Huge Progress

6th-Century Ganesha 
(Photo by Ms Sarah Welch)  

Worshippers in certain parts of India have been thinking BIG for centuries.  Yet now it’s time for even broader ideas, such as replacing live ceremonial elephants with robotic ones.

Elephants are social intelligent beings that do not relish being traumatically imprisoned by well-meaning devotees.  When involuntarily “paraded through packed crowds with flashing lights, thumping drums and ear-splitting music,” some “panicked pachyderms” have been known to kill people.

Encouraged and somewhat funded by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), artisans have begun making elephant robots with eyes that roll, heads that nod, and tails that swish.  Each costs approximately $5,500. These are slowly becoming acceptable within Hindu rituals.

Because compassionate and non-violent ahimsa is such a core element of Hinduism, it seems only natural to thus ensure the well-being of devotees and their elephant companions.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/model-behaviour-indias-anti-cruelty-030951067.html

Leave it to Beavers

(Photo by Steve)

“Busy as a beaver” just doesn’t cut it with most people, who view these creatures as worth their weight in pelts rather than engineering.

Yet environmentalists have long heralded beavers “for their ability to protect against flooding, improve water quality and boost wildlife.”  Czech officials south of Prague were recently treated to a stellar example of all this. 

While bureaucrats hemmed and hawed over a “long-stalled dam” project, beavers got right to work.  Pretty soon the Klabava River was shielded from toxic flooding, a glorious wetland was created, and a proposed 1.2 million-dollar cost was averted.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/dam-fine-beavers-save-czech-180852747.html 

Garbage In, Garbage Out

Nara Park'
(Photo by Feri88)

It seems that Japan’s “leave no trace” norm has not caught on with the rest of the world. 

International tourists are leaving trails of trash behind.  This has been especially lethal at Nara Park, a Shinto site in which hundreds of deer roam freely.  “Tourists are only allowed to feed the deer special rice crackers,” but are littering the park with plastics. When plastics reach critical mass within a deer’s stomach, they can and do kill.

Public trash bins had been easily invaded by hungry animals, so other solutions were needed.  Nara officials recently set up solar-powered compactors with signage reading “Save the Nara deer from plastic waste.”  A volunteer clean-up squad also patrols the park.  All this will hopefully encourage visitors to clean up their act.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/squad-saving-deer-tourist-trash-021047201.html

In All the Wrong Places

(Fair Use)

Some look for love in strip clubs, others in brothels.  “Pretty Woman” aside, looking for love in all the wrong places seems rampant these days.

Meta put out a recent warning that Facebook friends might not be all that friendly.  In fact, they might not be all that human.  AI is being used more and more to scam Eleanor Rigby and her lonely doppelgangers into thinking they are cherished.

Thanks to freely available GenAI tools, scammers can now “change their faces and voices on video calls as they pretend to be someone they are not.”  Although we all project situational identities at times, AI brings such games people play to a whole new level.

Folks are therefore urged to be “politely paranoid” when dealing with online anonymity.  After all, delusion is often based upon illusion.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/scammers-using-ai-dupe-lonely-150733271.html 

To Marry and to Earn

(Public Domain)

Some local Chinese authorities have come up with a new twist on the First Corinthians warning, “It’s better to marry than to burn.”

Due to declining marriage rates, many places are now offering cash incentives for citizens to tie the proverbial knot.  In Luliang, a total of 1,500 yuans (the equivalent of a rural monthly wage) is being offered to those who would pledge their precious lives to one another. 

If babies follow, so do payouts.  The first such child would yield the besotted couple another 2,000 yuan, the second 5,000, and the third 8,000.  Never mind that raising kids costs far more than that.

And yet, humans often think short-term over long-term.  Those who live paycheck to paycheck are especially vulnerable to dangling bait.  Since New Year’s Day, hundreds of Luliang couples have grabbed the gold rings.

Women over 35 are not among the chosen ones.  They must either marry on their own terms, or perhaps burn with the righteous anger that accompanies injustice.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/chinese-authorities-play-cash-giving-021307335.html

Just when you think you've got it down pat

Hey there!
(Photo by Bigmacthealmanac)

We tend to think that we know our parents, our kids, our spouses - to name a few.  Heck, we often think that we know ourselves.  The truth is, we haven’t even figured out what squirrels do behind our backs.

Never mind that these furry rodents are practically ubiquitous.  Just because we see them chomping away on bounty from the nearest tree doesn’t mean that there’s no rest-of-the-story.  Turns out that some of these innocent-looking creatures are munching on voles. 

Just as big fish eat little fish, bigger rodents eat smaller rodents.  Sometimes it’s a dog-eat-dog world, literally as well as figuratively.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/researchers-stunned-shocking-behavior-ground-110034099.html 

 

Panda trumps Pander

Give peace a chance!
(Public Domain)

Washington, D.C. has long been known for pandering to those who see things as either black or white.  It’s time for a change, and the symbol of such change has recently arrived.

China has loaned two giant pandas named Bao Li and Qing Bao to the Washington Zoo for the next ten years.  These “soft-power” furry “ambassadors” not only represent diplomacy between the two nations, but also personify the both/and possibilities of black-and-white mergers.

Many are wishing for these ambassadors to be fruitful and multiply.  Baby pandas would be wonderful, as would peace between the nations that nurture them.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/pandas-trump-back-washington-171512377.html