mad men

boiling frogs

In the decade since the 9/11 attacks, Congress has been willing to do almost anything to ward off more terrorist strikes. It has given the government broad authority to hunt, hold and try suspected terrorists. Trouble is, the law is written so broadly that the government would have little difficulty applying it to virtually anyone.

The latest example is a provision in the annual defense authorization bill that would allow the U.S. military to detain anyone indefinitely without charges or trial — even U.S. citizens — if the president determines they're suspected of being terrorists or having aided terrorists.

One would hope no president would ever abuse that authority, but the Founders saw enough of a threat to protect against it constitutionally. The Fifth Amendment guarantees that "no person" can be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law." It is the bedrock protection Americans have always had against a rogue government. It's one of the rights that sets the U.S. apart from countries where the dictator decides what the law is. Why should it be so casually discarded? (read more)

theory

solving the mystery of wtc 7

Zero: an investigation into 9/11

mae west

Visage de Mae West

Salvador Dali 1934-35

An Andalusian Dog

how to be perfect

"How to be perfect" by Ron Padgett


get some sleep

eat an orange every morning

be friendly it will help make you happy

hope for everything...expect nothing

take care of things close to home first

straighten up your room before you save the world

then, save the world

be nice to people before they have the chance to behave badly

wear comfortable shoes

do not spend too much time with large groups of people

plan your day so you never have to rush

show your appreciation to people who do things for you

even if you have paid them...even if they do favors you don't want

after dinner wash the dishes

calm down

don't expect your children to love you so they can if they want to

don't be too self critical or too self congratulatory

don't think that progress exists...it doesn't

imagine what you would like to see happen

and then don't do anything to make it impossible

forgive your country every once in a while

if that is not possible...go to another one

if you feel tired...rest

don't be depressed about growing older

it will make you feel even older which is depressing

if you burn your finger put ice on it immediately

if you bang your finger with a hammer hold your hand in the air for twenty minutes

you'll be surprised by the curative powers of ice and gravity

do not inhale smoke...take a deep breath

do not smart off to a policeman

be good

be honest with yourself, diplomatic with others

do not go crazy a lot its a waste of time

drink plenty of water...when asked what you would like to drink say "water please"

take out the trash

love life

use exact change

when there's shooting in the street don't go near the window

(listen)

tell the truth

nnnyaaaa

There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

...Albert Einstein...

can you handle it?

guernica

"Guernica" by Pablo Picasso.

Guernica was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque Country, by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Republican government commissioned Picasso to create a large mural for the Spanish display at the Paris International Exposition at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris.

Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world's attention.

While living in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, Picasso suffered harassment from the Gestapo. One officer allegedly asked him, upon seeing a photo of Guernica in his apartment, "Did you do that?" Picasso responded, "No, you did." (read more)

the power of art

dancing godzilla

go go godzilla

the hopes of men

Memorial Day

"The falling soldier"

Robert Capa 9/5/36.

musashi

girl robot

girl robot

ghost in the shell

kaleidoscope

click here for kaleidoscope

Mexicans Protest Ties Between Politics, Media - WSJ.com

Mexicans Protest Ties Between Politics, Media - WSJ.com:

 "MEXICO CITY—Thousands of students are joining a growing street-demonstration movement to protest Mexico's top two television networks, which they accuse of colluding to secure the leading presidential candidate's election this summer."

'via Blog this'

fastwalkers

Leaders Bicker as Europe’s Crisis Gains New Urgency - NYTimes.com

Leaders Bicker as Europe’s Crisis Gains New Urgency - NYTimes.com:

 "BERLIN — With Greece’s membership in the euro zone teetering, fears of bank insolvency rising and Europe’s leaders bickering about what to do, the euro crisis is once again intensifying and threatening to undermine fragile growth globally."

'via Blog this'

Che

Ernesto "Che" Guevara (June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.

As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout Latin America and was radically transformed by the endemic poverty and alienation he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of capitalism, monopolism, neocolonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara's political ideology. Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their 26th of July Movement, and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht, Granma, with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime.

Following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. These included reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals, instituting agrarian land reform as minister of industries, helping spearhead a successful nationwide literacy campaign, serving as both national bank president and instructional director for Cuba’s armed forces, and traversing the globe as a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism. Such positions also allowed him to play a central role in training the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to Cuba which precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Additionally, he was a prolific writer and diarist, composing a seminal manual on guerrilla warfare, along with a best-selling memoir about his youthful motorcycle journey across South America. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and executed.

Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. As a result of his perceived martyrdom, poetic invocations for class struggle, and desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven by moral rather than material incentives; he has evolved into a quintessential icon of various leftist-inspired movements. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico , was cited by the Maryland Institute College of Art as "the most famous photograph in the world". (read more)

"Guerrillero Heroico"
Che Guevara at the La Coubre memorial service.
Taken by Alberto Korda on March 5, 1960.

boot

jimi

julia

deep - er

new swirled order

awakening

art is truth

police state

babalon working

The first in-depth look at the life of John Whiteside Parsons--better known as Jack Parsons pioneering rocket scientist, and ardent disciple of the notorious magus, Aleister Crowley--is finally available courtesy of Feral House in Sex and Rockets by John Carter.

For those not in the know, Jack Parsons was a founding member of Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) back in the late 30's, and one time head of the California branch of the magical order the Agape Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientalis (O.T.O.). Parson's infamous reputation was fueled by several nefarious undertakings and associations, notwithstanding his alliance with the self-proclaimed "Wickedest Man Alive!"--Aleister Crowley--who directed O.T.O. operations from his base in England.

In Sex and Rockets, Carter brings a measure of much needed clarity to the life and times of the enigmatic Parsons; an enigma that has been compounded over the years by varying degrees of misinformation and exaggeration as to just who Parsons was, and exactly what he was trying to accomplish with the Babalon Working rituals, performed in part with L. Ron Hubbard, the future founder of Scientology. The end result of the Babalon Working was to birth an elemental being; a 'Moonchild' that--as Crowley stated in his Book of the Law--would be "mightier than all the kings of the Earth."

According to Thelemic legend, in 1918 Aleister Crowley came into contact with a interdimensional entity named Lam, who by the way is a dead ringer for the popular conception of the 'alien grey ' depicted on the cover of Whitley Strieber's Communion. From this purported encounter, some have inferred that the industrious Mr. Crowley intentionally opened a portal of entry--through the practice of a magick ritual, The Amalantrah Working--which allowed the likes of Lam and other 'alien greys' a passageway onto the Earth plane. Furthermore, this portal may have been further enlarged by Parsons and Hubbard in 1946 with the commencement of the Babalon Working, thus facilitating a monumental paradigm shift in human consciousness.

In Sex and Rockets, Carter quotes Crowley successor Kenneth Grant, who wrote, "The [Babalon] Working began...just prior to the wave of unexplained aerial phenomena now recalled as the 'Great Flying Saucer Flap'. Parsons opened a door and something flew in." Carter also suggests it might have been the atomic bomb that opened this door between dimensions. He then further illustrates the importance of the year 1947, which ended the first stage of the Babalon Working, as Parsons and Hubbard parted ways amid a cloud of turmoil. 1947 was the year that the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. In that very same year, Israel became a nation state, the transistor was invented and the sound barrier broken. Last, but certainly not least, the Modern Age of UFO's flew into view with the Kenneth Arnold sightings, followed not long after by the alleged saucer crash in Roswell, New Mexico. 1947 was also the year the Great Beast, Aleister Crowley died. (read more) (Jack Parsons)

design for dreaming