An Empty LA

The new video by Maynard of Tool, on his side project Puscifer, published Apocalyptical yesterday.  (thanks to my buddy Ryan for the head's up).  It shows a completely empty Los Angeles.  I've been to the Staples Center.  It's in a very busy section of the city.   https://youtu.be/Hj_bTbfAEsc


A skateboarder in a level 4 haz mat suit, drone footage of streets, parking lots, beaches, all devoid of human life in frame after frame.  Granted, these might have been taken near dawn on a cloudy day (so you can't see shadows) but it is eerie how empty the streets are in America's 2nd largest city.

Those Southern states who are opening back up with little or no restrictions, I wish your health care systems and morticians all the best, as your elderly, cancer patients, diabetics, hypertensives, morbidly obese, immuno-compromised, the weakest of "the herd" say their good byes to their families (if they still have any) through FaceTime or panes of glass before they expire.  No, Covid-19 is not a hoax.  It's not some conspiracy created by hospitals to get more Medicare money. It's a global pandemic.

If you read this, and can't help yourself in angrily (or snarkily) responding to me, your comments will be published and mocked.

Same As It Ever Was, Same As It Ever Was

I turned on MSNBC yesterday afternoon for a moment, before I headed out to go do yoga at the beach, and saw Steve Kornacki present the two graphics below:

These two survey poll results make it extremely clear, how American progressives are optimistic, improving, and growing, while 1950s focused American conservatives long to go back in time (member berries),
- before civil rights legislation passed and became enforceable in all 50 states
- before the EPA existed,
- before Germany and Japan rose up from the rubble of WWII to become economic rivals,
- back to the cold war & fear of Armageddon,
- back when LGBT citizens were treated as outcasts by 99% of Umerikuns,
- back when cigarette smoking in public was ubiquitous,
- back when drunk driving was a sport instead of a felony
- back to when you could fire a woman for becoming pregnant if she was not married
- back to when housing & finance discrimination against minorities was standard practice
- back to when Ike deported a million Latin Americans in "Operation Wet Back"
- back to when there were poll taxes and literacy tests to be able to vote

... yeah, a "simpler era" ... for simple minded people, who abhor change, and who are fiercely clinging to their guns & religion & 'majority white paradigm'.  Those who want all the benefits of living in a free Democracy, while having smooth roads to drive on, fast internet to access, reliable electric power, clean water to drink, a clean ocean to swim in, a bucolic landscape in which to hunt, free land on which to graze their cattle, and a strong army to defend them, without paying any taxes or having any convenience to their own personal preferences and desires.

Count me in the 70% of "it's getting better".  I'm still not a huge fan of any of the 4 candidates running for PUSA, but I will be voting for the woman most likely to defeat and contain the threat of a megalomaniacal narcissist who constantly lies & fabricates his own reality from taking over the Executive branch of our government.  The fossils of the 72% will eventually go extinct.

Thank You Justice Kennedy

Swing Supreme Court Anthony Kennedy, thank you for being human, reasonable, and compassionate in your SCOTUS ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges on Friday.  All of my Gay friends can now enjoy the LONG LIST of rights and privileges that Dr Desert Flower and I have enjoyed for the last 28 years, if they find the love of their lives and want to get married as well.  Thank you.  You joined your 4 reasonable SCOTUS colleagues in making the right decision, and you worded your majority opinion so eloquently.

The hyperbolic fit throwing from the religious right - and their ridiculous predictions of being "forced" to act against their faith, or to "go out of business" as Huckabee said on This Week with Snuffleupagus - is amusingly stupid.  No chicken little, the sky is not falling, but legal barriers to basic rights are.

Thanks Justice Kennedy.

Honey Badger Genius

This amused me tremendously.

Awesome at His Job

Neil deGrasse Tyson is awesome as the host of Cosmos.  Each and every episode, revisited from Carl Sagan's original series, is marvelously presented.  Awesome graphics, pitch perfect writing, and precise delivery.  A "spokes person for the sane", a "voice of reason", Neil is the perfectly approachable, affable, charismatic scientist showing the common man who knows nothing about science what is really happening in the world, the universe, throughout time.

And no, it's not 6000 years old.  But if you want to believe that, that's fine for you to believe, just don't push that belief into the science class room, or onto my or my friends' kids, or grand kids.  A belief is not a fact.  And if facts contradict or challenge your beliefs, then that's a problem you have to grapple with, not I.  I trust in the facts, as peer reviewed and tried and tested, proven by controlled experiments.

And Seth MacFarlane...  you are a crazy, twisted, bizarre man, but thank you for funding the Cosmos revival.  Perhaps it is some kind of "penance" for having created Peter Griffin... I don't know.  =)

In Three Years, They'll Be Even Smaller & Implanted

Intel's CEO Brian Krzanich revealed "Edison" this week.  A fully powered pentium class computer the size of an SD card (link here).

With the rapid acceleration in miniaturization and computing power, my guesstimate is that it will be about 3 years (maybe 4) until there will be a fully powered & rugged-enough-to-survive-in-the-corrosive-human-body, and small enough to be implanted device that the geekiest, or most severely injured, or the most addicted, or the most extremely lethal & pathological of the homosapiens will have installed inside them - some for good, some for evil, some for just recreation. Il faut voir.
http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-edison-processor-2014-1

Bee Venom Kills HIV

I know this sounds silly, but it is not.  It is sound science, and honestly, it is freaking amazing.   Joshua Hood, a scientist at Washington University (St Louis), took bee venom, loaded with the natural toxin melittin, and put it in nano-particles (he's a Phd MD, but we won't hold the "MD" part against him).  Link here.  The nano-particles were so large, that the normal cells could not get affected by the toxic melittin.   The melittin couldn't harm the normal cells, because they were TOO BIG.  But HIV is a sneaky little virus, encapsulated, with it's own little defense mechanism.

Well HIV, meet BEES!   That's right, Bees!  And the melittin in the bee venom stung the hell out of the HIV, poking holes in it, rendering it useless, while leaving the normal cells unaffected.  Hood hopes to develop a vaginal cream that is loaded with these nano particles that can be applied by women in areas rampantly affected by HIV - like Africa, Haiti, and other hot spots.

This is Science at its best.   Nano-particles, geometry, virology, immunology, biochemistry.  I bet none of the researchers who worked on this think the Earth is 6000 years old.  This is awesome.   This is - as my long deceased grandmother used to say "the bee's knees".  =)

I've been stung by bees, twice in my life, once between my fingers, and once on my arm.  No fun either time.   I was sorry to see the poor bee die, but she stung me.   I know bee venom is no laughing matter. I am delighted to see it stinging the hell out of HIV.

Historical Artifacts Destroy IDiots

I saw a fascinating show that I'd DVR'ed on Nat Geo last month, that was a necropsy of a giraffe (Inside Nature's Giants).  While dissecting the neck, they came across the vagus and laryngeal nerves, and showed how they start off in the brain, about 2 inches from the voice box, run 2 meters down the neck, around the arteries of the heart, and Back Up the neck to the giraffe's voice box.  The following video illustrates this:

Richard Dawkins Demonstrates Laryngeal Nerve of... by blindwatcher
[Tip of the hat to grrlscientist for this very handy link]

Now, Richard Dawkins is a very smart man, but like many smart people who think they are the smartest person in the room (or in the world) he can sometimes be more than a little abrasive, so I try to keep my exposure to him at a minimum.  I don't see him as a "science rock star" as much as I do a "angry, smug, bully" who would draw more bees with honey than he would with vinegar, but everyone has their own way of handling things.  I see no reason that those who are not atheists can be good scientists, just as Francis Collins has said repeatedly (and Collins and Dawkins are often at odds), whether that's a belief in Jesus Christ, or Vishnu, or the Big Electron (warning, this video link to George Carlin is not child safe) in the sky.

But the illustration of the laryngeal nerve inefficiency, routing DOWN a giraffe's neck and BACK UP, after millions of years of evolutionary change shows that it is NOT an intelligent design.  It's not even a mediocre design.  It's back-ass-wards.  It's illogical.  IDiots (those who cling to Intelligent Design Because their so-called Christian[TM] faith has such a weak foundation they can't handle thinking on their own as they hypocritically eat their pork products) subscribe to such a notion, but I don't, and I can't. 

...Wasn't Working For Me

Winchester Zombosium

On the BBC World radio broadcast this afternoon, I heard an interview with Dr Marcus Leaning of the University of Winchester, regarding their upcoming Zombosium in Winchester this weekend.  The Zombosium will study the popular appeal and how the media focuses upon zombies in film, TV, youtube, video games, etc. 




Now, before you dismiss this anecdote as "just zombie related", silly & superfluous, I propose the following theorem:  "We are all zombies, or are all fighting against zombies, in one degree or another". 

• If you own your home, is the mortgage underwater?  Or perhaps in a stagnant real estate market where your home's value is not growing? If so, you are a financial zombie.

• If you rent where you live, is your land lord benevolent, accommodating, forgiving, congenial without being over-bearing or intrusive?  Is your rent low, or even reasonable? Or can you not wait until your lease ends and you can get the heck out of there?  If so, you may be a rental zombie, shuffling through time until your lease finally ends.

• If you are fully employed, have you been getting awesome raises each year, with awesome bonuses, that you've worked hard for and have earned?  Or have you worked hard, or maybe hardly worked, and your wages have risen 3%, 1%, or 0%?  If so, you are an indentured zombie; working hard, Fast Zombie like 28 Days Later, hardly working, slow Sean of the Dead like zombies.

• Are you under-employed, or employed in the United States and you have no health insurance, because you don't live in Massachusetts, Vermont, or San Francisco?  You are trying to keep from getting sick because you can't afford a trip to the emergency room?  If so, then you are a zombie-in-waiting, or a "stasis zombie".  One good accident or injury, and you'll fully embrace being a zombie too.

The best Thelma & Scooby depiction, Ever

• If you are a die hard Republican, and you're not LDS or not a Billionaire who has embraced Mitt Romney, and your preferred candidate can't seem to break into double digits in the polls and probably won't even be considered for a vice presidential slot in 2012?  If so, you are somewhat of a conservative zombie.

• If you voted for Barack Obama and hoped for change and a reform of the corrupt federal political system which has strangled the middle class in America, and instead have seen a continuation of Bush's policies, with one iFold after another from your winning President and his party of collapsing spelunkers, and you are more than slightly disappointed at one failure after another to stand up to the orange man, the whiner from Virginia, and the oligarchical fraternity known as The Family?  If so, you are a disillusioned progressive zombie.

So you see, whether you ARE a zombie yourself, or your neighbors have already been bitten by one, or perhaps you have friends or family who have been affected... you are among zombies.  Zombies are not glorious or sexy or attractive in any way.  They are repulsive, nasty and slowly decaying.  Zombies are voracious, and they don't stop, until Winter freezes them, or they decompose to the point of no longer being ambulatory, or you take out their brain stem - the old reptilian vestige that evolved into the wondrous brain bouncing around inside of each of our craniums today.  And having such a zombie threat all around us, that we cannot (legally) lash out against, is more than a little bit frustrating.  So seeing the protagonists in Zombieland, The Walking Dead, or a myriad of other vehicles take out the living dead, fight against the over-whelming forces that are trying to devour them... well...  I can see the appeal in that.


Tip of the hat to Dr Zaius for several of the images on this page.  May he continue to fight against the imposing zombie horde to his last simian breath.

Evolution Ale

While traveling through Vernal Utah last week, I had the opportunity to sample a bottle of Evolution Ale at the Dinosaur Brew Haus.  I'm not a big beer fan anymore, but dayum, this stuff was tasty!  A nice dark amber, no bitter beer taste.  Smooth, delicious, refreshing.  

I was delighted to buy alcohol in a state populated by a majority of tea totaling latter day saints.  Wasatch Brewery is to be congratulated on this fine brew.   Highly recommended.  If we would have had more room in the car, I would have brought home a twelve pack or two.

And their label....  LOL!   Hilarious! 

Dr Desert Flower really thinks that Utah has a VAST under-ground community of free thinking, fun, non-Morons, who are much more granola than they are Orin Hatch.  Utah CERTAINLY has the landscape for hikers, para gliders, gliders, extreme outdoor sporters, kayakers, naturalists, geologists, paleontologists, archeologists....  she may be right.  A vast silent, non-voting (or out-numbered) under-ground.

Zombie Evolution

This made me laugh the first time I saw it... and I smile each time I see it there-after.

No Turning Back - The Sherbs

My freshman year college room mate, John L, had this Sherbs album.  I heard this song (the "hit single" from the album) ad nauseum that year in our dorm room.  When I heard the BBC news caster this afternoon say there was "no turning back" in Libya for Gaddafi's regime... this is the first word association that came to mind.

Bahrain opposition is taking note of Libya?  Well... the Bahrain monarchy is allied with the oil rich Saudis and never tried to assassinate members of the Saudi family as Gaddafi did.  So it really doesn't matter.

Syrian citizens are taking note of Libya?  Yes, well, the Assad regime is still being well funded by oil rich Iran, and shows no signs of stopping it's brutal and violent crack down on protesters all around the Assyrian empire.

The puppetry will continue, in its brutal, well funded, media-suppressed function, until the citizens are cowed into submission or killed. There's "no turning back" - and that's the W0RD.

Still 1.0

I absolutely had / have all the aspects of Geek 1.0, but I have not yet fully evolved to Geek 2.0 yet. 

I know several of JustJoeP blog followers are indeed 2.0 (but perhaps, without the night vision contact lenses, just yet.)

Where on the Geek evolutionary scale are you?

Teach Both!

We Should Not Stop at teaching just Creationism & Evolution.  All quack theories that are not peer reviewed or empirically evidenced based NEED to be taught.  Phrenology alongside neurology, astrology alongside astrology, alchemy alongside chemistry, magic alongside relativity, our kids need to be exposed to all of these, so they can decide for themselves!!!

Even A Child Could Understand

This is truly beautiful in its simplicity and directness. 

My apologies to those visitors who are severely color-blind (my father included).  There are indeed, many shades of gray (or brown, I've been told, if you are color blind) shown above.

Pragmatic Arizona Head Gear

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I went out and bought a cowboy hat while we were in Sedona.  Dr Desert Flower had already gotten a pink cow girl hat with her previous employer years ago, which I put down as silly, superfluous, and "I'll never get one".  But with the advent of the convertible purchase, and the intensity of the solar radiation here in Arizona, I figured it would be practical to get something that could cover my head, face, and shoulders to prevent sun burn.

DDF's is made in Sri Lanka.  Mine was made in Australia.  (I just wanted to make sure a Cowboy Hat was not made in China).  It works pretty well, but in a windy convertible, the chin strap is necessary to keep it from flying off on the highway.  Haven't worn it yet in the rain... and I think my 'vented' model will make that a rather wet experience, but the vents help to cool my head in the extreme Arizona heat.

Centuries of evolution and iteration have produced a western style hat that works well, and gets the job done.  Even a grumpy old guy like me can be convinced of its merits, given enough time and motivation.

Go Fly A Spanish Black Kite

NPR aired an interesting piece this afternoon on Spanish scientist who have an abundance of patience and time (link here).  For 5 years, these evolutionary biologists have been studying and video taping 127 black kites and their nesting behaviour.  The scientists added white plastic to the nests, and the biggest, strongest kites with the most vitality not only kept the white plastic in their nests, but they gathered up more.  The younger and most elderly, weaker Spanish kites had no interest in the white plastic, and actually removed it from their nests.

The Spanish scientists observed that the kites are a war-like bunch of birds, with the white plastic drawing attention to nests and causing birds to try and attack the nests.  The strongest black kites powerfully defended their nests, and backed up the advertising that the plastic implied "Hey baby, I'm here and I'm available!"  The smaller and less physically strong black kites who could not back up bravado jettisoned the plastic the scientists added.  This is very interesting from an evolutionary sense, but 5 years on kites?   I do enjoy my afternoons in the back yard in the company of various species of hummingbird, lizard, tarantula hawk, wasp, and honey bee, but I do not have the patience (or the grant funding) to videotape 127 nests for 5 years.

In a nod to evolution and observation of the natural world, I did catch this image of His Noodly Majesty yesterday afternoon as he appeared to me, after I finished a few hundred sit ups.  Ramen.

Evolution For The Masses

Evolution, illustrated so simply that even Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell could follow it.  Thanks Matt G.

Cash Incentives, To Do What Your Parents Should Have Taught You?

Speaking of "Cash", on the other side of the spectrum, I heard a NPR story (link here) this morning that almost made my head explode. Cindy Rodriguez had a story of how "nonprofits are encouraging social change with cash incentives". HUH?!?!?! "Some results are in from a program in New York, where the city has been paying poor families to engage in positive behaviors, like going to the doctor more regularly. The goal is to boost incomes and help these families move out of poverty but after three years, the program ends this summer." It's gone on for 3 years?? Wha-wha-whaaaa??

Paying people to go to the doctor and dentist? Paying kids to go to school? No no no!!! That is utter stupidity. It is not "encouraging social change". It's anti-evolutionary. You don't have to be a 'behavioral economist' like Dan Ariely to come to the conclusion that giving out cash payments to the poor devalues the very behaviors that humans need to do to stay alive, and to pull themselves up out of poverty eventually. It breeds dependency on the government every tiny step of the way.

80 years ago, when my relatives used to walk down the rail road tracks in East Chicago near the steel mills, hoping to find stray pieces of coal that fell off the coal rail cars, in order to warm their homes, and when they searched for one more penny in the floor boards to buy a 16 cent loaf of bread, they were not expecting a government check in the mail to pay them to do essential things like going to the doctor and going to school. If you don't go to the doctor, to get your government subsidized medicaid, then you can get sick and you can die. If you don't go to school to LEARN SOMETHING, to better yourself, to pull yourself out of poverty someday, to be able to send your children to college someday if you ever have a child, then that's your choice. Stay in your rut of poverty, don't work hard, don't learn anything - But Do Not expect a check from the government to PAY YOU to go to school.

"A bit controversial, and still unproven"? No, it's a dumb program that needs to end. It never should have been started. Upon listening to the story again, At Least it is not my tax dollars that have been used to fund it - it's been paid for by private charitable foundations. Good. "Terrence Flowers is a Junior at FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety In Brooklyn, and over the last few years, the 17 year old has said his GPA went from a 75 average to a 90. "I just needed a push" Terrence said. Cindy Rodriguez then adds "The push came in the form of cash incentives". No, the push needed to come from Terrence's mother and father, who should have kicked his behind and made sure he was doing his school work. "Paying $50 a month for keeping near perfect attendance... it's also paying him $600 for each (standardized test) he passes. In all he's earned about $3000" - UUUGHHHH!! Must... Turn.. Off... Radio... Before.. Head.. Explodes!

My paternal grand parents and father and maternal great grand parents immigrated to the US without so much as a pot to piss in. By working hard, and instill a strong work ethic into their families, and disciplining them to remain focused and make something of themselves, without cash payments to do the things that one needs to do to remain alive and to advance through life. Yes, we did eat blocks of government cheese that my maternal grand mother gave us for a year or so after my dad was laid off from Rand McNally in the early 70s, and we did scrape by, but we never expected a government check to go to the doctor, pass a test at school, or just to go to school. What kind of twisted, misguided, social incentive is that?? It instills all the wrong belief paradigms.

"$1200 is in a savings account, and the rest has been spent on a new cell phone and plenty of designer clothes and shoes." UGGGGHHH!!! Ever hear of Wrangler, Mossimo, St John's Bay, Toughskins? They're ALOT less expensive... and how will designer clothes help to get you to even community college? "Deez are da Pradas"... This is not helping anyone out of poverty, it's perpetuating a welfare state and diving deeper into Idiocracy.

I'm gonna play my drum set now, and think happy thoughts... and never think about Cindy Rodriguez's ridiculous radio story ever again. Enough said. Rant over.