"I grew up in Europe, where the history comes from."
"I wanna live 'til I die, no more, no less."
"If you've never seen an elephant ski, you've never been on acid."
"Performing enhancing drugs are banned in the Olympics. Ok, we can
swing with that. But performance debilitating drugs should not be
banned. Smoke a joint and win the hundred meters, fair play to you.
That's pretty damn good. Unless someone's dangling a Mars bar off in
the distance."
"Guns don't kill people, people kill people, and monkeys do too (if they have a gun)."
"But then the Roman Empire fell like this - "oh shit". And we went into
what the historians called the Stupid Fucker period. Where everyone
was going -"er, I dunno. Is that a Roman road? Can we eat it?" Then
there was the dark Ages. " I can't even see you! Where are you?""
"I like my coffee like I like my women. In a plastic cup."
"But with dogs, we do have "bad dog." Bad dog exists. "Bad dog! Bad dog! Stole a biscuit, bad dog!" The dog is saying, "Who are you to judge me? You human beings who've had genocide, war against people of different creeds, colors, religions, and I stole a biscuit?! Is that a crime? People of the world!"
"Well, if you put it that way, I think you've got a point. Have another biscuit, sorry.""
"So in Europe, we had empires. Everyone had them - France and Spain and Britain and Turkey! The Ottoman Empire, full of furniture for some reason. And the Austro-Hungarian Empire, famous for fuck all! Yes, all they did was slowly collapse like a flan in a cupboard."
"Never put a sock in a toaster."
More:
http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/eddie_izzard/
http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/seaQuestDSV2032/Eddie.html
http://www.geocities.com/hystericalvibrator/izzardquotes.html
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eddie_Izzard
http://www.comedy-zone.net/quotes/Comedians/izzard.htm
Wednesday, 29 March 2006
Tuesday, 28 March 2006
Black holes: The ultimate quantum computers?
10:17 13 March 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Maggie McKee
Nearly all of the information that falls into a black hole escapes back out, a controversial new study argues. The work suggests that black holes could one day be used as incredibly accurate quantum computers - if enormous theoretical and practical hurdles can first be overcome.
Black holes are thought to destroy anything that crosses a point of no return around them called an "event horizon". But in the 1970s, Stephen Hawking used quantum mechanics to show black holes do emit radiation, which eventually evaporates them away completely.
Originally, he argued that this "Hawking radiation" is so random that it could carry no information out about what had fallen into the black hole. But this conflicted with quantum mechanics, which states that quantum information can never be lost. Eventually, Hawking changed his mind and in 2004 famously
conceded a bet, admitting that black holes do not destroy information.
Continues...
NewScientist.com news service
Maggie McKee
Nearly all of the information that falls into a black hole escapes back out, a controversial new study argues. The work suggests that black holes could one day be used as incredibly accurate quantum computers - if enormous theoretical and practical hurdles can first be overcome.
Black holes are thought to destroy anything that crosses a point of no return around them called an "event horizon". But in the 1970s, Stephen Hawking used quantum mechanics to show black holes do emit radiation, which eventually evaporates them away completely.
Originally, he argued that this "Hawking radiation" is so random that it could carry no information out about what had fallen into the black hole. But this conflicted with quantum mechanics, which states that quantum information can never be lost. Eventually, Hawking changed his mind and in 2004 famously
conceded a bet, admitting that black holes do not destroy information.
Continues...
Tuesday, 21 March 2006
Why did I choose this name for my blog?
"A map is not the territory it represents, but if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness." - Alfred Korzybski
The model is not the reality! A model is only useful insofar as it is isomorphic to reality. See also: epistemology.
The doctrine from General Semantics and subjective theory, later picked up by Neurolinguistic Programming, and in part supported by Neuroscientific Research and Quantum Theory, that humans in particular operate through a map of the world, rather than as the world really is. Physics makes generalizations about the world and models of the world, but physics is not the world. Psychology notes this difference between the map and the territory as the difference between perception (map) and sensation (territory). One of the goals of Zen Buddhism is to recognize this difference. The use of E-Prime by many writers attempts to more closely approximate the territory by avoiding the "is" of identity and adopting operational language. This doctrin was also hinted at by Freud with his concept of projection.
Confusion between map and territory often results in paradox.
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=75657
The Map Is Not The Territory
by Rex Steven Sikes
The father of general semantics, Alford Korzybski stated, "A map is not the territory it represents, but if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness". What this means is that our perception of reality is not reality itself but our own version of it, or our "map".
No two people can have exactly the same map. While we all have similar neurological structure, it functions differently in all of us. This is the basis for our problems in communication when we try to impose our map upon another person. Learning to recognize the structure of another person's map allows us to "see the world though their eyes" and therefor understand and relate to others respectfully and accurately.
Our maps are created through gathering data through the five senses. Our senses bring certain aspects of the world to our attention, which go through neurological processes or filters, forming our values, beliefs, criteria (rules), and capabilities. These are often expressed consciously, yet most of the time they operate outside of our awareness and we don't realize that they can be changed to serve us in better ways.
http://www.idea-seminars.com/articles/map.htm
The model is not the reality! A model is only useful insofar as it is isomorphic to reality. See also: epistemology.
The doctrine from General Semantics and subjective theory, later picked up by Neurolinguistic Programming, and in part supported by Neuroscientific Research and Quantum Theory, that humans in particular operate through a map of the world, rather than as the world really is. Physics makes generalizations about the world and models of the world, but physics is not the world. Psychology notes this difference between the map and the territory as the difference between perception (map) and sensation (territory). One of the goals of Zen Buddhism is to recognize this difference. The use of E-Prime by many writers attempts to more closely approximate the territory by avoiding the "is" of identity and adopting operational language. This doctrin was also hinted at by Freud with his concept of projection.
Confusion between map and territory often results in paradox.
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=75657
The Map Is Not The Territory
by Rex Steven Sikes
The father of general semantics, Alford Korzybski stated, "A map is not the territory it represents, but if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness". What this means is that our perception of reality is not reality itself but our own version of it, or our "map".
No two people can have exactly the same map. While we all have similar neurological structure, it functions differently in all of us. This is the basis for our problems in communication when we try to impose our map upon another person. Learning to recognize the structure of another person's map allows us to "see the world though their eyes" and therefor understand and relate to others respectfully and accurately.
Our maps are created through gathering data through the five senses. Our senses bring certain aspects of the world to our attention, which go through neurological processes or filters, forming our values, beliefs, criteria (rules), and capabilities. These are often expressed consciously, yet most of the time they operate outside of our awareness and we don't realize that they can be changed to serve us in better ways.
http://www.idea-seminars.com/articles/map.htm
Monday, 20 March 2006
Thursday, 16 March 2006
New Maps of Hyperspace
In James Joyce's Ulysses, Stephen Dedalus tells us, "History is the nightmare from which I am trying to awaken." I would turn this around and say that history is what we are trying to escape from into dream. The dream is eschatological. The dream is zero time and outside of history. We wish to escape into the dream. Escape is a key thing charged against those who would experiment with plant hallucinogens. The people who make this charge hardly dare face the degree to which hallucinogens are escapist. Escape. Escape from the planet, from death, from habit, and from the problem, if possible, of the Unspeakable.
[...]
What happens on DMT... a troop of elves smashes down your front door, and rotates and balances the wheels on the afterdeath vehicle, present you with the bill and then depart. And it's completely paradigm shattering. I mean, you know, union with the white light you could handle. An invasion of your apartment by jewelled self-dribbling basketballs from hyperspace that are speaking demotic Greek is not something that you anticipated and could handle. Sometimes people say, "Is DMT dangerous? It sounds so crazy. Is it dangerous?" The answer is, only if you fear death by astonishment.
Remember how you laughed when this possibility was raised.. and a moment will come that will wipe the smile right off your face.
From New Maps of Hyperspace
[...]
What happens on DMT... a troop of elves smashes down your front door, and rotates and balances the wheels on the afterdeath vehicle, present you with the bill and then depart. And it's completely paradigm shattering. I mean, you know, union with the white light you could handle. An invasion of your apartment by jewelled self-dribbling basketballs from hyperspace that are speaking demotic Greek is not something that you anticipated and could handle. Sometimes people say, "Is DMT dangerous? It sounds so crazy. Is it dangerous?" The answer is, only if you fear death by astonishment.
Remember how you laughed when this possibility was raised.. and a moment will come that will wipe the smile right off your face.
From New Maps of Hyperspace
Evil Beatles??
Evil Beatles
Yeah, yeah, I've got nothing to do tonight...
And the guys who made this website don't have anything to do in life.
Yeah, yeah, I've got nothing to do tonight...
And the guys who made this website don't have anything to do in life.
I forgive
I forgive you Mike for treating me like shit when around that dickhead.
I forgive you mum for making me a neurotic bitch.
I forgive you England for my stiff neck in the winter, and sometimes in the summer.
i forgive you brazilian men (and myself) for making me lose trust in relationships (I trust now, again).
I forgive you Londoners for not knowing how to make proper food.
I forgive you squaters for moaning all the time.
I forgive you silverlink trains cos I depend on you, shit.
I forgive you London cafes for not knowing how to make coffee.
I forgive you Rocco Siffredi for being retired now.
I forgive...
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Mahatma Gandhi
More quotes
I forgive you mum for making me a neurotic bitch.
I forgive you England for my stiff neck in the winter, and sometimes in the summer.
i forgive you brazilian men (and myself) for making me lose trust in relationships (I trust now, again).
I forgive you Londoners for not knowing how to make proper food.
I forgive you squaters for moaning all the time.
I forgive you silverlink trains cos I depend on you, shit.
I forgive you London cafes for not knowing how to make coffee.
I forgive you Rocco Siffredi for being retired now.
I forgive...
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Mahatma Gandhi
More quotes
Tuesday, 7 March 2006
Information Age?
More like the New Middle Ages
By Eric Jager, Eric Jager teaches medieval literature at UCLA and is the author of "The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France."
IT'S ONLY 2006, and people have already dubbed this new century the Information Age, the Digital Age or the Connectivity Age. I have a more accurate name for the 21st century, and I encourage us all to start using it today: The New Middle Ages.
With the resurgence of legalized torture, rampant religious fanaticism, widespread poverty and illiteracy, the threat of mysterious plagues, fascination with magic and the occult and suspicion of science, what else would you call it?
Nearly 30 years ago, when Barbara Tuchman published her bestselling book, "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century," her title hinted that we could catch our own reflection in the medieval past. We now live even further from the 14th century's disastrous wars, popular revolts, religious strife and epidemic plague — yet the mirror no longer seems so distant. Tuchman wrote her epochal book after the worst horrors of the last century, including an influenza pandemic that killed millions, two devastating world wars and the Holocaust but before AIDS, Ebola and now the avian flu raised the specter of modern plague, before the fall of communism unleashed civil war and genocide in the Balkans and before religious extremists seized power in Iran and Islamic terrorists began attacking Western cities, giving dangerous new life to medieval words like "crusade" and "jihad."
One of my students once wrote, "Medieval people were so ignorant, they had no idea they were living in the Middle Ages." He was partly right. Medieval people thought they lived in modern times — just as we think we do today. The word "modern" was actually coined by medieval people to distinguish themselves from the ancients. The Renaissance stole the label of modernity for itself and invented a prior "middle age" when classical civilization lay dormant, awaiting a glorious rebirth. The Enlightenment made the "barbaric" and "superstitious" Middle Ages seem even more obsolete.
We now use the word "modern" as a compliment, not just for ourselves but also for our latest inventions. But human know-how changes at the speed of light compared with human nature. Has our collective virtue really increased since, say, 1348? Or have we confused technical upgrades with signs of moral progress? Terrorists and identity thieves take to computers with the same enthusiasm as teenagers and bond traders. Tools are only as good — in every sense — as those who use them.
Like our gadgets, we ourselves are only temporarily modern, and that label will be taken from us very soon. What sort of mirror will later generations find in us? The people of the future, looking back on our violent and benighted era, may decide to call us "medieval," so I suggest we just go ahead and accept that the New Middle Ages have begun.
From Lastimes.com
Found at Godisnotanasshole
By Eric Jager, Eric Jager teaches medieval literature at UCLA and is the author of "The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France."
IT'S ONLY 2006, and people have already dubbed this new century the Information Age, the Digital Age or the Connectivity Age. I have a more accurate name for the 21st century, and I encourage us all to start using it today: The New Middle Ages.
With the resurgence of legalized torture, rampant religious fanaticism, widespread poverty and illiteracy, the threat of mysterious plagues, fascination with magic and the occult and suspicion of science, what else would you call it?
Nearly 30 years ago, when Barbara Tuchman published her bestselling book, "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century," her title hinted that we could catch our own reflection in the medieval past. We now live even further from the 14th century's disastrous wars, popular revolts, religious strife and epidemic plague — yet the mirror no longer seems so distant. Tuchman wrote her epochal book after the worst horrors of the last century, including an influenza pandemic that killed millions, two devastating world wars and the Holocaust but before AIDS, Ebola and now the avian flu raised the specter of modern plague, before the fall of communism unleashed civil war and genocide in the Balkans and before religious extremists seized power in Iran and Islamic terrorists began attacking Western cities, giving dangerous new life to medieval words like "crusade" and "jihad."
One of my students once wrote, "Medieval people were so ignorant, they had no idea they were living in the Middle Ages." He was partly right. Medieval people thought they lived in modern times — just as we think we do today. The word "modern" was actually coined by medieval people to distinguish themselves from the ancients. The Renaissance stole the label of modernity for itself and invented a prior "middle age" when classical civilization lay dormant, awaiting a glorious rebirth. The Enlightenment made the "barbaric" and "superstitious" Middle Ages seem even more obsolete.
We now use the word "modern" as a compliment, not just for ourselves but also for our latest inventions. But human know-how changes at the speed of light compared with human nature. Has our collective virtue really increased since, say, 1348? Or have we confused technical upgrades with signs of moral progress? Terrorists and identity thieves take to computers with the same enthusiasm as teenagers and bond traders. Tools are only as good — in every sense — as those who use them.
Like our gadgets, we ourselves are only temporarily modern, and that label will be taken from us very soon. What sort of mirror will later generations find in us? The people of the future, looking back on our violent and benighted era, may decide to call us "medieval," so I suggest we just go ahead and accept that the New Middle Ages have begun.
From Lastimes.com
Found at Godisnotanasshole
Wednesday, 15 February 2006
I feel light...
Man, I just started reading The Psychopath's Bible and I'm lovin' it!
Christopher S. Hyatt and Dr. Jack Willis are very cleaver manic depressives who can't be taken seriously, or literaly. I love it! It's evil, inspiring, sick.
Buy it at Amazon.co.uk
Tuesday, 14 February 2006
Tuesday, 7 February 2006
Wednesday, 1 February 2006
Time
Time is actually speeding up (or collapsing). For thousands of years the Schumann Resonance or pulse (heartbeat) of Earth has been 7.83 cycles per second. The military have used this as a very reliable reference. However, since 1980 this resonance has been slowly rising. It is now over 12 cycles per second! This mean there is the equalivant of less than 16 hours per day instead of the old 24 hours. Another intrepetation is - we, or rather Consciousness have been down this same road seven times before over the last 16 billion years. Each of these cycles of Creation runs 20 times faster than the last one. The same amount of Creation is paced 20 times tighter. This is why time seems to be going so fast. It is not "time" but Creation itself that is accelerating.
More eschatology
Picture from http://photo-forum.net/
Yesterday
It's 8 in the morning, bloody cold outside. Carrying my 'The Time Traveler's Wife' I walk down the steps with sparks in my eyes. Love.
I wonder if anyone is awake. I don't think so. It's too early and I remember last night noisy mission of building a shower where the bogs are. They stayed up till late mixing cement, fitting pipes. Anyway, as I walk down the stairs I meet K. 'Good morning!' 'Good morning.' (I'm the one with the exclamation mark). 5 seconds of silence. She works in a bookshop now, so I show her my book, asking if she likes it. She says, 'Oh, there's loads of books like that in the market now. I don't like this kind of books.'
I sigh. And smile. K loves putting things into boxes. I'm glad she works in a bookshop now. She can organize all books into sections, as if they belonged somewhere specific, as if everything is under control. Bless her.
No, this was not the most interesting thing in my electric day. I went to a swimming pool after work. There's a lot of room for fuck ups in a leisure centre. Ha ha. After liters of water sneaking into my holes I decided to swim backwards, with my head above the water. It works. I'm going to buy my Speedo kit and come back there more prepared for the task. 1 hour swimming, 30 minutes in the sauna and the world seemed different. It was brighter, my body alert and ashamed of lighting up a cigarette. That's the start of a healthier chapter of my life in Old Street.
I wonder if anyone is awake. I don't think so. It's too early and I remember last night noisy mission of building a shower where the bogs are. They stayed up till late mixing cement, fitting pipes. Anyway, as I walk down the stairs I meet K. 'Good morning!' 'Good morning.' (I'm the one with the exclamation mark). 5 seconds of silence. She works in a bookshop now, so I show her my book, asking if she likes it. She says, 'Oh, there's loads of books like that in the market now. I don't like this kind of books.'
I sigh. And smile. K loves putting things into boxes. I'm glad she works in a bookshop now. She can organize all books into sections, as if they belonged somewhere specific, as if everything is under control. Bless her.
No, this was not the most interesting thing in my electric day. I went to a swimming pool after work. There's a lot of room for fuck ups in a leisure centre. Ha ha. After liters of water sneaking into my holes I decided to swim backwards, with my head above the water. It works. I'm going to buy my Speedo kit and come back there more prepared for the task. 1 hour swimming, 30 minutes in the sauna and the world seemed different. It was brighter, my body alert and ashamed of lighting up a cigarette. That's the start of a healthier chapter of my life in Old Street.
Tuesday, 31 January 2006
The Rainbow Warrior
That statue is called the "Rainbow Warrior" in memory of the Indian story called "The Rainbow Warrior." Would you like to 'Hear that story?
Do you know what a rainbow is, Yes, a beautiful bow of colors in the sky. A warrior is a brave person. One who has courage instead of being afraid.
Well, the Indians would tell this story to their children around the campfire. The story goes like this:
Some time in the future, the Indians said, the animals would begin to disappear. People would no longer see the wolf, or the bear, or the eagles. And, the story goes, the giant trees would also disappear. And people would fight with each other and not love each other. And, the story goes, the beautiful rainbow in the sky would fade away, and people would not see the rainbow anymore.
Well, children would come. And these children would love the animals, and they would bring back the animals. They would love trees, and they would bring back the giant trees. And these children would love other people and they would help people to live in peace with, each other. And these children would love the rainbow, and they would bring back the beautiful rainbow in the sky. For this reason the Indians called these children the rainbow warriors.
Now let me ask you a question. Do you love animals or hate animals? (We love animals.) Do you love trees or hate trees? (We love trees.) Do you love people or hate people? (We love people.) Do you love the rainbow or hate the rainbow? (We love the rainbow.)
Well, if you love animals and trees, people and rainbows, then maybe you are the rainbow warriors and that is a statue of you.
.
The Raimbow Warrior
Do you know what a rainbow is, Yes, a beautiful bow of colors in the sky. A warrior is a brave person. One who has courage instead of being afraid.
Well, the Indians would tell this story to their children around the campfire. The story goes like this:
Some time in the future, the Indians said, the animals would begin to disappear. People would no longer see the wolf, or the bear, or the eagles. And, the story goes, the giant trees would also disappear. And people would fight with each other and not love each other. And, the story goes, the beautiful rainbow in the sky would fade away, and people would not see the rainbow anymore.
Well, children would come. And these children would love the animals, and they would bring back the animals. They would love trees, and they would bring back the giant trees. And these children would love other people and they would help people to live in peace with, each other. And these children would love the rainbow, and they would bring back the beautiful rainbow in the sky. For this reason the Indians called these children the rainbow warriors.
Now let me ask you a question. Do you love animals or hate animals? (We love animals.) Do you love trees or hate trees? (We love trees.) Do you love people or hate people? (We love people.) Do you love the rainbow or hate the rainbow? (We love the rainbow.)
Well, if you love animals and trees, people and rainbows, then maybe you are the rainbow warriors and that is a statue of you.
.
The Raimbow Warrior
Monday, 30 January 2006
Americas Third World War
How 6 million People Were killed in CIA secret wars against third world countries
John Stockwell, former CIA Station Chief in Angola in 1976, working for then Director of the CIA, George Bush. He spent 13 years in the agency. He gives a short history of CIA covert operations. He is a very compelling speaker and the highest level CIA officer to testify to the Congress about his actions. He estimates that over 6 million people have died in CIA covert actions, and this was in the late 1980's.
THE SECRET WARS OF THE CIA
by John Stockwell
"It is the function of the CIA to keep the world unstable, and to propagandize and teach the American people to hate, so we will let the Establishment spend any amount of money on arms."
John Stockwell is a 13-year veteran of the CIA and a former U.S. Marine Corps major. He was hired by the CIA in 1964, spent six years working for the CIA in Africa, and was later transferred to Vietnam. In 1973 he received the CIA's Medal of Merit, the Agency's second-highest award. In 1975, Stockwell was promoted to the CIA's Chief of Station and National Security Council coordinator, managing covert activities during the first years of Angola's bloody civil war. After two years he resigned, determined to reveal the truth about the agency's role in the Third World. Since that time, he has worked tirelessly to expose the criminal activities of the CIA. He is the author of In Search of Enemies, an exposé of the CIA's covert action in Angola.
Stockwell is a founding member of Peaceways and ARDIS (the Association for Responsible Dissent), an organization of former CIA and Government officials who are openly critical of the CIA's activities. His latest book is entitled The Praetorian Guard: The U.S. Role in the New World Order.
John Stockwell, former CIA Station Chief in Angola in 1976, working for then Director of the CIA, George Bush. He spent 13 years in the agency. He gives a short history of CIA covert operations. He is a very compelling speaker and the highest level CIA officer to testify to the Congress about his actions. He estimates that over 6 million people have died in CIA covert actions, and this was in the late 1980's.
THE SECRET WARS OF THE CIA
by John Stockwell
"It is the function of the CIA to keep the world unstable, and to propagandize and teach the American people to hate, so we will let the Establishment spend any amount of money on arms."
John Stockwell is a 13-year veteran of the CIA and a former U.S. Marine Corps major. He was hired by the CIA in 1964, spent six years working for the CIA in Africa, and was later transferred to Vietnam. In 1973 he received the CIA's Medal of Merit, the Agency's second-highest award. In 1975, Stockwell was promoted to the CIA's Chief of Station and National Security Council coordinator, managing covert activities during the first years of Angola's bloody civil war. After two years he resigned, determined to reveal the truth about the agency's role in the Third World. Since that time, he has worked tirelessly to expose the criminal activities of the CIA. He is the author of In Search of Enemies, an exposé of the CIA's covert action in Angola.
Stockwell is a founding member of Peaceways and ARDIS (the Association for Responsible Dissent), an organization of former CIA and Government officials who are openly critical of the CIA's activities. His latest book is entitled The Praetorian Guard: The U.S. Role in the New World Order.
Thursday, 26 January 2006
Definition of radical teaching
Honest teaching that respectfully helps us to unlearn the lies that support systematic oppression, including the lie of our own powerlessness. Teaching that assists you to "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery" and remember that, "The philosophers have sought to understand the world. The point, however, is to change it."
http://www.radicalteaching.org/
http://www.radicalteaching.org/
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