Bustin' Jesus

Jesus having risen from the dead puts him squarely in the Ghostbustin' category, and fair game for entrapment.

But even Ghost Busters get busted, one day. RIP to Harold Ramis, one of the funniest persons ever in the history of making jokes.

Your Terrorist is my Nobel Peace Prize Winner

RIP. A great man who fought an evil cause. And in so doing employed violence and gathered what allies he could. Fighting evil leads to many grey areas, since, when is violence ever "good"? But if the end result of violence leads to a greater good, isn't it for the best then? Big questions.

And a big impact. Ask yourself if you'd be prepared to give up most of your life in the name of a cause, and then have your actions inspire billions? Only a few get asked, and even fewer can eventually say yes.

Chaos is hip for the childless

Sure, when you're 27, chaos might seem pretty cool. Nihilism might be awesome at 25. Anarchy is your goal at 21. But, I observe in my gathering dotage, once you have children, these and similar philosophies lose all appeal. I mean, who wants their child to grow up in a Dystopian Thunderdome? Libertarians, maybe. Though I doubt that too.

Also, what the hell is a fox? Dog? Cat? Dogcat? Also too, in New Gondolin news, I had found a rabbit friend who would come up to me in the woods and watch what I was doing. I'd talk to her - "Hi, Mrs. Rabbit. How's life? How are the kids? Hope you're eating well - the grass looks tasty." Etc. She wasn't much of a conversationalist, but she'd twitch her nose and listen. Great listener. Anyways, the other day I came upon an odd looking scat on a trail the rabbit frequently frequented, and consulting my "Big Book o' Scat", I narrowed it down to some type of fox. And I've not seen Mrs. Rabbit since - 6 days! I fear the worst, and I doubt my reward for information will bring any clarity onto this distressing situation.

If you were taken, Mrs. Rabbit, well, I hope your calories help the fox's kids. Cycle of life and all that. RIP.

Beyond the Pale Blue Dot

Click for big if you can't read the text. Wise words, and it puts things in perspective. A True perspective, but then you'll find that the objective, absolute Truth often does not matter, but instead what does is our subjective truths. Or even our lies.

Send your mind out into space - past Neptune, past Pluto, past Sirius, past Orion, past Andromeda, keep going out billions of light years, and there are more stars, more galaxies, more planets, but keep going, it never ends - space stretching out to infinity in all directions, and here we are, simultaneously at the center of everything and just another speck in the cosmic infinities. This is all Truth, and in this Truth the value of a single life is insignificant. In fact, the value of our planet, our solar system, our star, is utterly insignificant in comparison to the scale of our Universe, and perhaps even the Multiverse. But then there's this:

Caroline Previdi, age 6 when she died yesterday at the hands of a truly sick individual with guns. And you think of the terror and the horror she must have experienced in her last moments, and all the ensuing horror for her parents, her family, her friends, and all the other people affected by the events in Newtown, CT yesterday. And it's all very significant, isn't it?

Will this horror change anything here on planet Earth, in the country of America? I sure hope so. Today it seems like it might. But I've grown cynical enough over the past... 20 years... that I'm pessimistic.

I spend a lot of time (too much) in the "trenches", so to speak, of Right Wing thought. Let me summarize them for you: No matter how bad you think they are, they're worse then you know, maybe even worse then you can imagine. After being shocked then thinking I cannot be shocked any more, I was once again shocked yesterday reading their reactions to this tragedy. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that in our subjective little insignificant reality, there's real people, real issues, and real evil out there who don't give a fuck. And you can't use mental illness as an excuse for these people. For the leadership of the NRA, for example. For the Republican party, for example. These people are actually evil - in our subjective state - and unfortunately we often live, and die, at their whims. In their quest for nothing more than money.

A sad day, a sad world. And yet one we can make better. If we try. Will we?

Laika Dub

My mother, bless her, kept a journal of my likes and dislikes from grade K through 5. One of the questions in this journal was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" And my answer was "Astronaut". From K through 5. And I tried - applied for the Air Force Academy but during the physical I learned I was deaf in my left ear - I never knew! How about that - to be told your entire life till this point has been in mono and you never knew. Odd!

I'd never be an astronaut with this failing, rightly so. And thus, alas! I accept a world where I will never be an astronaut, despite my deep yearnings. So I reach out to those who have gone to space. Like Laika, first mammal in space.

A mutt from the streets, and yet stands forever as the first ambassador of life into space, our inevitable home. Laika, dog hero par excellence.

 A dog hero we can all celebrate - Laika, dog hero of humanity.

On the backs of those who gave their lives for yours and mine. A debt that can never be fully paid.

Gallows Jape

9/11 is here again. I'd almost forgotten, which I think is a great sign. The sooner this tragic event fades into the mists of time, the better - ONLY so it can no longer be used as jingoistic fear bait by deplorable Republicans and other Fundamentalists. 9/11 was their best tool for many years, and we're all still paying the price for their wielding of it. Thankfully, that too is fading, as the fascist tide recedes.

As I've said before, I lament the loss of life on 9/11, but then I lament the loss of life in a Bangladeshi ferry crash, or an Iraqi market bombing, or some jungle skirmish in Africa. People are dying all the time for all the wrong reasons, and sadly they often go unremarked. Once we ALL understand that people are people and we all want the same things - peace, happiness, children, and a pleasant old age - then we'll have a chance for no more terrorism, no more wars, no more violence, especially in the name of some "movement".

That's a ways off, though. Alas! In the meantime, I will continue to mock the Authoritarians, any who would have you bend your knee out of fear. Fear is never the answer. Laughter often is. Here you go (by the by - the pic above "The Accidental Tourist" was one of the first internet hoaxes after 9/11, and lives to this day. It is a hoax - here's the backstory.)

A real, pirated product.

The death of OBL was a big step forward in sending 9/11 to the archives. Thanks Obama!

As I've been making fun of 9/11 for a while now, I've seen more and more 9/11 cakes each year. I've got dozens on the old hard drive, but this one will suffice for now. Funny!

An actual "memorial" product. How better to remember that tragic day than flicking on a novelty lighter and smoking a butt? Or blunt.

 

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

One Day

Probably, right? It's usually something stupid, and your last thought is "r u kiddin me?"

But rest assured, all Redshirts will die - and we're all Redshirts in the scheme of things. We'd like to think we're large and in charge but it's not true - we're all flotsam on cosmic waves.

So take cheer! We're all in this together, and have this wonderful time we call "Alive". Enjoy it while you can. For it is a fleeting gift.

Tombstone generator here.

No more time to prepare

RIP Batmans. Your vigilantism was an inspiration to us all.

But really, kids, Batman will die some day. As will most heroes, save the freaks - Superman prime among them. Immortals ain't right, I tells ya.

Not in comic books though, not permanently. There's always reboots and alternate universes. The Heroes of our mythology - Batman, Superman, Spiderman, etc - will live in our imaginations as long as they can engage our attention. If culture changes drastic enough, they could all fall by the wayside, into the dustbin of discarded Gods and Heroes, and truly then, Batman would be dead.

No spoilers here, by the way. I have no idea what's going on.

King Kong Eggs

Born mad.

Also, in regards the age old debate involving the chicken and the egg, let me tell you that from an evolutionary viewpoint, it's clearly the "chicken". Not the chicken itself, but its ancient ancestor, our ancestor too. The first who came up with the whole "egg" concept. It was pretty long ago, but animals were born before eggs and continue to survive to this day. Thus, if our ancestors once produced without the use of eggs, the answer to this debate is clearly:

Chicken.

RIP (OH YEAH!)

Randy "The Macho Man" Savage died this past 5/20 due to a heart attack while driving. I had the opportunity to post an elegy that day - since as an old, long ago wrestling fan, I knew of some of the Macho Man's wrasslin' deeds, but I knew him more through the pop culture adoption of some of his memes. His catch phrase and sponsorship of that beef jerky product - you know the one - spread his persona into the common culture where it became, "a thing". A small thing, to be sure, but a thing none the less. I myself did a Macho Man impression from 1995 - 1999. OOH YEAH! Which is really just stealing Kool Aid Guy's line. Remember him?

(Tangent: What's up with Kool Aid Guy? I mean, he's naked, right? And has poured "himself" into a mini pitcher - which he then serves to children. Is the small pitcher Kool Aid Guy's child? Is the beverage itself their blood? And what's with the ice cubes? How do they always stay frozen? I could go on....)

But that's pop culture for you.

Macho Man has lived and spread on the Interweb like most absurd things, and you'll see his trademark costume at the occasional Halloween party or Comic-Con. Why? Why not - it's fun!

And fun is what Macho Man brought, and this World needs fun, Danny.

Oh yeah - I could have posted this on 5/20, and I strongly considered it, but it got bumped by that day's big news on the Redshirt Gazette - the funtimes 5/21 Notpocalypse. Remember that?

Naw, me neither. Oh well...

You're Not Supposed to Kill Your Goldstein

Here's Osama on his 3rd date with Zawahiri - he let him hold his gun. But seriously, do you think these men think they're monsters, or do you think they feel justified in their actions? Remember, even young Osama had dreams of flower power and groovy rock n' roll:

The internet tells me that smiling lad in the circle is a young Osama Bin Laden. Austin Powers style. Like all supposed monsters, he was a young man once, no doubt concerned about getting laid. But something happened, something learned, some spirit took hold and he went off to fight instead, and once you get used to violence, more violence is always easier, and mayhaps predictable. So, James Bond Villain style, Osama and his gang took on the World, and well, they're still holding their own. And, more crucially, our world has changed because of Osama's war:

Our society, Western society in general, has lost much in this war. We've become desensitized, beaten down, made to cower and worry in fear. Our media feeds us daily hates and THINGS THAT WILL KILL YOU and everything seems so much more extreme, in every way.

Except, thank FSM, we have this guy, this Obama guy. He's like magic, I tell you, and I feel we rolled triple 6's in this wacky game of Risk we call "Our Lives" and got the perfect leader. I knew Obama was the real deal way back, and so am almost never surprised by anything he does anymore. He's incredible  - consider, he was roasting Trump and being roasted himself all the while this Operation Kill Goldstein was getting prepped and ready. He was calling the shots every step of the way. He was laughing at an Osama joke - ha. He's so cool, our Prez, Barack Hussein Obama. Damn!

The Force is strong in this one. If you'd like to know more about President Obama's policies, or history, or anything, feel free to ask. I love talking Obama!

This is one of the first pics of Obama I ever did download. 12/07/07, in a store in Iowa. Keepin' it real.

Think any of this will change any wingnut's minds?

I doubt it. I doubt many things these days - like war can ever end, or even slow down anymore. Small wars, mind you. Nothing that would truly disrupt global business. The Military Industrial Complex is deeply entrenched in every major country, and there's no putting that genie back in the bottle. So Obama can try and wind down all these wars - and hey, maybe not get involved in any more? And did I mention I am a SUPER HIPPY? I amaze myself with this, but it's true. If I had my wish, there'd be no more war, and we'd all live in peace and fellowship with the other, working for the common good, all of our needs met and our lives filled with pleasure and satisfaction...

But yes, I also realize we live in a hard world, with hard men, in hard times. The kind of men who put a bullet into the eye socket of OBL last night.

Sadly, we've created legions of these guys. Goons, willing and able to do almost anything, violent. And they probably think like mercenaries  too - and Lord Knows there's lots of new mercenary outfits out there. Why not? The USA is more than willing to outsource the killing and torture. Money talks.

Think of what the last decade has done - all the war, the random bombings, the torture, the real and manufactured fear, it's all added up to a fundamentally changed world. We're a more extreme place these days, with tactics improved, ways of killing improved, ways of seeing and hiding and plotting improved... it's not good stuff, but some of it may turn out to be good in the end. We'll see, won't we? At least there will be lots of explosions - always fun!

Also, too: When Bush just simply stopped caring about OBL, circa 2003, I figured it was per the orders from the secret powers: Having OBL alive and out there was far more valuable to the Cause than killing/capturing him. The "Cause" was ruining this country and making themselves incredibly rich. This of course was the role Emmanual Goldstein played in the book 1984, which, again, if you've not read since High School, you should give it a go again. It's fantastic, and terrifying. Because the Right is using it like a playbook, and it's working.

So, this morning, I woke up wondering how the Right would mock or otherwise dismiss this moment for Obama. And there you have it: You're not supposed to kill your Goldstein, you fool!

(Also, also: Your connection to this post is "Bearded Crazy Religious Men".)

Shadow in Space

I'm sure not many care, but this is the last voyage of the Starship Discovery, pictured above from last week, with the ISS casting a shadow from on high.

In many ways, the Space Shuttle is an apt metaphor for America over the past 50 years. To wit, born in a time of rapid advancement and progress (60's), milked for all it was worth by Regan and minions who offered nothing in return, and then left to meekly die because we've run out of money in the 21st century.

Summarized: With the rise of the Wingnuts, all long term planning/investment went out the window, and all efforts are made towards short term political gains, increasing wealth for you and yours, and making sure the little guys gets it in both ends. America! All while proclaiming one's great Patriotism.

We've got no replacement spaceship, and instead we're praying the private sector can come through. They might be able to, but even if they do, it's going to take awhile. And thus, in a weirdly poetic circle, Americans will now depend on Russians to get into space. USA! USA! Thanks again, Ronnie.

But alas! I did not want to touch that poison, for too long. Here's some neat-o shots of the ISS and the Space Shuttle. This first picture is from 2007, care of Phil Plait:

 That's the ISS and Space Shuttle shooting across the heavens, very close to each other. This next pic is from the current mission, and is awesome, as it was taken from earth:

 Click for big, as always.


Alas, it won't be till the Chinese make some real headway in space till America gets back in the game, because then the Redneck Wingnuts will say it's for defense, and the golden flow of money will commence. C'mon new Cold War (Chinese Space Version)!

Richard Hardy, Coroner at Large

It's a nice day today, don't ya think?

Sorta RIP Spirit

I have been remiss in not mentioning this news earlier. Sad news, sorta - NASA has given up on trying to extract Spirit. The rover has been stuck in the sand for some time due to a damaged wheel and bad luck, and the engineers have made many attempts to get her out, to no avail. So now she sits, watching and sending back data, which, over time, is bound to be of less and less value. Inevitably the omnipresent Martian dust will envelop Spirit's solar panels, her batteries will drain, and one day, she just won't wake up.

But like with most lives, Spirit's has been remarkable. Both the rovers on Mars have produced incredible data, and have far, far, far surpassed any and all goals for the project. The relatively paltry money spent on this mission (I think around 250 Million) must be the best "bang for the buck" NASA has ever achieved.

The picture above shows Spirit's damaged wheel making heavy drag marks through the sand, revealing the presence of almost pure Silica. On earth, Silica is only formed in the presence of water, proving once again that some time in the past, water flowed freely on the Martian surface. 

And might do so once again.

If we ever live the dream and actually move off Earth, I hope future Human-Martians build a memorial to the two rovers who accomplished so much.

Google Maps - Sympathy Killa

This is all Google Map's doing - I was not involved at all.

RIP Squirrel

Well, same old story as with the birds. I'm driving along, minding my own business, never meanin' no harm, and you ran out into the road directly in front of me, leaving me no time to turn out of the way. You passed under my right set of wheels, but I know you did not pass the left, as I heard the sickening crunch of your skull under my back tire. And then I saw you dead in the road as I drove off.

Sorry. Really. May you find many nuts in squirrel heaven.

And again, to my other animal readers: If you see a black Tacoma coming down the road, run. IT'S DEATH!!!

RIP Baby Hawk

Now, me and my truck had nothing to do this, although my death dealing truck was about 30 feet away -- but it was parked and played no role in the following tale!

Anywho, there are many hawks in the area outside my infernal office park -- both rather drab brown ones, and brighter Red Tails, as above. This is a male, and I believe a male was the culprit in the following crime:

Heard a screeching -- looked up to a light post to see one hawk charging another. That hawk flies to another light pole, followed by the screeching hawk, who again charges him. What I assume is the male flies off again to the original light pole, where I can see there is something on the top (I assumed it was food at first). The screeching hawk follows, and attacks again. The male flies off into the nearby woods, and what I assume is the female spreads her wings over the item on top of the light post - and then I see something fall. The screeching is going on the whole time. She flies off into the woods. I then run over to this lightpole (wary of hawk attack of course) to inspect what fell to the ground. Bummer -- a little tiny baby hawk. Dead. RIP little one.

I left quickly, what I assume is the mother returned to the light post, still screeching, as I left. And she continued to screech for the next five minutes, and longer for all know. It was all quite sad, but alas, nature, red in tooth and claw.

It is shocking to us, of course, but this behavior -- males killing babies -- seems quite common in the animal world. It's all about the genes, and it is brutal situations like the one above that should cause you to ask yourself: Who is really in charge of your life? You, or your genes?

I suspect most if not all people would say themselves. I would say, I'm not so sure about that. Consider for a moment the role sex plays in our life, and that is clearly a genetic imperative, and voila! You have the majority of our lives clearly ruled by genetic impulses. Are you so sure it's not your entire life?

RIP Finch

Well, apparently my truck is the vehicle of choice for suicidal birds, as another bird has been killed flying into my truck.

Attention, all birds reading this blog! I do not want to kill you, even if you are suicidal. Please find another method, or make your intents known to me beforehand. I will try and seek some kind of bird counselor for you.

Also, I know of some great bird seed locations. Leave a note if you'd like to know where.

RIP Starling

I certainly did not want to kill you. I tried my best to stop, but you flew in the road directly beneath my truck, and then you froze even though I honked my horn. And now you're dead. Sorry. I hope you find an unending pile of seeds in the great beyond.