On Gizmodo was a link to a Time photo gallery of 'Number 65' aka 'Ham' the space chimp. Although a few monkeys of different kinds were sent up before him, Ham was the first chimpanzee to leave the atmosphere 50 years ago.
I'm not sure I feel bad for these furry astronauts, since they seemed to have been treated pretty well... other than being tied to a rocket & blasted into the unknown Void.
What these animals experienced is probably equivalent to a super-intelligent being placing a human into some kind of unfathomable object, propelling the person into an unseen hyperspace dimension.
Last night I watched President Obama's speech & can say I at least generally agree with his rhetoric.
Despite the lunatics who think someone like Sarah Palin would be a better President, most Americans see that Obama is doing a good job. He hasn't approach everything in a way that I would consider optimal, but it's easy for any one of us plebeians to complain.
Any reasonable person should appreciate sane leadership after watching the two response speeches. The official GOP response was a snoozer from Paul Ryan, a Ayn Rand acolyte who wants to spearhead the Republican effort to sacrifice Medicare & Social Security to the insatiable beasts inhabiting Wall Street.
A second, even more far-out Right-Wing response was the predictably bizarre & misleading 'State of Teabagger Land' speech by ol' crazy eyes herself, Michele Bachmann. 5 years ago, nobody would have imagined the disciplined GOP machine fracturing like this, but they've turned into a madhouse.
The recurring theme of Obama's speech, "Win the Future" was really funny to me. It's a kind of absurd phrase, exactly like Dubya's idiotic "War on Terror"- except with obviously a more positive tone. Like the 'Terror', the Future never actually ends... so how the hell can you declare 'war' against something or 'win' something that has no possible point of completion.
I think they make these irrational phrases up just to scramble people's minds- like a propagandist Zen koan.
Anyway, the President's repeated phrase "Win the Future" inspired me. I immediately thought of making a graphic of 'Future-Obama' emerging from a mind-bending time warp.
Last night, right after the speech I had to start it & got it mostly done. I finished it tonight so I could post it... before The Future arrives!
President Obama's giving the State of the Union speech. People inevitable say such speeches are a lot of hot air, but in reality they can help define a sense of national purpose.
Beyond simple-minded nationalism, it's important for a country to come together as a productive, creative community. The President is one person, but in these kind of speeches he can communicate common goals and policy ideas to the nation-at-large.
The obvious focus of his priorities should be increasing jobs, research, investment, and development of a fair economic playing field, both domestically & internationally.
Usually, the SOTU address is an uninterrupted platform for the President. Of course, there are exceptions, like knuckle-dragging Congressman Joe Wilson who will always be remembered for yelling like a moron during the 2009 SOTU.
This year the only sideshow entertainment we know of so far is the special post-speech performance from GOP/Teabagger Co-Queen Michelle Bachmann. The Congresswoman is well known for her regular supremely ignorant or cynically misleading statements. Tonight she will shine, though, hopefully laying out her 'State of the Bizarro World' speech with an unmistakable kookiness that only she can provide.
This video captures the wonder that space discovery & exploration should instill in all of us.
It uses dialog by Carl Sagan with imagery from our amazing planet as a kind of public service announcement for the mission of expanding human civilization into The Universe. This eventual exodus from Earth is the only way to guarantee the long-term survival of our species.
Napoleon Dynamite is one of those comedies that I can watch over & over & over. It's also a favorite source of quotes for me and my family.
This looping GIF animation of the goofy Napoleon, endlessly playing his beloved tetherball in front of a majestic mountain range, has an oddly Zen-like quality to it:
Napoleon Dynamite: Well, nobody's going to go out with *me*! Pedro: Have you asked anybody yet? Napoleon Dynamite: No, but who would? I don't even have any good skills. Pedro: What do you mean? Napoleon Dynamite: You know, like nunchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills. Pedro: Aren't you pretty good at drawing, like animals and warriors and stuff? Napoleon Dynamite: Yes... probably the best that I know of. Pedro: Just draw a picture of the girl you want to take out... and give it to her for like a gift or something. Napoleon Dynamite: That's a pretty good idea.
After the video lobotomy from my last post... I need some more enlightened inspiration.
War is still the biggest business in the world. Slavery in its many forms also continues to be a prevalent condition among the human race. Despite the seeming hopelessness of struggling against the endless malevolent forces in the world, its a struggle that will continue on...
"A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.
This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men.
This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept -- so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force -- has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man.
When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life."
I saw this video on BoingBoing & it's now being linked all over the place. I have no words except... mind-boggling.
If the nightmare of President Palin were to curse us all, this absurd piece of music would surely be the appropriate national anthem for a country gone completely mad:
Although I'm a pacifist & never resort to violent measures, I know plenty of gun owners and see nothing wrong with citizens owning firearms. The 2nd Amendment is an important guarantee of American freedom to defend oneself. We don't live in Utopia, and if you ban guns, then only criminals will have them! However, society will always need continual improvement to the way we keep weapons out of the hands of violent psychos.
As a professional artist & creative person, I'm also a firm believer in Free Speech. Like anything else, though, it's not an Absolute. I think people should be able to express themselves however they want, as long as they don't directly threaten or physically harm other people. Although it's not something that should be legislated, it's society's duty to find checks for expressions of dangerous intent.
There has been a media circus surrounding the reactions to this tragedy & political narratives being played out. Before the President showed her up- by taking the highest possible ground in his speech last night- the person in the center ring of the circus was the shrieking Alaskan Banshee herself, Sarah Palin.
Plenty has already been said about the PR crisis she's in right now. Her insane, violent rhetoric & imagery has come back to haunt her after one of her political "targets", Rep. Giffords, was shot in the head. This is the now infamous Palin map image that people are using as an example of recent unacceptably threatening political language.
Her staff has scrubbed the image from her website, which is a laughably futile effort, since it's all over The Internets, but also makes her look like she's trying to hide damning evidence. To make matters worse, they gave a crap excuse that the targets on her map were always meant to be surveyor's symbols.
The problem with Palin's pathological lying is that there is always so much evidence to the contrary:
Of course, NO reasonable person is accusing Sarah Palin or other Legendary Assholes such as Glenn Beck & Rush Limbaugh of directly influencing the lunatic douchebag that shot those innocent people.
What people are actually raising hell about is that those ideologues cynically poison the political & social atmosphere with misinformation. They do this in an arrogant, narrow-minded, vitriolic manner that creates unwarranted or misdirected hostility. They collectively reach many millions of people, so their influence should not be underestimated.
Hopefully, this experience will incrementally improve the level of discussion in the public arena. The shallow reactionary nature of Palin, Limbaugh, Coulter, Beck, Hannity & other knuckleheads isn't going to change, but hopefully society at large will more assertively call out their BS.
In the wake of this violence, people understandably began pointing out Palin's incendiary rhetoric as a prime example of what's gone wrong in political discourse. Despite the criticism, she didn't have the good sense to be conciliatory or (in a spirit of respect)...QUIET for once.
Faced with the reality of a deadly massacre with children murdered & a Congressperson almost assassinated, she managed to make it about her- and as always, she's the victim!!! To start the official day of mourning for this tragedy, she released this unbelievably obnoxious video that is like psychological torture for me to sit through.
Here is a close approximation that is much easier to tolerate:
This woman drives people like me crazy, not because I'm a 'Liberal' or from political divisiveness. It's mostly because she is shrill, spiteful & ALWAYS wrong, yet her vapid opinion is given constant media attention. I just hope this whole fiasco hasn't destroyed her chances of being the Republican that President Obama gets to challenge in 2012...
The speech The President gave at the memorial proves once again that the American people chose the far better candidate in the last election. The idea that so many voters actually believed that McPain should run the country is simply frightening.
It was definitely a moving speech that shows the thoughtfulness & understanding that got him elected. The image of a true leader inspiring a stadium full of uplifted mourners was a stark contrast to the ill-timed trainwreck of Palin's contrived video message.
Although Obama pleaded for a more civil public discourse, that doesn't mean people can't be aggressive in asserting ethical boundaries. Sometimes it means mocking, challenging, or exposing lies or general stupidity.
What's always off-limits, in any debate, is threatening or endangering the well-being of another person.
This is absolutely insane behavior & vile beyond belief. To the Rat King's credit, though, he did make a conscious decision to get help for his... situation.
The person featured in the other half of the episode was a Cat Lady who was also a compulsive hoarder. She wanted nothing to do with the cleanup effort & was being totally unreasonable. They should've taken all her cats, dumped them into the Rat House & let em go at it.
The show Hoarders is a topic of frequent discussion in my family. Some of the stories are pretty shocking & they are all uncomfortably revealing. People have literally drown themselves and their homes in "stuff" or animals or both. I think it's good to show these things, even if it is slightly exploitative. It's an instructive warning to people to face their issues & come to terms with their problems before their life turns into a complete disaster.
'Outer Space' is one of those general topics that is naturally fascinating to most people.
From the time we're kids we wonder what's out there. It's an infinite mystery that's impossible for even our collective minds to completely understand.
These photos I saw linked on DailyGrail.com evoke the amazing views from our very local area of space, from the orbiting International Space Station.
This would have to be one of the most profound and moving experiences possible for a modern human being:
I just had my own personal weird gift experience. I posted photos recently about my surprise gift on Christmas Eve. Getting wacked-out gifts can be funny, even if they are useless.
Now that all the holiday partying is over, 2011 can begin in earnest.
The new Congress was sworn in today for a fresh, new start at institutional dysfunctionality. I can't say I'm optimistic about the next 2 years of such inevitable spectacles as Speaker Boehner trying to corral the zealots of his own party, & Grand Inquistor Issa investigating everything the Obama administration has done so far. (I wonder if the Democrats now regret their reluctance to highlight & investigate the plentiful scandals of the Bush years.)
I'm all for a politically-balanced government, but a comprehensive Republican agenda is seemingly non-existent. These clowns want to cast a cynical symbolic vote for "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law" but have proposed absolutely no mechanisms to deal with the issues that the legislation addressed, however imperfectly.
Invariably, anything that benefits the poor, decrepit, or the elderly will be attacked by those politicians that shamelessly bow before their corporate overlords... who in turn worship their master- God Money.
Insatiable love for money is a source of endless evils in the world, but on the other hand money is a standard of interaction that is crucial for basic integration into society. It's one of those things that's easy to take for granted... unless you don't have any!
On a more positive note to start the New Year, I saw this video online that somebody filmed and posted on Youtube. A homeless guy in Ohio regularly stood by a freeway with a cardboard sign describing his unique voice in the style of a voice-over or radio announcer & showed his talent for the camera.
In this crazy, crazy world of instantaneous feedback, the video has gone viral. The man was offered various jobs & now has an opportunity to put his life in order.
If he can keep himself together in spite of the attention & shocking transition period, it will be an amazing example of the power of technology tapping into a human social potential that we are barely beginning to understand.
This was an miraculous example of opportunity for one person, but it's just one person. There are millions of lost souls in the world who don't have any opportunities from a talent, skills, or even the relative sanity that Ted seems to at least have.
Human misery may be an unavoidable fact of life. However, a story like this can remind us that no matter how horrible our situation may seem, it's still possible for things to get better.
I got to visit with my family & relatives, play with my nephews & niece, exchange gifts, relax, & eat as much as humanly possible. Then I finally had to get in gear to shovel my driveway after it snowed the other night. I was off yesterday, so I slept till noon & then took a few hours to clear the waist-high snowdrift taking up my front yard. I actually like being outside shoveling snow as long as I'm bundled up good & we're not hammered by consecutive blizzards like last year...
All the gifts for my family were made with the help of a laser engraver at my work. They turned out very cool & in return I got a lot of excellent presents. At my age I prefer practical things like tools, clothes, & household stuff. However, I do appreciate luxury items- like the 3/4 lb of beef jerky or the bottle of Gentleman Jack that my brothers got me.
On Christmas Eve, it's now a tradition for my family & relatives to play the White Elephant game. The gift that I made for the game was a picture of my uncle's face that I photoshopped onto a pic of Hugh Jackman at the beach. My cousin ended up picking it & had everyone laughing.
I drew an early number (4) for my turn & the present I chose was a gift bag- that turned out to have a bunch of plastic holly garland in it. :(
Since my turn was so early, there weren't any gifts open that I wanted to steal yet. Luckily, my brother's girlfriend later traded me her gift- a South Park DVD game for it, which was a great trade for both of us.
Here is me trying to figure out what the hell I just opened...
The garland must have sensed my complete lack of enthusiasm, because it tried to strangle me....
It's Christmas time again & I've been busy in my polar workshop making gifts for my family.
Christmas Eve will be a crazy affair w/ a bunch of relatives visiting my sister's house for festivities such as our White Elephant gift game. Then it should be a fairly chill Christmas Day & weekend.
Unfortunately, I will not have an opportunity to celebrate Christmas properly- by dressing up as Santa's traditional demonic helper, Krampus...
Despite staying after work till almost midnight working on Xmas gifts, I stayed up super-late to see the lunar eclipse that lasted from around 1-4 AM when I got home.
It was friggin' freezing outside, but I periodically went out to sit on my back patio & observe its slow progress. I've seen a lunar eclipse before, but this was a rare occurrence of a total eclipse on the day of the winter solstice, which hasn't happened in almost 400 years.
The night sky was perfectly clear & I first went out just as the Earth's shadow started passing over the edge of the Moon. I had layers of clothes on w/ my face all wrapped up in a snowcap, a scarf & multiple hoods. If it wasn't so damn cold, sitting outside in the still of the night for this celestial event would have been completely relaxing.
When the shadow was about halfway over the Moon's surface, it looked totally crazy. Maybe it was partly because my eyes were teary but the glare off one half of the Moon was dazzling, & the other half was dark w/ a reddish tinge. Visually, it was very bizarre. It also seemed to be very low in the sky for some reason. I could see why ancient people probably looked at a cosmic event like this & were astounded.
This is a good representation of what it looked like when the Moon was completely covered & when the shadow was partially over:
I was waiting for the red-tinged shadow to pass as I kept alternating between resting on my couch and peeking out the window. Eventually I passed out sometime after 3:30, still in my coat, & woke up a few hours later for work. I'm definitely glad I got to see such an interesting phenomenon.
I have alot of photos of my Dad sleeping in many different chairs on many different occasions. He has worked hard in the food retail business all his life, but when he gets a chance to sit down & relax it usually turns into a snoozefest. Family events or holidays inevitably become napping opportunities for the big guy.
My old friend Dan J. gave me the idea to have him sleeping right through important times in history. I thought this idea was hysterical & created this series of "snapshots" showing Big Paul experiencing historic events in his own special way.
This is the third set of of "adventures" as he sleeps his way through history, & I definitely have enough photos of my Dad passed out for at least one more set:
Fractals have been a favorite subject of mine & I think it is conceptually at least as important as Relativity.
One new thing I learned from watching this program was that cell phone antenna circuitry is designed according to fractal properties. Generally speaking, it seems like we are figuring out the language of the Universe so we can tap into the Universe.
I don't approve of destructive or invasive animal experimentation in general.
Especially seeing my fellow simians in little cages is damn depressing. Just because a creature can't tell you directly doesn't mean it's not mentally miserable and in physical anguish. Sadly, it's unavoidable that life can suck, and there are always twisted people out there with no sense of empathy whatsoever.
In one small victory for the animal rights crowd, I saw on io9.com that NASA stopped a plan to immerse monkeys in high-energy gamma radiation. The purpose was to simulate deep-space conditions.
It seems like the tax/stimulus bill has passed the Senate today by a big margin of 83-15 & continues to the House vote.
By giving the Republicans even more tax breaks for the filthy rich & scolding those damn bleeding-heart liberals who dare to have a conscious, President Obama somehow seems to be pulling off the role of a Grand Negotiator on this issue in the eyes of the general public.
Personally, I still think Obama is doing as good a job as anyone could under the circumstances- in which the GOP are holding up everything until the rich are guaranteed their tax cuts.
However, by dismissing "abstract ideals" like HOPE for the sake of pragmatic compromise on the status quo, he opened himself up to this kind of critical sarcasm:
The big political battle right now I think is the developing tax proposal. The more progressive Democrats are balking at it's generous benefits for the wealthy & of course the most conservative Republicans will oppose it for any concessions to liberal causes.
The only truly Socialist senator, Bernie Sanders from Vermont, led a non-'filibuster' for over 8 hours to protest the tax bill. I think Sanders is too much of an ideologue on certain things, but overall he puts his voice to work for the benefit of the vast majority of working people.
Despite any good intentions he may have, when I visited Huffington Post I saw one of the funniest headlines ever. I laughed out loud from the ridiculous headline & picture.
Unfairly, they made him look like a total crackpot.
The article about the speech was less sensational:
I watched alot of the first couple hours of his epic speech & he was not incoherently rambling. He was laying out the case for the damaging effects of our nation's crazy social priorities.
On the other hand... In defense of this upcoming deal, President Obama gave the stage over to the ever-loquacious Bill Clinton. I guess the hope was that ol' Bill could polish this legislative turd, that really stinks to the majority of his fellow Democrats. I've always liked Bill Clinton & it's generally agreed that he was a relatively good President. However, with the help of a Republican Congress he also presided over such foundations for institutional failure, such as NAFTA & the de-regulation of the banks.
Obama should have just left right away to go to his party, instead of conceding the podium for that long & having to stand there while Clinton soaked up the spotlight. It seemed a little awkward, but Bill Clinton is knowledgeable and can make a hell of an argument. Hopefully, though, Obama can learn soon not to keep yielding his platform.
Anyway, I think Obama's trying to be tough with his base because they are being unrealistic, to an extent. At the same time, they're also correct- that he appears to be surrendering the debate waaaay to fast, without hammering away the point that some of these "compromises" are a huge detriment to the budget & the economy. He is definitely trying to be a 'moderate' at all costs. Maybe it's just his unavoidable nature, or maybe he's trying to position himself as a true independent leader for the next election.
I think a recent The Word segment from Stephen Colbert had a great take on the need for a fighting spirit when approaching these kind of serious negotiations with a wrong-headed opposition.
My parents' neighbor forwarded me a link on a news article she saw about the game I created back in college- "Da Vinci's Challenge".
It's nice to see it getting some more recognition by ABC News correspondent David Murphy. Da Vinci's Challenge is the work I'm most proud of & is due for a comeback soon. In my completely unbiased opinion, it is the greatest strategy game ever conceived.
I think it's fairly obvious now that President Obama is definitely NOT a raging Marx-Loving Socialist Liberal.
With this tax & stimulus deal The White House is working on, it is clear thatObama is a pragmatist... a maddeningly moderate pragmatist.
I'm an Independent, but more often agree with policy positions that are so-called 'progressive'. Even if I don't agree with an idea, though, I'll often try to see things through the lens of someone with a different view. Obama & the tax/stimulus bill in development have led to a strong debate on issues like taxes, the national debt, & entitlements. Initially, I had a knee-jerk response from my lefty instincts to the ridiculous concessions to the super rich - such as the extensions of the top tier tax cuts, fiddling with the estate tax, etc. The seeming lack of a Presidential fight over this deal & the scolding of his supposed left-wing 'base' over their criticism has liberal politicians & bloggers flipping out.
It's actually amazing that he (or the government in general) has the ability to get anything done with a country full of us 'sanctimonious' maniacs- all trying to get their own Utopia. As even-headed as I usually am, I would never be able to patiently deal with the numerous loathsome characters in Congress & all of the political shenanigans.
His refusal to cater only to either party's hardliners is why Obama's inhumanly persistent efforts at building consensus have the ideologues on either extreme of the political spectrum freaking out. I think he would probably like to institute more progressive social policy, but he is working within the constraints of political & legislative realities.
Tonight I heard some lady on CNN saying Obama was "Bush on Steroids". This is a laughably silly statement. If Obama disappeared, & Dubya magically popped back into office... she & most of the country would soil their pants in despair!!!
I don't care what anyone says, Obama's still trying to salvage a flaming car wreck that would have violently exploded if 'McPain' were running things now. Thankfully, McCain is back to grumbling about gay soldiers in Senate hearings, while The Alaskan Banshee only maintains power over the lives of wild animals & her Twitter followers.
Recently I was joking with my Mom about being the "voice of conscience" in the back of my head. Both my parents definitely instilled a sense of preparedness for whatever life has to offer, good or bad.
Although I don't expect things that I create to last forever, it's good to have backups & copies of things in case unfortunate events occur. Most of my visual art, both professional and otherwise, I have digitally copied and saved in different drives or media. Redundancy can prevent serious loss of work.
One thing that has bothered me in writing this blog is that all the written content is on Google's servers- but I had no copy of it offline.
Since I've been writing The Monkey Buddha for over 5 years now, I thought it would be wise to back up all posts on this blog. Of course, I hope that something crazy- like the Web going down or a disruption to Google's services- doesn't happen. Still, I feel better knowing that the work & time I've spent is less likely to be lost or destroyed.
After a short search, I found a website for a program called Webgrabber that lets you extract any website from The Internets so you can back up the info on a hard drive or disc. This is the Mac version:
It only took about 20 minutes and 25 megabytes of space, not including images that I already have copies of. Now I have five years worth of my writing backed up OFFLINE for posterity & my own peace of mind.
One day, if I have extra time and money I'd like to print portions of The Monkey Buddha by date or topic. Actually, it turns out that service already exists, so anyone could get a compendium of my views on robots, the Mayans, politics, art, The Universe, monkeys, or any of the other myriad topics that have caught my attention.
Basically, a cloud of data generated from hundreds of photos of the same place is used to calculate the spacial relationships of that area. It's always amazing to me that people can figure out how to make computer codes to do this sort of digital alchemy.
Seeing the unfinished 3D settings on the black background gives the models a very surreal appearance- like I'm watching the Matrix taking shape.
The more people take extensive hi-res photography of an area, like that of the website 360º Cities, the more data there is to fill in the blanks & increase the resolution of the virtual re-creations.
Just the panoramas of Roman areas on 360º Cities are enough to keep me occupied for hours. The virtual panoramas of the Sistine Chapel or Raphael's School of Athens give a much better impression of the space than flat photos.
Anyone can submit artwork that depicts the amorphous phenomenon we call The Internet. Little kids can make drawings on the same page as professional artists like myself, or anyone who feels like being creative.
I thought it was a cool idea & wanted to make something... so I did. The general idea immediately popped in my head. I wanted to make an image of the colorful contents of the web melding with the increasingly digitized mind, in a synchronized explosion of cognitive novelty.
"A digital self-portrait representing the mind integrating with & transcending physical technology through immersion into the realm of pure energy. The Internet is the beginning of a conduit into a non-local experience of consciousness."
With the many colors bursting through the circuit boards, I wanted to suggest the rich, diverse content of the web & the countless individual personalities that participate in it. The ancient "Flower of Life" pattern was added as a element of order and unity that the mind can coalesce from seeming chaos. The encroaching digital tendrils could be signaling an enlightening process... or they could be enveloping a digital death's head. I'd prefer to think mankind is going to advance as a result of our technological knowledge, ensuring better chances of survival, & not worse.
Anyway, that is my rendition of The Internet. Vote for it on the website & see the other drawings:
Comedy Central late nite w/ The Daily Show & Colbert Report is nightly viewing for me. Their irreverent look at the day's news continually unmasks the absurd aspects of human nature. Stephen Colbert is consistently great... just last nite, he invented Meat Goggles!
Tonite's show, though, was probably the most stunningly sardonic things I've ever seen. He ruthlessly mocked race, religion, politicians, the banking system, and federal law in a barrage of satire that rivaled his 2006 roast of President Bush...
I thought it was really funny, but wasn't even going to post about it. I just sat down to watch TV though, & the first thing I saw was a MiND TV segment about the 1st set of bee hives on The White House grounds. Then, I changed the channel to an episode of Life on Discovery ... narrated by Oprah. :P ...so... I guess the TV convinced me to mention it.
No one who follows world affairs can deny that it has impacted society in a significant way. Now that the masses have had a taste of the myriad intrigues, scandals, and going on behind closed doors in high places, they will undoubtedly feel the need to get more.
I don't have an opinion on whether this is good or bad. To me, it's just a phenomenon to observe. I'm sure if I was a senior member of the US State Dept., my opinion might be drastically different. That's why I stay happily un-involved in active politics. The world is just too damn crazy to manage on a large scale.
This new info crisis posed by WikiLeaks definitely seems to be one of the many seismic changes that are currently facing mankind and affecting how we manage our world. Generally, open flow of information is a good thing. However, human beings are still individual souls & not part of The Hive Mind... yet. Therefore, there needs to be some degree of personal privacy afforded people, even those in public service. Whether releasing all this classified material of varying significance will have a net positive or negative effect isn't clear.
On the other hand, blowing the whistle on corporate or financial wrongdoing is almost always a positive action. If Julian Assange can keep himself out of jail and the sniper crosshairs, his next target seems to be one of our major creditor overlords, Bank of America.
After reading about him and the whole situation, I'm definitely intrigued by the cognitive shockwaves Assange is making around the world. His stated mission of exposing corruption and shining a light on the "bastards" seems noble enough. Without personal knowledge of Wikileaks operations & Assange's true motivations, though, I admit it's possible there's something more nefarious to it. Really though, how much more nefarious could they be- compared to subversive intelligence agencies, corrupt officials, or parasitic mega-banks?...
Significant events of life and death always give me serious pause for thought. Pondering the mysteries of existence should effectively stretch the imagination. The more thoroughly we try to understand reality, the more emergent information seems available to engage the endless fractal recesses of our minds.
This website I saw linked on BoingBoing features an amazing interactive Scale of the Universe. It visualizes the conceptual continuity from the quantum level to the vast cosmic aspects of the Universe. This interactive scale is a fascinating tool that can instill the deep understanding that we have no idea what the hell is going on.
This past week was pretty crazy. I haven't been able to post anything in between eating, drinking, going out, visiting family, or sleeping whenever possible.
Last Sunday my family had a pre-Thanksgiving feast with relatives at my parents' house. There were 20+ people with alot of kids running around. I made the mistake of starting to wrestle my cousin's little boy, so my other 2 nephews & niece piled on. After wrestling 4 kids for a half hour, I needed a cold beer.
We had the dinner early because my sister had planned for her baby David to be born on Tuesday. I've become the uncle of another little dude. He's doing well & my sister bought him over for Sunday dinner at my parents' tonite. My other 2 yr-old nephew has been, in his own words, "awesooome" so I'm now looking forward to watching this little guy get older, too.
My Dad started playing music when he was a kid because of The Beatles. As a result I became knowledgeable of their music at a young age. John Lennon in particular was always a major creative & philosophical influence of mine.
The more I've learned about his activism over the years, the more I've come to admire his use of his ridiculous level of fame to advance a positive agenda to improve humanity. The realist in me thinks it's hopelessly naive to consider world peace to be even a remote possibility. However, I think his efforts were supremely noble- and it shows in the way the world remembers him.
"He was an artist. Why would they want to kill an artist?" -Yoko Ono
It was a primitive, but effective form of interactive entertainment. You reached certain points in the book where you had to make a decision based on 2 or more choices. There were multiple possible endings, depending on how you proceeded through the story's options.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I remember that I used to flip ahead through the different combinations of pages to see if certain choices would lead to a favorable ending or not. Despite my work-around, it was still a great idea for a book series & helped my interest in reading at a young age.
Anyway, this is one title that would definitely NOT have gone over well, even though it is the most likely of all possibilities:
It seems to have come from this superb gallery of alternate title ideas:
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