9/11 lulz

I'm so over 911 I'll make no attempt at commentary. Instead, enjoy these gifs:

Subtle. Tasteful.

Classic.

Coda

And a NSFW... below the fold:

Tower Truths

I owe much to this tower, this Empire State Building. If not for it, I would not be in New Gondolin. So here's to you, the Original Tower (OT):

LADEE to space. To the moon, in fact.

Solar fares

A real picture, of the transit of Venus across the sun, and a plane that got caught between the Moon and New York City.

Tower Truthers

Click for big, as always. Know the truth.

Learn to let go that which you fear to lose.

I forget

I'm too hip to watch TV, so I have no idea what the TV talked about today in regards 911. My sources on the Intertubes were remarkably muted. So muted I said to myself, "Redshirt, I think we're finally over 911 in some significant sense." Even the 911 jokes were kinda lame. As such!

A stylish 911 shirt.

Have some 911 candy! The nougat filling is made of irony.

Plenty of folks got 911 birthdays, and who could forget that? No one, never!

What I'll never forget is the way 911 was used by some in power to gain more power, and to engage in acts of empire. And get filthy rich. Never forget that, and the way the event is used to manipulate you. Laugh instead, even if you suffered tragedy. Because tragedy will always happen - it just happens, sometimes. It need not be a Kristallnacht. And so as I said before, I mock. I laugh. I post stupid jokes. Why not? The real terror is this reality.

To end with perhaps an actual funny joke, click below - but beware! Boobies.

My Sharia!

Ah, freedom. Of speech - of the right for stupid people to think and say horrid things.

Of course, there were dozens of Muslim victims of the 911 attacks, but let us forget that and instead worry about:

SHARIA! We don't know what the hell it means, but if the MOOSLIMS are a'for it, we're 'agin it! Fun fact! A few southern states have passed laws banning Sharia. Whatever that means.

Imagine not living in America, maybe say instead, for example, you are a Muslim living in Turkey. And you see these protests on your TV. You must think, "America! What a country! Truly, the land of the free and home of the brave."

Ghetto

Each dot represents 25 people, and each color represents a self identified race from the 2010 census. This is Chicago, and you can see how the main ethnicities are ghettoized. Not specific to Chicago, either, as all American cities and probably most world cities are set up the same way. Here's a few more:

Detroit

LA

Greater NYC.

As long as such ghettoization exists, then so too will racism. But much of it is self chosen, yeah?

Complicated subject!

Kids bearing

Obviously it's incumbent upon every decent Mother to get their child a firearm, be they 5 days or 25 years old - you're never too young or old for another gun! And if someone with a gun were to threaten you, then there's more guns - gun plus gun equals more guns.

The safest school - when everyone is armed, then there are no victims, no criminals, no crime, no war, no strife, and so on.

An armed society is a dead society.

We must protect this Bull!

You ain't gonna worship this sacred bull, buddy. Move along, pal, nothing to see here.

Brass balls!

24/7 protection by NYC's finest, except

When Christians want to unironically pray to their Golden Bull for the Resurrection of the economy in 2008. You know, for Jesus!

But like Jesus, they all died and rose from the dead. BRAINS, MORANS! Which led to the fences, of course. After all:

So no more of these pictures, alas!

Which really is no big loss - we've already got enough.

Come Together

It's heartening to see people come together in times of tragedy and loss.

It's sad that it takes such tragedies to bring people together in such visible ways. Shouldn't we be together - all of us, all people - all the time?

Maybe sometime in the future.

Living in Sci-Fi

Pencil in Hover Cars and that's some serious Sci-Fi skyline, amirite? NYC, Ladies and Gents - keeping up with the times. Check out Hong Kong or your latest Chinese Metropolis for proof - it's a dog eat dog world out there, architecturally speaking. With so many loose billions floating hither and yon, the City 'scape's gonna get EXTREME.

Redshirt's Lament 2013 Top 11 Predictions!

Manhattanhenge - a twice yearly event in NYC around May 28th and July 12. On these two days the sun rises and sets aligned with the East-West streets, causing many hands to be raised to eyes those days, I assure you. Manhattenhenge can be predicted - thousands of years into the future, if you wanted to - because of science! We've observed patterns in nature then expanding these observations with theories tested through experiments producing something closer to Truth.  And so with those lofty thoughts, here are my completely unscientific predictions for 2013. In no particular order:

1. US government shutdown in March, Republicans hold country hostage
2. Worldwide economic stagnation, marginal US growth
3. More mass shootings! Still not the right time to talk about gun control
4. Western retreat from Afghanistan accelerates with many European countries departing, in addition to large US troop withdrawals.
5. Comet Ison in November brings out the freaks - it's going to be epically bright.
6. On Mars, Curiosity discovers strong evidence for past life on the once wet planet.
7. More and even cooler Exoplanets. Note that as each year passes and Kepler watches the same stars, unceasingly, we'll find better and better planets, since it takes time for planets with bigger orbits to be discovered. These first 800 are just the appetizers.
8. More crazy weather! Monster Tornadoes! Epic Hurricanes! Crushing Droughts! Massive Floods! I've been reading some scary doom and 'n gloom predictions, so batten down and review your insurance now.
9. US Sports Winners: Patriots/Oklahoma City/Anaheim Angels of the City of Los Angeles/Hockey? LOL.  Women's MMA becomes ironically popular.
10. Django Unchained wins all the Academy Awards
11. Redshirt comes across a black bear in the woods - it has to happen one day, I reckon.

Tune in next year at this time to see how I did. Till then, here's MIThenge:

Cities from scratch

Some random "new" city in Western China, I have no idea which one actually - any help? New cities sprout like mushrooms in China today, due to, what else, money. China makes everything, and thus, everyone gives them money. I've visited Shenzhen several times, and was constantly amazed - what was a low-slung fishing village but 30 years ago is now a gleaming metropolis who's skyline resembles New York from certain angles. And that's happening all over China.

Lesson? Don't outsource your manufacturing base, assholes! Also too, congrats, China.

Fools rush in

3 days, really, but you get my drift. Remember! According to the Bible - which guarantees it - the Rapture will begin at 6PM per time zone - yes, moving around the world according to man made time zones - and will feature an 8.3 MEGAQUAKE in every area of Earth at 6PM, again, local time. It's in the Bible, look it up! So, to play it safe, I'd keep sinning until about 3pm Saturday, local time, then start with the atonement. Also, have a nice light meal and refreshing beverage - as an immanent Rapturee, this will be your last meal on Earth.

Hey NYC! You can thank this guy for the many 5/21/11 ads around the city the past few weeks. He spent $150K of his savings in order to move up to Business Class on the Rapture plane bound for heaven. Amen!

You don't want to get Raptured but trapped in your house! Get RaptureHatch now (actually, it's too late. Stay outside!)!

Haute Dogs

Anything for a pun. Really - I sometimes work for days in order to get to a certain picture. Crazy like that! I believe (it's been a while since I got this one) this is an actual dog restaurant in - where else? - NEW YORK CITY! I like the concept on many levels: 1. Dog is man's best friend. Don't they deserve a night out? 2. Supply and demand - if someone wants to pay for it, why not? 3. Add to the list of "thing's I'll remember fondly/ruefully after the apocalypse". Covered in soot, eating pine cones, I'll think to myself "self, remember when we were so grand as to have dog diners?"


Good times (for now)!

Bulls in Crochet

Some recent, and brief, guerrilla art by Olek (one name only!). Guerrilla art is the best art, since by definition it is not co-opted. I also appreciate, from a symbolic perspective, the association of bulls and money-Mammon. Makes sense!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Policeman

Does this look like a guy there to help you? Or, is he there because our entire society is under attack - we're at WAR! - and you should be very afraid? Do you think he feels friendly and helpful, or paranoid and defensive? What do you think dressing up in black Stormtrooper gear does for your mindset?

I'll tell you what it does: It makes it easy to taser ANYONE who does not immediately comply with whatever it is you're demanding they do.

If you'd like to get some chills about the state of our society, read up on police use of tazers in America - just cover the last couple of years. You'll get the full flavor of what it means to live "in the home of the free, land of the brave".

Ha!

Data Data Everywhere

This map represents the following: Red dots indicate a tourist photo of NYC; blue dots, a resident; yellow dots cannot be determined, but are more likely to be tourists IMO near the Statue of Liberty, for example, and less likely to be tourists away from noted landmarks.

The gentleman who put this together, Erik Fisher, has a site on flickr with many more examples. Basically, he used other Flickr sites and a date range to estimate who's a tourist, who's not. 

And this is the power of the Internet, combined with the power of the database: The ability to connect disparate data together quickly and cheaply, producing new scales of knowledge - just think what this type of project would have required in 1980, for example. If not impossible, it would be near impossible without massive amounts of manual labor and effort.

Now, just takes a bright guy with some programming skills and a few weekends of time. 

That's the upside. The downside, of course, is that governments, companies, individuals can do the same, and who knows to what end they will use your data - think of what a bank could learn about you simply by putting your ATM withdrawls on a map. I'd dare say they would know pretty much where you spend most of your time, every day. 

Tip of the iceberg.

Your only hope of retaining the barest sliver of privacy in the coming Age of Aquarius: Spread your on-line data out to as many different providers as possible.

But even that will be mostly futile as the machines get faster and smarter.

Resistance is, indeed, mostly futile. But perhaps it's not a question of resistance anymore....

If you're not with the flow, you're against it

Yeah, I know, I know: Times Square is exciting, and there are a lot of bright and shiny lights. However, it's also filled with people. So, tourists of the world, wherever you go, try and remember: You're not Julia Roberts and this world is not made for you. So before you stop in the middle of a busy sidewalk to look at your map, or take a video of a statue (?!), why not first step out of the general flow of traffic, and then do what you have to do? It's really not that hard, and will usually only add a couple of seconds to what you want to do anyways.

Furthermore, and this goes for all Americans: Why not keep to the right, in all situations? We drive on the right; most people in a city will walk on the right - except for those few folks who seem unaware of this general convention, and will happily plow upstream against a flow of people. I always wonder: Do these folks not get that they're going against the general flow, or do they not care?

That appears to be a fundamental question concerning all human behavior: Don't know, or don't care? Seems to me the answer explains most every impolite behavior.

Rightful Vengeance

It's heavily implied that Glinda arranged for Dorothy's house to land on the Wicked Witch of the East - she shows up right after it happens. And really, what are the odds it happened randomly?


So, after Glinda leaves, the Wicked Witch of the West shows up, and why not: It's her sister who's been crushed! Who wouldn't be upset if a house landed on their sister? Furthermore, who wouldn't have a right to vengeance  if someone did it intentionally?  If it's a magical matter, of course.


Or, is there any such thing as a right to vengeance?