Questions

I ask lots of questions.  I always have.  Often, people take my questions in the wrong way.

I question because I want to learn.  People sometimes take my questions to mean that I doubt what they are saying.  I really just want to understand.

My kids hated it when they were young because they were questioned about their day, about school, about other kids.  They thought I was prying into their lives.  The reality is that I was just curious.  To me knowledge is the key to doors that lead to better places.

It's not just questions.  I read a wide variety of material.  Certainly, I enjoy fiction, but I read a lot of non-fiction too.  Even fiction is a source of knowledge.  Creativity is stimulated by reality.  Science fiction is a great example.  Many things have appeared first in science fiction long before science was able to produce them -- rockets for one.  Concepts based on fragmentary knowledge often leads to creative linkages that lead discovery.

New discoveries begin with questions.  They begin with "what if" and "I wonder" and similar thoughts.

It doesn't just apply to science.  It applies to virtually everything.  We should be asking questions like, "What if the Peace with Iran fails?"  "How will policy change after the next election?"  "How will the New World Screwworm affect the cattle markets?"  "How can I help my grandchildren that will prepare them for the future?" and the list goes on.

I wish that everyone asked more questions.  Instead, it seems that our children are taught "not to question" but to simply obey.  As a parent I understand that.  For the military I understand that.  In society in general I believe it is a mistake.  We should respectfully question "authority" and others who wield power.  Far too many are manipulated by those who wield the power -- both economically and politically.  We need to be questioning them.

The flower below is a Crepe Myrtle.  It has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of this post, but I like it.  We have many growing on our place, but the photograph was taken yesterday about an hour away from here as we were traveling.  Now the obvious question is "Why were you traveling?"  The answer is curiosity.  We wanted to see what was out there.

 Commonalities

The true key to solving major challenges is commonality of purpose.  A diverse team, focused on a solution, under inspired leadership can solve anything.

I am a firm believer in diversity.  But I don't define diversity by how we look, our belief systems or our lifestyles; I define it by styles of thinking.  If we all think alike, we have mass redundancy.  To solve problems, we need diversity of thought.

Too often that diversity of thinking styles gets in the way.  That is why inspired leadership is a necessary ingredient.  Leadership should encourage, challenge and inspire each of the diverse individuals in a group to exercise their gifts to the fullest.  Then magic happens.

We have a plant which grows on our place called Common Hedge Parsley (Tonilis arvensis).  Don't eat it, it looks like many other plants in the wild carrot family such as Poison Hemlock.  The Common Hedge Parsley is sometimes called "sock-destroyer" because its hairy seeds stick to the socks like Velcro.  The plant is usually considered an invasive weed and is commonly found in Europe and North America.  It is part of the natural diversity within our local ecosystem.

 Food Security

I read an Opinion piece this morning regarding Open Borders and the heavy migration of people from South and Central America up through Mexico that focused on the New World Screwworm (NWS).  Southern Mexico has been the focus of containing the NWS since its eradication in regions north many years ago.  The column indicated that the barrier was broken by the Cartels who moved both people and livestock northward through that barrier as authorities "looked the other way" due to potential violence and many bribes.

The cattle carrying the NWS were "legitimized" by being placed in Feedyards and on ranches in Mexico.  It was a way of laundering money for the Cartels.  The barrier holding back the NWS was destroyed through that illegal movement of livestock.

The result was that new reservoirs of the NWS were created across northern Mexico which is home to millions of cattle.  Summer winds, wildlife movement and other factors pushed the NWS across the border into Texas.

We will be unable to stop the spread of NWS unless we can stop the Cartels from laundering money through illegal movement of cattle and other livestock into northern Mexico.  Until that is eliminated, reservoirs of the fly will remain just across the border, providing the source of movement despite closing the border to the entry of live cattle into the U.S.

Food Security is National Security.  The NWS threatens a highly pressured segment of our food supply in the impact it has on cattle production.  The opinion expressed by the Columnist was that Border Security, elimination of the Cartels which engage in drug and human trafficking and elimination of their ability to launder money through illegal movement of livestock is a critical component of securing the U.S. against further spread of NWS.

Food Security has been an issue for humans since the beginning of time.  It can be at the individual, family, community or country level.  It was a serious issue for early pioneers as they founded homesteads and towns in their westward movement across the North American Continent.  An interesting example of one solution was to turn the corn and grapes that they raised into alcoholic products that wouldn't spoil.  Those could then be traded to others for food.

Whiskey was a primary way to store corn produced in the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee and Wine provided a way to capture the proteins and carbohydrates from grapes harvested wild in those same environments.  Human ingenuity at its finest.

We have wild Muscadine Grapes (Vitis rotundifolia) growing in the woods on our place.  I doubt that I will be making any wine from them, but I am happy to see them thriving.  With the way things look in this old world, food security might again become a primary issue to individuals.

 Scratching the Itches

We live in an area where there are many plants, insects and arachnids that attack on a regular basis.  Poison ivy, poison oak, chiggers, ticks, spiders -- they seem to be everywhere.  Since the first warming rays of the Spring sun caused the tender shoots of poison ivy to grow, I have itched.  Working in the woods to clean up the brush exposes me to all of the above.  Scratching those itches happens because the irritation overcomes the will to ignore.

Chiggers may be the worst.  Sometimes all it takes is to walk through the grass for the tiny creatures to find purchase and work their way to a point where they can bite.  One of their favorite places to hide is in or near berry bushes.  Picking dewberries or blackberries is a sure way to gather a few.

They latch on to the skin and feed, but you don't know they are there until they drop off.  That's when the itching begins.  They leave behind enzymes as well as the mechanical damage of their feeding probe that are attacked by the immune system.  That's when the itching begins.  Scratching can cause bacterial infections that then make it even worse.  The skin becomes more inflamed, and it often takes weeks for the red spots to fade.

Deep Woods Off with Deet is a good way to prevent or at least to reduce the number of chiggers that make it to your skin.  That or completely avoiding grass and woodland areas are really the only way to evade them.

There are many things that remind me of chiggers.  Small annoyances often become serious problems if allowed to continue.  It is best to prevent such things, but if they occur, they should be dealt with promptly rather than allowed to fester.  Such things happen in families, with friends, at work and any other place we encounter "irritations" that are unresolved.  Sometimes they remain because we fail to deal with them -- such as a loose shingle, or a broken screen, or a rattle in the car.  Learn to deal with them promptly.  Don't put them off.  Scratch the itch, but better yet, treat it or prevent it.

The Black-eyed Susans pictured below are growing wild in one of those parts of our place where the chiggers like to live.  I thought the photo was worth the risk of the itch anyway.

 Rumblings of Peace

The sky is rumbling this morning.  It is the rumbling that accompanies a gentle rain.  It is peaceful, unlike the violent crashing of a thunderstorm.

The announcement was made last night that the terms of a general peace agreement with Iran have been reached.  An official memorandum is to be signed on Friday in Geneva which will begin a 60-day period in which the details of a comprehensive agreement are to be worked out.

I am skeptical that it will hold.

As with all such agreements there is discontent by many.  In time discontent begins to fester into resentment and finally to action.  Shared common interests are the only way to real peace.  All parties must have the same goals in mind along with an agreed approach to how they are to be achieved.

At the end of the day, it is self-interest that drives behavior.  I don't believe we are at a point where there is common self-interest.

Is true and lasting peace achievable?  Again, I am skeptical.  There is insufficient commonality of beliefs for that to occur.  There is an unwillingness to share power and control.

Perhaps economic incentives can be structured in such a way that peace will be maintained for a period, but in the end, core beliefs will continue to be a well of discontentment.  Pockets of fervent believers who think they have "been wronged" will stir trouble until we again find ourselves in crisis.

This week's Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a small beginning.  There will be fortunes made from the impact it has on the markets.  Other fortunes will be made when the agreement is broken.

The small Plant Hopper pictured below is only about 1/4 inch in length.  This one is identified as Ormenoides venusta.  It is not known to be an economically damaging species and is often found feeding on wild grapevines.  Not a lot is known about it, but it obviously fills a niche in the environment that is important or it wouldn't exist.  It is a tiny thing but I'm skeptical about the "not known to be economically damaging" aspect of its description.

 Shine Your Light

A simple garden petunia, growing in an uncultivated state, shines because it can't help being what it is.  Despite being mowed down, ignored, crowded by grasses and weeds, it shines.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could all be like that.  No matter where we find ourselves, be true to ourselves, don't pretend, don't try to blend in, simply shine.

Little children understand this.  Then the world does everything it can to take it away.  God made each of us according to the unique pattern wired into our DNA and then conditioning, circumstances, our environment, peers, parents, siblings, the school system, television, the Internet, and on and on works on us the rest of our life to take that away.  Fight to be true to self.  Be a feral, uncultivated Petunia and shine.

 Storms

Storms happen.  Sometimes they are expected and sometimes they are not.  Even when expected you never know how severe they might be.

Despite the potential danger or damages they may bring storms are often beneficial.  They bring rain.  That's the easy one to identify as a benefit for someone who grew up in an arid region of the world.  We currently live in an area with around 40 inches of average annual rainfall.  Even there the rain is of benefit as are the winds that might accompany a storm.

I think rain is cleansing.  Heavy rain can wash away accumulated debris, cleanse the dust from the leaves, fill the ponds and streams and otherwise replenish the land.  And of course, it is necessary for life to go on.

In this land of trees where we currently reside, winds which accompany the storms also provide another benefit.  They often clear out dead trees, and they break loose and cause to fall, the deadwood which might be hanging high up in the canopy.  The result can be a nuisance when those limbs fall across the county road or block the driveway but removing them from the canopy is good for the trees.

We had quite a storm pass through this week.  The photo below is of some of the limbs that came to the ground.

Storms of other natures come into our lives as well.  We need to focus on the benefits -- the good that results from them -- and not dwell on the temporary inconvenience or pain they may bring.

 Resistance is Futile

"Resistance is futile" is probably my favorite line from the entire Star Trek universe.  In "Star Trek First Contact" the Borg warning is, "We are the Borg.  Lower your shields and surrender your ships.  We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.  Your culture will adapt to service us.  Resistance is futile."

Ultimately, the Federation is able to resist -- at least for the time being -- and retain their independence.  It all reminds me of the politics of today.

The Culture War is real.  We all need to be paying very close attention.

The Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is a vine found virtually everywhere.  It is invasive.  It grows rapidly and overwhelms small trees at times.  Some see it is a nice ornamental that has leaves which turn purple in the Fall.  It is often used instead of Boston Ivy as a decorative addition to the brick walls of homes or fences.  It doesn't damage the masonry like some ivies.  It does like to escape, however, and grow where it isn't wanted.  Despite best efforts it likes to spread and take over.  Some might say that resistance is futile.

The specimen below is growing up the side of a group of Post Oak trees on our property.  Eventually it will find itself severed from the soil which nourishes it.  I just haven't gotten to it yet.

 River Cooter

The name "cooter" is thought to have derived from the African word for turtle in the Bambara and Malinke languages which is "kuta."  It is thought that early Africans brought to the Southeast as Plantation labor used the name to describe various turtles in the swamps, ponds and rivers near where they labored.

Growing up in an area far from that of the Plantations but influenced through the westward migration after the Civil War, I heard the term "drunker than Cooter Brown" more than once in my most impressionable years.  I never questioned where the term might have originated but in researching the name of a turtle found on our place I learned.

One version of the legend states that in Southern Louisiana at the start of the Civil War lived a half-Cherokee, half-African man on a small plot of land given to him by an old Cajun fur trapper.  He lived as a free man in the cabin left on the land by the old trapper.  When war broke out Cooter didn't want to choose sides because he didn't know who might win and besides, he didn't much like people at all.  He was a heavy drinker and the situation caused him to drink even more heavily.

Cooter always dressed in native American clothing to further establish that part of his heritage and add protection against being taken as an escaped slave.  When soldiers of either side came across him during their forays through the country, they would find him drunk and he would usually share a drink with them.  He became known as that crazy drunk Cooter Brown.

By the end of the war Cooter couldn't have stopped drinking had he wanted to.  It is believed that he died one night when his cabin caught fire and the amount of alcohol in his blood caused his body to be completely consumed.  Since that time, being "drunker than Cooter Brown" was considered an appropriate description for anyone who was highly inebriated.

I guess Cooter was named after a turtle.  We have River Cooters (Pseudemys concinna) living on our small piece of Texas.  Most of the time they remain in the pond but occasionally one will wander.

 Down Another Rabbit Hole

I love learning about new things.  I love learning about old things too.  I also love learning that some of what I thought I knew was incorrect once I learned more about it!  That may seem strange -- learning you are wrong -- but I would rather correct my incorrect knowledge than continue blithely in ignorance.

I have only minimal knowledge and likely some misconceptions about AI as it is currently being presented, but I have dived into that massive rabbit warren with both feet.  I suspect a Level A Hazmat Suit might be in order, but I'm not at that level of education on the subject as of yet.  You might take this paragraph as a warning that the subject will be reoccurring at times.

I have missed a couple of days of writing due to unexpected circumstances, but I hope to dive back in on a regular basis again.  Certainly, there will be occasional disruptions but hopefully they will be kept to a minimum.

When I begin looking into AI it is immediately obvious that it will be inescapable.  I deal with it as I type this blog entry.  We have dealt with it since some of the earliest versions of Word Processing programs.  Spell-check, Grammar-check and the words that magically appear ahead of where you are typing in a sentence in anticipation of that being where you were headed are some of the most basic versions of it.

What we are calling AI (artificial intelligence) is, to date, machine learning.  We are quickly advancing in the capabilities presented by machine learning but, in my opinion, we won't achieve true AI until we begin to see creativity and original ideas that are beyond the scope of current or historical human endeavor.  What we are seeing today is simply better organization of data, accumulation of massive amounts of data and mining that data in different ways.  It is still necessary that a human ask the correct questions.  That is part of what makes it so dangerous in my opinion.

Exploitative uses of data are just as likely, perhaps more likely, than benign or beneficial uses of data.  Analyzing the incidence and prevalence of measles cases throughout the world could be useful in prevention, or it could be used to enhance the spread of harm through the weaponization of some pathogen.  There must be some level of moral control on the use of AI.  That is scary because who is there that is trustworthy to develop such controls?

We have a tree in our front yard that I assumed was a Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum).  I confirmed that identification using iNaturalist which is my "go-to" identifier.  But when I looked up images of Bald Cypress using Google Search, I didn't see any that closely resembled the tree in our yard.  It made me question the identity.  So, I went back through the process again and came up with the same answer.  I did learn that there are over 400 varieties of cypress trees around the world.  I also learned that their wood is great for building due to disease resistance.  But because the images don't really match up there is still question in my mind that my identity is correct.  I think that is a danger we face with AI.  The answers derived through its use should be closely scrutinized.