Crooks & Liars has made this great comment about 1984 and the right wing blogosphere:

A Party member…is supposed to live in a continuous frenzy of hatred of foreign enemies and internal traitors, triumph over victories, and self-abasement before the power and wisdom of the Party. The discontents produced by his bare, unsatisfying life are deliberately turned outwards and dissipated by such devices as the Two Minutes Hate, and the speculations which might possibly induce a sceptical or rebellious attitude are killed in advance by his early acquired inner discipline…called, in Newspeak, crimestop. Crimestop means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to Ingsoc, and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity.

I love the expression protective stupidity - it’s much better than the usual label of ‘ignorance’. It’s not ignorance to stop thinking - it really is protective stupidity.

Click image for more Australia.

Click image for Australia without clouds.

A great many good people and fascinating animals live down there. I should visit this awesome place someday!

Get a HUGE satelite image via Wikipedia.

Dedicated to my great StumbleFriend Lisabal and thanks for our many interesting discussions.

BBC News: Cement makers come clean 

Cement is one of our oldest building materials - it was already known and used by the Romans. By cement releases a lot of heat and CO2 while hardening. Cement makers hope to reduce the emissions and create a greener cement.

Excellent!

I think this ad perfectly illustrates what red lips signal to us guys.

Thank you Chanel.

I am actually surprised that it’s only satire and not reality at the moment. Any serious Christian yodelers out there?

Click image for a larger river.

is there anyone out there who doesn’t adore these photos? Maestro Adams is the King of Nature photographers. His keen eye for nature’s beauty and tranquility is unsurpassed - and his hard work hauling all that equipment to god forsaken places is greatly appreciated. All hail King Ansel!

Just in case you can’t show off your muscular body or titties or penis or butt … there is always your Turban - groar!

RateMyTurban.com - endless ours of fun.

Our minds are pretty pleased when our physical appearance causes a big stir in the other sex. To be desired and to be ‘hot’ seems very much on our ego’s agenda - although procreation is the real story behind all this parading and showing off. Your DNA wants to spread and clone itself. Funny that the mind is so hooked to that job as well … Mind over Matter - DNA over Mind …

In our modern societies getting a high public rating for your DNA has now become more important than actually spreading it. Styling, ego surfing and ego presentation now lead only to casual sex, but not to babies in rich countries.

I really hate it when movie studios release a few months after the ‘normal’ edition an additional super duper extra bonus golden collectors edition.

I really really really dig Twin Peaks, but do I really need to see lost clips of Agent Cooper on the toilet or some video clips from a nerdy Twin Peaks convention?

The quality of the normal DVDs is actually brilliant. The digital remastering really improved the quality a lot! And Twin Peaks itself is as cool, intriguing and charming to watch as evaaaar!

Thanks Moira for that tip.

Is this a joke? Sadly it isn’t.

I already find the concept of real life speed dating pretty horrid: you meet in a big crowd in a restaurant and each person gets a few minute to introduce themselves to the next person. Then the guys rotate to another place and the next round of speedy first impressions starts …

Now you’ll do it all over the net or just leave a video resume via webcam. I presume having sex and splitting up is also done via a cool web interface?

I am no stranger to Internet dating myself, but I am afraid that people get more excited about all the tech and the huge ’selection’ of partners - instead of really getting into making new friends and dedicating some time to getting to know someone better.

Friendship takes time. Relationships even longer. There is no such thing as speed as for good love or lovemaking. Only mental mouseturbation works well with speed …

The next generation of Credit Cards could include a small keyboard to enter your PIN for transaction - which means it has it’s own communication and computing power ‘on board’. Great!

Anything with a computer can crash, have communication problems and can be hacked.

‘Excuse me, I need to reboot my credit card - it just crashed.’

What a Nightmare!

Thanks Edosan for sending this one.

BBC News: Guilty verdicts over Madrid bombs and The Defendants and The Legacy

Politics has been served, justice … maybe. Even in times of terror the normal justice procedures have to be respected and followed. Spain had the sanity to treat this as normal as can be done - since the Spaniards are used to terrorism from ETA for many years.

Europe can only keep it’s human face and values if it doesn’t give into the culture of fear. No matter if the terrorists are from the PLO, Red Brigades (in Germany and Italy), ETA, IRA or Al-Queda.

But many European countries used 9/11 and the following attacks to introduce new Anti-Terror legislation. Politicians in every country love opportunities to grab even more power.

Usually I am not into reviewing single TV episodes - but last nights Boston Legal was outstanding. It concluded a story arc about Joseph Washington - who died in this episode.

The overall theme of this story arc was conviction and forgiveness. The not so fictional character of Joseph was an African-American accused of rape and murder in different cases. His murder trial ended with not guilty.

But he was sentenced as a sex offender although the rape was never proven. That alone sent him to prison and he was obliged to register as a sex offender. This was hard enough: you had to register as such in his local community, was forbidden to use public transport and even drive a car. Most of all: all the ‘good’ people of the once again not so fictional ‘Middletown’ wanted him to leave, harassed him and tried to kick him out of their nice community.

In this episode his sex offender case was reopened and the girl that accused him of being a rapist admitted she lied. Now his sex offender status was revoked, but still the good people of Middletown wanted him to leave.

Joseph Washington was found later in that episode murdered. Sad enough. But the real heartbreaking scene was, when his lawyer spoke before the people of Middletown in Church: "Let us pray for forgiveness and acceptance."

Would Jesus kill innocent men? Would Jesus kill even acquitted rapists or murderers?

This episode of Boston Legal asked some tough questions and attacked Americas addiction to locking away people, cutting legal deals instead of looking for the truth and never reintegrating offenders back into society. This is also true for many other countries as well …

Heinrich Heine:

I don’t know what it may signify
That I am so sad;
There’s a tale from ancient times
That I can’t get out of my mind.

The air is cool and the twilight is falling
and the Rhine is flowing quietly by;
the top of the mountain is glittering
in the evening sun.

The loveliest maiden is sitting
Up there, wondrous to tell.
Her golden jewelry sparkles
as she combs her golden hair

She combs it with a golden comb
and sings a song as she does,
A song with a peculiar,
powerful melody.

It seizes upon the boatman in his small boat
With unrestrained woe;
He does not look below to the rocky shoals,
He only looks up at the heights.

If I’m not mistaken, the waters
Finally swallowed up fisher and boat;
And with her singing
The Lorelei did this.

German Original:

Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten,
Daß ich so traurig bin;
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten,
Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.

Die Luft ist kühl, und es dunkelt,
Un ruhig fließt der Rhein;
Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt
In Abendsonnenschein.

Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet
Dort oben wunderbar,
Ihr goldenes Geschmeide blitzet,
Sie kämmt ihr goldenes Haar.

Sie kämmt es mit goldenem Kamme
Und singt ein Leid dabei;
Das hat eine wundersame,
Gewaltige Melodei.

Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe
Ergreift es mit wildem Weh;
Er schaut nicht die Felsenriffe,
Er schaut nur hinauf in die Höh’.

Ich glaube, die Wellen verschlingen
Am Ende Schiffer uns Kahn;
Und das hat mit ihrem Singen
Die Lorelei getan.

Sirens and other watery female creatures seem an endless topic in European myths (like other Rhine Maidens, Mermaids or Siren in general). One of them is is Germany’s Lorelei.

It’s actually a place: a rock somewhere down the Rhine.

Like so many waterspirits she also tempted guys to go into the water and suffer a miserable death.

More? Wikipedia

Inspired by Edosan - who sent me the Heine Poem today.

There are days that simply suck. There is no cosmic nor carmic reason for it. So indulge your misery or simply decide to snap out of it. A happy psyche can create a happy day …

Click Moon for more detail.

I must admit I am addicted to space pictures. Gimme any old rock in space and I am happy to look at it for hours.

Moira has sent me this great gallery of old guys portraits. It is rare that the male form entices photographers to snap my species. But making pix of old guys is even rarer.

Thanks Moira.

Ah, the promise was so neat: a wireless technology for small gadgets. You simply connect your cell phone, headsets, coffee machines or vibrates with each other. Super easy and super simple. Yeah, right …

Reality check please!

Several years after the introduction of Bluetooth this technology suffers from the same stupid mistakes and problems almost all gadgets do: compatibility issues. Often Bluetooth devices from the same vendors won’t talk to each other.

And the bitch is that with wireless devices you never can ’see’ if they properly connect with each other. So searching for the real problem is hard - even for experts.

Even Bluetooth 2.0 didn’t fix the problem - it just made it worse.

I am a big wireless fan myself, but my Bluetooth headset, my Bluetooth mouse, my Bluetooth enables cell phone and my Bluetooth keyboard hate each other. Only one device at a times please.

So once again we have to update drivers, check compatibility before buying and spend hours making gadgets talk to each other.

Thank you so much Bluetooth people - please accept my thanks in form of a real hard kick in your wireless butts.

There is still so much that can be improved - like semitransparent concrete. I think this could be a great energy saver for industrial buildings. Great idea!

What a wonderful site! If you like collages and great art this is the place to visit: nshakespeare.blogspot.com. He has a wicked sense of humor as well as a keen eye for great art. His artwork connects with our daily madness in every aspect. He shows scenes from politics, media, sports, spirituality and sexuality.

I especially love this series of collages with two guys playing cards and drinking wine - not matter what happens around them. This is fabulous!

Enjoy!

I always find it highly amusing when friends and client proudly show me their backup. After a solid decade of data loss most people finally understand the bare necessity of making backups. But still they are not ’safe’. DVDs themselves are a terrible backup media: they easily scratch, bright sunlight is bad for them and sometimes the data can’t be read in all DVD drives. Most of all they won’t last forever: manufacturer promise sometimes ten year or more. But try to complain about data loss in ten years to TDK or Sony. You must have done something wrong Sir!

And who knows if we will have DVD drives in ten years anyway? The floppy disk died a slow death, but I guess DVDs and CD-Drives will change and disappear much faster. Hopefully not your data.

The best protection: make backups on different media’s! I have my most important data on DVD discs, an external portable hard drive, an USB stick and on a secure server on the web. Overkill? Not really if your work means something to you. Most of all: backups onto web machines or online services can be done every night when you sleep.

Click image for a larger valley.

Normally we humans are not patient enough to watch the gentle play between the sun, mountains and clouds in their full glory.

Photographer: unknown - can anyone help?

I am so glad that these CompuServe Avatars never set the standard for all future chat programs.

I am usually not into desktop images and other computer gimmickry - but it was a great pleasure to explore this huge gallery of illustrations of many talented young designers.

One thing I hate about modern movies, toys, books and video games is that they don’t leave any space for my imagination. I don’t need to see that scary monster -  let my imagination create one. I don’t need to see a gazillion spaceships in every details - let my imagination create that spectacular. Don’t show and explain every bloody detail … leave that work to my imagination.

No surprise that so many modern kinds are so dumb, because they have no blanks to fill in, so their imagination isn’t challenged to do ANYTHING. The same applies to adults as well … because they simply fill in the blanks with money.

Imagination, association and creativity are skills that need constant training and input with great inspiration. No training, no skills = results in a dull mind.

Click image for a bigger final moment.

I personally like realistic paintings best, when they tell an impressive story in a way no photography could. This is such a painting: real, painful, scary, brutal and without merci. Every element works and transport that sense of final judgement to us.

Take a moment to study all the faces in the image. Wow!

I think mass media rightfully portrays the net as full of pr0n. Usually the discussion centers around porn mongers, porn sellers, porn buyers, pedophiles and sexual predators - mostly male and eager to get the easy kick.

But who talks of webbased sluttism like ‘flickr’s finest females‘, suicidegirls.com and those many webcam whores? These - often very young girls and woman - are not forced by pimps or poverty to sell themselves. Many do it for personal kicks and some extra luxury money.

All the old concepts of pornography and prostitution fail when confronted with webbased slutism: there is no physical contact involved, the woman do it themselves, there is a lot of technology involved and so much of it is for free or very little money for the buyers. Most interesting of all is the female networking: woman recommending other ’slut friends’ or running whole networks all by themselves.

As much as I am for a liberated sexuality and female empowerment but often unlimited ‘hotness’ smells of stupidity and a very egoistic, greedy or even obsessed mindset. And you hardly can call that liberated, but rather a case for serious therapy.

Everybody can be