Best Buds

I cried while watching a Super Bowl commercial.



Having spent nearly a decade with my Yellow lab Ben I feel smack in the center of the target audience. As much as I may disparage the Super Bowl for bringing out the worst of American Culture - celebrating voluntary head injuries, exploiting minorities, claiming non-profit status for an entity that is anything but "non-profit" - I do think all the dollars being thrown about produce some of the most concise social commentary each year. And here we are talking about our collective cultural obsession with pets be they puppies or draft horses.  However contrived you might think this is does not nullify the reaction many will have while watching. Whenever I see my mom's cat snuggle up to her dog on the couch I can't help feel all mushy, same response here.

After first seeing the ad I kept thinking of Peter Singer's expanding circle.  The idea that the next phase of human morality ought to expand to include cognitive non-humans and further as we understand more about how other animals feel.  This train of thought also reminded me of the nascent "inter-species-internet." I first heard about this during a panel discussion about the future prospects of the internet titled "Internet Everywhere" presented as part of the World Science Festival in 2012.  MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld explains the inter-species internet (ISI) as a small group loosely coordinated by musician Peter Gabriel. Apparently, Gabriel started conducting jam-sessions with bonobos and found bonobos to be incredibly responsive.



What emerged from this initial observation was a network among cognitive animals.  Giving the bonobos ipads they found they could use them to communicate to each other and to other species like dolphins. Though I have yet to find video on the internet of bonobos sharing selfies with dolphins, I can imagine it being so. So, although the #BestBuds ad is most surely a heartfelt fabrication it certainly touched a universal chord with me. 

A message from our sponsor.

With the rise of the "Ship your pants" from Kmart I can't help but share this.  New Belgium Brewery has mixed a pinch of organic chemistry, a dash of thermodynamics and little pomology to deliver a well-balanced explainer/performer advertisement.

From the minds at the Mothership I present the latest installment of Bitterman's adventures.

Who's House? OUR HOUSE!

"Who’s House?  OUR HOUSE!"

Chanted the crowd on June 14^th, 2011.  Prior to arms around the capitol in Madison, WI, a rally led by Mahlon Mitchell (President of Proffessional firefighters of Wisconsin).  People sang loud and proud ‘We will overcome”, while holding hands surrounding the capitol so as to allow no one in.  A response to Governor Scott Walker's disregard for the rights American workers have struggled decades for.  

Collective bargaining makes this country great to live and work in.  It separates us from China and Mexico where cheap goods are made at the expense of human rights.  The People of Wisconsin are mad.  There are better ways to fix a broken budget. 

The voice of the people was to no avail.  “Acting with unusual speed, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the reinstatement of Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial plan to end most collective bargaining for tens of thousands of public workers. jsonline

The court found that the hasty backroom legislation by the Wisconsin GOP did not in fact violate the open meeting law it was accused of.  A shady act committed by the right shortly after last year's elections, while members of the democratic minority were out of state, a strategy used to stall negotiations.  A video of some of wisconsins current state of politics can be seen here.

   

Even Worse…

Leinenkugels, The Milwaukee Brewers, New Glarus, and Stevens Point.  Beer.  This shit just kills me.  Scott Walker's attack on craft breweries. Just five days ago tucked neatly into the governors budget was a provision to make it more difficult for craft breweries to operate in Wisconsin.  The provision will make it illegal for craft breweries to sell directly to liquor stores and restaurants, and preventing them from selling their own products onsite.  The craft brew industry is one that has continued to grow despite the recession in nearly all areas of the country.  This is small business expanding and actually creating jobs.  Scott Walker who calls himself a “champion of small business” wants to treat these breweries as if they were big corporations.  It's only fair I guess since MillerCoors donated $22,675 to his campaign.

 I wonder if he puts ice cubes in his bud light? 

Wisconsin has always been an idyllic place.  It is the home of Richie Cunningham and Eric Foreman.  It provided the setting for “Grease.”  Good, wholesome, hardworking representations of America.  Then there is the Green Bay Packers, the NFL’s third oldest team.  A team owned by the community of Green Bay and named after factory workers who canned (packed) meat.  Named after the people and owned by the people.  It is a shame that this State's good reputation of community is being steamrolled by big business (Koch bros) and greed (Scott Walker).  I really love however, to see the people get mad and I’m damned sure that Wisconsonites will overcome and get the recall they desperately deserve. 

I was recently at an event in which Steven Weinberg, arguably one of America’s brightest scientists, gave a speech on the future of big science.  In the address he stated that “We need to make a teaching career look attractive to our best college graduates.”  I could not agree more.  I mean God forbid we have intelligent people working in government.  You aren’t helping, Scott.

“The role of Government is to help those who cannot help themselves.”

-Abraham Lincoln

The role of government is not to “know what’s best” and rule deceptively.