Eusociality

I have to admit that word was new to me.  Eusociality is a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification.  For example, bees are eusocial, while zebras are not.

Imagine my surprise to learn that naked mole rats are eusocial creatures.  Go on.  Imagine it.

You probably know that these little guys are neither moles nor rats.  They are also called sand puppies, although they are not canines, either.  They are related to chinchillas and guinea pigs, though.  I'm pretty sure it's on the mom's side of the family, but I'm not positive about that.

Anyway, these little critters spend their lives under the African sands, gnawing away on roots and tubers.  They actually have a complex society, with a queen as the head of the whole lot.  Colonies range anywhere from 20 to 300, which is a heck of a lot of mole rats.  They also live up to nine times longer than other rodents.

Here is a bit more info about mole rat society:

Naked mole-rat colonies are organized into strict hierarchical castes. At the top of the heap—second only to the ruling matriarch—is the queen’s harem of one to three males with whom she chooses to mate. Beneath these high-status breeders are soldiers—both male and female—who defend the colony against predators and foreign mole-rats. Odors distinguish friends from foes. To achieve a recognizable odor, naked mole-rats often roll about in the burrow’s toilet chamber, coating their body with the familiar scent of the colony’s feces and urine. Extremely xenophobic, naked mole-rats will fiercely attack unfamiliar intruders that may be encountered when one colony breaks into the burrow of another.

So now you know.  You may feel like you want to take your brain out and wash it, but those memories are there for good, my friend.

Today's post is brought to you by naked mole rats, which have been described as "overcooked hot dogs with teeth."

Here is a short video about naked mole rats.  The narrator is British, so you have to take it seriously.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_UDTzG-6Qo

I couldn't find any actual cartoons about naked mole rats.  So here is a cartoonish cover of a children's book by Mo Willems.  He is the same guy who did "Sheep in the Big City", a truly odd cartoon that I very much enjoyed.

Why Do They Ask?

Tonight I ate dinner at Carrabba's restaurant.  I had the Mezzaluna, a really good ravioli dish.  Mezzaluna is Italian for "half moon", and the menu claims that the raviolis are half-moon shaped.  That is a bit of a stretch, but it's a catchy name for the item.

As our waitress greeted us, she asked, "Is this your first time dining with us?"  I have noticed that a lot of restaurant employees are asking that question recently, and I have to wonder why.  If you say "no", they say something like, "Well, welcome back."  If you indicate that this is indeed your first visit, the waitress will usually launch into a spiel like, "Let me show you some of our specialities on the menu." 

Do these people think we're too stupid to figure out the menu on our own?  Or, if they simply wish to recommend some particular item, what difference does it make if this is the first visit or not?  Why not ask something more useful, like, "Do you know where our restrooms are?"

I realize this is really petty of me, but, hey.  That's the kind of person I am.

Today's post is brought to you by Nikola Tesla.  He was born on this date in 1856.  Among other things, he worked on developing a death ray.  He was an incredible inventor - quite probably barking mad, but a great inventor.

Believe it or not, there is actually a song about Tesla.  It's not too bad.  I mean, it's not like I can find a lot of video clips about Tesla, so you're just going to have to make the best of it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90YsTGklRqA

If you use your imagination, this cartoon can apply to both topics covered in this post.  Just pretend that the man on the floor is Tesla, and this was his first visit to the retaurant.

Oh the Poor Baby!  Get Him Some Medical Attention!

I just wrote an absolutely brilliant post, only to have it get forever lost in cyberspace.  I will try to recreate it, but I fear my magnum opus has been lost to the ages.

I am absolutely disgusted by the idea that all our bad, selfish, destructive behaviors are some sort of disorder or disease.  I am increasingly annoyed by the dignifying of all our egocentric tantrums by calling them such things as Oppositional Defiant Disorder.  There are those who disagree with me, and I'll grant you I might feel differently if I had to deal with this sort of behavior in my offspring on a daily basis.

That having been said, I feel that this new approach to our me-first!-me!-me!-me! attitude is something that was cooked up by psychiatrists at a secret meeting.

Psychiatrist 1:  Well, it happened again.  I have another new pre-teen patient who has been throwing daily tantrums, bullying other children, and even threatening his teachers.  I'm at my wits' end.

Psychiatrist 2:  I hear you, bro.  And with society like it is today, we can't just tell the parents to take the kids out behind the woodshed and dish out a little rough justice.

Psych 1:  Yeah.  Worse yet, we can't just give the parents a prescription for tranquilizers so that they can feel a little more mellow until the kids reach 18 and move out of the house.  (Shakes head and sighs.)

Psych 2:  Okay..how about this?  It sounds a little crazy, but hear me out.  What if we call this brattiness a medical disorder?  We can have names like....oh, I don't know... how about Opppositional Defiant Disorder?

Psych 1:  Oh, come on.  Nobody's going to take that kind of thing seriously.  A medical disorder?  These kids just need a good, swift kick in the bee-hind.

Psych 2:  No, no listen.  I think I'm onto something.  If we call it a medical disorder or a disease, this throws the whole thing back to the MD's.  It gets the monkey off our backs.  And...are you ready for this?  If it's a disease, we can suggest prescribing drugs for it, right?  That way, mom and dad can just slip junior a little pill every day to make him chill out until he graduates high school and becomes a burden on society.

Psych 1:  My man, that sounds like a plan!  (High fives are exchanged at this point.)

So everybody wins, right?  I think it's things like this that have made America the great nation it is today.

Today's post is sponsored by this kid who flips out when he gets an old truck for his sixteenth birthday, instead of the slick vehicle he was hoping for. 

For your viewing edification, I offer you not one but two enthralling videos, featuring the aforementioned teen.  The first is the video of the birthday truck.  http://www.mpgh.net/forum/73-videos_sharing/64087-wow_meltdown_kid_birthday_surprise.html The second is the same guy who freaked out while playing World of Warcraft, which resulted in his parents cancelling his account.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUkWuEjcUUc  The poor guy.  He obviously needs lots of medical attention and some understanding.  It's not his fault.

In closing, here is a little cartoon.  I give it to you because I care.

 
Oh, the Poor Boy!  Get Him Some Medical Help!

This is another post involving supposed "diseases" that really grind my gears.  A few days ago, I wrote about Oppositinal Defiant Disorder, which IMHO is just a crock.  There are those that disagree with me, and I'll grant you I might see this stuff in a diferent light if it affected me on a personal, daily level.

But I still think it might actually play out like this at the the secret meetings of the upper levels of psychiatric conferences:

Psychiatrist 1:  Well, I have another difficult, adolescent patient who throws violent tantrums, hits other children, and has even gone so far as to threaten his teacher with great bodily harm.  I'm at my wits' end.

Psychiatrist 2:  I've had more and more of these cases lately, too.  It makes me long for the good old days when you could just take these kids out behind the woodshed and dish out a little rough justice.

Psych 1:  I hear you, bro.  But we can't allow that sort of thing in this day and age.  And we can't just advocate giving mom and dad tranquilizers until the kids reach 18 and move out of the house.  It's getting worse every day, with all these kids who have some sort of warped sense of entitlement.  And we can't do anyhting to destroy their self-esteem, or we'll wind up losing our jobs here and be slinging hash until we're 85 years old.

Psych 2: Okay, here's a thought.  It might seem crazy, but hear me out.  Let's say we call this a medical disorder or a disease, instead of just bad behavior.  This gets the monkey off our backs and puts it back on the shoulders of the MD's.  And if we call it a disease, we can suggest prescribing meds, right?  Maybe we can't spank the living daylights out of junior, but we can get his parents to medicate him to the point that he's no longer a nuisance to his family and society.  What do you say?

Psych 1:  That sounds like a plan, my man! 

High fives are exchanged at this point.  And everybody wins, right?  No one feels guilty or ashamed, and no one is held accountable.

I think that's what makes America so great.

Today's post is brought to you by this 16-year-old guy who flips out when his folks get him an old truck for his birthday, instead of the slick vehicle he was hoping for.

Hey, kiddies, you get two great vids today.  The first is the aforementioned teen who melts down when he sees his truck.  http://www.mpgh.net/forum/73-videos_sharing/64087-wow_meltdown_kid_birthday_surprise.html   The second is the same guy flipping out while playing World of Warcraft.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWBfLOZ2CjQ&feature=related   Poor guy.  He must be really, really sick to behave this way.  Let's get him some love... and more inportantly, let's dignify his behavior by calling it a disease. 

In closing, here is a little cartoon.  I give you these because I care.

Bonus Mini-Post

Check out the respective prices of the two dolls.  This doesn't really need any comments on my part, does it?