October 18, 2010 archive

Oct 18 2010

We’re a new blog: writing in the rAw

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Starting a new blog is a funny endeavor. Why do it? People ask about mission statements and intentions and they want to know: what will this accomplish?

PhotobucketHonestly, I don’t know. This might be the very first time in my life that I have no expectations. I don’t know what this place will become. I have no set idea on what is success and what is failure.

In fact, this isn’t even my blog. I’ve funded it, but I don’t own it. Ownership seems hard to claim in a venture so open to other people’s ideas and vision shaping and driving it.

Perhaps it is a bit experimental: I’m curious what evolves from chaos: there are few rules, no boss, and an eclectic group of writers, poets, musicians, and thinkers who may find themselves here from time-to-time.

For me, this is about finding a way to influence an entire planet in thousands of small and profound ways. But these are my own intentions and I do not speak on behalf of the others who may join in here. I can only tell you I am looking for ways to break communication barriers, discover common ground, and reclaim options over how this life thing goes forward.

With that said, I’d like to make some very necessary acknowledgments.

Oct 18 2010

Open Fred

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Oct 18 2010

Does Faith Depend on Biology?

Some have postulated before if there is, in fact, a strictly biological component to faith.  For example, many scientists, mathematicians, and left-brain dominant individuals are Atheists.  They see no role for a higher power, since the scientific process and deductive reasoning can reduce the unexplainable to mere coincidence or chance.  To them, the universe is as neat and orderly as an algebraic equation.  Taking delight and contentment in perfection, the same formula or theorem always works the same way and always produces the same result.  I never doubt the constant need for people whose ways of looking at the world are so different than my own, but they also present significant challenges.  Getting on the same page without confusion is not the least of these.  

Oct 18 2010

Politicians versus People



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American politicians accuse China of currency manipulation for refusing to let the Yuan rise in value. Meanwhile, The Fed is about to engage in another round of “quantitative easing” which is another way to say “currency debauchery” by adding a trillion or more dollars of new debt to our tab which can’t be repaid by Third World America and continue to devalue the already debauched dollar. But The Fed is waiting until the day after the election (not that it will make any difference politically) to make the move. If this move is necessary, why wait?

Who is manipulating whose currency?

Oct 18 2010

October Surprise: Bin Laden Upgraded to House From Cave For Wikileaks Release

From CNN, Your Most Trusted News Source:  

The October Surprise

Anonymous NATO Spokesperson Upgrades Osama Bin Laden From Cave To House in Pakistan, Getting a Jump on the Latest Wikileaks Which Will Show He’s Working at al- Zawahiri’s International House of Naancakes


Kabul, Afghanistan, CNN, Monday, October 18, 2010

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/…

Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding close to each other in houses in northwest Pakistan, but are not together, a senior NATO official said.

“Nobody in al Qaeda is living in a cave,” said the official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the intelligence matters involved.

___

The official would not discuss how the coalition has come to know any of this information, but he has access to some of the most sensitive information in the NATO alliance.

Wikileaks Donation Site Shut Down


CNN, Friday October 15, 2010

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-1…

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claims the U.S. government was behind the decision by Moneybookers to shut down the account, an allegation denied by American officials.

According to e-mails provided to CNN by Assange, Moneybookers informed WikiLeaks of its decision in August, shortly after the Pentagon demanded WikiLeaks return all of the military documents and remove them from its website. WikiLeaks refused to do so and is expected to release hundreds of thousands of additional Pentagon papers later this month.

The first e-mail from Moneybookers that notified WikiLeaks of its decision indicated one of the potential grounds for termination was “to comply with money laundering or other investigations conducted by government authorities, agencies or commissions.”

When Assange asked for a further explanation, he received another e-mail from the company saying the account was initially suspended “due to being accessed from a blacklisted IP address. However following recent publicity and the subsequently addition of the WikiLeaks entity to blacklists in Australia and watch lists in the USA, we have terminated the business relationship.”

Oct 18 2010

Docudharma Times Monday October 18




Monday’s Headlines:

Socrates – a man for our times

USA

New Post poll finds negativity toward federal workers

U.S. Companies Are at Risk of Spying by Their Own Workers

Europe

Weak Merkel stokes xenophobia as she fights for political survival

France: Saudis warn of new al-Qaeda threat

Middle East

Iran brokers behind-the-scenes deal for pro-Tehran government in Iraq

Netanyahu accused over stalled talks to free Shalit

Asia

Gunmen kill 25 people during Karachi election

Video shows Papuans being tortured

Africa

DR Congo women march against rape

Latin America

Mexico closely watches Calif. marijuana vote

Super-Typhoon Megi hits northern Philippines

Super-Typhoon Megi has made landfall in the northern Philippines, lashing the area with heavy rains and winds of more than 225km/h (140mph).

The BBC

Thousands of people in the path of the storm have fled their homes, emergency services are on high alert and schools have been closed in many areas.

It is the strongest storm the Philippines has faced for four years.

In 2006, a storm with winds of 155km/h triggered mudslides, burying villages and killing about 1,000 people.

‘Preparing for war’

The northern provinces of Cagayan and Isabela are on the highest storm alert.

One man in Cagayan was reported missing after he fell into the fast-flowing Buntun river. The man was named as Vicente Decena, a candidate in next week’s local elections.

Oct 18 2010

Obama’s Sock-Puppet Jacob Freeze Picks a New Cabinet!

Greetings!

This is Barack Obama, President of the United States, blogging from the Oval Office through my sock-puppet Jacob Freeze.

Jakie was supposed to play my conscience in “Obama 2012: The Sequel” but Axelrod erased that role, and now my sock-puppet posts horrible insults all over the internet! I’m a “sociopathic con-man” today, and yesterday it was “bullshit Messiah!”

And now he’s appointing a Cabinet from Hell that I’m supposed to live with, and I’m not even talking about Krugman as Secretary of the Treasury or Greenwald as Attorney General!

He wants to replace Hillary Clinton with Wesley Clark as Secretary of State!

Dude! Hillary Clinton is my comic relief!

Half the time she doesn’t even know what country she’s in! She makes me look like a genius!

She told the Russians “It’s time to push the overload button!” What the heck does that mean? Nuclear war?

Harharharhar!!!

Worse yet, Jakie wants to replace my National Security Advisor, Whosis K. What’s-His-Name, with James Fucking Hansen, that gloom-and-doom weatherman from NASA, as if catastrophic climate change was more of a threat to national security than a bunch of raggedy tribesmen in the hills of Afghanistan!

Harharharhar!!!

But seriously, folks!

What did I ever do to deserve a paparazzo for a sock-puppet?

Oct 18 2010

Muse in the Morning

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Muse in the Morning

Time for a break from poetry…in order to share some art.

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

–George Bernard Shaw


Water 3

Oct 18 2010

Late Night Karaoke

Oct 18 2010

Sunday Sunset Open Thread

I’m starting a regular Sunday sunset thing at Progressive Blue and I was wondering if your interested. There is plenty of text as a sunset appetizer.

Of course the number one news item today was the greatest pass interference call I’ve ever seen in regular season football. But a few other things happened today besides the Jets Mile High win!

Below have a Sunday couch potato review and a sundown. What do you hear? What do you see?    

Oct 18 2010

Pique the Geek 20101017: Concrete, the Wonder Material

Most people never give concrete a second thought.  This is a mistake.  Concrete is one of the most versatile and widely used building materials known, and it has been known for a long time.  Concrete like materials have been unearthed in ancient Egypt, and the Romans made extensive use of it.  Concrete structures over 2000 years old are still in use today.

Roman concrete is very different than modern concrete, and it did not weather well.  Thus, Roman structures were often faced with stone or brick to increase durability.  This defect has been overcome with modern materials and production techniques.

Oct 18 2010

From the Beginning

Maybe I might have changed… not been so cruel… not been such a fool…

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Prisms on ashes. She stepped over the broken reflection like a living thing. It was familiar act, she had stepped over moonbeams and shadows long before this.

It was surprise to run into Charlie. She remembered how he had thought the Tea-Party was a good thing, “They want to restore the Constitution. Forget the one or two crazies in the front, the movement is good!” He had been sure Obama killed National Prayer day, then went to a Mosque to pray the same day, and that the recession started because of Pelosi not Bush. He claimed the Democrats had been in charge the whole time Bush was in Power, and that while Bush was a dolt, it wasn’t his fault. No amount of convincing could prove otherwise back then. So many bought it. He was a good man with his own demons.

She didn’t mention it. He looked pretty rough. She had to go to work, and didn’t want to be late, the gas station line had taken too much time.  

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