Punk'd by Annatar

It seems like it is always the villain who drives most stories forward - the villain is the main agent of action, and everyone else is responding to him. Heck, "The Lord of the Rings" is Sauron.

But who, in real life, actually faces villains? Not many, I reckon. Me? I've got too many....


For the true Tolkien geeks out there, please peruse this wonderful blog to get the real story of the wonderful Annatar. Awesome, awesome site, though the author needs to pick it up with some new entires!

Made in China

Whenever I go into one of those mall based limbos like TGIF's or Outback (which is exceedingly rare) and note the various wacky olde tymey stuff they have all over their walls, all of which is cheap, replica crap, no doubt made in China... well. It just makes me go hmm - even better than the real thing. What isn't some sort of metafiction these days?

One of the other magical acts the Repuglicans have performed since St. Ronnie's Revolution is convincing people that you are FOR fiscal restraint and balanced budgets, while you are actually going massively into debt. It's quite a trick. Bush ran up the debt to unheard of levels, much of which went directly to China. I could go on and on about all the ramifications of this (one small: Towering, gleaming cities springing up all across China in the last twenty years), but suffice it to say, which position would you rather be in: Debtor or Creditor?

Given the massive debt currently held by the USA, and future prospects of nothing but more of the same, an outside observer might conclude we, as a country, are pretty well fucked.

Hey, as long as China maintains a robust human space program - which seems likely - then, what the heck: Go China!

I'm already acclimated to the diet.

Our Times, Summarized

My constant, depressing, monitoring of current events leads me to believe the above product neatly encapsulates most aspects of Repuglican foreign policy views. Just add in some crucifixes for perfection. An interesting aside: Given the rate of Chinese consumption of American government debt over the period 2003-2007, it's fair to say the Chinese fully funded, via US Debt, the invasion of Iraq.

As for the rampant hate and bigotry now burning across America for no obvious reason other than being ginned up by Newscorp et al:

We're walking a narrow tightrope, with the Fundies on all sides egging on a conflict of Religion. Since I am so resolutely anti-religion, I wonder, in my darker moments, if we should not just get it over with, so that hopefully the survivors of such a horrible war can move on from the chains of the Abrahamic religions. I mean, really: We can split the atom, explore Titan, unravel DNA, and we're still enthralled to a handful of desert tribal mythologies? It's insane.

Edit:

Knock knock
Who's there?
9/11
9/11 who?
YOU SAID YOU'D NEVER FORGET!!!!

True Monsters

The monsters are indeed loosed, and we'll all be paying for their freedom soon enough, I suspect. But! This is an actual cover from Sesame Street magazine, back in the day. Harmless at the time of course, but since 9/11 changed everything.....


Also, I heard some such that the COOKIE MONSTER is now eating apples on the Street? WTF? Do they call him the APPLE MONSTER now? C'mon! When the COOKIE MONSTER was eating so many delicious cookies in 70's, kids weren't fat; does anyone really think it's excessive cookie eating that has blown the American waist size to Hindenburg proportions?

Really. C'mon.

Fear Sells, and Everyone's Buying

I've been thinking - as an UberNerd is wont - about this Stormtrooper v. Redshirt divide in my head. Yes. But then, I think about a lot of things!

Both character tropes are expressions of fatalism - they're both fodder. In this way, they are the same, and represent the anonymous foot soldier that has fought and died in the countless wars we've waged on ourselves in our history. But perhaps the similarities end there. 

The Stormtrooper IS anonymous - this is no doubt a big part of the lure. Put on the mask, and you're like everyone else. Whereas a Redshirt is maskless. Additionally, the Stormtroopers were the footsoliders of an evil Empire, whereas the Redshirts were merely the scouts and security for away missions, away missions usually dedicated to exploration, diplomacy, or some other high minded ideal.

America has become a deeply militarized country since St. Ronnie started his revolution. Any wonder then the Stormtrooper far exceeds the popularity of the Redshirt? One represent anonymous service to an Empire; the other, freely chosen work towards exploration. Which seems more in line with our Foxified country these days?

Also, and fair warning: I'm going to mark 9/11 with as many satirically blasphemous pictures as I can find. A teaser:

You know why? Because I want to take the fear out of it. The Repuglicans have milked this fear so well, for so long, it's sickening to me, and I'm tired of it. So instead, I will laugh. At them, at terrorism, at death, at everything. In a world of confused suffering, it's either laugh or die. I choose teh lulz!

Can I raise a practical question?

How does Darth Vader pee?


Trick rhetorical question! He/She has no need to pee, since most bodily functions are handled by the suit, making Vader a cybernetic organism, of course. Man/Machine/DRAMA!

Also, I don't really know what's going on here - Sith S&M maybe?

Watch it, Men

The Dark Lord of the Sith knows how to type up a proper protest sign, thank the Force! Apparently it's a crime to wear costumes now in CA? Who knew....

Which leads me to my conclusion: With the ever growing presence of cameras everywhere, a response by the people will be to wear masks, or some kind of obscuring clothes. The next response by the authorities will be to ban masks and obscuring clothes, of course: Hence this protest. Perhaps.

There's another angle to this: You cannot film the authorities! I am hearing more and more cases popping up where people are going to jail for filming police officers. How that is legal, I have no idea. But hey, America: Land of the Free (To lock up at the Plutocrat's discretion)!

There's Lefty Loons too!

An actual person running for Congress from MA. Loons on the left - Ralph Nader 2000 voters, in short hand - are out there, they just don't have a major global enterprise backing their crazy efforts (ala Newscorp). Thus, you rarely hear about them.

However, and this is a real pickle, criticism of the left of Obama and his Administration is not miniscule -it dwarfs any similar criticism from the Right during Lord Bush's reign. And that's because the Democratic party is really a loose collection of all sorts of groups, who all have their own agendas and are not afraid to protest for them. Repugs, on the other hand, while they also can be a varied collection of groups, all fall in line behind the Central Committee, since they're all Authoritarians at heart. They love being led!

So, you have a dynamic where supporters from the Left are fare more critical of their own leaders, AND an enviroment where 98% of the media is geared towards Repuglican talking points.... and you might understand why it seems like it's not even legal anymore for there to be a Democratic President. By default, from this perspective, there illegitimate. Never mind if he also happens to be.... black. Gosh!

But, for all their flaws, Lefty Loons are rarely violent, unlike their counterparts on the ugly Right. For example:

PS: Totally agree with the restoration of Glass-Steagall though - one of the truly disastrous results of the Monica Lewinksy fiasco. Clinton, held hostage by the 3rd Incarnation of the Wingnuts (Gingrich et al), undid this law which was created in the Depression to separate the business of banks with that of investment banks. If you were paying attention to the economy in the last 3 years, you'll note it's precisely this recent intertwining of personal, commercial, and investment banking which sank our economy, and much of the rest of the world.

Fat chance though we'll be able to roll that back anytime soon though - sadly, we're still on the downward slope.

Even in the Promised Land

Even in the deepest depths of Bluest America, you find these Morans - have you ever noticed how many spelling errors they have in their nonsensical signs? Home schooling at work, I suppose.

Have you had enough yet, impoverished Tea Partier? Think White Daddy Republican's gonna make your life all better?

I wish I could somehow talk to each of these people, one by one, and show them some simple facts. For instance, did you know the only major "western" nation not to celebrate May Day (we do Labor Day instead) is the USA, even though the events of May Day happened in America (the Haymarket Massacre). Do you know what they were fighting for back then? The 8 hour work day.

I know I am thankful!

What a masterful trick, the Plutocrats of America have pulled - blue collar slobs like above will actively fight against their own interests, on behalf of the Plutocrats. And be angry about it!

I'll add this observation to the file labeled "We're already in Hell".

We have met the enemy, and he's a Redneck Moran

This fine gentleman was photographed at Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally this past weekend - seems like the kinda guy who's all about honor, right? And restoring it!

Restoring it from... what? This implies honor was somehow taken away. I wonder how that happened? Could it have been by the Administration that launched a pre-emptive invasion based on lies? Nahhhh... we know who.

The black guy, who's ALSO a Democrat. Three strikes right there.

But look at this Redneck Moran above and glory in the ignorance - first, the Confederate Battle Flag clothes. Very honorable - nothing says honor like proclaiming your love for a group that seceded from the country in order to fight for a system based on human slavery.

What's more despicable there? The fact that we're told by Newscorp that essentially only Southern Republicans can be Patriotic, yet these are the same people who wholeheartedly back the Confederacy, who by very definition were all traitors?

That these same people don't respect Democracy - yes, Obama being black is a big part of their anger, but truthfully, they did much of this same shit to Clinton. Point being, they want a One party system, and it ain't a Democrat to be the One. 

They proclaim their support for the Constitution, but clearly have no idea what it means.

On and on.

Again, the saddest part of this scary Hagar look-a-like is this: Consider this guy's life. He's probably poor/working class, heavily in debt, poorly educated, etc. Yet, his entire life he's been told that while he might have it bad, he's better than a Nigger - so he'll fight against anything smacking of help for black folks. Ironically, the same efforts could help himself, but, the saying "cut off your nose to spite your face" applies here.

So, the old divide and conquer - convince this guy that ANY help for the poor/working class is really SOCIALISM! COMMUNISM! ISLAM! Or, it's really about helping young black males get food stamps so they never have to work..... and they'll take up their Corporate Master's banner, and fight against everything that could make their lives better, all so the Fat Cats can get fatter.

It'd be hilarious if not so tragically sad. And perhaps the real tears are soon to flow, if the Repuglicans get any whiff of subpoena power after the 2010 midterm elections - how do you think they'll handle that?

Stay tuned.

Zombie Redshirt will have his Revenge

How much more blood must be spilled for Dilithium Crystals?


It occurred to me, as things are wont, that the old school monsters are all variations off the same thing: A dead person coming back from the dead.

You've got your zombies, of course, but vampires too - essentially, just smart, sexy zombies. Same thing with Mummies, Frankenstein... wolfman? Did he die first?

Anyways, as always, fear = loss; loss of home, loss of health, loss of wealth, loss of life. Fear is always about loss. The totems to our fears - our monsters, our horror stories, our shadows in the dark - will always be some variation on loss.

Of course, as a Redshirt, once you realize you never had anything to lose in the first place, then, well! Things clear up quite a bit: Why be afraid?

It's a powerful question.

Joss Whedon is My Master Now

Inspired fan art, but is not all fan art inspired? Good is another matter.


If you have not seen the very short Tele-Vision series "Firefly", I highly recommend. Especially if you are a nerd/geek/closet nerd/geek. If you're not, why the heck are you reading this?


But also huge props to Joss Whedon, my favorite Tele-Vision writer/producer person ever. But then, I don't watch much Tele-Vision. Anyways, Buffy, Angel, and Firefly are TV gold and if you've ever been pondering watching anyone of them but hesitated, please do. Witty, funny, layered, and filled with great characterizations. 


Remember why we all love The Story, and it's encapsulated neatly by Whedon's deft writing and use of the anti-cliche/trope.

Fecundity

That was the trouble with tribbles, after all - humans thought them too fecund. But do you think the tribbles thought this to be the case? Doubt it. Another lesson in perspective.

Spoiler Alert (Kepler)!

This is a slide from some scientist's presentation back in July - it raised quite a storm in the community since it's pretty obvious this guy (lost his name) is revealing data from the Kepler Observatory that the Kepler Team themselves are not yet prepared to release - probably in the name of good science.

However, if true - and I strongly believe it is - this is groundbreaking data. Hitherto, every planet we have discovered around other stars has been 1. Huge and 2. very close to its Star. The chart above shows that in fact, it is the small, rocky worlds like Earth that make up the majority of planets around stars.

Which of course leads to the next conclusion (theoretical), which is that these rocky planets are the only known location for life so far, so this greatly increases the chances for life around other stars as well.

I suspect it might be another year or so before the Kepler Team confirms these numbers (owing to the fact they'll want to observe a planet going around another star more than once before concluding it is there, and these orbits can take over a year - or much longer). But, I'm already accepting this data as a given.

Carl Sagan went through this bit in his book "Pale Blue Dot" where throughout human history, science - Astronomy - has been downgrading the importance of humanity, and this is one of the reasons science finds enemies in Churches, and in some States. Essentially, the old idea of the Earth as the center of the Crystaline Spheres has been relentlessly attacked by new ideas since the middle ages - Copernicus landing the first major blow, then Kepler, then Galileo, then Newton, and so on. Each has relegated the Earth to a less and less central place in the heavens, because it's true. 

Finding that earth like planets are a dime a dozen is the next step down, and the final step will be discovering that life blooms wherever it can gain a foothold.

I find these facts exhilarating. The Holy Rollers and God Botherers find it blasphemous. Pretty much sums up much of modern life in America, actually. 

The Regan Revolution

In retrospect, it really was a Revolution. Perhaps my memories of pre-Regan times have been clouded by nostalgia, but I remember a time before Repuglicans routinely gloried in ignorance, hate, and fear. The Regan Revolution changed all that, it's apparent now. But in so many ways - check out this series of charts I got from the Great Orange Satan (forget the poster - sorry!). Above is non-farm wages. IE - your salary.

 But don't worry - the richest among us have been doing fantastically well during this time - remember, trickle down!

 Got to keep up with the Joneses, right? Hence the widespread adoption of "debt-culture" in the USA. And always remember who you owe that debt to - it's the folks in the second chart.

 And it's not just folks - the USA itself has become the greatest debtor the world has ever known, and it's all happened in the past 30 years. 

 And this debt load has greatly inhibited real growth - regardless of the flashy numbers they try and blind everyone by, we've been growing progressively poorer as a nation.

 And not just monetarily - in the "Land of the Free", look at how we've grown to love locking people up.


It goes on and on. To wit - this "revolution" has been the Robber Baron's dream. We now live in a country that has not seen this level of income disparity since the Robber Baron age of the 1880-1910's; it's extreme, to the max. Yet, you wouldn't know it watching the news, which in fact has been turned wholesale into a propaganda channel for these same vested Baronical interests - which is only natural, of course. Why wouldn't the rich look after themselves?

The saddest part to all this is the adoption of this myth by poor white folks we now call "Teabaggers" or, generally, "Repuglicans". Everything about the Repuglican agenda goes completely counter to their real interests, yet they are so deluded, so ginned up on anger, fear, resentment, racism, they ignore it all - all facts, in fact. You could show them these charts and it would mean nothing.

Facts, truth, logic, none of this means anything anymore to the vassals in thrall to this "revolution". They will literally burn down the house at their Master's command - and if you would dare try and put it out, they'll turn on you just as quick.

I recall reading 1984 back in 1984 and while I "got" it, I couldn't quite figure out how an entire people could be convinced to believe one thing one day, and the opposite the next day.

But now I see it in practice, and while I still am baffled that this can happen, I truly "get" it now. Dissonance is a powerful weapon, and the ignorant will go out of their way to avoid confronting it.

Divide them - use a wedge issue like race, sexuality, children, whatever - then exploit their differences to your own ends. I'm sure this is well documented in the Oppressor's Handbook, but hey, maybe YOU didn't know already....

Seeing Data

I'm sure there's a fancy academic word to describe this phenomena, but it's fairly obvious people "get" data a lot better and faster when presented in pictorial form, rather than in the cold hard numbers. Pie charts, graphs, plot distributions, etc - they all can relate complex numerical data in fairly straightforward pictorial fashions. And it's far more effective.

Lookee above - take crime data, plot it on a map, then use 3D modeling to give height to the numbers, and nearly instantly you can see what parts of San Francisco you might want to avoid (or, conversely, might want to visit if you are looking for a particular service). 

But in truth, we do this all the time, every day, every moment. What you're "seeing" right now is your brain's representation of pure data that surrounds us. That is us - we're pure data too. Everything that exists is. Just that our senses have evolved to represent this data to us in specific ways - colors, for example, are just different wavelengths of light. You could represent every conceivable color using a set of numbers, but where's the beauty in that?

I tell you where: Ever further down. Beauty is everywhere, in everything, if you choose to see it as such. Numbers might be the most beautiful thing of all. Maybe....

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?

Where you shouldn't be

Glinda never told you what happened to your Father...

Tat Dump

No, I AM Mr. Pink....

 LEAVE BRITTNEY ALONE (please note the blood in her teeth)!

 Otis in the outhouse with a bung (Mulberry Clue).

 COME ON DOWN (to be spayed and/or neutered)!

Here's a happy full sleeve...




Yeah. Coulda stretched this out for a while. Or dumped them. You see I've made my choice!

The Depths of our Devotions

I could go on, but I trust by now you see my point: People have too much time on their hands! And need to understand the proper place of heroes. Which is not on a pedestal. Or on your bicep.

Seed

An analogy, if you will: A speck of dirt in an oyster's "mouth" produces an irritation in the oyster which responds my secreting a fluid which encases the dirt over time, removing the irritation. The by product of this is a pearl.

Just so, many specks of dirt got together to form our sun and all the planets, moons, asteroids, and debris rotating around the central point of gravity. Specks attaching to other specks attaching to other specks and so on IS the story of everything, in one view.

Just as so sometimes what we hoo-mans call "evil" can by their great "irritation" produce many positive by products.

Such as the League of Nations. Or the Federation.

Sometimes. If you accept the principle it IS the very act of destruction at some level which is necessary for the act of creation at another. This is in fact a condition of our physical existence and NOT a moral value judgment. Morality in sooth has nothing to do with it.

Just so, such as, also too.

Space Pimpin' (Old Man Pants)

Check out those Old Man Pants on the tough guy Redshirts. Except they don't really look that tough, do they?

An observation: Not only have we, as Americans, gotten extremely fat, there is also the fact that the most athletic among us are bigger, stronger, faster, everything is more advanced than at any time in the history of our species. Using science, of course, we are sculpting ourselves into gods - like Hercules.

So, perhaps ironically, while we are fatter than at any time in our history, we're also in better shape. Some of us, at least. Perhaps a small percentage of the whole, but again, this is a unique separation: The vast swathes of the hoi polloi are fat as sows; whereas the elite are trim and model looking good. Contrast that to most of our history (all?), where the dirty multitudes starved, and only the very lucky few - the true elite - could afford to be fat.

Progress, or abomination? I report, you decide!

Sometimes a rock is just for bludgeoning

BUT! Even if this might be a tad too phallic, it's the Shat, man, in Kirk form. Still he-manly - he'll beat you down with that phallic rock, and you'll have no choice but to choke on it. Man.

 ACTING!

Redshirt Olympics

Logic would indicate that a redshirt in training is wasting his time, since he's going to die regardless of his training. Better to just sit around, eat, drink, and enjoy the few brief days in the sun allotted to you, as fodder.

However, some folks like to feel they are in control, and training can provide that illusion. So, if you like to fool yourself, here, some futuristic redshirt combat training program. Hard to say what's actually going on here, but it is the future, and maybe we just don't understand.


But really, understand this, muscle men:

 "You're gonna die, Charlie."

Graph of the Inevitable

Not much to add - certainly puts the matter into proper perspective, right? Redshirts = Deadshirts.


Let's light a candle for all our sake's:

And yes, the ship itself is always considered a character - perhaps the most popular, really.

3.14159265358979323846264...

Math might be hard, but, occasionally, it can also be tasty.


And as a former die hard mathaphobe, I am coming around completely to the "true" idea that everything we are, everything around us, everything, essentially, can be expressed via mathematics. That is, the world is mathematics, and it is only the incredibly powerful interface that is our brain that allows us to experience this world as we know it. In other words, the brain is simply a translation tool, converting the pure realm of math into things like colors, sounds, smells, electrical impulses, etc. After all, a sunset is really just a bunch of radiation at different wavelengths being filtered by the atmosphere - it could all be expressed numerically. Or, as we usually prefer, poetically. 


Also:

 

It's At The Automat!

One of my favorite new subjects: Futuristic visions from the deep, dark past. For instance, the Automat! How our moon living children will eat pie! And other assorted foodstuffs.


Hmmmm, pie.