I'm Here To End The Show

I look up — many people feel small because they’re small and the Universe is big — but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity.

That’s really what you want in life, you want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant, you want to feel like a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you.

That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive…

- Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson

wired: “I think we’re only 15 years away from a tipping point...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:38:18 -0400

wired:

“I think we’re only 15 years away from a tipping point in longevity.” - Ray Kurzweil

[More: How Ray Kurzweil Will Help Google Make the Ultimate AI Brain]

I guess 2029 will be a big year…

Caught Snoop Lion leaving AOL! So sick.

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:15:00 -0400

Caught Snoop Lion leaving AOL! So sick.

How one article blew open my perspective on international terrorism

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:16:00 -0400

Today’s article posted by JudicialWatch.org about the Boston Bombers sent pretty serious chills down my spine. I am not, and don’t pretend to be, any authority on international terrorism. I am not an avid student of geopolitical strife and its implication on the United States, but in light of the terrorist attacks at the Boston Marathon this week I feel it’s everyone’s responsibility to become more informed and engaged with such topics. I live in the heart of Manhattan and was reminded (as we all were) this week that you never know where terror will strike and what face it will wear. This is precisely why I decided to share with you today my ‘holy crap, this shit’s crazy’ moments after reading this article.

Titled Boston Bomber Could Have Been Deported After 2009 Conviction the article obviously focuses on immigration and while perhaps timely, buries the more important (and damn scary) points near the end. First, terrorism is developed and ingrained over several decades if not a generation and we shouldn’t lose site of this reality. I belong to a generation that demands fast change, fast action, and immediate information. Well fellow millennials, according to intelligence documents sited by JudicialWatch.org al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden ordered the creation of a terrorist training camp in Chechnya as far back at 1995 to train “international terrorists” to carry out plots against Americans and westerners… 1995. I was 9. Let’s take a moment to think about the fact that the seeds for Boston were sown almost 20 years ago.

I consider myself fairly well educated and knowledgeable however human nature subconsciously applied the “law of least effort” to the cognitive resources I devoted to terrorism. The law asserts that if there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will eventually gravitate to the least demanding course of action. As an American my goal in this case was a tepid understanding of terrorism and its effects in relation to my life (deployed friends, safety in Manhattan, cost of war, etc…). The least demanding course was to frame terrorism the way the media frames it, as an issue isolated to a specific part of the world (Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) with specific actors (al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden). Then I read this, “The goal, according to the once-classified documents obtained by JW in 2011, was to “establish a worldwide Islamic state capable of directly challenging the U.S., China, Russia, and what it views as Judeo-Christian and Confucian domination.”” Wait, so you’re telling me terrorism isn’t limited to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan where we’ve been fighting the past 10+ years!? The bombers were white, young, successful, and by all respects completely normal “Americans” who immigrated from a part of the world I never considered. Holy crap is right! This made me realize how perilous and impossibly complex the situation really is.

The Judicial Watch article says it best: “There’s no telling how many of these Chechen terrorists have infiltrated the United States… Osama bin Laden specifically chose Chechnya as a terrorist training camp because it’s an “area unreachable by strikes from the west,” according to the intelligence report obtained by JW years ago.” So you’re telling me Osama bin Laden understood the American military apparatus so well he had the foresight to develop a terrorist training camp strategy 20 years ago that effectively (even more so today) can counter our anti-terrorism efforts even in 2013?! Where would you build a terrorist training camp today? Probably somewhere beyond the reach of unmanned drones… Well, Osama did this 20 years ago. Is America’s unmanned drone strategy just another technology fueled extension of outdated search and destroy counter-terrorist tactics, or are terrorists too agile of an enemy to effectively defeat from afar? Should the US Government bring back a ‘boots on the ground’ strategy and invest in long term covert anti-terrorism operations on foreign soil?

Again I’m no expert on these matters; I’m just a concerned citizen with internet access. If you’re reading this, congrats, you too have internet access. You should read up on the story of how America’s anti-terrorism policy first came into being under Nixon, its transformation to today’s modus operandi via Reagan and his creation of the ‘Antiterrorism Assistance Program’.

In the meantime though, you now understand why the JudicialWatch.org article got me going. Hope it got you going too or at least thinking a little.

While I'm not shocked....

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:53:00 -0400

It’s always surprising to read about how much people hate each other first hand and in real time.

Djohar Tsarneav’s VK Social Network profile is exploding with anti-American, anti-Islam, and anti-each other statements. Google translate- the page:Gleb Polynov

Jey , Do u know Difference Between - “Trying” and “making”?USA trying for 40 ears and all the time your countri kill DOZENS of Innocent people, you are BANDIT country, you think taht other world is yours, so thats why

Bohdan Semets

FUCK YOU MUSLIM BITCHES!! FOR EVERY INNOCENT PERSON THAT YOU TAKE AWAY FROM US, WE BOMB YOUR WHOLE VILLAGES YOU WORTHLESS COCKROACHES.everyone hate USA

Whether or not the information on the profile is real, it’s provided a forum through which people from all over the world share incendiary and hateful ideas. This is definitely the dark underbelly of the internet.

http://vk.com/id160300242

I think a wormhole just opened somewhere…

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:37:46 -0400

I think a wormhole just opened somewhere…

Zen Pencils Comic: 50. NEIL GAIMAN: Make good ar

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:36:16 -0400

Zen Pencils Comic: 50. NEIL GAIMAN: Make good ar

moriartygodofmischief: This duck is a fucking genius

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 11:38:26 -0400

moriartygodofmischief:

This duck is a fucking genius

Photo

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 11:34:06 -0400

Photo

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 01:53:14 -0400

Doug Perrine captured these stunning photographs in the...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 01:22:29 -0400

Doug Perrine captured these stunning photographs in the Maldives. The particular location (Vaadhoo Island) has a concentrated population of bioluminescent phytoplankton. Bioluminescence is a natural chemical reaction which occurs when a micro-organism in the water reacts with oxygen. When washed ashore by the tides, the phytoplankton’s chemical energy is turned into light energy, illuminating the waves.

bombing: Lava meets water off the shores of HawaiiPhotos by...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:25:49 -0400

bombing:

Lava meets water off the shores of Hawaii
Photos by Nick Selway

Pope Francis causes Internet traffic spike

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 23:58:00 -0400

Pope Francis causes Internet traffic spike:

The announcement of Pope Francis caused a Super Bowl-like stir on the Web.

The Internet exploded with traffic on Wednesday afternoon as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected as pontiff. Social media sites such as Facebook (FB)lit up, and Twitter said it peaked at 130,000 tweets per minute.

fastcompany: How Arianna Huffington Defines Success At the Wall...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:44:28 -0400

fastcompany:

How Arianna Huffington Defines Success

At the Wall Street Journal, Arianna Huffington writes that Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In has unleashed a range of conversations—including what world, exactly, is being leaned into.

To Huffington, we’re failing to understand the nature of success.

“This is a great moment…to acknowledge that the current male-dominated model of success isn’t working for women,” she writes, “and it’s not working for men, either.”

What’s that world look like?

Arianna Huffington

Pretty tightly wound. Huffington notes that self-reported stress has gone up for both sexes in the past 30 years—18 percent for women, 25 percent for men. A recent Harvard Medical School study estimated that U.S. companies lose $63.2 billion to sleep deprivation every year. And women, Huffington notes, are more likely to feel stressed at work.

With our current “time macho” culture, we’ve got stressed-out leaders in politics, business, and media making awful decisions.

“What they lack is not smarts but wisdom,” she says. “And it’s much harder to tap into your wisdom, recognizing the icebergs before they hit the Titanic—a big part of leadership—when you’re running on empty.”

Learning how to lean back

Huffington calls upon a lovely French phrase: reculer pour mieux sauter, which loosely translates as lean back to jump higher. Or in other words,relax and you’ll be more productive.

For Huffington, what’s missing is measurement:

We need a third metric, based on our well-being, our health, our ability to unplug and recharge and renew ourselves, and to find joy in both our job and the rest of our life. Ultimately, success is not about money or position, but about living the life you want, not just the life you settle for.

Who are the early adopters?

The happiest companies, who, by way, are making more money. Examples: Google has invested in its People Operations, General Mills practices mindfulness, and Square has adirector of experience.

And as Leslie Perlow notes, workaholics aren’t addicted to work—they’re need addicted to validation. So let’s change the validation structure.

Huffington on Sandberg: To Lean In, First Lean Back

[Image by Flickr user Penn State/Patrick Mansell]

good: Are stress and time-crunched days resulting in the...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:42:55 -0400

Healthy Recipes: One Ingredient, Five Ways

11 Fresh Ideas for Storing Produce

How to Shop at the Farmers' Market

Easy Ways to Stay Healthy at Work

good:

Are stress and time-crunched days resulting in the more-than-occasional cold pizza breakfast or bowl of cereal dinner? Perhaps it’s time to freshen up your diet. In the GOOD Guide to Healthy Living & Eating, we outline all kinds of healthy and delicious ways to make sure you’ll get more nourishing meals in your life.

Because half the battle is just getting the good stuff on your plate, learn how to find (and afford) the most delectable fruits and veggies at the farmers’ market, keep them fresher for longer, and then get ideas for stretching one tasty, nutrient-packed ingredient into five different dishes. And, because most of us are parked on our caboose in front of a computer for hours a day, we even have the stretches and snacks that will allow you to extend your newly found healthy habits right on into your office.

Healthy Recipes: One Ingredient, Five Ways

11 Fresh Ideas for Storing Produce

How to Shop at the Farmers’ Market

Easy Ways to Stay Healthy at Work

Illustrations by Matt Chase