Is Mankind's Future Evolution Already Within Us?

Geneticists examining the differences between Neanderthal DNA and the DNA of modern man have discovered that for each species different parts of the overall design have been switched on and off. The difference between Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens is in the on-off pattern of the switches.

A program. 

Combinations of the switches appear to produce an effect like a volume control, making arms more or less longer, brains more or less larger.

One wonders... are there gene switches waiting to be toggled in modern man that can produce a post-modern individual? Does the next version of the genus lie within us?

Should mankind artfully become its future self?

The Gift To Progressives From The Ultra-Right

As equal marriage rights for all are instituted in state after state, and across the world in country after country, American gays have the Westboro Baptist Church to thank for making homophobia look totally ridiculous.

Similarly, the Koch brothers have managed to fund so many kooky ultra-right wing causes that parts of conservatism now look ridiculous to mainstream America. They have split the Republican Party.

Lately, the Supreme Court has allowed unlimited corporate funding of candidates for office. This may not work out well, either. Corporate funding of politicians will not be secret. A politician will be known by the bulges in his pocket. Crowd-funding, which his opponent may use, is growing by leaps and bounds.

The crowd of corporations that funds a candidate may be his halo. Or more likely his albatross.

Visibility Is Killing The Security State

 The security agencies - the FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, DEA and others - have been benefited in recent years from the increasing visibility of the human population. But they never expected to become increasingly visible themselves. Eek. They just can't live that way.


 The idea that data wants to be free never occurred to them.

 Back around 1965, Gordon Moore of Intel noticed that every two years, the number of transistors that could be put in a chip doubled. Computing power was doubled. This two-year doubling rate has continued in a general way to this day. The recent fall in price of the USB flash drives (thumb), from two dollars a gigabyte to two gigabytes per dollar, was a stunning example, an adjustment where two doublings of efficiency occurred. What falls behind, catches up.

 This makes owning data easier and easier. Twice as easy every two years. Stuff gets passed around. Stuff of interest goes further. Hot stuff goes viral.

 Anything still secret in this world is a curiosity target. What are they hiding? The harder they hide it, the hotter it gets. The harder the security state hides what they're up to, the farther through the human world the knowledge of it moves.

 The better the security state becomes known, the more clearly its former mistakes and crimes are seen. Yet they make mistakes even now.

 In all probability, the security agencies are not yet preparing to adapt to the increasing visibility they will face over the next several decades. At five doublings a decade, visibility will increase 32 times over ten years. People I don't know will be emailing me, telling me to trim my toenails.

 Us and them. They have toenails, too. And their toenails really need clipping.