What XMAS should be

A good friend of mine and I videotaped 500+ carolers setting a Guinness World Record for door to door caroling, an event not only joyous for everyone involved but also was an event that helped out a family recently beset by tragedy. To me, this is what XMAS should be. Enjoy

Ground Control to Major Tom

As per the wont in BRT regarding the occasional posting of randomly discovered images invoking shock and awe comes this gem from the Radisson Blu Hotel, an outrageous edifice residing in Berlin bosting an 80 ft circular aquarium in the center of the hotel. To yours truly, it's a gateway into another dimension or a shot Stanley Kubrick would have made in 2001, the greatest sci fi movie of all time, if tech like this had been available way back in 1968, the year Kubrick made the film.  :)

"Ground Control to Major Tom" - Space Oddity/David Bowie 

It's Time

Ah, the Fiscal Cliff and the incompetency of Congress, the collective who takes money and marching orders from the powers at be in order to get reelected instead of actually getting things done to benefit the country, continues to play games regarding the fiscal health of the nation. As this poor excuse of political brinkmanship goes on, it's becoming obvious that Congress no longer has the ability to do anything of consequence in terms of governing, something that can be changed if referendums become part of the equation, something yours truly thinks is long overdue, especially when looking at such fubars as Vietnam, Iraq, Homeland Security, gerrymandering and a byzantine finance & tax system controlled by bankers for bankers courtesy of the Federal Reserve.

As long as we, the people, don't have direct say in issues affecting all of us (see the above) then we, the people, will continue to get screwed as we have been for at least 100 years.

How about it Barack? We now have the power, thanks to the web, to conduct referendums as per the direct democracy model practiced by Athens over 2500 years ago, something to consider when seeing just how incompetent our governing body has become.

Sorrow

As a parent and as one who knows folks in Newtown, the sorrow I feel for the parents experiencing this terrible tragedy knows no bounds. The attitude this country has regarding violence, guns and the lack of caring for others must end. There is no place for something like this to ever happen again.

The Little Drummer Boy :)

This chaotic graphic, courtesy the NY Times, provides an entry way into Suffer. Spend. Repeat, an insightful and spot on article by Oliver Burkeman, telling us rubes why stores make it really painful to, as the immortal George Carlion would say, Buy stuff you don't need with money you don't have.

In these final weeks before Christmas, it may strike you that retailers have gone out of their way to make holiday shopping as unpleasant an experience as possible. The odd truth is that they probably have. And there’s a reason for that: evidence suggests that the less comfortable you are during the seasonal shopping spree, the more money you’ll spend.
Multimedia

So stores crank up music, repeat the same songs, over and over again, pipe in smells, race shoppers around to far-flung points of purchase and clog their heads with confusing offers. All of which makes it more likely we’ll part more readily with more money.

So have a nice day while enduring the skinner box that awaits us all as we do the annual pilgrimage we all do in buying "Stuff we don't need with money we don't have." :)

Diffuse Light

Walking in the woods on a foggy day can be subtly amazing due to the diffuse light caused by the fog interacting with sunlight. Gradations is the name of the game for this short clip which shows just how beautiful nature truly is. Enjoy.

Wonderment