Three Americas

It is a new America, to be spiritualized by each new American

3 notes

There is one common misunderstanding about the inner operations of a honeybee colony that I must dispel at the outset, namely that a colony is governed by a benevolent dictator, Her Majesty the Queen. The belief that a colony’s coherence derives from an omniscient queen (or king) telling the workers what to do is centuries old, tracing back to Aristotle and persisting until modern times… What is true is that a colony’s queen lies at the heart of the whole operation, for a honeybee colony is an immense family consisting of the mother queen and her thousands of progeny. It is also true that the many thousands of attentive daughters (the workers) of the mother queen are, ultimately, all striving to promote her survival and reproduction. Nevertheless, a colony’s queen is not the Royal Decider…. Indeed, there is no all-knowing central planner supervising the thousands and thousands of worker bees in a colony. The work of the hive is instead governed collectively by the workers themselves, each one an alert individual making tours of inspection looking for things to do and acting on her own to serve the community. Living close together, connected by the network of their shared environment and a repertoire of signals for informing one another of urgent labor needs - for example, dances that direct foragers to flowers brimming with sweet nectar - the workers achieve an enviable harmony of labor without supervision.
Thomas D. Seeley, Honeybee Democracy (via artofthehive)

7 notes

legendarystories: The Peacock and the Tortoise The peacock and the tortoise were great friends. One day a bird-catcher stumbled upon the stunning bird, and wished to catch it and bring it back home. The peacock requested to at least say his farewell to his friend, the tortoise. He offered the bird-catcher a pearl which he caught in the sea as a replacement for his friend. He accepted and freed the peacock. The bird-catcher returned to claim a second priceless treasure. If he didn’t acquire it, he would capture the peacock and this time bring the animal to town. The clever tortoise asked for the pearl back in order to find a similar one in the sea. A foolish man he was, for the bird catcher gave back the pearl to the sea creature, who ultimately dived in the sea and left the greedy and gullible bird catcher without any treasure. 

legendarystories:

The Peacock and the Tortoise

The peacock and the tortoise were great friends. One day a bird-catcher stumbled upon the stunning bird, and wished to catch it and bring it back home. The peacock requested to at least say his farewell to his friend, the tortoise. He offered the bird-catcher a pearl which he caught in the sea as a replacement for his friend. He accepted and freed the peacock. The bird-catcher returned to claim a second priceless treasure. If he didn’t acquire it, he would capture the peacock and this time bring the animal to town. The clever tortoise asked for the pearl back in order to find a similar one in the sea. A foolish man he was, for the bird catcher gave back the pearl to the sea creature, who ultimately dived in the sea and left the greedy and gullible bird catcher without any treasure. 

20 notes

afrodiaspores: Portrait of Marie Laveau by Frank Schneider (in the style of an earlier painting by George Catlin), ca. 1920s Historical reports often confuse Marie Laveau I with her daughter Marie Laveau II, who succeeded her mother as voodoo queen. While there is little that is certain about the life of Marie Laveau I, it is known that she was a lifelong member of St. Louis Cathedral and, beyond her supernatural powers, was beloved for her kindness. She nursed yellow fever patients and comforted those awaiting the gallows, reportedly bringing gumbo to the condemned.

afrodiaspores:

Portrait of Marie Laveau by Frank Schneider (in the style of an earlier painting by George Catlin), ca. 1920s

Historical reports often confuse Marie Laveau I with her daughter Marie Laveau II, who succeeded her mother as voodoo queen. While there is little that is certain about the life of Marie Laveau I, it is known that she was a lifelong member of St. Louis Cathedral and, beyond her supernatural powers, was beloved for her kindness. She nursed yellow fever patients and comforted those awaiting the gallows, reportedly bringing gumbo to the condemned.