The world seems to be swiftly and quietly stepping into the Twilight Zone, on a number of different fronts. This is the week that an extinction-level asteroid is flying past us — with almost no mention of it in the mass media, US warships are off the coast of North Korea, there appears to be something happening with the position of the Moon, whispers of a “super-911” coming abound — and most frightening to me — I can’t find the organic shampoo I like.
The annual Gay Pride march and party happened this last weekend, despite whinings by the forces of law and order, trying to stupidly suggest that drag queens were “in disguise” (and that this is technically illegal). Now take a step back for a moment and consider the implications of this law: who took away our rights to protest anonymously or disguise our faces from the police? Who passed a law giving fascists the right to force citizens to show themselves, when engaging in any kind of peaceful public gathering of their own choosing? This is not democratic. I never voted for it.
I have the right to hide my face from government video cameras when engaging in non-violent democratic protest (or just public gatherings of any sort). Don’t try and tell me it’s for “the public good”. That’s authoritarian crypto-fascist rubbish disguised as democracy. It’s non-violent, it’s public, and it’s our right to protect our anonymity if we want.
Any law which makes it legal for a government to forcibly identify, isolate and track non-violent citizens engaged in their public democratic right to peacefully protest, assemble or party is pure naked fascism. Nothing else. I was hoping the drag queens would re-enact Stonewall, and humiliate and kick the crap out of the police at the Gay Pride March. But they didn’t, unfortunately.
It would’ve taught the queens, trannies and gay folk a little something about standing up for more than just the right to be different in their sexual choices — but to also make them see they’re facing the same legalised tyranny as everyone else. For those of you who don’t know what Stonewall was, learn something about modern culture and history, at The Stonewall Riots.
And read a first hand account at A Walk On The Wild Side. Then browse through Stonewall Veterans.
Gear change. Ran across this stunning little reworking of Lord of the Rings, to demonstrate the fake concept of “free trade” that’s being used by multinational corporations and governments, to bypass democracy. Go watch it online, or download it (it’s around 18 megs, for those of you with the speeds to cope). See The Fellowship of the Ring of Free Trade.
Alternatively, if you’re both a Ringophile and an intellectual, then try watching the streaming video atrocity known as Farting Gandalf.
Back in around March or April, you’ll recall me talking about the online forum poster known as Aussie Bloke who ignited a major ripple of fear and paranoia online, by detailing what he described as an imminent asteroid impact scenario approaching Earth. For a refresh, read the article at Bush Country about Aussie Bloke and The Coming Meteors.
The important fact to consider is that months ago — and you can find this information stored in the above article — it was stated by the unknown Aussie Bloke that there would be a series of “markers” to prove that an asteroid impact was approaching. The first marker involved the International Space Station. To quote: “ISS (International Space Station) will be in the news as experiencing untenable problems whereas it will be evacuated (masked), temporarily. This is a marker on the time scale.”
With that in your mind, please note the following news item: Crew may have to abandon ISS.
Coincidence? A good guess? I don’t know. I like facts. And so if someone says X will occur, preceded by ‘a’, ‘b’ and ‘c’ — and then ‘a’ actually occurs, I’m paying some attention. You might want to as well, regardless of how unlikely ‘X’ is.
Alternatively, for a whirlwind time-lapse filmed drive from LA to New York, across the width of America, go take a look online at the music video made for French popstar Lacquer: LA To New York In 4 Minutes.
So much for internet freedom. Here’s a little-mentioned news item showing that Google, the well known search engine, is censoring sites that the Chinese government doesn’t want its citizens to have access to. Read Google Censorship.
Try an online paper doll concept, where you get to dress a really ugly guy up in a variety of strange clothing. Don’t let anyone catch you as you Dress Maynard!.
You read it first here: You’ll recall my blatant disbelief over the supposed “Chechen-terrorist downing of Russian airplanes” a few weeks back. Well, here’s a news item the western media aren’t reporting: Russian policeman arrested for plane bombings.
Something seems to be up with the moon. If you have friends who’re into astronomy, this should be fairly interesting to either prove or disprove rapidly. Apparently the moon itself seems to be rotating slightly, so that the familiar features are not exactly in the correct place that we’re used to. Go consider The Moon Pictures.
Staying in space, read this strange news item whose headline says it all: Jupiter’s moon Io is shooting volcanic bullets at passing spacecraft.
Time-waster time. Would this column have the same impact if it was written by Mikkey Marvellous? Well that’s the name I got when I tried out this next site, The Glam Rock Name Generator!.
And is it performance art, or just some new way of peeing in public? Go look at Urine Control!.
And here’s yet another under-reported moment: A spokesman for the US’s so-called Department of Homeland Security yells assorted obscenities at a journalist asking about various conflicts of interests that his boss has. The interesting moments start under the paragraph Profit Interests. Check out the final paragraphs in DHS spokesman yells obscenities at media.
Then, to demonstrate the ongoing rewriting of history, the Village Voice finds that a State Department map labeled Countries Where al-Qaeda Has Operated, posted online in November 2001, listed 45 countries but NOT Iraq. And here’s the map itself, although how long it’ll stay up at the official government site, is anyone’s guess.
And another example of the systematic dumbing down of reality by the neo-cons, consider the implications of a President even imagining that the following kindergarden-like logic could work on the public. During a photo-op with Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Bush said that the CIA was “just guessing” when it warned him in a National Intelligence Estimate that Iraq could slip into civil war. See CIA ‘just guessing’.
DVDs are spreading across the globe, filled with collections of film clips of the Iraqi beheadings of various kidnapped people. I’d never look at it — the Daniel Pearl tape gave me images I still wish I hadn’t seen. Nonetheless, read this article on the growing strange social phenomenon known as Baghdad Snuff Porn.
Recall Tracey Gold, the babe from TV’s Growing Pains? Well, guess who was busted for being drunk out of her mind after crashing her car, complete with hubby and kids in the wreckage. Go take a look at the police mugshot at Tracey Gold Mugshot.
And it seems that Terminator 2 star Edward Furlong, had a run in with the law as well recently, in an arrest that combined drunkenness and lobsters. No kidding. Look at Edward Furlong’s Mugshot. For a range of other celeb mugshots, including Macauley Caulkin’s recent drug bust pic, browse through Arresting Images.
More Bush and Dick stuff. No, you know what I meant. Remember the two reporters who broke the Watergate scandal and brought down Nixon? Well, whereas Woodward has pretty much ended up as a Bush-apologist, Carl Bernstein (who oddly disappeared from public knowledge shortly after a classic expose on the CIA for Rolling Stone magazine) had a few things to say recently. Read Carl Bernstein s
speaks.
Mainstream media finally decided to let the public know what you and I have known for a long time: The Guardian newspaper in the UK came up with a nicely detailed report that shows the connection between Bush’s grandad and the Nazis. Read How Bush’s grandfather helped the Nazis.
And then staying with the goose-stepping ones, Mae Brussel was the über-grandma of all modern conspiracy theorists. Her radical take on history and the reality of current affairs carved the pathways that many others now tread. Have a look at some of her writings and listen to her lectures at Mae Brussel. Then read her take on the Nazi connection to the JFK murder.
And yes she’s pretty out there, but the amount of factual information is staggering. But before you dismiss her viewpoints as simply complex paranoia, consider for instance the meaning of this totally ignored news report about disguised US troops or mercenaries found in a mass grave in Iraq. Read US soldiers found in mass grave.
What’s better than looking up swear words on the internet? Correct, browsing through Amazon.com for authors with highly regrettable names. Go see what happens when far-too-much-time-on-hands combines with smutty-minded. Stare at Unfortunately Named Authors.
There’s a brand of lock available in the US, suitable for locking down your bicycle from thieves, which can be opened with a Bic pen. Naturally a prankster decided to sell both the lock, and two pens (a key and a “backup key”) on eBay. Go look at the auction of A Lock And Two Keys.
Time to show you the joys of declassified documents: Unlike South Africa, real democratic countries release government material for their citizens to browse through. For instance, go take a look at (and download for offline reading) the stunningly interesting collection known as Declassified CIA analysis of the Soviet Union 1947 – 1991. Or if you want to browse through what the UK is releasing, do some sniffing through the National Archives.
Alex Jones is a hot-headed, loud-mouthed conspiracy radio host who irritates the hell out of me, but despite that, he still tends to come up with good information on a range of subjects. Take this next page for instance: It’s a collection of links to all of the current 9/11 whistleblowers who have exposed the simple truth that Bush and the neo-cons staged 9/11 as a deliberate piece of terror-theatre. Read through the excellent collection of info and news at The 9/11 Whistleblowers.
Global warming time. If you think that global warming isn’t happening, then take the time to read this very educational and straightforward interview with a leading scientist. (The interview also gives an insider’s glimpse at just how hard science has been ignored in government policy.) Read Interview with Dr Camille Paresan.
The “War on Terror” is going to be coming to Africa soon. How do I know this? Well, simple deduction: The Houston Chronicle reports that Nigeria has effectively shut Haliburton out of its oil industry in a dispute over the disappearance of radioactive materials. (So what this means is that Nigeria better get ready to deal with the sudden discovery of “terrorists”, thus enabling the US to come marching in — to protect Cheney’s company profits. Naturally, it’ll be disguised as a response to some CIA-created terror-attack. Watch this space. Read Haliburton snubbed By Nigeria.
You expect that giant mushroom clouds erupting somewhere in the USA would merit at least a little media attention, (as in the recent “mountain demolitions” in North Korea). But take a look at the creepy pictures snapped by someone in Utah a week or two back, and wonder what happened and why no coverage of the Utah Mushroom Clouds surfaced in mainstream media.
A few of you have probably been raised on some odd socially-acceptable supernatural superstition, involving the belief that the universe, reality and everything in it, was “created” by one single entity of some kind. It’s often quite bizarre, surreal and funny to see the warped logic at work when confronted by people who “don’t believe in ghosts” (unless it’s on a Sunday, in a context where they’ve been told is “true”). Therefore, to help you get out of this schizophrenic mindset, may I present the very elegant webpage which explains all you need to know about “God”. Go read, and help your children comprehend the information, at the God Frequently Asked Questions page. Then to demonstrate the jump in logic from reality, go think about the apparently real attempt to merchandise Bible Man.
Frightening geek time. Remember the old classic computer game Pong? Well, take a look at at a German geek’s creation of a real world equivalent at Pong Mechanik.
Food geek time. Go drool at the weird focus of the person who made a webpage dedicated to The Making of a 8500 Calorie Sandwich.
“I can’t believe they did this” time. (Warning: adult material!). If you can cope with a range of strange mixtures of genres, then why not download a British country and western song, with the highly gentle and charming title My Grandad Is A Prostitute.
Until the next time, if ghost-believers don’t get me.