An inordinate number of under-educated and rough-hewn African Americans populate an inordinate number of penal institutions – within, reputedly, one of the most advanced societies in human history. In our zeal to put the real cause of this anomaly behind us, once again we pretend that we are not a society built upon centuries of degrading and shunting to the margins a considerable portion of our population.

Charles Darwin showed how species of living organisms develop physically and mentally in response to their environment. During the Second Punic War, Hannibal outmaneuvered the Romans by going through the Alps. As he was losing many of his men and most of his elephants in this audacious act, he was further impeded by savage tribes raining down rocks from above. Some of those rock-throwers became the Franks, who later developed the French Civilization.

The populace of the Japanese Islands was so culturally inbred and isolated, that we trained upon Tokyo the guns of a warship and bade them join the world economy. These were delicate and unified people who managed their impacted living through ritual ceremony and exaggerated courtesy. After we disturbed their slumber, they became such a nemesis to Russia, the Philippines, Korea, China – and ultimately ourselves – that we were required to make them the protagonists of a most terrible Kabuki play of our own production.

In contrast to those hapless, incarcerated African Americans, there are others of their lot who better survived the centuries of degradation and marginalization. Even while recognizing the relative difference in their survival, these lawyers, surgeons, scientists, educators and artists realize that the chain of that centuries-long bondage of mind and spirit is not easily broken. The dilemma is the difficulty in transmitting that reality to those still-in-denial descendents of those who brought it about.

Voilà, the pathology! Our society is the patient. In order to cure ourselves, we shall have to overcome that which is, thus far, unthinkable and unutterable. That is why the Attorney General called us poltroons; deep within, we know we have this malady, but we cannot summon the courage to confront it. Beyond the noble, but feeble efforts of the coffee magnagte, we must seek a more formal and enduring effort. Notable in that regard are the Truth and Reconciliation Committees established in South Africa after its own, devastating experience in the satanic art of Apartheid. Nothing will be resolved if we continue creeping through this field of landmines, instead of calling in the minesweepers and clearing the field.

*****     *****     *****

Pathology gotin quite late.

It put out a snack on the plate.

When it turned around,

Sans even a sound,

Its other self everything ate!

Have had a crush on this amazing Canadian scientist for the 15 years that I've followed her work. If you spend a little time with her in this Ted Talk, you'll see why.

You can also just read the transcript to her presentation, but then you miss out on the graphics, images and her personality.

It all began in her youth, when she'd lie down on a forest floor and be absorbed by the canopy above her (used to do that all the time as a kid too)... and when her logger grandfather's dog fell into the shit at the bottom of an outhouse. :-)

She's got such a beautiful lisping sense of humor as she presents her research, getting chased by grizzlies with syringes of radioactive isotopes in her hands, and explains in very simple terms the complex underground communication's systems between trees via fungi/mushrooms. Even special relationships between a "mother" tree and "her" own genetic offspring.

The more a tree provides sugars to the fungi, the stronger these synergistic interconnections become, including trees providing one another carbons and other essential minerals, as well as hormone communications that often have to do with defense mechanisms. And it's not just among the same species. There's rich diversity of cooperation between species, deciduous and coniferous.

What she has arrived at in Canada, where the deforestation rates are actually higher than in the Amazon, is that even with standardized replanting following clearcutting, the forest ecosystem is devastated. She also provides solutions on how to harvest trees in a forest in ways that won't so impact these climate stabilizing ecosystems.

https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other/transcript?language=en#t-87890

How arrogant, this creature, "Human",

So soon after its recent birth,

To think that wee I and you can

Control the air and sea and turf!

But that's the thought of this species –

Unfortunately, yes, it thinks –

The last biped of the series;

Its skull enclosure never shrinks.

It wandered, with trepidation;

It crossed the savannah en masse.

Unseen mental stimulation

Propelled on this special class.

The earth's four winds did they follow,

Adjusting to the changing climes.

They hunted, shared and borrowed,

And tired soon of being mimes.

Caves, too, got old – they built structures.

Seeds, they found out, bring tasty fruit.

Finding some food, though, caused ulcers,

Which better weapons soon made moot.

For nature's gifts they'd find a use;

'Twas plentiful this proffered horn.

The creature, now, had no excuse –

On to that for which it was born!

Great cities, ships and iron steeds

Proliferated 'round the globe.

The wonder of these human deeds –

Magnificent, a royal robe!

But, that's all well, for what it's worth;

It's surely not the whole tale told.

The other part is not all mirth –

Or none! – if one should be that bold.

Yea, they're many, spread far and wide.

There's jealousy for others' vaults,

For things others treasure and hide.

To get them, there's no end to how

This treachery may come about.

It may be a pig or a cow;

It may be a well-armed redoubt.

Of course, this coveting drew blood –

And that which one would fain not speak.

Barbarity became a flood;

The strong laid siege over the weak.

That still exists, though with controls –

Self-preservation to the fore.

There're bridges built, and then there're trolls.

There'll always be those who want more.

Having conquered most of the earth,

And having put the birds to shame,

The creature sought another berth;

Outer-space set its heart aflame.

With baby-steps, they reached the moon.

Their eyes are now set on the stars.

They've done all this, and all so soon.

Their lengthy fingers now scratch mars.

With all this done – yet incomplete –

You'd think the creature would relent,

And sit awhile and rest its feet.

But, no; with earth and space in hand,

The creature's ego goes unfilled.

Like Lear, it launches a demand;

That wind and earth's old bones be stilled.

It challenges the very sun,

Whose power makes the earth go 'round.

Could all this be a cruel pun –

A creature, thus, so loosely bound?

It's leaders, now, in Paris meet,

To save the earth – or all be damned.

Unblinkingly, they mount this feat,

Before the door of time is slammed!

How arrogant, this creature, "Human",

So soon after its recent birth,

To think that wee I and you can

Control the air and sea and turf!