Another crazy parrot near my work.......

Hola Amigo.

Line at Apple Store for iPhones at 5:30 pm

Line is probably 300 yards long, maybe 250 people.....

On Civil Disobedience

I have just perused through Thoreau's "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" seminal piece (what a great work) looking for a stipulation that one be public in ones condemnation and resistance of the government such as is the conventional wisdom today regarding civil disobedience. The conventional wisdom is that you have to publicly proclaim your civil disobedience, even be arrested, for it to be "Civil Disobedience" as compared to simple "law-breaking".

If anything Thoreau seemed to advocate a quiet desire to simply be left alone by the government (I'm certainly with him there). The “public declaration”/”public resistance” thing I suspect post-dates Thoreau and probably started with Ghandi who expanded on Thoreau.

From Thoreau:

"In fact, I quietly declare war with the State, after my fashion, thoughI will still make use and get what advantages of her I can, as is usual in such cases.

His opening Line:

"I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe--"That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have."

"There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly."

"A common and natural result of an undue respect for the law is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys, and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces a palpitation of the heart. They have no doubt that it is a damnable business in which they are concerned; they are all peaceably inclined. Now, what are they? Men at all? or small movable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power?"

I am willing to be corrected by scholars of Thoreau that he advocated a requirement that the resistance be public and loudly stated, but I sure don't see it there. In fact I see someone who would probably do the then equivalent of graffiti art, weed, and quietly refusing to pay his taxes.

Let me summarize:

• “Quietly declare war on the State”
• “That government is best which governs not at all”
• “undue respect for the law”

His version of Civil Disobedience is closer to my view that civil disobedience does not require public declaration and arrest, although he seems to take it farther! The quote I opened with could be translated as "I declare war on the State, and will fuck the State if I can!" That is not Ghandi, that is an anarchist!

Many people are like sheep. They are content to sit by and obey as their government fucks them and their neighbors over. Just look at the bullshit done in “our” name. Police beatings. Iraq. Taxation. Racism. Suppression of women. Torture. Drug War. Do I even need to go on? To resist these things by any means not involving hurting others is in my opinion Civil Disobedience. The problem with the Ghandian definition being bantied about by many is that it still assumes that the law has the right to throw one in prison. That the law should be supported because, well, it’s the law. Bullshit. Unthinking sheepiness.

The law has included slavery, imprisonment for homosexuality, undeclared wars, intolerance, police brutality, etc. etc. One can think through the “wrongness” of those laws. One should think through the next!

The phrase "The Law is the Law" is pronounced “Baaa” “Baaa”.

Tropical Beach Sand x1000

Click link.

Very Zen Cool Icon Set

Go to deviant art and there's a download button on the left. Read the decription as there is more info there.

Chairs happen.

The Doll. (NSFW)

Mike for President?

So far, I know I disagree with two things Michael Bloomberg believes in and that's gun control and nanny-state stuff such as smoking bans (I'm NOT a smoker btw). That I know of. See the link for more of his positions.

On the other paw, Republicans piss me off on a whole host of other things (spending like drunken sailors mostly), and Bloomberg is theoretically good with social and money issues.

Hillary (Democrats) would also vote for Gun Control as well as Socialized Medicine and Zeus only knows what else socialist programs.

If he runs as an independant, I think I am in. It's time for more parties anyway.

Or we could always look at these freaks:

Some choice.

Dinosaurs errr Robots shipping in October.

Spooky cool.

It'll be worth it just to see the look on our cats face (see below).....

350 bucks though. Ouch. Click the link for more info.

Paintball + Geek equals......

If it absolutely positively has to be hosed down with paintballs.....

For the true Alpha Geek

According to the link (click above) the bag was a proof of concept for a floppy disk body armor. I shudder to think where he will wear it.

Predator 2 Art.

Thought this was a very cool rendition.

Screen Names

For some reason, I have seen a plethora of entertaining screen names as of late, so I think I'll make this a regular feature to list them occasionally. Here's a small sampling:

A Naked Midgit. (In games this shows up as "You've been killed by a naked midgit")
Pookie Bear
Hellen K1ller
God (my personal favorite, shows up as "You've been killed by God")
Toilet bug
Retarded Kitten
Free Mammograms
Tendejo Pendejo (I leave you stupid)
Tyler Durden (see Fight Club)

Onionized iPhone

Apple's New iPhone

Apple is set to release the much-hyped iPhone Friday, June 29. Here are some of its most highly anticipated features:

Nanotechnology enables it to reassemble itself when thrown against wall.
Exclusive link to Google Street View so you can watch yourself using your iPhone at all times.
Takes Polaroids.
When moved from hand to ear, makes Lightsaber sound effects
Prominent Apple logo.

Reproduces through asexual budding.
Has way, way more PRAM than the last thingy.
Comes with an iPhone hat, so people know you own an iPhone during the brief periods you're not using it

Wow. Another one.

Word's Fail.

"Famous Potatoes" or "Live Free or Die"? Yeah the latter....

A new standoff between the feds and a tax protestor and his wife is forming up in, you guessed it, New Hampshire. They have been sentenced to 63 months for tax evasion and are holed up in their house.

Apparently a small army of feds with all kinds of nasty toys are descending on the Brown "fortress" (see picture) and the Browns have vowed to die there. The home has solar and wind power. Ironically, the feds were given away (again) by a dog (Ruby Ridge anyone). When are the Feds going to learn?

I think the Brown's may be ready for them.....

I just wish for once that tax and BATF protestors weren't religious/conspiracy wackjobs too. Paint me picky.

Here's some modern art......

Tulsa buried a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere in a "waterproof" concrete time capsule, in 1957. Not.

Then.

Now.

wtf?

Observed at the grocery store. Notes on bag say "all american classic". Killer marketing I gotta say.

UPDATE: Tasted them. Blech. The flavor is supposed to be cheeseburger. It tastes like someone put the whole cheeseburger including lettuce, pickles, and onions in there. Still great marketing though.

When graphic artists get bored......

glumbert.com - When graphic artists get bored

Powerloader NOW Dammit.

Okay, so we have the strongest fastest robot arm to date, the Titan. We have the Landwalker robot. And we have the human exoskelotons. When do I get to order my PowerLoader from the movie Aliens, folks?

And yes, I am a geek. So was Bill Gates, the richest guy, ever. Get over it. ;)

Paleontological site yields Pacman skull.

Saw these today at a surplus store. Fun.

Look very closely

(Click on it, more on link).

Lots of Halo 3 News....here's my pocket analysis....

GamerPro.com (and magazine) had a thorough rundown of all the Halo 3 including weapons, vehicles, and maps. Very cool stuff.

Sword: Drains away power like other weapons. Longer delay to switch to it.

Missile Pod: fires miniature heat-seeking missiles. Man portable (slow)
Chaingun: Also Manportable (slows you down)
Spartan Laser: vehicle sniper rifle Bad Reload though.

Assault Rifle: This stripped-down starting weapon reduces your dependency on dual wield weapons, making Halo 3 feel closer to the first Halo. The AR is a big improvement over Halo 1's assault rifle, though. It inflicts big damage at medium range and nearly guarantees you a kill. Still, its 32 round clip is tiny and it can't zoom in.

Spiker: Like the Brute Plasma Rifle only like the submachine guns, has a knife.

Needler: one of the most powerful weapons in Halo 3's multiplayer. Its rapid firing rate and enemy-seeking projectiles can quickly shred one enemy in medium-to-long range combat. The tradeoff: it's no longer dual-wieldable, and it suffers from a small ammo clip.

Plasma Pistol: From what we played, Halo 3 tones down this controversial weapon in two ways. Your battery life now "leaks" away while you overcharge, and overcharged shots seemed like they were less likely to follow enemies. But we learned that an overcharged shot will now stall out an enemy vehicle -- a handy upgrade.

Brute Shot: upgraded to hold six grenades at a time. enhanced accuracy, no grenade bounce

Shotgun: deadlier in medium-range combat, six shells per magazine, down from 12.

Rocket Launcher: Same.
Sniper Rifle: nightscope
Beam Rifle: No change.
Frag Grenade: faster, but the explosion seems to inflict slightly less damage.

Plasma Grenade: special effects. Also emits a high-pitched whine just prior to explosion.

Spike Grenade: Stick this Brute bomb to a wall, directed shrapnel kills enemy. Also sticks to kids.

NEW TOYS

Bubble Shield Enuf said.

Power Drainer: bomb-like item that drains the shields of nearby enemies,

Trip Mine: massive blast radius

Grav-Lift: manportable lift can be placed to leap over walls, throw vehicles.

Radar Jammer: As said

Vehicles.

Mongoose: Quadrunner basically, rear rider can fire sidearms. Fast.

Wraith: Machine gunner turret added.

Banshee now fires plasma rockets in multiplayer mode.

Brute Chopper: Looks like a hybrid between a Ghost built for Road Warrior by Reavers. Kills bugs dead.

Custom Armor.

You can make Master Chief look pretty different in Multiplayer mode. Gold face masks anyone? (See the picture above)

If the election were held today......

Your next President.

No Really.

LA Times poll has him (Giuliani) ahead of Hillary by 10%.

The really strange thing is, I am starting to think I may vote for him over Thompsen as he is more centrist, and Hillary, because, well, she's Hillary.

We'll see.

Gehry's vision of Los Angeles

Disney Concert Hall on the right.

Apple Safari Browser Comes to Windows!

Supposedly it's faster, more secure....

Honey, where did you park the car?

Yes, that is the front end of a British Astute-class submarine (BBC Picture) Holy shit.

Presidential Approval Ratings Graphed....

Clinton the First is the only one that finished higher when he left than when he started.....

17 Years Ago - China killed 3,000 protestors....

We need to work with them, but we also need to watch them.

For you ladies......

This is in honor of my friend Elizabeth, who has a "Legolas is my House Elf" t-shirt.

Take the red pill......

Double Rainbow over Elsinore

My Phaser Reactance level is set to "Kill".....

Learned a new word today, "Reactance". It's that feeling you get when someone tells you not to do something and you turn around and do it, just because they told you not to. Reverse psychology uses this human trait to get someone to do something by telling them not to do it.

I must have a major reactance issue because every time a cop tells me not to do something like J-walking on an empty street, I want to drive over the lawn of city hall. Every time some shithead politician passes a nanny bill protecting me from something like someone else smoking outdoors, or them smoking a little weed, I wish I had a Reactance button under their ass in congress that I could push and have it eject them through the roof of the building. Every time someone uses the words "The Law is the Law" I want to have their unimaginative brains stimulated by some LSD or something, just so they can unfuck their version of reality.

I want to paint "Bush Blows Chunks" on every wall just because they call it Graffiti and throw street artists in jail. Don't get me started on security cameras.

Hell yes, pass me the Reactance pill, I like this stuff.

Catcam!

You gotta check out Mr. Lee's photos. Fascinating how many places he goes and what he sees. Click the title link.

Porn Storm Ruling overturned!

See link above.

The teacher convicted of showing children porn, when in fact her computer was infected with a porn storm, had her conviction overturned and effectively dropped thanks to the computer security and blog community raising absolute hell about it. If this doesn't show how disastrous our judicial system can be, I don't know what will.....

Key Stick

Well this is nifty. Its a customizable set of buttons you can put on your monitor. I was thinking that it would be even better for use with that car computer that we are not supposed to be using while we are driving.....

$100

Do not carry this on Holloween.....don't.....

Clink on the link to make your own!

You see the most amazing jeep in L.A......

Killer winch on the front, 12-inch lift or so, jack mount on the back, gigantic halogens, full cockpit with four point seat belts all four seats, notice the billet oh-my-god handle on the roll bar, rock assault jeep.

By Mfenberg on Deviantart.com

Aeolian Harps.

I just heard about aeolian (wind) harps at a Walt Disney Hall concert. Quite interesting. They are apparently installed as instrumental sculptures in various places in Europe and elsewhere, and make sounds by the wind. (Picture from wikipedia article on Aeolian Harps)

Listen Here

Dude.

ROFLOL

Click on the above link to print out your own report cards. Stick it next to fugly graffiti (or good grafitti for that matter).