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31 May 2005

 

Billboard Liberation Front spoofs McDonalds
Although I'm not a big fan of billboards, here is one that I like. The link above will take you to the full story, complete with a funny picture of the cops putting the animatronic Ronald McDonald in the paddy wagon. Do you think they were actually arresting this statue, or were they engaging in a policeman's form of performance art? . . . this was in San Francisco so anything is possible.

posted by Lorenzo 4:42 PM

23 May 2005

 

Some perspective from Rumi

This place is a dream
Only a sleeper considers it real

A man goes to sleep in the town
Where he has always lived, and he dreams he's living
in another town
In the dream, he doesn't remember
the town he's sleeping in his bed in. He believes
the reality of the dream town.

The world is that kind of sleep

The dust of many crumbled cities
settles over us like a forgetful doze,
but we are older than those cities.

Humankind is being led along an evolving course,
through this migration of intelligences,
and though we seem to be sleeping

there is an inner wakefulness
that directs the dream

and that will eventually settle us back
to the truth of who we are.
-- Rumi

posted by Lorenzo 5:26 PM

20 May 2005

 

Atlantis and the Temple of Rejuvenation

If you Google "Atlantis temple rejuvenation" (without the quotes) you will discover that there are almost 5,000 Web pages that contain these three key words. However, if you search Google Images for the same three words only three rather primitive images show up.

But now there is a new (not-yet-Googled) site that has come online with the first known detailed drawing of the Temple of Rejuvenation from Atlantis. This is a rendering by the West Coast architect, Mark Wonner. The architect, whose contact information is available via the link above, is currently making plans to build this temple in an appropriate place in South America in the near future. . . . And if he builds it, who will come? Why, the children of the children of Atlantis, who else?

Check it out and see if the design resonates with something long forgotten within you . . . if it does, then maybe we'll meet in the temple one day.

posted by Lorenzo 10:36 AM

 

King George the Inconsistent

I do my share of complaining about our non-elected White House occupant, but maybe I'd become a bigger fan if he's just be a little more consistent. For example, here is what Bush the Inconsistent said this morning regarding embryonic stem cell research:

"I made very clear to Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayer's money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life - I'm against that," Bush said. "Therefore, if the bill does that, I would veto it."

Did I hear that right? Did little George say he's not going to approve any more spending on "science which destroys life"? If so, if King George wants to be truly consistent in his grand proclamations, then he must immediately cancel all government funding of military weapons projects on campuses all across this beleaguered land. And part of that massive amount of funding for killer technology could then be diverted into ADULT stem cell research, which little Georgie says he supports.

This looks to me like a win all around . . . U.S. military adventures are eliminated, thus saving countless thousands of lives each year, and the money spent to kill people could be used to find ways everyone agrees can save people. This is so simple that even Georgie can understand it. All he has to do is to be consistent in the moral philosophy he wants to impose on the rest of us and maybe I'd go a little easier on His Fraudulence . . . but only a little :-) .

posted by Lorenzo 10:15 AM

19 May 2005

 

The New York Times still doesn't get the Net
Information wants to be free, but the NYT seems to be going in the other direction. Here's what they say in the "registered" section of their Web site:

Columnists from The Times and The International Herald Tribune will be available only to users who sign up for TimesSelect, which will cost $49.95 a year. The service will also include access to The Times's online archives, as well as other features. . . . The service, which is scheduled to start in September, will be provided free to home-delivery subscribers of the newspaper. . . . A decision by The Times about charging users for portions of its Web site had been expected for months in the media industry. While some efforts by other newspapers to charge for content online have worked, others have been withdrawn, including most recently one by The Los Angeles Times, which decided last week to stop charging users a fee for its online entertainment listings, reviews and criticism. . . . Though advertising on Web sites accounts for only 2 to 3 percent of the revenues of most newspapers, it is the fastest-growing source of revenue. Still, many newspaper Web sites fear that charging money for Internet content may send readers to free sites, with advertisers following close behind. . . . The New York Times's decision to charge a fee came after about a year of study, said Arthur Sulzberger Jr., chairman of the Times Company and publisher of the newspaper. . . . Mr. Sulzberger said that while some Internet users accustomed to free content might not be willing to pay, many others would be attracted by the online package of columnists, archives and other material. . . . "The advertising growth on the Web has been just spectacular the last few years," he said. "But like any business, it's going to mature over time, and when that happens, it will flatten and then you'll get into the normal cycles just like we do it on print. And at that point you're really going to need to have another revenue model."

The NYT is a business just like the rest of the media industry. It's primarily about the bottom line. What is so laughable about this soon-to-be ill-fated experiment at pissing off the online community is that they are charging for their op-ed pieces! What a joke. These guys supported Crazy George's plans to attack Iraq. And the NYT even helped spread false WMD stories ... and they think I'd be willing to pay to read their opinions. As far as I'm concerned, the NYT is as irrelevant as is the Democratic party.

posted by Lorenzo 10:14 AM

12 May 2005

 

Pope Bene the Rat gives his "celebrity endorsement" to a beer company

VATICAN CITY, ROME -- A German brewery is enjoying new success following a label change, and a "thumbs-up" from a high-profile fan of its beer, German native Pope Benedict XVI. . . . The Stuttgart brewery "Stuttgarter Hofbreau" had been struggling to sell its wheat beer until a label-change [to Papstbier (Pope's Beer)] turned business around. Then, Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, reportedly gave his approval to the new brand name. . . . The brewery sent a beer truck to Rome this past weekend to deliver 700 liters, or 185 U.S. gallons of beer to Pope Benedict XVI.

I'd say that the Pope sold out a little cheap. After all, his celebrity endorsement (the first for a pope!) rescued a failing company. Maybe he got some stock options as well as the 185 gallons of beer. I guess it won't be long now before we start seeing corporate logos plastered all over that white suit he wears sometimes.

posted by Lorenzo 11:10 AM

11 May 2005

 

The cheap gas dilemma
I recently received a request from a friend to sign a petition to encourage Congress to do more to artificially reduce the price of a gallon of gasoline for U.S. consumers. The petition admittedly made a good point in saying that higher prices for fuel are hurting people in the lower financial classes the most. I can’t argue with that fact, but there is another consideration that we perhaps should also think about.

As long as gasoline prices in the U.S. remain artificially low, compared with the price of gas in Europe, for example, we Americans are going to continue on in our blissful ignorance of the colossal harm we are doing to this planet with our gas-guzzling, single-occupancy vehicles. The “American way of life” when it comes to energy usage is about to become the way of death for our species. (If you disagree, it might serve you well to read Robert Heinberg’s important book, PowerDown.)

Signing a petition supporting people on low or fixed incomes by reducing their fuel costs might be a good thing to do, but I’m more inclined to support actions that encourage energy conservation. If the focus is on helping the poor, why not give low income families a tax credit for purchasing a hybrid automobile instead? That would kill two birds with one stone . . . but it wouldn’t also benefit the fat-cat Humvee drivers as well.

posted by Lorenzo 12:17 PM