Yeah, and he quit too...

That is all.


Link to this Tweet.



mh

"The Internet of Things" video from IBM

This is worth watching.

"The Internet of Things" can describe a super high efficiency economy. A way off the oil tit, and a way forward for the de-industrializing first world with-in the new global economy (re: China, India).





mh

Epiphany

Today I woke up wanting to write about the process - the process of thinking, the experience of life in real time.

I don't want to bore you with some rambling inner journey - that's boring. But while this is in the style of James Joyce's stream of consciousness - it is, importantly I think, the journey towards truth revealed, consciousness that is gleened though interaction with people - interaction with the culture of a neighbourhood.


Still reading?

Some days you wake up and you see the world anew. Things that weren't there yesterday are as plain as the nose on you face the today. Today is one of those days for me.

I went for my usual walk this morning, my regular route, about a 45 minute walk around the neighbourhood. I've seen the gambling in the parkette before, it's obvious. I've seen the houses rented, with front businesses that are in fact, gambling houses. I've seen the look-outs hanging on the corners; smoking cigarette after cigarette, keeping an eye on me for a moment - sussing - then on to the next one...

I've seen the 'bums' too; the under-cover cops. You can tell because they're not regulars like real bums - they appear, and then you never see them again. Real bums find a safe, sheltered place to sleep with a good spot nearby to ask for money - a village where they're comfortable - and remain as long as allowed. Until a young Friday-night-drunk threatens them, or a Parks Worker gives them the boot by 'stealing' (garbaging) all their stuff -- they stay.

But these ones... they're too dirty, too unkempt; too young and virile under all those layers of over sized clothes. They are not 'down on their luck' - they're dressed up - you feel like they're about to make a play on you. The eyes, if your able to connect, are shifty, strong and searching. This one, you think, had a good meal last night, maybe a thief - or a cop.

But today I saw much more. Today I saw the pretty Mule coming out of the Bank. You can tell because they wear expensive, sexy shoes - but their eyes, their demeanor, their costume says used, abused - they're working for someone who likes them to look pretty - hanging around all day, doing nothing - pretending busy. Nothing really to do but the odd trip to the bank. It's a great job - why not wear uncomfortable shoes if that's all they ask - for now.

On my daily walk I've seen it all before - but what made me think that today I was blessed with incisive vision was that as I looked away from the pretty mule, my eyes landed on The Big Guy, following her out of the bank. Poof! Awareness! At that moment, the Mule, the Bank and the Money-Laundry across the street - came the undercover cop, The Big Guy.

He wouldn't have been a cop at any other moment, but because he appeared at that instant, at that place I saw him for who he was. The sudden epiphany must have shown on my face, our eyes locked - he and I knew immediately - we were in the same place. You could feel it in the air - our universes had just clicked, the field lines had just intersected, a spark happened, a connection. I knew and he knew too - but just for a second. Then the neurosis, the denials that protect us from the truths we hide came slamming back into place - for him - but not for me. I had grasped the panorama. I had touched the sky.

As I followed him down the street, as he was going in the same direction, he turned a couple of times, just a cock of his head, watching me peripherally - to check. I watched as he got into his late model white van with no markings - the ones the undercover cops always use - and drive away.


* * *

It's been a year, the gamblers have completely taken over the park now. I wonder how long this game the police and the mob play goes on generally. I've decided to pick up the cigarette butts next to the kids play area in the parkette; they're so thick you almost can't see the inter-locking bricks... . Where are those 'Park Workers' I wonder.



mh

WFMU - New York City - Hudson Valley - World

(And Keith Olbermann - below the fold)

I just found a radio station. I like "Ken" because of the music he plays. Here's his show from 18 August 2010 (embed).

Play list is here.



MORE button, or this one takes you to the WFMU site.

The site has a great play list lay-out with a spot for live listeners to send in pics and a place to comment or chat. There's also a huge archive of past shows, which you can listen to or download, in multiple formats.

Absolutely fabulous.

As I write, I'm listening to this for the first time. The third track from the August 18th show, "We've Got To Stop The Mosque At Ground Zero" by Trade Martin is intended as a cultural artifact, I think (I hope).

After a little research maybe Trade Martin wrote the song so that, that asshole (Alan Jackson) who wrote 'Where were you on 9/11?' couldn't, or wouldn't.

To spare us, you see...

The forth track is also a cultural artifact, and (I think) confirms my hypothesis above (Whisker Wetter Whiskey).

The stations 'about' section starts with,

"WFMU-FM is a listener-supported, non-commercial radio station broadcasting at 91.1 Mhz FM in Jersey City, NJ, right across the Hudson from lower Manhattan. It is currently the longest running freeform radio station in the United States."

"Ken" later pokes fun a the foofarah about the Mosque they're going to build "..on the site of an old Burlington Coat Factory warehouse..." in lower Manhattan.


All I can say is it looks like the Park51 Community Center is going to get built faster than the Freedom Towers development that was supposed to show those... Egyptians?


Ah, the good old days of radio - where the DJ spins the records they want to spin, and perhaps they spin a story, or a theme. Or perhaps the things they're doing just make us make one up, one that has nothing to do with what said DJ is doing what so ever...

..humans... what will they think of next?

This is worth adding,




mh

Gram Parsons - "She"

Just joined this nice music collective in Facebook, "Roots and Rhinestones".

I was looking for a song that segued off a John Prine number, "Hello In There" posted by a friend earlier, and came up with this one.

Man, what a beautiful song - it been too long... from Gram Parsons, "She"




Video link updated 2014/08/15)




mh

Coming Attractions...

Looks like a coming attractions poster for a 1960's sci-fi film that I went to see for 45 cents and a nickle for soda. But it's not...

"LCPL Jordan Mitchell of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit plays a hand held video game lying on his cot next to his humvee at a forward operating base in southern Afghanistan Friday, April 25, 2008. Some 3,500 U.S. Marines arrived in Afghanistan to help NATO's increasingly bloody fight against the Taliban. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)"

From the DenverPost.com photographic collection they call a "Plog", or photo blog: "Captured: Seven Years in Afghanistan".



mh

CBC's 'WikiLeaks Release' search-able database of Canadian mentions

Below is a widget created by CBC that enables an easy search of the database of 75,000 theater incident reports leaked by Private First Class Bradley E. Manning, U.S. Army, to WikiLeaks, released July 25, 2010.

Just checking to see if we can spread it around a bit...

It should work anywhere - all the links are still intact.

Type of event	-ALLAir MissionUnknown Initiated ActionDetainee OperationsCriminal EventSuspicious IncidentFriendly FireOtherNon-Combat EventFriendly ActionEnemy ActionExplosive Hazard
Region	-ALLRC NORTHUNKNOWNRC WESTRC CAPITALRC EASTRC SOUTH
Incident (keyword search)
Search by date (MM/DD/YYYY)
Between
And
Or exact date

OK, it works! When you press 'Search' it takes you back to the CBC page for your search result.

Try it out

Try Typing CDN (the military term used in incident reports meaning 'Canadian'), into the Keyword search box and then search. You'll get a list of 154 incidents. To narrow that down, try CDN again but this time with-in a spread of dates, below, in the 'search by date' boxes.

Spread the widget, and the truth...

Copy and Paste this everywhere you can think of. Get people asking questions, help to parse the data - tweet your findings, write a blog piece about your research.

This story will continue to un-fold for several more months I believe, and not just the blame game and other such spectacle crap like the latest from the bought-and-paid-for media, like, 'there's nothing new in the data'... but rather help open a window onto the imperial wars conduct for all the public to see.

To get the software for your blog or whatever, click on the button and go to this Google Document: "CBC's WikiLeaks incident reports search-able database of Canadian mentions widget.txt".
(opens in new tab/window)




Below is a Google Docs. embed of the widgets software, scroll down to see it all and copy.




I have always believed the truth can stop war; it's one of the reasons information control is so important to the warriors. Kudos to Bradley Manning - your a hero in my book brother.

Bradley E. Manning Support Network

WikiLeaks: "Afghan War Diary, 2004-2010"

Courage to Resist .org

Telegraph.co.uk: US congressman says Bradley Manning should be executed



mh