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THE EAGLE swooped down and said to the Cockroach, “You are a despicable creature and you are hated by humans. You live everywhere, you eat anything, and you breed like crazy.
“I, on the other hand, am loved by humans. I am so noble and beautiful that many humans use me as a symbol for themselves and their nations.”
The Cockroach replied, “I don’t care what humans think of me. They are not my kind. I don’t exist for their pleasure. I am indifferent to them. You think you’re noble and above me in the big scheme of things? You’re a fool. You and your kind are dying out. You only eat certain things. You only live in certain places. You don’t breed enough. You are not a symbol worth copying. You are death walking.
“All individuals die. I will die. You will die. The difference is, Mr. Big Shot Eagle, that I will live on in the many offspring that I have brought into the world who have my DNA Code within them. When you die, you will cease to exist and your DNA Code will die with you. You might as well not have lived at all.
“However, it is not you or I as the individuals that we see every day in our normal lives that are most important, Mr. Eagle. It is, in the first instance, the Core DNA Code within that is truly important. It is the Core DNA Code that has transformed so-called non-living minerals into what we know as life. All life is the manifestation of the Core DNA Code and its particular variants that make each of us different in our everyday reality. So, in the second instance, what is truly important to each form of life is its particular variant of the Core DNA Code. Your DNA Code variant makes you a particular type of Eagle, mine makes me a Cockroach.
“Some particular DNA Code variants produce dead-end creatures like you, Mr. Eagle, who have specific adaptations, and such creatures are always on the verge of dying out as we live in a dynamic universe where everything changes because everything is moving. Such creatures cannot compete when changes happen.
“And, some particular DNA Code variants produce dead-end creatures like my kind who have general adaptations. Now, bear with me, Mr. Eagle, and I will explain why we are both dead-enders in our own ways. It is a sad knowledge that I possess for both of us.
“We Cockroaches do eat just about anything (and relish it all) and we do live just about anywhere (and are very comfortable) and we do produce many more just like us (gotta love those children) as we expand our particular DNA code. We are the survivors, but we are also trapped, Mr. Eagle. You and your kind are losers because you cannot genetically adapt to ever-changing conditions so you can survive and prosper. We Cockroaches, on the other hand, are losers precisely because we can survive without having to genetically adapt. You see the problem, do you not? No? Well, I will explain in due course
“Now, Mr. Eagle, you spoke of humans, so here’s something about them. Many of them are ignorant of the ways of existence, and they, like you, fail to see that they must adapt and they must breed like us Cockroaches if they are to survive as a distinct life form and if they are to ever fulfill their highest possible destiny which, ironically, is to go extinct as they are now and to become a new model.
“We Cockroaches know, with a cosmic sadness, that while we have survived for millions of years pretty much unchanged, that we are not the end all and be all of evolution, and it is precisely because we haven’t had to change that is our problem.
"Yes, we are both trapped, Mr. Eagle. Your kind and mine. Your kind will die out and will never evolve. My kind will continue to live, but we won’t evolve either. You are imperfect as you are, but you can't change, Mr. Eagle.
"We cockroaches, on the other hand, are perfect as we are, and because of that we can't change either. We long for challenges that will force our particular DNA Code to change in order for us to survive so that we can become more; so that we will become more intelligent and more conscious, but, unfortunately for us, we continue to meet all challenges without evolving. It is sad, in the long run.
“You see, Mr. Eagle, evolution requires change, not stability. Mr. Eagle, you will go extinct — truly extinct — because you are not able to evolve to meet changing conditions because of your special adaptations. And, we Cockroaches will not go extinct either, but it will be because of our general adaptations — we cannot change to a higher form, because we are perfectly capable of meeting most changes in the environment just as we are.
“You look at me, Mr. Eagle, and wonder how I know these things about evolution and destiny, and I say to you, there is more to existence than you or I will ever understand, but I tell you that what I know, I know, and it is true and this knowledge comes from that which brought somethingness to the nothingness and which programmed that first molecule of DNA — that cornucopia of life itself — to endlessly and tirelessly bring forth and tinker with life in order to eventually fill all of existence with a life form that understands the meaning of existence and which is the master of all of existence."
"No, Mr. Eagle, as I already indicated, we cockroaches are not that life form of which I speak. Like you, we are merely observers, and like you, we are locked into our particular fate. You are unable to adapt, and this dooms you. We adapt too easily and with no struggle, and this dooms us.
"We envy the ones who must struggle to adapt, and who do so, Mr. Eagle. They are the inheritors of the Earth."
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COUNTY OF ORANGE WANTS LOCAL LIBRARIES TO SEND THEIR MONEY TO THE COUNTY
Ever go to one of the library book sales where you can buy books at good prices? The CM PRESS goes to them all the time.
The sales and the book stores within the libraries are run by volunteers who call themselves "Friends of the library." It's a great example of private citizen volunteerism, and these volunteers, at the many library book sales we've gone to, always seem to do a great job.
The money raised on the sale of those books goes to support the local libraries.
Now, the County of Orange wants that money to go to the County where it'll be thrown into a general fund to pay for whatever the County wants. Screwy idea.
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