"I don't believe
in a god
that needs to be worshiped."
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
E Pluribus Unum
Chris Jordan - 24 x 24 feet; laser etched onto aluminum panels.
Depicts the names of one million organizations around the world that are devoted to peace, environmental stewardship, social justice, and the preservation of diverse and indigenous culture. The actual number of such organizations is unknown, but estimates range between one and two million, and growing.
visit website to zoom in :)
> Chris Jordan - E Pluribus Unum
btw: this is by the guy who did the dead birds & plastic pics (Midway: Message from the Gyre at chrisjordan.com)
Chris Jordan is an internationally acclaimed artist and cultural activist based in Seattle. His work explores contemporary mass culture from a variety of photographic and conceptual perspectives, connecting the viewer viscerally to the enormity and power of humanity’s collective will. Edge-walking the lines between art and activism, beauty and horror, abstraction and representation, the near and the far, the visible and the invisible, his work asks us to consider our own multi-layered roles in becoming more conscious stewards of our complex and embattled world. Jordan’s works are exhibited and published worldwide.
Democracy and Ignorance Don't Mix
Democracy is a term that represents a concept that the nation takes great and an almost all-consuming pride in. Yet it seems to be failing. I have come to this conclusion not in regards to the political institutions that remain more or less intact, but in terms of the electorate not being adequately equipped to make the kinds of decisions that ensure the continued vitality of the State.
In my estimation, a functioning democracy requires an educated and thoughtful population capable of reasoned judgment and intelligent choices regarding public policy. From this perspective, democracy cannot thrive within a nation when a significant proportion of its population is poorly educated and whose general state of mind is overwhelmed by fear, prejudice and unadulterated bigotry. That seems to be the current condition of our society in the second decade of the twenty-first century.
At this time, the nation is deeply polarized and the rift is substantial. Unfortunately, while these ideological differences consume a great deal of time, always a precious commodity, the ills that haunt the entire nation – poverty, hunger, unemployment, homelessness, a failing infrastructure and the foreboding prospects of climate change – continue on their disastrous courses essentially unabated.
In my estimation, a functioning democracy requires an educated and thoughtful population capable of reasoned judgment and intelligent choices regarding public policy. From this perspective, democracy cannot thrive within a nation when a significant proportion of its population is poorly educated and whose general state of mind is overwhelmed by fear, prejudice and unadulterated bigotry. That seems to be the current condition of our society in the second decade of the twenty-first century.
At this time, the nation is deeply polarized and the rift is substantial. Unfortunately, while these ideological differences consume a great deal of time, always a precious commodity, the ills that haunt the entire nation – poverty, hunger, unemployment, homelessness, a failing infrastructure and the foreboding prospects of climate change – continue on their disastrous courses essentially unabated.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Chicago soup kitchen 1931
Unemployed men queued outside a depression soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
the end of suffering
May the sound of this bell penetrate deep into the cosmos
Even in the darkest spots living beings are able to hear it clearly
So that all suffering in them ceases, understanding comes to their heart
And they transcend the path of sorrow and death.
The universal dharma door is already open
The sound of the rising tide is heard clearly
The miracle happens
A beautiful child appears in the heart of the lotus flower
One single drop of this compassionate water is enough to bring back the refreshing spring to our mountains and rivers.
Listening to the bell I feel the afflictions in me begin to dissolve
My mind calm, my body relaxed
A smile is born on my lips
Following the sound of the bell, my breath brings me back to the safe island of mindfulness
In the garden of my heart, the flowers of peace bloom beautifully.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Costa Rica 1971
This photograph was taken from a mapping plane from the government of Costa Rica 10,000 feet above Lago de Cote, Costa Rica 1971 with a high resolution camera automatically taking a picture every 17 seconds.
This object was capured on one of the frames as the plane was mapping the ground. After careful analysis it was determined that the object was a real three dimentional airborne object.
It shows in extraordinary detail all features of the landscape (water, shoreline, trees, etc.) and you'll notice how it was determined that the object (about 600+ ft. or 200 meters in diameter) was coming into or out of the water at an angle of approximately 30° in relation to the surface of the water.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
sacred geometry
The Flower of Life is the modern name given to a geometrical figure composed of multiple evenly-spaced, overlapping circles. They are arranged to form a flower-like pattern with a sixfold symmetry, similar to a hexagon. The center of each circle is on the circumference of six surrounding circles of the same diameter.
It is considered by some to be a symbol of sacred geometry, said to contain ancient, religious value depicting the fundamental forms of space and time. In this sense, it is a visual expression of the connections life weaves through all sentient beings, and it is believed to contain a type of Akashic Record of basic information of all living things.
There are many spiritual beliefs associated with the Flower of Life; for example, depictions of the five Platonic Solids are found within the symbol of Metatron's Cube, which may be derived from the Flower of Life pattern. These platonic solids are geometrical forms which are said to act as a template from which all life springs.
According to Drunvalo Melchizedek, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the stages which construct the Seed of Life are said to represent the six days of Creation, in which Elohim created life; Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus 23:12, 31:16-17, Isaiah 56:6-8. Within these stages, among other things, are the symbols of the Vesica Piscis, an ancient religious symbol, and Borromean rings, which represents the Holy Trinity. (read more)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
bloggers' rights
One of EFF's goals is to give you a basic roadmap to the legal issues you may confront as a blogger to let you know you have rights and to encourage you to blog freely with the knowledge that your legitimate speech is protected.
To that end we have created the Legal Guide for Bloggers a collection of blogger-specific FAQs addressing everything from fair use to defamation law to workplace whistle-blowing.
In addition EFF continues to battle for bloggers' rights in the courtroom:
Bloggers can be journalists (and journalists can be bloggers). We're battling for legal and institutional recognition that if you engage in journalism you're a journalist with all of the attendant rights privileges and protections. (See Apple v. Does)
Bloggers are entitled to free speech. We're working to shield you from frivolous or abusive threats and lawsuits. Internet bullies shouldn't use copyright libel or other claims to chill your legitimate speech. (See OPG v. Diebold)
Bloggers have the right to political speech. We're working with a number of other public-interest organizations to ensure that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) doesn't gag bloggers' election-related speech. We argue that the FEC should adopt a presumption against the regulation of election-related speech by individuals on the Internet and interpret the existing media exemption to apply to online media outlets that provide news reporting and commentary regarding an election -- including blogs. (See our joint comments to the FEC).
Bloggers have the right to stay anonymous. We're continuing our battle to protect and preserve your constitutional right to anonymous speech online including providing a guide to help you with strategies for keeping your identity private when you blog. (See How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else).
Bloggers have freedom from liability for hosting speech the same way other web hosts do. We're working to strengthen Section 230 liability protections under the Communications Decency Act (CDA) while spreading the word that bloggers are entitled to them. (See Barrett v. Rosenthal)
(read more)
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
21st century
Well, I dreamed I saw the knights in armor coming / Saying something about a queen / There were peasants singing and drummers drumming / And the archer split the tree / There was a fanfare blowing to the sun / That was floating on the breeze / Look at Mother Nature on the run / In the twenty first century
Photo of ~> [ Coral Reefer ]
Monday, January 23, 2012
The Eye Ear Brain Machine
Cool new website http://eyeearbrain.webs.com/
EYE EAR BRAIN
Daily inspiration for spooky music, cult film and weird ideas...
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Listening to the Debates of Republican Contenders for the Presidential Nomination
Ever since the first black man was elected to the highest
political office in the country, he has been subjected to a remarkable degree
of political hyperbole and vitriolic attacks designed to impugn not only his
policies, but his character as well.
These attacks originate not only from prejudiced and highly ignorant
individuals and the right wing media, capitalizing on this kind of hatred, but
also by his opponents in Congress. They
have continually portrayed him as an enemy and essentially inimical to
so-called “American values.” Using this
kind of language, they have attempted to thwart his efforts in every
conceivable manner often using political blackmail. In this way, many of the endemic problems
that face American society have been left to fester.
The real character of the opposition has been made
abundantly clear by the nature of the debates now being aired as the aspirants
to the Presidential office from the Republican Party challenge their
adversaries for the nomination. The
language of these debates have been mean-spirited, ugly, unflattering and
filled with vilest of accusations and rhetoric designed to appeal to ignorance
and bigotry. Those among the aspiring
group who have chosen to use reasoned argument to make their respective cases
have been effectively silenced as the front runners attempt to appeal to what
has become the radical, right wing base of the Republican Party.
It is a troubling time in which many people live in fear and
apprehension regarding their future as a direct result of the onslaught of the
so-called “Great Recession.” It is at
such times that reasoned judgment and a cooperative effort to face and resolve
acute national problems are the attributes most required.
I am not looking forward to many months of polemical
language filled with hateful speech that is destined to fill the airways until
the November elections. What we do not
need as a people is the further polarization that will be the inevitable
outcome of this kind of dialog. Furthermore,
it would be most distressing if one of the underlying reasons for this
intensely negative environment is, in reality, racial hatred and bigotry.
Barbie Arrested !!!
TEHRAN, Iran - Police have closed down dozens of toy shops for selling Barbie dolls in Iran, part of a decades-long crackdown against "manifestations of Western culture," the semiofficial Mehr news agency reported Friday.
Barbie dolls are sold wearing swimsuits and miniskirts in a society where women must wear headscarves in public, and men and women are not allowed to swim together.
A ban on the sale of the Barbies, designed to look like young Western women, was imposed in the mid-1990s. In its latest report, Mehr quoted an unidentified police official as saying authorities confiscated the dolls from Tehran stores in a "new phase" of the campaign.
In 2008, the Iranian judiciary warned against the "destructive" cultural and social consequences and "danger" of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys. Even so, Iranian markets have been full of them. One-third of Iran's population of 75 million is under 15. (read more)
Saturday, January 21, 2012
I just wanna make love to you
Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) was an American singer whose style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in the mid 1950s, she gained fame with hits such as "Dance With Me, Henry", "At Last", "Tell Mama", and "I'd Rather Go Blind" for which she claimed she wrote the lyrics. She faced a number of personal problems, including drug addiction, before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album The Seven Year Itch.
She is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. Rolling Stone ranked James number 22 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and number 62 on the list of the 100 Greatest Artists.
James encountered a string of legal problems during the early 1970s due to her heroin addiction. She was continuously in and out of rehabilitation centers, including the Tarzana Rehabilitation Center, in Los Angeles, California. Her husband Artis Mills, whom she married in 1969, accepted responsibility when they were both arrested for heroin possession and served a 10-year prison sentence.
Etta James had once been considered one of the most overlooked blues and R&B musicians in American music history. It wasn't until the early 1990s when James began receiving major industry awards from the Grammys and the Blues Foundation that she began to receive wide recognition. In 2011 James was voted one the Best Singers On Earth by viewers to Btoe, the multimedia Web site founded by Colin Larkin, creator of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. (read more)
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
google blackout
Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.
The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Wikipedia blackout protesting Piracy Act
2012 Wikipedia blackout
The January 18 blackout page
(as proposed by User:Pretzels on January 16)
The 2012 English Wikipedia blackout is a proposed blackout of the English Wikipedia for 24 hours on 18 January 2012. In place of articles, the site would show only a message opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA).
| TAKE ACTION The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a dangerous bill that would give the Department of Justice and big content unprecedented power to censor the Internet. There's a critical hearing this week about the bill, part of big content's effort to steamroll the bill through Congress, which means we have no time to lose. SOPA's supporters are desperate to get this bill through quickly by convincing Congress there's no real opposition to it. We know better, but we need to make our voices heard loud and clear. > Take Action | Electronic Frontier Foundation |
more > 2012 Wikipedia blackout - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Press releases/English Wikipedia to go dark - Wikimedia Foundation
San Francisco -- January 16, 2012 -- On January 18, 2012, in an unprecedented decision, the Wikipedia community has chosen to blackout the English version of Wikipedia for 24 hours, in protest against proposed legislation in the United States — the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and PROTECTIP (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate. If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and bring about new tools for censorship of international websites inside the United States.
“Today Wikipedians from around the world have spoken about their opposition to this destructive legislation," said Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia. "This is an extraordinary action for our community to take - and while we regret having to prevent the world from having access to Wikipedia for even a second, we simply cannot ignore the fact that SOPA and PIPA endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world."
> more
English Wikipedia anti-SOPA blackout - Wikimedia Foundation
To: English Wikipedia Readers and Community
From: Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director
Date: January 16, 2012
Today, the Wikipedia community announced its decision to black out the English-language Wikipedia for 24 hours, worldwide, beginning at 05:00 UTC on Wednesday, January 18 (you can read the statement from the Wikimedia Foundation here). The blackout is a protest against proposed legislation in the United States — the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate — that, if passed, would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia.
This will be the first time the English Wikipedia has ever staged a public protest of this nature, and it’s a decision that wasn’t lightly made. Here’s how it’s been described by the three Wikipedia administrators who formally facilitated the community’s discussion. From the public statement, signed by User:NuclearWarfare, User:Risker and User:Billinghurst:
It is the opinion of the English Wikipedia community that both of these bills, if passed, would be devastating to the free and open web.
Over the course of the past 72 hours, over 1800 Wikipedians have joined together to discuss proposed actions that the community might wish to take against SOPA and PIPA. This is by far the largest level of participation in a community discussion ever seen on Wikipedia, which illustrates the level of concern that Wikipedians feel about this proposed legislation. The overwhelming majority of participants support community action to encourage greater public action in response to these two bills. Of the proposals considered by Wikipedians, those that would result in a “blackout” of the English Wikipedia, in concert with similar blackouts on other websites opposed to SOPA and PIPA, received the strongest support.
On careful review of this discussion, the closing administrators note the broad-based support for action from Wikipedians around the world, not just from within the United States. The primary objection to a global blackout came from those who preferred that the blackout be limited to readers from the United States, with the rest of the world seeing a simple banner notice instead. We also noted that roughly 55% of those supporting a blackout preferred that it be a global one, with many pointing to concerns about similar legislation in other nations.
In making this decision, Wikipedians will be criticized for seeming to abandon neutrality to take a political position. That’s a real, legitimate issue. We want people to trust Wikipedia, not worry that it is trying to propagandize them.
But although Wikipedia’s articles are neutral, its existence is not. As Wikimedia Foundation board member Kat Walsh wrote on one of our mailing lists recently,
We depend on a legal infrastructure that makes it possible for us to operate. And we depend on a legal infrastructure that also allows other sites to host user-contributed material, both information and expression. For the most part, Wikimedia projects are organizing and summarizing and collecting the world’s knowledge. We’re putting it in context, and showing people how to make to sense of it.
But that knowledge has to be published somewhere for anyone to find and use it. Where it can be censored without due process, it hurts the speaker, the public, and Wikimedia. Where you can only speak if you have sufficient resources to fight legal challenges, or if your views are pre-approved by someone who does, the same narrow set of ideas already popular will continue to be all anyone has meaningful access to.
The decision to shut down the English Wikipedia wasn’t made by me; it was made by editors, through a consensus decision-making process. But I support it.
Like Kat and the rest of the Wikimedia Foundation Board, I have increasingly begun to think of Wikipedia’s public voice, and the goodwill people have for Wikipedia, as a resource that wants to be used for the benefit of the public. Readers trust Wikipedia because they know that despite its faults, Wikipedia’s heart is in the right place. It’s not aiming to monetize their eyeballs or make them believe some particular thing, or sell them a product. Wikipedia has no hidden agenda: it just wants to be helpful.
That’s less true of other sites. Most are commercially motivated: their purpose is to make money. That doesn’t mean they don’t have a desire to make the world a better place — many do! — but it does mean that their positions and actions need to be understood in the context of conflicting interests.
My hope is that when Wikipedia shuts down on January 18, people will understand that we’re doing it for our readers. We support everyone’s right to freedom of thought and freedom of expression. We think everyone should have access to educational material on a wide range of subjects, even if they can’t pay for it. We believe in a free and open Internet where information can be shared without impediment. We believe that new proposed laws like SOPA and PIPA, and other similar laws under discussion inside and outside the United States — don’t advance the interests of the general public. You can read a very good list of reasons to oppose SOPA and PIPA here, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Why is this a global action, rather than US-only? And why now, if some American legislators appear to be in tactical retreat on SOPA?
The reality is that we don’t think SOPA is going away, and PIPA is still quite active. Moreover, SOPA and PIPA are just indicators of a much broader problem. All around the world, we're seeing the development of legislation intended to fight online piracy, and regulate the Internet in other ways, that hurt online freedoms. Our concern extends beyond SOPA and PIPA: they are just part of the problem. We want the Internet to remain free and open, everywhere, for everyone.
Make your voice heard!
On January 18, we hope you’ll agree with us, and will do what you can to make your own voice heard.
Sue Gardner,
Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation
Stop Online Piracy Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.[2] Presented to the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act.
> more
TAKE ACTION
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a dangerous bill that would give the Department of Justice and big content unprecedented power to censor the Internet. There's a critical hearing this week about the bill, part of big content's effort to steamroll the bill through Congress, which means we have no time to lose. SOPA's supporters are desperate to get this bill through quickly by convincing Congress there's no real opposition to it. We know better, but we need to make our voices heard loud and clear.
> Take Action | Electronic Frontier Foundation
see also
• what next: From Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales
"If everyone reading this donated $5, we would only have to fundraise for one day a year. But not everyone can or will donate. And that's fine. Each year just enough people decide to give.
"This year, please consider making a donation of $5, $20, $50 or whatever you can to protect and sustain Wikipedia."
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