Humans are members of the great ape family Hominidae, and the physical similarities between us and our primate cousins are clear. We have the same arrangement of internal organs and roughly the same number of bones, we lack external tails, and we even get the same diseases. So it only makes sense that we share some psychological similarities as well. A 2012 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesreported that chimpanzees and orangutans experienced a midlife crisis similar to that of humans.
The study analyzed the behavior of 508 chimps and orangutans in captivity at zoos in five different countries, and found that these animals’ well-beinghits its nadiraround their mid-20s or early 30s (the equivalent of middle age for chimps and orangutans). Of course, scientists couldn’t directly ask the chimpanzees how they felt, but instead relied on zookeeper questionnaires to assess the animals’ overall mood, level of joy in social situations, and how successful they were in achieving particular goals. Although the dataset is subjective, its sheer size highlights an overall trend that’s remarkably human, since we also tend to experience a dip in happiness and well-being around midlife. It’s just another trait that entwines us with our primate brethren.
(The following is a repost of something I wrote for The Banter yesterday.)
Bob Cesca WASHINGTON, DC – I can’t stop thinking about the people of Ukraine. Imagine having zero say in an election thousands of miles away – an election that will determine whether your country will be taken over by an authoritarian kleptocrat after so many of your friends and family have been killed in the effort to fight back. Due to the selfishness, hate, and nihilism of 72 million very stupid American voters, Ukraine is faced with the inevitable fate of being seized and annexed by Russia, which could employ battlefield nukes in the process – with the full-throated support and encouragement of the incoming American president. The feeling of helplessness and obvious fear among the people of Ukraine is breaking my heart today. The same goes for everyone here who will be steamrolled by Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda, his economically devastating tariffs, his mass deportations, his maniacal retribution against anyone who speaks out against him, and, worst of all, the mounting effects of the climate crisis. This isn’t just any election loss, this loss will mean the erosion if not elimination of our democratic norms, torn down by an addled mad man who possesses nothing but seething disrespect for anything that actually makes this country great. But that’s why we have no choice but to hold fast to those values and protect them from extinction by reminding people what it really means to live in a pluralistic society built on freedom and inclusion. Our instinct will be to turn away so we don’t have to witness the atrocities. Many of us will consider abandoning politics or leaving the country. But we can’t do that. We can’t let them force us from our homes and lives and what’s important. That’s what they want. They want to make things so shitty that we flee and leave the hollowed out carcass of the nation for them to fully colonize. No matter what, this country still belongs to all of us. And we have an obligation to stand our ground and protect it from the ungainly idiocrats. Like you, I’m grieving today. I might be grieving tomorrow and the next day, too. But soon my grief will dissipate. Yours will, too. Don’t force it. Let it run its course. Take some personal time. Reconnect with non-political things you love. Enjoy your family during the holidays. Once you’ve recovered, lean forward, crack your knuckles, and prepare to defend the values and institutions we all cherish. One of the realities that’s getting me through the day is knowing that second terms don’t usually go very well for presidents. Just ask Ronald Reagan, who faced the Iran-Contra scandal. Ask Bill Clinton, who faced impeachment. Ask George W. Bush, who faced his vice president shooting a guy in the face, the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, a worsening insurgency in Iraq, and a major economic collapse. Events have a way of stacking up against second termers, and what’s abundantly clear to anyone paying attention: while Donald Trump is a fascist menace, he’s also horrendously incompetent and stupid, surrounded by a rogues gallery of equally incompetent and stupid people. Once people realize, no, he’s not returning prices to 2019 levels, and as Donald’s tariffs and mass deportations spike inflation – or trigger another deep recession or both – people will abandon him. The 2026 Senate map is already favorable to the Democrats, and we all know how midterms go for the party in power. Combine that with anger over the incompetence and tyrannical overreach and suddenly the pushback begins to take shape. That optimism aside, this will be a painful era. I’m fully cognizant of my privilege as a white man, but that doesn’t supersede my empathy for so many other vulnerable friends and non-friends alike who will be on the front lines – whether they’re activists facing down the possibility of military crackdowns on peaceful protests, or our LGBTQ friends who will face a Supreme Court that could overturn their freedoms, or our Hispanic friends who could be inadvertently swept up in Donald’s mass deportations. We need to remain vigilant and aware. We need to keep informing people of what’s going on. We have to be the sentinels, warning our non-political friends about incoming emergencies – pandemics, raids, or financial calamities. The first Donald Trump term was a dark ride, and this next one will be even darker. And that means we have work to do. Back in 2016, I borrowed a story from an episode of The West Wing, told by Leo McGarry, the White House chief of staff, to Josh Lyman who was experiencing PTSD from an assassination attempt. This guy’s walking down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can’t get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, “Hey you, can you help me out?” The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up “Father, I’m down in this hole, can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?” And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, “Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here.” The friend says, “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out.” Sadly, we’ve been here before. So, let’s use it – let’s all be that friend who knows the way out
Thomas Edison is often — and incorrectly — given all the credit for inventing the lightbulb. But the lightbulb was actually the result of a processthat began before Edison was even born. In 1802, English chemist Humphry Davy used a voltaic pile(invented by Alessandro Volta, after whom the volt is named) to create the first “electric arc lamp” between charcoal electrodes. His rudimentary lamp was too bright and burned out too quickly, but it was nonetheless an important breakthrough. Other scientists worked to refine the lightbulb, but problems with filaments and batteries made these early bulbs impractical for everyday use. In 1860, English physicist Joseph Swan developed a primitive electric light that utilized a filament of carbonized paper in an evacuated glass bulb. Lack of a good vacuum and an adequate electric source ultimately made it inefficient, but it did pave the way for later innovations, including those by Edison. Edison purchased some of his predecessor’s patents, improved upon them, and came up with his own lightbulb, which, while not the first overall, was the first to be commercially viable.
The Constitution has a provision that disqualifies anyone that engaged in an insurrection from holding office. Trump has been found guilty of that by trials and yet he ran for and won the highest office in the country. The Supreme Court kept one state from removing his name from the ballot by saying he may not hold office but you can’t keep him off the ballot. This court is by it’s actions staffed by some of the dumbest well educated people on the planet. Six are conservative and of the same religion, and none of them seem to be able to think clearly or at least not in accordance with the Constitution. Their presence on the court is a major waste of time and money, not to mention that they know nothing of the law.These justices have openly supported Trump knowing that he should not be allowed to hold office and should be removed from the court. Will Congress or the current President make the effort to invoke the disqualification? It needs to occur and it needs to be upheld. In the current congress there are members that supported the insurrection and they should also be removed from those positions immediately. The lack of any beneficial legislation during the last 4 years because of the loyalty to Trump by the republican members of both houses is enough to remove the majority of them on the basis of the 14th Amendment. As for the rank and file of MAGA let them know that violence will not serve them well. Putting threats on the net or showing up armed in the street will only mean that they are willing to forfeit all they have for a cause that is collapsing around them. Take away voting rights, homes, benefits such as social security and VA benefits. If you are willing to go into the street and possibly kill someone because they do not agree with your point of view then you must be willing to have all that you hold dear taken from you in support of your belief. Sound mean and ugly? But then the leader of the cult wants to take people, some of whom have lived here for years, that are undocumented and put them in camps taking everything they have away from them. The need to get people documented or removed may be necessary but there are ways to do things that save face as they say in Japan. Many people come here to experience freedom as did your ancestors. We are all immigrants in our past. Those earlier immigrants took this land from people that had been here before us and then created a nation under a concept that was different from the norm. That experiment is just a few hundred years old and it has been doing very well, so why do we have so many in our midst that wish to revert back to a dictatorship? The answer is because freedom takes work and effort and far too many have become the generation of the hand out. The give me generation and don’t ask me to do anything to get it, and they think this is going to be better and they are wrong. This is not going to work in anyone’s favor except Trump the biggest give me culprit on the planet.
Authors Note: Sometimes I astonish myself. Before I wrote my last substack about Washington’s Crossing called Kneel. Pray. Win. I had written another one just in case things went South. That moment has come. The United States has voted for a dictatorship … and decisively. The Supreme Court will be lost for most of the century. Women will lose most of their reproductive rights and lives. And white people happily voted to impose tyranny over all other races and creeds. So what can you do that doesn’t involve the good Bourbon?
Let’s face it: America has fundamentally changed from what it was founded to be. It is now an autocracy ruled by the white tribe. Here is what I wrote a few weeks ago for that break-glass moment. Read it and Weep. Then get busy. We have work to do.
Imagine that it is Christmas morning in 1776. You are with George Washington’s army. Midway through the crossing, the Marblehead sailors who are rowing hear something. Before they can say a word, cannons sound all along the New Jersey side of the river. Washington’s daring move is defeated before the boats touch dry land. Imagine British cannon fire raining down on them as surprise British troops had moved from Princeton in the night, and the Hessians were waiting to the south and raking them with gunfire. Now, picture the American experiment slowly drifting as a drowned failure under the ice of the Delaware River … and George Washington’s corpse is being paraded by German mercenaries.
My dear readers, if you are reading this, then the worst has happened. Donald Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States.
You are likely filled with two feelings. Some will be the same as you felt in 2016. You feel shame and grief. But now add a complete collapse of understanding of how the Trump train hit you into the mix. Your wits are torn asunder. Your heart aches and is in deep throbbing pain. You likely feel as if a close loved one has died, and you will be correct.
Like Washington, we risked a bold and daring campaign and since you are reading this, we have failed. Benjamin Franklin’s words now ring true. We were a Republic if we could’ve kept it. We did not and it died today, so Welcome to America, the Tyranny!
The End of 248 Years of Experimenting
What is now dying is the American experiment itself. And as our Russian enemies learned long ago (and passed on to their right-wing extremist toadies) was that the fastest way to kill Democracy was to use Democracy as the very knife to slit its throat. We do not have a president; we now have a King with all the powers George III had at the time of the American Revolution.
In the Star Wars movie Revenge of the Sith, Queen Amidala summed it up neatly when she said, “So this is how Liberty Dies, to thunderous applause.” Our problem is there is no Jedi order full of mystical space wizards to save us. We did this to ourselves by popular demand.
A Trump presidency means the United States is about to get the government his sycophants voted for. You likely feel adrift as a voter of progress, goodwill, and true of heart. We are on a boat alone in a vast ocean filled with terrible storms. But as all mariners know, there is a way for a sinking ship to save its crew and, in some instances, get back aboard and salvage it. But you can’t do it when crying, even if it’s a crying shame.
I feared for America these last few weeks; I believed we would win, but I kept a reserve of 5% caution that this could end in tragedy. (Author’s note: My prediction was 100% correct, and Trump won in a landslide.)
You are most likely feeling fear, trepidation, anxiety, and a burning pain in the middle of your gut that says things are going to get nasty. You are correct in those emotions as well. So, I will give you till the end of this article to feel all of those things and then get with the program.
At the end, I want you to have a deep, sobbing cry. Then I want you to stand up, get a hot beverage, and commit yourself to not surrendering all that you presently feel hold in your heart.
Trust me, I’m a widower, and your psychological well-being demands it. Your family will look to you, and your friends will want to lean on you for the stalwartness you need to develop pronto.
You must Hold Fast! That’s a nautical term to ‘grip the rope more tightly, or disaster will strike a worse blow than the first.’ Hold Fast. To what you know is right and true, and that is not MAGA. So no matter what they send at you, Hold Fast.
But Malcolm, why not just give in?
It is easy to surrender in a storm, to pass under the waves, and slowly die inside. It is easier not to engage, go into isolation, or try comprehending the crisis that befell us. I understand it.
You may want to do what I do when the politics are at their worst. I turn on MTV and watch the vapid video show Ridiculousness, or I dial up Midsomer Murders or Poirot and bingefor hours to cleanse my mind. But while I watch, I am also writing and formulating new ideas to help me with the predicament. I am constantly crafting new plans, whether for my house repairs, Christmas decorations, or memorial garden. Strategizing and adopting major projects is the highest form of grief management. Obsessively getting your affairs in order is something those of us who have lost immediate loved ones well understand.
However, one cannot – nay, must not surrender to the sweet, cold admission that it is hard to fight. It is hard to stand against outrages, insults, and arrogance. But those are your only choices on this day of days. You can surrender to an America that is dictatorial and fascistic and will grind into the day-to-day affairs of your life without any input from you, your friends, or your family. You can let other people dictate what your life will be. That’s why it’s called a dictatorship. Information will now be sent to you in any form of “truth” they want you to see.
Or you can commit to taking some time off between now and inauguration day and prepare yourself for the upcoming political battle. It will not be waged with weapons of war, as many on the extreme right-wing lustfully imagine. In this struggle, you must become the ultimate ally of the true promise of the Constitution of the United States. And, like the oath, we swear in the Armed Forces that we will uphold, protect, and defend that sacred document. The time has come for you to do the same.
I don’t want you to do it in the cheesy Q-Anon, Mike Flynn way of standing in front of a video camera and taking a fake oath for TikTok. I want you to take the moment that hurts you the most, which will likely be high noon on January 20, 2025, and hold it in your heart. Swear to yourself that you will not let this abomination abide without your voice of opposition. Be it in op-ed commentary, Twitter responses, or calling into local radio shows, Facebook, whatever – Swear to make your voice heard because suppressing your voice is next up after suppressing your vote. In fact, they want you to suppress yourself.
Take in the words carved into the Thomas Jefferson memorial as a touchstone, “for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” That’s it. That’s your mission statement. Better memorize it because every form of tyranny over the mind of man is about to be imposed on you.
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Remember Rockwell Too
Interestingly, the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is one of my favorite places in the world. My greatest pleasure is walking into the hall of the Four Freedoms. It has Rockwell’s four iconic paintings facing each other, including the Thanksgiving dinner table themed Freedom from Want. Next is the chilling Freedom from Fear, with the father and mother tucking their sons into bed while reading a newspaper about men dying in the European war. Next is the beautiful Freedom of Worship with its multinational, multi-ethnic hands in prayer. However, the one that touches me the most is freedom of speech. I gasp every time I see it. You must embrace its meaning. You must stand up, even when afraid, and say what you mean and feel. Right now, you feel a miasma of grief and pain. But learn to stand up and say what you mean. Tell everyone what you think is right, honorable, and true … before it is illegal.
Tomorrow, you may feel anger and a desire for change. OK, Stand up and say it. Soon, you may have to choose if you will protest if and when America lurches into a complete dictatorship and/or civil war. But once you have stood up and said you intend to speak up, remember these immortal words at the end of the Declaration of Independence: “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
You, the reader, must understand the stakes of what speaking up means if the nation is to be saved. You must become the most loyal and ardent defender of the founding principles at the risk of your life and fortune. If you cannot risk it for that foundational biscuit, then your voice will just become one of many that will be ignored -like drowning oarsmen in the alternate universe’s Delaware, where prideful British troops drink mulled wine and piss on your body. Nobody wants that.
Right now, your MAGA neighbors v will likely view you as a foreign enemy to be intimidated, detained, or destroyed.
Be sure that the next four years will be a time of turmoil, economic hardship, and possibly civil unrest. Before you can follow instructions on navigating through it, you must first organize. Get your lifeboats back together, tie your fortunes to each other, and move with a purpose in opposition to the storm threatening to scuttle your hopes, dreams, and families.
Today is the day to let go of the mourning and make the American Experiment work again.
Have a good cry. Spin on your heel, get a coffee, and Lets Fucking Go.
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I am disheartened that a majority of voting Americans have decided that a democracy is no longer something they want. The rule of law has been defined to protect the wealthy and when Donald retakes the reins of power grievance will become the rule.
All those that claim that our economy is failing will be the first to rejoice in the strength of the economy in January 20,2025 and claim that Trump is the reason for it. All the positives of the past 4 years he will take credit for and erasing the legacy of President Biden will be number one on his agenda.
Once he implements is tariffs and his mass deportation policies the economy will collapse and the republicans will blame it all on Joe Biden.
I am sad and terrified for the future of my son and his generation. If you are female or don’t have white skin you can look forward to becoming a second class citizen.
The point where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet is a fascinating natural phenomenon, often characterized by a visible line where the two bodies of water appear to clash but do not fully mix. This unique phenomenon occurs primarily due to differences in the salinity, temperature, and density of each ocean’s water. While these differences do not create a solid barrier, they create a gradient that makes it difficult for the waters to fully blend, resulting in a striking contrast that can be seen on the surface. One of the most notable places where this phenomenon occurs is at Cape Horn, the southern tip of South America, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic. Here, the waters of the Pacific, typically cooler and less salty, encounter the warmer, saltier waters of the Atlantic. These differences cause each ocean to retain its unique characteristics for a while before they gradually blend through diffusion and currents. This phenomenon is further influenced by powerful ocean currents, like the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which flows around Antarctica and affects the waters where these oceans converge. Such currents contribute to the distinct separation line that travelers often observe in photos and videos. Beyond the physical aspects, the meeting of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans has long held symbolic and cultural significance. It represents a natural boundary between two vast and diverse ecosystems, each home to unique marine life adapted to its environment. This convergence zone also poses challenges for marine navigation, as the differing currents, temperatures, and wave patterns can create unpredictable conditions, making it a notorious area for sailors. Scientists study these oceanic differences to understand more about climate patterns, marine biodiversity, and the ways in which these two major bodies of water influence global systems. This meeting point between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans serves as a powerful reminder of the complexities of our planet’s natural processes and the unseen forces shaping life within and around these waters.
It’s Election Day, I feel good about the possibility of our Democratic Republic continuing but I still have PTSD from 2016. The reality that the race is statistically so close even after the Republican Nominee is a convicted felon and adjudicate guilty of sexual assault is something I never thought possible, but here we are.
I honestly don’t trust the polls because the main stream media wants a horse race and I can’t, or at least don’t want to, admit that more than half of our voters want this experiment to end.
In 1584, the first English colony in North America was founded in what is now North Carolina. And though the 117 settlers who comprised the Roanoke Colony mysteriously disappeared three years later, ensuing waves of settlements established England’s presence on the continent for generations to come. By 1770, the total population of Great Britain’s 13 colonies in America was approximately 1.5 million. It raises the question: Since much of the population of the fledgling U.S. descended from Brits, would the American speech pattern at the time have sounded British? Could someone like George Washington, one of the most famous early Americans, have had a British accent?
Since Washington lived in an era that predates sound recordings, we don’t have a simple answer to that question in the form of audio records of the founding father’s voice. But we can determine some possibilities by piecing together factors from Washington’s life that would have impacted the way he spoke.
Washington was born in 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and spent most of his childhood near Fredericksburg. His father, Augustine Washington, and mother, Mary Ball Washington, were also born in Virginia. Indeed, George Washington’s lineage in the colony went back two more generations — it was his great-grandfather John Washington who set sail from England and established the family in Virginia. So America’s first president wasn’t from a family of recent British settlers; he was three generations removed, and the household he grew up in wouldn’t have necessarily spoken an accent that was common in England at the time.
Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void 
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