The Unknown Rebel

Twenty years ago today the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 culminated in the Tiananmen Square massacre. The next day, the "Tank Man" showed the world the meaning of the word fearless.

The protests were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China (PRC) beginning on April 14. Led mainly by students and intellectuals, the protests occurred in a year that saw the collapse of a number of communist governments around the world.

The protests were sparked by the death of pro-market, pro-democracy and anti-corruption official, Hu Yaobang, whom protesters wanted to mourn. By the eve of Hu's funeral, 1,000,000 people had gathered on the Tiananmen square.

Participants included disillusioned Communist Party members and Trotskyists as well as free market reformers, who were generally against the government's authoritarianism and voiced calls for economic change and democratic reform within the structure of the government. The demonstrations centered on Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which remained peaceful throughout the protests.

The movement lasted seven weeks, from Hu's death on April 15 until tanks cleared Tiananmen Square on June 4. In Beijing, the resulting military response to the protesters by the PRC government left many civilians dead or severely injured. The number of deaths is not known and many different estimates exist. There were early reports of Chinese Red Cross sources giving a figure of 2,600 deaths, but the Chinese Red Cross has denied ever doing so. The official Chinese government figure is 241 dead, including soldiers, and 7,000 wounded.

(Read more)

The War Machine

Cover art for Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.#33.
Art by Adi Granov. Marvel Comics.

War Machine (James Rupert Rhodes) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero from the Marvel Comics universe. The character first appeared in Iron Man #118 (January 1979). Jim Rhodes, who became War Machine was introduced by David Michelinie and Bob Layton. The War Machine armor and character was designed by Len Kaminski and Kevin Hopgood.

James "Rhodey" Rhodes as the War Machine is one of the good guys, unlike the real war machine, the global arms manufacturers and the military-industrial complex.

Quote from President Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 Farewell address:
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

[The following is an excerpt from stopthewarmachine.org]

In his 1961 Farewell address President Dwight Eisenhower warned us of a rogue military-industrial complex (MIC). Ike said the post-World War II MIC had the potential to destroy our democracy and world peace.

We look around at the loss of our civil liberties, rising inequality and the wars we fight abroad every year with our huge one-and-a-half million military forces that are stationed on every continent and in every ocean and it appears Eisenhower was correct. No other county spends as much of its wealth on the war machine as us. No other country has a global military presence that even begins to match ours.

Why do we need such a large a standing army? Some people suggest we had a military coup in our country hidden behind the '50s Cold War rhetoric and that now the war on terrorism is being used to create a global empire for the MIC.

Bob Anderson for the Committee to Stop the War Machine 2/21/03

(Read more)

To Kill A Doctor

"Today we mourn the loss of our husband, father and grandfather. Today's event is an unspeakable tragedy for all of us and for George's friends and patients. This is particularly heart wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace.

We would like to express the family's thanks for the many messages of sympathy from our friends and from all across the nation. We also want to thank the law enforcement officers who are investigating this crime.

Our loss is also a loss for the City of Wichita and women across America. George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality heath care despite frequent threats and violence. We ask that he be remembered as a good husband, father and grandfather and a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere."

The Magisterium

The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary are a Congregation of religious brothers and sisters dedicated to a two-fold Crusade: the propagation and defense of Catholic dogma — especially extra ecclesiam nulla salus — and the conversion of America to the one, true Church.

OUTSIDE THE CHURCH THERE IS NO SALVATION

"Outside the Church there is no salvation" is a doctrine of the Catholic Faith that was taught By Jesus Christ to His Apostles, preached by the Fathers, defined by popes and councils and piously believed by the faithful in every age of the Church. Here is how the Popes defined it:

"There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved." (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)

"We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff." (Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)

"The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church." (Pope Eugene IV, the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441.)
[excerpt from catholicism.org]

Price of this salvation? "Religious submission of intellect and will."

(Sounds exactly like a cult to me.........really creepy)

True Self

We are divine.

Don't give in to the false ego.
We resonate with the frequencies around us.
It is the self that is the greatest threat to humanity.
You gotta be aware, you gotta be aware.
What we hate in others, is what we hate in ourselves.
Our abuse stems from such hate.
A subconscience release, passing of blame.
Find out your life, yourself.
Humanity as a collective is one organism.

Let us put away false ego
the bureaucracies that destroy,
then maybe something will get done.
Maybe a revolution of the mind will occur.
Maybe trusting in a falliable system was a bad idea.
Maybe being deceived by external influences
and even ourselves was a bad thing, wrong.
Maybe we can become one with our divinity.
Maybe the mistakes of our past can be recalled,
trashed and off the shelves and out of our homes,

Of true life
of true liberty
of true love
and of truth itself
will be my constitution
my existence
my humanity
my evolution
my kingdom,

for our sake

Should this be a (for-profit) business?

America's Private Gulag

By Ken Silverstein, Prison Legal News, June 1st 2000

What is the most profitable industry in America? Weapons, oil and computer technology all offer high rates of return, but there is probably no sector of the economy so abloom with money as the privately run prison industry.

Consider the growth of the Corrections Corporation of America, the industry leader whose stock price has climbed from $8 a share in 1992 to about $30 today and whose revenue rose by 81 per cent in 1995 alone. Investors in Wackenhut Corrections Corp. have enjoyed an average return of 18 per cent during the past five years and the company is rated by Forbes as one of the top 200 small businesses in the country. At Esmor, another big private prison contractor, revenues have soared from $4.6 million in 1990 to more than $25 million in 1995.

Ten years ago there were just five privately-run prisons in the country, housing a population of 2,000. Today nearly a score of private firms run more than 100 prisons with about 62,000 beds. That's still less than five per cent of the total market but the industry is expanding fast, with the number of private prison beds expected to grow to 360,000 during the next decade.

The exhilaration among leaders and observers of the private prison sector was cheerfully summed up by a headline in USA Today: "Everybody's doin' the jailhouse stock". An equally upbeat mood imbued a conference on private prisons held last December at the Four Seasons Resort in Dallas. The brochure for the conference, organized by the World Research Group, a New York-based investment firm, called the corporate takeover of correctional facilities the "newest trend in the area of privatizing previously government-run programs... While arrests and convictions are steadily on the rise, profits are to be made -- profits from crime. Get in on the ground floor of this booming industry now!"

A hundred years ago private prisons were a familiar feature of American life, with disastrous consequences. Prisoners were farmed out as slave labor. They were routinely beaten and abused, fed slop and kept in horribly overcrowded cells. Conditions were so wretched that by the end of the nineteenth century private prisons were outlawed in most states.
During the past decade, private prisons have made a comeback. Already 28 states have passed legislation making it legal for private contractors to run correctional facilities and many more states are expected to follow suit.

The reasons for the rapid expansion include the 1990's free-market ideological fervor, large budget deficits for the federal and state governments and the discovery and creation of vast new reserves of "raw materials" -- prisoners. The rate for most serious crimes has been dropping or stagnant for the past 15 years, but during the same period severe repeat offender provisions and a racist "get-tough" policy on drugs have helped push the US prison population up from 300,000 to around 1.5 million during the same period. This has produced a corresponding boom in prison construction and costs, with the federal government's annual expenditures in the area, now $17 billion. In California, passage of the infamous "three strikes" bill will result in the construction of an additional 20 prisons during the next few years.

The private prison business is most entrenched at the state level but is expanding into the federal prison system as well. Last year Attorney General Janet Reno announced that five of seven new federal prisons being built will be run by the private sector. Almost all of the prisons run by private firms are low or medium security, but the companies are trying to break into the high-security field. They have also begun taking charge of management at INS detention centers, boot camps for juvenile offenders and substance abuse programs.

(Read more)

Ice Blink

Dave and Jaja spent seven years sailing around the world (1988-1995) aboard their 25-foot Cal 25 DIRECTION. Dave purchased the boat in 1985, gutted her to a bare hull, and then went to work beefing up the structure. He glassed in stringers, added keel floors and extra bulkheads, and then re-designed and re-built the interior. "I built a new rudder, re-stayed the mast, built a smaller cockpit, and then christened her with a bottle of warm Bud in an effort to get the mood right for the intended circumnavigation" is the way Dave puts it.


Dave was 22 when he started this project, and 24 when he finished. He met Jaja shortly after starting his cruise in St. John, USVI, and they finally got together in the UK (after a solo Transatlantic) in the fall of 1988. They were both 25 when they left England on their circumnavigation.


From England they headed West to the Caribbean, via the Cape Verde Islands. They were married in Barbados, then transited the Panama Canal, visited the Galapagos; and did the usual trip through the South Pacific, spending several seasons in Australia, New Zealand, and the nearby cruising paradise to the north. A trip through the Torres Straits, Indonesia, and then across the Indian Ocean had them rounding South Africa before arriving back in the Caribbean and then the States in 1995. Along the way they had two children (Chris and Holly). A third (Teiga) was born aboard DIRECTION at the end of the voyage.


The Martin family set sail again in 1997 on their 33-footer DRIVER, and have spent time in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Iceland, the Faroes, Northern Scotland, Norway, Greenland, and Newfoundland. They are currently settling down for the winter in Maine.

Percy Lavon Julian

Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an African American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants.

He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine; and was a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of human hormones, steroids, progesterone, and testosterone, from plant sterols such as stigmasterol and sitosterol.

His work would lay the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of cortisone, other corticosteroids, and birth control pills. He later started his own company to synthesize steroid intermediates from the Mexican wild yam.

During his lifetime he received more than 130 chemical patents. Julian was one of the first African Americans to receive a doctorate in chemistry. He was the first African-American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, and the second African-American scientist inducted from any field.

Liberty

We all hold the opportunity of liberty

In our minds the choice of acceptance and rejection

In our hands the choice of life and death.

A famous person whose name I forget said, 

"Give me liberty, or give me death"

Death is an ugly liberty, but a liberty nontheless

Any of us can free ourselves with the right technique.

Any of us can free each other with the right method.

Liberty is a beautiful thing,

but what will be sacrificed[?],

in our pursuit of happiness?

~Philosopher King 

Futility of War

johnny got his gun and became a

rude full-scale joke

impossible to tell

if he was awake or dreaming

what makes you so sure you're not dreaming?

Regarding Talking Heads

I will now delve into the realm of what is often referred to as the “talking heads’: those ever-present caricatures of intellect that appear regularly on the television or the radio assaulting unsuspecting listeners with their pseudo-ideas, rudimentary and often spurious analyses of the social and political events of the day and their faulty and ill-conceived conclusions. I am particularly referring to the right wing extremists such as Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity and their comrades. These individuals are transparent in their blind support for the continued control of the State by the well-entrenched oligarchy. The main weapon in their arsenal is the exploitation of fear and ignorance of those susceptible to their message. In their current repertoire are the twin watchwords of terrorism and socialism. The terminology they employ purposefully avoids thoughtful or meaningful consideration of the truth. Their views are often comic distortions of reality. In their attempt to portray socialism as the embodiment of an evil doctrine, they display their complete ignorance of what socialism is or its historic development. In addition, they conveniently bypassed the impact of the failed system they support which is, in many ways, a backwards socialism in which the wealth flows from the many to the few who already have amassed significant amounts of wealth.

Most importantly, these proponents of the status quo who author commentaries that are filled with mean-spirited vilifications of their opponents, offer no solutions of their own to help resolve the many problems that face the society at large. They, in fact, deny that there any problems of significant importance to begin with. For example, to them there is nothing wrong with our health care delivery system despite the fact that there tens of millions of individuals unable to afford health care for themselves or their families. Their blistering attacks on homosexuals, the poor, unionized labor, women’s rights, immigrants, etc are both disingenuous and reprehensible. Furthermore they are useless and of little value, in my mind, for they do nothing constructive for their country and its people though they profess to be unassailable patriots. They exploit their listeners and extract a fortune based on their ability to attract the disaffected and further polarize the country. The game of exploitative capitalism that they are so adept at undermines the possibility of national healing that is so crucial at this time.

During infrequent bouts of wild inexplicable optimism, I suspect they will be ultimately consumed by their own venom.

Seven Samurai

The spirit of a fearless man

is in acceptance of mortality

only the dead are without fear

Just Chew It

Life

sucks

then

you

die

Sam-I-Am

Do you like green eggs and ham?

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

Would you like them here or there?

I would not like them here or there.

I would not like them anywhere.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

Self II

So who then must we be?

Individuality is beautiful.

Love is just the same.

There are many virtues in this life that we should live up to.

But specifically if we must change in order to change this world then

we must be above the system, critical thinkers and the like.

We should not abnegate, but serve our fellow humans by who we are.

We must be able to try to understand and exhibit self control.

Our curiosities should be curiosities of good and

we must be people of purpose and resolve,

for the sake of humanity.

~Philosopher King 

A Little Woman

They are cowards......

they are afraid of a little woman

The Time Machine

The Hubble Space Telescope is a Time Machine
It can see billions of years into the past

The Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
61 Million light-years away

Eta Carinae Nebula NGC 3372
8 Thousand light-years away

Messier 81 NGC 3031
12 Million light-years away

The Cat's Eye Nebula NGC 6543
3.3 Thousand light-years away

The Eagle Nebula NGC 6611
7 Thousand light-years away

The Helix Nebula NGC 7293
7 Hundred light-years away

Young Stars in Magellanic Cloud NGC 346
210 Thousand light-years away

The Red Supergiant Star Monocerotis V838
20 Thousand light-years away

The Crab Nebula NGC 1952
6.5 Thousand light-years away

Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image
13 Billion light-years away

Click and enlarge this image
and see an estimated 10,000 galaxies
as they looked 13 billion years ago

USA-Thou art the Highest Pinnacle of White Anglo Saxon Protestant Civilisation

While Tim Weiners excellent book, "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA." confirms that U.S. presidents like Kennedy wanted to get world leaders killed by the mafia, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has once again confirmed that there is no difference, if any, between the mafia, U.S. Government and Al-Qaeda.

HA HA HA

So now USA has sent a professional assasin to command its troops in Afghanistan.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'U.S. special squad killed Benazir'
Published: May 18, 2009
NEW YORK (Online) - Former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on the orders of the special death squad formed by former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney, which had already killed the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafique Al Hariri and the army chief of that country.

The squad was headed by General Stanley McChrystal, the newly-appointed commander of U.S. army in Afghanistan. It was disclosed by reputed U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh while talking to an Arab TV in an interview. Hersh said former U.S. vice-president Cheney was the chief of the Joint Special Operation Command and he cleared the way for the U.S. by exterminating opponents through the unit and the CIA. General Stanley was the in-charge of the unit.

Seymour also said that Rafiq Al Hariri and the Lebanese army chief were murdered for not safeguarding the U.S. interests and refusing U.S. setting up military bases in Lebanon. Ariel Sharon, the then prime minister of Israel, was also a key man in the plot.

A number of websites around the world are suspecting the same unit for killing of Benazir Bhutto because in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV on November 2, 2007, she had mentioned the assassination of Usama Bin Laden, Seymour said. According to Benazir Bhutto, Umar Saeed Sheikh murdered Usama, but her words were washed out from the David Frosts report, he said.

The U.S. journalist opined that it might have been done on purpose because the U.S. leadership did not like to declare Usama dead for in the case the justification of the presence of U.S. army in Afghanistan could no more be there, hence no reason for operation against Taliban.

On the other hand, the diplomatic analysts believe the Benazir Bhutto murder is still a fable and it is for that reason Asif Zardari and other government authorities are stressing U.N. probe in the murder case, also paying huge sums for it.

Another website has disclosed that Benazir was put to death in order to roll back the Pakistan nuclear programme and to take over its nukes, and that India, Israel and the U.S. were making hectic efforts to deprive Pakistan of its atomic capability so as to bring it under their control.

Regarding the Family

It seems that the word family is supposed to usher in all manner of positive concepts enveloping ennobling themes such as love, loyalty and devotion.. It is viewed by most everyone as being the bedrock of our culture and the representative of the very essence of social cohesiveness. Yet under the umbrella of the concept of family lies many untidy and not so attractive realities as well. Only the supposed virtues are extolled; only the inspiring characteristics are open for discussion. The more insidious and incestuous “qualities” of family are conveniently placed out of the scope of consideration. The less attractive aspects of being, however, are often just as common within the fold of the family, but relegated to the unimpeachable darkness.

The crazed uncle possessed by the demons of his impaired and diseased brain, the patriarchal grandfather with a formidable record of abusive and violent behavior, the promiscuous and pregnant daughter sent off to live with an older sister while bringing her growing fetus to term away from the prying eyes of neighbors, the gay cousin convinced by the language of his authoritarian minister that he is a deviant in the eyes of his personal savior are all examples of realities that are surrounded by a formidable cone of silence in an effort to keep alive the mythological quality of wholeness that is supposed to embody the family.

In reality, the family is fragile and flawed like all human institutions. Families and clans are a natural and practical consequence of the biological urge to propagate the species. Within the structure of the family, resides the entire gamut of human proclivities and possibilities. Yet, it seems that only what is believed to exemplify goodness is embraced while that which is unflattering is coerced into the void of the unspoken. It is not truth that triumphs but rather the lie. It is an insidious lie, for it creates a perception of family members and the family that is decidedly one-sided, and for that reason, grotesque. The family mirrors all the aspects that compromise humanity in general and the individual in particular. It should be seen for what it is and nothing more.

It is from the mosaic of the family that the structure of the larger society is built. We have become in many regards a cult of the individual. Children are raised within the assumption and the implicit notion that the individual is the center of existence; that all of the universe gravitates around the singular person with his or her singular consciousness. Individual happiness is the fundamental goal that is seen as the inherent right of us all. Yet state of being happy is poorly understood and remains illusive. The quality of happiness has come to be seen as achievable through the medium of material success and personal achievements. This seems perfectly natural to us, since this is the essence of the message perpetually conveyed through the communications media and thoroughly inculcated in our thinking and perceptions. In this particular social environment, happiness is not equated with the well being of those outside the territory of the family. Even within the family, this is not necessarily the case. This particular idea of happiness is not dependent upon the health of the natural environment nor the state of being of our fellow creatures.

Those who pose as the guardians of life and constantly and vociferously proclaim their unimpeachable belief in the sanctity of life have an exceedingly narrow conception of the life they assiduously protect. It is certainly not the life of those in dire need; it is certainly not the quality or extent of life of those creatures who are destined to be sacrificed so that we may have bountiful sources of nutrition; it is not he life of those fellow humans who have had the misfortune to be regarded as our enemies. Oddly enough, the life they wish to protect are clumps of cells genetically definable as human and destined to be human, but decidedly without consciousness and incapable of pain or suffering. These pre-humans growing within the body of the women who carry them are living, but not individuals. Yet the suffering of so many individuals born into abject poverty and perilous social conditions are of only peripheral interest to those who carry the banners of righteousness. Yet the conditions of those living creatures who the unwilling providers of their bodies for our mass consumption are not regarded in any way by those who proclaim the moral high ground. Those who take up a cause without reason or intellect are dubious and often dangerous for they are capable of justifying terrible deeds in the name of hollow and ridiculous notions.

The cult of the individual has left us with a world whose natural environment has been sorely abused. The cult of the individual has left us with a social order that is remarkably skewed to the few who hold the wealth and its concomitant power. The cult of the individual is not sustainable for it will continue to rob humanity of its future. Until we see the well-being of all as within the purview of our state of happiness, the human world will remain restive and unfulfilled.

Corpus Hypercubus

Salvador Dali-1954

Bad Dream

It all seems like a bad dream

but real torture

still exists all over the world

if it happens to anyone

it could happen to you

Self

[So far] I've concluded that there are three categories to this life.

Church, State, and Self.

Self:

One aspect to life is the aspect of self.

This encompasses the necessities of physical life,

as well as the thoughts that the brain processes.

This aspect is important because of its affects on Church and State.

Who you are determines your life [your experience] in this world

If anything in this world is gonna change, it must be done...

[not through the bureaucracies of state or the liberties of church, but]

...through a change in the aspect of self. We must change///

~Philosoher King

A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey
is a 1968 science fiction film
directed by Stanley Kubrick,
written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke.
It is, in part, the story of the discovery
of a strange artifact found on the moon.
It is seemingly based on the true story.

In the early 1960's, lunar probes sent
back the first close-up photographs of
the moon as they crashed into the surface.
Researchers were astonished when the images
began to reveal more than they could have
ever expected to see. Those images revealed
structures and constructions that were
undeniable. They saw buildings, facilities
and bases with incredible clarity. The next
step was to go up there and see for ourselves.
Man went to the moon and discovered a "Dreamland".

(Sgt. Karl Wolf)
(Lunomaly.com)

The Mad Scientist

Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was an inventor and a mechanical and electrical engineer. Tesla was born in the village of Smiljan near the town of Gospić, Austrian Empire, Croatian Krajina. He was an ethnic Serb subject of the Austrian Empire and later became an American citizen. Tesla is often described as an important scientist and inventor of the modern age, a man who "shed light over the face of Earth". He is best known for many revolutionary contributions in the field of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla's patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current electric power (AC) systems, including the polyphase power distribution systems and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution.
After his demonstration of wireless communication (radio) in 1894 and after being the victor in the "War of Currents", he was widely respected as one of the greatest electrical engineers who worked in America. Much of his early work pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance. During this period, in the United States, Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist in history or popular culture, but due to his eccentric personality and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments, Tesla was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist. Never having put much focus on his finances, Tesla died impoverished at the age of 86.
The SI unit measuring magnetic flux density or magnetic induction (commonly known as the magnetic field "B"), the tesla, was named in his honor (at the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures, Paris, 1960), as well as the Tesla effect of wireless energy transfer to wirelessly power electronic devices which Tesla demonstrated on a low scale (lightbulbs) as early as 1893 and aspired to use for the intercontinental transmission of industrial energy levels in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.
Aside from his work on electromagnetism and electromechanical engineering, Tesla has contributed in varying degrees to the establishment of robotics, remote control, radar and computer science, and to the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics, and theoretical physics. In 1943, the Supreme Court of the United States credited him as being the inventor of the radio.

Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943)

Tesla Motors

The Tesla Roadster is a plug-in electric car with a range of over 200 miles. The new "Model S" sedan will have a range of 300 miles. This is what we've been waiting for.


Referring to the Tesla Roadster, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "I test drove this vehicle, and it is hot."

I Don't Believe in Karma / I Do Believe in Kindness

I saw some serious sick animals at the vet today, including my own lil' Doodle Cat who was with the dentist this morning to get her world rocked with a weigh-in, a rectal thermometer, some intravenous drugs, a catheter, a dental cleaning and a surprise front-tooth yanking. I don't have good health insurance for myself, let alone Doodle Bug, but she needed to go, I'm hopelessly in love with her, and it had to be done. But what if she didn't have me?

Doodle couldn't wait to get out of there this afternoon, poor thing. But she was in amazing shape compared to poor Sasha, the sweetest, saddest most gentle doll of a 6-year old pooch I've ever seen. She was in the waiting room too this morning, vomiting and beyond miserable. And she can't tell us what's wrong with her! Imagine that? Not being able to scream, "What are my symptoms? WHAT ARE MY SYMPTOMS? My stomach fucking hurtS, I'm hot as an inFerno, and iM ABOUT TO BLOW CHUNKS ALL OVER THIS WAITING ROOM!" Sure, Doodle was to undergo major anesthesia, and I had to sign a waiver saying that if she died in the surgery all was A-OK with it, but at work, my mind was more on Sasha and how she was doing.

When I went to fetch Doodle post-surgery (the staff in the back re-named her Cranky, not surprisingly), I learned from the receptionist that poor Sasha Pants was to spend the night and was resting wrapped in blankets under a heat lamp. The vet tech explained Doodle's pain meds with me when another tech appeared from the back with Sasha--outfitted in a pink cast--to take her for a walk.

Sasha. On her way back from a "walk." Having the RUFFest of days (poor girl didn't have the eye boogers in the morning) would you look at those eyebrows? Ouch.

5:15 p.m. ~ May 12, 2009.

Sasha---feel better soon xxoxoxxoxoo!

Sasha Pup still looked miserable, barely holding up her head and limping along, but she was dealing. I'm to understand she may need a hysterectomy or something, and truly I wish her and human companion (who was understandably frantic about Sasha's condition this morning) the best! Oh, Sasha.

My point? Life is hard. Times are tough. Everything sucks. And when we're feeling low, hopeless and helpless, helping other creatures is the fastest feel-good thing you can do for yourself and in turn, others. The most vulnerable in any circumstances are the innocent and defenseless, and shelters like Bide-a-Wee (Scottish for "Stay while!") improve the lives of suffering animals through rescue, veterinary care, and adoption outreach.

Doodle (aka Cranky), home from the vet with way more drugs and one less tooth. May 12, 2009 ~ NYC

Did you know that adopting an animal improves the lives of humans? It's true! When I encountered Doodle ten years ago, sitting on the shoulder of the girl working the coat check of a Russian Vodka Bar where I was 6 martinis to the wind, I was in no shape to adopt anything. But when Doodle was delivered to my apartment the next morning (3 hours later--did I really give out my card?), my life was changed for the better almost instantly, and she has brought me nothing but unconditional love and joy. And the occasional barf on the carpet. But it's 99% joy. If you can't adopt right now, you can still help make a difference: Feed an Animal for FREE simply by clicking HERE! Every click at theanimalrescuesite.com is a free bowl of food!

Thanks in advance for being a kind person.

Peace, meows and woofs,

Anne & dOoDLE

When a Man Loves a Woman

Percy Sledge

Deviant

I guess this makes me a

deviant rebel...and proud of it

the law?

. . if legal behavior is becoming less humanistic . .
what are humans becoming?

An Appeal To Good Sense and Moral Responsibility

In these days of wartime, where we are granted nary a peaceful moment of respite from battles and conflicts, everyone is a critic of every facet of war but, in their critical stupor, they usually fail to suppose an alternative. Now, I am no fan of war by any means nor do I wish to sing the virtues (or scream the follies) of war. I am merely writing this piece as an appeal to good sense and moral responsibility. I have, after numerous painstaking brainstorms, developed a peaceable alternative to war that will save many lives and shed little to no blood. This alternative is: laser tag. In theory, I'm sure this sounds quite juvenile. "Insurgents and Americans running around with laser rifles competing for points. Yeah, right." In practice, though, the perks will shine through all preconceived notions. Think about it. We could swiftly end all bloody conflicts with a friendly, competitive match of laser tag. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict over Israel? Whatever teams accumulates the highest point sum wins the land! The battle against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban? Simply hold a tournament of laser tag in barren Iraq/Afghanistan. Each side is given a laser rifle recreated to imitate the looks of each sides respective firearms. Suicide bombers will be given an invisible plasma dome laser attack that affects a 25ft. area, ousting anyone in the radius of the invisible blast with the user being out as well. Each team will have a certain number of points that they can use to spend on weapons, upgrade infantry, upgrade armor, fortify base defense, etc. This total will be derived from the regions riches just like real war budgets would be. Invisible car-combs and IED's will litter the playing field and any squad who trips one will be out. Mortar-launching players will sit perched on top of buildings and hills, cloaked by the local landscape, decimating players and scores with a barrage of laser explosions. American snipers will do the same; each headshot is 250 points! No longer will war lead us deeper and deeper into a negative deficit clusterfuck. Real weapons can cost thousands of dollars and real wars can cost $1 million a day! Laser rifles only cost the manufacturer about $10 per rifle (this is not counting shipping and handling). Bombs and missiles only cost dollars more! This means it will cost only about $200 to outfit an entire squadron instead of thousands-millions of dollars. This would also be a great time to work for Hasbro. Possibilities of nuclear attacks got you down? Cataclysmic destruction is now a thing of the past with new Alpha-Omega Centauri Laser Nuclear Assault Missiles! Launch this bad boy in the center of a nations most economic necessity and watch the point totals drop! Fly a one-use laser plane through the force-field of a country's financial mecca and witness the utter decimation of the opposing team's player count. This novel idea will save millions, if not a bajillion quadrillion, of lives over the span of humanity if adopted. Noble citizens, write your local and national congressman begging for this alternative to violent discord. Sing its praises on local television and nationally-syndicated daytime television talk shows. Let out a mighty bellow on the peaks of snow-capped mounts expressing your displeasure with a system that utilizes war as a means of profit; that utilizes people as cogs in their death machines; that advocate slavery guised as freedom and Democracy. Murder is not Democracy! Exploitation is not Freedom! Liberation is Laser Tag!