BlackHat's Journal: Strange words from the other line

What we would tell the children of Iraq is that the noise they hear is the sound of freedom!

From its rough start, some 230 plus years ago to today, the USA has come full circle. They keep using that word, but I don't think it means what they think. On that note

Quote:
It would be quite impossible to enumerate here the various hunting associations of birds; but the fishing associations of the pelicans are certainly worthy of notice for the remarkable order and intelligence displayed by these clumsy birds.

They always go fishing in numerous bands, and after having chosen an appropriate bay, they form a wide half-circle in face of the shore, and narrow it by paddling towards the shore, catching all fish that happen to be enclosed in the circle. On narrow rivers and canals they even divide into two parties, each of which draws up on a half-circle, and both paddle to meet each other, just as if two parties of men dragging two long nets should advance to capture all fish taken between the nets when both parties come to meet. As the night comes they fly to their resting-places-- always the same for each flock--and no one has ever seen them fighting for the possession of either the bay or the resting place.

In South America they gather in flocks of from forty to fifty thousand individuals, part of which enjoy sleep while the others keep watch, and others again go fishing. And finally, I should be doing an injustice to the much-calumniated house-sparrows if I did not mention how faithfully each of them shares any food it discovers with all members of the society to which it belongs. The fact was known to the Greeks, and it has been transmitted to posterity how a Greek orator once exclaimed (I quote from memory):--"While I am speaking to you a sparrow has come to tell to other sparrows that a slave has dropped on the floor a sack of corn, and they all go there to feed upon the grain."

The more, one is pleased to find this observation of old confirmed in a recent little book by Mr. Gurney, who does not doubt that the house sparrows always inform each other as to where there is some food to steal; he says, "When a stack has been thrashed ever so far from the yard, the sparrows in the yard have always had their crops full of the grain."

True, the sparrows are extremely particular in keeping their domains free from the invasions of strangers; thus the sparrows of the Jardin du Luxembourg bitterly fight all other sparrows which may attempt to enjoy their turn of the garden and its visitors; but within their own communities they fully practise mutual support, though occasionally there will be of course some quarrelling even amongst the best friends.

Hunting and feeding in common is so much the habit in the feathered world that more quotations hardly would be needful: it must be considered as an established fact. As to the force derived from such associations, it is self-evident. The strongest birds of prey are powerless in face of the associations of our smallest bird pets. Even eagles--even the powerful and terrible booted eagle, and the martial eagle, which is strong enough to carry away a hare or a young antelope in its claws--are compelled to abandon their prey to bands of those beggars the kites, which give the eagle a regular chase as soon as they see it in possession of a good prey. The kites will also give chase to the swift fishing-hawk, and rob it of the fish it has captured; but no one ever saw the kites fighting together for the possession of the prey so stolen.

On the Kerguelen Island, Dr. Coues saw the gulls to Buphogus--the sea-hen of the sealers-- pursue make them disgorge their food, while, on the other side, the gulls and the terns combined to drive away the sea-hen as soon as it came near to their abodes, especially at nesting-time. The little, but extremely swift lapwings (Vanellus cristatus) boldly attack the birds of prey. "To see them attacking a buzzard, a kite, a crow, or an eagle, is one of the most amusing spectacles. One feels that they are sure of victory, and one sees the anger of the bird of prey. In such circumstances they perfectly support one another, and their courage grows with their numbers."

The lapwing has well merited the name of a "good mother" which the Greeks gave to it, for it never fails to protect other aquatic birds from the attacks of their enemies. But even the little white wagtails (Motacilla alba), whom we well know in our gardens and whose whole length hardly attains eight inches, compel the sparrow-hawk to abandon its hunt. "I often admired their courage and agility," the old Brehm wrote, "and I am persuaded that the falcon alone is capable of capturing any of them.... When a band of wagtails has compelled a bird of prey to retreat, they make the air resound with their triumphant cries, and after that they separate." They thus come together for the special purpose of giving chase to their enemy, just as we see it when the whole bird-population of a forest has been raised by the news that a nocturnal bird has made its appearance during the day, and all together--birds of prey and small inoffensive singers--set to chase the stranger and make it return to its concealment.

What an immense difference between the force of a kite, a buzzard or a hawk, and such small birds as the meadow-wagtail; and yet these little birds, by their common action and courage, prove superior to the powerfully-winged and armed robbers! In Europe, the wagtails not only chase the birds of prey which might be dangerous to them, but they chase also the fishing-hawk "rather for fun than for doing it any harm;" while in India, according to Dr. Jerdon's testimony, the jackdaws chase the gowinda-kite "for simple matter of amusement." Prince Wied saw the Brazilian eagle urubitinga surrounded by numberless flocks of toucans and cassiques (a bird nearly akin to our rook), which mocked it. "The eagle," he adds, "usually supports these insults very quietly, but from time to time it will catch one of these mockers." In all such cases the little birds, though very much inferior in force to the bird of prey, prove superior to it by their common action.

However, the most striking effects of common life for the security of the individual, for its enjoyment of life, and for the development of its intellectual capacities, are seen in two great families of birds, the cranes and the parrots. The cranes are extremely sociable and live in most excellent relations, not only with their congeners, but also with most aquatic birds. Their prudence is really astonishing, so also their intelligence; they grasp the new conditions in a moment, and act accordingly. Their sentries always keep watch around a flock which is feeding or resting, and the hunters know well how difficult it is to approach them.

If man has succeeded in surprising them, they will never return to the same place without having sent out one single scout first, and a party of scouts afterwards; and when the reconnoitring party returns and reports that there is no danger, a second group of scouts is sent out to verify the first report, before the whole band moves. With kindred species the cranes contract real friendship; and in captivity there is no bird, save the also sociable and highly intelligent parrot, which enters into such real friendship with man. "It sees in man, not a master, but a friend, and endeavours to manifest it," Brehm concludes from a wide personal experience. The crane is in continual activity from early in the morning till late in the night; but it gives a few hours only in the morning to the task of searching its food, chiefly vegetable. All the remainder of the day is given to society life. "It picks up small pieces of wood or small stones, throws them in the air and tries to catch them; it bends its neck, opens its wings, dances, jumps, runs about, and tries to manifest by all means its good disposition of mind, and always it remains graceful and beautiful."

As it lives in society it has almost no enemies, and though Brehm occasionally saw one of them captured by a crocodile, he wrote that except the crocodile he knew no enemies of the crane. It eschews all of them by its proverbial prudence; and it attains, as a rule, a very old age. No wonder that for the maintenance of the species the crane need not rear a numerous offspring; it usually hatches but two eggs. As to its superior intelligence, it is sufficient to say that all observers are unanimous in recognizing that its intellectual capacities remind one very much of those of man.

The other extremely sociable bird, the parrot, stands, as known, at the very top of the whole feathered world for the development of its intelligence. Brehm has so admirably summed up the manners of life of the parrot, that I cannot do better than translate the following sentence:--

"Except in the pairing season, they live in very numerous societies or bands. They choose a place in the forest to stay there, and thence they start every morning for their hunting expeditions. The members of each band remain faithfully attached to each other, and they share in common good or bad luck. All together they repair in the morning to a field, or to a garden, or to a tree, to feed upon fruits. They post sentries to keep watch over the safety of the whole band, and are attentive to their warnings. In case of danger, all take to flight, mutually supporting each other, and all simultaneously return to their resting-place. In a word, they always live closely united."

They enjoy society of other birds as well. In India, the jays and crows come together from many miles round, to spend the night in company with the parrots in the bamboo thickets. When the parrots start hunting, they display the most wonderful intelligence, prudence, and capacity of coping with circumstances. Take, for instance, a band of white cacadoos in Australia. Before starting to plunder a corn-field, they first send out a reconnoitring party which occupies the highest trees in the vicinity of the field, while other scouts perch upon the intermediate trees between the field and the forest and transmit the signals. If the report runs "All right," a score of cacadoos will separate from the bulk of the band, take a flight in the air, and then fly towards the trees nearest to the field. They also will scrutinize the neighbourhood for a long while, and only then will they give the signal for general advance, after which the whole band starts at once and plunders the field in no time. The Australian settlers have the greatest difficulties in beguiling the prudence of the parrots; but if man, with all his art and weapons, has succeeded in killing some of them, the cacadoos become so prudent and watchful that they henceforward baffle all stratagems.

There can be no doubt that it is the practice of life in society which enables the parrots to attain that very high level of almost human intelligence and almost human feelings which we know in them. Their high intelligence has induced the best naturalists to describe some species, namely the grey parrot, as the "birdman." As to their mutual attachment it is known that when a parrot has been killed by a hunter, the others fly over the corpse of their comrade with shrieks of complaints and "themselves fall the victims of their friendship," as Audubon said; and when two captive parrots, though belonging to two different species, have contracted mutual friendship, the accidental death of one of the two friends has sometimes been followed by the death from grief and sorrow of the other friend.

It is no less evident that in their societies they find infinitely more protection than they possibly might find in any ideal development of beak and claw. Very few birds of prey or mammals dare attack any but the smaller species of parrots, and Brehm is absolutely right in saying of the parrots, as he also says of the cranes and the sociable monkeys, that they hardly have any enemies besides men; and he adds: "It is most probable that the larger parrots succumb chiefly to old age rather than die from the claws of any enemies." Only man, owing to his still more superior intelligence and weapons, also derived from association, succeeds in partially destroying them. Their very longevity would thus appear as a result of their social life. Could we not say the same as regards their wonderful memory, which also must be favoured in its development by society--life and by longevity accompanied by a full enjoyment of bodily and mental faculties till a very old age?

As seen from the above, the war of each against all is not the law of nature. Mutual aid is as much a law of nature as mutual struggle, and that law will become still more apparent when we have analyzed some other associations of birds and those of the mammalia.

A few hints as to the importance of the law of mutual aid for the evolution of the animal kingdom have already been given in the preceding pages; but their purport will still better appear when, after having given a few more illustrations, we shall be enabled presently to draw therefrom our conclusions.--P. Kropotkin

More to come in this Darwin theme/thread. I'll have to come up with a name say... "I Never said that!" is to unweldy but something will come up as I present the rest of these quotes. Until then.

News figured too highly by half:
Nigerian strike still in the news.

Dictator-Boy pencils himself in for more. The upper house of Pakistan's parliament has passed a bill allowing Gen Pervez Musharraf to remain as both president and army chief until 2007. The bill has already been passed by lower house and will come into effect on 31 December, when the president was due to step down as army chief. Opposition lawmakers opposed the move to extend his tenure. Dual Roll: Two buns. One which is mine and the other, which is also mine.

Speaking of mines. The US pulls away from the largest minefield in the world.

FBI appeal over 'US al-Qaeda man' It's David Frum in a table cloth.

Adam Ereli[soon to be benched] hops in for a quick round of Titanic shuffleboard.
QUESTION: Adam, do you have any comments about the two assassinations today, one in Iraq of the Deputy Governor, and the other in Russia of an Air Force General?

MR. ERELI: I don't have any comment on the Russian assassination. I'm not familiar with that. On the Iraqi attacks, let me just say that we've seen a number of very troubling and disturbing attacks over the last few days. You mentioned the local Baghdad official. This is certainly horrific, and we are deeply disturbed by it.

We are also very deeply disturbed by increasing attacks against journalists in Baghdad: journalists working for the Al-Arabiya network were attacked, five killed; journalists working for Al-Sharkia network were attacked and killed; and I believe a Reuters cameraman was also attacked and killed.

This shows to us, demonstrates a new and disturbing pattern of targeting journalists who are there working for the public good, who are trying to bring the truth about what is coming -- what is going on in Iraq to the public at large both in Iraq and throughout the world. They are providing a valuable service. They are risking their life for the public good and they are being targeted.

We think that's wrong. We think that's despicable. Our condolences go out to the victims and we are -- we and, I think, rededicate ourselves now to providing an environment in which the free press can do its work.
Easy to say that on your last day! Fucktard! Next.
QUESTION: Two questions about six-way talk. U.S. failed to keep six-way talk continuing under Mr. Bush's first or last presidency. Do you have any comment on that? And do you expect the next six-way talk to be held before next January's inauguration day?

MR. ERELI: I wouldn't want to speculate on when the next round of six-party talks will be held. We've made it clear that there are five parties to the six-party talks that are ready to resume and that there is only one that's holding out -- that's North Korea. We've also made it clear that we're ready to resume as soon as possible. We do not see a good reason for not going back to talks.

It was agreed in the last round to have the next round before the end of September; obviously, that hasn't happened but we're ready. The other four parties are ready. And it's really up to North Korea to come back to the talks. When they'll decide to do that, I couldn't tell you.
You might ask. But then they might answer. Can't have that. Next stone.
QUESTION: Cyprus. Adam, any answer to my pending question since October 27, if the $6.4 million has been given by the Department of State for the bi-communal project in Cyprus are allocated from the Department of State annual budget or is a part from the annual $13.5 million of the United States Congress?

MR. ERELI: Well, all money comes from the U.S. Congress. It's all from --

QUESTION: I'm asking you because Mr. Boucher was not sure it was separate. That's why --

MR. ERELI: I didn't know that was something we undertook to look into. Let me see --

MR. CASEY: We have guidance on it --

MR. ERELI: We have something for you after the briefing.

QUESTION: Okay. Mr. Boucher the other day refused to release the list of the individuals who represented 70 Cypriot organization, according to the report in my possession here, appeared before the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia and received the money saying that is a private list.

I'm wondering why not since these individuals have provided help in those bi-communal projects and just simply would like to know their names.

MR. ERELI: I'm sorry. I don't have anything more to add to what Assistant Secretary Boucher said on this subject last week.

QUESTION: One of those organizations which got the money, according to the report, was also called "Friends of Cyprus Donkeys." May we know at least how many from this specific organization got the money in order to feed or to protect the donkeys in Cyprus on a bi-communal level?

MR. ERELI: I don't know that that information is accurate, Mr. Lambros. I think the point is, it is our assessment that the money disbursed was well spent and effective and consistent with the letter and intent of U.S. law and U.S. policy, which is to foster bi-communal activities.

We do not have any cause to doubt the utility and value of this program. And we will continue to work with those elements in Cyprus who favor dialogue and partnership and cooperation.

QUESTION: Why the report was prepared by the private company, Development Associates, Incorporated, of Arlington Virginia, and not by the U.S. Agency For International Development itself under the auspices of Andrew Natsios?

MR. ERELI: I don't know.
Not news. Wave bye-bye to Adam.

Beagle 2 buggered by old boys.

The Vicar is known to snort the arse of whatever looks like it's ahead.

Naomi Klein with The Manchurian cover-up.

Dhia Najim. No 40s, Coffee and tea. Free and Not Dead Press!!!

OYAITJ:
50845 : Mr. Poopularity did keep us[and Paul] guessing, In the history of comical flops, few pranks can have gone down quite so badly as the fake-genital skit performed by three Japanese students in China's Northwest University. Camping it up in red bras and knickers bulging with paper cups, the performers must have been expecting guffaws or at least shy giggles from the freshmen and faculty they were entertaining at a welcoming party for new students. Instead, they sparked an anti-Japanese demonstration by thousands of fellow students, internet death threats, and articles in the national media accusing them of attempting to humiliate China and its people. , and King Paul just led us to Baron Negroponte.

Texttoon:
Fumetti : Stock photo of the doorway into the Oval Office. Only changes are; the cloning out of the doorknob, and a rendered in post-it-note above the missing knob-- "By order of Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft"