Phases of water

These are Japanese Macaques, or Snow Monkeys. They live in the cold mountains of Japan, and in the winter, they spend a great deal of time in volcanic hotsprings like the one above. Interesting fact about Macaques: They wash their food before eating it, like humans and raccoons and no other animal in this wide world (that we know of, yet).

But that's not why I'm here. Rather, I'd like to point out the phase transitions of water taking place in this picture - you see all three: Liquid, solid, and gas. These are the three states of matter we are very familiar with on this Earth. There is a 4th state, the most common in the universe in fact: Plasma, i.e. what makes up stars (superheated gas phase changes into a plasma). Plasma does not exist on Earth except when we, Godlike, make it. Still, it only lasts for a few moments and then reverts back to a gas.

Phase transitions, as you know, are a function of temperature - that is, each element or molecule will go through a transition of phase with a corresponding temperature change. Hotter temperatures will lead to gases and plasmas, cooler temperatures to liquid and solids. Liquid is the weak leg in these transitions, as there are very narrow bands for each element/molecule where it can exist as a liquid. Solids and gases exist in a far wider range of temperatures. So, consider yourselves blessed beyond belief that we live on a world where water can exist naturally in a liquid state - the foundation of life, in fact (or so we believe for now).

I bet these monkeys appreciate it.

Cold Comfort

That's some cold ass shit right there mang. Literally.


Ice Toilet in Ice Hotel, Japan.

Marketing Campaigns Become Our Desires

Big winner! This guy was the lucky person who was allowed the opportunity to buy the first iPad in China. His T- shirt reads "I BUY IPAD NO1"; I'd add it appears #2 as well.

I can't help but shake my curmudgeonly  old head whenever I see expressions of such sincere passion over buying a consumer product - like when folks around the world camp out the night before an iPhone release. It's crazy! And I suppose a testament to the effective marketing campaigns of Apple.

But it speaks to a deep and fundamental absence in so many people's lives - that they are so wrapped up in Consumer Culture that their desires are imported, created on Madison Avenue, and willingly incorporated into their very sense of SELF. To the point that I'm sure many are familiar with: You become defined by your social group (and yourself) by the products you own (or, conversely I suppose, don't own).

If I was an ad executive, I would light my fat cigar with a $100 bill everytime I saw a picture like this, and laugh, laugh, laugh all the way to the bank.

We become our delusions, and when the rush eventually fades away, and you're left with this gaping sense of "what's next, want more..." fret not: There will be another shiny bauble to get your temporary attention.

EXTREME (TO THE MAX!!!)!!!

Another wonderful photoshop by an anonymous artist from the internet. Images like this are often the result of many iterations by several people, each adding an element until there is a collective agreement perfection has been reached. It's a wonderful example of a dialectic in action, as each person is feeding and thusly building on ideas from another.

It's how we all operate, every day, every moment. Even within ourselves - a constant dialectic of action, reaction, and synthesis which turns into a new action. Which is really just another way of saying "cause and effect" - everything is connected in a chain of causality, where each effect becomes a new cause creating a new effect, which in turn is a new cause, and so on. Forever.

Everything is in a causal relationship with everything else. Everywhere, and for all of time.

The dialectic can thusly be viewed as simply the ebb and flow within a closed system of energy.

Resulting in everything, including this EXTREME photoshop.

EXTREME

Premise: Everything IS more extreme than in the past (it's not your imagination). The reason for this is the self-sustaining dialectic created by the Internet/Cable referenced down below. To wit: You have more opportunity to know what's going on out there. This knowledge will inform your decisions, which you then feed-back into the dialectic, which in turn will supply someone else information, and so on. Given the very human need to take something - anything - to the next level, or personalize it, this dynamic will create a feedback loop of ever increasing extremism, however you'd like to define "extreme".

Examples:

 The Police have gotten more extreme.

 The Technology has gotten more extreme.

 The guns and gun owners have gotten more extreme.

 The dialog has gotten more extreme.

The Media has gotten more extreme.

 The infantile delusions have gotten more extreme (for an easy formula to understand a teabagger - they truly believe they are of the same clothe as the folks involved in the American Revolution. The truth is, if anything, they're more like the folks from South Carolina circa 1857, but they'll never understand that. It IS important for US to understand what they think of themselves, however deluded)

I could - and will, later - go on and on. This extremism seems to be in every corner of the world, leaving nothing untouched (sports, for example). It's a function of our times in most ways, specifically the truly revolutionary technological capabilities that are continually reinventing our world.

That is, we're living through a mighty transition, and transitions, while natural and good in of themselves, bring massive amounts of upheaval and suffering. 


The only way to end an "extremist feedback loop" is to deprive it of fuel (true of any feedback). There is only three ways to do that: 1. It dries up on its own because it's exhausted its fuel supply, or 2. People willingly deprive it of fuel (a new mindset takes hold), and/or 3. There is a substantial external event that resets the playing field.

Then, of course, there are the changes each of us can make within ourselves - the only true and lasting change. But that's up to you.

And to conclude, the instigating factor (the spark) to many of the extremities of the day is Barack Obama. Not for anything he's done or said, but simply who he is. Think of American race relations as a blister that Obama popped. It needed to be popped, and will turn out OK in the end. But till then, we've got to deal with a lot of pus - IE the Teabaggers et al.

If you don't believe me, consider a similar era - the Civil Rights era. I don't think anyone could argue that the efforts of those folks paid huge, positive dividends for everyone in the world. But there was a sure lot of pain and suffering to get through it (Birmingham, Selma, etc). 

So buck up!

Long Prophesied

Here's a picture of a "real life" "superhero" - Z. You can read all about Z's adventures, as well as the rest of his Justice League, here. 

It's an OK start - I like the numbers I'm hearing about (100-400), though I assume that's inflated, and very few people are serious.

I've been waiting so long for this - since the 70's, really, with the combination of heavy doses of comic books and "Death Wish" with Charles Bronson; mix in Bernie Goetz and the Guardian Angels, plus my first discovery of "The Punisher", and it's seemed to me only a matter of time before someone takes it to the next level - and goes full costumed crime fighter/vigilante.

Now, it might have happened many times and we've never heard about it, since it seems likely the cops would want to keep it quiet. But I think we've entered the age of Super-Vigilante's, for the following reasons:
1. Martial Arts. Many, many more people know how to fight than in the past.
2. Steroids - many more people can take drugs to increase their size.
3. Special Forces - our latest wars have been heavily focused on Special Forces; these folks, once they leave the military, can easily move on to high-paying mercenary work - why not a few in the hero biz?
4. Breakdown of our culture/EXTREME - everything's more extreme these days, both good and bad. Thus, the chances that someone will take this theme in both directions: Super heroes AND Super villains.

So, while Z and his group are getting close, they're not quite there yet, cuz frankly they're not crazy enough. But soon. I sit in my High Castle and declare: Soon.

El hombre araña es muy impresionante

From a recent photo series (forgot who!) which featured Hispanic-Americans dressing up as superheroes while performing various mundane service sector jobs. The point being, I take it, to show how these common folks perform heroic deeds on a daily basis on YOUR behalf.


Unfortunately, I think the affect is mostly humorous, as so:

Never fear, lady, your burrito is still warm!

But no joke, really, as I well understand the work done - often in the shadows of the law - by our Hispanic brothers and sisters. And shame on your usual band of Repuglican monsters for demonizing them, as usual, in order to fear-monger for votes.

A New and Mighty Dialectic

Another photoshop from the same source - different artist though, but still unknown. The premise of these wonders was simple: Someone found an old Spider Man coloring book at a yard sale, scanned in the pages to the interweb, and then a community of people proceeded to make different funny versions of the images. Some were not so good, of course. Others were wondrous.

Think of this mighty power that did not exist not so long ago - or if it did, in no way similar in terms of speed and effectiveness. It's incredible: Worldwide a group of somewhat like-minded individuals have voluntarily found each other via an electronic medium wherein they are unlikely to ever see these other people or know very much about them. Together, they create wonders of new ideas. Not that these results are necessarily groundbreaking, but who knows: When mining for diamonds, you have to go through a lot of dirt.

I'll Cassandrafy for ya, and predict this dialectic will only increase in power and frequency. It is likely we will soon be merging our brains with internet-like networks, instantly connecting us to the entirety of human knowledge, allowing us instant communications with anyone else in the world - or all of them. The possibilities are endless, and we will find them, step by step. This process is well underway.

It's wonderful, and terrible, like everything.

The Passion of Peter Parker

Artist unknown, from the "Something Awful" forums. GBS in particular - a great mine for pictures on this website - such wonderful photoshops.

I wish I could credit the artist, but alas. Enjoy his work nonetheless.

Repuglican Jesus Mocks Your Compassion

It was an amusing week on the Right Wingnut Jesus front. Perhaps you heard the story down south where a man's house caught on fire, the fire department showed up, but because he did not pay his 75$ firefighting fee (not a tax! Remember, taxes are of the Devil), the firefighters stood around and watched the guy's house burn down, despite his pleas, despite the pets dying inside. The firefighters only got involved when the fire began to threaten the neighbor's house, who had paid his fee.

This, in a very concise nutshell, is the vision of Libertopia the cult members of Ayn Rand would foist on us.

However, where it got interesting to me was in the response by a so-called Christian.This quote is from the devout Christian Bryan Fisher, from the American Family Association (sidenote: Any organization with the word "Family" in their name will no doubt be meddling in everyone's affairs - for Freedom and Jesus, of course):

The fire department did the right and Christian thing. The right thing, by the way, is also the Christian thing, because there can be no difference between the two. The right thing to do will always be the Christian thing to do, and the Christian thing to do will always be the right thing to do.
If I somehow think the right thing to do is not the Christian thing to do, then I am either confused about what is right or confused about Christianity, or both.
In this case, critics of the fire department are confused both about right and wrong and about Christianity. And it is because they have fallen prey to a weakened, feminized version of Christianity that is only about softer virtues such as compassion and not in any part about the muscular Christian virtues of individual responsibility and accountability.
The Judeo-Christian tradition is clear that we must accept individual responsibility for our own decisions and actions. He who sows to the flesh, we are told, will from the flesh reap corruption. The law of sowing and reaping is a non-repealable law of nature and nature’s God. …
This story illustrates the fundamental difference between a sappy, secularist worldview, which unfortunately too many Christians have adopted, and the mature, robust Judeo-Christian worldview which made America the strongest and most prosperous nation in the world. The secularist wants to excuse and even reward irresponsibility, which eventually makes everybody less safe and less prosperous. A Christian worldview rewards responsibility and stresses individual responsibility and accountability, which in the end makes everybody more safe and more prosperous.
I’m going with mature, robust Christianity on this one.

 "Muscular Christianity". Like this?

 Or some kind of "Robust Christianity" like this?

Regardless, the insanity/stupidity/hypocrisy is just overwhelming. I have to believe Mr. Fisher - and the many people who think like him - are sincere. If they're not, that's a whole nother ball of wax. 

Now, I'm not a Christian, never have been, never will be. But! I've read the stupid Bible front to back, as well as all the major religious texts of all the major world religions. And I can say confidently that Mr. Fisher is wrong about "muscular Christianity". There's no such thing, and that is simply the perverted worldview of these neo-cons who would like nothing more than a bloody war (fought by others) in the name of Christ. 

This is who WE are dealing with, these are the people holding back progress in the US, and thus the world. They are evil, and they need to be confronted/mocked/challenged at every opportunity.


Also, bonus awesome art:

Entitled: "Blackwater Jesus at Republican Mecca" by Stephen Pitt. You can find more of his awesome work here.

Empire's Fall

This is a picture from a staging base in Iraq, where equipment is leaving the country, bound for other parts of the Empire.


Empires have risen and fallen throughout history, and their story is generally the same: They expand, due to internal efficiencies, get really big for awhile and during this phase, lose the efficiencies that made them successful, and then they enter a diminishing phase, where the loss of power is deeply felt, yet there's little anyone can do to stop it.

In the American Empire of 2010, we've probably reached or are very close to the diminishing phase - when we can pump in 1 trillion dollars to a foreign country that provides almost no benefit to the citizens of the Empire, and in fact hurts them because there's no money left over for domestic issues. Heck, we delivered a Universal healthcare system in Iraq - how did that work out in America?

We're falling out of Space because we can't afford it; our infrastructure is crumbling, a victim of 30 years of Reaganomics; we don't value education, immigration, culture, etc.... instead, we (as an Empire) are simply becoming more shrill - more religious, more warlike, more desperate.

These are the results of 30 years of neo-conservative ideology sweeping through our ruling class - a class now dedicated solely to the preservation of the Plutocracy. But alas, no plutocracy can last long, as they are always build on unstable foundations.


The point? Learn Mandarin now!

Drones 'n Bots (oh my!)

This cheerful fellow is a Navy drone, fully autonomous. Just a few weeks ago, the Navy lost control of a drone like this one over Washington DC. Think of it! For several hours, a robotic killing platform was flying over the capital of the Empire, completely uncontrolled. They did get it to finally land, but I suspect how they did that is "confidential". Surely, no lessons can be learned from this experience.

Here's the MDARS, another fully automated drone. The Defense Department is officially rolling these out as roving security systems covering vast tracts of land in Nevada (nuke sites and the like). They just drive around looking for stuff, all day all night. They're not armed (yet), but as with most of the coolest military toys, it won't be long before some scaled down version reaches the big police departments, and then onto your town. I'm sure they can be reasoned with if they pull you over.

And finally, for now, from the ranks of private industry, comes the Googlecopter. Google's been buying a ton of these bots from a German company, and their plan is to use them to augment their Street View service. And surely, they would never be used for any other purpose.


I could go on - and I will, later. But I hope my point is clear: It's only a matter of time.

The March of Inevitability

This is a cheap fingerprint reader intended for use with a PC. Cool in theory - rather than needing a password to log into the machine, you simply use your fingerprint. Different users on the same computer could all have secured access to the machine with no passwords required - just fingerprints.

However, as with all technologies, the cool aspects merely mask the insidious aspects. Fingerprint readers are poised to take off in all sorts of areas, or already have. On recent trips to Canada and Europe, I noticed the "Fast track" customs lines where folks who have signed up for the program get to go through "speed" lines, where there is a fingerprint and iris reader. Like here:

It's convenient! The lure of many intrusive technologies. On a trip to China a few years ago, I noticed (in horror!) that Hong Kong residents had to go through a biometric checkpoint in order to enter China. And that will no doubt become more and more prevalent across the world.

"You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide" the authoritarians among us will say. But that is a false assumption - it should not have to be on the individual to justify his/her desire for privacy. But that's the world we're living in now, and it's only going to get worse. Accept this as an impending reality, and prepare yourself accordingly.

If you care.

Tiny Octopus

Look at this cute guy! But don't be deceived: Octopi are wicked smart, and if we don't keep a close eye on 'em, it's likely they'll eventually form some alliance with the dolphins, whales, and monkeys to overthrow us. BE PREPARED!


Seriously, though: Wicked smart. I saw a special on octopii and it showed how one octopus in a tank, watching another octopus in a separate tank navigate a puzzle to get a treat - time and time and time again the octopus who was watching would instantly solve the puzzle, proving they ability to learn by watching: a powerful ability.

Also, look how translucent this guy is. The chameleon powers of some octopus are simply amazing, but when I look at this little guy, I can see right through him, which reminds me of a fundamental truth: We (all life) is empty. Empty spaces in atoms, in molecules, in organs, in skin. We are 70% water! If you were told anything else was 70% water, you'd instantly conclude it would be a very liquid, but perhaps viscous substance. I bet you don't think that about yourself though.

Perspective, as always. It's the key to wisdom, I think.

L'il Cthulu

Nifty lid and a swell way to express your devotion to the oldest of Evils...

Rick Roll (Redneck mix)

That's one red neck. 


And if you're not hip to what a "Rick Roll" is, here's a modest example.

The Enemy Within*

This is him. The enemy of all human progress - known today as a "Teabagger", but they go by many names. One of them is Redneck (not exclusive, however). Seems harmless enough, right?

With their funny traditions:

And their longstanding commitments to the rule of law:

 And, as always, a devotion to health and well being:

 What's not to love?


Oh yeah: The "Redneck"  - defined as any American who would reject progress and science in the name of some mythical "olden times" when Blacks and Jews knew their places - and Jesus be damned if a woman should have a vote.

They're the ultimate regressives, and they have been a near constant force in American history. Dennis G. over at Balloon Juice has made many, many excellent posts on this subject (Here's the latest), and I highly recommend you read his thoughts on the subject.

To wit: Most of the problems in pre-civil war America resulted from the stress of slavery existing within a democratic system. Viewed from this perspective, you can see most major historical points prior to 1860 as one side demanding absolute toleration of their viewpoints (slavery), with the other side compromising, time and time again. See: The Missouri Compromise as a prime example.

The Civil War is obvious enough, but then after, you have an armed insurrection in the South lasting generations (The KKK), and the enactment of the Jim Crowe system. The Feds left them alone (to all our detriment) from simple exhaustion (a tactic!) until the Civil Rights movements of the 1960's. At the conclusion of which, these Regressives, these Deniers, switched en masse from the Democratic Party, to the Republican Party, and took it over.

So, the irony is the very party that freed the slaves and caused the South to secede in the first place is now wholly captured by the very same forces of intolerance, violence, and aggressive ignorance. And we are still compromising with them, still accommodating their endless grievances, whines, complaints, etc.


I'm ready for "Civil War 2 - The Finishing" at this point. I hope enough Americans can wake up to this truth before we are once again at their mercy (the Bush Admin was a highpoint in this Neo-confederate movement). I doubt it, though, for an unholy alliance of Oligarchs backs these forces, and they will do everything in their power to convince enough people that this ignorance, this evil, is what it actually means to be an American.


They're wrong. But somewhere, sometime, someone's going to have to stand up and defend these points of view. It's fundamental issue the "tolerant' have to address: How to deal with the viciously intolerant? Because in an open, pluralistic, tolerant society, the viciously intolerant are a poison, and can kill the entire body.




*I realize there are nice, smart, compassionate Rednecks out there. Like these guys: 

But sadly, they are the small exception to the rule.

Happy Birthday!

Mali's partying today! Woo-hoo!


Fun facts about Hippos you may not know:

1. They're vegetarian
2. They are the most dangerous big animal in Africa, killing way more people than lions or any of your usual scary predators.
3. They're very closely related to whales - the ancestors of all whales were hippo-like creatures that permanently moved into the water, and over time their arms evolved into fins. You can imagine how an animal like a hippo might make that transition in the future - they spend most of their time in the water already. Just give up the land, man!

Anyways, and this is almost always the point of this blog: I just liked this picture, and it fits the dialectic! No need to read anything else into it....

Hot Dog!

A delicacy in the Koreas, or so the Internet has led me to believe. Looks tasty!

A Legend is Born

Say hello to Kanellos, the Greek Protest Dog (there's your search terms). The Internet has not completely settled on a name for this awesome guy, but I'm going with Kanellos.

Witness just a small slice of his heroic adventures:

This guy is near and dear to my heart as I was in Athens a few days before these protests (December 2008), right in these neighborhoods, and I made friends with lots of the dogs (and cats) that were roaming around the street - they were everywhere. It was shocking at first to see dogs hanging out on top of the Acropolis, for example, but I quickly warmed to the guys. They were all very friendly, for the obvious begging reasons. I also assumed many of these dogs and cats had owners, they were just free to roam around wherever they wanted.

Anyways, Kanellos shows up in tons of photos of these protests, leading the charge in some cases. It's easy to understand from a dog behavior perspective: He's begging from the protesters, who are nice to him; the cops are easily identifiable and are mean to him AND the people he thinks of as his pack. Thus, he becomes an active agent in the protests, protecting his pack (source of food, kindness).

Or, perhaps he's just an anarchist dog:

Wanna know what love is?

Forget what the minstrels have told ya, love is but a collection of genetic behaviors that compel mammals to fuck. By fucking, they pass on the genes, which is - of course - the true point of life. We are but the vehicles for these genes, who lived long before us and will live long after us, as long as we perform our duty: to fuck, and give birth, and at least provide for this child the opportunity to do the same.

Dogs know this, as does every other mammal - implicitly. In fact, other than eating/drinking, it's the entire purpose of their lives, both practically and metaphorically. Humans, on the other hand, have twisted and cloaked our genetic impulses into an infinitude of weird and sometimes beautiful behaviors. We shame ourselves for feelings that come naturally to every other mammal, brutally attempting to control the very act - a motivation of most religions?

Add to this twisting the very actual fact we are now directly modifying all sorts of crazy genes, and you see one glaring aspect that makes us human - that separates us in many ways from the rest of our mammal brethren: we have taken some control over the genes! After billions of years of the genes writing the story of life, we humans - godlike - are now directly editing the script, at least some of the margins.

Surely, nothing can go wrong!

So yeah, sure, maybe love - your love - IS special, beyond the genes.
Or maybe not.

The next logical step

Enterprising nerds of the world! I present to you a market opportunity! Based on my 5 minutes of research, the Stormtrooper wedding is seriously under-represented in the "Fan" weddings category! Seize this chance! Start a Star Wars wedding service and see all of your dreams come true!


It's interesting, and bolsters my theory that in the "Redshirt v. Stormtrooper" debate, the Stormtrooper has gained enormously in popularity over the last ten years. I attribute this entirely to our growing fascist society.

But in the wedding genre, Redshirts still clearly rule. If you'd like proof, contrast Star Trek weddings versus Star Wars weddings. A clear imbalance in numbers.

Which is probably decreasing by the week.