who you are

due process ?

Judge

jury

and executioner

Collateral Damage

Collateral damage,
what exactly is it?

Is it a rock band,
perhaps heavy metal,
some obscure
auto insurance term
itemizing what’s not covered
in case of an accident
written in miniscule print,
a mistake a surgeon might make
in the midst of a delicate operation,
those individuals
indirectly injured from the
side effects of a nasty divorce,
debris left over from an
overzealous football game?

Collateral damage,
what exactly is it?

The stupefying carnage,
the chaos and mayhem that
accompanies ferocious and brutal violence,
the torrential flow of blood spewing from
shattered and broken bodies
separated from the yolk of the living,
the pungent odor released from
myriad corpses strewn upon fields of
overwhelming death,
the instantaneous incineration of entire families,
the horrific and bountiful products of murder
cannot be expunged by the simple application of
innocuous words in a vain attempt to
circumvent the reality of
such depravity.

storms a comin'

PASADENA, Calif. -- Scientists analyzing data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft now have the first-ever, up-close details of a Saturn storm that is eight times the surface area of Earth.

On Dec. 5, 2010, Cassini first detected the storm that has been raging ever since. It appears approximately 35 degrees north latitude of Saturn. Pictures from Cassini's imaging cameras show the storm wrapping around the entire planet covering approximately 2 billion square miles (4 billion square kilometers).

The storm is about 500 times larger than the biggest storm previously seen by Cassini during several months from 2009 to 2010. Scientists studied the sounds of the new storm's lightning strikes and analyzed images taken between December 2010 and February 2011. Data from Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument showed the lightning flash rate as much as 10 times more frequent than during other storms monitored since Cassini's arrival to Saturn in 2004. The data appear in a paper published this week in the journal Nature. (read more)

love is kinda crazy

Life in Hell

Life in Hell

ponder the truth

lifeboat

Spinning around in space...

we are all...

in the same lifeboat.

end the truth embargo

World Disclosure Day

superconsciousness

paperback queen

"Egyptian Queen"

by Frank Frazetta

holy - cost

Dr. Johnson

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 [O.S. 7 September] – 13 December 1784), often referred to as Dr Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. Johnson was a devout Anglican and committed Tory, and has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". He is also the subject of "the most famous single work of biographical art in the whole of literature": James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.

In 1774 he printed The Patriot, a critique of what he viewed as false patriotism. On the evening of 7 April 1775, he made the famous statement, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." This line was not, as widely believed, about patriotism in general, but the false use of the term "patriotism" by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (the patriot-minister) and his supporters; Johnson opposed "self-professed Patriots" in general, but valued what he considered "true" self-professed patriotism. (read more)

Lies, Damn Lies, and Safe Nuclear Power

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Rankin & Dub Ainu Band "You can't see it, and you can't smell it either "

english subtitles

Radiation is scary, radiation is dangerous, you can't see or smell it, and you can't run from it

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Independent Media Center | www.indymedia.org | ((( i ))): "Lies, Damn Lies, and Safe Nuclear Power - by Stephen Lendman

In any form, nuclear power is inherently unsafe. For decades, nuclear expert Helen Caldicott warned it must be abandoned, saying:

'As a physician, I contend that nuclear technology threatens life on our planet with extinction. If present trends continue, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink will soon be contaminated with enough radioactive pollutants to pose a potential health hazard far greater than any plague humanity has ever experienced.'

Anti-nuclear activist/expert Professor Karl Grossman agrees, calling 'Atomic Energy: Unsafe in the Real World' in his June 29 article, saying:

'Nuclear power requires perfection and no acts of God' to avoid accidents that may become catastrophes. Humans and technology aren't perfect. Natural and other type disasters happen. '(W)e can't eliminate them. But we can - and must eliminate atomic energy' or it will eliminate us.

On March 18, Bloomberg said Japan's Fukushima disaster 'follows decades of falsified safety reports, fatal accidents and underestimated earthquake risks in Japan's atomic power industry.'

The same is true in America and elsewhere - governments, regulators, and power companies suppressing vital truths, instead of shutting down inherently unsafe plants, making all of them ticking bombs..."

more

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whats up: You can't see it, and you can't smell it either | Nuclear Nightmare Unfolding: "Everyone knows about Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and, now, Fukushima. But what about Semipalatinsk, Palomares and Kyshtym? The world is full of nuclear disaster zones -- showing just how dangerous the technology really is."

working class hero

Sex Object

A fertility deity is a god or goddess in mythology associated with fertility, pregnancy, and birth. In some cases these deities are directly associated with sex, and in others they simply embody related attributes. (fertility deities)

moon shots

moon rising

JUNG ANd OTHER STORIES

Love Musings

Frequently, I meet people in relationships - serious, long term, committed relationships - who are clearly not well-matched. They don't see eye-to-eye, rarely agree about anything important, and, frankly, just don't seem to understand or like each other very well at all. And I ask myself why. And often times I ask them why.

"Because I love him."

Okay, fair enough. But why?

"We've been through a lot together."
"You can't help who you love."
"I can't imagine my life without her."
"He loves me more than anyone ever has."

And that all sounds very sweet, but where is the passion? Where are the soul-inspiring epic declarations of unity?

And what the hell does "You can't help who you love" even mean?!

Yes you can.

Here's how I think this situation comes about:

Boy meets Girl. Boy and Girl are lustily drawn together and become infatuated with one another. Often, Boy and Girl confuse infatuation with love and thus make bold declarations. After a time (3 months, one year), the infatuation receeds, leaving a comittment behind. Boy and Girl begin feeling restless and uneasy, start to bicker and have a few big fights. Now this is the time, in my humble opinion, at which a relationship should probably end. But it doesn't. Boy and Girl remember their earlier declarations of love and comittment and also remember past failed relationships as well as how lonely they were before they began dating. So they decide to "work through it."

Why?

"He loves me."
"I owe it to her."
"Relationships aren't easy."

So they buck up and, as is often stated, "make it work." Fast forward to two, three, four or more years down the road and we arrive at the beginning of the story. They've made it through so much: these fights, constant disagreements, clashing of personalities . . . forgiven one another and are still persisting in "making it work."

Oh, and along the way, they have grown to love each other.

This is not to say they are in love with each other. On the contrary; they have made up a cozy little room in their hearts for the other and have grown quite used to having it occupied. They love the idea of having a partner, a date for every holiday gathering, movie, and party. They live together and don't like to sleep alone. They are now financially dependant on the partnership. They have forgotten how to be alone.

But what about those huge character differences?

"He is trying."
"She has changed a lot since 'then.'"
"Nobody is perfect."

Sometimes Boy or Girl even blames it on him or her self, saying that he/she nags too much, expects too much, is too hard on the other, or deserves it due to something he/she has done in the past.

What about the fact that you feel like he/she just doesn't understand you? I ask.

Silence.

What about your lack of passion? Don't you miss that excited, butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling?

"Everybody knows that doesn't last forever."

Really? Everybody knows that?

I disagree.

Occasionally, I do meet a couple who are clearly in love. They've been together for years, sometimes even decades. He/she steals kisses from and glances at the other, they can't help but sit close to each other or touch one another as they walk down the street. Laughter is abundant, and often times they needn't say anything at all because they are so in tune with the twinkle of their lovers' eyes that all is understood.

Do you ever fight? I ask.

"No. Not really. I mean, we disagree sometimes of course, but we always work it out."

How?

"We talk about it. We communicate."

So you clearly understand one another.

"We are best friends." And they are typically answering me in unison!

Do you still get those butterflies when you see him?

"Of course!" and they share a kiss.

Was it love at first sight?

"For him it was," she might joke.

Or, "We pretty much knew right from the start."

So what is the difference? Why do so many people get it so wrong and so few get it so right?

My hypothesis is fear. We are afraid to admit we've made the wrong choice. We are afraid to leave someone we like well enough, someone whom we have grown to love - have taught ourselves to love - in search of the unknown "perfect" ONE.

So we settle. And because everyone else around us is also settling, we come to believe that's how it should be. That there is something wrong with us if we don't.

Sometimes either Boy or Girl decides to take a stand. Sometimes Boy or Girl decides to leave. But the other one convinces him/her to stay.

"Don't run away."
"We've come this far. We owe it to each other to try."
"I can change."

Love means never having to say "I will change." Love is unconditional. Love happens like lightning when two people are made perfectly for each other. They aren't perfect. No one is. But they are perfectly matched.

So what do we do?

I advocate honesty. Be honest with yourself. Demand butterflies. Seek love at first sight. Know that people don't change who they are. If something about the person you're seeing doesn't connect with you, do not wait it out.

Don't allow yourself to replace being in love with growing to love; if you do, you will find one day that you have settled, and, by that time, it will be so difficult to leave and start over that you will probably just stick it out.

And that is a tragedy.

Not only is it a tragedy for you, but it is also a tragedy for the soul mate for whom you are no longer available! And the example you are setting for your kids, your friends, and the world is that "good enough" is okay.

Take a stand against tragedy.

Even if it means getting back in "The Game." Even if it means hurting his or her feelings. Even if it means you will be broke, sleeping alone, homeless, lonely, a single mom or dad - whatever.

Because here's the big secret:

When you begin a path of truth, the entire universe conspires in your favor. Things start going right.

Love is just around the corner.

contemplation

Climate Change Mirrors an Earlier Era in Planetary History

Doctor Lee R. Kump, a professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, has illustrated some disturbing parallels between the changes in global climate of today with a well-studied era in the planet’s past. At that time, about fifty-six million years ago, temperatures worldwide rose some five degrees Celsius in the course of a few thousand years. This period is referred to as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). At that time in the planet’s history the huge land mass known as Pangaea was in the final phase of breaking up into the current day continents. This process led to the formation of the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean. As a result, enormous volumes of molten rock were released producing intense heat. Carbon-enriched sediments that were close to the surface were subsequently burned releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide and methane. In addition, it is postulated that the concomitant warming of the ocean seabed led to the release of vast quantities of frozen methane.
The cumulative effects of these changes were the following:
• Marked increase in global temperatures (as noted above)
• Climate zones shifted towards the poles both on land and in the ocean propelling the migration of living things to accommodate this change
• Within the ocean depths, acidity increased and the supply of oxygen diminished killing of many organisms there.
These changes are striking similar to what is being reported currently. In regard to the status of the oceans, an international workshop, sponsored by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), has recently met in Oxford, UK. Their goal was to study the impact of human-made stressors including warming, acidification and overfishing on the overall health of the ocean. The conclusions this international group of experts reached are quite alarming. In essence, they have concluded that the stresses imposed on the world’s oceans as a direct result of human activity may lead to “globally significant marine extinction.”
In addition, Doctor Kump has determined from his studies that, in fact, “global temperature today is rising much more quickly than it did during PETM.” If the current rate of increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases continues unabated, it is estimated that global temperature will increase by eight degrees Celsius by the year 2400. This kind of increase would profoundly and dramatically change the nature of life on the planet and drastically impact the possibility of continued human survival. This kind of change can only be averted by a global commitment to dramatic changes in human behavior and expectations. It should also be noted that it took some 200,000 years for the planet to cool down during PETM.

Atomic Cafe

The Art Of War

All warfare is based on deception...Sun Tzu

The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise that is attributed to Sun Tzu (also referred to as "Sunzi" and "Sun Wu"), a high ranking military general and strategist of the Kingdom of Wu who was active in the late-sixth century BC, during the late Spring and Autumn period. (Some scholars believe that the Art of War was not completed until the subsequent Warring States period.) Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it is said to be the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time, and is still read for its military insights.

The Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy in the world. It has been the most famous and influential of China's Seven Military Classics: "for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name." It has had an influence on Eastern military thinking, business tactics, and beyond.

Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of positioning in military strategy, and that the decision to position an army must be based on both objective conditions in the physical environment and the subjective beliefs of other, competitive actors in that environment. He thought that strategy was not planning in the sense of working through an established list, but rather that it requires quick and appropriate responses to changing conditions. Planning works in a controlled environment, but in a changing environment, competing plans collide, creating unexpected situations. (read more)

sexploitation

she's not real
heavy rotation

Our Lady of Fátima

The Miracle of the Sun (Portuguese: O Milagre do Sol) refers to an event on 13 October 1917, when 30,000 to 100,000 people gathered near Fátima, Portugal, to witness an expected miracle. Three young shepherd children had predicted that at high-noon, the Blessed Virgin Mary would appear in the Cova da Iria fields.

According to many witness statements, after a downfall of rain, the dark clouds broke and the sun appeared as an opaque, spinning disc in the sky. It was said to be significantly duller than normal, and to cast multicolored lights across the landscape, the shadows on the landscape, the people, and the surrounding clouds. The sun was then reported to have careened towards the earth in a zigzag pattern, frightening some of those present who thought it meant the end of the world. Witnesses reported that their previously wet clothes became "suddenly and completely dry, as well as the wet and muddy ground that had been previously soaked because of the rain that had been falling".

Some of the witness statements follow below. They are taken from John De Marchi's several books on the matter.

"Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bare-headed, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws — the sun 'danced' according to the typical expression of the people." ― Avelino de Almeida, writing for O Século (Portugal's most widely circulated and influential newspaper, which was pro-government and anti-clerical at the time Almeida's previous articles had been to satirize the previously reported events at Fátima).

"The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceedingly swift and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat." ― Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, writing for the newspaper Ordem.

"...The silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy grey light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds... The light turned a beautiful blue, as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral, and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands... people wept and prayed with uncovered heads, in the presence of a miracle they had awaited. The seconds seemed like hours, so vivid were they." ― Reporter for the Lisbon newspaper O Dia.

"The sun's disc did not remain immobile. This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl, when suddenly a clamor was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was terrible." — Dr. Almeida Garrett, Professor of Natural Sciences at Coimbra University.

"As if like a bolt from the blue, the clouds were wrenched apart, and the sun at its zenith appeared in all its splendor. It began to revolve vertiginously on its axis, like the most magnificent firewheel that could be imagined, taking on all the colors of the rainbow and sending forth multicolored flashes of light, producing the most astounding effect. This sublime and incomparable spectacle, which was repeated three distinct times, lasted for about ten minutes. The immense multitude, overcome by the evidence of such a tremendous prodigy, threw themselves on their knees." ― Dr. Formigão, a professor at the seminary at Santarém, and a priest.

"I feel incapable of describing what I saw. I looked fixedly at the sun, which seemed pale and did not hurt my eyes. Looking like a ball of snow, revolving on itself, it suddenly seemed to come down in a zig-zag, menacing the earth. Terrified, I ran and hid myself among the people, who were weeping and expecting the end of the world at any moment." — Rev. Joaquim Lourenço, describing his boyhood experience in Alburitel, eighteen kilometers from Fatima.

"On that day of October 13, 1917, without remembering the predictions of the children, I was enchanted by a remarkable spectacle in the sky of a kind I had never seen before. I saw it from this veranda..." — Portuguese poet Afonso Lopes Vieira.

According to De Marchi, "Engineers that have studied the case reckoned that an incredible amount of energy would have been necessary to dry up those pools of water that had formed on the field in a few minutes as it was reported by witnesses."

De Marchi claims that the prediction of an unspecified "miracle", the abrupt beginning and end of the alleged miracle of the sun, the varied religious backgrounds of the observers, the sheer numbers of people present, and the lack of any known scientific causative factor make a mass hallucination unlikely. That the activity of the sun was reported as visible by those up to 18 kilometres (11 mi) away, also precludes the theory of a collective hallucination or mass hysteria.

Pio Scatizzi, S.J. describes events of Fátima and concludes: The solar phenomena were not observed in any observatory. Impossible that they should escape notice of so many astronomers and indeed the other inhabitants of the hemisphere. Either all the observers in Fátima were collectively deceived and erred in their testimony, or we must suppose an extra-natural intervention.

Joe Nickell, a skeptic and investigator of paranormal phenomena, claims that the position of the phenomenon, as described by the various witnesses, is at the wrong azimuth and elevation to have been the sun.

Jacques Vallée has contributed to the investigation of the Miracle at Fatima and Marian apparitions. His work has been used to support the Fatima UFO Hypothesis. Vallée is one of the first people to speculate about the possibility that the Miracle at Fatima was a UFO. This wasn't initially recognized as such due to lack of knowledge about UFOs at that time. It is believed by many that if they were aware of the UFO phenomenon that they would have initially assumed it was a UFO instead of a miracle. Vallée has also speculated about the possibility that other religious apparitions may have been the result of UFO activity including the Miracle of Lourdes and the revelations to Joseph Smith. Vallée and other researchers have advocated further study of unusual phenomena in the academic community. They don't believe that this should be handled solely by theologians. (read more) (video clip)

chemtrails...

love almighty

Upon a Rock, I Sit Reflecting

Wildflowers and light summer breezes
Gentle bird songs and sunshine warmth
Like a cold blooded lizard upon a rock
I find myself out of my element

Too bright are my colors
Too flashy my call
My answers too lengthy
My purse is too small

Boulders worldwide absorb the sun
Water is wet no matter the shade
Like a creature of earth I stand
Amazed at the kaleidoscope of life

Too bright are my colors
Too flashy my call
My answers too lengthy
My purse is too small

Elements are not discerning
Auspiciousness not circumstantial
Perception often skews the truth
Faith returns in silent observation

My colors are bright
My call a bit flashy
I answer with care
I live unabashedly.

bionic burger

why a Happy Meal won't decompose

Go

Gomoku is an abstract strategy board game and is also called Five in a Row. It is traditionally played with go pieces (black and white stones) on a go board (19x19 intersections); however, because once placed, pieces are not moved or removed from the board, gomoku may also be played as a paper and pencil game. This game is known in several countries under different names.

Black plays first, and players alternate in placing a stone of their color on an empty intersection. The winner is the first player to get an unbroken row of five stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. (read more)