the hell you like doing. I won't force morality on you, but I'll tell you when it's absent.

Me:

Again, you're trying to use philosophy to argue science, and that gets us nowhere. I already stated I'm not talking from a philosophical standpoint.

You can see the world however you want. Your morals aren't always going to line up with your neighbors morals. Your neighbor might think it's immoral to eat any kind of meat. Are you gonna give up that steak dinner cause they can smell it in their living room? How would you feel if the entire government decided eating meat is a crime and, therefore, it's banned and you go to jail just for eating a hamburger. Kinda sucks when other people force their philosophy and religion on you by passing laws to get their way.

Now I know you're gonna be like, "But you can't compare pregnancies to diets!" But you're already equating philosophy with science. So, let me give you another scenario.

Do you like eggs? Eggs are just undeveloped chickens who were denied the ability to develop and hatch. Will you give up your eggs and bacon just because your vegan neighbor says it's immoral?

Since to you personhood and human are one and the same. Say aliens decide to visit earth; they have arms and legs and a brain, can speak, express emotions, and have their own culture. Are they human? Do we give them the same rights as you and me even though they weren't born on earth and are basically invading our planet? Or are they just displaying personhood?

If you say yes, they are human and deserve the same rights as you and me, then you also need to give those same rights to the "illegal aliens" that cross the border.

Why are undeveloped fetuses given more rights to life than families with children who are trying to seek a better life? Why do we value a fetus over the actual baby? Once it's born, if the mother says she needs help, she's scorned and looked down on for asking for WIC, foodstamps, and cash benefits to help feed and cloth her baby. She should have thought of that before deciding to have a baby, right? But if she decides she's unable to afford a baby, and she can't afford to take time off because the pregnancy is making it hard for her to work, she's called a murderer for seeking an abortion.

To pro-life advocates, a fetus is more important before it's born than after it's born. And you won't convince me otherwise. The same people pushing for abortion bans, banning mifepristone (a drug that's also necessary to help with incomplete miscarriages), and even simple birth control are the same people who vote to cut funding to welfare programs, free lunch programs, and to entire school districts. That's not very pro-life of them now, is it?

-------

They gave up the argument after that.

I could have converted this into a rant solely from my perspective, but I felt it would be better just to copy it as a script.

Pro-lifers are not actually pro-life. They are just anti-women and anti-choice. If they actually cared about the fetus, they would care about it after its born by passing laws and regulations that would ensure the child has the best quality of life possible and every chance to succeed. Instead, time and again, they vote against those laws.

They don't care about the fetus once it's born. Why is that? Could it be that their true goal all along is to force women back into submission because they romanticize the bygone era of the 1800s and early 1900s when women didn't hold jobs, didn't vote, and couldn't do anything without their husband's explicit permission?

I dunno, that's just the vibe I get from the anti-choice supporters. Why else would they say things like, "Stop riding dick if you can't take accountability." But then start foaming at the mouth when you remind them accountability goes both ways. When's the last time they made a child support payment?

[vampirejuno]

Mutual 1: ughhhhh I hate him I hate him so much I want to kill him and rip him apart with my teeth!!!!!! [Picture of character who is present in their url, avatar, and background photo]

Mutual 2: if another customer asks me to scan their 59 expired coupons I will dismember myself in front of them

Mutual 3: shitting again!! #diarrhea #ibs #girl dinner #student life #cottagecore

Mutual 4: poll should I move to Nebraska yes/no

Mutual 5: I need [character from children's cartoon] to vivisect me and then gently stitch me back together so I can unbecome and be remade

Mutual 6: what if we all killed our selves together. On the count of three

Mutual 7: [16 reblogs of the saw bathroom scene]

Mutual 8: baked a pie today there is still beauty in the world 😍❤️💗😌😊👍✨🥰💕👌🥺

Mutual 9: love tastes like acid in my mouth I want to rip it out of my chest but it's taken root like an invasive plant and it's covering all the walls with its vines and I'm drowning myself in pesticides and the gardener (my therapist) is shaking his head in disappointment. This metaphor has gotten away from me

Mutual 10: finally finished that little project. Not super happy with it but at least it's done [picture of 12×8ft tapestry, hand-embroidered]

Mutual 11: do you guys think they're more of a boygirl or more of a girlboy. Here's some evidence to consider [15 pictures of gerard way in mini skirts and lab coats]. Discuss.

Mutual 12: -and it's absolutely ridiculous to imply that Koko the gorilla knew real sign language when if you do even a little research you'll see that the scientists were reading too much into her responses, there was zero grammar present in her communication, they didn't even consult actual deaf people and the whole thing stinks of wishful thinking. Op should be ashamed of themselves. Also fuck Chomsky

[lilja4ever]

Yes i know koko the gorilla is a lie and wasnt actually communicating but when she was asked where do we go when we die and she signed "comfortable hole bye" that like changed me psychologically

[izzywhisker]

"Even My Tears Are Crying" Awards 2023

;_;

Yes, I'm jumping on the bandwagon and doing a huge contest/competition/tournament to find out what The People think are the best tears.

Huge thanks to @lutzlig @nonbiney-swag-competition @autismswagsummit @weirdgirlshowdown @worstcharacterpoll @homestuck-best-girl-tournament @dissociationswagcompetition @novafire-is-thinking @ultimatefnaf-favoritecompetition @nicejewishcharactershowdown @ultimaterobotblorbo and anyone else who paved the way.

Rules

CRYING The emotional impact on YOU doesn't matter. At least one character or person must be shown crying.

FALLING At least one tear must have fallen from the eye and rolled down the cheek (or left the eye and entered the air anime-style). Blobs of fluid sitting in the tear duct does not count: If the character held it together long enough to wipe away tears, then a tear didn't fall.

MEDIA Shows / Cartoons / Anime / Movies / Comics / Manga / Music videos / Album covers / Illustrations from books / School textbooks / Memes … etc.

VISUAL DEPICTIONS ONLY. In the song Kindness Of Strangers by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, the track contains a depiction of someone sobbing. But there is no official music video release, so this doesn't count. In the video for Ich Tuh Dir Weh by Rammstein, the singer is shown sheedding tears because of the physical stress of having punctured his cheek for the video. This counts.

Books are not allowed. …unless they have a movie/show/comic book adaption. I don't care if "the book did it better", the only text walls I want to see is everyone's love for their entries.

Tears can be for any reason. As mentioned above, if someone is odd enough to puncture a hole in his cheek for a music video, it counts. Sadness, happiness, relief, anger, jealousy, rage… Even if the character got hit and is reeling in tears from the shock.

Non-humans are included. If a character has a TV head and displays an image of crying, within the context, that is allowed. Anthro/Furry characters shedding tears is allowed. Normal animals whimpering is NOT allowed. Sorry, but there will be no entry from Koko the gorilla signing "sad, cry" when she was told her cat died. Sign language and AAC is of course allowed, but remember there must be tears. This is a tears contest, not a sadness contest.

No Runny Noses Tears of blood are allowed. Any fluid coming from the person's eye(s), whether a natural part of the bodily makeup or not.

Please only nominate each scene once. Five entries gets the scene into the contest. If you want it in, ask your friends or fandom community for help.

In the event of multiple entries per show or character "Usagi Tsukino / Izuku Midoriya / etc is a crybaby!!" "There is so, so much crying in Steven Universe!!" If there are many scenes from one show or character, I will hold preliminary polls to find out which scene will be included in the main poll.

Series of movies or huge franchises? Things like Ghibli movies can have an entry each, but huge continuities like Transformers or Pokemon will be narrowed down to one entry in preliminaries.

"Official release" only. Basically anything called "official", so behind the scenes releases from DVDs, deleted scenes, A person sobbing and thanking their fans is only valid if it's released officially. Those Markiplier videos count.

Official DVD release of the live music show where the singer cries on stage, is not the same as someone's viral video recorded from the audience. I hope that clears up the difference.

Submission Entries will be submitted to izzywhisker ask box. Write as much or as little as you wish. Pictures or videos are welcome, especially if the media is obscure. Anon is on, but I will not publish the asks unless I have permission from you (anonymous asks cannot include pictures/video as part of the post.)

Deadline is Monday 20th Feb.

Updates every few days or so until the actual voting begins. I'm totally winging it and expect to be overwhelmed with responses, but of course I can handle it. *sheds a single manly tear*

[marlynnofmany]

I have been sick and in my bed for a couple of days, but have been saved from being completely miserable by reading A Swift Kick to the Thorax. Thanks for writing it and putting it out there. Such a fast paced, fun adventure! So many marvelous characters, but if I had to choose a favourite? My heart belongs to Dragon! 🥰

Thank you! I'm sorry you're sick, but so glad you're enjoying the book. And yes, Dragon has a special place in my heart too. I read Koko's Kitten at a young age, and have thought highly of gorillas ever since. One of my friends even went on to work with Koko, and I checked with that friend to make sure I was writing Dragon right. He deserves the best!

[aokozaki]

Yes I'm thinking about Koko the Gorilla's "final message" to humanity, how could you tell?

[tenaflyviper]

Remembering Betty White's Legacy:

(January 17, 1922 - December 31, 2021)

Today, the world lost more than just a beloved television icon.

Though she later became known as the "First Lady of Television", Betty White put her early career on hold during World War II in order to join the American Women's Voluntary Services. Beforehand, she had worked in radio, theater, and modeling (the latter in spite of film studios telling her she "wasn't photogenic"). She drove a supply truck by day, and at night she participated in send-off dances for servicemen shipping off to war.

In 1954, she got her first nationally aired television show, The Betty White Show. During a time in which men still dominated the entertainment industry, Betty was given full creative control of her show, and even hired a female director to run it. This was long before the feminist movement began its rise to prominence.

The program frequently featured black tap dancer Arthur Duncan, to the point where he is credited as the first black series regular on a talk/variety show. Betty and the show were both heavily criticized, and threatened with boycott from many viewers in the South. Betty stood her ground, and famously replied,

"I said, ‘I’m sorry. Live with it.'”, before giving Duncan even more screen time. Sadly, repeated changes in time slots--and the resulting lower viewership--eventually led to the show's cancelation not long after.

Aside from being an entertainer, Betty was nearly just as well-known for being a pioneering animal rights activist, and was very passionate about animal conservation.

She donated to numerous animal charities (and a few human ones, too!), including:

American Humane Association

Morris Animal Foundation

Helen Woodward Animal Center

PAWS/LAPetco Foundation

SPCA-LA

GLAAD

Elton John AIDS Foundation

NAACP

Human Rights Campaign

Red Cross

American Heart Association

Special Olympics

St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

And several others.

Over the span of her seven-decades-long career--which Guinness World Records officially certified in 2014 as the longest ever for a female entertainer--she took home five Primetime Emmys, one competitive Daytime Emmy, a lifetime achievement Daytime Emmy in 2015, and a Los Angeles regional Emmy in 1952.

She left behind so, so much more than that. From being "The First Lady of Television" to "America's Grandmother", Betty White touched the hearts of millions--both human and animal alike. She may no longer be with us on Earth, but she has many friends where she is now.

[fic-dumpster]

After reading It's cold

Y/N remembers she knows how to knit and makes Kakucho a Sweater and for Mikey some socks because that man know no other way of footwear than flip flops

Y/n: here for you :3

Kakucho and Mikey: *dying from cuteness*

The boys planing how to get a handmade gift because peace was never an option in this gang

I feel like I made a lot of ask but I can contain myself this au is so damn cute

Headcanons? 😅 NANDIJAKDOF ta-da?

And they don’t know shit about crafts and handmade stuff.

Like I can see them trying to make soap bars and following YouTube tutorials and Sanzu trying to chop the soap with his Katana.

Then maybe after that doesn’t go as planned and trying to stop Mikey from biting the colorful soap bars, Ran and Rindou searched the Internet for something like “handmade for girlfriend. Gifts easy to do” 😂💕 and somehow they find crayon art...

Abort mission. Somehow Kakucho accidentally blew the wax towards Kokonoi and now his hair is kinda burnt... He screamed.

We skipped Takeomi and Kakucho going through the school section at the store... That was something....

Just imagine two big dudes with scars on their faces... Buying a cart of idk crayola crayons in the american section because the tutorial had that american brand.

Takeomi:buy any crayons!It's the same🤦🏻‍♂️

Kakucho: No☝️, the video showed the American ones.

Btw, Mochi took you out for some shopping as an excuse to keep you out of the house.

Handmade chocolates were out of the question. They all remember the White day fiasco (dont ask I will elaborate soon)

Rindou found this “Reasons why I love you” DIY idea. And they tried.

Koko: *sees what Sanzu wrote* you can't tell Y/N that!

Sanzu: why not? Is true.

Ran: you cant because I already wrote about her butt.

Koko: that’s not-

Takeomi: be more creative, you idiot

Kakucho: Mikey wrote about her soft boobs.

Rindou: yeah, exactly. Look at mine; I wrote about her pussy's gorilla grip.

Koko: *face contorted in pain* no...

Koko burned it all... Shouting about how they were a bunch of degenerates. The intention was there, but their wording... 😔

Finally Koko had enough and purchased tickets to a cruise…

Y/N: *arrives* *smells smoke* Takeomi! Don't smoke with the windows closed!

Everyone: *hiding everything* YES TAKEOMI!

Takeomi: ಠ_ಠ

To be continued? 😣

[ihatebnha]

Yesss! Men do need to love animals! All Might like all animals, but especially the huge, fluffy dogs and cats, like Samoyed dogs and Maine Coon cats! Present Mic especially love talking birds like parrots and Mynah birds. Stain occasionally feed stray cats and dogs, and is quite fond of domestic rats because of how social and smart they are. Spinner will never admit it, but he has a soft spot for reptiles and barely can stop himself from gushing when he see cute geckos, turtles, snakes, etc.

*crying* yes... yes.............

Crying at the thought of All Might going nuts when he see dogs... even tho he has preferences, he can't help but giving all of them the ol' watermelon slap. I also see him looking good with little wiener dogs and corgis who wag their little butts at him... dogs probably LOVE him, too (because he's so bad at resisting puppy dog eyes at the dinner table)

Present Mic liking birds is making me laugh tho!!! looks like and LOVES parakeets, as well. anything colorful i feel like... also probably weirdly obsessed with like... koko the gorilla too LOOOL and other cute monkeys.

ALSO STAIN OMG... he's a fucking weirdo but i definitely imagine in a normal!au he's that guy who's like... always talking about how cool rodents are. probably even has a few that he plays with all the time and carries around LMFAOOO... but yes absolutely takes care of strays...

and spinner... YES!!!! ofc he's nice to ALL animals bc they are his Kin but especially in regard to what u said. gets into so many heated debates about the proper care of them and probably is obsessed with you if you have one. it's berry sweet, honestly.

ANYWAY... i was mostly thinking cats and dogs, but this was perfect anon, so thank u!!! thinking about this topic makes me all fuzzy inside tbh <333

[meggtheegg]

💞✨

what was your first special interest?

Animals, in various forms. I was a very strange kid who desperately wanted a taxidermy bison head because my grandparents took me on a trip to Yellowstone and I thought they were the coolest animals ever, and then my favorite restaurant had an animatronic singing bison head, so little me’s brain just went “yes. this is a thing I need in my life.” I apparently used to go on ebay and print pictures of bison heads out to show to my teachers. then the animatronic one at the restaurant glitched out while I was eating there and it was an immediate 180 because in that moment I realized taxidermy was actually dead animals and not magical singing creatures that could be my friends, and it turned from a special interest to a massive phobia that haunted me well into middle school. At the same time that I was printing out pictures of taxidermy, I was also obsessed with a book series about kids whose parents like owned a vet clinic and my amazing parents found the one kids’ vet simulator game for windows xp and I played it every moment I was on the family computer. Then, I discovered Koko the gorilla, and though I remember very little from that phase, I reconnected years later with a girl who went to my school at the time, and when I reminded her of who I was, she said “oh my gosh, you were the gorilla girl!” So, yeah

do you own any stim toys?

I have some stress balls and one squishy, somewhere, plus some of that “crazy aaron’s thinking putty,” but nothing that’s strictly designed for stimming. My little brother does, though, because he was diagnosed at a really young age and got a ton of stim toys that I was constantly stealing from him. most of them are gone, by now, but there are still a few things he has left over.

[baeddel]

no-rx

i think the use of grammaticity here is itself kind of problematic especially with the discursive affordances

no-rx

frankly dogs are already grammatical creatures in any sense we should expect them to be. a bigger red flag in that discourse for me was [does "sad" mean "how sad"]...

no-rx

i might be being outrageous tho

right, yeah I get what you mean. Among linguists, a position like Chomsky held that language is unique to humanity is now in the extreme minority, the most prominent I think is that our language evolved out of pre-human linguistic structures used by our ancestors. Animals communicate with each other in tremendous detail, and straightforwardly understand one another, and we do not find this surprising. The problem that this kind of discourse encounters is that theres a presumption that speaking the language humans do requires some extremely high level of intelligence, that it is a special unique privileged position that we either should not assume animals have (so its a hoax etc) or we should assume animals have (because we have cognitive biases about how special we are etc) - either way familiar human languages are awarded a special position that it probably shouldn’t have.

So my concern with saying the dog understands and uses grammar is that it makes us think a certain way about grammar, or the grammar we use, that we assume that if a dog can communicate something to us it is capable of something surprisingly intelligent, etc. but dogs communicate to us all the time, for example with ‘gaze alteration’ (they look at you, look at what they want to show you, look back at you, etc... my dog does this all the time with the fridge and he is saying: get me ham!) We already find a highly sophisticated form of communication between human and dog, developed as much by dogs as by humans.

but yeah, re: “how sad” etc... My biggest issue w/ some of this discourse is that the ‘skeptical’ position is like, okay, sure, they can say it, but do they understand it? One reblog said “this is just the Chinese Room, we did this already.” Its kind of correct to connect it with the Chinese Room but we have definitely not done the Chinese Room already, for some reason people who hear about it think it proves something but its really not solved... (And is there a thinker more degraded now than Searle?) [For those who don’t know, the ‘thought experiment’ goes like this: a guy who doesn’t speak Chinese is in a little room and people give him instructions about what Chinese word they want. He reads the instructions, goes and gets the word and gives it to them. Despite being able to use Chinese, he doesn’t understand Chinese.]

My favourite objection to the problem goes like this: the guy in the Chinese Room actually does understand Chinese. This sounds totally crazy and it takes a lot to explain I think lol but you can sort of see that in terms of the dog. Say you teach the dog to say “bye”, and you teach it to use it whenever someone leaves. It understands “bye” as “the thing you do when someone leaves”. Does it understand what “bye” means? I feel like we have to say yes, it does. What do I understand by “bye”, other than what I say when someone leaves? I don’t have some kind of deeper true understanding of “bye”, I simply know its place in the structure of everyday life, ie. I know how to follow the instructions and get the right Chinese word. In what deeper sense can I be said to understand the word “bye”? So the dog and I understand “bye” in just the same way. If we accept this it starts to destabilize a lot of the common sense objections to the dog’s understanding (and to an A.I.’s understandng).

This leads us to wonder: in what sense could Clever Hans not count? We might see this as a problem for this position or we might not.

I will say though, this kind of thing, I try to be careful because of Koko the Gorilla & stuff like that... Most people don’t really know this about Koko but she was like, chronically sexually abused by her handler, and her handler used her to sexually harass her female employees. And the work she was doing was ethically compromised in a lot of ways besides. But she got kind of a big reputation because she had this talking Gorilla, which she marketed in a kinda sensationalist way... In the 70s, in the middle of the ‘linguistic turn’ in philosophy and in academia in general, you had a lot of these experiments to try and teach different animals how to speak a human language, and they all ended in these really bizarre catastrophes. Why should this be the case? I don’t really know, but perhaps there is just something wrong about trying to force a familiar model of communication onto another animal. So seeing just this kind of experiment repeated (by a speech therapist, no less) and made into like an instagram thing, yknow... I’m not saying its wrong necessarily, my mum puts as much enthusiastic content about our dog on instagram after all, and I am always trying to find ways to communicate more effectively with my dog, but its hard not to associate it with that stuff...

[anhedonia2]

am i crying about koko the gorilla and her kitten named all ball? Yes

[blues-sevenfold]

Sliders Multiverse 2: Apocalyptic Worlds

Wild Universe: This world was briefly visited by both Sliders #2 and Sliders #1, where both groups stayed for a few hours. As neither group exactly set out to scout the entire planet - it is unclear whether an apocalypse of human and/or other intelligent life has occurred centuries or millennia ago, or if intelligent life has simply never evolved. Either way, it doesn’t look like a post-apocalyptic world - as everything appears to be wild nature. The only sign of intelligent life that was ever found was when Sliders #1 found a car belonging to Jimmy Reed of Sliders #2, who had visited the world about two weeks prior.

Nuclear Winter Universe: This was the first world visited by Sliders #1. Due to increasing tensions with the Soviet Union, all of humanity (including Jimmy Reed) was obliterated back in 1965. However, other animal life continues to thrive - as some have even evolved to adapt to a nuclear winter climate.

Ultimate Plague Universe: The first of three similar universes, all of humanity succumbed to the plague pandemic back in 1978 - having left absolutely no human survivors. More than likely, an asteroid will hit the Earth in 2008 - and more species will be obliterated. This world was visited by Sliders #3.

Plague Universe: This is the second of three similar universe, which was visited by Sliders #2. About 10% of the human population have survived the plague pandemic of 1978. Jimmy Reed and James Baker were two of the survivors. Of interesting note, John Lennon was the only surviving Beatles member while John Bonham was the only surviving member of Led Zeppelin. As all the other nine would-be parents (including, yes, the elder Brian Haner) of the Avenged Sevenfold members succumbed to the plague, none of the Avenged Sevenfold members were born. After sliding much of the remaining human population into the more idyllic Uplifted Animal Universe, the asteroid impact obliterates what all remains of the human population and other larger animal species.

No-Asteroid Plague Universe: This is the third of three similar universes, which was visited by Sliders #3. About a month ago, a group of scientists have opted to take the risk of blowing up the asteroid - figuring that they really had nothing to lose. In prime Plague Universe, they had elected against the idea - figuring that it was safer to just take a chance with the asteroid. Anyway, the plan ends up working - and humanity is, once again, safe. The sliding technology is then retooled for use as a medical device, similarly to that of Zelda Baker Universe.

Notes:

Jimmy Reed was not only still alive in 1978, due to a lifestyle change decision that he made back in 1963, but he was one of the 10% to survive the plague pandemic. His wife wasn’t lucky - and, of his offspring, Jimmy Jr (Boonie) and Rose were the only survivors. Some grandchildren have also survived. Jimmy does his best to look after his remaining family. Overall, he’s a very loving and doting grandfather - although there are two things that he is fairly strict about: Making sure that his grandchildren dress appropriately for the weather, as well as making sure that they practice sanitary hygiene. After all, he really cannot bear the thought of losing anymore of his family. He does pass away in 2003, however.

The point-of-divergence between (Prime) Plague Universe and No-Asteroid Plague Universe occurs in May of 2008. As some portions of Plague Universe was duplicated to ISOT Mosaic Universe in April of 2008, this was before the point-of-divergence have occurred.

Larger portions of explicitly No-Asteroid Plague Universe are also duplicated from 2107 into ISOT Mosaic Universe. By then, the world has become a bona fide solarpunk society. Other primate species and certain bird species have reached significant human-level intelligence. Alex the Grey Parrot, Koko the Gorilla, and Washoe the Chimpanzee all were being worked with prior to the plague of 1978 - and, not being human, the three of them (with their allies) have all survived the human-only pandemic. By 2108, communication with dolphins and seals have also become possible via psi and vibration waves. Psionic abilities (including psychokinesis) have also become common by 2107.

Avenged Sevenfold becomes a popular rock band a century later, as all five members (and Matt Baker) were all born exactly a century later. Keep in mind that not one of them have existed on this world a century prior. Jimmy Reed is reincarnated to one of his descendants on September 6th of 2077 - where he bears a striking resemblance to his older incarnation, aside from his emerald green eyes. By the age of twenty, he is able to recall his prior life with relative clarity. It’s possible that he also might’ve had an intermediary incarnation.

That being said, neither Jimmy Reed nor any Avenged Sevenfold members are duplicated to ISOT Mosaic Universe from 2107.

[atonement2007]

im sorry but that woman did not teach her dog how to “talk” like…literally one of the first things u learn in any kind of language acquisition course is that nonhuman animals do not and cannot acquire language in any capacity comparable to humans…yes this includes koko the gorilla as well as this dog

[errantabbot]

All Saints and Souls: An Address

Within the comparative religious circles in which I run, there’s a turn of phrase common to examining religious practice that I’ve become quite fond of, finding it exceptionally to the point, namely that of the “primal wound of consciousness.” 

In essence, this “primal wound” is a meta-awareness that we are alive, coupled with the understanding that alive-ness itself is inextricably interlinked with death. It’s primal because this dual awareness is a fundamental building block in the very structure of consciousness, and it’s a wound because it predicates dis-ease. 

From time immemorial the response to this primal wound has been to look outside of oneself for a possible solution, be it a grasping for eternity, or a shouting into the cosmos as a plea for understanding; religion as a whole has its raison d’etre rooted entirely in seeking a balm for this primal wound, and as it has evolved, in blunting some of the pointed difficulties that occur in the space between birth and death. There’s no doubt in my mind that our gathering together here each Sunday, and especially today as we obverse All Saints/All Souls Day, is an expression of religion of this sort. Our awareness of death and the losses it leaves in its wake is the usually unspoken, but plainly clear topic of the day. In the Judeo-Christian tradition we’re taught that humanity was created for an eternal life of bliss and ease in deep union with the divine. And yet, we’ve found ourselves, scripture says, subject to death, discomfort, and disunion; an unnatural reality given as result for somehow missing the mark in our former arrangement. Now, whether we approach this literally, allegorically, or even, not much at all, this supposition underlies most of our psyches, and we hope for one version of the biblical reward for faithfulness during our seemingly now fleeting lives, namely entry into heaven upon our death in this world. As a contemplative, I think it’s important that we not let these often subconscious suppositions go unchecked, and in reality, that’s what named days of reflection like this one are for, albeit usually with the intention of reinforcing dogma, and doctrine, rather than for posing question and evoking mysterious uncertainty. And of these two roads, I think that most of you know which one I am inclined to take. As you may remember, I was out of town last weekend traveling to Atlanta to open a new Meditation Monastery, and I distinctly recall the wondrous display of colors that the trees in Kansas City were projecting into the sky both on take-off and landing. It was truly stunning. The irony of fall, is that so many of us celebrate the very thing that cripples our tongues when viewed as a lens to our own experience. We have mazes cut through dead corn fields, falling temperatures that rid us of biting insects for a time, and of course, the color show that is put on especially well by our local foliage. We have fall themed coffee shop drinks, window clings, cupcakes, sprinkles in the shape of dead leaves, and memes galore that really seem to me more as memento mori – festive reminders of life’s transience, than anything else. Perhaps though, most of us don’t view them as such because we have faith that these things are ultimately but a sign of renewal. The trees bud, blossom, and bloom with new foliage, grasses push through the recently frozen ground, the crickets, cicadas, and yes, mosquitos all return. I find that most of us view ourselves similarly, as destined to whether, and destined to return- something of a staunch departure from our usual human lot of viewing ourselves as stewards of nature at best, and at worst, as distinct and separate from it. Alas, in examining such things, cognitive dissonance tends to kick in. After all, it’s not really as though each leaf that falls is really reanimated upon the tree branch, nor the blades of grass, stalks of corn, nor the chirps, buzzes, and bites of the crickets, cicadas, and mosquitos. Each comes in successorship, as part of an intimately interwoven fabric of reality, wherein the fallen leaves serve to nourish the ground with nitrogen and leaf mold that then becomes the nutrients trees use to bloom once again into our familiar spring waves of greenery. Beyond this ecological reality, modern evolutionary science has poked a gaping hole in any literal understanding of the Garden of Eden story. Not only were modern humans not created as finished products, two in number that came to populate the earth, but too humans did not name all of creation in primeval history, rather the creation of primeval history gave rise to humans. Certainly, humans weren’t uniquely created to live in paradise eternally. But we do seem to have evolved uniquely hardwired to seek eternity. Back in 2010 “The Onion�� produced a very poignant piece of satire, entitled “Scientists Successfully Teach Gorilla It Will Die Someday,” the opening line of which read: “Tulane University researchers say Quigley is now able to experience the crippling fear of impending death previously only accessible to humans.” Interestingly enough, scientists were non-satirically able to have a discussion about death with Koko, the famed sign-language utilizing gorilla. Koko’s caretaker once showed the gorilla a skeleton and asked, “Is this alive or dead?” Koko signed, “Dead, draped.” “Draped” means “covered up.” Then the caregiver asked, “Where do animals go when they die?” Koko said, “A comfortable hole.” Then she gave a kiss goodbye. I don’t know about you, but I find as much beauty in that short, primatial dispensation as I do in admiring the fall leaves from several thousand feet. It’s simple, it’s raw, and it rings true, no exegesis needed. But, in light of all of this talk about primal wounds, and evolutionary biology, where does that leave religions, saints, and souls? It’s a fair question, and one that I fear not enough theologians are seriously engaging, let alone speaking toward. But, the fact of the matter is, if theology is to remain relevant in our emerging world, it must remain poised and confident to thrust itself into the unknown, as it always did in yonder days. If not more humbled than in the past. Cliff noted last week that this observance of All Saints/All Souls day is one of his favorite in the liturgical calendar. It’s one of mine too. However, I must admit that when I bring photos of my loved ones and ancestors to place upon the altar and reflect upon, I don’t do so out of some hope of praying for the repose of their souls, that is for their rest, tranquility, and ease. I suspect they’re accomplishing that quite well on their own. Rather, I do so to intentionally bask in the fullness of life, the known and the unknown, the coming, and the going, the joy, and the sorrow, and deep appreciation for the whole beautiful mess. I do so to remember- to remember that in the realm of the known, no one really just disappears, or goes away. We just have to turn our gaze inward rather than outward to find them after a certain time, the sad reality being that we so often forget that portion of ourselves and our loved ones while they’re expressed outwardly and visibly. After all, we exist not apart from them, neither metaphorically, nor literally. And so, perhaps humanity does stretch into eternity after all, if not created for eternity, then born into and from its all-transcending stream. In closing, I’m reminded of the most iconic verse of the 13th Century Japanese Zen monk Dogen Kigen who once wrote” “Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken! Take heed, do not squander your life.” What is that opportunity? What is it that Dogen is inviting us to awaken to? I’d argue that it’s just this. The opportunity for us to reflect on who and what we are, where we come from, where we’re going, and where we fit into the whole Communion of Saints, now and ever. This is the balm of religion, knowing beyond words and intellectual constructs, and remembrance. [Pointing toward the memorial altar:] As the Jewish people so wonderfully put it, “May their memory be for us a blessing.” ~Sunyananda November 11th 2018

[endtimesbeacon]

Eating Bugs Gives You Aggressive Cancer?

Eating Bugs Gives You Aggressive Cancer?  See image for explanation.  

Our Diet is in Genesis 1.  Once you depart from it,  you will degrade your human physical body machine.  Yes meat was approved after the flood and man's life also became capped at 120.    After eating meat, life span decreased.  Before eating meat, life span was up to 1000.  Yes, you can argue that the water firmament was broken so the hyperbaric like O2 chamber was diffused.  But the diet... Did you know that some of the greatest healers of all time, healing just about anything you can think of, use a Genesis 1 style diet (while stopping the bad)?  Yes, you can't keep sinning against God's design and laws and expect success, no matter how much good you do on top of it.  You are designed to eat MOSTLY FRUIT.  Your digestive track is FRUIGAVORE, a "Fruitatarian". Here, Koko the Gorilla will tell you what you need to do:  

Read the full article