Leonardo on PBS & the Met Museum

Caught the end of an interesting show on PBS about Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks and studies.

They have a nice website with some good links:
http://www.pbs.org/now/arts/davinci.html

One of links is for the exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY - "Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman" that was shown in the winter of 2003. I had the priviledge of seeing this huge collection of Leonardo's drawings and sketches in February with my sister and a group of friends for my birthday. It was overwhelming trying to experience and appreciate all the work displayed.

Seeing this exhibit and the Dalí show in Philly were 2 of the most significant events in my life, because I have studied those two artists since I first started learning about art as a kid. I remember reading a book on Leonardo's biography & artwork for a book report in like 5th grade. The third great master left that I want to see is Picasso. There needs to be a exhibit for ol' Pablo soon! There are his pieces in the Phil. Art Museum, but I'm talking about a large-scale exhibit. Seeing the volume of work of great artists like these is pretty awe-inspring.

Crazy Wisdom Quotes Updated

I updated my collection of Crazy Wisdom Quotes.

Enjoy.

Psychic Mind Reader

This is a pretty cool game:
Flash Mind Reader
Read the directions carefully, see what symbol represents the number you come up with, and click the crystal ball.

I actually looked online to see how they did this.
Don't read until you try to figure it out yourself!!!

Here is a simpler explanation (highlight to read):
Every answer to the formula is a multiple of "9" - 18, 27, 36, 45, etc
The symbols are randomized every time,
but the multiples of 9 always show the same symbol.
This symbol will be the answer.

'Party of Values'

Guess what the 'values' are? Money, Power, and Political Revenge!

To all my GOP friends & family... it's never too late to register as an Independent!

Scandal Stalls Bush's Second Term

House of Representatives:
House Majority Leader Tom Delay Indicted in Texas Fundraising Probe
Tom Delay Exercises His Right to Incriminate Himself

Senate:
Inquiry into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's Insider Trading Upgraded to Formal Investigation

White House:
A White House Smear
Cheney Directly Involved With CIA Leak Scandal
Bush Directly Involved With CIA Leak Scandal
(This scandal is the worst because it involves the exposure of an important undercover national security operation for nothing but vindictive political payback.)

What do ya expect to happen
when Americans don't care about politics & government?!?
Heh, heh, heh...

Truth in Numbers

The anti-war rallies around the country 9/24/05 were obviously not aimed at our soldiers. How can you have anything but the utmost respect for people of your own generation willing to give their life for the safety of our country?

What the majority of Americans now understand is that the civilian leadership has intentionally misled and incompetently handled this entire invasion/occupation in a way that is hard to describe except for 'criminal'.

It is not the military, or even war, that is objectional. I consider myself pacifist, but I recognize that national defense is an unavoidable reality. However... what is not just objectionable, but truly dangerous, is misleading the country into a war of aggression that violated international conventions and America's ideals, and then entangling our military assests in a nationalist insurgency. Meanwhile, our domestic situation is grim and our Treasury has been reduced to one big I.O.U. There needs to be complete and overwhelming opposition to this Administration's destructive policies. These protests and demonstrations are one step in holding the government leadership accountable for their failures.

Washington, DC

September 24, 2005

• Pro-Peace: @100,000-300,000 People





• Pro-War: @200-400 People

"Please tell us more lies, Mr. President!!!!!"

"Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9)

"War creates peace
like hate creates love."
- David Wilson

"Terrorism is the war of the poor,
War is the terrorism of the rich."
- Peter Ustinov

"A patriot must always be willing to defend
his country against his government."
- Edward Abbey

"Winning a thousand battles is not the supreme excellence.
The supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies
without even having to fight them."
- Sun Tzu

"If there is one principle more deeply rooted
in the mind of every American,
it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest."
- Thomas Jefferson

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can,
only as one who has seen
its brutality, its futility, its stupidity."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Secrets of Da Vinci's Challenge

As a designer, I feel that all my work can be considered art - regardless of whether it's a package graphics, art for stationery products, or toy/game design. "Da Vinci's Challenge" is a special case for me, though, because it carries more of a classic sense of what art is; a creation that can evoke intellectual and emotional response, holds symbolic meaning, and has a unique aesthetic value.

The most amazing thing about "Da Vinci's Challenge" as a piece of functional art is its timeless heritage. The pattern of interlocking circles that defines the playing surface of the gameboard is an ancient symbol known throughout history by various names; The Flower of Life, the Language of Light, and the Language of Silence... all of which hint at the transcendental and mysterious essence of this beautiful design.

Flower of Life Carving at Osirian Temple in Egypt

The oldest known physical example of this symbol is in the 6,000 year old Osirian Temple in Abydos, Egypt. The temple was a subterranean complex dedicated to Osiris, the god symbolizing death and regeneration... the afterlife and resurrection. The once-underground chambers are the most ancient of all the ancient Egyptian ruins. "The Flower of Life" symbol is carved with laser-like accuracy on huge granite blocks in the temple walls.

In the context of ancient Egyptian mystery religions, "The Flower of Life" represented the infinite, yet structured matrix that subtly forms the reality we experience. This underlying order can be called God, the Universe, the Quantum Field, the Tao, or whatever you prefer to call it. It is the complete, all-encompassing flux of the world- from the smallest electron fields to the largest scales of the cosmos.



This symbol was used by ancient priests and spiritual initiates as a mandala, a geometric or symbolic pattern that is used to focus on a particular state of mind or experience. "The Flower of Life" was used as a meditation on Unity and Interconnectedness. This is not some metaphysical, abstract mumbo-jumbo, but reflects the basic nature of the world we live in.

Every aspect of the universe is connected and meshed at a base level. Science has firmly demonstrated the mystical concept that the cosmos is nothing but patterns of energy vibration interacting at different levels. The real Mystery is how this seemingly random quantum soup organizes itself into recognizable forms and a mind that can perceive these forms. It's easy to say, "God does it all." God IS the mystery, though, so in order to really understand this statement, one has to really investigate the Mystery!

When you look into ideas such as sacred geometry, divine proportion, fractals, physics, cosmology, and other such disciplines, you gain a greater appreciation for the beauty and unexplainable complexity of the universe. The greater your awareness of the structure and nature of reality, the better prepared you will be to utilize it to the benefit of yourself and others. Because of the connective neural structure of the human brain, our mental perceptions of the entire universe are based on our perceived patterns of causal or physical connection. "The Flower of Life" perfectly illustrates this ordered intricate web of scale, structure, and vibration that defines the world. "The Flower of Life" represents the face of God more ideally than any anthropomorphic painting by Michelangelo.

Besides the philosophical meaning that can be drawn from "The Flower of Life" symbol, there is also rich mathematical knowledge that can be found within the perfectly symmetrical form of interlocking circles. Leonardo da Vinci used his keen intellect and sense of observation to study the geometries found within the Flower of Life.

Flower of Life Studies 
by Leonardo da Vinci

  

The pattern is deceptively easy to create. It is begun by simply overlapping 2 identical circles, so the edge of each circle touches the midpoint of the other.



This symbol itself is one of the most ancient and universal symbols known to man. The intersecting circles form a central shape called the 'Vesica Pisces' which, in Christian art, is the basis for the 'Jesus fish' and also the symbol of the womb that the Virgin Mary is often portrayed within. This is a symbol more widely used and much older than Christianity, though. It is a symbol of life, creation, vision, and birth. Incidentally, the Vesica Pisces also defines the energy patterns that lead cells to organize into vital human forms such as the eye, the urethra, the womb, and the mouth. When you start to see such patterns in nature, it is almost as if you are looking into the programming code of reality and the mind.

The third circle is added by placing its midpoint on one of the places where the first two circles intersect. Now the pattern has been establish and it becomes a self-replicating pattern. This step in the pattern can be seen to symbolize the Trinity where a third-dimension of Spirit and Space define the Creation pattern so it becomes a self-regulating phenomenon. From now on, a circle can be placed with its midpoint centered anywhere that the edges of two other circles intersect. The pattern can continue to be repeated and extended endlessly.

A circle is considered rightly to be the perfect form. It represents 'oneness' and 'completeness' its edge has no beginning and no end, but a definite form. This is the fundamental shape that represents the planets, the stars, the moon, the eye, bubbles, water drops. It is the most efficient and sound way to structure matter.

A circle is also the most pleasing to the eye, because of the structural self-similarity. This is easy to prove through understanding human nature. When we are first born, our mind is programmed to search for circles!!! We are automatically drawn to the circular eyes of our mother for recognition, and the round nipples of our mother for nourishment.

This is truly the universal form, and has become the optimal natural shape to guide the survival instincts of human life. Even when we grow older, we are entranced by the circle and compelled to reproduce and continue our species through such mechanisms as our attraction to the 'round' parts of the anatomy. This is part of the wonder of the process of nature and how it is organized in such a fascinating, yet effective way.


The symbol made from the seven circles at the center of "The Flower of Life" is called "The Seed of Life". It can be seen as a metaphor for the 7 days of Genesis from which all Creation expands out of the One, the single center circle. From this basis, the pattern of Creation can expand indefinitely and can contain endless number and types of forms. "The Flower of Life" is a representation of the infinite, yet orderly, matrix that describes both the interconnected structure of the mind and of the Universe that it perceives.


The shapes and colors of the game pieces in "Da Vinci's Challenge" represent the duality that seems to be ingrained in our mental experiences and perceptions. The patterns that are made using these shapes on the game board can be seen as a representation of the infinite forms that can arise from the underlying matrix of order in the Universe and in our brains. The dual black and white colors, as well as the triangle and long oval shapes can be thought of as representations of yin and yang, male and female, active and passive, 0 and 1 binary characteristics that our duality-based consciousness is trained to experience.

By contemplating the overall, random pattern these shapes make when they are all placed on the the underlying matrix of the game board by the end of the game- you can draw comparisons to the structure and nature of the universe and the infinite forms that also arise from basic elements and principles.

All good art and symbolism packs the maximum amount of information in the minimum amount of space. "The Flower of Life" has been recognized throughout history as a symbol of prime importance because of the infinite amount of geometric, spiritual, and symbolic information that it can represent.


I encourage you to explore the concepts I've talked about here to help deepen your understanding of your own mind and the world we experience through the limiting filter of the mind. From the beginning of its conception, "Da Vinci's Challenge" has always been intended to be a source of insight, inspiration, and a connection to timeless wisdom for everyone who encounters it.

Most of all, I hope it continues to be a source of enjoyment and bonding for those who play it.

The Official Facebook Page: 

Da Vinci's Challenge 

We ARE the Web

Check out this thought-provoking look at the evolution, immensity, and possibilites of the Internet, by Wired magazine. There are 5 pages and it's a very interesting read...

"This planet-sized computer is comparable in complexity to a human brain.

Both the brain and the Web have hundreds of billions of neurons (or Web pages).

Each biological neuron sprouts synaptic links to thousands of other neurons,
while each Web page branches into dozens of hyperlinks.

That adds up to a trillion "synapses" between the static pages on the Web.

The human brain has about 100 times that number -
but brains are not doubling in size every few years,...

...the Machine is."

(This unexplainable similarity on different scales is another example of our Fractal Reality.)

Da Vinci's Challenge Award Update

I have updated my awards post for the game, with two new entries; recognition from the Canadian Toy Testing Council and Dr. Toy.

Da Vinci's Challenge Awards

Lifting the Veil of War

This story is really shocking in its possible implications.

Basically, two undercover British commandos ended up being detained in the Iraqi city of Basra. They were apparantly wearing local Arab clothing, but were driving a car full of weapons, ammo, explosives, and remote detonators. When confronted by Iraqi police, they shot and killed police and civilians and tried to get away. They were apprehended and jailed, but they were broken out by British tanks that smashed down the walls! It was really important to get these guys out of incarcaration! It's not like like they were being held by Al-Qaeda, they were in the hands of the authorities.

The disturbing possibility this situation reveals is that not all the car bombs and 'insurgent' attacks are perpetrated by Iraqis. When our American military is hit, you can be sure it is Iraqi fighters setting the bombs. However, this incident makes all attacks on civilians suspect, because now we see there could be a covert 'divide & conquer' strategy going on by the occupying forces.

The media is already spinning it as soldiers dressed in civilian clothes collecting information, but do you need all this weaponry and gear just to collect information?

Organic HTML

OrganicHTML

A site that interprets web code into ikebana, which is a Japanese art of expression using flowers and plants.

Some more info on this cool concept:
dataisnature.com
infosthetics.com

Here's the crazy-looking 'Plant of Death' that generates from The Monkey Buddha:

Burning Bush

When things get really crazy, sometimes the only thing left to do is laugh.
I dare you not to laugh at these clips!!!

• Andy Dick plays President Bush's 'Speechalist,' Harlan McCraney. Video

• Will Ferrell shows us what happens behind the scenes at the ranch in Crawford. Video

• Ed Helms from The Daily Show discusses Hurrican Katrina. Video

The best part of that last clip is their list of Bush Administration Disasters (B.A.D.?)...,
which are obviously being carried out in alphabetical order...


Osama & Jenna... Queer Revolt... Zero People Left on Earth... I'm laughing just typing these out!
I was cracking up when I saw this on TV, but that's why I watch The Daily Show every night.

The Human Dilemma

Being faced with a situation as immense and devastating as this hurricane has a jarring effect on people. The situation makes you face, on a consious or subconsious level, the dilemma of the human experience. There is a saying that evokes it quite nicely:

"Be noble, for you are made of stars.
Be humble, for you are made of dung."

I think about that quote all the time. Seeing corpses floating on the water makes us face that one inevitable day where we, too, will be nothing but rotting flesh. We are bodies lumbering around, but... driven by an inner light and energy that is the great mystery. This subtle, yet all-encompassing light is the other side of the coin, the spark of motivation that, once faced with the reality of death, accepts the struggle and continues onward because there is nothing left to fear. It is evident in the compassionate souls who are motivated by empathy to help their fellow human beings in whatever way they can, especially in such a time when so many people are experiencing such misery. To say the situation (or anything, for that matter) is good or bad in an absolute sense is not realistic because there is no isolated cause and effect in the universe. It is beyond simplistic, human ideas as 'good' or 'bad'. Is there a 'bad' galaxy'? On such unimaginable scales, these terms are as significant as a dust particle settling on an ocean floor.

Really contemplating this kind of crisis not only destroys the normal conception of quality, but it also throws the concept of scale through a loop. Each life is such a complex thing, and miraculously beautiful. The immense process of human life functioning on this planet is also enough to fill anyone with wonder. However, a disaster like this shows how fleeting and tiny the human race truly is on a cosmic scale. The idea of thousands of luminous human lives being snuffed out for no reason is alot to face. We should question what makes us human and what are we going to do with this moment, and each of the limited number we get to experience only once.

Fractal Reality

Speaking of imponderables, here are some more amazing fractal animations.

Fractals are one of the most important modern conceptual tools in understanding the structure of reality.

We live in a Fractal Universe!

www.fractalus.com

Fractal Animations
Fractals are said to have 2 1/2 dimensions - because even though it is a flat surface, it has infinite repeating detail that you can zoom "into" forever.

DaVinci's Challenge, Now in Most Major Retailers!!!

I took a ride around the shopping centers yesterday and saw Da Vinci's Challenge on the shelf at Target! It should be in almost all of the big chains within the next couple weeks. It has already been in Barnes & Noble, Borders Books, Toys R' Us, and the specialty retailers for about half a year. The Wal-Mart by my work didn't have it yet, but its being renovated into a Super-Mega-Giant Wal-Mart, so they are a little disorganized right now.

It's definitely exciting and mind-blowing to see my creation in stores across the country, but unfortunately my pragmatic and skeptical nature always expects the worse. I just can't help thinking that either; nobody will buy it, I'll die before it gets really popular, or we'll all be destroyed in a nuclear armageddon if it really starts taking off. Even getting to this point, though, is something I've always been working toward and hoped for, but never really expected.

I think the key thing I've learned from my experience so far is that you have to recognize that you can actively create and form your reality, with the right awareness and intention. We sleepwalk through so much of our life... unquestioning & unaware ...and, as a result, find ourselves hopeless slaves to our situation and surroundings. 'Reality' is nothing but the perceptions of your own mind...

Anyway, here are some snapshots of retail game shelves I took with my camera phone:

Target

Toys R' US (in Times Square NYC!)
Barnes & Noble
(The first time I saw it on a store shelf)

Oops, My Mistake...

At first, I attributed the problems of our so-called leaders in dealing with the crisis caused by Hurricane Katrina mostly to sheer incompetence and diverted resources in Iraq.

I had a huge paradigm shift, though, when my friend Phil was discussing with me the plan to renovate the area as a resort/casino haven like Las Vegas. Suddenly the lack of action to minimize the flooding and destruction of property, and the desire to remove all the poor residents out of the area made perfect sense. Pay these displaced souls some rock-bottom compensation, bulldoze the city, and build up a profit-generating developer's paradise. It may be considered cynical to think that the people in power would not prevent a major US port city from being destroyed so private developers, companies, and the government can make a killing from a new resort/port area, but I think it is simply naíve not to consider it, especially considering the dismal track record of this White House regarding public vs. corporate interests.

Developers Had Wanted New Orleans to be a Las Vegas

I also had a debate with my Mom about how much blame to put on Bush individually. I don't believe that President Bush himself mis-managed all the federal responses, the rebuilding contracts, and the gas price-gouging. That's Dick Cheney's job... duh!!! (Where do you think he was the first week of the crisis? I guess it takes time to plan the systematic exploitation of the American people for the benefit of Halliburton and KBR.) Her argument was... why didn't Clinton build up the levees, etc? I'm glad she eggs me on and makes me really consider my position on these matters (which is usually summed up as; George W. Bush and his Administration are a malignant cancer devouring this country).

Regardless of how much people would like to blame Clinton, the local governments, or the "sinners" at Mardi Gras, the facts are the facts.

**The report quoted below has plenty of concrete examples of the Bush Administration and Congress's mismanagement of our national resources. I'm an Independent, so I don't automatically think Bill Clinton or the Democrats are some kind of saints. However, compared to the corrupt, incompetent Oil-garchy sucking the life out of this nation, even Mr. Burns from The Simpsons looks like a responsible, caring leader!

The Bush administration's policy of turning over wetlands to developers almost certainly also contributed to the heightened level of the storm surge. In 1990, a federal task force began restoring lost wetlands surrounding New Orleans. Every two miles of wetland between the Crescent City and the Gulf reduces a surge by half a foot. Bush had promised "no net loss" of wetlands, a policy launched by his father's administration and bolstered by President Clinton. But he reversed his approach in 2003, unleashing the developers. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency then announced they could no longer protect wetlands unless they were somehow related to interstate commerce.

Excellent...
I'm finally winning them over!

Emperor Zero

As Rome burned, Emperor Nero fiddled.

As New Orleans drowns, and the USA sinks along with it, Bush fiddles with a guitar.

Yahoo! News 8/30/05

As always, a goddamn disgrace.

He can't even pretend to play the guitar
without help from someone.

The Disaster President

What a national tragedy, for so many different reasons.

By wasting both our military and our treasury in an unwinnable foreign occupation, the Bush Administration has once again proven that its own criminal incompetence is a greater source of terror and chaos for America than any former CIA-sponsored Muslim boogeymen living in caves. The complete inability to make rational decisions by our leaders has furthered the destruction of a major American port city.

New Orleans District of Army Corp. Of Enginners Face Budget Cuts
(from 6/05!)

Louisiana Nat'l Guard Troops Watch Katrina from Iraq

A Diminished FEMA Scrambles to the Rescue

• And if you actually need complete, irreffutable proof that the so-called President is not only incompetent beyond belief, but also a serial liar...
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." - George W. Bush


Neither Director of Security Chertoff nor FEMA Director Michael Brown have any disaster or crisis management experience. They are lawyers and political hacks.

By the way, Michael Chertoff the Director of Homeland Security who is all over the TV after this hurricane is a DUAL-CITIZEN!!!
WTF?
Does it make anyone feel safer knowing that Bush & Cheney have placed our national security and crisis management in the hands of a person with dual loyalties, and to a country that has been caught spying in the Pentagon and feeding our intelligence false information that has led us to war, no less!

The political levee is only beginning to break for the establishment in Washington DC.

Simpsons Humor

Ralph Wiggum: "I bent my Wookie!!!"

The (sometimes) Subtle Wit of "The Simpsons"

Principal Skinner: "Mr. Burns, what is the secret to your success?"
Mr. Burns: "Family, religion, and friends...
...these are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business."

Chief Wiggum: "Ralphie is so incredible, the special schools are all over him."

Homer: "I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there... save me Superman!"

Store Sign: "Mom & Pop Hardware: A Subsidiary of Global Dynamics Corporation"

Homer: "Alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

Saleswoman: "...this is the first toy made for children, by children, with all profits going to children."
Lisa: "Really"
Saleswoman: "Well we're all somebody's children!"

Reverend Lovejoy (in a sermon about the 'Movementarians'): "This so called new religion is nothing but a pack of weird rituals and chants designed to take away the money of fools. Let us say the Lord's prayer 40 times, but first let's pass the collection plate."

Intelligent Design in Iraq

Guess what? There is none!!!

Faith, tough talk, and hope are nice...
but strategy, planning, and some sort of grasp of reality are much more effective.

The Art of War

"The Art of War" by legendary Chinese general Sun-Tzu is the classic source of military strategy, written 2,400 years ago. All I'll say is.. read these excerpts, and you might grasp the insane incompetence of the people who created and are now running this physically-impossible and illogical "War on Terror," and the Iraq occupation.

"War is a matter of vital importance to the state; a matter of life or death, the road to either survival or ruin."

"All war is based on deception."

"A sovereign cannot launch a war because he is enraged or resentful. For while an angered man may again be happy, and a resentful man may again be pleased, a state that has perished cannot be restored, nor can the dead be brought back to life. Therefore, the enlightened ruler is prudent and is warned against rash action, thus the state is kept secure and the army is preserved."

"If troops are attacking cities, their strength will be exhausted. When the army engages in extended campaigns, the resources of the state will be depleted. When your weapons are dulled, your strength exhausted, and treasure spent, the leaders of the neighboring states will take advantage of your crisis to act. In that case, no man, however wise, will be able to avert the disastrous consequences that will occur."

"There has never been a prolonged war which benefited a country."

"Treat the prisoners of war good and care for them."

"In war the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this."

"To win one-hundred battles is not the ultimate skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence."

"Know the enemy and know yourself;
in a hundred battles you will never be defeated."

"An army which fights in the hope of winning, but without any planning, is destined to be defeated."

"Those skilled in war cultivate their policies and strictly adhere to the laws and regulations."

"He who occupies the field of battle first and awaits his enemy is at ease; He who comes later to the scene and rushes into the fight becomes weary."

"It is a doctrine of war to avoid presuming that the enemy will not attack, but rather to make oneself invincible."

"In war, numbers alone do not guarantee an advantage."

"When the general is morally weak and without authority, when his instructions and guidance are not enlightened, when there are no consistent rules to guide the officers and men, the result is disorganization."

"To achieve a uniform level of valor relies on a good military administration."

"What in the hell is a 'Sun-Tzu'?
Gee wiz, everyone knows
Hermann Goering is my man!!!"

My Newest Hero...

Link to story on www.canada.com

Bill Moyer , 73, wears a "Bullshit Protector" flap over his ear
while President George W. Bush addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

That is why they are called The Greatest Generation...
because they know how to stand up to fascists!!!

It must be torture for a vet like Bill, who risked so much for this country, to sit there and listen to jingoistic BS about war and sacrifice from the most incompetent pretend Commander-in-Chief ever to be installed by the Supreme Court. How can anyone not cover their ears at this point?

PostSecret

From both a graphic and psychological standpoint,
this blog is a moving and intense thing to experience:
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

It is a blog made up of postcards that people send in
revealing some secret that they cannot share elsewhere.

Disturbing, shocking, funny, weird, sad...
these are a few words that can only begin to describe this site.

Apocalypse Now, or Later?

With increasing criticism of the Bush Administration for about a million different reasons, and the pressure on the Israeli government because of Ariel Sharon's decision to pull his settlers out of the Gaza Strip, I get more and more nervous each day that these fools will do something crazy in an attempt to restore a post 9-11 sense of control.

To me, the absolute worst-case scenario is that something happens to Bush, and Cheney puts the country on lock down and retaliates against a chosen target nation(s).

This is another nightmare situation that is scary because of how possible it is.
We may have just had a close encounter with the above situation.
(Imagine if a missed rocket attack drives up oil prices 3%, what will happen if we attack Iran or Venezuela?)

The reality is, Dick Cheney and his buddy, Prime Minister Sharon, have already been gearing up for such a scenario.

Here is a report from the Christian Science Monitor.

Hopefully a higher public awareness of what these guys are doing will diffuse any destructive plans that are being created. I think if there is another major "terror attack" in the US soon, 2 things could happen.
1) Police State, international panic and fear, another invasion of an oil-rich country that is a threat to Israel (ie. exactly what the Bush/Cheney administration want)... or
2) The American people finally see through the Al-Qaeda "ooga-booga!" fear-mongering and demand accountability from our leaders for their disasterous foreign & domestic policies.

World-class Gangsters

De-Evolution

Gravity Replaced with "Intelligent Falling" -parody from The Onion

I have problems with both "Evolution" and "Intelligent Design."
My main problem with organized religion is that it encourages unquestioning obedience.
My main problem with organized science is that it unwisely uses phrases like "evolution."

...You may be suprised, though, to learn that I actually don't agree with the idea of "evolution!"

Here's my take:
"Natural Selection" is an observable, factual process.
Living things mutate over time, and given enough time, can morph into completely different forms.
This is directly seen in a lab with fruit flies & microorganisms, and in nature through the fossil record.

On the other hand:
"Evolution" is a subjective, and therefore unprovable word & theory.
When you say "evolution" it implies that life now is better than anything that has come before.
It also suggests that all the mutations and adaptations throughout time are on a steadily improving slope.
That is a judgement call based on what you think "better" means, and makes for a shaky scientific term.

Proveable genetic mutation and physical adaptation over time should always be called "Natural Selection".

As for "Intelligent Design," there is obviously underlying order and observable patterns in our universe. That is one of the subtle lessons of Da Vinci's Challenge and the idea of Sacred Geometry. The more you study the Golden Mean, Fractals, Quantum Physics, and Sacred Geometry, the deeper your awareness of the amazing complexity and connectivity of the world becomes.

The problem for me is crediting a personal deity or supernatural "intelligence" for it. I prefer to think of "God" as the infinite order and creative energy of the universe. This is the unknowable ALL in ONE which has no name, gender, or personality. It has no reasons, no meanings, and no "designs" that human beings can begin to comprehend. It will always amuse me how mere mortals claim that God is The Great Unknowable Mystery, yet they also claim to know so much about "Him" and what "He" wants.

The important thing to remember is that when scientists, priests, or even know-it-all graphic designers talk,
all they are really saying is this.

"What Intelligent Entity would knowingly design a George W. Bush?" --Grant Gerver

Da Vinci's Challenge Awards

I have been completely dumbfounded by the positive response and interest Da Vinci's Challenge is generating.

It won **7** major awards in the toy industry in less than 6 months after it's release!
I'm glad people are discovering the unique depth of this concept.

• The first award was from Mensa's Mind Games competition,
where 5 games out of about 50 are chosen after a weekend-long tournament:
http://mindgames.us.mensa.org/ (choose "2005" from the menu)
http://boardgames.about.com/

• DVC was picked for the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award, a pretty important recognition. We just found out we also won the Platinum Award, their highest, which means DVC will be one of the toys & games featured in a TV segment (the Today show, I think) in September!!!
Toy Portfolio: Games
It will also be featured in their 2006 book:
http://www.amazon.com/

• Parent's Choice Award, one that will definitely help it sell:
http://www.parents-choice.org/

• iParenting Media Award, never heard of it until now...(about) :
http://iparentingmediaawards.com/

• Dr. Toy, has named Da Vinci's Challenge one of its 10 Best Games:
http://www.drtoy.com/

• Canadian Toy Testing Council...gave it three stars, which makes Da Vinci's Challenge an international award winner!!!
http://www.toy-testing.org/CTTCmm.htm

Atrios uses my logo design...

& posts a link for Da Vinci's Challenge!!!

Eschaton.com
is one of the most popular online political blogs-
& I got a nice free plug for Da Vinci's Challenge!

Check out the Eschaton.com post
about my logo design & Da Vinci's Challenge!!!

Duncan Black, aka Atrios,
is a former economist from Philly who writes the blog.
He is on the forefront of the emerging internet media
that is revolutionizing politics, news, and public discourse.

He's been making big news lately with all the talk about
the growing importance of blogs & the web as new media.
A Philadelphia Magazine article about Atrios from last year
An article about blogs in the Philly Inquirer

• I was thrilled to check my email & see he chose a logo I designed & sent him for his website!
• I was floored to see that, in return, he gave Da Vinci's Challenge a post with a link!!!

This is big deal to me because Eschaton has a large readership which is smart, critically-thinking and a great source of positive word of mouth for DV'sC. When I clicked on his site meter, it showed 60,000+ visitors to his website on that day!

The logo I designed is at the very top of the webpage, and looks pretty cool, I must say. ;-)

Salvador Dalí

"Democratic societies are unfit
for the publication of the thunderous revelations
that I am in the habit of making."
- Salvador Dalí

I had the priviledge of seeing the Dalí exhibition at the Phila. Museum of Art with my sister & brother when the dates were extended in May '05. We couldn't believe the volume of work assembled, but I told my siblings that is the mark of a true master. Creation is a natural and constant aspect of a master's life. I was most amazed by the atomic mysticism of Dalí's later years, but my sister's mission consisted of simply finding the "Lobster Phone." I managed to snap a pic of this crazy piece of art using my camera phone without the attendants yelling at me (they were, however, yelling at my brother constantly to stop talking on his phone).

Another piece that was cool was a 3D hologram of Alice Cooper.
Craziness of Salvador Dalí meeting Alice Cooper

Here's a good site with explanations of Dalí's paintings:
Salvador Dalí Art Gallery

Political Quotes

"Terrorism is the war of the poor and
War is the terrorism of the rich."
- Peter Ustinov

"Yeah, and if you get kicked out of that school...
you’re going straight in the army,
where you’ll be sent straight to America’s latest military quagmire.
Where will it be? North Korea? Iran?
Anything’s possible with Commander Cuckoo-Bananas in charge!"
- Homer Simpson

"If ye love wealth better than liberty,
the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom,
go home from us in peace.
We ask not your counsels or arms.
Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.
May your chains set lightly upon you,
and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776

"As democracy is perfected, the office represents,
more and more closely, the inner soul of the people...
On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land
will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House
will be adorned by a downright moron."
- H.L. Mencken

"Other than telling us how to live, think, marry, pray,
vote, invest, educate our children and, now, die,
I think the Republicans have done a fine job
of getting government out of our personal lives."
- Sunday Portland Oregonian

"Ironic isn't it Smithers?
This anonymous clan of slack-jawed troglodytes cost me the election,
and yet, if I were to have them killed, I would be the one to go to jail!
That's democracy for you..."
- Mr. Burns

"The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not
a President and senators and congressmen and government officials,
but the voters of this country."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"A society of sheep will, in time, create a government of wolves."

George Galloway-A Role Model for U.S. Politicians

George Galloway is a British politician known for his outspoken, no-holds-barred rhetoric.
He justs kicks the crap out of Bush and Blair's idiotic lackeys.

He is also a major catalyst that allowed the Democrats & the Press to find their collective spine against the fascist Republicans in DC.
Galloway reamed out Senator Norm Coleman ("pro-war, neo-con hawk and the lickspittle of George W. Bush") at a Senate committee hearing concerning his supposed involvement in the UN Oil-for-Food "scandal".
Excerpts from the "hearing"

Galloway has more balls than almost all of the US Senate.

Here, he takes it to the Bush/Blair criminal cartel:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/mparent7777/686378.html
Goddamn... Simple, clear, and completely true.
Thank you, Mr. Galloway for showing America how to put up a political fight against the fear-mongering war profiteers that the GOP leadership has become.

Grace

Karl Rove & "Turdgate" Explained in 3's

• Karl Rove is deputy Chief of Staff & head GOP political strategist.
• Joe Wilson is a former US Ambassador
• His wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was an undercover CIA agent

* The Bush Administration was looking for evidence of an Iraqi nuclear program to justify going to war.
* Joe Wilson was sent to investigate such claims that he correctly and publicly proclaimed were false.
* Pissed off Bush Administration officials "outed" his wife & her front operation through media contacts.

- One of Dubya's pet names for pasty, smug Karl Rove is...
"Turd Blossom." Seriously!!!!--->(link)
- Karl Rove is the political equivalent of monkey crap.
(Boy, I hate to insult monkey crap like that.)
- The people running things are deranged sociopaths.

Great American Scumbag

"Hey! F*ck you America!"
- Karl Rove

Historians Rate the Bush Presidency

Mind you, this survey was taken in May 2004.
Things were quite nice for Dubya then compared to the heat he's feeling over the numerous scandals his administration is facing now. This is a survey of over 400 historians who (unlike people who still believe anything George W. Bush says) deal with objective analysis.

Historians vs. George W. Bush

Cold-blooded Killer

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

How the US Government builds an Empire on the backs of poor foreign nations, from an interview with John Perkins on Democracy Now!:

"Those companies would then go in and build an electrical system or ports or highways, and these would basically serve just a few of the very wealthiest families in those countries. The poor people in those countries would be stuck ultimately with this amazing debt that they couldn’t possibly repay. A country today like Ecuador owes over fifty percent of its national budget just to pay down its debt. And it really can’t do it. So, we literally have them over a barrel. So, when we want more oil, we go to Ecuador and say, “Look, you're not able to repay your debts, therefore give our oil companies your Amazon rain forest, which are filled with oil.”

"So we make this big loan, most of it comes back to the United States, the country is left with the debt plus lots of interest, and they basically become our servants, our slaves. It's an empire. There's no two ways about it. It’s a huge empire."

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions

Video of Huge UFO Fleet over Mexico!

This is the craziest thing I've ever seen. Mexican television stations caught hundreds of UFO's on video hovering in the sky.

Mexico UFO Fleet Seen by Thousands
Check out this unbelievable video!

The Power of the Dark Side

Wow, couldn't the Church elect someone who doesn't look like the most evil character in movie history?
I guess not...

It's a Monkey Birthday!

I wanted to wish a Happy Birthday to the quasi-human who robbed America of any appearance of democracy, our puppet emperor George Dubya. Enjoy it while you can, old pal, the heat's really coming down on you and the gang lately!

I figured I might as well, because it will be the last positive thing I'll say on this blog about him.
For anyone who doesn't know me well enough to know how I feel about the diabolical ignoramus they call the President, let me just remind you of this:

Only the wisdom of a Monkey Buddha
can defeat the idiocy of a Smirking Chimp!

RFK Jr., the Environment, and Fascism

"Kennedy: Fascist America"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7804.htm

"RFK Jr. on the Bush War on the Environment"
www.lies.com/wp/2005/01/18/rfk-jr-on-the-bush-war-on-the-environment/
**This is a must-see if you can download video. (In the last quarter of the speech, he talks about the relationship between religion and the environment.)**

"Crimes Against Nature"
http://www.alternet.org/story/17252

A lighter(?) look at things...
http://www.batemania.com/cartoons/archive112.html

Superman is a Dick

This is too funny:
http://www.superdickery.com
A collection of unintentionally funny comic book covers...

The comments under the pictures are killing me.

Here are some of my favorites -
http://www.superdickery.com/other/38.html
http://www.superdickery.com/other/88.html
http://www.superdickery.com/other/90.html
http://www.superdickery.com/other/101.html
http://www.superdickery.com/other/142.html
http://www.superdickery.com/other/211.html
http://www.superdickery.com/other/227.html
http://www.superdickery.com/oneshot/16.html
http://www.superdickery.com/dick/93.html

Crazy Wisdom Quotes

"Teach this threefold truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity." - Buddha

"OOhh ooohh aaaahh aahhhhh aaaaahhhhhh!" - The Monkey Buddha

"For talking monkeys to speak of truth is hubris of the highest degree. Where is it writ large that talking monkeys should be able to model the cosmos? If a sea urchin or a racoon were to propose to you that it had a viable truth about the universe, the absurdity of that assertion would be self-evident, but in our case we make an exception." - Terence McKenna

"There is no greater mystery than this... that we keep seeking reality though, in fact, we are reality." - Ramana Maharishi

"He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe." - Marcus Aurelius

"The best form to see God in... is in every form" - Neem Karoli Baba

"War creates peace
...like hate creates love." - David Wilson

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"I believe that the moment is near when
by a procedure of active paranoic thought,
it will be possible to systematize confusion and
contribute to the total discrediting of the world of reality." - Salvador Dalí

"All national institutions of Churches appear to me no other than human inventions,
set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and to monopolise power and profit.
Now some will say - 'are we to have no Word of God, no Revelation?'
I answer, yes, there is a Word of God, there is a Revelation,
the Word of God is in the Creation we behold, and it is in this Word,
which no human invention can counterfeit or alter, that God, speaketh, universally to man."
- Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason, 1794

"We understand nothing!
If you understand this,
You understand everything." - Paul Mic

"Follow effective action with quiet reflection.
From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action."
- James Levin

"The one serious conviction that a man should have
is that nothing is to be taken too seriously."
- Nicholas Butler

"Anything that we can do to help foster the intellect and spirit and emotional
growth of our fellow human beings, that is our job.
Those of us who have this particular vision must continue against all odds.
Life is for service."
- Fred Rogers

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true,
by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful."
- Seneca the Younger