My dear friend Stephen Wing has written a wonderful tale about the primate conundrum.

See http://www.windeaglepress.com/free-ralph.html

Highly recommended ;-)

From the web blurb:

"In this gently humorous, thought-provoking novel, as the ecological impact of human “intelligence and culture” grows increasingly clear, the evolutionary paths of chimps and humans are about to converge once more, millions of years after we parted ways!

Kumbu is a circus chimp, kidnapped in infancy from his family in Central Africa, who now performs on the trapeze under the stage name “Ralph” . . .

Wilbur Trimble is an American janitor, fulfilling his lifelong dream of an African safari, who gets lost in the jungle one night and rescued by a family of chimps . . .

. . . who happen to be Kumbu’s relatives. When the chimpanzees discover that through a rare evolutionary mutation Wilbur bears “The Gift” – the ability to communicate telepathically, as they do – they commission him to rescue Kumbu from the circus, and the evolution of both species takes a quantum jump forward.

Evolution may never be the same!"

Sure, paraphrase the moronic comments about Hitler, but I don't see any possible reason for linking to the moron's website.

Come on.

Opinion is the cow-dung of journalism (my opinion). It's really pretty damned worthless.

If you are 'reporting', report.

If you are 'opining', fine, but I don't want to hear the blabbering echoes of some idiot's opinion.

Opinion is the bane of civil discourse.

The world would be a hell of a lot better off if people would keep their mouths and keyboards shut until they have something valuable to say... like facts.

And, in my opinion, that's a fact!

;-)

Glenn, I've been reading your column here since it began some time ago.

I am so grateful to have your intelligent and honest voice out there.

You strike a perfect chord between the facts, which sadly cannot speak for themselves these days, the analysis, non-ideological despite what the smarmy talking heads in the MSM may say, and the truth, which is that 'seriousness' in media is designed to undermine debate, rather than inform debate in the body politic.

To call the war criminals what they are: war criminals, is to rock the boat of comfortable outrage against the petty offenses which, as I've noted in my own blog before, are of a scale perceptible to the biological human as organism, which is unaware of anything beyond its own body -- or its internalized (mirror neuron) projection of another body. Thus the predilection to sex and sensationalism, versus the transcendent awareness required to comprehend Acts of Mass Destruction done in our name.

Please keep up the good work, and thanks.

Peter Fraterdeus

Quantum Magick & Love Quarks

fraterdeus.com

slowprint.com

Not all who rant are insane.

There are those who deliberately inflame.

Don't bother responding to their bait, lest you encourage them to keep on baiting.

Better to remain silent, and be thought a fool,

than to open your trap and prove it once and for all.

The sad fact is that there are those who will throw fuel on these fires even as the honest and forthright are saving lives.

As far as the armchair 'analysts' regarding the general election, etc etc, hey, you get what you pay for. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

The internet is just another proof that an infinite number of idiots do not wisdom make.

Thank goodness for Barak Obama, who is sure enough of his own identity to challenge the idiocy of the net.

Midway between Iowa City and Madison, it's still a few years from anyone's definition of 'perfect', as the critical mass of social culture is still thin. However, there's a small but thriving arts community in this 300 year old Mississippi River town, great music scene, liberal arts colleges, a gorgeous historical downtown, finally getting some TLC, respect and restoration, a couple of excellent pubs, independent film society, and even skiing in the winter (believe it or not ;-)

I've chosen Dubuque to re-establish my letterpress business, since there's excellent and very inexpensive raw warehouse space (formerly filled with hardwoods for doors and windows)

For someone in high-tech entrepreneurial mode, there's a lot to like. The "ground floor" is starting to get crowded, as recent acquisitions in the warehouse district indicate that a wave of ex-urban condo development is on the horizon. Expect plenty of Chicagoans in the next decade.

So, rather than pontificate on pros or cons, I'd say just come check it out ;-)

(Note that wikipedia has pages for all these towns, as well.)

Click on my link for some background on what I'm doing in Dubuque...