Miss me yetter?

Oh, remember those grand times! The insane and evil in charge of the country, running us into ruin while gloating, strutting, and tut-tutting any who would dare speak against them.

But even the hug of W. wasn't enough to grant John McCain the blessing of Jesus to win the Presidency and lead the Christian nation of America.

Fucking sweet moment in history, right here.

Goodbye, Wingnuts. Your time is over, and we are all the worse for your actions.

When we dreamt of a better future

Back in the days of American yore, we dreamt of landing men on the Moon, and sending ships to space on a regular schedule - like a space train. The Space Shuttle - conceived of in the 60's, designed and built in the 70's, and surely killed by Reagan in the 80's. Like most of America.

These are pics from the Shuttle launch facility at Vandenburg AFB in California. It was never used for an actual launch, since when the Shuttles were ready for flight, St. Ronnie was President and the strangulation of America had begun in earnest. It takes a big Government to build and operate something so ambitious, so forward looking, and as we all know now, Government is the problem.

Let us lament what could have been, if not for "Conservatives". A future of hope and progress, of equality and science, of fairness and justice for all. A future we here in America will not get another chance at, not in our lifetimes.

But we'll have a few wicked rich folks! Bank on that.

Live Long and Prosper 2: Happiness

Posted before, but I'm posting again, due to the awesomeness.

Happiness must be a factor in considering whether a life is successful. For, what is freedom, what is peace, without happiness?

Get Happy:

Don't chew pencils!

Lead free.

Even the Romneys can't resist President Obama.

All the kids.

And all the windows, and all the doors flung wide open.

Progress.

Asteroid sweet home

IF - that's the BIG IF, by the way - we manage to actually start mining asteroids in space, a logical leap would be to use the asteroids themselves as bases. Consider Ida, below. You could use Ida as the base, and mine Dactyl. Why not? You're already digging, you've got raw materials, water, air, energy, and perhaps most importantly of all, the interior of an asteroid would provide perfect shielding against radiation - something we have little hope of stopping with our current or even near technology.

It would start small, of course, with the space miners themselves living in some burrowed out cave, but with time, and effort, and the fabulous gazillions of dollars space mining will create, things will get bigger.

And groovier.

Check out future space plow, and the old asteroid fishing hole. But bigger still - really, the scale would only be limited by available asteroids. And not just for habitats, but for space ships:

And why not? Once you're in space, mass doesn't matter so much, and there's no aerodynamics to worry about. Thus:

To the future!

Our only hope

As I've said many times right here on this here blog, a large asteroid strike on Earth is inevitable, and when/if it hits, most life on Earth, including all human life, is done. It will be something like a 90-96% extinction rate of ALL life on the planet, including bugs and bacteria and slimy stuff swimming in the seas. Consider this danger deeply, for it's very real. Here's but a taste:

And these are just the ones very close, and none of them are very big, and we're missing many, many smaller ones - the 150 meter ones mentioned below, for example. Large enough to cause widespread chaos and death on Earth (though not an extinction event). Asteroids vary greatly in size:

Vesta is bigger than many moons of Jupiter and Saturn, but not the biggest asteroid (that's Ceres, where the Dawn spacecraft is heading as I type). However, asteroids the size of Steins and even smaller are our real threat. Look how tiny! But big enough to kill us all. All it would take is 5-10 mile wide asteroid to do us all in.

And what could we do about it today? Very little if on short notice. If with 20-30 years to prepare, we could probably save ourselves, starting from scratch. But why start from scratch THEN, when we all know the answer TODAY?!

Figuratively, of course. An armada of Asteroids fighters flying around space blasting rock is not very likely.

Sad, I know. Believe me! I'm the best Asteroids Ace you've ever seen. Go ahead and try your skills here.

But no, it won't be people in triangular spaceships that save us from the asteroids, but rather small robotic spacecraft that can attach to and then redirect these Earth impacting asteroids. Imagine 50 small bots flying to then landing on an asteroid on a direct impact course, each using its rocket to steer the asteroid in a different direction. It don't take much in space.

For your regular asteroids. If a Vesta like object were coming at us, better to move off planet. Here's a closeup from Dawn:

"The Snowman".

Once again, people of Earth! Rather than a'fuedin' and a'fightin' with each other, we should instead be building a space infrastructure that 1. Enriches all life on Earth, 2. Protects all life on Earth, and 3. Spreads life from Earth.

We're all Pro-Life, right? Let's get it together, humanity! As we're the only ones here who know better. We cannot count on the other monkeys.

Sky's not the Limit

Click for big - Asteroid mining as a maybe real thing by some rich dudes who've started a company. If you're super rich, why not? And if the crazy idea actually works, well, then you might become the richest men who've ever walked this precious metal barren planet. Richer than Crassus.

For you see, Earth differentiated - meaning, it melted. And most of the heavy stuff sank down deep into the planet. Far from our machines. And so we simply scrape around the surface - all the gold, silver, tin, iron, etc ever dug up but a pittance of what actually exists on Earth. But we'll never be able to get to it.

And so, space. Most of the time asteroids did not differentiate, and thus the precious metals are sitting in discrete chunks close to the surface. Some asteroids are almost entirely iron. More metal than mankind has ever know sits in just one or two 500M asteroid. Read this if you can:

I'll summarize the entire idea (which will eventually happen if we continue to advance as a technological species): 1. Find some good target asteroids. There are two general classes - water rich, and metal rich. 2. Get to them, and drag them to a Lagrange point. 3. There, mine them of water and metals. 4. Send some of the metal back to Earth for a very large price. Use the rest to build your space mining infrastructure to you can mine ever more asteroids.

Soon enough with this scheme and we'll have entered some post-scarcity wonder world of flying cars and giant space stations.

Also too: Underground cities in case some mad Gazillionaire decides to rain asteroids down upon the planet.

I Pledge

For true, I am a citizen of the Planet Blue, Earth, and all life upon it. From the lowliest worm to highest falcon soaring in mountain crevasses, and all the heights and lives in between, we are all brother and sister in life. So rare in this cosmos of stars scattered light years apart, rejoice! We are alive - a privilege rarer than the rarest rarity that you could imagine. To be alive amidst this infinity! What an awesome opportunity! And here we are, Earthlings, alive on this planet. If we could all step together,  t'would be a paradise overnight. Till then - FSM help us.

I've longed believe the ONLY thing that will bring humanity together is an alien invasion. An external enemy would be just the trick to get humanity to stick together through thick and thin. Despite the loss of life. Otherwise, it will always be small gangs of douche bags ruining it for everyone else. No matter the disaster - nuclear war, asteroid, earthquake, tsunami, etc - douche bags will rule the ruins. Unless you fight back. Will you fight back against the douche bags of the future? Say it with me:

I Pledge allegiance...

Rebuilding

Fun fact! The White House was internally gutted during the Truman Administration and rebuilt with a steel frame to remove the pressure from the outer walls, which were near failure. And so it goes with America today - a country of facade, and a crumbling infrastructure, both physical and civic. Successful attacks by the Republicans over the last 40 years have weakened the country greatly, and yet, still there is strength. Still there is hope. Evidence:

From 2003, the Obamas and the Ng family, with Grandma Dunham in front. This is our future, our way forward - welcoming all people to America, and aye, welcoming all people into the world. Xenophobia, fear, hatred of the Other might be useful political tools, but ultimately are poison. We need to rebuild first our trust in each other, as citizens of a country, and the world.

Let go your hatred, Wingnuts, and love the future! Of Obama-Soetoro-Ng-Dunhams!

Born Again

Congrats! We all survived the apocalypse and now reside in a higher vibrational reality - can you feel these good vibes? Try - you can make it so.

Any idea when our next apocalypse is scheduled? My calendar is wide open.


Above, from bottom - Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter at dawn. Loverly.

Before and After

Before! Kabul had an InterContinental. Sweet hotel chain. Looks pretty damn dope in the postcard. But alas, there was a Cold War and the two adversaries felt compelled to fuck with other countries instead of each other directly. Afghanistan, for one.

Kabul, 1970 on the left. Sometime recently on the right.  After 3 decades of war launched on Afghanistan by the USSR and the USA and in the vacuum created, Pakistan, there's not much left. But behold this wonder:

The graduating class of 1966 at Kabul University. Amazing. Take a good look, and then consider what has happened to that society. Gone. Obliterated in years of war and religious fundamentalism. Fundamentalism so perverse they burn women with acid and blow up ancient and epic historical treasures.

After! But still, there is hope.

Don't think it can't happen here though - a "modern" society degressing back to stone age religious shit hole. I ask you to consider this: The rise of religious fundamentalism in the Islamic world is concurrent with the rise of American Christian fundamentalism.

Make NO mistakes: There are Christian Talibani here in in America right now who'd burn girls for their wickedness and behead scores of men for impiety. Who'd destroy this country in order to "save" it. Some of these Wingnuts might be on your local school board, as a matter of fact. Or in your State senate. Most certainly in Congress.

The only way to save ourselves from their "paradise" is to stop them at every legislative turn, since "We" - reason and common sense - have the numbers. But do we have the will? Make no further mistake - they do. They're fucking nuts!

Worn Soles

Did we not get our Change? The Iraq War is over - remember that? Afghanistan is on its way to ending. Osama Bin Goldstein is dead. Al Qaeda is crushed. The economy is recovering and survived several catastrophes. Everyone gets health insurance for cheap = it's true, and it's coming. No longer will you be tied to some corporate doodad for health insurance. Get it from the Gummint for a fee (tax), way more cheaply.

The world has changed. And it can change for the better yet still.

Vote Obama, America. He's the Change we need.

Mr. O

The Rethuglicans have done everything they can to bespoil, ruin, and otherwise tarnish all that Barack Obama does or has tried to do. They would see the world in flames for mere political gain - and they try for this! Every day.

But, much has still been accomplished, and the USA and the world saved from the brink of Depression. Wars are ending, torture is done, sincere attention being paid to education, infrastructure, health care, and a myriad other important issues. In spite of Repuglicans. And so as we approach the Crazy Time of billionaires flooding the media with all manner of slanderous lies, keep the faith. Hope for a better day, vote Obama and any and every Democrat you can - if for no other reason than NOT to vote for a Repuglican. They're evil and must be defeated.

And with each lost election, their defeat grows closer. And with their defeat, perhaps sanity and reason can once again claim the upper hand in America.

Fired up

Dated, but still appropriate. The Obama signal is lit, get off your ass and out into the streets. If you're not fired up about this upcoming election in November, you're not paying attention. You should be if not - there's some serious shit at stake. There are some straight up villains vying for Power over the World. And your life. They must be stopped, and Barack Obama (and whatever Democrat is running for your local seats) is our only hope. Here's a rogues gallery:

Man behind the curtain. There's lots of them - the billionaires, the corporations, the political operators, the agents in the field. This is "The Turd", face of the so called "brains" of the evil Republican Party. He's not really that smart.

The Voice. "Rusty Sharpe". Agitator and disseminator of the Brain's talking points of the day. Everything about media control is part of Operation FUDD - Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, and Disinformation. It's Republican 101. It works.

Generic Southern Cracker. Usually used as henchmen, of varying degrees. Can be counted on to stir things up on command, or unleash righteous whines when things don't go their way.

The Destroyer. The face of power, wreaking a mighty path of destruction wherever they lay their gaze. Sometimes presented in a pleasing package, sometimes not, but underneath is always the same - tear down any social program or anything else not directly benefiting the men behind the curtain.

The Grifters. Come in many flavors, usually from Southern cracker stock, but also occasionally a plutocrat steps into the race to assuage their sociopathic egos. Remember Steve Forbes?

The Moralizers. Monsters of a different stripe. Almost always wimpy and weak, yet physical strength is not required in this War. If they gain power over you, everything in your life will  become theirs.

Criminals. The lot of them. I bet there's very few Republicans who have not broken some serious law. And I'm serious here - we're dealing with a group of psychopaths, bent on destroying this country and the World. Sound dramatic? It should - these are the stakes! Do you want the World to slide further down into poisoinous hate? Or rather rise up in friendship and peace? Choose!

I choose Barack Obama. Our only hope.

And realistically, barring some external catastrophe, I give President Obama a 90% chance of re-election. I'm that confident. While Evil, the Republicans have seemingly, laughingly, started to believe their own FUDD, and have devolved to a pack of Morans and clowns. All these guys are toast against Big O.

And for that, I am thankful. Yet not resting - it's time to get to work.

Unleashed (Cry Havoc)

Remember those fun days? They're not that long gone, and by gum we're on the verge of bringing the political party responsible for all of it back into power of the US Government, Ruler of the World. You should be terrified, for they are not only Unrepentant, but even more insane, rapacious, bloodthirsty. The Republican Party is an active source of evil in this world, and we all suffer from their predations. And not just us, but our dogs.

Dogs trained to be aggressive, threatening. Wonder how their lives turned out? Wonder how everyone in this picture lives turned out. Badly for all, I hazard. But this is not new, of course. We've been waging war, and torturing, and ruining dog's lives for a long time.

 An Assryian relief, circa 650 BC. This relief was found in Nineveh, Iraq, and now probably lives in the British Museum like most everything else ever found from Assyria. If you ever have the chance to visit this museum, you must. And take more than one day. But anyways, know who else had a dog?

That's right: Hitler Dog. Think the other NAZI dogs had to salute him and give up their bones and such? Probably not: Dogs are naturally socialistic as shit. But I digress.

This is a military medic treating a dog bite on an Iraqi prisoner, naked, as per the torture routine - handed down from on high, probably right from the tippity top - Cheney, Rummy, and the Gang. Everyone else on down to these folks is just following orders, but perhaps taking a bit too much glee in it.

And here is my Redshirt's Lament for today: That these destructive Republicans have released a wicked genie from its bottle for their short term political and financial gains - hate, torture, sadism, fear, distrust, etc, etc. They've unleashed havoc - and here, or rather there, in the early 1990's,  I had such high hopes that America was turning a corner. The PC Movement - arguably one of the most important movements in American history for it's wide ranging impact -  was at it's peak and changing everything, for the better. A New Era of Hippyism was rising - I refer you to The Spin Doctors, for example - and everything in the country and the world seemed to be getting awesome. Europe was free, dictatorships were crumbling across the world, with few bullets fired. Global co-operation was at an all time high, nations mostly working for each other's benefits (mostly)... ah. It was great. But then something horrible happened - an evil seed (Nixon) sprouted and unleashed insanity upon our nation. Newt Gingrich was in the lead and it led to the Impeachment of a popular president, the mass consolodation of corporate power across the board, including the media (Witness the banks merging, the oil companies merging, all the media merging, etc), and a stolen election. About which I still am in dumb shock that it happened, all orchestrated out of Fox HQ and the state government of Florida. And then 9/11 and it was like Manna from the Heavens for these psychos - this, OBL wisely knew, and thus the brilliance of his terrible plot - as they could indulge every one of their long held lusts, for war and death and bombs and torture and a cowering domestic population giving them whatever they want - gladly, with a vicious spite in it. We, as a nation, have been thoroughly poisoned by these people, and this is but one of the results.

Once we go down this road too far, we'll never come back - perhaps it is already too late, but I have hope in Obama, still. So we'll see. If anyone can roll back the tides of hate, repression, bigotry, and sheer evil, it's Barack Hussein Obama.

Anyways, all this was just a setup to post this awesome pic, the artist of which I have sadly forgotten.