Grass fungus once called 'fairy rings'
"'Fairylore,' the Web site continues, 'is full of stories of careless trespassers whisked off to fairyland, returning the following day to find some 20 years have elapsed, or forced to dance in the circular revel until some faithful friend comes to the rescue.'"
I find the "missing time" aspect of purported fairy intervention especially interesting. Further, the fairies were keen on other activities -- such as abduction and hybridization -- that researchers like David Jacobs and Budd Hopkins now attribute to extraterrestrials.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
It only looks like a fire hydrant. In fact, it's a binocular periscope maintained by Deros living deep underground so that they can observe our activities without arousing suspicion . . .
What's playing:
1.) Louder Than Bombs (The Smiths)
2.) Greatest Hits (Bjork)
3.) In Time: The Best of R.E.M.
4.) The Essential Simon and Garfunkel (disc two)
5.) Live at Earls Court (Morrissey)
What's playing:
1.) Louder Than Bombs (The Smiths)
2.) Greatest Hits (Bjork)
3.) In Time: The Best of R.E.M.
4.) The Essential Simon and Garfunkel (disc two)
5.) Live at Earls Court (Morrissey)
Outdoor sculpture at the Kemper Museum:
These crabs cluster around the base of the piece above. It's unclear if they're worshipping the woman looming above them or waiting for her to descend so they can tear her to shreds with those pincers.
This piece is one of several industrial sculptures designed to resemble the Grand Canyon. I can easily imagine someone tripping and getting impaled on that spike.
These crabs cluster around the base of the piece above. It's unclear if they're worshipping the woman looming above them or waiting for her to descend so they can tear her to shreds with those pincers.
This piece is one of several industrial sculptures designed to resemble the Grand Canyon. I can easily imagine someone tripping and getting impaled on that spike.
Good news: I just discovered there's hope that my next book will see publication after all. It's sort of up for grabs at the moment -- hopefully for not much longer. The title I have in mind is "The Postbiological Cosmos." It will be weird. Think "2001: A Space Odyssey" mated with "The Matrix" via Alastair Reynolds' "Revelation Space."
Homing Beacon for an Asteroid
"First off, what's actually been proposed is not to actually move it yet because the chances are that you won't have to do it. What he's actually proposing is that you put something on it that just simply measures where it is so you can tell for sure whether or not it's going to hit or not. You want to know that early enough so that if it actually was coming, then you could do something about it. That's what's behind the idea of putting a transponder; all that is is a radio transmitter that you can measure exactly where it is. If you had to move it, that's a whole other issue. But, the first thing is to know whether or not it's even an issue or not."
It's a start.
"First off, what's actually been proposed is not to actually move it yet because the chances are that you won't have to do it. What he's actually proposing is that you put something on it that just simply measures where it is so you can tell for sure whether or not it's going to hit or not. You want to know that early enough so that if it actually was coming, then you could do something about it. That's what's behind the idea of putting a transponder; all that is is a radio transmitter that you can measure exactly where it is. If you had to move it, that's a whole other issue. But, the first thing is to know whether or not it's even an issue or not."
It's a start.
In his March 2 essay regarding the Peter Jennings UFO special, historian and abduction researcher David M. Jacobs writes the following:
"Finally, the Peter Jennings production must be seen in light of something else of which I am assuming the producers were unaware. The sighting phenomenon is the abduction phenomenon. UFOs are here to abduct people." (Emphasis mine.)
Could he be right? Certainly, UFO events seem designed to impinge on our collective psyche in some abstruse sense, but I don't agree that UFOs are necessarily "abduction machines." I might venture so far as to propose that the UFO phenomenon's central purpose is psychological conditioning, but the "abduction" experience is more than likely a small facet of an overarching agenda.
Jacobs isn't a stupid man, and he bases his conclusions on many years of active research. Although his interpretation of the alien agenda is decidedly malign (see "The Threat," an ominous treatise that declares nothing less than the impending demise of the human race as we know it), he's not easily lumped with fear-mongers such as David Icke (who preaches that humanoid reptiles have infiltrated the government).
Of course, this doesn't mean he's right. Although he professes to be painfully aware of the pitfalls of hypnosis as an investigative tool, I suspect his unconscious hunches have led him into an intellectual cul-de-sac. His UFO/abduction paradigm, while internally consistent, functions by virtue of excluding much of the absurdity embraced by researchers who tend to doubt the prevailing "nuts and bolts" extraterrestrial hypothesis.
On the off-chance that I might be a abductee -- and thus a vital piece of Jacobs' puzzle -- I decided to take his online questionnaire and share the results (excluding all of my "no" responses for sake of readability).
"Do you have any scars or marks on your body that neither you nor your parents can remember how you received?"
I have a series of shallow furrows near my shoulder. I don't know how they got there or, for that matter, when exactly they got there.
"Have you ever experienced an odd displacement in which you found yourself inexplicably in a location different from where you remember being only seconds before and it was not the common 'road hypnosis' while driving?"
Not that I can remember. (Of course, the fact that I can't remember may point toward an exceptionally well-executed abduction.)
"Have you ever dreamed of being in a hospital?"
Yes.
"Have you ever dreamed about lying on a table?"
Yes.
"Have you had any disturbing or realistic dreams about babies or small children?"
Even better: I've had a couple fairly disturbing dreams about child-like aliens.
"Have you ever dreamed about UFOs?"
Certainly.
"Have you ever woken up paralyzed with a sense of a person, presence, or something else in the room?"
Yes. But it was sleep paralysis.
"Do you have inexplicable fears about certain areas such as stretches of highway, open fields, rooms in a house, and so forth?"
Actually, I experience somewhat unaccountable attractions to certain places of no pronounced personal significance.
The Center for the Study of Life in the Universe
"We live in an awesome universe, rich in remarkable, complex, phenomena. Every advance in our observing capabilities reveals new and often unpredicted objects, such as other planetary systems, and processes in the universe. Of all these phenomena, the most marvelous, and at the same time of the greatest interest to us as human beings, is life in the universe. How many planets exist which might support life? Indeed, what is required for life to exist? How does life start? How does it evolve, and what fabulous creatures can evolution produce? How often do intelligent creatures appear in the giant tapestry of life?"
I have little or no doubt that we share the Cosmos with other intelligent beings; in fact, I think it's very likely that we've already been visited, either by ETs themselves or their robotic emissaries . . . if such a distinction can be drawn. If we have indeed been visited by extrasolar aliens, the prospect that we're still under ET surveillance can't be readily dismissed. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the UFO data seems to indicate an ongoing extraterrestrial presence on our planet, albeit of an exceedingly enigmatic nature.
But while I'm sympathetic to the idea of flesh-and-blood aliens visiting from afar, I'm unsure if the extraterrestrial hypothesis (as popularly conceived) is the best explanation for the many encounters with apparent aliens that litter our folklore. John Keel, a controversial proponent of "ultraterrestrial" visitation, thinks our so-called visitors inhabit Earth alongside us, originating from different levels of a "superspectrum" of consciousness.
Keel's many critics within the UFO community equate the concept of meddling ultraterrestrials with medieval demonology; Keel himself has dubbed ufology a "demonology of the 20th century" with no irony intended. Interestingly enough, Jacques Vallee -- who by and large enjoys the respect of scientifically inclined UFO researchers -- has presented ideas basically similar to Keel's, even if they differ on certain theoretical aspects. Most significantly, both share the conviction that the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) is inadequately strange if it's to account for the spectrum of absurdity reported by close-encounter witnesses throughout historical and contemporary times.
In addition, both Keel and Vallee share a pronounced distaste for tales of crashed alien hardware a la Roswell; according to Keel's take, a physical event as pronounced as a crippled UFO is effectively impossible, as his "aliens" are largely immune to dangers posed by the world of gross matter.
Some speculators make the mistake of thinking that the revisionist, postmodern cosmology advanced by Vallee and Keel is incompatible with the hallowed ETH. But in truth both models are anything but mutually exclusive. It's even possible to imagine technological aliens from some distant star developing the ability to access Keel's "superspectrum" for reasons we can only guess.
Aliens? Demons? Labels are inherently limiting, even deceptive. If we're to make sense of our evident heritage of nonhuman visitation, we must dispense with preconceptions, foremost among them the romantic notion that "aliens" are necessarily advanced beings from space.
"We live in an awesome universe, rich in remarkable, complex, phenomena. Every advance in our observing capabilities reveals new and often unpredicted objects, such as other planetary systems, and processes in the universe. Of all these phenomena, the most marvelous, and at the same time of the greatest interest to us as human beings, is life in the universe. How many planets exist which might support life? Indeed, what is required for life to exist? How does life start? How does it evolve, and what fabulous creatures can evolution produce? How often do intelligent creatures appear in the giant tapestry of life?"
I have little or no doubt that we share the Cosmos with other intelligent beings; in fact, I think it's very likely that we've already been visited, either by ETs themselves or their robotic emissaries . . . if such a distinction can be drawn. If we have indeed been visited by extrasolar aliens, the prospect that we're still under ET surveillance can't be readily dismissed. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the UFO data seems to indicate an ongoing extraterrestrial presence on our planet, albeit of an exceedingly enigmatic nature.
But while I'm sympathetic to the idea of flesh-and-blood aliens visiting from afar, I'm unsure if the extraterrestrial hypothesis (as popularly conceived) is the best explanation for the many encounters with apparent aliens that litter our folklore. John Keel, a controversial proponent of "ultraterrestrial" visitation, thinks our so-called visitors inhabit Earth alongside us, originating from different levels of a "superspectrum" of consciousness.
Keel's many critics within the UFO community equate the concept of meddling ultraterrestrials with medieval demonology; Keel himself has dubbed ufology a "demonology of the 20th century" with no irony intended. Interestingly enough, Jacques Vallee -- who by and large enjoys the respect of scientifically inclined UFO researchers -- has presented ideas basically similar to Keel's, even if they differ on certain theoretical aspects. Most significantly, both share the conviction that the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) is inadequately strange if it's to account for the spectrum of absurdity reported by close-encounter witnesses throughout historical and contemporary times.
In addition, both Keel and Vallee share a pronounced distaste for tales of crashed alien hardware a la Roswell; according to Keel's take, a physical event as pronounced as a crippled UFO is effectively impossible, as his "aliens" are largely immune to dangers posed by the world of gross matter.
Some speculators make the mistake of thinking that the revisionist, postmodern cosmology advanced by Vallee and Keel is incompatible with the hallowed ETH. But in truth both models are anything but mutually exclusive. It's even possible to imagine technological aliens from some distant star developing the ability to access Keel's "superspectrum" for reasons we can only guess.
Aliens? Demons? Labels are inherently limiting, even deceptive. If we're to make sense of our evident heritage of nonhuman visitation, we must dispense with preconceptions, foremost among them the romantic notion that "aliens" are necessarily advanced beings from space.
Oh, wow -- more urban ruins. I've got this sudden urge to scrape up some money for a plane ticket to Russia.
The future emerges like a particularly unmanageable fungus; places like the ones chronicled above are nothing less than upwellings in the temporal fabric. The future is here; you just have to know where to go and how to look.
(Thanks again to Sauceruney.)
The future emerges like a particularly unmanageable fungus; places like the ones chronicled above are nothing less than upwellings in the temporal fabric. The future is here; you just have to know where to go and how to look.
(Thanks again to Sauceruney.)
"Increasing technological autonomy, however we choose to measure it, is one key assumption behind the singularity hypothesis. Were it to be proven incorrect in coming years, singularity models would have to be fundamentally revised. However, data to date give every indication that autonomy is dramatically increasing every year. Writers on the singularity topic now suggest that progressively more human-independent computer evolution must eventually transition to a 'runaway positive feedback loop' in high-level machine computation, from our perspective."
--Acceleration Watch
--Acceleration Watch
Monday, June 06, 2005
Biggest ever cosmos simulation
"'We are now able, using the biggest, fastest supercomputers in the world, to recreate the whole of cosmic history,' he told the BBC News." (Via CP.)
Might an arbitrarily advanced civilization create a cosmic simulation that produces individual planets and their respective inhabitants? More to the point: How can we be sure we're not simulations?
New England Red Tide Grows
"The toxic algae bloom began in the waters off Maine last month and spread quickly. It had already shut down shellfish beds as far north as New Hampshire. On Thursday, Massachusetts officials closed the highly productive flats of the Monomoy Natural Wildlife Refuge, off Chatham, to shellfishermen. About half the state's shellfish beds are now closed."
There's something powerfully metaphorical about red tides; they're microcosms of planetary blight. Even the color is perfect.
"The toxic algae bloom began in the waters off Maine last month and spread quickly. It had already shut down shellfish beds as far north as New Hampshire. On Thursday, Massachusetts officials closed the highly productive flats of the Monomoy Natural Wildlife Refuge, off Chatham, to shellfishermen. About half the state's shellfish beds are now closed."
There's something powerfully metaphorical about red tides; they're microcosms of planetary blight. Even the color is perfect.
Environment atlas reveals planet wide devastation
"The devastating impact of mankind on the planet is dramatically illustrated in pictures published on Saturday showing explosive urban sprawl, major deforestation and the sucking dry of inland seas over less than three decades."
"The devastating impact of mankind on the planet is dramatically illustrated in pictures published on Saturday showing explosive urban sprawl, major deforestation and the sucking dry of inland seas over less than three decades."
Coming in out of the cold: Cold fusion, for real
"A very reputable, very careful group of scientists at the University of Los Angeles (Brian Naranjo, Jim Gimzewski, Seth Putterman) has initiated a fusion reaction using a laboratory device that's not much bigger than a breadbox, and works at roughly room temperature. This time, it looks like the real thing." (Via The Anomalist.)
"A very reputable, very careful group of scientists at the University of Los Angeles (Brian Naranjo, Jim Gimzewski, Seth Putterman) has initiated a fusion reaction using a laboratory device that's not much bigger than a breadbox, and works at roughly room temperature. This time, it looks like the real thing." (Via The Anomalist.)
125 Large Northern Lakes Disappear
"A new study finds 125 large lakes in the Arctic have vanished as temperatures rose over the past two decades. Many other lakes have shrunk.
"The lakes once sat atop permanently frozen soil called permafrost. Other studies have shown permafrost is melting around the world, causing low-lying ground to slump and rock to fall from mountains."
"A new study finds 125 large lakes in the Arctic have vanished as temperatures rose over the past two decades. Many other lakes have shrunk.
"The lakes once sat atop permanently frozen soil called permafrost. Other studies have shown permafrost is melting around the world, causing low-lying ground to slump and rock to fall from mountains."
Mission to build a simulated brain begins
"The 'Blue Brain' project, a collaboration between IBM and a Swiss university team, will involve building a custom-made supercomputer based on IBM's Blue Gene design.
"The hope is that the virtual brain will help shed light on some aspects of human cognition, such as perception, memory and perhaps even consciousness." (Via KurzweilAI.net.)
Even if this "reverse engineering" approach fails to produce functional AI, maybe it will help pave the way toward mind back-ups like the "cortical stacks" envisioned by Richard K. Morgan in "Altered Carbon."
"The 'Blue Brain' project, a collaboration between IBM and a Swiss university team, will involve building a custom-made supercomputer based on IBM's Blue Gene design.
"The hope is that the virtual brain will help shed light on some aspects of human cognition, such as perception, memory and perhaps even consciousness." (Via KurzweilAI.net.)
Even if this "reverse engineering" approach fails to produce functional AI, maybe it will help pave the way toward mind back-ups like the "cortical stacks" envisioned by Richard K. Morgan in "Altered Carbon."
Sunday, June 05, 2005
UFOs, mythology and plausible deniability
There are two competing theories that propose to account for the close-encounter experience throughout human history. The first holds that nonhuman encounters found in folklore -- such as interaction with the "little people" that populate the Celtic fairy faith -- are misreadings of encounters with extrasolar aliens. Since the witnesses to fairies and their activities lacked a suitable technological vocabulary, their descriptions were naturally prone to the "supernatural."
Illustration by John Velez.
The second theory maintains that the modern extraterrestrial hypothesis, in which evident nonhuman intelligences originate from other star systems, is at least as fictitious and misleading as the notion that humans share the planet with fairies. According to this view, the core phenomenon adapts to fit the reigning zeitgeist when in truth it is something altogether different -- possibly even immune to comprehension. (One wonders what form close encounters will take once we have assumed the role of space travelers we now casually grant to "ufonauts.")
In both scenarios, the UFO intelligence retains plausible deniability. Since we necessarily comprehend it in mythological terms, it could vanish and leave our civilization largely unscathed. The contemporary UFO phenomenon has demonstrated that it is capable of assuming a physical form at least partly amenable to empirical investigation. But its liminal nature seems designed to leave room for doubt; lacking conclusive proof of nonhuman visitation, we will always be able to chalk the enigma up to various misidentified natural processes.
The phenomenon's raison d'etre seems to be to remain hidden, all the while functioning in an evasive "standby" mode. Although this strange behavior could be explained by a variety of esoteric models, it's equally possible that we are, after all, seeing "nuts and bolts" visitors from elsewhere in the galactic neighborhood. Of course, one could argue that a civilization capable of bridging the distance between stars could remain absolutely and indefinitely hidden, in which case we would have no global tradition -- however distorted -- of nonhuman contact. So our visitors -- if "visitors" is an applicable term -- would seem to have an abiding interest in keeping their presence known to us, even if that presence is confined to our mythology.
That the UFOs fail to make open contact indicates an equally stubborn need to remain hidden. Indeed, their home turf appears to be the periphery of human consciousness. All of this suggests an agenda. I don't think "they" are patiently waiting for us to make some gesture of ultimate recognition; rather, I propose that the UFO/contact experience -- whatever its goal -- is well underway.
There are two competing theories that propose to account for the close-encounter experience throughout human history. The first holds that nonhuman encounters found in folklore -- such as interaction with the "little people" that populate the Celtic fairy faith -- are misreadings of encounters with extrasolar aliens. Since the witnesses to fairies and their activities lacked a suitable technological vocabulary, their descriptions were naturally prone to the "supernatural."
Illustration by John Velez.
The second theory maintains that the modern extraterrestrial hypothesis, in which evident nonhuman intelligences originate from other star systems, is at least as fictitious and misleading as the notion that humans share the planet with fairies. According to this view, the core phenomenon adapts to fit the reigning zeitgeist when in truth it is something altogether different -- possibly even immune to comprehension. (One wonders what form close encounters will take once we have assumed the role of space travelers we now casually grant to "ufonauts.")
In both scenarios, the UFO intelligence retains plausible deniability. Since we necessarily comprehend it in mythological terms, it could vanish and leave our civilization largely unscathed. The contemporary UFO phenomenon has demonstrated that it is capable of assuming a physical form at least partly amenable to empirical investigation. But its liminal nature seems designed to leave room for doubt; lacking conclusive proof of nonhuman visitation, we will always be able to chalk the enigma up to various misidentified natural processes.
The phenomenon's raison d'etre seems to be to remain hidden, all the while functioning in an evasive "standby" mode. Although this strange behavior could be explained by a variety of esoteric models, it's equally possible that we are, after all, seeing "nuts and bolts" visitors from elsewhere in the galactic neighborhood. Of course, one could argue that a civilization capable of bridging the distance between stars could remain absolutely and indefinitely hidden, in which case we would have no global tradition -- however distorted -- of nonhuman contact. So our visitors -- if "visitors" is an applicable term -- would seem to have an abiding interest in keeping their presence known to us, even if that presence is confined to our mythology.
That the UFOs fail to make open contact indicates an equally stubborn need to remain hidden. Indeed, their home turf appears to be the periphery of human consciousness. All of this suggests an agenda. I don't think "they" are patiently waiting for us to make some gesture of ultimate recognition; rather, I propose that the UFO/contact experience -- whatever its goal -- is well underway.
Mystery road metal baffles Japan
"'It's eerie,' the Asahi newspaper said Saturday. 'Why are such objects, so many of them, all over the country? If they had been intentionally installed, it's a serious crime.'"
"'It's eerie,' the Asahi newspaper said Saturday. 'Why are such objects, so many of them, all over the country? If they had been intentionally installed, it's a serious crime.'"
Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant
"'To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.' You will find this sentence of Charles Darwin quoted again and again by creationists. They never quote what follows. Darwin immediately went on to confound his initial incredulity. Others have built on his foundation, and the eye is today a showpiece of the gradual, cumulative evolution of an almost perfect illusion of design. The relevant chapter of my Climbing Mount Improbable is called 'The fortyfold Path to Enlightenment' in honour of the fact that, far from being difficult to evolve, the eye has evolved at least 40 times independently around the animal kingdom." (Via Sauceruney.)
"'To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.' You will find this sentence of Charles Darwin quoted again and again by creationists. They never quote what follows. Darwin immediately went on to confound his initial incredulity. Others have built on his foundation, and the eye is today a showpiece of the gradual, cumulative evolution of an almost perfect illusion of design. The relevant chapter of my Climbing Mount Improbable is called 'The fortyfold Path to Enlightenment' in honour of the fact that, far from being difficult to evolve, the eye has evolved at least 40 times independently around the animal kingdom." (Via Sauceruney.)
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Build Your Dream Sex Machine
"QDot is a robotics engineer who works in a mainstream lab, which is one reason he keeps his online identity completely separate from his offline life. His fiance supports his extracurricular activities; his boss might not be as understanding.
"His fascination with teledildonics -- sex toys that lovers can control for one another over the internet, whether they're in the same room, the same house, or 3,000 miles apart -- grew out of his interest in video games.
"'It's about taking the environment of an old game, one you can't recode or add to, and making it more immersive using force-feedback signals,' he says."
I'm telling you: Stuff like this is going to play a not-inconsiderable role in the advancement and eventual mainstreaming of human-like robots. So while I have no personal interest in remote sex, I can't help but be interested in the potential of this unlikely-seeming fusion of electronics and eroticism.
"QDot is a robotics engineer who works in a mainstream lab, which is one reason he keeps his online identity completely separate from his offline life. His fiance supports his extracurricular activities; his boss might not be as understanding.
"His fascination with teledildonics -- sex toys that lovers can control for one another over the internet, whether they're in the same room, the same house, or 3,000 miles apart -- grew out of his interest in video games.
"'It's about taking the environment of an old game, one you can't recode or add to, and making it more immersive using force-feedback signals,' he says."
I'm telling you: Stuff like this is going to play a not-inconsiderable role in the advancement and eventual mainstreaming of human-like robots. So while I have no personal interest in remote sex, I can't help but be interested in the potential of this unlikely-seeming fusion of electronics and eroticism.
Cold, dry and lifeless - a new take on Mars
Um . . . Did you say "new"?
"'I'm moving in the direction of 'cold and dry' more and more,' agrees Hamilton. 'But there are other scientists headed in the other direction, thinking Mars was warmer and wetter. It is an ongoing discussion.'"
Slow news day, apparently.
Um . . . Did you say "new"?
"'I'm moving in the direction of 'cold and dry' more and more,' agrees Hamilton. 'But there are other scientists headed in the other direction, thinking Mars was warmer and wetter. It is an ongoing discussion.'"
Slow news day, apparently.
As you can tell from this blog post by Rudy Rucker, I'm not the only person on Earth who enjoys taking snapshots of himself in convex mirrors. I feel redeemed.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Ahem. It seems I was mistaken in thanking Kate Moss for saving me from getting soaked the other day. I'd left the rain-battered issue of "W" in my car and used it again tonight as I dashed across the street from the parking garage. But before I did I noticed something: It's Gisele Bundchen on the cover. There had been two issues of "W" available -- one featuring Kate -- and for some reason I'd assumed that was the one I'd briefly used as an umbrella.
So there you have it. Thanks for nothing, Kate.
So there you have it. Thanks for nothing, Kate.
First Shooting Star Seen from Mars
"The result is somewhat speculative, but no other known comet debris stream (or spacecraft) fits the data."
"Hi, I'm a brother who is loyal and devoted to the African-American woman. I love her, need her, and can't do without her! The reason why is because I believe that the African-American woman is the trophy to have above all trophies!"
That's right -- Prophet Yahweh is looking for love! And face it: Not just any man can make alien spaceships appear on demand.
That's right -- Prophet Yahweh is looking for love! And face it: Not just any man can make alien spaceships appear on demand.
Renewed warning over flu pandemic
"The fear is that if the H5N1 virus did mutate and spread amongst humans, it would do so rapidly and affect millions.
"Experts repeatedly warn such a pandemic would be far worse than the one which occurred in 1918, which killed between 20 and 40 million people.
"Scientists are working to develop a vaccine against bird flu, but are hampered by not knowing what form it would take, should it spread amongst humans."
"The fear is that if the H5N1 virus did mutate and spread amongst humans, it would do so rapidly and affect millions.
"Experts repeatedly warn such a pandemic would be far worse than the one which occurred in 1918, which killed between 20 and 40 million people.
"Scientists are working to develop a vaccine against bird flu, but are hampered by not knowing what form it would take, should it spread amongst humans."
Maybe there's something to the "Google sphere" mystery after all, although I still beg to differ with Strieber's proclamation that the first discovered "object" is a "confirmed" UFO.
Oh, who am I kidding? THEY'RE HERE! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!
Oh, who am I kidding? THEY'RE HERE! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Here I attempted to "enhance" a Henry Moore sculpture. Even big-breasted biomorphs need caffeine.
At first glance this is a birdhouse. On second glance it's actually a Dadaist sculpture featuring a Madonna-like figure emerging from an elevated cage.
I happened across this mystery hole after hearing the distant, muffled clanging of underground machinery and strange, high-pitched voices speaking a language that definitely wasn't English. I think this is where the UFOs come from.
At first glance this is a birdhouse. On second glance it's actually a Dadaist sculpture featuring a Madonna-like figure emerging from an elevated cage.
I happened across this mystery hole after hearing the distant, muffled clanging of underground machinery and strange, high-pitched voices speaking a language that definitely wasn't English. I think this is where the UFOs come from.
Now this is an espresso:
This cat lives on the grounds of the Kaufmann Memorial Garden. As far as I can tell, his life consists of lounging in the sun and occasionally imploring visitors to pet him. Not too bad.
(Speaking of cats . . .)
I tried taking this same picture a few days ago but it was too bright and all I got was a glare. (My camera is super-cheap.) It was nicely overcast this evening.
This cat lives on the grounds of the Kaufmann Memorial Garden. As far as I can tell, his life consists of lounging in the sun and occasionally imploring visitors to pet him. Not too bad.
(Speaking of cats . . .)
I tried taking this same picture a few days ago but it was too bright and all I got was a glare. (My camera is super-cheap.) It was nicely overcast this evening.
Thompson's ashes to fly on Depp's dime
"Organizers of a memorial for Hunter S. Thompson plan to erect a 150-foot structure -- courtesy of Johnny Depp -- to shoot the gonzo journalist's ashes onto his Aspen-area ranch." (Via Easy Bake Coven.)
"Organizers of a memorial for Hunter S. Thompson plan to erect a 150-foot structure -- courtesy of Johnny Depp -- to shoot the gonzo journalist's ashes onto his Aspen-area ranch." (Via Easy Bake Coven.)
Russia Against 'Militarization of Space'
"While he mentioned no country by name, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov's comments reflected persistent wariness over U.S. intentions, despite arms control deals and increased cooperation between the Cold War foes since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
"'Russia's position on this question has not changed for decades: We are categorically against the militarization of space,' the Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying during a visit to the Baikonur space facility in Kazakhstan."
"While he mentioned no country by name, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov's comments reflected persistent wariness over U.S. intentions, despite arms control deals and increased cooperation between the Cold War foes since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
"'Russia's position on this question has not changed for decades: We are categorically against the militarization of space,' the Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying during a visit to the Baikonur space facility in Kazakhstan."
Comet put on list of potential Earth impactors
"The listing of Comet Catalina underscores the uncertainty in the knowledge of whether comets or asteroids pose a greater threat to Earth. Previous estimates of the proportion of the impact risk posed by comets have varied widely, from 1% to 50%, with most recent estimates at the lower end.
"But comets are larger and faster-moving, on average, so their impacts could be a significant part of the overall risk to human life. And, unlike asteroids, they lie on randomly-oriented and usually highly elongated orbits. This makes them much more likely to remain undiscovered until they are very close to Earth."
"The listing of Comet Catalina underscores the uncertainty in the knowledge of whether comets or asteroids pose a greater threat to Earth. Previous estimates of the proportion of the impact risk posed by comets have varied widely, from 1% to 50%, with most recent estimates at the lower end.
"But comets are larger and faster-moving, on average, so their impacts could be a significant part of the overall risk to human life. And, unlike asteroids, they lie on randomly-oriented and usually highly elongated orbits. This makes them much more likely to remain undiscovered until they are very close to Earth."
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Finding Support in the Search for E.T.
"This time, however, the scientists hope things might be different. This month, the first telescope designed specifically for such a search began scanning the skies. It is still in its early stage of development, but when it is completed the telescope will be so powerful that it will be able to look at more stars in a year or two than we have in the past 45 years."
Come on, SETI. Show us what you're made of.
"This time, however, the scientists hope things might be different. This month, the first telescope designed specifically for such a search began scanning the skies. It is still in its early stage of development, but when it is completed the telescope will be so powerful that it will be able to look at more stars in a year or two than we have in the past 45 years."
Come on, SETI. Show us what you're made of.
Paul Kimball has his hands full documenting the anti-Semitic leanings of radio host Jeff Rense. Now another drooling anti-Semite, David Icke, is scheduled to appear on Whitley Strieber's Internet radio show.
Icke's schtick is clever in that he takes pains to distance himself from known Nazi sympathizers, opting instead for a peculiar mix of New Age love and Homeland Security paranoia; his racism is disguised (albeit thinly) by his tenet that interdimensional predators known as "reptilians" have infiltrated world government at the highest levels. Interestingly, "reptilian" is more or less synonymous with "Jewish" in Icke's frothing-at-the-mouth cosmology.
Icke professes to espouse peace and love, but his writings are laced with the same vibes that typify the conspiracy yarns of personalities such as the late Bill Cooper. In a nutshell (pun not intended), it's "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" liberally blended with choice scenes from "V." How many times do we have to hear it?
Icke's schtick is clever in that he takes pains to distance himself from known Nazi sympathizers, opting instead for a peculiar mix of New Age love and Homeland Security paranoia; his racism is disguised (albeit thinly) by his tenet that interdimensional predators known as "reptilians" have infiltrated world government at the highest levels. Interestingly, "reptilian" is more or less synonymous with "Jewish" in Icke's frothing-at-the-mouth cosmology.
Icke professes to espouse peace and love, but his writings are laced with the same vibes that typify the conspiracy yarns of personalities such as the late Bill Cooper. In a nutshell (pun not intended), it's "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" liberally blended with choice scenes from "V." How many times do we have to hear it?
I'm posting this picture of Kate Moss because, thanks to her, I didn't get soaked on the way to my car this morning.
You see, my apartment has a small "library" that consists mostly of trashy paperbacks and fashion magazines. Since I found myself without an umbrella, I resourcefully picked up a year-old copy of "W" magazine before dodging out into the rain. Being large-format and of considerable paper stock, my copy of "W" served as an effective shield. Not as good as an actual umbrella, but better than nothing.
Anyway, none other than Kate Moss appeared on the cover, so I feel sort of indebted. Thanks, Kate. You're doing good work; keep it up!
You see, my apartment has a small "library" that consists mostly of trashy paperbacks and fashion magazines. Since I found myself without an umbrella, I resourcefully picked up a year-old copy of "W" magazine before dodging out into the rain. Being large-format and of considerable paper stock, my copy of "W" served as an effective shield. Not as good as an actual umbrella, but better than nothing.
Anyway, none other than Kate Moss appeared on the cover, so I feel sort of indebted. Thanks, Kate. You're doing good work; keep it up!
There's a wealth of articulate speculation in this French interview with Whitley Strieber that seldom graces his own online "journal." What's the frequency, Whitley?
Ufonauts and human experimentation
I just learned that Nick Redfern has published a new book about Roswell, maintaining that the alleged alien bodies were those of Japanese POWs apparently used to pilot experimental aircraft. (My apologies to Nick if this summary isn't accurate, but I think I've recounted the central idea.)
True or not, I have a nagging sense that at least some of what Redfern has to say is disturbingly accurate. For example, Cold War historians and conspiracy enthusiasts alike are typically familiar with Project Paperclip, through which the US captured Nazi scientists to mastermind its weapons program. Conversely, relatively little is heard about the possible role of Nazi medical scientists, who are known to have conducted atrocious experiments on prisoners.
If an extension of this research were carried out in the American Southwest, how likely is it we'd know -- even now, over half a century later? Declassifying files about obsolete rocket technology is one thing; admitting to abhorrent human experimentation is quite another.
I've wondered since 1995 if the "alien" of the "alien autopsy" might be a surgically or genetically altered human. This sounds bizarre (not to mention seemingly beyond our bio-engineering state of the art*), but I'm not quite ready to rule it out.
We know that Nazi engineers were interested in -- and maybe even building -- disk-shaped "flying saucers" toward the end of the World War II; rumors indicate that some of these "planform" designs were at least partly operable. If any of these experimental craft posed greater-than-usual threats to human operators, project scientists may have found it desirable to use expendable pilots. Given the Nazis' harvest of biological research (dramatized in fiction such as Ira Levin's "The Boys from Brazil"), it's just possible that the first Nazi saucer-pilots were in some critical sense less than, or perhaps simply other than, human in the conventional meaning of the word.
It's probable that Allied forces would have seized on such a biotechnological feat as tenaciously as they exploited German engineering savvy. Which, of course, paves the way for some incredibly dark scenarios. Are some "aliens" engineered humans? Why do close-encounter witnesses sometimes describe tall, Germanic-looking "Blondes" in the midst of drone-like, cadaverous "Grays?" (Author W.A. Harbinson has a field day with such questions in his ultra-paranoid thrillers "Genesis" and "Inception," in which a loner scientist utilizes the Nazi war machine to create functioning flying saucers, complete with "alien" occupants.)
It's not my intention to stoke debate about underground Nazi bases, Tesla death-rays and the national security ramifications of MK-ULTRA. Embroiled as it is in a miasma of fantastic hunches, the question is deceptively simple: Could human experimentation help explain the alleged events at Roswell in 1947, and perhaps elsewhere in the annals of ufology?
*Especially if the autopsy originates from the late 40s, which is doubtful as the "exposure time" plaque visible on the operating room wall appears to date from the 1960s.
I just learned that Nick Redfern has published a new book about Roswell, maintaining that the alleged alien bodies were those of Japanese POWs apparently used to pilot experimental aircraft. (My apologies to Nick if this summary isn't accurate, but I think I've recounted the central idea.)
True or not, I have a nagging sense that at least some of what Redfern has to say is disturbingly accurate. For example, Cold War historians and conspiracy enthusiasts alike are typically familiar with Project Paperclip, through which the US captured Nazi scientists to mastermind its weapons program. Conversely, relatively little is heard about the possible role of Nazi medical scientists, who are known to have conducted atrocious experiments on prisoners.
If an extension of this research were carried out in the American Southwest, how likely is it we'd know -- even now, over half a century later? Declassifying files about obsolete rocket technology is one thing; admitting to abhorrent human experimentation is quite another.
I've wondered since 1995 if the "alien" of the "alien autopsy" might be a surgically or genetically altered human. This sounds bizarre (not to mention seemingly beyond our bio-engineering state of the art*), but I'm not quite ready to rule it out.
We know that Nazi engineers were interested in -- and maybe even building -- disk-shaped "flying saucers" toward the end of the World War II; rumors indicate that some of these "planform" designs were at least partly operable. If any of these experimental craft posed greater-than-usual threats to human operators, project scientists may have found it desirable to use expendable pilots. Given the Nazis' harvest of biological research (dramatized in fiction such as Ira Levin's "The Boys from Brazil"), it's just possible that the first Nazi saucer-pilots were in some critical sense less than, or perhaps simply other than, human in the conventional meaning of the word.
It's probable that Allied forces would have seized on such a biotechnological feat as tenaciously as they exploited German engineering savvy. Which, of course, paves the way for some incredibly dark scenarios. Are some "aliens" engineered humans? Why do close-encounter witnesses sometimes describe tall, Germanic-looking "Blondes" in the midst of drone-like, cadaverous "Grays?" (Author W.A. Harbinson has a field day with such questions in his ultra-paranoid thrillers "Genesis" and "Inception," in which a loner scientist utilizes the Nazi war machine to create functioning flying saucers, complete with "alien" occupants.)
It's not my intention to stoke debate about underground Nazi bases, Tesla death-rays and the national security ramifications of MK-ULTRA. Embroiled as it is in a miasma of fantastic hunches, the question is deceptively simple: Could human experimentation help explain the alleged events at Roswell in 1947, and perhaps elsewhere in the annals of ufology?
*Especially if the autopsy originates from the late 40s, which is doubtful as the "exposure time" plaque visible on the operating room wall appears to date from the 1960s.
On the Aesthetics of Ufology (excerpted from an interview with M.A. Greenstein) by Mike Kelley
"Ufology pictures an aesthetic collision between a housing structure, the UFO, and an alien element that inhabits this house, in an uncommon aesthetic mixture of the abject and the technological. In the Nineteen-Forties, the Wartime framework of the original UFO sightings rendered the technological aspects of the UFO, itself, frightening. UFOs were feared as possible examples of unknown enemy military technology. This concern has faded over time and the technological aspects of the UFO have taken on a different symbolic meaning. The clean, orderly, and machinic nature of the UFO now acts as a foil for the menacing, unformed, beings that it contains. It is only this, essentially dramatic, pairing that I would say constitutes the 'grotesque' in relation to ufology."
(Thanks to Sauceruney.)
"Ufology pictures an aesthetic collision between a housing structure, the UFO, and an alien element that inhabits this house, in an uncommon aesthetic mixture of the abject and the technological. In the Nineteen-Forties, the Wartime framework of the original UFO sightings rendered the technological aspects of the UFO, itself, frightening. UFOs were feared as possible examples of unknown enemy military technology. This concern has faded over time and the technological aspects of the UFO have taken on a different symbolic meaning. The clean, orderly, and machinic nature of the UFO now acts as a foil for the menacing, unformed, beings that it contains. It is only this, essentially dramatic, pairing that I would say constitutes the 'grotesque' in relation to ufology."
(Thanks to Sauceruney.)
Peru Doctors Separate 'Mermaid' Baby Legs
"'This is the final result that we have come to in this extraordinary surgical intervention,' said Dr. Luis Rubio, holding up 13-month-old Milagros's legs in a V-shape, displaying a line of stitches extending from her heels to her inner thighs. 'We have mobility of the independent knee joints.'"
"Extraordinary surgical intervention" my ass. This is the waste of a perfectly good circus freak.*
*Just kidding, folks.
"'This is the final result that we have come to in this extraordinary surgical intervention,' said Dr. Luis Rubio, holding up 13-month-old Milagros's legs in a V-shape, displaying a line of stitches extending from her heels to her inner thighs. 'We have mobility of the independent knee joints.'"
"Extraordinary surgical intervention" my ass. This is the waste of a perfectly good circus freak.*
*Just kidding, folks.
"Prophet Yahweh has resurrected the lost, ancient art of summoning UFOs and actual spaceships on command. Over 1,500 sightings have appeared to him since 1979."
And you can share the experience for less than the price of a modest meal!
Mars Polar Lander: Clues From the Crash Site
"As one of NASA's faster, better, cheaper missions, the Mars Polar Lander project lacked in realistic tests, Slostad explained. And when the lander's multiple instruments were operated simultaneously in pre-launch tests, the spacecraft's central processing unit would sometime start to bog down. 'It would either slow way down, freeze, or just crash,' he said."
Yeah, that might be a problem.
"As one of NASA's faster, better, cheaper missions, the Mars Polar Lander project lacked in realistic tests, Slostad explained. And when the lander's multiple instruments were operated simultaneously in pre-launch tests, the spacecraft's central processing unit would sometime start to bog down. 'It would either slow way down, freeze, or just crash,' he said."
Yeah, that might be a problem.
All of this is brilliant, but I particularly like the overweight alien -- we're used to seeing the emaciated, androgynous variety. And there's something whimsically grotesque about that animatronic Ronald McDonald; he looks like he was assembled under the tutelage of the Brothers Quay (with constructive feedback from Bill Griffith).
Man, to have actually been there . . .
Man, to have actually been there . . .
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