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20151214

Billions of years from now, the universe as we know it will cease to exist...

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But, don't fret, there are some ways out...

   

io9: Will Our Descendants Survive the Destruction of the Universe?



This ought to count as either the most optimistic or the most sardonic entry I have ever posted.

I just can't decide which.

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20151210

Whosoever purports to carry oneself like an angel, behaves like a beast





The title is a maxim from Blaise Pascal's "Pensées".

The complete quote is "L'homme n'est ni ange ni bête et le malheur veut que qui veut faire l'ange fait la bête" (Man is neither an angel nor a beast, and the mishap is that whosoever purports to carry oneself like an angel, behaves like a beast).

I know...

Things have not changed all that much ever since the Crusades, have they?



Except for the shape of the cross on our flag...



And the might of our weapons...


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20151207

Elle s'appelait Marie Noël...




Je m'appelais Jean Balthazar.





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20151202

Joy to the World

Move over Jesus…



There is a new player in town…

Her name is Joy Mangano and she sold 18,000 mops in 20 minutes!!!

Now, let me ask you, how is that for a miracle?



I just can't wait to see the movie.



Coming to a theatre near you, on December 25th, 2015, just in time for Christmas.

I kid David O. Russell and Ingenious Designs, LLC.

Still, I think I might just save my money this time around, and go see Krampus, instead.

Kind of suits my mood...



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20151201

State of Emergency

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Phew, what a relief! Thank goodness, I feel so much safer, now.



Credit: Selection of photos is from © Cédric Delsaux Arwork: Dark Lens (Paris 2005, Dubai 2009).

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20151118

A matter of perspective

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I wouldn't know, sir...



We only come here for the drinks.


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Contradictio In Terminis?

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The gentleman from Vermont is absolutely right:



I couldn't agree more. And allow me to add, by the same token, and for good measure, that I am sick and tired of Hillary Clinton too—just on general principles.

I know what you are gonna say...

Principles?

What principles?





My point exactly!

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Contradictio in terminis (Latin for contradiction in terms) refers to a combination of words whose meanings are in conflict with one another. Examples are "independent colony", "square circle", and a "principled politician".

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20151022

Today we wear faces

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They call it the Third Pole:



The Dalai Lama said on Tuesday that two-thirds of the glaciers in their mountain homeland may disappear by 2050 because of climate change and demanded a stake in the coming international climate talks at the twenty-first session of the Conference of Parties (COP21) to be held in Paris later this year.



I am holding my breath.

How is the issue affecting us here at home?

Does Hillary Clinton have a plan?

Does Bernie Sanders?



No, I mean seriously, now...

Does anyone in America or in the rest of the world?

Anyone on Earth or in Heaven?



I don't know, perhaps the world deserves Donald Trump for POTUS.



After all, isn't he the true face of mankind?

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20150818

20150730

Who is afraid of Press TV?

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Press TV (stylised PRESSTV) is a 24-hour English language news and documentary network, affiliated with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). IRIB is state-owned but independent of the Iranian government in its management; the IRIB is a legal TV and radio broadcaster inside Iran. Press TV is headquartered in Tehran, Iran, but has offices and bureaus around the world, inlcuding in London, Beirut, Damascus, Kabul, and the Gaza Strip. Press TV began broadcasting HDTV on the Hot Bird satellite cluster since 13 January, 2014. The network's slogan is "News Anew".

The BBC journalist Linda Pressly has described Press TV as pro-Palestinian, anti-sanctions against Iran, and... critical of Western foreign policy.

LOL



We can't have that now, can we?



In July 2013 Press TV and other Iranian channels were removed from several European and American satellites (amongst others those of Eutelsat and Intelsat), allegedly because of the Iran sanctions, even though a EU spokesman told the channel that these sanctions do not apply to media. In November 2012, the Hong Kong-based AsiaSat took Iranian channels off air in East Asia, and in October 2012 Eutelsat and Intelsat stopped broadcasting several Iranian satellite channels, though the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting managed to resume broadcasts after striking deals with smaller companies based in other countries.

Anyway, this is their website: http://www.presstv.ir/

And this is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's speech in Damascus, dated 7.26.2015, they recently published:

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/07/26/421935/Syria-PreAssad-ISIS-UN

Is Press TV's take on the world ethnocentric? Is it biased? Is Bashar al-Assad's account of the events in the region slanted?

Undoubtedly so.

Is it propaganda?

Of course, it is.

How much so?

It depends.

It would depend, I suppose, on what one's definition and understanding of terms such as "ethnocentrism," "bias," "slanted," and "propaganda" are. And to what degree one think such terms might apply to our own media, like, say, Fox News, CNN, NBC, or, God forbid, BBC America.

Call me a stickler for the credo of pluralism and world-mindedness, but it does seem to me that people in this country, in Europe and in the Americas, ought to be free to listen to any media news channel they wish and exert their own judgement, without a third party deciding for them what they ought to watch or not watch and banning what said party deems inappropriate. Because anything less, would be… Well, it would be anti-American, now, wouldn't it? And against everything the people who founded this great nation of ours fought for.
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20150624

They Fooled Us With Springtime

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You say it like you are surprised?



What were you realistically expecting?

Remember this?

Or this?

What time is it in Washington?





Springtime

(Hope)
What time is it my heart?
What time is it my heart?
(Mr President?)
What time is it my heart?
What time is it my heart?
What time is it my heart?

What time is it in England?
(What time is it my heart?)
What time is it in Gibraltar?
(What time is it my heart?)
What time is it over there in Fisterra?
(What time is it in Gibraltar?)
What time is it hey byebyebom?
(What time is it my heart?)
What time is it the whole life?
(What time is it my heart?)
What time is it in Japan?
(What time is it my heart?)
What time is it in Mozambique?
(What time is it my heart?)
What time is it in Washington?
(What time is it my heart?)

They fooled us byebyebom
They fooled us with springtime
They fooled us byebyebom

bombala bombala bombala bombala bombala
(What time is it my heart?)
bombala bombala bombala bombala bombala
(What time is it my heart?)
bombala bombala bombala bombala bombala

What time is it my heart?
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20150114

Oh, for heaven's sake

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And why, in heaven's name, not, woman?





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