Wednesday, December 30, 2015

On Little Cat Feet


Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Carl Sandburg


Being There


Every time I think of Reagan, I think of Chance the Gardener of Being There as both were perceived by power brokers and politicos alike to be great communicators even though the notion of innate gravitas was totally absent in both individuals by every stretch of the imagination.






Sound familiar? - St. Reagan, a man for all seasons. :)

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Can I Use ...?


Can I Use...? is a terrific site showing what devices can use what tech on the net. Not bad, not bad at all.


Bomb Cyclone


Just saw the news of a 'Bomb Cyclone', (created by two weather cells colliding with a 24+ millibar drop in air pressure in less than 24 hrs) but this one's different as said storm, heading for the UK, will generate temperatures 70 degrees above normal at the North Pole.



A bomb has gone off but it's only the beginning. When will the so called Repugs actually acknowledge the fact something's rather remiss. Just pray to god the east coast doesn't get a strong La Niña to amp up hurricane season to the max with assistance to rising ocean/air temperatures courtesy the continued burning of fossil fuels to the nth degree.



When looking at this latest anomalous instance of GW, the WTF moniker applies as per a quote given to me by a close friend of mine who has far more knowledge about all things relating to climate than yours truly: "These idiots in Washington have no idea what's coming but I do and it's scary, scary as hell, particularly for future generations who will reap the whirlwind of a man-made catastrophe the likes of which we have never seen."

Friday, December 25, 2015

Yet another take on Xmas


Makes one think about the meaning of Christmas without question.


Universality writ large :)


BRT has often waxed poetic about phase transitions where two or more conditions give rise to profound changes in a given environment like that of ice covering a pond when the temperature hits 32 degrees because the day before the pond is completely covered, 50% of the pond's surface remains ice free, which mirrors, in statistical fashion, fluctuations in the stock market, interaction of predator/prey populations in a pond or growth patterns of trees in a tropical forest located next to the Amazon. To whit...







Nature is inherently modular in how she expresses herself to us rubes. Pretty awesome don't you think? :)

Merry Xmas


Merry Xmas to all from BRT. :)



Peccadillo yet not ...


This Dilbert's wonderfully nonsensical verbiage is not as powerful as schlonged but it will do in terms of mimicing all the ignored and ignorant bloviating about all things related to governance, foreign policy and science the other GOP candidates are spouting off while Trump get all the free airtime one could possibly want, based on a Yiddish term that fits in perfectly with George Carlin's famous seven words one cannot utter on tv but can be as The Donald well knows.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

H20+


A short clip with emphasis on water is the theme of this video. The oil on water part was shot on town land trust property so chances are, it's either a natural phenomenon or a small spill from long ago. Enjoy.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Iconic Image II

George Orwell was right


All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting. - George Orwell

Sound familiar? NONE of the bozos ranting at the last Republican debate have ever served in the military yet they talk tough and act as if they know what theyy're doing. The only one talking sense was Rand Paul in stating just how important it is to use discretion and intelligence when discussing the effective ways of countering an enemy as virulent and intelligent as that of ISIS, an entity the US created when "W" stupidly invaded Iraq based on a lie whereupon he DID NOT HIRE THE PEOPLE YOU CONQUER, the policy the Brits used to great advantage when they had an empire back in the day where the sun never sets.

From this "debate", where skin in the game does NOT apply to the participants in question, the reaction of the military, who do, is most profound and thoughtful, something these fools did not anticipate when trying to show America that they are the ones who should be invested with power that can end civilization with a touch of a button.

To whit:

The U.S. military still is rebuilding after a decade of repeated deployments and overworn equipment. And the prospect of endless quasi-war thousands of miles away—even if it’s fought mostly by drones and elite special operations forces—is not tenable, they argue. These commanders are too focused on recovering from the last war to hear politicans talk about the prospect of a future one.

And so in the course of conversation, plots of a different kind emerge—contingencies in case Trump really is elected to the White House.


“This is not the country I joined to defend.”


“I am turning in my papers.”


“I’m moving to a farm.”


None of the candidates’ proposals appeared to gain traction at the building Wednesday.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced that he wanted a bombing campaign on places like Raqqa, Syria—ISIS’s capital—that was both indiscriminate—he used the term “carpet bombing”—and ultra-precise.


“You would carpet bomb where ISIS is, not a city, but the location of the troops. You use air power directed—and you have embedded special forces to direction the air power. But the object isn’t to level a city. The object is to kill the ISIS terrorists,” Cruz said.


“Did you hear what Cruz said? How the hell do we do prick point carpet bombing?” asked one service member Wednesday to a colleague.


“Like we can just level a city,” responded another.


New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he would shoot down Russian jets flying in a no-fly zone that would be in place over Syria under his presidency.


“I remember the no-fly zone over Iraq [during the 1990s]. That was so expensive,” one Air Force officer responded about the proposal.


Neurosurgeon Ben Carson suggested that flattening ISIS-controlled cities would be “merciful,” even if it killed civilians as it would eliminate the threat.


“How does brain surgery prepare you to be president?” one Marine asked.


And Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said “we need to destroy ISIS in the caliphate” by investing in the military, but didn’t spell out how that would happen.


Still another soldier said, “Good luck with that.”

Last but not least, yours truly served so listening to the Repugs spouting off, without knowledge of all things relating to the military, makes me rather skeptical as to the overall competency of this sorry crew when it comes to leading a nation that's in serious trouble in more ways that can be articulated in a post such as this.

End of Rant.


Thursday, December 17, 2015

The Stellarator - Fusion Power with a Twist


Getting sustained fusion to work has been fraught with frustration, expense and failure, something that maybe finally coming to an end thanks to a bizarre design that just may work. 







Monday, December 14, 2015

Yet another TL but ... :)


Yet another TL but this one's pretty cool without question. I guess this is the pre-xmas eye candy show from BRT as seen by the last few posts from the blog. Enjoy. :)

Orange & Black


Had to add one more as orange and black let in a little more color into the wonder of nature. Enjoy.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Red & Black


The grandeur of nature, when distilled down to limited color sets like red & black with a touch of yellow, gives one pause as to just how powerful reality truly is. enjoy. :)



Solitude


Solitude is a good thing, particularly when one can get away from the never ending noise of NOOZE. :)

Thursday, December 10, 2015

George Carlin - "Jesus is coming, look busy."


BRT has quoted the great GC many times as Carlin made you laugh and cry at the same time while describing the human condition that was prescient to a fault. To that end, here is a small snipped of 50 quotes of this modern day philosopher courtesy The Thought Catalog.
  1. The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, “You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.”
  2. By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.
  3. And what can we do to silence these Christian athletes who thank Jesus whenever they win, never mention his name when they lose? Not a word. You never hear them say “Jesus made me drop the ball.” “The good lord tripped me up behind the line of scrimmage.” According to these guys Jesus is undefeated, meanwhile these assholes are in last place. Must be another one of those “miracles.”
  4. The real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse: You cannot post “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” and “Thou shalt not lie” in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment.
  5. How can [God] be perfect? Everything He ever makes dies.”
  6. Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer and burn and scream until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you and He needs money.
Any questions? :)

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

PR


Century of the Self, a ground breaking British Documentary, is a very long video of which seeing just short snippets of same, tells volumes about how PR, aka Propaganda, when skillfully applied, generates public consent in all things related to war, commerce and politics using sophisticated techniques espoused by men such as Gustave Le Bon, Sigmund Freud and Edward Bernnays, among significant others.

Propaganda - Edward Bernays

CHAPTER I

ORGANIZING CHAOS 

      THE conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. 


      We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. 


      Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet. 


      They govern us by their qualities of natural leadership, their ability to supply needed ideas and by their key position in the social structure. Whatever attitude one chooses to take toward this condition, it remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons—a trifling fraction of our hundred and twenty million—who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world. 


Sounds familiar doesn't it as we see the continual push for never ending war beginning with  Making the world "Safe for Democracy", the slogan Bernays created for Woodrow Wilson when he declared war with Germany on April 2, 1917.


Gustave Le Bon


Sigmund Freud


Edward Bernays

Factoid: Bernays was Freud's Nephew

Click Rule From the Shadows to get more info on this most fascinating of subjects.

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Did you know? - rev 2 :)


Dinosaur Comics is rapidly becoming a favorite @ BRT with it's whimsical take on the world. 

Not a good thing


Back in 2008, BRT talked about how dams kill rivers. Here's a video showing why this is so.

Addendum: The State of the World's Rivers enables us rubes to check out the health of the 50 great river basins of planet earth. Pretty stellar without question.

Adaptation


The movie's not bad either.




Friday, December 04, 2015

New Horizons - It's even better


This video shows how exquisite tech not only delights but enlightens. Awesome! :)

In the past 40 years ...


BRT has talked about environmental degradation quite often as a result of pollution and overshoot, now comes a frightening scenario regarding food production vis a vis our continued assault on planet earth driven, in part, by GW, fossil fuel use and habitat destruction in the form of soil erosion to the max.



Click here to download the Sheffield study that shows how man can change this path to something sustainable before it's too late. Click here to go to the Sheffield site. You will not be disappointed.

Thursday, December 03, 2015

On the love of birches


Old birches, nearing the end of life, are magical with bark so delicate, resembling crumpled up book endpapers that long ago, resided on the finest books made long before the advent of the computer. 

As often stated in BRT, nature never disappoints.


Had to add another. :)

Wednesday, December 02, 2015

334/351


351 mass shootings in 334 days, not bad America, not bad with 29 days to go in good old 2015. 
Let's hear what fearless leader Wayne LaPierre has to say about this.


Eye Candy never disappoints. :)


EUMESTAT's amazing pix of the Ross Ice Shelf is eye candy to the max. :)

It never happened


A forgotten bit of history is no longer forgotten, thanks to an insightful article in Salon describing how the proposed UN 1948 Palestine partition never happened. 


It get better






Seems the cleansing continues ever onward as Israel continues to build illegal settlements (300+ and counting) while pushing out more Palestinians on land that is unquestionably theirs. 

What's even more interesting is this.


Question, what are the odds this story shows up on mainline NOOZE in any way, shape or fashion given how biased the US is regarding this tragic state of affairs. For this rube, < then 0 sounds like a plan to me.


Collapse 101


How Much comes through again with its take on economic collapses beginning way back when. The elements of collapse is multi faceted as seen by the HM listing seen below. Check this out as this may be where the world's heading given just how much debt the world has incurred over the past 50 years, not to mention the spectre of climate change, environmental degradation and resource/population overshoot as additional prime drives of potentially making this a grim reality to civilization in its entirety as we move further into the 21st century.

This not only applies ...


When you think about it, this Jesus & Mo 'toon' not only applies to religion but also to freedom of speech as freedom of speech, in Salman Rushdie's words, begins with a question and ends with the perfect answer, What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist. as FOS is the one indispensable concept that's being suppressed not only in universities in the US but also in countries all over the world, something most disquieting to say the least.



Tuesday, December 01, 2015

Enceladus


Mysterious Enceladus, a tiny moon of Saturn, may harbor life in a way
not thought possible, until now. Science, like rust, never sleeps.  :)

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Slipstream - in a quiet way


Fall 2015 was extraordinary due to, as stated before in BRT, the weather gods conspiring to get the color out at the right time to enhance autumnal light in ways that have not been seen in NE for quite a long time. Enjoy. :)

After 50 years ...


Another giant of the computing industry just died, Gene Amdahl, the architect of IBM's System/360, the most successful mainframe in history, passed away at 92. In looking at his singular accomplishments, the one thing that stands out is the fact his code is still being used after 50 years, something simply unheard of in the age of the digital computer.










Had to show another System/360, this one @ NASA, used to crunch data for Apollo missions.

Friday, November 20, 2015

A Hard Rain ...


Had to do another - Definitely in the same league as It's Alright Ma....