Is it time to take a break from the bullshit of the current political conventions [both sides] and exercise your brain?
"The Singularity Summit is the premiere futurist conference (it's happening in New York City on October 15 and 16).
Among the speakers is Current TV's Jason Silva, the director of the forthcoming documentary, Turning into Gods. Taking a page from Timothy Leary, the folks behind the Whole Earth Catalog, Ray Kurzweil, and other visionaries, Silva's work looks at the ways in technological progress is allowing humans to direct their own evolution. And the ways in which prohibitionists of all stripes push back on new ways of being human.
"People have always sort of been scared of new technologies," says Silva. "But in the end we assimilate them and they improve the quality of our lives."
So now the most self serving, corrupt, and ineffectual legislative body in history of the U.S. has decided to take on the internet. They never fail to kowtow to the large corporations, and the public can be damned. Cretins each and every one.
"With a Web-wide protest on Wednesday that includes a 24-hour shutdown of the English-language Wikipedia, the legislative battle over two Internet piracy bills has reached an extraordinary moment — a political coming of age for a relatively young and disorganized industry that has largely steered clear of lobbying and other political games in Washington.
The bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect IP Act in the Senate, are backed by major media companies and are mostly intended to curtail the illegal downloading and streaming of TV shows and movies online. But the tech industry fears that, among other things, they will give media companies too much power to shut down sites that they say are abusing copyrights.
The legislation has jolted technology leaders, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, who are not accustomed to having their free-wheeling online world come under attack.
One response is Wednesday’s protest, which will direct anyone visiting Google and many other Web sites to pages detailing the tech industry’s opposition to the bills. Wikipedia, run by a nonprofit organization, is going further than most sites by actually taking material offline — no doubt causing panic among countless students who have a paper due.
It said the move was meant to spark greater public opposition to the bills, which could restrict its freedom to publish. . . . "
Having spent a decade in Mexico and having seen numerous inexplicable lights in the nightime sky, performing scientifically impossible manuvers, I have that "I know what I have seen, even if if can't explain it" attitude. [During the 1990s when I lived there, Mexico was a hot spot of unidentified flying objects activity.]
And having spent a number of years working for a secret U.S. government military organization, I personally know how adept the American government is at withholding information from the general public.
I am also aware that there are a large number of guillible people who will believe anything even it is has no scientific validity. Many will believe absolute gibberish and nonsense as if it were a divine revelation.
What most people are not aware of is that the US government has long been engaged in a program of well designed lies and deceit in regards to UFOs. Who else on the planet would have a secret research facility [Area 51], which is well known to everyone, and yet the government still refuses to admit that it exists.
UFOs the Secret History
"Scrupulously accurate, intelligently conceived, "UFOs: The Secret History" is the thinking viewer's guide to the puzzles and paradoxes of an extraordinary phenomenon that continues to haunt our times and trouble our dreams. It is also gorgeously filmed - a feast to eye and mind, a thrilling experience on every level." - Jerome Clark.
..... I am often reminded that the internet is not unlike a gigantic cosmic ballet composed of words and images.
It all began with the photo above of Vladimir Nabokov, one of my literary heros, examining a butterfly. This was on the site Scientific Illustrations, which also had a link to a New York Times article. Many people are not aware of the fact that Nabokov a literary giant, was also a poet and was the curator of lepidoptera at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.
After its publication in 1958, Nabokov's Lolita attained a classic status, becoming one of the best-known and most controversial examples of 20th century literature. Many in the U.S. called it pornographic trash. However, today, Lolita is considered by many to be one of the finest novels written in the 20th century. In 1998, it came fourth in a list by the Modern Library of the greatest English-language novels of the 20th century. The name "Lolita" has even entered pop culture to describe a sexually precocious girl.
Which leads inexorably to 'Прощай', one of the lovliest of Russian words. And a poem by Nabokov.
The most common form of saying good-bye in Russian is 'до свидания' [da svidaniya] but 'прощай' [prashchai] is always uttered softly, much like a whispered prayer. The sound of the Russian consonant 'щ' [shch] is rather difficult for many non-Slavic speakers to master, since they tend to make it rather harsh sounding. But it is indeed soft, flowing and lovely.
[And of course, the softest tongue of all, is that of a butterfly.]
SOFTEST OF TONGUES by Vladimir Nabokov
To many things I've said the word that cheats the lips and leaves them parted (thus: prash-chai which means "good-bye") -- to furnished flats, to streets, to milk-white letters melting in the sky; to drab designs that habit seldom sees, to novels interrupted by the din of tunnels, annotated by quick trees, abandoned with a squashed banana skin; to a dim waiter in a dimmer town, to cuts that healed and to a thumbless glove; also to things of lyrical renown perhaps more universal, such as love. Thus life has been an endless line of land receding endlessly.... And so that's that, you say under your breath, and wave your hand, and then your handkerchief, and then your hat. To all these things I've said the fatal word, using a tongue I had so tuned and tamed that -- like some ancient sonneteer -- I heard its echoes by posterity acclaimed. But now thou too must go; just here we part, softest of tongues, my true one, all my own.... And I am left to grope for heart and art and start anew with clumsy tools of stone.
I was recently surprised when a friend here in Chiang Mai commented that she was not aware of the fact she could listen to world wide radio broadcasts on her computer.
For most of my life I have nearly always lived in an area where classical music stations [radio AM or FM] were readily available. Not so in my adopted home in Thailand, or at least here in the northern part of the country. Western classical music is just not the norm.
I certainly enjoy Thai music, both classical and popular, but often feel the need to touch base with my European roots and western classical music. Radio stations here in Chiang Mai just do not furnish that possiblliity. The choices are Thai. Thai, or Thai, and of course the most recent American pop noise.
However since I use the "iTunes" software for my musical needs on the computer[ far superior to Windows Media Player or Winamp] it has an extensive list of world-wide radio stations that I can listen to in a wide variety of music from Ambient to Top Hits by year and everyting in between. The list of iTunes classical radio stations is very extensive and naturally I have several personal favorites, with 'Radio Swiss Classic' at the top of the list.
[clip from iTunes classical listings]
Radio Swiss Classical: "We play the most beautiful and popular works from the world of classical music – around the clock and uninterrupted by advertising. Our philosophy is not to talk about music, but to play it, so our presenters simply announce the title, the composer and the performer."
As a child in Bratislava, Slovakia my father used to listen to musical broadcasts emminating from nearby Wien [Vienna]. so the announcements in German on "Radio Swiss Classical" seem to evoke that familiar feeling of joy and comfort.
It's time for the world to face the realities of climate change.
That is the message expressed by Al Gore's Climate Reality Project, which has launched "24 Hours of Reality," an event beginning at 7pm CT (8pm ET) on September 14, and running for 24 hours straight. It is a global event featuring 24 presenters in 24 time zones, who "will connect the dots between recent extreme weather events — including floods, droughts and storms — and the manmade pollution that is changing our climate."
The event comes on the heels of hurricanes, droughts, and other extreme weather events slamming the United States, and as the country ended its second-hottest summer ever recorded.
HuffPost blogger Rocky Kistner recently reported on the connection between extreme weather and climate change. According to his post, Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said "There is now a pervasive human influence in all climate events."
In a recent Mediaite interview with Climate Reality Project’s Alex Bogusky, Gore said:
Powerful polluters ... see it as a useful strategy to try to convince the public that the scientists are liars and that they're greedy and they're making stuff up. All in the service of their overarching strategy of creating enough doubt to persuade people that there shouldn't be any sense of urgency about addressing this crisis.
In anticipation of the event, the Climate Reality Project released video ads suggesting that when it comes to the climate crisis, "the fat lady has sung and the *#!? is hitting the fan."
You can watch the "24 Hours of Reality" event livestream in English here, beginning at 8pm ET, or click here to find the location where you would like to watch a presentation.
Getting two Americans to agree on just about anything has always been problematic, but it would appear that they are finally uniting to resist the corporate control of their lives and the completely ineffectual response of their elected government officials. Time to Stop the Machine.
How can America 'export Democracy' it if does not exist in the U.S.A.?
"October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions."
"I pledge that if any U.S. troops, contractors, or mercenaries remain in Afghanistan on Thursday, October 6, 2011, as that occupation goes into its 11th year, I will commit to being in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., with others on that day or the days immediately following, for as long as I can, with the intention of making it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin, where we will NONVIOLENTLY resist the corporate machine by occupying Freedom Plaza until our resources are invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation. We can do this together. We will be the beginning."
"As the clamor for legalizing marijuana peaks in US, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) remains adamant on its stand that smoked marijuana is harmful. Since the prescription medicine Marinol, which is a synthetic form of Delta-9-THC, the chemical found in smoked marijuana that treats distressing symptoms, is available for the medical consumption, DEA believes that legalizing smoked marijuana will only lead to misuse. . . . . . "
Fortunately, or occasionally unfortunately, I do abundant reading on the internet. The above has to be one of the most moronic pieces of drivel I have ever encountered. Everyone knows why the DEA is against legalizing marijuana - the vested interest of a gigantic government bureau and because it will potentially reduce the amount of funding they receive. It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do actual facts.
In fact of the 85 comments posted every one echoes my feeling of "WTF" ??? [Personally I think the DEA. AMA and Big Pharma, probably paid B&L a hefty sum for printing this pointless merde.]
And the very last paragraph easily wins the non sequitur award of the decade.
[Before you believe whatever you read in the media, check their sources for this silly story of the month. Then find out what scientists are REALLY claiming about a coming mini-ice age.
And if the information is in the Daily Mail you know that it is bullshit.]
The human species first appeared on Earth five million years ago. Man harnessed fire 500,000 years ago and invented art 50,000 years ago. Who are we today and where will humankind be 50,000 years from now? The link between the present and the far distant future has been established through KEO, a universal project where art, technology, humanism, and dreams meet. An odyssey in which everyone on the planet is invited to take part.
KEO is one of the biggest collective projects in human history. Its ultimate goal is to invite people from all around the world to write testimonials concerning their way of life, their hopes, dreams, angers and their aspirations. These messages are destined for our descendants in the distant future. So far, KEO has received messages from over 130 countries in 60 languages.
KEO is a winged satellite—an archeological bird of the future—created by artist and scientist Jean-Marc Philippe. It will take flight in 2012 as a secondary payload aboard a rocket launched by either Arianespace or Starsem. The satellite will carry symbolic gifts and individual messages that represent humanity today. It will bring them back to Earth in 50,000 years, delivering the core of human knowledge and cultural diversity from the 21st century to our descendants in the 521st century.
In addition to thousands of uncensored personal messages, the winged satellite KEO will also carry archeological gifts of considerable symbolic and informational significance when it is launched into space: a drop of human blood, a drop of seawater, a soil sample, and an air sample from our atmosphere, all inserted into a diamond. There will be a digest of human knowledge compiled on glass disks (a sort of modern-day "Library of Alexandria" complete with audiovisual documents); ethnically diverse portraits of men, women, and children; sequences from the DNA double helix engraved on a glass disk. Finally a sidereal clock (also engraved onto a glass disk) containing precise astronomical information for KEO's launch shall be included.
The contents, meaning, and values of the messages received will be associated by continent, language, country, and age group to reveal an original and universal portrait of humankind today. Once KEO is launched, the results of this analysis and the messages, after being rendered anonymous, will be released publicly through an Internet-accessible database. Like a global festival of sharing, this cross-section of humanity as we know it will be distributed all over the world to individuals, universities, schools, media, and others. In an attempt to answer the questions of who we are, what we demand of ourselves, and what kind of future we want to build together, KEO seeks to spur active global awareness and give everyone a sense that they have a role to play. After KEO is launched, a foundation will be created to pursue and enrich further contemplation.
