Coming soon to a McDonald's near you!

 In these days of troubled times ...

The British government has dispatched its Environment Secretary to Washington to try and convince the Obama administration to lift a 43-year-old ban on importing haggis. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson was due to meet with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in an effort to show that British meat is safe to consume.

Haggis, the Scottish delicacy consisting of a sheep's heart, lungs, and liver simmered with onion, oatmeal, suet, and spices in a sausage casing -- or sheep's stomach for the traditionalists -- was embargoed by the U.S. in 1971 as part of a blanket ban on foods containing sheep's lung. In 1989, an outbreak of mad cow disease in the U.K. meant that the import ban was extended to all beef and lamb products. 

Sky News reports that Paterson is hoping that the U.S. can lift its ban as part of negotiations toward a trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union that could be worth $17 billion to the British economy. 

"I share many haggis producers' disappointment that American diners are currently unable to enjoy the taste of Scotland's wonderful national dish in their own country," Paterson said recently. ""I am meeting my U.S. counterpart today to discuss how we can begin exporting it, particularly as so many Americans enjoy celebrating their Scottish heritage."

I suppose McDonald's, in celebrating its Scottish heritage, will perhaps soon be introducing McHags with a choice of single malt dipping sauces. Or for the children, the McHaggis Meal.

And yes, that is a photo of actual haggis up there.

For what it's worth, I am Scots-Irish on my mother's side, but I prefer to celebrate my heritage wearing a kilt.

Something light for Sunday

When I look at the photo through my eyeglasses, I see Einstein. When I look without my glasses, I see Ms. Monroe. (Although, to be honest, that face looks less like Marilyn Monroe and more like retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.)

On a side-note, you see that this says it is a test for shortsightedness. Perhaps to be clear it should say a test for myopia. At any rate, although in some places those of us who suffer from myopia are said to be shortsighted, in the States we usually say that such people are nearsighted. When we estadounidenses say someone is shortsighted, that means such a person does not anticipate how things will turn out and so does not see the long term. In this sense it is the opposite of foresight.

And on yet another side note, estadounidenses is the word some Spanish-speaking people in the Western Hemisphere use to designate citizens of the United States (Estados Unidos). All those who live in North, Central and South America are Americans, but the English-speaking world tends to reserve that term for those of us from the U.S. of A. Some Spanish-speakers calls us norteamericanos, for North Americans. But of course that would include Canada and Mexico, insofar as Mexico is located within the North American tectonic plate. And lots of people all over the world call us by many other names, as we are all too well aware.

But we are getting way off track here ...

And religious leaders wonder why people don't take them seriously ...

The Church of England allows its clergy to marry, and in March same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales. However, despite the progress made by the nation, the official state denomination remains opposed to marriage equality. In February, the House of Bishops formally prohibited its clergy from entering into same-sex marriages.

Last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said that the Church of England embracing same-sex marriage would endanger the lives of African Christians. In England, the church continues to support “sex only within marriage and marriage only between a man and a woman,” but resists that notion that it condemns homosexuals more than adulterous heterosexuals. In Africa, however, Anglican churches in Uganda and Nigeria have supported laws to criminalise the mere expression of support for same-sex marriage.

The action against Jeremy Pemberton (photo, top left) for marrying his partner, Laurence Cunnington (image, bottom left) highlights the confused and stagnant approach to homosexuality, which Andrew Brown of the Guardian describes as having been debated “without progress for 30 years.” Gay members of the clergy are allowed enter into civil partnerships because, according to the church, they don’t necessarily imply sexual relations. [Damien's note: This is denial (in the psychological sense) of the highest order and, at best, pretense.]

On Saturday, a second priest, the Reverend Andrew Cain, married his partner, Stephen Foreshew. It is unclear what action will be taken, but these public and much reported on marriages will surely fuel debates within the church regarding its stance on marriage equality -- one that remains so very much out of touch with the rest of England and Wales.

Strong coffee?

Pope Francis has apparently cancelled an appearance for the third time this month, citing fatigue and an unspecified ailment.

It reminds me of a joke a friend told me once. This particular friend was a priest who worked in a VERY high Vatican office, and as Pope (and recently canonized saint) John Paul II kept on living and living and living, someone asked my friend what happened if a pope developed dementia.

"Oh," the priest friend said breezily, "one morning someone would just take him a very strong cup of coffee with his breakfast."

There were rumors, of course, that Pope John Paul I had been poisoned. Rumors always fly when anyone in the public eye dies unexpectedly, as was the case with JPI, who had been pope for barely a month. In the case of that pope, the rumors were fueled to some extent by Vatican efforts to make the pope's demise seem more edifying by embroidering the details.

Not to imply that Pope Francis is suffering from anything other than natural illness, one does note that he has made some strong anti-Mafia statements lately. And lots of reactionary Catholics find his attitudes about gays, the economy, the pedophilia scandal  and internal ecclesiastical organization ... disturbing.

The title of this post is a reference to Agatha Christie's 1930 play, Black Coffee. The play was turned into a novel by Charles Osbourne and published in 1998. In the story, the victim, Sir Claud Amory, was murdered by poison in his coffee.

O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a! Oklahoma OK?

OKLAHOMA: Tea Party House Candidate Says Opponent Is Dead And Has Been Replaced By A Robot Or Lookalike Human

"I, Timothy Ray Murray, am a human, born in Oklahoma, and obtained and continue to fully meet the requirements to serve as U.S. Representative when honored to so. I will never use a look alike to replace my (The Office’s) message to you or to anyone else, as both the other Republican Challengers have. Rep. Frank Lucas, and a few other Oklahoma and other States’ Congressional Members were depicted as being executed by The World Court on or about Jan. 11, 2011 in Southern Ukraine. On television they were depicted as being executed by the hanging about the neck until death on a white stage and in front of witnesses. Other now current Members of Congress have shared those facts on television also. We know that it is possible to use look alike artificial or manmade replacements, however Rep. Lucas was not eligible to serve as a Congressional Member after that time. The World knows the truth and We must always display and communicate the truth. I will always share public information with the truth when honored to serve as your Representative." 

- Timothy Murray, Oklahoma Tea Party candidate for the US House, writing on his campaign website.

"We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma O.K."

~ Oscar Hammerstein II

Be sure to watch until the end

Never mind! ~ Emily Litella

Marion Barry, the former mayor of Washington DC who did time after being videotaped smoking crack cocaine, is now a District Councilmember. He has reportedly taken a stand against taxing yogurt, saying that a yogurt tax is "crazy," and pointing out that "Yogurt is really more healthy than some other things, as is cottage cheese."

However, there isn't actually a yogurt tax. Barry apparently misheard a reporter who asked him about a so-called "yoga tax," which is a proposed tax on gyms and health clubs.

Damien's note: For those of you too young or unhip to remember, Emily Litella was a character created by Gilda Radner. Emily was an elderly woman with a hearing problem, and she appeared on the Weekend Update's op-ed segment.  Her schtick was to get all agitated about something that she had misheard.Eventually the news anchor would interrupt Litella to point out her error, along the lines of, "That's death penalty, Ms. Litella, not deaf ... death."

Litella would wrinkle her nose, say, "Oh, that's very different...." then meekly turn to the camera and say, "Never mind."

One question. No, make that two.

An historic, decades-old snit ended in May in the town of Tabasco, Mexico, where two men (now in their 70s) who were the very last living speakers of their village’s Ayapaneco language resumed talking to each other, and through the efforts of Stanford University anthropologist James Fox, their language may now be sufficiently recorded for a preserved historical record. The cause of their falling out was not reported. [Daily Mail (London), 5-20-2014]
 
Damien's question: If no one else speaks the language, how do we know these guys aren't really just continuing their feud and are now simply cursing one another out? Or, having honestly resolved their problem, perhaps are now just playing with Professor Fox and pretending to speak, sneaking out at the end of the day and snickering together over a nice glass of pulque?

Sergius and Bacchus

Author: Alessio Ciani (1946 - living) Italy. © 2013
To order a copy of this beautiful icon mounted on wood, write to: info@awakeningart.it

The holy martyrs Sergius and Bacchus, noble Romans, are among the earliest authenticated [? See note below] and most celebrated Christian martyrs, originally commemorated in the Eastern and Western churches. It seems that the two saints were openly gay [? See note], but secretly Christian - the opposite of today's closeted gays who are openly Christians. The oldest record of their martyrdom describes them as erastai (Greek for "lovers"). They were lovers, but it was for their Christian faith that they were persecuted by the Romans. 

They were Roman soldiers, officers in the army of Emperor Maximian, and both were his friends. Sergius is said to have been 'primicerius gymnasii trionum' (commandant of the recruits' school) at Trieste, and Bacchus a subaltern officer. 

When they did not enter a temple of Jupiter with the Emperor who was sacrificing to the god, he ordered them to do so. When they further refused his order that they sacrifice to pagan gods, they were stripped of their arms and badges of rank, and then humiliated by being led through the streets of Arabissus (near Comana in Cappadocia), dressed in women's clothing. 

Then they were sent to Resapha in Syria (Augusta Euphratesiae in Mesopotamia), where they were tortured. Bacchus was scourged with thongs of raw hide so terribly that his whole body was torn, and he gave up the ghost while confessing Christ. He died on Oct. 1, 290. His body was thrown out on to the highway, and it is said that vultures protected it from the attacks of dogs. 

Sergius's faith faltered with the death of his lover, but only to return when Bacchus appeared to him in a vision and said, "I am still with you in the bond of our union." Sergius kept faith and he was then tortured further. His feet were fixed in boots spiked with nails and he was made to walk a long distance. As he remained steadfast in the faith, he was sentenced to be beheaded. He was decapitated on Oct. 7, 290. Like his lover, he died a martyr to the new religion. 

---

The tomb of St. Sergius at Resapha (Siria) around 305 C.E. become a famous shrine and was honored by great gatherings of Christians because of the frequent miracles there.

Sergius and Bacchus became the heavenly protectors of the Byzantine army, with the two Theodores, Demetrius, Procopius and George. Their "acts" are preserved in Latin, Greek and Syriac. 

Many churches in many towns bore the name of Sergius (sometimes with Bacchus), and his cultus was extraordinarily widespread and popular; the nomads of the desert looked on him as their special patron saint. 

Emperor Justinian I enlarged and fortified Resapha, that was then renamed Sergiopolis. Sergius was venerated as patron of Syria. Parts of his relics were transferred to Venice, where these saints were patrons of the ancient cathedral. In the seventh century a church was dedicated to them in Rome. 

During the Middle Ages, the relationship of Sergius and Bacchus was considered an exemplar of compassionate union, and possibly even marriage, based on agape (brotherly love) and mutual respect. 

Damien's note: The exact nature of the relationship between these two saints is open to debate, of course, as is the idea that they were in some sense considered married during their lifetime or by later believers. Despite the antiquity of devotion to the pair, the chapels and ancient icons, there is some question as to whether they existed at all. I note, for the record, that Christian writers often accept with little question the historicity of saints for whom far less evidence exists. One might wonder if the skepticism of church historians reflects a bit of discomfort with the possibility of what these men represented.

Romans 13?

Lawyer Michelle MacDonald, who faces DUI charges, just won the Minnesota GOP’s nomination to become a state Supreme Court judge. Just before getting the nomination, MacDonald explained how she would make decisions: Forget the law. It’s all about the Bible. 

"When judges used to enter the courtroom, they would hold the Bible over their head, like this. In the words of George Washington, it is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." 

She’s a bad historian, too. There’s no evidence whatsoever that Washington said that. (Even Christian pseudo-historian David Barton, who popularized that lie in the first place, later admitted there was no proof he said it.)

When Christians (or other religious folk) begin to talk this way, about their religion/book/creed being above the law, I am always reminded of the famous exchange between Sir Thomas More and his son-in-law, Will Roper (who went from being a fervent Catholic to being a fervent Lutheran back to being a fervent Catholic in a matter of a few years) in the play/movie A Man for All Seasons.

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

Or, to dip a bit into the Bible that Ms. MacDonald wants to hold over her head (where she will, incidentally, not be able to read what is inside it), how about St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, chapter 13:1-7:  

1 All of you must obey the government rulers. Everyone who rules was given the power to rule by God. And all those who rule now were given that power by God. ² So anyone who is against the government is really against something God has commanded. Those who are against the government bring punishment on themselves. ³ People who do right don’t have to fear the rulers. But those who do wrong must fear them. Do you want to be free from fearing them? Then do only what is right, and they will praise you.

⁴ Rulers are God’s servants to help you. But if you do wrong, you have reason to be afraid. They have the power to punish, and they will use it. They are God’s servants to punish those who do wrong. ⁵ So you must obey the government, not just because you might be punished, but because you know it is the right thing to do.
⁶ And this is why you pay taxes too. Those rulers are working for God, and they give all their time to the work of ruling. ⁷ Give everyone what you owe them. If you owe them any kind of tax, then pay it. Show respect to those you should respect. And show honor to those you should honor.

First day of summer or midsummer?

Midsummer, also known as St John's Day, is the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, and more specifically the Northern European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice or take place on a day between June 21 and June 25 and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different cultures. Because he was alleged to have been born on that day, the Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the St John the Baptist, and the observance of St John's Day begins the evening before, known as St John's Eve. These are commemorated by many Christian denominations.^[ Midsummer is especially important in the cultures of Scandinavia, and the Baltics. In Sweden the Midsummer is such an important festivity that there have been serious discussions to make the Midsummer's Eve into the National Day of Sweden, instead of 6 June. It may also be referred to as St. Hans Day.

The summer solstice is today, June 21, 2014, in the northern hemisphere.

Call it midsummer or the start of summer, it's a day to celebrate however you choose.

I note that making John the Baptist's birthday today (there is no historical evidence for choosing the date) made it fall six months before the birth of Jesus. Since Luke 1:21 says that Gabriel visited Mary to announce the incarnation of Jesus "in the sixth month," this has been understood as meaning in the sixth month of the pregnancy of Elizabeth (mother of the Baptist). Which would mean Jesus would be born six months after John. Since the date for Christmas was associated with the winter solstice, that put John near the summer solstice. I also puts John in a certain sense at the turning-of-the-year, in other words, makes his birth a hinge in history representing the opening of a new door.

A blast from the past

I am not sure why, but this sprang to mind today. And, no, I did not have a hot dog for lunch.

My favorite line, which I have often used, is, "A big parade is so inspiring!" It always sounded like something Linus might have said to Charlie Brown.

Woof!

Take Your Dog to Work Day is observed on June 20, 2014. It is always held on the Friday following Father's Day. Created by Pet Sitters International this day celebrates the great companions dogs make and encourages adoptions from local shelters, rescue groups and humane societies.

The day offers a fun, summer Friday for U.S. employees to introduce their four-legged "best friend" to co-workers and PSI believes that dog-less co-workers will be encouraged to adopt when they witness the human-animal bond. There is also increasing participation in TYDTWD in Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

Actually, I was in the library yesterday and overheard one of the librarians telling another about this. I am not sure how it went over if they actually brought their dogs to work today.

On the other hand, if this guy showed up with his dog, I think everyone would be pleased.

Dragons

I have a friend who used to have a blog called Sleeps with Dragons. I enjoyed it, but he shut it down about five years ago. I thought of him when I saw this on a t-shirt today.

If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets ...

 WASHINGTON -– Four Republican former administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency had a message for the Senate on Wednesday on climate change: It's real, it's bad and the United States should do something about it.

But their fellow Republicans at the hearing largely ignored that position, instead repeating a variety of arguments about why the U.S. should not address the greenhouse gas emissions causing the planet to warm up.

During the hearing, the subcommittee's Republicans raised a range of challenges to the EPA rules. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) argued that the rules would have "serious economic consequences" while providing "no measurable impact on climate change." He also said he's "frustrated" by the "cartoonish" and "outlandish" claims that proponents of climate action make to dismiss critics of the science. Vitter has previously called evidence cited to support climate change "ridiculous pseudo-science garbage."

Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) criticized "expensive, big-government, left-wing climate policies." Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) accused the EPA of trying to "force Americans to live out the president's green dream."

Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) challenged the idea that carbon dioxide is a pollutant. "I would say CO2 is a different kettle of fish," said Sessions. "It's plant food. It's not a pollutant in any normal definition."

The Republicans called three witnesses for the hearing: a biologist who argues that climate change is not significantly affected by human activity; the attorney general of Alabama, who has fought other EPA actions in court; and an economist who criticized cap and trade (a policy previously debated in Congress to address climate change, but not, in fact, the policy that the EPA has put in place).

U.S. health care not the best?

A survey released today by the Commonwealth Fund ranks the United States dead last in the quality of its healthcare system compared to ten other developed nations. At the same time, it's also the most expensive in the world. Frustratingly, the new report shows that the U.S. is not improving; it ranks last, just like it did in the 2010, 2007, 2006, and 2004 editions of the survey. Call it a ten-year losing streak.
Other nations evaluated in the survey included Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The U.K., which spends just $3,405 per person on health care, ranked first overall among the 11 nations. Compare that to the United States' $8,508 per person.

This of course is not new information to the people who have been listening. [Damien's note: Nor is it news to anyone who has to use the U.S. healthcare system.] It would be stunning news for the people who put their fingers in their ears and insist that the US has the greatest health care system in the world. It MUST be because it cost the most.

As the Affordable Care Act is implemented there is a sizable number of people who now have better access to what we've got but that legislation only funnels more money into the same inefficient and disorganized system. Given all of the political blood that has been shed in getting that up and running, any prospects for more fundamental reform are dismal to say the least.

You may find it interesting that the UK consistently ranks first in most of the categories. It is by far the most socialized and the least privatized system of those evaluated. Even with the neoliberal austerity fetish of the present British government, they don't dare lay hands on the National Health Service. They would have an easier job of selling off the crown jewels.

Pure White Paper

A friend was visiting last week and introduced me to this. She thought it was creepy, but to each his or her own.

What at first look like delicate works of carved porcelain are actually thousands of layers of soft white paper, carved into busts, skulls, and human forms by Beijing artist Li Hongbo. A book editor and designer, the artist became fascinated by traditional Chinese toys and festive decorations known as paper gourds made from glued layers of thin paper which can be stored flat but then opened to reveal a flower or other shape. He applied the same honeycomb-like paper structure to much larger human forms resulting in these highly flexible sculptures. Hongbo recently had a solo show at Dominik Mersch Gallery in Australia who made the video below, and you can see much more of his work on their website.


There is another video at this Facebook link.

Because among other things I am a word freak

A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. Well, der! (See #19 below.)

1. Army of frogs
2. Ambush of tigers
3. Bale of turtles
4. Band of jays
5. Bevy of quails
6. Bouquet of pheasants
7. Business of ferrets
8. Cete of badgers
9. Charm of finches
10. Clowder of cats (As all Big Bang Theory fans recall from the Sheldon-with-cats episode!)
11. Clutch of chickens
12. Colony of gulls
13. Convocation of eagles
14. Covey of partridges
15. Crash of rhinos
16. Earth of foxes
17. Exaltation of larks
18. Family of sardines
19. Flamboyance of flamingos
20. Flight of doves
21. Gaggle of geese
22. Hover of jellyfishes
23. Herd of antelope
24. Kennel of dogs
25. Kindle of kittens
26. Knot of toads
27. Leap of leopards
28. Mob of kangaroos
29. Murder of crows
30. Ostentation of peacocks
31. Parliament of owls
32. Pack of wolves
33. Paddling of ducks
34. Pitying of turtle doves
35. Pod of whales
36. Pride of lions
37. Rag of colts
38. Richness of martens
39. School of fish
40. Shrewdness of apes
41. Siege of herons
42. Sounder of boars
43. Skein of geese
44. Skulk of foxes
45. Sloth of bears
46. Stable of horses
47. Swarm of bees
48. Trip of goats
49. Troop of monkeys
50. Unkindness of ravens
---------------------------
Possible additions to the list:
Toddle of two-year-olds
Glitter of gays (or glamor, glimmer or shimmer)
Definition of abs
Waste of congressional representatives
Flip of flops
Hush of librarians
Block of writers
Abstract of artists

Feel free to submit your own ideas!

A Father's Day story

Case closed. Marc Anthony has settled an ongoing court battle this week with his ex-wife, Dayanara Torres, regarding child support. Us Weekly has confirmed that a judge ordered Anthony to pay $26,800 per month in child support for his two kids with Torres, sons Christian and Ryan.

Anthony, 45, was previously paying $13,400 a month. Torres requested that amount be raised to $123,426 a month in November 2013, citing lifestyle changes, in addition to child support needs. Part of the ten-fold child support increase included the need for a nanny and housekeeper, which would cost Torres up to $7,000 a month.

-------------------------

Personally, I think I could find a nanny and a housekeeper for a whole lot less than that. But then I am notoriously frugal.

With all due hope that I am off base, I think they might want to be putting money aside to pay the therapy bills for these kids when they grow up and discover the real world. They sure aren't going to find out about it from their parents.

Friday fun with your perception time

We haven't had one of these for a while. What do you see?

 

Dolphins, right?

It's that Friday

Triskaidekaphobia is the – how shall I put this politely? – irrational fear of the number that falls between 12 and 14. There are all sorts of theories about why 13 is considered unlucky, but as far as I can tell, there is no prevailing consensus. After all, why would there be a rational reason for an irrational belief?

Of course, some businesses cater to those of their patrons who are superstitious about that number. Hotels often do not have a room 13 and skyscrapers notoriously are supposed to skip from the 12th floor to the 14th.

There are counter-superstitions and religious traditions that believe the number 13 is lucky, on the other hand. Daniel, like most Jewish boys, made his bar mitzvah when he was 13 years old, becoming an adult in his religious culture and raking in lots of gifts from family members, which I am sure he considered great luck. There is an old Catholic devotion to St. Anthony of Padua, he of the lost items, called the Thirteen Tuesdays, a kind of super-novena in which one prays to the saint for thirteen consecutive Tuesdays. The same saint is honored by a sort of rosary in which the beads are divided into thirteen groups. There is even a small religious community in Brazil that reportedly considers 13 a God number.

Friday the Thirteenth? Don't get me started!

Later, ' gator!

Local and state wildlife officials are investigating after a tourist from Oregon captured video of a man in a swamp in Lafitte, Louisiana frolicking with alligators and feeding marshmallows to them with his mouth. (The audio is pretty messy.)

Because sometimes this queer world is wonderful!

Teen wrestler finishes quest, carrying brother with cerebral palsy for 40 miles

Sam Gardner

FOX Sports

JUN 09, 2014 1:38p ET

Hunter Gandee, 14, walks in Saline, Mich., on Sunday with his 7-year-old brother, Braden.

A Michigan eighth-grader hoping to raise awareness for cerebral palsy has completed a 40-mile walk with his 7-year-old brother on his back, according to MLive.com.

Fourteen-year-old Hunter Gandee began his journey Saturday at the gymnasium at Bedford Junior High School, where Hunter is a wrestler, and walked the initial 25 miles. After stopping for the night in Milan, Hunter quite literally picked up where he left off and conquered the final 15 miles Sunday with his brother Braden aboard, finishing with a group of 100 followers at the University of Michigan'€s Bahna Wrestling Center.

The walk was inspired by a dream of the boys'€™ mother, Danielle Gandee. In it, she envisioned Hunter carrying Braden, who has cerebral palsy, from the family'€™s home in Temperance to Mackinac, MLive.com reports. Earlier this year, Hunter raised $350 selling green cerebral palsy awareness wristbands, and so the walk seemed like the logical next step.

"That'€™s just Hunter,"€ Danielle Gandee told MLive.com. "€œThis is what he wanted to do. I knew he'€™d do it, and I had faith in him the entire time. We were a little worried about Braden. He had some injuries and blistering and stuff like that from some of the equipment and just the heat and sweat, so we were worried we were going to have to push him in his stroller."

Hunter'€™s commitment to the goal never wavered, though, and eventually the team reached the UM campus in Ann Arbor, with the wrestling building being the most appropriate place for him and Braden to stop.

"Braden sits mat side at Hunter's matches, and he keeps stats. He knows the tournament brackets when Hunter is in there,"€ the boys'€™ father, Sam Gandee, told the site. "€œHunter wanted to tie this (walk) in with Braden'€™s love of wrestling and do something hard, and really wrestling, the determination and strength and the (preparation) that comes with wrestling really helped this to happen. Without wrestling, this wouldn'€™t have happened.

"€œ... Proud isn'€™t even really a word I could use; it'€™s way beyond that," Sam Gandee added. "To me, it'€™s one of those things that can make a difference in the world, and at age 14 and at age 7, Hunter and Braden, they've reached so many people. It'€™s way more than I have done in my life."

Punch, anyone?

The faces of predecessors to the human "Homo" genus evolved to protect against human fists, according to a new study in the scientific journal Biological Reviews. The study contends that early violence played a larger role in our evolution than did eating habits, as previously suggested. 

According to lead author David Carrier, the "feeding hypothesis," which suggests that our ancient ancestors had strong jaws to crack nuts and other hard foods, doesn't make all that much sense because the australopith man most likely ate fruit. Rather, Carrier and co-author Michael Morgan, offer the "protective buttressing hypothesis."
Says Carrier:

Jaws are one of the most frequent bones to break -- and it's not the end of the world now, because we have surgeons, we have modern medicine... But four million years ago, if you broke your jaw, it was probably a fatal injury. You wouldn't be able to chew food... You'd just starve to death.

The authors write in the paper's abstract that "when humans fight hand-to-hand the face is usually the primary target and the bones that suffer the highest rates of fracture are the parts of the skull that exhibit the greatest increase in robusticity during the evolution of basal hominins... In this review, we suggest that many of the facial features that characterize early hominins evolved to protect the face from injury during fighting with fists."

 The theory also explains why such marked differences existed between early male and female faces. According to Carrier, "it's males that are most likely to get into fights," over resources, and women. The authors write that the bones in question are "the most sexually dimorphic parts of the skull in both australopiths and humans."

The finding builds on earlier research by Carrier and Morgan which suggests that we humans have evolved to cope with violence — a rather somber approach to human evolutionary history, but one that could be valuable, per Carrier.

"Our research is about peace," he says, adding "we seek to explore, understand, and confront humankind's violent and aggressive tendencies.... through our research we hope to look ourselves in the mirror and begin the difficult work of changing ourselves for the better." Here's hoping.
-----------------------------------------------------
Damien's note:  This is an interesting idea. Noting, however, that there is a very tender part of the male anatomy that would have been exposed in the early days prior to Andrew Christian underwear, and that damage down there could impact the ability to pass along one's DNA, one wonders why evolution (or Intelligent Design -- pay your money and take your chances) didn't offer some protection down there as well.