Tuesday, January 26, 2010
BLIND WOMAN CATCHES HUMUNGOUS FISH
Doc40 isn’t really in the habit of running fishing stories, but when the amazing HCB sent this over, we made an exception.
"A grandmother has entered the record books after catching the biggest ever freshwater fish by a British woman - a 15st 4lb catfish. Sheila Penfold, who stands at just 5ft 3in and is registered blind, was nearly dragged into the river when the monster catfish took her bait during a holiday in Spain. The 56-year-old had to be directed by husband Alan and son Arthur as she fought for 30 minutes to land the prized 214lb catch." Click here for the rest
"A grandmother has entered the record books after catching the biggest ever freshwater fish by a British woman - a 15st 4lb catfish. Sheila Penfold, who stands at just 5ft 3in and is registered blind, was nearly dragged into the river when the monster catfish took her bait during a holiday in Spain. The 56-year-old had to be directed by husband Alan and son Arthur as she fought for 30 minutes to land the prized 214lb catch." Click here for the rest
Monday, January 25, 2010
SEX, DRUGS, AND STRAWBERRIES
When our pal Peromyscus sent me a link to this piece posted by Amanda Marcotte, it caught my eye because it referenced an ancient essay by our good friend Ellen Willis. But then I went on reading this well reasoned argument that everything from marijuana prohibition and the drug war to virulent and never ending resistance to legal abortion are all part of the same class war.
“So the other night, I was reading a book of essay by Ellen Willis called No More Nice Girls, and I bookmarked a page because the sentence on it really jumped out at me as the most succinct description of why the social conservatives merge so seamlessly with “economic” conservatives (who I would call class warriors, as that explanation predicts their behavior better than self-flattered ideological explanations about “small government"). The essay was a 1989 one about the drug war, and the way that it wasn’t about stopping the crack epidemic or slowing down crime or any of the other, more liberal explanations, but how it was strictly about authoritarian control, which explains why relatively harmless drugs like marijuana and psychedelics were being grouped in with harder drugs like speed and heroin. But this part touched on the much larger issue at hand.” (Click here for more.)
The secret word is Fruit
“So the other night, I was reading a book of essay by Ellen Willis called No More Nice Girls, and I bookmarked a page because the sentence on it really jumped out at me as the most succinct description of why the social conservatives merge so seamlessly with “economic” conservatives (who I would call class warriors, as that explanation predicts their behavior better than self-flattered ideological explanations about “small government"). The essay was a 1989 one about the drug war, and the way that it wasn’t about stopping the crack epidemic or slowing down crime or any of the other, more liberal explanations, but how it was strictly about authoritarian control, which explains why relatively harmless drugs like marijuana and psychedelics were being grouped in with harder drugs like speed and heroin. But this part touched on the much larger issue at hand.” (Click here for more.)
The secret word is Fruit
ELECTRIC ANT
Marvel Comics' adaptation of Philip K. Dick's Electric Ant (sample panel above) has finally been scheduled for release this April, which causes me to once again to wonder how Phil Dick must feel. He’s been dead since 1982, after spending his life as a cult author subject to the disappointments and outrageous fortune that goes with the territory, but now he’s a topflight famous author with his work being made into movies comic books and with – who knows – action figures yet to come. To become big-time famous after you’re dead must surely put a crimp in any afterlife you might be enjoying. I can only appeal to the media moguls to discover me now while I still have life and breath shamelessly to enjoy all the capitalist perks of fame. The media moguls would also have the advantage that I would still be around to advise them on how the stories should be translated to film and other media. Or maybe that’s what they fear.
THE FROZDICK FAMILY
Dante Gabriel Frozdick’s single claim to fame was that Elvis Presley had once written on his head.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
SUNDAY MORNING
“So your reading went well last night?”
“Yes, it did. Extremely well. Andy rocked and I was pretty lively, even if I say so myself.”
“And now you’d like black pudding, scrambled egg, fried tomatoes, buttered toast, marmalade, and Coca Cola for breakfast?”
“The idea did cross my mind.”
“Even if it totally clogs your heart?”
“It was only an idea.”
“And you fancy a day off from contemplating the ills of this crumbling planet?”
“How do you know all this?”
“I read your mind.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m a morning illusion.”
“You’re not real?”
“Of course not.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Smoke this joint and you’ll feel better.”
Click here for the inevitable Velvet Underground
The secret word is Mindless
“Yes, it did. Extremely well. Andy rocked and I was pretty lively, even if I say so myself.”
“And now you’d like black pudding, scrambled egg, fried tomatoes, buttered toast, marmalade, and Coca Cola for breakfast?”
“The idea did cross my mind.”
“Even if it totally clogs your heart?”
“It was only an idea.”
“And you fancy a day off from contemplating the ills of this crumbling planet?”
“How do you know all this?”
“I read your mind.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m a morning illusion.”
“You’re not real?”
“Of course not.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Smoke this joint and you’ll feel better.”
Click here for the inevitable Velvet Underground
The secret word is Mindless
Jean Simmons -- RIP
MARILYN SEZ…
“I used to have all these weird adventures, but now I just stand around like I was in an Ingmar Berman movie.”
New visitors or anyone one who wants to revisit the Adventures of Marilyn should click here.
New visitors or anyone one who wants to revisit the Adventures of Marilyn should click here.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
IT JUST GETS WORSE
We have all seen the glee with which law enforcement and those in authority crush citizen protest against their global corporate masters, but, now the US Supreme Court has turned democracy over to the complete control of obscene corporate wealth, the only free discourse may well be citizen protest, with citizens getting their heads broken for having an opinion at odds with the dictates of Monsanto. Our pal Aeswiren has sent this story by Greg Palast from Alternet that suggest things may be even worse that we suspected.
“In today's Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court ruled that corporations should be treated the same as "natural persons", i.e. humans. Well, in that case, expect the Supreme Court to next rule that Wal-Mart can run for President. The ruling, which junks federal laws that now bar corporations from stuffing campaign coffers, will not, as progressives fear, cause an avalanche of corporate cash into politics. Sadly, that's already happened: we have been snowed under by tens of millions of dollars given through corporate PACs and "bundling" of individual contributions from corporate pay-rollers. The Court's decision is far, far more dangerous to U.S. democracy. Think: Manchurian candidates. I'm losing sleep over the millions - or billions - of dollars that could flood into our elections from ARAMCO, the Saudi Oil corporation's U.S. unit; or from the maker of "New Order" fashions, the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Or from Bin Laden Construction corporation. Or Bin Laden Destruction Corporation. Right now, corporations can give loads of loot through PACs. While this money stinks (Barack Obama took none of it), anyone can go through a PAC's federal disclosure filing and see the name of every individual who put money into it. And every contributor must be a citizen of the USA. But under today's Supreme Court ruling that corporations can support candidates without limit, there is nothing that stops, say, a Delaware-incorporated handmaiden of the Burmese junta from picking a Congressman or two with a cache of loot masked by a corporate alias. Candidate Barack Obama was one sharp speaker, but he would not have been heard, and certainly would not have won, without the astonishing outpouring of donations from two million Americans. It was an unprecedented uprising-by-PayPal, overwhelming the old fat-cat sources of funding. Well, kiss that small-donor revolution goodbye. Under the Court's new rules, progressive list serves won't stand a chance against the resources of new "citizens" such as CNOOC, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Maybe UBS (United Bank of Switzerland), which faces U.S. criminal prosecution and a billion-dollar fine for fraud, might be tempted to invest in a few Senate seats. As would XYZ Corporation, whose owners remain hidden by "street names." George Bush's former Solicitor General Ted Olson argued the case to the court on behalf of Citizens United, a corporate front that funded an attack on Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primary. Olson's wife died on September 11, 2001 on the hijacked airliner that hit the Pentagon. Maybe it was a bit crude of me, but I contacted Olson's office to ask how much "Al Qaeda, Inc." should be allowed to donate to support the election of his local congressman. Olson has not responded. The danger of foreign loot loading into U.S. campaigns, not much noted in the media chat about the Citizens case, was the first concern raised by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who asked about opening the door to "mega-corporations" owned by foreign governments. Olson offered Ginsburg a fudge, that Congress might be able to prohibit foreign corporations from making donations, though Olson made clear he thought any such restriction a bad idea. Tara Malloy, attorney with the Campaign Legal Center of Washington D.C. says corporations will now have more rights than people. Only United States citizens may donate or influence campaigns, but a foreign government can, veiled behind a corporate treasury, dump money into ballot battles. Malloy also noted that under the law today, human-people, as opposed to corporate-people, may only give $2,300 to a presidential campaign. But hedge fund billionaires, for example, who typically operate through dozens of corporate vessels, may now give unlimited sums through each of these "unnatural" creatures. And once the Taliban incorporates in Delaware, they could ante up for the best democracy money can buy. In July, the Chinese government, in preparation for President Obama's visit, held diplomatic discussions in which they skirted issues of human rights and Tibet. Notably, the Chinese, who hold a $2 trillion mortgage on our Treasury, raised concerns about the cost of Obama's health care reform bill. Would our nervous Chinese landlords have an interest in buying the White House for an opponent of government spending such as Gov. Palin? Ya betcha! The potential for foreign infiltration of what remains of our democracy is an adjunct of the fact that the source and control money from corporate treasuries (unlike registered PACs), is necessarily hidden. Who the heck are the real stockholders? Or as Butch asked Sundance, "Who are these guys?" We'll never know. Hidden money funding, whether foreign or domestic, is the new venom that the Court has injected into the system by its expansive decision in Citizens United. We've been there. The 1994 election brought Newt Gingrich to power in a GOP takeover of the Congress funded by a very strange source. Congressional investigators found that in crucial swing races, Democrats had fallen victim to a flood of last-minute attack ads funded by a group called, "Coalition for Our Children's Future." The $25 million that paid for those ads came, not from concerned parents, but from a corporation called "Triad Inc." Evidence suggests Triad Inc. was the front for the ultra-right-wing billionaire Koch Brothers and their private petroleum company, Koch Industries. Had the corporate connection been proven, the Kochs and their corporation could have faced indictment under federal election law. As of today, such money-poisoned politicking has become legit. So it's not just un-Americans we need to fear but the Polluter-Americans, Pharma-mericans, Bank-Americans and Hedge-Americans that could manipulate campaigns while hidden behind corporate veils. And if so, our future elections, while nominally a contest between Republicans and Democrats, may in fact come down to a three-way battle between China, Saudi Arabia and Goldman Sachs.”
The secret word is No!
“In today's Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court ruled that corporations should be treated the same as "natural persons", i.e. humans. Well, in that case, expect the Supreme Court to next rule that Wal-Mart can run for President. The ruling, which junks federal laws that now bar corporations from stuffing campaign coffers, will not, as progressives fear, cause an avalanche of corporate cash into politics. Sadly, that's already happened: we have been snowed under by tens of millions of dollars given through corporate PACs and "bundling" of individual contributions from corporate pay-rollers. The Court's decision is far, far more dangerous to U.S. democracy. Think: Manchurian candidates. I'm losing sleep over the millions - or billions - of dollars that could flood into our elections from ARAMCO, the Saudi Oil corporation's U.S. unit; or from the maker of "New Order" fashions, the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Or from Bin Laden Construction corporation. Or Bin Laden Destruction Corporation. Right now, corporations can give loads of loot through PACs. While this money stinks (Barack Obama took none of it), anyone can go through a PAC's federal disclosure filing and see the name of every individual who put money into it. And every contributor must be a citizen of the USA. But under today's Supreme Court ruling that corporations can support candidates without limit, there is nothing that stops, say, a Delaware-incorporated handmaiden of the Burmese junta from picking a Congressman or two with a cache of loot masked by a corporate alias. Candidate Barack Obama was one sharp speaker, but he would not have been heard, and certainly would not have won, without the astonishing outpouring of donations from two million Americans. It was an unprecedented uprising-by-PayPal, overwhelming the old fat-cat sources of funding. Well, kiss that small-donor revolution goodbye. Under the Court's new rules, progressive list serves won't stand a chance against the resources of new "citizens" such as CNOOC, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Maybe UBS (United Bank of Switzerland), which faces U.S. criminal prosecution and a billion-dollar fine for fraud, might be tempted to invest in a few Senate seats. As would XYZ Corporation, whose owners remain hidden by "street names." George Bush's former Solicitor General Ted Olson argued the case to the court on behalf of Citizens United, a corporate front that funded an attack on Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primary. Olson's wife died on September 11, 2001 on the hijacked airliner that hit the Pentagon. Maybe it was a bit crude of me, but I contacted Olson's office to ask how much "Al Qaeda, Inc." should be allowed to donate to support the election of his local congressman. Olson has not responded. The danger of foreign loot loading into U.S. campaigns, not much noted in the media chat about the Citizens case, was the first concern raised by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who asked about opening the door to "mega-corporations" owned by foreign governments. Olson offered Ginsburg a fudge, that Congress might be able to prohibit foreign corporations from making donations, though Olson made clear he thought any such restriction a bad idea. Tara Malloy, attorney with the Campaign Legal Center of Washington D.C. says corporations will now have more rights than people. Only United States citizens may donate or influence campaigns, but a foreign government can, veiled behind a corporate treasury, dump money into ballot battles. Malloy also noted that under the law today, human-people, as opposed to corporate-people, may only give $2,300 to a presidential campaign. But hedge fund billionaires, for example, who typically operate through dozens of corporate vessels, may now give unlimited sums through each of these "unnatural" creatures. And once the Taliban incorporates in Delaware, they could ante up for the best democracy money can buy. In July, the Chinese government, in preparation for President Obama's visit, held diplomatic discussions in which they skirted issues of human rights and Tibet. Notably, the Chinese, who hold a $2 trillion mortgage on our Treasury, raised concerns about the cost of Obama's health care reform bill. Would our nervous Chinese landlords have an interest in buying the White House for an opponent of government spending such as Gov. Palin? Ya betcha! The potential for foreign infiltration of what remains of our democracy is an adjunct of the fact that the source and control money from corporate treasuries (unlike registered PACs), is necessarily hidden. Who the heck are the real stockholders? Or as Butch asked Sundance, "Who are these guys?" We'll never know. Hidden money funding, whether foreign or domestic, is the new venom that the Court has injected into the system by its expansive decision in Citizens United. We've been there. The 1994 election brought Newt Gingrich to power in a GOP takeover of the Congress funded by a very strange source. Congressional investigators found that in crucial swing races, Democrats had fallen victim to a flood of last-minute attack ads funded by a group called, "Coalition for Our Children's Future." The $25 million that paid for those ads came, not from concerned parents, but from a corporation called "Triad Inc." Evidence suggests Triad Inc. was the front for the ultra-right-wing billionaire Koch Brothers and their private petroleum company, Koch Industries. Had the corporate connection been proven, the Kochs and their corporation could have faced indictment under federal election law. As of today, such money-poisoned politicking has become legit. So it's not just un-Americans we need to fear but the Polluter-Americans, Pharma-mericans, Bank-Americans and Hedge-Americans that could manipulate campaigns while hidden behind corporate veils. And if so, our future elections, while nominally a contest between Republicans and Democrats, may in fact come down to a three-way battle between China, Saudi Arabia and Goldman Sachs.”
The secret word is No!
THE FROZDICK FAMILY
Even among the Frozdicks, Ameleia’s wedding to a pair of anonymous men in gasmasks raised some eyebrows.
Friday, January 22, 2010
SEVEN DAYS IN 2016
As a lifelong connoisseur of worst-case paranoid agendas, I am especially fond of military coupe scenarios in which the Pentagon usurps the White House and the generals seize ultimate power in the USA. The classic fictional coupe-concept is, of course, Seven Days In May – John Frankenheimer's 1964 follow-up to The Manchurian Candidate, but the one laid out by William Astore on TomDispatch.com last week is one of the best I’ve seen in a while. I like it, but I can’t say I agree with it. After yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that corporations can spend all the money they like to corrupt the political system, no one is going to need the military to impose capitalist totalitarianism on this wholly obtuse nation. The fucking SCOTUS just sold the last shreds of democracy out from under us.
“Disillusioned veterans are unable to find decent jobs in a crumbling economy. Scarred by the physical and psychological violence of war, fed up with the happy talk of duplicitous politicians who only speak of shared sacrifices, they begin to organize. Their motto: take America back. Meanwhile, a lame duck presidency, choking on foreign policy failures, finds itself attacked even for its putative successes. Health-care reform is now seen to have combined the inefficiency and inconsistency of government with the naked greed and exploitative talents of corporations. Medical rationing is a fact of life confronting anyone on the high side of 50. Presidential rhetoric that offered hope and change has lost all resonance. Mainstream media outlets are discredited and disintegrating, resulting in new levels of information anarchy.
Protest, whether electronic or in the streets, has become more common -- and the protestors in those streets increasingly carry guns, though as yet armed violence is minimal. A panicked administration responds with overlapping executive orders and legislation that is widely perceived as an attack on basic freedoms.
Tapping the frustration of protesters -- including a renascent and mainstreamed "tea bag" movement -- the former captains and sergeants, the ex-CIA operatives and out-of-work private mercenaries of the War on Terror take action. Conflict and confrontation they seek; laws and orders they increasingly ignore. As riot police are deployed in the streets, they face a grim choice: where to point their guns? Not at veterans, they decide, not at America's erstwhile heroes. A dwindling middle-class, still waving the flag and determined to keep its sliver-sized portion of the American dream, throws its support to the agitators. Wages shrinking, savings exhausted, bills rising, the sober middle can no longer hold. It vents its fear and rage by calling for a decisive leader and the overthrow of a can't-do Congress.
Savvy members of traditional Washington elites are only too happy to oblige. They too crave order and can-do decisiveness -- on their terms. Where better to find that than in the ranks of America's most respected institution: the military? A retired senior officer who led America's heroes in central Asia is anointed. His creed: end public disorder, fight the War on Terror to a victorious finish, put America back on top. The United States, he says, is the land of winners, and winners accept no substitute for victory. Nominated on September 11, 2016, Patriot Day, he marches to an overwhelming victory that November, embraced in the streets by an American version of the post-World War 1 German Freikorps and the police who refuse to suppress them. A concerned minority is left to wonder (and tremble) at the de facto military coup that occurred so quickly, and yet so silently, in their midst.” Click here for more.
“Disillusioned veterans are unable to find decent jobs in a crumbling economy. Scarred by the physical and psychological violence of war, fed up with the happy talk of duplicitous politicians who only speak of shared sacrifices, they begin to organize. Their motto: take America back. Meanwhile, a lame duck presidency, choking on foreign policy failures, finds itself attacked even for its putative successes. Health-care reform is now seen to have combined the inefficiency and inconsistency of government with the naked greed and exploitative talents of corporations. Medical rationing is a fact of life confronting anyone on the high side of 50. Presidential rhetoric that offered hope and change has lost all resonance. Mainstream media outlets are discredited and disintegrating, resulting in new levels of information anarchy.
Protest, whether electronic or in the streets, has become more common -- and the protestors in those streets increasingly carry guns, though as yet armed violence is minimal. A panicked administration responds with overlapping executive orders and legislation that is widely perceived as an attack on basic freedoms.
Tapping the frustration of protesters -- including a renascent and mainstreamed "tea bag" movement -- the former captains and sergeants, the ex-CIA operatives and out-of-work private mercenaries of the War on Terror take action. Conflict and confrontation they seek; laws and orders they increasingly ignore. As riot police are deployed in the streets, they face a grim choice: where to point their guns? Not at veterans, they decide, not at America's erstwhile heroes. A dwindling middle-class, still waving the flag and determined to keep its sliver-sized portion of the American dream, throws its support to the agitators. Wages shrinking, savings exhausted, bills rising, the sober middle can no longer hold. It vents its fear and rage by calling for a decisive leader and the overthrow of a can't-do Congress.
Savvy members of traditional Washington elites are only too happy to oblige. They too crave order and can-do decisiveness -- on their terms. Where better to find that than in the ranks of America's most respected institution: the military? A retired senior officer who led America's heroes in central Asia is anointed. His creed: end public disorder, fight the War on Terror to a victorious finish, put America back on top. The United States, he says, is the land of winners, and winners accept no substitute for victory. Nominated on September 11, 2016, Patriot Day, he marches to an overwhelming victory that November, embraced in the streets by an American version of the post-World War 1 German Freikorps and the police who refuse to suppress them. A concerned minority is left to wonder (and tremble) at the de facto military coup that occurred so quickly, and yet so silently, in their midst.” Click here for more.
The secret word is Stadium
HELP FOR A FUG
Tuli Kupferberg, one of the founding Fugs, has had a couple of strokes in the last year and requires medical attention not covered by Medicare. (In the USA a respected artist needs charity to survive.) Fortunately a benefit will be held tonight at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY, produced by Hal Willner. Celebrating Tuli will be Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Peter Stampfel (of the Holy Modal Rounders and an original Fug), Philip Glass, Sonic Youth, Richard Belzer, and, of course, his brother Fugs. Click here for details.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
YOU’RE NOT SPARTACUS!
(The bright side of life?)
Starz are busily promoting their new cable series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. It seems heavy on sweaty Roman sex orgies and gladiator violence. Promo releases read as follows…
“Betrayed by the Romans. Forced into slavery. Reborn as a Gladiator. The classic tale of the Republic’s most infamous rebel comes alive in the graphic and visceral new series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Torn from his homeland and the woman he loves, Spartacus is condemned to the brutal world of the arena where blood and death are primetime entertainment. But not all battles are fought upon the sands. Treachery, corruption, and the allure of sensual pleasures will constantly test Spartacus. To survive, he must become more than a man. More than a gladiator. He must become a legend.”
Nowhere, however, in all of the fevered swashbuckling hype that’s posted on the net and pouring from my TV, is there any mention of the slave revolt that Spartacus supposedly inspired and no character that resembles the Spartacus described in this Wikipedia entry…
“Spartacus (c. 109–71 BCE) was the most notable leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable. Spartacus's struggle, often seen as the fight of an oppressed people fighting for their freedom against a slave-owning aristocracy, has found new meaning for modern writers since the 19th century. The rebellion of Spartacus has proven inspirational to many modern literary and political writers, making Spartacus a folk hero among cultures both ancient and modern.”
According to the Starz version, the uprising never happened, or the hideous retribution (above) and Spartacus just wanted to get home to his wife. If this is indeed the case, I suggest we boycott the shit out of this pernicious program, and demonstrate to corporate media that it can’t mess with the icons of the left and get away with it totally unscathed.
The secret word is Liberty
Starz are busily promoting their new cable series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. It seems heavy on sweaty Roman sex orgies and gladiator violence. Promo releases read as follows…
“Betrayed by the Romans. Forced into slavery. Reborn as a Gladiator. The classic tale of the Republic’s most infamous rebel comes alive in the graphic and visceral new series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Torn from his homeland and the woman he loves, Spartacus is condemned to the brutal world of the arena where blood and death are primetime entertainment. But not all battles are fought upon the sands. Treachery, corruption, and the allure of sensual pleasures will constantly test Spartacus. To survive, he must become more than a man. More than a gladiator. He must become a legend.”
Nowhere, however, in all of the fevered swashbuckling hype that’s posted on the net and pouring from my TV, is there any mention of the slave revolt that Spartacus supposedly inspired and no character that resembles the Spartacus described in this Wikipedia entry…
“Spartacus (c. 109–71 BCE) was the most notable leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable. Spartacus's struggle, often seen as the fight of an oppressed people fighting for their freedom against a slave-owning aristocracy, has found new meaning for modern writers since the 19th century. The rebellion of Spartacus has proven inspirational to many modern literary and political writers, making Spartacus a folk hero among cultures both ancient and modern.”
According to the Starz version, the uprising never happened, or the hideous retribution (above) and Spartacus just wanted to get home to his wife. If this is indeed the case, I suggest we boycott the shit out of this pernicious program, and demonstrate to corporate media that it can’t mess with the icons of the left and get away with it totally unscathed.
The secret word is Liberty
YES, NEIGHBOURS, THESE OLD BOYS ARE DOING IT AGAIN
I’ll be doing a reading and book signing this weekend for my book Zones of Chaos accompanied by master guitarist Andy Colquhoun. That’s on Saturday, January 23, 2009,6 pm – 9 pm, LA LUZ DE JESUS GALLERY (in the Whacko/Soap Plant Building), 4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027, 323-666-7667 Fax: 323-663-0243. All are welcome.
ONLY IN HOLLYWEIRD
The following appeared on our local Craig’s List. I can only hope these idiots get their blood drained. Victor Renquist would never do reality TV.
“Reality TV producers seek authentic vampire for new reality series. Must be a real sanguine vampire. Please send a picture and a brief history of when and how you realized you were a real vampire and details about how you live your life as a vampire.”
And in a not totally unrelated story, a friend of a friend called to say that coyotes had been spotted walking around large as life on Sunset Strip near the Roxy.
“Reality TV producers seek authentic vampire for new reality series. Must be a real sanguine vampire. Please send a picture and a brief history of when and how you realized you were a real vampire and details about how you live your life as a vampire.”
And in a not totally unrelated story, a friend of a friend called to say that coyotes had been spotted walking around large as life on Sunset Strip near the Roxy.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
THE YAHOOS ARE TAKING THIS LAND
Yes, my friends, despite all our efforts of a year ago, when we thought we might usher in a golden dawn and a second New Deal for America, the yahoos – if only in their fevered, tunnel-vision imaginations – are taking back the land. In their blind, baying ignorance, they suppose they’re making America safe for God and capitalism, but, in reality, they are securing it for Goldman Sachs, big oil, big pharm, big insurance, zombie banks, and all their psychotic Wall Street partners-in-larceny, so they can steal every last dollar in the national cash register even if it destroys the entire social structure and turns the environment into a wasteland in the process. Meanwhile all the limp-whimpering liberals and progressives with whom I once aligned myself continuously prove themselves lily-livered incapable of fighting back the irrational mob that has been whipped to a drooling frenzy my cheap media manipulation and corporate financing. When a racist, sexist, homophobic, nude-model ox can be elected to the Senate seat vacated by the passing of Ted Kennedy, a dour day dawns for democracy. Are our fellow citizens too fucking dumbed down to realize that this oaf – spouting meaningless drivel about how he is “against the machine” – is nothing more than a fully purchased shill for the gangrenous corporate status quo that will ultimately kill them? Is it too late to prevent the stupid from voting? Are Americans actually witless enough to hand power to a shame-devoid and calculating grifter like Palin? All I know is that the yahoos must be fought. Tooth and nail. No prisoners. No quarter. By any means necessary, and forget all the liberal niceties and cocktail party rules of engagement. They shall not pass. They show us their weapons and we must show them ours. I fear it is time to turn ugly.
The secret word is Foul
The secret word is Foul
BUT YAHOOS ARE THE CONSULTANTS' CASH COW
And talking of grifters, Aeswiren sent us this story a few days ago...
“TPM Media's Zachary Roth reported earlier in the week that the political action committee that organized the Tea Party Express -- Our Country Deserves Better PAC -- funneled almost two-thirds of its spending from July to November back to the political consulting firm from which it was spawned, Russo, Marsh, and Associates. More than $850,000 of the money the supposedly grassroots PAC collected went to the firm of GOP political operatives who ran it. For those who may have forgotten, the Tea Party Express was the faux-grassroots operation that Fox News hopped aboard in late August, after the network's promotion of the health care town hall meeting disruptions but before they started flogging the 9-12 protest. (It's so hard to keep Fox's political activism straight!) It was a nationwide bus tour organized by a political action committee whose mission is to oppose President Obama and other Democrats; with a pedigree like that, how could Fox resist? Fox News heavily promoted the Tea Party Express; the Our Country Deserves Better PAC even used Fox's promotion in a fundraising email. Then Fox's Griff Jenkins hit the trail with the Express, following that bus around the country, throwing journalistic integrity aside as he declared its riders "the America that Washington forgot." But somehow, Jenkins missed out on the real story: how loyal tea-party-goers were separated from their hard-earned cash, which was funneled to fat cat Republican political consultants. Russo, Marsh, and Associates salutes you, Fox News. They could have scammed the tea partiers without you, but it probably wouldn't have been nearly as lucrative.”
“TPM Media's Zachary Roth reported earlier in the week that the political action committee that organized the Tea Party Express -- Our Country Deserves Better PAC -- funneled almost two-thirds of its spending from July to November back to the political consulting firm from which it was spawned, Russo, Marsh, and Associates. More than $850,000 of the money the supposedly grassroots PAC collected went to the firm of GOP political operatives who ran it. For those who may have forgotten, the Tea Party Express was the faux-grassroots operation that Fox News hopped aboard in late August, after the network's promotion of the health care town hall meeting disruptions but before they started flogging the 9-12 protest. (It's so hard to keep Fox's political activism straight!) It was a nationwide bus tour organized by a political action committee whose mission is to oppose President Obama and other Democrats; with a pedigree like that, how could Fox resist? Fox News heavily promoted the Tea Party Express; the Our Country Deserves Better PAC even used Fox's promotion in a fundraising email. Then Fox's Griff Jenkins hit the trail with the Express, following that bus around the country, throwing journalistic integrity aside as he declared its riders "the America that Washington forgot." But somehow, Jenkins missed out on the real story: how loyal tea-party-goers were separated from their hard-earned cash, which was funneled to fat cat Republican political consultants. Russo, Marsh, and Associates salutes you, Fox News. They could have scammed the tea partiers without you, but it probably wouldn't have been nearly as lucrative.”
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
THE REACTOR IS BACK ON LINE
Over the last couple of weeks things have been a little chaotic in the Doc40 environment and a whole lot of repairing, reacting, revision, retrenching, regrouping, recouping, revisiting, rediscovery, realigning, recalculating, and recovery have been needed to keep things on an even keel, but the Tesla coils are back up and the electrons just keep on sparking, so here we are, back again, with this thermonuclear tale supplied by out pal Wendy.
“Based at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, it is used to research thermonuclear reactions - for example, what happens at the heart of a hydrogen bomb detonation. Now it has a more productive application: finding a way to fuse heavy water atoms to create fusion power. Fusion is the Holy Grail of the power industry: cheap, clean, safe and unlimited. The downside is, with current technology, the reaction is difficult to control. When the machine fires, 36 cables - each as thick as a horse's torso - spark simultaneously. The cables fire a pulse of 50 trillion watts into a target the size of a cotton reel. Inside the target is a can filled with wires finer than a human hair. The wires vaporise, creating temperatures as high as 3.5 billion degrees C, the highest ever created by man and an X-ray pulse in excess of 290 terawatts.” Click here for more.
The secret word is Fusion
“Based at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, it is used to research thermonuclear reactions - for example, what happens at the heart of a hydrogen bomb detonation. Now it has a more productive application: finding a way to fuse heavy water atoms to create fusion power. Fusion is the Holy Grail of the power industry: cheap, clean, safe and unlimited. The downside is, with current technology, the reaction is difficult to control. When the machine fires, 36 cables - each as thick as a horse's torso - spark simultaneously. The cables fire a pulse of 50 trillion watts into a target the size of a cotton reel. Inside the target is a can filled with wires finer than a human hair. The wires vaporise, creating temperatures as high as 3.5 billion degrees C, the highest ever created by man and an X-ray pulse in excess of 290 terawatts.” Click here for more.
The secret word is Fusion
PLAY A GUITAR JUST LIKE RINGING A BELL
Okay, so this clip – sent by the divine Valerie – isn’t exactly the divine Jimi, but, as the proverbial bird on a wire, worth a look anyway – so click here. (Image sent by the mighty Munz)
And – not to disappoint – click here for some rare Jimi.
And – not to disappoint – click here for some rare Jimi.
Mick Green -- RIP
Thursday, January 14, 2010
IN THE FACE OF SUCH A DISASTER…
…there seems little to do – unless you’re Bill Clinton – except watch the unfolding on TV and maybe send whatever cash you can to you favorite relief agency. Above all, let’s keep a respectful quiet in the face of a nation that was already the shame of the Caribbean. I would start a diatribe against the obscene outpouring of Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh but it’s beneath me. Let them rot. They will never save anyone.
The secret word is Humanity
REFURBISHING THE LIFE SUPPORT
As some of you may have noticed Doc40 has not been around for the last few days. Right now we are undergoing a rebuilding of major elements of the Doc40 life support. Recovery and a return to normal will take place over the next few days. (Image provided by Valerie.)
Saturday, January 09, 2010
NEVER HAS SO MUCH BEEN QUAFFED BY SO MANY
When I received this Chinese story about British boozing from our good friend Aeswiren, it confirmed an impression I had gleaned for myself on a recent visit to the old country. The Brits are facing down these hard times by drinking. As I passed through Shepherds Bush Green on a warm Friday night, I could not recall ever seeing quite so many reeling lads and stumbling shrieking girls. I can’t quite imagine why the Chinese should be taking an interest, but, as those in power rumble about “doing something about it” it does validate a long held theory that the societies with the worst booze problems also have the most repressive liquor laws.
“Off Xinhua news feed…
LONDON, Jan. 2 – Heavy drinking is causing Britain as many health problems as it is costing the country too much money that could have been spent on genuine health care, according to studies by medical expert groups. One in six Britons drinks above sensible limits while one in 60 has a level of alcohol addiction and the so-called boozing culture costs Britain over 4 billion U.S. dollars a year. But these might be just the tip of an iceberg.
"With only one in 18 people dependent on alcohol receiving treatment ... we know that more needs to be done to help identify and treat patients," said Steve Barnett, chief executive of the National Health Service (NHS) Confederation which unveiled the figures in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians. This is because the bulk of the 4 billion spent on boozers goes to hospitals and ambulance services which are forced to deal with people who get into difficulties after drinking too much, said the report compiled by the confederation and the college. Half of all assaults are related to alcohol, along with more than a fifth of accidental deaths and almost a third of all suicides. Nearly 15,000 people died in 2008 alone from alcohol abuse, or 3 percent of all deaths, according to figures from the Liverpool John Moores University.”
The secret word is Short
“Off Xinhua news feed…
LONDON, Jan. 2 – Heavy drinking is causing Britain as many health problems as it is costing the country too much money that could have been spent on genuine health care, according to studies by medical expert groups. One in six Britons drinks above sensible limits while one in 60 has a level of alcohol addiction and the so-called boozing culture costs Britain over 4 billion U.S. dollars a year. But these might be just the tip of an iceberg.
"With only one in 18 people dependent on alcohol receiving treatment ... we know that more needs to be done to help identify and treat patients," said Steve Barnett, chief executive of the National Health Service (NHS) Confederation which unveiled the figures in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians. This is because the bulk of the 4 billion spent on boozers goes to hospitals and ambulance services which are forced to deal with people who get into difficulties after drinking too much, said the report compiled by the confederation and the college. Half of all assaults are related to alcohol, along with more than a fifth of accidental deaths and almost a third of all suicides. Nearly 15,000 people died in 2008 alone from alcohol abuse, or 3 percent of all deaths, according to figures from the Liverpool John Moores University.”
The secret word is Short
BUT THIS IS NOTHING NEW
James Nicholls, writing in History Today, reminds us…
"In Britain, concerns over drunkenness go back a long way. The first Licensing Act, passed in 1552, required alehouse-keepers to acquire a license from local justices on the grounds that 'intolerable hurts and troubles' arose from drunkenness in 'common alehouses'. The following year rules were introduced strictly limiting the number of wine taverns that could open in any one town. This legislative distinction between common alehouses and more exclusive wine taverns reflected a long-standing social stratification of drinks in Britain. Lack of native viticulture made imported wine an elite drink, while ale, and later beer (made with hops, which were only widely used from the 15th century), were associated with more popular drinking cultures. Until the late 17th century the social stratification of alcohol tended to be expressed in relation to courtly wine, urban beer and bucolic ale. The liberalization of the gin trade following the accession of William III [in the early 18th century] threw an entirely new substance into this mix. Partly designed to promote a domestic alternative to French brandy, deregulation contributed to a staggering rise in consumption and triggered impassioned debates on the role of the state in regulating this new and dangerous commodity. In 1736 it also produced a disastrous attempt at gin prohibition, which was repealed seven years later."
"In Britain, concerns over drunkenness go back a long way. The first Licensing Act, passed in 1552, required alehouse-keepers to acquire a license from local justices on the grounds that 'intolerable hurts and troubles' arose from drunkenness in 'common alehouses'. The following year rules were introduced strictly limiting the number of wine taverns that could open in any one town. This legislative distinction between common alehouses and more exclusive wine taverns reflected a long-standing social stratification of drinks in Britain. Lack of native viticulture made imported wine an elite drink, while ale, and later beer (made with hops, which were only widely used from the 15th century), were associated with more popular drinking cultures. Until the late 17th century the social stratification of alcohol tended to be expressed in relation to courtly wine, urban beer and bucolic ale. The liberalization of the gin trade following the accession of William III [in the early 18th century] threw an entirely new substance into this mix. Partly designed to promote a domestic alternative to French brandy, deregulation contributed to a staggering rise in consumption and triggered impassioned debates on the role of the state in regulating this new and dangerous commodity. In 1736 it also produced a disastrous attempt at gin prohibition, which was repealed seven years later."
MARILYN SEZ…
“Let the Brits drink for chrissakes. They have to talk with that ridiculous accent all the time.”
MEANWHILE, ACROSS THE OCEAN…
I can only post this without comment.
“My New Pink Button is a temporary dye to restore the youthful pink color back to your labia. There is no other product like it. This patent pending formula was designed by a female certified Paramedical Esthetician after she discovered her own genital color loss. While looking online for a solution she discovered thousands of other women asking the same questions regarding their color loss. After countless searches revealing no solution available and a discussion with her own gynecologist she decided to create her own. Now there is a solution!”
“My New Pink Button is a temporary dye to restore the youthful pink color back to your labia. There is no other product like it. This patent pending formula was designed by a female certified Paramedical Esthetician after she discovered her own genital color loss. While looking online for a solution she discovered thousands of other women asking the same questions regarding their color loss. After countless searches revealing no solution available and a discussion with her own gynecologist she decided to create her own. Now there is a solution!”
Friday, January 08, 2010
IT’S ELVIS DAY
Here at Doc40 we always celebrate the birthday of Elvis Presley. Why? I have told it too many times to repeat how Elvis quite literally changed my life and ambitions. Other seminal cultural revolutionaries played their parts, but it was Elvis who initiated me into the strange and personal rock & roll insurrection that has continued to this very day, and shows no sign of abating even as antiquity catches up to me, and has taken me, at the very least, in my imagination, to the stars and beyond, and to secret places of sometimes bizarre revelation and the companionship or many other gilded rebels that made me know I was not alone in the gleeful, exalting madness. That, on it’s own, is surely enough to give the man and his mythology one day out of the year for remembrance of how I started my half century on this wild lost highway. In August of 1977, I wrote Elvis’ cover story obituary for NME. I feel the same way as I did then.
“I think, to be absolutely truthful, any grief for Elvis Presley has to be bound up with a grief for my own early youth. It's grief for that long vanished innocence, that virgin state in which it was possible to discover rock and roll for the very first time.
The moment when I first heard 'Heartbreak Hotel' coming out of the radio was an experience that's impossible to reproduce. It was a time when the radio didn't add up to much more than The Archers, Journey into Space and The Goon Show. The readily available music was all 'Que Sera', 'Love And Marriage' and 'How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?'
After 'Heartbreak Hotel' all that changed. Music had the power. It may have taken another six or seven years for Bob Dylan to articulate it, but right from the start it was obvious that the times were changing. If it needed a confirmation, it was right there in the way Elvis was condemned out of hand by parents and pulpit. Elvis Presley was far more than just an entertainer. He was something different to Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby. He'd picked up the teenage banner that had been dropped by James Dean. He not only picked it up, but he picked it up and ran with it. From the way he combed his hair to the sneer and the snapping knee, he was the beginning of the rebellion. You stopped thinking about being a chartered accountant and began to wonder if, just maybe, you could be Elvis.”
Click for clip. (Which says one whole lot.)
The secret words are Thank You – Thank You Very Much
“I think, to be absolutely truthful, any grief for Elvis Presley has to be bound up with a grief for my own early youth. It's grief for that long vanished innocence, that virgin state in which it was possible to discover rock and roll for the very first time.
The moment when I first heard 'Heartbreak Hotel' coming out of the radio was an experience that's impossible to reproduce. It was a time when the radio didn't add up to much more than The Archers, Journey into Space and The Goon Show. The readily available music was all 'Que Sera', 'Love And Marriage' and 'How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?'
After 'Heartbreak Hotel' all that changed. Music had the power. It may have taken another six or seven years for Bob Dylan to articulate it, but right from the start it was obvious that the times were changing. If it needed a confirmation, it was right there in the way Elvis was condemned out of hand by parents and pulpit. Elvis Presley was far more than just an entertainer. He was something different to Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby. He'd picked up the teenage banner that had been dropped by James Dean. He not only picked it up, but he picked it up and ran with it. From the way he combed his hair to the sneer and the snapping knee, he was the beginning of the rebellion. You stopped thinking about being a chartered accountant and began to wonder if, just maybe, you could be Elvis.”
Click for clip. (Which says one whole lot.)
The secret words are Thank You – Thank You Very Much
Thursday, January 07, 2010
X-RATED X-RAYS
As we face the farcically unpleasant prospect of a full body x-rays every time we have to get on an already less than human-friendly, goddamned commercial airplane, James St. James of the gossip site World of Wonder has had a wonderfully subversive thought…
“With the new x-ray screeners coming to an airport near you, I think we can definitely expect to see a new kind of porn fetish popping up on the internet. Looking at the negative images of people's genitals feels both naughty and clinical at the same time. I'm also imagining that there will be a HUGE DEMAND for black market shots of Beyonce and Zac Efron etc, passing through, as there will undoubtedly be unscrupulous airport employees who will find a way to profit from their job. Or – more likely – celebrities won't have to go through screeners at all.”
The secret word Parts
“With the new x-ray screeners coming to an airport near you, I think we can definitely expect to see a new kind of porn fetish popping up on the internet. Looking at the negative images of people's genitals feels both naughty and clinical at the same time. I'm also imagining that there will be a HUGE DEMAND for black market shots of Beyonce and Zac Efron etc, passing through, as there will undoubtedly be unscrupulous airport employees who will find a way to profit from their job. Or – more likely – celebrities won't have to go through screeners at all.”
The secret word Parts
THE UNMAKING OF DUNE
Our pals Mother and Doctor at the Bangalore Film Society have sent this informative if idiocentric account by Alejandro Jodorowsky of his attempt to make Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic Dune into a movie before the flawed David Lynch version.
“After I found Giger, a Swiss painter whose catalogue Dalà had shown me... His art declining, sick, suicidal, brilliant, was perfect to carry out the Harkonnen planet... He made a project of castle and planet which really touched with the metaphysical horror. (later, he carried out the sets and the monster of Alien.) For the special effects, thanks to the capacity which Michel Seydoux gave me, I was able to refuse Douglas Trumbull... I was unable to swallow his vanity, his airs of business leader and his exorbitant prices. Like a good American, he played to scorn the project and tried to complex us while making us wait while speaking with us at the same time as with ten people on the telephone and finally by showing us superb machines which he tried to improve. Tired of all this comedy, I left to research a young talent. It is said to me that in L.A. it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I saw in a modest festival of cinema by science fiction amateurs, a film made without means that I found marvelous: Dark Star. I contacted the boy who had made the special effects: Dan O' Bannon. I was almost with a wolf child. Completely out of conventional reality, O'Bannon was for me a real genius. He could not believe that I can entrust a project as significant as Dune to him. He was obliged to believe it when he received his plane ticket for Paris. I was not mistaken: Dan O'Bannon wrote later the scenario of Alien and a good number of other films with great success.” Click here for the whole story.
“After I found Giger, a Swiss painter whose catalogue Dalà had shown me... His art declining, sick, suicidal, brilliant, was perfect to carry out the Harkonnen planet... He made a project of castle and planet which really touched with the metaphysical horror. (later, he carried out the sets and the monster of Alien.) For the special effects, thanks to the capacity which Michel Seydoux gave me, I was able to refuse Douglas Trumbull... I was unable to swallow his vanity, his airs of business leader and his exorbitant prices. Like a good American, he played to scorn the project and tried to complex us while making us wait while speaking with us at the same time as with ten people on the telephone and finally by showing us superb machines which he tried to improve. Tired of all this comedy, I left to research a young talent. It is said to me that in L.A. it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I saw in a modest festival of cinema by science fiction amateurs, a film made without means that I found marvelous: Dark Star. I contacted the boy who had made the special effects: Dan O' Bannon. I was almost with a wolf child. Completely out of conventional reality, O'Bannon was for me a real genius. He could not believe that I can entrust a project as significant as Dune to him. He was obliged to believe it when he received his plane ticket for Paris. I was not mistaken: Dan O'Bannon wrote later the scenario of Alien and a good number of other films with great success.” Click here for the whole story.
ERROR!
Due to my getting sick, about five copies of Zone of Chaos have not gone out to the folks who mailed in for the them. Don’t worry. It’s being sorted.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
THE WALLS ARE GLOWING
You can call me an unreconstructed old hippie but, damn, I like this and I want some. (It's a shame the picture isn't bigger.)
"Light-emitting wallpaper may begin to replace light bulbs from 2012, according to a government body that supports low-carbon technology.
A chemical coating on the walls will illuminate all parts of the room with an even glow, which mimics sunlight and avoids the shadows and glare of conventional bulbs.
Although an electrical current will be used to stimulate the chemicals to produce light, the voltage will be very low and the walls will be safe to touch. Dimmer switches will control brightness, as with traditional lighting." Click here for more
The secret word is Wow!
"Light-emitting wallpaper may begin to replace light bulbs from 2012, according to a government body that supports low-carbon technology.
A chemical coating on the walls will illuminate all parts of the room with an even glow, which mimics sunlight and avoids the shadows and glare of conventional bulbs.
Although an electrical current will be used to stimulate the chemicals to produce light, the voltage will be very low and the walls will be safe to touch. Dimmer switches will control brightness, as with traditional lighting." Click here for more
The secret word is Wow!
MO’ DOC
On December 19th I wrote “round here we run a kind of ad hoc Doc Holliday Fan Club” and our pal David TA took me at my word and sent the following – “Perhaps you'll enjoy the artwork of my pal Greg Giordano, whose working on a Doc Holliday comic.” Click here.
THIS SHIT HAS GOT TO STOP!
“Oklahoma recently passed a law requiring that abortion providers fill out a 10-page questionnaire for each procedure, and that details of abortions be posted on a public Web site! This extensive questionnaire - which includes the reason the procedure was sought - is not only an affront to women's rights, its detailed nature may allow women in small towns to be identified, violating their privacy and potentially jeopardizing their life and livelihood. The law is being challenged as unconstitutional in court. In December, a temporary restraining order was placed on the law to keep it from going into effect until February 2010. Over the next several weeks, we must send a strong message that we won't let Oklahoma serve as a testing ground for extreme anti-choice legislation nationwide!” (Click here to help.)
THE FROZDICK FAMILY
Without the knowledge of Junie and Joanie, Sister Lubyanka Frozdick had developed personal armor against the Radium Gun.
Monday, January 04, 2010
THE EVIL OMEN OF TALL BUILDINGS
Superman may still be able to jump them in a single bound, but our pal Aeswiren – in honor of today’s opening of the Burj Dubai – has sent us this story about how they may be harbingers of economic disaster.
“Andrew Lawrence proposed the Skyscraper Index in the aftermath of the 1998 Asian Contagion. His theory says that the world's tallest buildings have risen on the eve of economic downturns. That is, countries that put up the world's tallest buildings enter an economic downturn shortly thereafter. There is a lot of evidence to back him up: 1907 panic in the U.S. was marked by the Singer Building; the Great Depression followed the Empire State Building; the Asian currency crisis of 1998 — the Petronas Twin Towers.
The world's tallest building at present is the Burj Dubai, which will officially open on January 4, 2010. As you know, real estate prices in Dubai have been cut in half and their biggest company, Dubai World, just defaulted on $50 billion. The next tallest building being built is The Shanghai Tower in China — expected to be 2,073 feet tall to be completed in 2014.” – From Energy And Capital Newsletter.
The secret word is Flawed
“Andrew Lawrence proposed the Skyscraper Index in the aftermath of the 1998 Asian Contagion. His theory says that the world's tallest buildings have risen on the eve of economic downturns. That is, countries that put up the world's tallest buildings enter an economic downturn shortly thereafter. There is a lot of evidence to back him up: 1907 panic in the U.S. was marked by the Singer Building; the Great Depression followed the Empire State Building; the Asian currency crisis of 1998 — the Petronas Twin Towers.
The world's tallest building at present is the Burj Dubai, which will officially open on January 4, 2010. As you know, real estate prices in Dubai have been cut in half and their biggest company, Dubai World, just defaulted on $50 billion. The next tallest building being built is The Shanghai Tower in China — expected to be 2,073 feet tall to be completed in 2014.” – From Energy And Capital Newsletter.
The secret word is Flawed
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BOSKOPS?
A species of prehistoric super-intelligent hominids who, despite their superior brains, were unable to survive? HCB sent us this fascinating story.
“The combination of a large cranium and immature face would look decidedly unusual to modern eyes, but not entirely unfamiliar. Such faces peer out from the covers of countless science fiction books and are often attached to “alien abductors” in movies. There’s just one thing we haven’t quite dared to mention. It’s this, and you won’t believe it. It’s all happened already. Back there in the past, ten thousand years ago. The man of the future, with the big brain, the small teeth. He lived in Africa. His brain was bigger than your brain. His face was straight and small, almost a child’s face.” Boskops, then, were much talked and written about, by many of the most prominent figures in the fields of paleontology and anthropology. Yet today, although Neanderthals and Homo erectus are widely known, Boskops are almost entirely forgotten. Some of our ancestors are clearly inferior to us, with smaller brains and apelike countenances. They’re easy to make fun of and easy to accept as our precursors. In contrast, the very fact of an ancient ancestor like Boskop, who appears un-apelike and in fact in most ways seems to have had characteristics superior to ours, was destined never to be popular. Each of us balances the world that is actually out there against our mind’s own internally constructed version of it. Maintaining this balance is one of life’s daily challenges. We occasionally act on our imagined view of the world, sometimes thoroughly startling those around us. (“Why are you yelling at me? I wasn’t angry with you—you only thought I was.”) Our big brains give us such powers of extrapolation that we may extrapolate straight out of reality, into worlds that are possible but that never actually happened. Boskop’s greater brains and extended internal representations may have made it easier for them to accurately predict and interpret the world, to match their internal representations with real external events."
“The combination of a large cranium and immature face would look decidedly unusual to modern eyes, but not entirely unfamiliar. Such faces peer out from the covers of countless science fiction books and are often attached to “alien abductors” in movies. There’s just one thing we haven’t quite dared to mention. It’s this, and you won’t believe it. It’s all happened already. Back there in the past, ten thousand years ago. The man of the future, with the big brain, the small teeth. He lived in Africa. His brain was bigger than your brain. His face was straight and small, almost a child’s face.” Boskops, then, were much talked and written about, by many of the most prominent figures in the fields of paleontology and anthropology. Yet today, although Neanderthals and Homo erectus are widely known, Boskops are almost entirely forgotten. Some of our ancestors are clearly inferior to us, with smaller brains and apelike countenances. They’re easy to make fun of and easy to accept as our precursors. In contrast, the very fact of an ancient ancestor like Boskop, who appears un-apelike and in fact in most ways seems to have had characteristics superior to ours, was destined never to be popular. Each of us balances the world that is actually out there against our mind’s own internally constructed version of it. Maintaining this balance is one of life’s daily challenges. We occasionally act on our imagined view of the world, sometimes thoroughly startling those around us. (“Why are you yelling at me? I wasn’t angry with you—you only thought I was.”) Our big brains give us such powers of extrapolation that we may extrapolate straight out of reality, into worlds that are possible but that never actually happened. Boskop’s greater brains and extended internal representations may have made it easier for them to accurately predict and interpret the world, to match their internal representations with real external events."
But we also may have a clue to their downfall...
"Perhaps, though, it also made the Boskops excessively internal and self-reflective. With their perhaps astonishing insights, they may have become a species of dreamers with an internal mental life literally beyond anything we can imagine.” (Click here for the whole thing.)
"Perhaps, though, it also made the Boskops excessively internal and self-reflective. With their perhaps astonishing insights, they may have become a species of dreamers with an internal mental life literally beyond anything we can imagine.” (Click here for the whole thing.)
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