IF MORE SYSTEMS GO DOWN, WE MIGHT WIND UP NEEDING ONE OF THESE

When a system like blogger is on the blink – be the cause black hole, rabbit hole, dark matter, or electro magnetic pulse – the only thing one can do is to try to post and see what happens and what works. I hope I will at least discover whether the system is still stuck at 1.43 AM on Friday. I think we all know the LHC hit a quench (thank you Valerie and some girl) but here’s a bit of BBC film.

The secret word is Duration

AS GREAT DEPRESSION II LOOMS, BLOGGER ACTS STRANGE

If you notice anything odd (odd by Doc40 standards) please post a comment. Normal service will resume as soon as Google or history allows.

Earl Palmer -- RIP
Rick Wright -- RIP
Norman Whitfield -- RIP
Gremlin -- RIP

BLACK HOLE UPDATE

“And, darling, did you know the Large Hadron Collider now has public webcams to show that we aren’t being consumed by a black hole. Rich just sent a link."

"...but it's not as much fun as the panda cam."

JUST HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF

“Everything is falling, dear
All rhyme and reason gone
It's just history repeating itself
And, babe, you turn me on
Like an idea
Like an Atom bomb.” – Nick Cave

Most of the time I’m amused by Bill Maher, but he’s onto new kick that he unveiled on his own show and then used again today with Rachel Maddow. “The American people are too stupid to be governed.” Hold up there Bill, isn’t that edging to some Stalinist maxim about how “people are sheep and easily led to the slaughter?” I know a majority of voters have proved their innate pig-ignorance by countenancing eight walking-nightmare years of the George Bush White House miasma, but, like I said yesterday, without some kind of belief the people are somehow worthwhile, there goes the ballgame. Reach for your revolver. Test the cyanide on the dog. Maher needs to realize what we’re talking here is education or the lack of it. How do you recognize that McCain – as he stumbles from senior moment to senior moment – is the new Herbert Hoover in this remake of The Wall Street Crash, and that Obama could be a potential FDR? It’s not easy if you’ve never cracked a history book and don’t have a clue who Hoover and FDR really are. And who taught Americans to distrust intelligence? Or knowledge? How do you make an informed decision when you’re not informed? I really hope We The People will ultimately prove we are merely dumbed down. Not fundamentally dumb. Remember, the rest of us are counting on you. It’s never too late to study. In fact, here’s a first lesson. The picture above is of a breadline in 1929. Without radical change and reform, that’s what 2009 will look like, only in digital color.

The secret word is Condemned

DOC'S PAPERBACK CLASSIC'S #48

This of course hints at a whole other problem in the modern world. TV does tend to keep us dumb and maybe suck out our souls. And some of the dumbest of the dumb actually control TV. Maybe this is what’s making Bill Maher’s view of us all so jaundiced. He works in TV, in the thick of the dumb (and also is a fan of violating the Code of Decency.)

AND TALKING OF TV...

Wanna watch a really damning McCain video? It's supplied by the ever-vigilant Valerie and described thus...

“For the last eight years, America has suffered under the burden of having a president with deficiencies of speech and intellect. A John McCain presidency will continue this dishonorable tradition with the added burden of the 75-year old Arizona Senator's imminent senility. Josh Marshall and the team at Talking Points Memo have compiled a timely video that effectively derails the free ride the Republican candidate has enjoyed in spite of his terrible memory, poor public speaking, and a knowledge of his geopolitical contemporaries that makes Bush look like a master statesman.”

THEY DON'T STAGE SHOWS LIKE THIS ANY MORE #4

Arthur Lee and Jim Morrison in the same dressing room?

THE SOUND OF ONE BUBBLE BURSTING

According to Keith Olbermann, Sarah Palin (left) has dropped a total of ten points in Newsweek polls since just last Saturday. I can freely say that I’m delighted. As a closet neo-socialist I need to believe that humanity is basically humane, or – if it’s all Hobbesian tooth and claw – what’s the fucking point? Just two weeks ago, when I posted Palin on the cover of Vogue, my first instinct was to savage the woman. I knew her for the narrow, sarcastic head mistress that she was. But after a first flurry I increasing wanted out. It seemed unseemly to engage such a monster of mediocrity. Should I ignore her? Not even mention her name? Couldn’t a proud citizenry make her for an attention grabbing non-entity on their own? Then, today, the word came from Olbermann that her approval/popularity was dropping was fast as the stock market, and even conservatives were concerned such a creature might one day control nukes. Could it be that the people would restore my faith by finally waking from the idiot’s dream and seeing Gov. Palin as a bogus bumpkin, mendacious and mean, unqualified uninformed and under investigation? I sincerely hope it’s the case.

The secret word is Dangerous

Click here to watch Billy the Busdriver.

Watch the Palin/Clinton Saturday Night Live bit.

CRYPTIQUE -- Polar bears are left handed.

THE BONDAGE VOTE?

As the stock market drops 500 points and chaos touches even the rich, Jessica Alba wants you to register to vote so badly that she bound herself with electrical tape. (Click for more, unless you intend voting for McCain/Palin, in which case don’t bother.)

And, by way of a counterpoint, here's an account from Snopes of the sufferings of the Sufragists who won the vote for women in the early 2oth century

The secret word is Struggle

THE ADVENTURES OF MARILYN (supplemental)

In which Marilyn finds she is moving in and out of the body and personality of Albert Einstein. “And all I ever wanted was to fuck him.” (Move back from the screen to get the effect.) Illusion sent by Valerie.

PINK FAIRIES POSE WITH BOSS ON HIS 60th BIRTHDAY

L to R - Russell Hunter, Duncan Sanderson, Boss Goodman, Larry Wallis. (What a drag it is getting old.) Pic by Richard Adams.

THE PROFITS OF POT

No one from the dopefiend side of the fence has so far asked Barack Obama about his plans for The War On Drugs and if he plans to declare an armistice. That’s probably as it should be. The Republicans have more than enough turds to hurl, and too much time would be wasted by Obama denying the quota of damned lies, lies, and distortions that he’s soft on drugs. Only after he’s won the election should Barack’s feet be put to the fire as to when he intends stopping the insanity. Just to remind us of the extent of the insanity, Munz has sent over this story by Steven Wishnia which details the positive economic impact that legal marijuana could have on local and national economies.

"If marijuana were legal but taxed like alcohol and tobacco, how much money could it bring in to cash-strapped state governments?
One 2006 study called cannabis the top cash crop in the nation, worth more than corn and wheat combined. It was the leading crop in 12 states, outstripping grapes in California and tobacco in North Carolina, and one of the top three in 18 others, coming in just behind apples in Washington and cotton in Georgia. So with states facing massive deficits, could reefer revenues help?
The answer is unclear, but it could be lucrative for governments, especially when combined with the savings from ending prohibition. As the U.S. marijuana market is illegal, there are no sales figures. Estimates of its size range from $10.5 billion a year to $113 billion. But three studies done by economists and policy analysts say ganja taxes could bring in anywhere from $2.4 billion to $31.1 billion in revenue, depending on how big the sales really are. About one-third of that would go to the states." (Click for the whole story.)

The secret word is Solvency

DOC'S PAPERBACK CLASSIC'S # 47

It’s been a while since I posted one of these. Seemed kinda appropriate, though, if compounding the risk of making this an all-stoner, all-hippie Sunday.

CRYPTIQUE – Time is a space, not a place.