Just Genetics

BILL'S BLOG

I Dream of Geney 

By Bill Maher

Genetic scientists have finally mapped the DNA of a primate cousin of the chimpanzee known as the bonobo. And I just thought you should know that. Actually, the genetically ingrained personality traits of the bonobo versus those of the chimp may tell us something about humans and human nature.

You see, bonobos, chimps and man all shared a common ancestor about six million years ago – Abe Vigoda. But then, as happens with evolution, man went off on his own genetic direction and the bonobo and the chimp shared the same common ancestor up until about a million years ago. Then the Congo River formed and the ape ancestors on one side of the river evolved differently than the ape ancestors on the other. Eventually, we got two different species – the chimpanzee and the bonobo – who share about 99.6% of their genomes. As opposed to humans, who have about 98.7% of the same genetic blueprint as both bonobos and chimpanzees. I swear I’m going somewhere with this.

Just as a common ancestor came to an evolutionary crossroads where two distinct genetic cousins – the bonobo and chimp – were formed, perhaps man has come to a genetic crossroads where we’re evolving into two slightly-genetically-different species: liberal man and conservative man. Only the thing that’s prompting this split into two separate species isn’t a physical division; it’s a political one. Our Congo River is American politics.

Consider this: genetically, the bonobo is the liberal ape. It’s kinder and gentler than the chimp. Where chimps have been documented to be more prone to violence and to actually make war, bonobos share food with total strangers and are more nurturing. The bonobos are also more tolerant and social than chimps and they’re far more sexual. They are much more likely to release tension through the act of having sex than the way chimps release tension, by fighting.

Sound familiar? If these apes could vote, the chimps would be the sexually repressed balls of angst who want gun rights and a stronger military and the bonobo would be all for welfare spending and teaching sex-ed in schools. Only they couldn’t do that condom demonstration because they’d keep eating the banana.

Is the gulf becoming too wide? Are liberals and conservatives evolving into two separate, distinct types of humans?

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West Hills Woods III

Photographers feel guilty that all they do for a living is press a button. - Andy Warhol

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West Hills Woods II

Sometimes I enjoy just photographing the surface because I think it can be as revealing as going to the heart of the matter. - Annie Leibovitz

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West Hills Woods

Mexico City Woods : Desierto de los Leones

Desierto de los Leones (Desert of the Lions) National Park is located in the Sierra de las Cruces mountain range west of the city center with an area of 1,867 hectares, representing fifteen percent of the entire Valley of Mexico. The area was used as a retreat for a religious group, thus the name Desierto (Desert) means not "arid place", but not populated. The "Leones" part of the name does not refer to the animals, but rather to the original landlord's lastname.

The park's altitude varies between 2,600 and 3,700 meters above sea level, giving the area a relatively cold and damp climate. It is a forested area primarily with pines, oyamel firs and holm oaks with many brooks, ravines and waterfalls. The park is considered to be the oldest protected biosphere in Mexico.

The park's name, Desierto de los Leones, is largely due to the Carmelite monastery situated just north of its center. Carmelite monks called their residences “deserts”. But the exact origin of “de los Leones” is not known. The first monastery complex was constructed between 1606 and 1611. By 1711, this structure had deteriorated greatly. It was demolished and a new one was built in its place adjoining just south of the original complex.

By the end of the 18th century, the cold, damp weather and increasingly frequent visitors forced the monks to move their monastery to Tenancingo in 1801. The monastery was declared a national monument on 16 May 1937. The 18th-century structure has a number of areas that have been restored and opened to the public. In addition to the old monastery, the park attracts visitors for the nature that surrounds the complex. The park offers activities such as day camping, overnight camping, hiking, and mountain biking. [Wiki]

More images of this beautiful place : Desierto de los Leones I - Desierto de los Leones II and Summertime   and Summertime II
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El Caballito

(iPhoneography)

Horse Head or The Little Horse (sculpture by Sebastian)
In the background Caballito Tower - SAT Office (IRS) [Taxes Office]

Sebastián (born Enrique Carbajal on November 16, 1947) is an artist based in Mexico, and is considered the country's foremost living sculptor. His smaller scale work includes jewelry, sacristies, garden sculptures, and painting. However, he is most known for his monumental structures constructed in iron or concrete, which decorate cities throughout the world, from San Antonio, Texas to Osaka, Japan.

Sebastián was born in the small town of Santa Rosalía de Camargo, Chihuahua, Mexico on November 16, 1947. He lived in Chihuahua until he began studying in the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City in 1964.

When studying in Mexico City, he survived by working at restaurants and buying clothing to sell it for a profit in Chihuahua. He studied in the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (National School of Plastic Arts) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Persisting with deep appreciation for Henry Moore and Pablo Picasso, he won first place in the 1965 Annual Exposition of the National Plastic Arts School at UNAM.

In 1968 Sebastián had his own show featuring his ceramic work in the Museum of Art of Ciudad Juárez. After completing his formal studies he continued his work with short-lived schools and movements such as the "Salon Independiente". He put on his second individual exposition, where he displayed ostensibly simple paper carton works that he called "desplegables" (folders). These seemingly small works became the base of ideas for his later monumental works made with tons of iron and concrete.  [Wiki]

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