Friday, May 30, 2008

Savages! Let us teach and enlighten them...

An uncontacted indigenous tribe was photographed in South America on the Brazilian and Peruvian border. The pictures were taken from a plane by the Brazilian government to prove the tribes existence as well as protect them. 
Apparently there approx 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide. I don't know how they can have any kind of accurate count of something they have not seen but... Anyway, more than half of those tribes live in Brazil and Peru. 
Indeigenous tribes are at risk of extinction due to human interaction. Logging is a major problem along with disease. They can die from a common cold cause their bodies can't defend against our diseases. They can however live in the rainforest without dying from Malaria.

So they will remain uncontacted. My question is why? Are we protecting them or just looking at em like a damn ant farm. Some would argue that their souls needs saving. We know they can't make it to heaven unless they hear about Baby Jesus. For the record I would be completely against contacting them. We should make sure we keep clear of their lands and don't destroy their habitat. But I have to wonder if I would want to be contacted if I were them... I mean these people don't know who Mike Jordan, Jackson or Tyson is! Maybe they would like chillaxin1 in the air conditioning, microwaving a hot pocket and playing Rockband on an 42" HDTV. 


Welcome to the Jungle
Look at them pointing arrows at the plane. 
They may have put the red and black war paint 
on after the plane made it's first pass. 

The one painted black is a woman. 
I wonder what they think of the plane. 

They are a pretty good sized tribe. I really like this picture. 
Doesn't it look like this plane is a huge deal to them? They look scared.

1 Chillaxin: chillin and relaxing at the same time


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Monday, May 26, 2008

...Not So Bad

Now a days something like this doesn't really count. 7 people were killed by midwest tornadoes on sunday. 6 people in Iowa and a toddler in Minnesota. But this aint too bad right.

I mean only 7 people, thats nothing compared to China or Burma or New Orleans... Really? Ask somebody who knew one of those 7 victims. Ask the owner of the home in that picture. What is the measure of storm severity? 

The strength of the storm would be pretty accurate, but then if the strongest hurricane in the world spins around the Atlantic, never breaking shore it doesn't matter. 

So then maybe it's the number of people affected, but then a weaker storm hitting in a heavily populated area would be "worse" than a much stronger storm where say "only" 7 people die.

So maybe it should be damage in dollars, but then a place like Miami or L.A. will always have the worst storms cause of how expensive the houses, cars, stores and business lost and all that shit is. A Terrible storm can hit an impoverished nation and "not be so bad" cause those people didn't have much to loose anyway.

Now-a-days I think it's really all about exposure (of course relativity too, but more exposure). If the TV decides that this disaster is good for business than they report on it. Good for business means they have a lot of pictures, somebody famous is involved, the numbers are outrageous, it scares us, and a lot of other shit like that. Good for business does not necessarily mean you need to hear it, or you can do something about it, or unfortunately that it's accurate. 


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Friday, May 23, 2008

MC Ricky D Finally Free

New York Governor David Patterson is granting Slick Rick a FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL PARDON for the attempted murders of two men in 1991.

This will finally halt the deportation efforts trying to send Rick the Ruler to his birthplace the UK.

Rick served more than five years in prison for the 1991 shooting of his cousin and another man who both survived.

More recently he spent more than a year in prison when he was arrested in 2002 on a 1997 warrant. Agents got him as he returned to Miami from a weeklong cruise where he was a featured performer.

The Gov. said in his announcement-
"Mr Walters has fully served the sentence imposed upon him for his convictions, had an exemplary disciplinary record while in prison and on parole, and has been living without incident in the community for more than 10 years." He also said. "I urge immigration officials to once again grant Mr. Walters relief from deportation, so that he is not separated from his many family members who are United States citizens, including his two teenage children."

All I can say is I'm glad Slick Rick is finally free.

Some choice Slick Rick Joints to check for:
La-Di-Da-Di
Children's Story
Hey Young World
Who Rotten Em
Street Talkin
Trapped in Me
Why, Why, Why


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I'M BACK!

Edvard Munch's The Scream, stolen by armed robbers in 2004 is back on display. Recovered in 2006, the painting underwent restoration by experts due to damage. It was pulled from it's frame and has a stain from a damp spot in the bottom left corner. The robbers also stole Munch's Madonna it is back on display too. 

The paintings were stolen by two armed men who threatened staff members and then ripped the paintings of the wall. They believe they ripped them out of the frames because they feared tracking devices.
 
Apparently the painting is now believed to had been painted in 1910- not 1893 like thought previously.

I have always been a fan of this painting, but who isn't? Do you remember when it was on The Simpsons?

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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Fear + Ignorance =


This is a scene from South Africa where a wave of anti-immigrant violence has broken out. At least 22 people have been killed since Friday. The violence is directed at the 3-5 million foreigners who flocked to the country hoping to escape from poverty and violence in an  apartheid free South Africa. 

Many of the victims are Zimbabweans who are estimated to number up to 3 million there. At least 2 people were burned as we can see above. Large numbers of immigrants have taken to turning themselves in to local police for protection from angry mobs.  
 
This criminal xenophobia is not a new phenomenon many of these victims were lucky survivors of this same type of thing before. Unfortunately these people have become the scapegoats in the never ending Place-Blame-Game. High unemployment, a housing shortage, and one of the worlds worst crime rates are some of the things "the others" are being blamed for this time.  

Who's interest is it in? What is really gained from this type of desperate violence? At some point regular people decide maybe they'll give the mob thing a chance, and the next thing they know they are cheering while somebody gets murdered. What can be done to fix a situation like this?  


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Saturday, May 17, 2008

Chester Copperpot

 So by now it's not news to you that you my friends are mortal. One of these days everybody is going to die (unless you are a vampire or some other type of Duncan McCloud of the Clan McCloud immortal) 

What if nobody shows up to your funeral? Do you care, you're dead already... How bout this, what if nobody even knew you died at all?

Hedviga Golik of Zagreb Croatia died some 35 years ago, but was not found until this week. It's hard to write about this cause so many questions come up as I write the "facts". (I'll try  with this color change. The story as reported from BBC.com will be in red, my thoughts will be in black.) Forensics experts estimate she died in 1973, which is the last time anybody (a neighbor) saw her. They say it looks like natural causes but "it's almost impossible to say for certain". (bullshit, if it was important to them they'd figure it out. They got all types of forensic techniques they use on wrapped mummy's, your gonna tell me they can't figure that out) Some neighbors claim she spoke of going abroad. Residents of her loft building broke into her apartment after deciding that it should belong to them and not to her. But if they knew her didn't they think she would say goodbye or that they would see something happen with the apartment? So 35 years later they say, hey we have not seen her since she mentioned going on vacation, I think I should own her apartment. Startled by the remains in the bed they called the police who say nobody ever reported her missing, and no one has come to claim her body. Her windows were left open (for 35 years! No leaks or building damage?) likely diminishing the smell. It remains unclear who - if anyone- has been paying her bills and who exactly owns the apartment. Apartments were state-owned when Golik died in the 70's.

35 years... How can nobody ever have cared enough to check on the lil old lady. It seems weird that they decided they should own it and broke in. Sounds a bit criminal, shouldn't they have gotten somebody before they went in. How bout if there was a ton of cash in there too and somebody snatched it before the cops got there? Sorry to be such a cynic but the whole thing  comes off weird to me.

It's gonna happen and I can't control how or when but I can make a lasting impression on this world while I'm here. The day that I die will be a sad day for people across the globe and the ages. 

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Support America!

So you may have noticed Obama sporting the uber patriotic flag pin lately. I thought he was playing risky before by not wearing it, but then he defended himself and it made perfect sense. (He basically pointed out how people were fakin and wearing that shit just to look like they gave two shits)
Conservatives have used his lack of lapel pin along with his middle name (Hussein which he was given before Saddam made a name for himself) and whatever else they can to make him look unpatriotic. The funny thing is John McCain and Hillary Clinton don't wear em... actually if you go back to the first debates for either side you'll only find 4 candidates with the pins on.

I for one was opposed to the whole post 9/11 flag craze. As I started seeing the flag being used a symbol for 9/11 I became more and more worried cause it looked like propaganda to me. I think it played a big role in making people believe that "the terrorists hate us because of our freedom" and "if you're not with us you're against us". Why do people think that by putting a flag sticker on your car or wearing a flag shirt (which is against official flag guidelines) makes them more patriotic? A better question might be why do people think loving the flag makes them patriotic? I guess the definition can be debated, but it sure aint wearing some pin while you help the country gown down the hole.


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That's the Ticket!

Now that looks like a winning combination. Like I said before I got no beef with Clinton, but I think her and Obama teaming up would be a little strange. Their campaigns have been goin at it pretty hard and I don't think teaming up would be the right look. Now Edwards... that's a horse of a different color. As far as being President of the US goes, I think Edwards could do as good a job as the rest of em. This wasn't his year cause of Obama vs. Clinton so I always figured he was the natural running mate for either nominee. I'm not sure why he lost to Kerry... I think people felt he was too young and inexperienced, now that Obama has overcome those obstacles I don't see what the down side to Edwards is. Both of these guys say they want to clean up the government. We've heard that shit before, but suppose they mean it. People want change and they have been promising some. 
Obama was estimated to pick up 60% of Edwards voters without the endorsement, but if they team up that obviously rises. Edwards still has 19 pledged delegates who can go either way, and apparently Edwards still got 7% of the vote in tuesdays West Virginia contest. That's 7% who still would prefer to make a statement with a vote for Edwards than pick between the two running. I know that Huckabee and Ron Paul still pull a remarkable percantage in the Republican contests... those could be Democratic votes with the right speeches from Jordan and Bird. If they were able to pull the whole thing off and actually put their money where their mouths are it could lead to 2 Obama terms followed by 2 Edwards terms. I don't think that has ever happened where a 2 term VP went on to become a 2 term President, George H.W. Bush tried but lost to Clinton. (11 have served 2 terms, and Franklin D Roosevelt actually served 3 and died early into his 4th)
 
I guess the final matter is what does Hillary do? She has fought hard and deserves a place in the administration. Secretary of State seems to be the natural choice. But I am not suggesting some token assignment, she should be used in a capacity where she will be effective and respected. As long as she figures out how to get out of this race the right way she's earned the respect. 




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Disaster

Death tolls are a tricky thing. Everyday or every so many hours the death toll for the number of people confirmed dead or missing jumps. I realize this is a tragic reflection of the devastation, but how is it that 20,000 can be confirmed dead, than in an hour 30,000 are confirmed dead? Who is counting the bodies? I'm not trying to make light of this, it's really weird to me. 
 
My main concern with these numbers is how this storm or that tragedy is considered the worst of all time based on some estimated number. Everything is a competition, all of a sudden Burma is out of the news and China is in. 
 
China's death toll is expected to top 50,000 while Burma's state media have raised the official death toll to 43,318 with 27,838 missing, how do they get these numbers? How can 100,000 people all just die within such a short time frame? So close to each other too. 
 
I am curious as to what happens next on a personal level. If your whole city is just ruined, you obviously loose some if not all friends and family members. How do you go on when everything is gone? 


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Thursday, May 8, 2008

There's Only 4 Years Left


You may be wondering what there is only 4 years til, well that's simple my friends, 4 years til Election 2012! But we are still in the 2008 running you say, well who isn't growing tired of this endless political contest? This primary season could've used a lock-out or something. We've doing this since like October of 2007 now. Can we figure out a national primary week, or two weeks, or month? Why have we drug this out to the point where Guam and Puerto Rico are drawing the eyes of the nation about selecting the U.S. President. (just so you know I'm not mad at Guam, P.R. or any other territory, it's the Democratic strategy that put them into this position)
 
After seeing the outcome of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, it's time now to tell Hillary Clinton to call it quits. She could do the job, and I do like the idea of everyone's voice being heard but this just aint her year. Why ask for her to quit? Don't worry, I have not bought into that type of talk for the purpose of unifying the party, or cause they're giving the Republicans ammo... bullshit. For me it's the fact that Obama has won more votes from the people, it is basically impossible for her to catch up. She has been pulling out these stats including Michigan and Florida results, knowing that they do not count. She has been playing with words and this silly gas tax holiday, knowing that it won't do us drivers any good. Who's out of touch? I am frustrated by the government. Why is she in the race unless she is counting on using the same old tricks that we are all so tired of? It does the most damage to her own reputation if she can't see what's best for her party. It's time for change in this country and her brand of novelty is too familiar. 
 
I wonder if it's even possible for Obama to deliver the type of sweeping reforms he's touting? I don't think he can do it, but if he delivers half-way on half of his promises (which is more than I expect from politicians) that will be a start. 


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