What's on my Mind? Information overload.
School starts next week. I'm excited, and already missing vacation at the same time. Still glowing with how great vacation was! Beach, camping, family, tons of time with hubby...
The rest of this is largely my opinions on some politics and the state of the American country, and then some really cool articles I want to share with you. Dessert is the books and movies I've devoured in my time off :)
In my news feed, I'm watching the National Defense Authorization Act scare me and scores of other people nightmares of internment camps. Our president being okay with it, and so many people just not knowing what's going on.
I'm worried about the Stop Online Piracy Act locking down our 'internet borders' and thrusting us into an era where the government controls what we see, hear, read, and what we're allowed to learn. It seems like such a good idea (to corporations) to control their products and prevent 'theft' and distribution of these products. Our government chastises other countries for "Information Blackouts" caused by the government shutting OFF the internet to keep their people mentally trapped, to CONTROL their information. This shouldn't be! It's metaphorical stone throw from book burning.
Speaking of book burning, Rick Santorum, who is running for PRESIDENT, thinks it would be a good idea if "...our civil laws ... comport with [God's] higher law." This is America, WHICH god? We have a few here. Oh, "not any god (but) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." So much for religious freedom. Didn't we just spend ten years hunting down a bunch of people who thought instituting "God's law" into "State law" was a good idea? He's never get away with it, theoretically, since the Constitution strictly forbids it. Then again, so many states have laws that back "God's law" while completely ignoring common sense and human rights that it's terrifying to think if those people backed this idiot (and were the majority, which I still try to believe they are not) America could really end up the Christian States of America as the rest of the world already jokingly sees us. Be religious, be faithful, but don't be a conquering maniacal jack-rabbit about it. My apologies to the jack-rabbit.
The National Center for Science Education reports every week MORE states with bills designed to keep students IGNORANT of evolution, geology, basic biology, all to further the crumbling farce that it Intelligent Design, Creationism, or whatever you want to call it. Sadly people in our government (who of course pander to the majority and thereby support these affronts to vast amounts of work done (by people wielding the Scientific Method trying to DISPROVE themselves!) Our government supports our ignorance, whether it's because they're really that self-blindfolding themselves or because it's simply convenient to have a populace you can whip up into a frenzy with something as insubstantial as religious bias. Scratch that, religious bias is terribly substantial, ask anyone who's been persecuted for being something other than a quaking sky worshiper.
This one makes me just about the most angry... I'm not sure if it's because we're trying to teach our children NOT TO THINK and not to expect the answers to the question "Why" or because people are purposely shoving MISinformation and ignorance in childrens' minds. Disgusting.
"She didn't want to know how a thing was done, but why. That can be embarrassing." - Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury 1953.
" A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Me? I won't stomach them for a minute." - Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury 1953.
" A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Me? I won't stomach them for a minute." - Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury 1953.
So the state of America is currently one morphing into a land where ONE RELIGION rules the government; our information will be controlled which means information is DENIED us; the government can send military troops to your home and put you prison indefinitely without evidence or trial (a sad step down from the act that allowed them to ransack your home without anything more than Spidey Sense, thanks Patriot Act!)
I don't think I need to reiterate how worried I am about what will be left of the world and reason when I bring a child into the age of free-thinking.
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In some better news, Stephen Hawking turns 70 tomorrow despite being diagnosed with ALS 49 years ago. The man is a genius and should be considered an international treasure.
This poem is like a grammatical brain teaser and I recommend to anyone and everyone! You have to read it out loud, of course.
Scientific American has had some really cool articles lately, I'll let you sift since you may not be interested in them in the way I am. :)
The Secret Lives of Bats [Slide Show]: Scientific American
A new guidebook offers fascinating details about the 47 species that populate the U.S. and Canada (and a really cool slideshow!)
The Case of the Missing Polygamists | The Primate Diaries, Scientific American Blog Network
The origins of our sexuality is the greatest mystery in human evolution. But could our prime suspect be a case of mistaken identity?
(I think:) IOW: She's not a gold digger, she's a discerning maven of evolution, backed by generations of tried and true tactics for genetic endurance.
Everyone jokes about the corrosiveness of Coke but it turns out Mtn Dew is worse. Orange juice equals Mtn Dew in this respect, but I doubt you're pounding glass after glass of OJ during your LAN party...
"...soaked human molars in Mountain Dew for two weeks (a period of time comparable to approximately 13 years of normal beverage exposure, ...) the molars' enamel lost more than 6 percent of its volume. "...molars soaked in Coca Cola for two weeks lost slightly more than 1 percent of their enamel volume. (... In the study, Diet Mountain Dew eroded more than 8 percent of the tooth enamel in the course of two weeks.)
Field Test: Biodiversity - The Great American Zoo Trip - Pictures, More From National Geographic Mag
Join photographer Joel Sartore in the field as he travels far and wide to photograph endangered species.
No really, Watch the video! It's so neat!
Spare Parts for Humans: Tissue Engineers Aim for Lab-Grown Muscles, Limbs, Lungs and More [Video]
A new research breakthrough has enabled scientists from the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh to grow human tissue.
Me: Wonderful. Amazing. Science. Stem cell research and it's fruits. I have warm fuzzies that are tingling with excitement!
ROLLERMAN.
Vid of a guy who made himself a rollerblade suit. It's really jaw-dropping.
I watched/Read...
Valhalla Rising, 2009.
Ok, Valhalla Rising, kinda weird. In my head it feels like the monolith scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, but Norse. And then, NOT terribly Norse either way, except that he's supposedly a viking, and they have 'tribes' and some cold Europe garb and carvings. And it's supposedly the Crusades, but MUST be 1st since the vikings really didn't exist beyond that. Otherwise, SEEMS generally period. Little dialogue, but if you're into slow, dark, brooding films it's ok. The characters or expressive and in chapter 'Hell' no words are necessary to really disturb me. 3/5
Helen Mirrin's Prospera in 2010's "The Tempest." In short... It was great! They switched a couple scenes around, and of course truncated monologues, but otherwise it was really well done. :) I enjoyed it.
The movie Centurion. Not bad. I enjoyed it. Eye rolled the gratuitous gore, but otherwise good story.
Gnomeo and Juliet: Awesome. Even Patrick Stewart as the Shakespeare statue. ♥♥♥ The UNBRIDLED Shakespeare references EVERYWHERE are great. It's a game to catch them all! PS. ♥ Featherstone!!
Finally finished Pillars of the Earth (mini series). Wonderful.
I read (and you may find the reviews here in the blog or on Goodreads.com
Hook, Podkayne of Mars (Heinlein),
Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury),
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson),
The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It (Niven),
Rocket Ship Galileo (Heinlein),
And currently reading, Friday (Heinlein)
If you made it this far, congrats!
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