Ear here

"In your heart you know he's right."

Unless my memory has gone wonky that phrase was associated with the presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater in 1964.  It was clever in the way it alluded to Goldwater's conservative and right-wing views but in comparison to today's conservative wing of the GOP he looks more like a moderate to me.  The US involvement in Vietnam was at a low level in 1964 but there were fears that the hawkish Goldwater would start a nuclear catastrophe.  Remember this ad?  An unfair portrayal, and we know how well things worked out for the peace-loving LBJ; the best laid plans don't always work out so well.  Although much further right than my own political views I liked some of the things that Goldwater said, such as "You can't legislate morality." But now that I think of it I'm not so sure since Mr. Beagles has lured me into the latest rabbit hole.

Where to begin with the nature of "right and wrong?"  I'll begin with my assertion that it is a uniquely human construct, unknown in the rest of the natural kingdom.  But right and wrong can be fuzzy in their distinction depending on circumstances.  I get bogged down in the paradoxical nature of human behavior and suspect that there are few, if any, absolute values that we all share, all the time.

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Before I stick my foot in my mouth I have a question about philosophy in general.  Isn't it a luxury only possible once you have a safe and stable society and the time to ponder the mysteries of life?  We know about the philosophers of the city states of ancient Greece but how about the barbarian tribes of northern Europe?  The only guys we know about are the ones whose writings have survived and I wonder what we may have missed.  And why is it that philosophy is such a male-dominated realm?  Have the views of women been suppressed or ignored, save those of Ayn Rand?  I ask about this stuff because although I don't mind looking dumb I don't like being dumb.

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As a side note to the discussion of genealogy and genetics there are procedures that combine the two in criminal investigations and it's kind of interesting.  As more and more people have their DNA logged into databases it becomes easier to find the bad guys.  A criminal might not have his DNA on record but he can be tracked down if his distant cousin has his or her DNA on file; this is where genealogical records come into play with good detective work.  Maybe they can finally identify Jack the Ripper, if they haven't already but are keeping it a secret.  We can run but we can't hide.

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Did you ever notice anything strange about Mickey Mouse's ears?  No matter which angle they are viewed from they are always ovals or circles which make me believe that his ears are very un-mouselike.  What the hell kind of critter has ears that are oblate spheroids or are we to believe that they rotate freely?  There's something screwy going on in the Magic Kingdom.