Milestones in Human & Cosmic Evolution

I saw the above graph on r/coolguides, by Visual Capitalist. Although it is not a totally accurate representation of the morphological progress that led to human beings, it still gives a sense of the vast evolutionary history that has spanned the eons - resulting in our present state.

Here's another chart showing more specifically the hominid evolutionary tree:

Smithsonian Institution:
Human Family Tree

The sense of the long, continuous chain of life that has come before us is humbling and profound. The fact that we are here at all is the deepest of mysteries. It can be explained away with extensive screeds about God, evolution, or the Big Bang, but these are all just monkey grunts that only hint at the true nature of the infinite reality we inhabit.

For a real mind trip, there's this cosmic evolutionary spiral I also saw on the Visual Capitalist site, but was originally from Pablo Carlos Buddassi:

LOCK HIM UP! Indictment Part 2: Dumbass Boogaloo

 ****LOCK HIM UP!***

by The Monkey Buddha

Donald Trump is being indicted on more criminal charges, this time for federal offenses regarding the mishandling of classified information. Specifically, he lied & refused to cooperate with authorities to return sensitive government documents, some of which are still missing.

Read the Indictment:
United States of America vs. Donald J. Trump

It is obvious to anyone with at least a few brain cells firing that Trump (an absolute imbecile who has the reading comprehension of an elementary school student) would only want these documents for very bad reasons. A) Being a malignant narcissist, he wanted to show off these secret documents like trophies. B) To use as some kind of leverage, because everything has to be reduced to a zero-sum deal. C) The most likely reason - to sell to the highest bidder, in the ultimate grift. 

Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner's 2 billion dollar gift from the Saudi's to his investment firm right after Trump left office is just a coincidence, I'm sure! Anyway, Republicans say Hunter Biden's laptop and his shady deals are a much more serious matter, even though Kushner directly worked in the Trump administration & Biden's son did not...

Speaking of which, the most infuriating thing about Republican reaction to this shitshow is the what-aboutism. "Oh yeah?? Well, what about Hillary's Emails, & Burisma, & Hunter's Laptop, & Joe Biden's $5 Million Bribe & BLAH BLAH FUCKING BLAH!?!" Guess what, dummy? If YOU get caught drunk driving, telling the cop "It's not fair! there was a bar full of other drunks!" doesn't mean shit! "Party of Personal Responsibility" & "Party of Law & Order," my ass! 

I really don't love the idea of putting people in cages, but society needs to dole out some form of punishment to deter crime. If those are the consequences in our society, than everyone, including Trump should be subject to their enforcement. If you believe in the necessity of the rule of law, then Donald Trump should have to deal with it, like everyone else who willingly breaks it.

After the charges were announced, I was listening to the cable news stations as I was driving around. They were discussing the seriousness of the charges & the implications. Then, I decided to turn on Fox News, & thought "I bet they're gonna be talking about Biden & Burisma or some shit"... Sure enough, über-douche Jesse Watters was ranting in his recognizably smug voice about: Burisma, The Biden Crime Family, & how even Dr. Jill Biden should be in jail (& she's not a real doctor) because if the "Left" can prosecute Trump, conservatives should be able to imprison the Bidens for any perceived corruption. 

Hey asshole, it's the Dept. of Justice indicting him- not exactly an organization of leftist hippies. The insane, disingenuous reactions of conservatives about this is both astonishing & maddening.

Why are so many Republicans completely embarrassing themselves, by defending the criminal behavior of the sleazy jerk that Biff from "Back to the Future" was modeled on? Let him go, & move beyond the shitty cult of personality. 

The fact that Trump has gone this long without facing serious legal consequences for his lifetime of misdeeds speaks to the imbalance of the justice system, in favor of the wealthy & powerful. However, like a doofy, loudmouth Icarus- Trump flew too close to the sun. He thought he was untouchable, and perhaps believed that he WAS the government and could do as he pleased with no real consequences. 

Unfortunately for him, he is now realizing that the Federal Government is much, much more powerful than any one man - even one with blustering bravado of Trump. By basically stealing sensitive documents, refusing to return them, & then lying about the whole ordeal to the Feds, he crossed the line into a level of criminality that forced the Justice Dept. to enforce the law on this reckless, immoral fool.

This statement alone- that he can declassify documents “even by thinking about it” should make it clear to EVERYONE that his guy is out of his damn mind, stupid as hell, or a shameless fucking liar. 

Guess what??? ...IT'S ALL 3!!!

This is now the second installment of the Trump Criminal Indictment Saga, with a couple sequels on the way- "Georgia Election Interference" & "January 6th Insurrection". Trump wants to be a TV star... well, now he's starring in the craziest damn reality drama this country's ever seen!

Movie Review: Arrival

My wife & I recently watch the movie "Arrival". It is a movie about the sudden appearance of enormous alien spacecraft around the world, and the effort to communicate with their inhabitants.  It was a very interesting exploration of the intellectual challenge such a scenario would present to the entire human race.

I don't watch a lot of movies, so going into it I have to know it's good & worth experiencing. My wife usually balks at my choices, because they're usually sci-fi or some kind of documentary, but she ends up admitting it was good!

The movie is based on a short story by Ted Chiang:

The Story of Your Life

We both enjoyed this movie & it spurred some great discussion on language and communication, which is already mysterious enough between human beings. Trying to exchange ideas or information with another species is absolutely mind-boggling... just really think about the idea of somehow recognizing brain patterns in another biological system- from a distance. Although the process of deciphering the alien language was simplified for movie purposes, it still provided real insight into the difficulties that would be involved.

"Arrival" imagines another aspect of a situation where alien life appears around the world. How would different nations and governments act when presented with this scenario, and how would they interact with other countries? You would hope that people would realize the existential importance of such an event, to come together as a species. However, the primitive monkey mind of human beings is still a powerful influence on our collective behavior, something the aliens in the movie realize and work around.

The key insight that's highlighted in the story is this- the type of language used by a living being is a defining factor in their mindset, and even the basis of conscious experience itself. The inverse is also true- the way a sentient being perceives the world will be reflected in the way they communicate.

In "Arrival", the alien heptapods are found to perceive time-space holistically, meaning they see time as a fourth dimensional space that can be perceived as a whole. This is reflected in their writing, consisting of dynamic, ink-blot circular forms. These round symbolic creations are layered multi-dimensionally with vast amounts of information and meaning.

Medium:
Arrival — Decoding the Universal Language of Time

I would recommend this movie to anyone interested in the mysteries of language, the likelihood of extraterrestrial life, and the nature of consciousness. As I mentioned, it created some deep discussion and really makes you think about these profound, universal issues. When a movie or any work of art can do that, it has succeeded.