Graphic of the Day - Sarlacc Schematic

Given the Star Wars craze enveloping the land of late due to the impending release of the next movie in that franchise I do here share this wonderfully esoteric diagram filled with entirely fictional bio-minutia on the dreaded Sarlacc of Return of the Jedi infamy.
Note: click and then click again for magnification of image.
Image courtesy unknown artist via a chan (all rights reserved).

Bringing You The Sun

I found this most excellent progressive trance track tonight quite by providence. I always enjoy making new discoveries. This is "Bring You The Sun" by the British trance band Trilucid.

Quote of the Day - Agent Smith

Of late I have noted with satisfaction that there is tangible progress in both my own life and personal growth as well as in that of one particular person extremely close to me. This follows years of stagnation for both of us. This has happened and continues to do so by the grace of God who taught us many things during that Great Stagnation. From this period we continue to draw meaning and identify new lessons applicable to now. While pondering upon these things, a particular sequence of comments from the second Matrix movie as spoken by Agent Smith has come to mind frequently of late. Today I shared this sequence with mom and showed her the scene in the movie in which it appears. I now share this here with you because this is a universal truth applicable to any and all people regardless if they know God or not. We were all created for a purpose and we need purpose in order to derive meaning and connectivity to the universe and the God who created it and all it contains.

Each line is spoken by a different Agent Smith clone/copy to the character Neo. The first line is spoken by the original Agent Smith followed in order by various other versions of himself.

"There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist."
"It is purpose that created us."
"Purpose that connects us."
"Purpose that pulls us."
"That guides us."
"That drives us."
"It is purpose that defines us."
"Purpose that binds us."

Graphic of the Day - Volcanic Eruption Comparison

The Emperor's New Clothes

By Hans Christian Andersen

Many years ago, there was an Emperor, who was so excessively fond of new clothes, that he spent all his money in dress. He did not trouble himself in the least about his soldiers; nor did he care to go either to the theatre or the chase, except for the opportunities then afforded him for displaying his new clothes. He had a different suit for each hour of the day; and as of any other king or emperor, one is accustomed to say, "he is sitting in council," it was always said of him, "The Emperor is sitting in his wardrobe."

Time passed merrily in the large town which was his capital; strangers arrived every day at the court. One day, two rogues, calling themselves weavers, made their appearance. They gave out that they knew how to weave stuffs of the most beautiful colors and elaborate patterns, the clothes manufactured from which should have the wonderful property of remaining invisible to everyone who was unfit for the office he held, or who was extraordinarily simple in character.

"These must, indeed, be splendid clothes!" thought the Emperor. "Had I such a suit, I might at once find out what men in my realms are unfit for their office, and also be able to distinguish the wise from the foolish! This stuff must be woven for me immediately." And he caused large sums of money to be given to both the weavers in order that they might begin their work directly.

So the two pretended weavers set up two looms, and affected to work very busily, though in reality they did nothing at all. They asked for the most delicate silk and the purest gold thread; put both into their own knapsacks; and then continued their pretended work at the empty looms until late at night.

"I should like to know how the weavers are getting on with my cloth," said the Emperor to himself, after some little time had elapsed; he was, however, rather embarrassed, when he remembered that a simpleton, or one unfit for his office, would be unable to see the manufacture. To be sure, he thought he had nothing to risk in his own person; but yet, he would prefer sending somebody else, to bring him intelligence about the weavers, and their work, before he troubled himself in the affair. All the people throughout the city had heard of the wonderful property the cloth was to possess; and all were anxious to learn how wise, or how ignorant, their neighbors might prove to be.

"I will send my faithful old minister to the weavers," said the Emperor at last, after some deliberation, "he will be best able to see how the cloth looks; for he is a man of sense, and no one can be more suitable for his office than be is."

So the faithful old minister went into the hall, where the knaves were working with all their might, at their empty looms. "What can be the meaning of this?" thought the old man, opening his eyes very wide. "I cannot discover the least bit of thread on the looms." However, he did not express his thoughts aloud.

The impostors requested him very courteously to be so good as to come nearer their looms; and then asked him whether the design pleased him, and whether the colors were not very beautiful; at the same time pointing to the empty frames. The poor old minister looked and looked, he could not discover anything on the looms, for a very good reason, viz: there was nothing there. "What!" thought he again. "Is it possible that I am a simpleton? I have never thought so myself; and no one must know it now if I am so. Can it be, that I am unfit for my office? No, that must not be said either. I will never confess that I could not see the stuff."

"Well, Sir Minister!" said one of the knaves, still pretending to work. "You do not say whether the stuff pleases you."

"Oh, it is excellent!" replied the old minister, looking at the loom through his spectacles. "This pattern, and the colors, yes, I will tell the Emperor without delay, how very beautiful I think them."

"We shall be much obliged to you," said the impostors, and then they named the different colors and described the pattern of the pretended stuff. The old minister listened attentively to their words, in order that he might repeat them to the Emperor; and then the knaves asked for more silk and gold, saying that it was necessary to complete what they had begun. However, they put all that was given them into their knapsacks; and continued to work with as much apparent diligence as before at their empty looms.

The Emperor now sent another officer of his court to see how the men were getting on, and to ascertain whether the cloth would soon be ready. It was just the same with this gentleman as with the minister; he surveyed the looms on all sides, but could see nothing at all but the empty frames.

"Does not the stuff appear as beautiful to you, as it did to my lord the minister?" asked the impostors of the Emperor's second ambassador; at the same time making the same gestures as before, and talking of the design and colors which were not there.

"I certainly am not stupid!" thought the messenger. "It must be, that I am not fit for my good, profitable office! That is very odd; however, no one shall know anything about it." And accordingly he praised the stuff he could not see, and declared that he was delighted with both colors and patterns. "Indeed, please your Imperial Majesty," said he to his sovereign when he returned, "the cloth which the weavers are preparing is extraordinarily magnificent."

The whole city was talking of the splendid cloth which the Emperor had ordered to be woven at his own expense.

And now the Emperor himself wished to see the costly manufacture, while it was still in the loom. Accompanied by a select number of officers of the court, among whom were the two honest men who had already admired the cloth, he went to the crafty impostors, who, as soon as they were aware of the Emperor's approach, went on working more diligently than ever; although they still did not pass a single thread through the looms.

"Is not the work absolutely magnificent?" said the two officers of the crown, already mentioned. "If your Majesty will only be pleased to look at it! What a splendid design! What glorious colors!" and at the same time they pointed to the empty frames; for they imagined that everyone else could see this exquisite piece of workmanship.

"How is this?" said the Emperor to himself. "I can see nothing! This is indeed a terrible affair! Am I a simpleton, or am I unfit to be an Emperor? That would be the worst thing that could happen--Oh! the cloth is charming," said he, aloud. "It has my complete approbation." And he smiled most graciously, and looked closely at the empty looms; for on no account would he say that he could not see what two of the officers of his court had praised so much. All his retinue now strained their eyes, hoping to discover something on the looms, but they could see no more than the others; nevertheless, they all exclaimed, "Oh, how beautiful!" and advised his majesty to have some new clothes made from this splendid material, for the approaching procession. "Magnificent! Charming! Excellent!" resounded on all sides; and everyone was uncommonly gay. The Emperor shared in the general satisfaction; and presented the impostors with the riband of an order of knighthood, to be worn in their button-holes, and the title of "Gentlemen Weavers."

The rogues sat up the whole of the night before the day on which the procession was to take place, and had sixteen lights burning, so that everyone might see how anxious they were to finish the Emperor's new suit. They pretended to roll the cloth off the looms; cut the air with their scissors; and sewed with needles without any thread in them. "See!" cried they, at last. "The Emperor's new clothes are ready!"

And now the Emperor, with all the grandees of his court, came to the weavers; and the rogues raised their arms, as if in the act of holding something up, saying, "Here are your Majesty's trousers! Here is the scarf! Here is the mantle! The whole suit is as light as a cobweb; one might fancy one has nothing at all on, when dressed in it; that, however, is the great virtue of this delicate cloth."

"Yes indeed!" said all the courtiers, although not one of them could see anything of this exquisite manufacture.

"If your Imperial Majesty will be graciously pleased to take off your clothes, we will fit on the new suit, in front of the looking glass."

The Emperor was accordingly undressed, and the rogues pretended to array him in his new suit; the Emperor turning round, from side to side, before the looking glass.

"How splendid his Majesty looks in his new clothes, and how well they fit!" everyone cried out. "What a design! What colors! These are indeed royal robes!"

"The canopy which is to be borne over your Majesty, in the procession, is waiting," announced the chief master of the ceremonies.

"I am quite ready," answered the Emperor. "Do my new clothes fit well?" asked he, turning himself round again before the looking glass, in order that he might appear to be examining his handsome suit.

The lords of the bedchamber, who were to carry his Majesty's train felt about on the ground, as if they were lifting up the ends of the mantle; and pretended to be carrying something; for they would by no means betray anything like simplicity, or unfitness for their office.

So now the Emperor walked under his high canopy in the midst of the procession, through the streets of his capital; and all the people standing by, and those at the windows, cried out, "Oh! How beautiful are our Emperor's new clothes! What a magnificent train there is to the mantle; and how gracefully the scarf hangs!" in short, no one would allow that he could not see these much-admired clothes; because, in doing so, he would have declared himself either a simpleton or unfit for his office. Certainly, none of the Emperor's various suits, had ever made so great an impression, as these invisible ones.

"But the Emperor has nothing at all on!" said a little child.

"Listen to the voice of innocence!" exclaimed his father; and what the child had said was whispered from one to another.

"But he has nothing at all on!" at last cried out all the people. The Emperor was vexed, for he knew that the people were right; but he thought the procession must go on now! And the lords of the bedchamber took greater pains than ever, to appear holding up a train, although, in reality, there was no train to hold.

Source: The Literature Network

Graphic of the Day - CA Drought November 2015

This is the latest graphic representation of the ongoing historic drought in California as presented by NOAA (all rights reserved). Note: the drought has not be much alleviated by recent rains and thus we are still in severe drought at this point into the ongoing powerful El Niño.

Insomnia

Last night I had great difficulty unwinding after getting off working a wedding at Santa Margarita Ranch at 10:30 p.m. I did not end up starting sleep until in the 3 a.m. hour which brought to my mind the iconic progressive trip-hop/house/trance track "Insomnia" by the British electronica band Faithless featured below (radio version) which was released 20 years ago this month.

A longer version of this track (the album version) with additional extended lyrics is below.

Scripture of the Day - Isaiah

This passage of scripture just came to my mind, loud and clear, for I know not why:

"Someone calls to me out of Mount Seir, 'Watchman, how much of the night remains? Watchman, how much longer till morning?'"
~ Isaiah 21:11 (Kimicus ad Absurdum translation)

Graphic of the Day - Denair Tornado

NWS Sacramento conducted a field investigation of the tornado in Denair, CA, four days ago which caused a notable amount of damage, especially for a California tornado. Here they took a GoogleEarth image of the location affected by the storm and overlay it with tornado track and intensity data. Image courtesy of NWS/NOAA (all rights reserved).

Tale of Two Syrian Refugee Memes

Liberals and Conservatives think and act the same way and must be grouped together taxonomically given their similarities. Their collective group comprises seemingly of some of the dumbest members of the human race now walking the earth. They are also some of the most horrible human beings prone to ugly outbursts of hatefulness. Below are two memes I ripped tonight from the Facebook Walls of two of my Facebook "friends." They are tangible evidence of Conservatives' and Liberals' vile and pseudo-intellectual tendencies.

Conservative anti-Syrian refugee meme employing logical fallacy.
Actually, ALL of those snakes would bite you and most probably none of those refugees would attack you.
Conservatives are snakes!

Liberal pro-Syrian refugee meme employing logical fallacy.
In 1939 there were not incidents of Jewish refugees blowing shit up and shooting up concert halls in Europe.
Liberals are worse than Nazis!

Graphic of the Day - Enhanced Fujita Scale

In light of the damaging tornado in Denair, CA, two days ago it seems appropriate to review a primer on the updated version of the Fujita Scale of tornado intensity known as the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Only In California: Dude, It's a Huge Tornado!

Below are two typical California responses to the less-unusual-than-one-might-think phenomenon known as the California tornado. The below tornado struck the Central Valley town of Denair, CA, yesterday afternoon resulting in damage to the Stanislaus County community, but no injuries. 

Picture of the Day - Psychedelic Pluto

This is Pluto and it is actually a false-color scientific image taken last July 14th and enhanced by NASA using something called principal component analysis to "amplify the subtle shade differences between Pluto's regions". For more read HERE.
Image courtesy of NASA (all rights reserved).

Bobby Thinks

If I graded this work I'd give the kid full credit because he did answer the question.
Courtesy of peterfromtexas as seen on BoingBoing.net (all rights reserved)

Quote of the Day - Thomas Paine

Last night on Facebook I saw an entire discussion about how Jews and Israelis and the Mossad were behind the Paris attacks last night. It was utterly bizarre and surreal to see and even more so to debate against as I did. I did manage to score enough ridicule points that I was variously blocked/unfriended by the other participants for which I am mildly proud. I saw this quote this morning and immediately thought of last night's pseudo-intellectual circus on Facebook.

"To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture." ~ Thomas Paine

The Eternal City Made Mortal

Tonight's attack in Paris by apparently eight or so ISIS commandos in simultaneous attacks on six different locations within the French capitol killing up to 129 (89 at a music concert hall) with 352 wounded (99 in critical condition) leaves me feeling both sad and mad and of those on multiple levels. I feel so sad for the dead and wounded and their loved ones. I feel mad that vile filth walk the earth feeling entitled to take other people's lives and health and happiness without any valid justification and even exult in doing it. This event falls on the heels of the attempted train attack last summer which was thwarted by some off-duty American servicemen. Earlier in the year last winter, there was the Charlie Hebdo attack and now tonight's events have descended upon Paris.

I am sad and mad that my nation, sharing much collective guilt with a lot of other powerful and wealthy nations, did not prevent this from happening by way of stopping ISIS a couple of years ago when it would have been most feasible and before ISIS had killed so many tens of thousands of people in Syria and Iraq, many of them in such horrible ways as they have. The feckless non-leadership of the current President, who resides within his own mind in a lofty redoubt of moral and intellectual loftiness, has monumentally failed as a leader and as a man to fulfill his duties. This has resulted in harm to both the United States and to innocent peoples in the Levant. He once declared a phantasmal "line in the sand" in Syria which he failed to enforce all the while allowing both Republicans at home and V. Putin abroad to make a fool out of him by way of outmaneuvering his clumsy political and diplomatic machinations. Per usual, these machinations were ill-conceived and unfocused from the beginning until now. This resulted in no substantive measures being taken against ISIS. Subsequently, the President ordered the conduct of a tepid low-intensity war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq which was and continues to be strategically ineffectual. It was also easily one-upped by V. Putin when once he recently commenced air sorties by Russia's air force from within Syria. The current President also instituted an anemic program to train "good militants" to fight both the Syrian government and ISIS. The entire history of U.S. assistance to such fighters has been fraught with failure and mismanagement.

Of course, this is not to suggest the President of the United States is alone in being guilty of gross incompetence and inaction as it pertains to ISIS. Europe has dithered over what to do about this problem in typical contemporary European fashion. It might appear that the more decisively-minded genetic lines were killed off in the first two world wars. The Sunni Muslim community has failed to effectively fill the power gap left by the U.S. in this matter and instead provided material support to some of the worst elements in the conflict in hopes of defeating the Syrian government at any moral cost. The Shiite Muslim community has been guilty of supporting the Syrian regime while manipulating the internal politics of Iraq to favor Shiites disproportionately at the cost of undermining the legitimacy of the Iraqi government, especially as it pertains to Sunnis from whom Al Qaeda and ISIS derive and thrive thus adding fuel to the sectarian fires.

Surely this event will change France and the French and their way of looking at the world. It will also invariably contribute to the French reassesing how they see their own nation and the role of Muslims within it and that truly needs to happen. However, one wonders if it will also unleash an extremist Right-wing reaction and overcompensation to decades of French pussyfooting around with foolishly liberal immigration and welfare policies. These policies have caused France to become colonized by a people who to a great extent are not interested in becoming French so much as colonizing France in the image of the Old Country and its Old World culture. This won't work for modern French people who are proudly secular and liberal which is at odds with these extremist Muslim elements. These selfsame elements seem to find support enough within the Muslim immigrant society within France to operate with impunity within France. However, the blow-back may have already begun as I have read reports tonight of an immigrant encampment in Calais having caught fire and burned since the Paris attacks.

Graphic of the Day - What A Difference A Decade Makes

A decade ago a weak El Niño was underway which contrary to typical weak El Niños brought a tremendous amount of rain to California yet without disastrous flooding or mudslides. That was 2005, while this is now 2015 which finds California in the midst of the most powerful El Niño ever recorded (according to some metrics) and yet is still in its worst drought on record which is in its third year (not the longest on record but definitely the most severe). It would seem that if past patterns hold true this winter then this drought will either come to an end or at least be significantly reduced. Above is a comparison of nearby Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio. The water level difference is obvious between wet El Niño year and the third year of a crippling drought.
Image courtesy of NASA (all rights reserved).

Red Cups

I find it a curious thing that many of my Christian brothers and sisters are getting their panties in a wad about this Starbucks red cup tempest in a teapot. Secular Starbucks is trying to go the way of contemporary society's secular trend and tone down the Chistian-esque aspects of Christmas. Many Christians in response to this secularization are getting discomfited. This reaction is utter foolishness. Two thousand years ago God foretold that this would happen and it is happening right on time and it is His will. Christians who get hot and bothered by it are getting sucked into the infantile and myopic Culture War and ignoring the Big Picture. What is happening is supposed to happen so chill out, Christian people!

This discomfiture is also utterly ludicrous when juxtaposed with what other Christians in many other parts of the world are enduring at the hands of Islamists who are martyring them, sometimes en mass. With all that is going on out there to other Christians in the Developing World, for you alleged Christians in America living in relative affluence and safety to get up in arms over a damned red coffee cup indicates you are a faithless fool!

Many of these same idiot Christians also claim to believe in freedom and liberty and yet would deprive Starbucks' right to put anything they want on their coffee cups! This is tyranny by Christians upon the wicked to whom these Christians ought to be reaching out and ministering to them. If you don't like the secular trend of society then do something about it that is actually effective and being an asshole is not one of them.

Picture of the Day - Double La-La Land Lightening

This is perhaps the most sublime image of lightening over Los Angeles that my eyes have ever beheld. I am guessing this is from the recent storm that passed through that area in recent days. Photo by Emeric Le Bars (all rights reserved).

In Your Arms

Tonight I found "In Your Arms" by Canadian trance artist Somna featuring vocals by Englishwoman Emma Elizabeth. I found this trance track in a mix HERE and it immediately hooked me starting at about the 1:25 mark. Crank up your sound system and enjoy!