Maybe They Evolved From Us

Genius female chimpanzee found to be smarter than U.S. high school students

Tuesday, August 28, 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) A twenties-something "genius ape" named Natasha has been found to demonstrate more intelligence than a typical U.S. high school student. The findings have been published in the peer-reviewed science journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

As the paper documents, Natasha repeatedly demonstrates skills and reasoning that escape modern-day high school students. "The caretakers named Natasha as the smartest chimpanzee, precisely the same chimpanzee that our tests had revealed to be exceptional," wrote authors Esther Herrmann and Josep Call of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (reported at Discovery.com, link below).

According to these scientists, Natasha has demonstrated the following skills; all of which escape the dumbed-down mental capacity of a typical U.S. high school student:

• An ability to repeatedly escape the chimpanzee enclosure using planning skills.

• An ability to disable an electric fence by throwing branches on it and observing the sparks. Once the sparks stopped, Natasha knew the fence was disabled and then proceeded to climb it. (A typical U.S. high school student cannot figure out how to pull his pants up around his waist.)

• The ability to wield a special tool to avoid a trap while locating hidden food. (U.S. high school students eat toxic food chemicals every day which trap them in a lifetime of chronic disease.)

• According to scientists, "ape intelligence might be a bundling of skills related to learning, tool usage, understanding of quantities, and an ability to reach conclusions based on evidence and reasoning." (http://news.discovery.com/animals/ape-genius-chimpanzee-intelligence-...) U.S. high school students, on the other hand, largely run their lives based on drama, jealousy, sex and emotional reactions to simple stimuli such as corporate logos on basketball shoes.

• Intelligent chimpanzees are well known to manufacture their own tools in order to extract (yummy) termites out of holes in trees. A typical U.S. high school student barely has the skill to open a frozen burrito wrapper and punch "START" on a microwave oven.

On a similar note, it is well known that the U.S. military conducts vaccine medical experiments on human soldiers for the sole reason that "humans are cheaper than monkeys." Lab monkeys actually try to escape from vaccine assaults, while humans actually line up at pharmacies and PAY to be injected with experimental vaccines!

The question isn't whether apes are smarter than humans... it's actually this far more important question: Are many humans dumber than apes?

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036980_genius_chimpanzee_intelligence.html#ixzz256bgr0Sn

I hope heaven is actually like this

Slash: Brisbane Riverstage 23rd August

Former Guns n' Roses guitarist, "Slash" visited Brisbane last week, playing at the Riverstage for the Australian tour of his new album "Apocalyptic Love". Slash's supergroup of collaborating muscians includes vocalist Myles Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns and drummer Brent Fitz. Despite not being a massive Guns n' Roses fan, I find it hard not to appreciate the performance of such a talented muscian with a stage presence as impressive as Slash. I last saw Slash play at Soundwave 2010, where he played a daytime set for a moderately sized crowd, competing with other artists from that years lineup. However, the Brisbane riverstage at night seemed to be a much more comfortable environment for the rock legend. Scoring a free ticket to the gig only that night, I arrived early into the set, waded my way through the sea of stoned, middle aged metal heads and found a great vantage point just in time for the Guns n' Roses classic, "Sweet Child O' Mine". The atmosphere there was tangible, a sea of awe-inspired eyes looked to the guitarist as the bodies they bolonged to swayed gently in time to the classics of their younger years. As I managed to make my way into the mosh, I became surrounded by the six-foot plus, 80's looking punk crowd, wondering if they rocked out as hard as they looked. To my suprise, it was one of the most tame mosh pits that I've ever experienced. Instead of the usual agression and intensity filled atmosphere of a rock-metal concert, there was a much calmer atmosphere of nostalgia and comradery amongst the sea of people. There really is something beautiful about music and the way that it brings strangers together to enjoy special and surreal evening. Thanks again music.

Jour1111 - Week 2 Lecture

Week 2 Lecture; New News

Once upon a time, there were only few ways of distributing media to the consumers of news and advertising. We knew these mediums as newspapers, magazines, television and radio. However, with the emergence and evolution of the much more efficient forms of mass communication via the internet, the "old media" was naturally selected by us the consumers, to die a slow and painful death. Web 1.0, the first generation of internet platforms was much like an extension of offline media in the way that it was presented and utilised and paved the way for a wave of "new media" which we came to know as Web 2.0 or "the social web" for it's introduction to the world of social networking. The sudden burst of social networking over the internet began to transform consumers in producer-users. This then continued the evolutionary path for Web 3.0 which changed the way we used the internet by adding machine-readablemeaning to the packets of information being sent paving the way for "meta tags". This technology also exploded into the mobile phone world making mobile internet more effective and efficient than ever. 

But what does this all mean for news and journalism? As news platforms began to adapt to these technologies, news and information began to become much more of a collective resource than a media commodity. Newspapers had to expand to online publications to keep up with the demand of instant news and information from their consumers and competitors, however, also creating the problem of how to sustain consistant profit margins. The new tools provided by Web 3.0 and social networking then gave way to a new generation of advertising and thankfully, creativity within online advertising in order to financially sustain online publications. But will this threaten the careers of medern journalists? Hopefully not. As we saw cassettes, VHS and now even DVD's be over run by new media platforms, some older media forms such as vinyl (yeah vinyl!) suffer, but begin to thrive in its new world of technology. In my opinion, newspapers will be the vinyl of the news media world. 

John Frusciante - Letur Lefr EP Reveiw

http://johnfrusciante.com/

So I thought was about time to review some new music and although it was released a little over a month ago, I couldn't go past John Frusciante's new EP 'Letur Lefr'. Anyone who is familiar with Frusciante's work needs no introduction to this modern day genius. However, for those of you who aren't, here's a brief introduction; John Frusciante was the guitarist for a little LA band known as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, replacing original guitarist Hillel Slovak who died tragically from a drug overdose in 1988. Frusciante wrote several albums with the chili peppers, leaving once during his time with them for personal reasons, and a second (and so far final) time in 2009 after completion of the album 'Stadium Arcadium' to work on his solo career.

Frusciante has so far completed two EP's and 11 solo albums, the most recent of which being the Letur Lefr EP and the album PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone which is set to be released late September 2012. John's solo work emanates beauty and a duality of simplicity and complexity to embody the soul of his music which has been the driving force of the Chili Peppers music that we have known and loved for years. The 2009 masterpiece 'The Empyrean' was both the auricular and philosophically beautiful  preceding album to the Letur Lefr EP and left fans awestruck, making it difficult to imagine what his music would progress to next.

Letur Lefr's style is perhaps, best described by John himself, as he stated on his personal website; "I consider my music to be Progressive Synth Pop, which says nothing about what it sounds like, but does describe my basic approach. I combine aspects of many styles of music and create my own musical forms by way of electronic instruments." Upon listening to the EP, it becomes apparent that this is the best description for its sound however for the sake of breaking it down to it's individual styles and references, the EP appears to include musical styles from rock, electronic, hip-hop, rap, dance, psychedelic and even classical feels. Just to name a few. John attributes some of his influences and direction to the use of LSD stating, "In summary, Acid served as a good starting point for me, very gradually leading me to be able to combine whatever styles of music I want, as a one man band." Understandably, this is a big part of is psychedelic and spiritual influences on his music, however, it would be foolish to think that it is the sole cause.

In summary, Letur Lefr is a beautiful and moving piece of modern musical art, the forward progression of the soul of the Chili Peppers. John's fans will now be anticipating the release of PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone which is more than likely to be the next natural progression in John's music. It feels appropriate to leave you know with a quote from the man himself.

"The imagination is the most real world that we know because we each know it first hand." John Frusciante 

 

Jour1111 Lecture 6

Week 6 Lecture; Commercial Media

Commercial media makes up the majority of Australian media, is much more popular and generates the largest income. By definition, commercial media is a profit driven industry mostly fueled by advertising revenue. Some examples of commercial media networks include FTA (free to air) channels such as: channel 9, 10, 7 and as well as pay TV networks such as Foxtel. The commercial media industry is also dominated by non-television based media such as News Limited who own newspaper publications such as: The Courier Mail, The Australian and Quest Newspapers.

Commercial Media is defined by a clear and succinct form and function, these being:

Form:

• Subscription 
• Sponsored 
• Subsidised

Function:

• Commercial 
• Propaganda
• Social 

Commercial media also plays an important role within democracy and has multiple social responsibilities in which it must uphold. As we know, media outlets are restricted to Government policies and regulations wherever they exist. Government agencies play an essential role in regulating content within commercial media and also assist with state press subsidies. In countries around the world such as Indonesia and East Timor, licensed journalism is enforced in order to maintain Government control and legislation over the content that journalists produce.

"Stop the Cuts! March On Parliament" Thursday 23rd August 2012

One of the banners in support of the protest.

 "Stop the Cuts! March On Parliament"
Thursday 23rd August 2012

Last thursday the 23rd August, a march was held in the Brisbane CBD from King George Square to Parliament House to protest recent job cuts in the public servant sector and reduced funding within several community services.

 The total number of people present at the rally was difficult to estimate. One of the organisers that I spoke with stated the total to be over one thousand, however I later overheard a police officer claiming the number of protesters to be approximately four hundred. The number of people present never seemed to raise an issue however as the protesters began a chant in an effort to coerce Queensland Premier, Campell Newman, out of parliament to address his less-than-supportive mass of displeased Queensland residents. It was hard to tell how hopeful the protesters were when they began the chant "Come Out Campbell, Come Out" that the man of the hour would actually make an appearence. When the chant eventually changed to "Gutless," it seemed as if hopes had diminished a little more.

A series of well articulated speakers made up the body of the demonstration, addressing attendees with the usual 'low-fi' megaphone to put forward a unified argument adressing the premier's recent parliamentary decisions. One member of the demonstration, Ridah, was friendly enough to stop and have a chat regarding the protest. When asked how she felt it went she replied, "It was a fantastic protest, very happy with the turnout and the loud and angry march."

The next demonstration is scheduled to be on Wednesday the 12th of September in Queens Park on George St in the Brisbane CBD as a further response to recent parliamentary decisions. 

Jour1111 Week 5 Lecture

Picture Stories
The use of the Plato's cave analogy in this weeks 'Picture Stories' lecture to describe the use of television media, is a very relevant one indeed. Picture stories, as we know have been one of the oldest and most basic forms of story telling and information exchange that we know of. From ancient cave drawings to Picasso and Warhol, our human history is riddled with picture stories created for a purpose, to transmit information, ideas and stories. Indigenous and religious histories contain some of the oldest and sometimes most abstract forms of picture stories that we know of, however, these pictures ability to tell 'a thousand words' are often left to the perception of the viewer. Perhaps the greater beauty of these images is not within the image itself, but in whatever it was that inspired these people throughout history to translate an idea into a work of art. Well its a nice thought at least, anyway, back to journalism.

In the year 1860, newspapers were first graced with the presence of images in the form of illustrative line drawings, twenty years later we were rolling with photographs. Images within print media then evolved as the technology surrounding photography progressed until we hit our next major leap in picture story media in 1992. Pictures on the internet. The internet then boomed as a popular image sharing medium and allowed us to instantly view current world events, new discoveries and cats. Cats, man. In 1995 Picture stories evolved online with the massive increase in video equipment popularity, availability and new supportive online mediums such as youtube. The continuing increase in technology and internet usage has continued to shape image use within modern media. Print newspapers once forced to select only the 'best' image for a particular story were then given the ability to publish entire image galleries supporting their online articles and even live stream videos of unfolding events.

I leave you now with a great quote from this weeks lecture that all photographers and serial social networking offenders could benefit from,

"A picture has no meaning at all if it can't tell a story."

Stay classy St Lucia        

Jour1111 Lecture 4

Radio is one of the oldest of our current mass media platforms and although similar to television media in some ways, is fundamentally different in terms of production and communication. Radio is a much more intimate form of media compared to television, and therefore develops the need to make listeners feel included in the conversation and for hosts to be the facilitators of these inclusive conversations.  In an interview with ABC Radio’s Richard Fidler, we learn a few techniques as to how we can facilitate this sort of inclusion and relaxed atmosphere between the interviewer and interviewee.  As Fidler explains, it is important to not say too much and give the guest plenty of room to talk and explain themselves while helping them to stay on track if the guest begins to veer off or lose themselves.  Another important tool to make use of is silence. As daunting as it almost seems, silence on the air is as Fidler states, “Very powerful, truthful and revealing.” We can see that despite being one of the older mass communication mediums, radio is in fact one of the few platforms that are holding fast in the technology revolution. Both newspapers and television have felt the effect of modern consumers migrating to internet sources as a faster, cheaper and more efficient information source, however there is something about radio that keeps people coming back. Perhaps the fact that there’s not yet much in terms of an online publication that replaces radio’s morning news or breakfast shows for those that brave the morning pilgrimage in their cars to work every day,  or perhaps  it’s the element of intimacy and inclusion within a radio conversation that keeps listeners, well, listening. Before the interview with Fidler concluded, he left us with some encouraging words; Keep reading, keep thinking, and expose yourself to the thoughts of people that you don’t agree with. Great advice for any aspiring journalist or human being.   

Week 3 Lecture; Print Journalism

Print journalism, though still a widely used communication medium via channels such a newspapers and magazines, has a questionable future as we move forward into the digital age. Readers are beginning to beginning to adopt the new technological based forms such as blogs, e-newspapers and magazines and receive faster and more personalized information via social media platforms such as facebook and twitter. Despite this technological migration, it is still of great importance to understand the processes, and layouts of print journalism as it gives journalists a sound theoretical understanding of how we read and interact with media. The traditional print media layout follows a basic upside-down triangle layout with the most important information at the top and filters down the 'fluff' information and stories at the bottom. Interestingly, the typical print media hierarchy follows a similar trend with the head of the organization standing at the top and filters information and directions for staff down the trend creation a more traditional looking triangular diagram.