As the day slips away Water Dancers come alive beneath the moon

Water Dancers is another magnificent illusory painting by Rob Gonsalves, a Canadian painter of magic realism with a unique perspective and style.

Rob’s paintings include one additional aspect - sometimes it’s not that easy to dissect and pinpoint where one motive ends and its transformation into another begins (see Camels in The Night, Cathedral of Commerce and Ships and Arches for better understanding).

Although Gonsalves’ work is often categorized as surrealistic, it differs because the images are deliberately planned and result from conscious thought. (source)

All you have to do is take the ‘Test’ to stimulate your brain today

                     Good Day Humboldt County!

Are you ready to have your brain stimulated today?

 Would you like to know how your consciousness is connected to the world?
Are you ready to explore the unconscious functions of your brain with visual illusions
and mysterious perceptual phenomena?

                        Click here to take the TEST

It’s time for me to walk on down the road…

A look at the Right’s bizarro Constitution fetish – or, how you can tell when a Tea Party person crosses the road

             Good Day Humboldt County!

I’ve found an interesting Op-Ed writer for your consideration today. He offers unique insights into politics without being too boring!

Seth Ackerman, a doctoral candidate in History at Cornell, is an editor at Jacobin. He has written for Harper’s and In These Times, and was a media critic with Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting.

An excerpt from “Burn The Constitution” by Seth Ackerman

“It’s easy to make fun of the Right’s bizarro Constitution fetish, especially in its current Glenn Beck-ified form. Beck’s late guru, the Bircher and Mormon extremist W. Cleon Skousen, is now the main source of the Tea Partiers’ constitutional wisdom; his books, once out of print and gathering dust, have become posthumous bestsellers and required reading at Tea Party training courses.

A true fanatic and weirdo, Skousen believed the Founding Fathers were inspired by the example of the ancient Anglo-Saxons, who in turn were inspired by the Biblical Israelites. All adhered to the divinely sanctioned principles of limited government, a system under which America made more progress in its first century than the world had made in the previous 5,000 years (hence the title of Skousen’s magnum opus, The Five Thousand Year Leap). But it all started falling apart at the start of the twentieth century, when progressives and socialists attacked the Constitution and Woodrow Wilson embraced their Satanic cause, taking the first fateful steps on the road to the serfdom we know today: minimum wages, a Federal Reserve, national parks, Medicare — all, Skousen insists, are unconstitutional.” Read the whole article here.

Time for me to walk on down the road….

Under Public Transportation: Would You Be Willing to Travel on the World’s Largest Bus?

 Good Day Humboldt County!

I’m not a bus kind of guy, so the possibility of riding in this caterpillar-like vehicle would never enter my skull.

Just wouldn’t happen. But, in all fairness, it may have it’s good points. The German company that makes these mega-buses is touting them as being “environmentally friendly.” For the life of me, I can’t see anything green about this machine. What am I missing? It looks like a commuter’s nightmare:

“At more than 100-feet end-to-end, a bus capable carrying 256 passengers and driving nearly 5 miles in all-electric mode is the world’s longest bus.The people mover was developed to “bridge the gap between conventional city buses and [street cars], offering new possibilities for an environmental friendly public transport,” the German research institute Fraunhofer IVI noted in a news release.

Potential clients include burgeoning cities in Asia and South America where rail transport is unrealistic due to cost, space, or time restrictions.The AutoTram Extra Grand, as the three-segmented bus is called, has a multi-axle steering system, which allows it to be maneuvered like a standard 39-foot bus, the university said.”  – via Clean Technica

Time for me to walk on down the road…

No profound message today: But some really cool street signs might stimulate your minds!

                  Good Day Humboldt County!  

I thought I’d start this Monday off with the most nonsensical thing I could as it’s a holiday.

 Happy Labor Day!

Watch out for cows in Taos, New Mexico, and Hookers in a town near you! You want to see more crazy road signs?

Go to Weird road signs contest: Which one is wackiest? By Paul A. Eisenstein, The Detroit Bureau of LIFEINC.

AS IT STANDS: Beware of politicians promising a return to the ‘Good Old Days’

             Dave Stancliff/for The Times-Standard
   What Good Old Days?
   I know there are people who pine for the years following WW II, from 1945 to 1965,when “everything was better.” America had emerged as a superpower and a manufacturing force second to none in the world. We were number one.

  Historians quickly called the generation that won the war the “Greatest Generation.” Their children were given the best of everything in life. The American Dream was within every man’s or woman’s grasp.
  But something happened. When those children became teenagers, the world shifted slightly and societal changes came hard and fast. Vietnam, Hippies, Drugs, Free Love, and college students leading  protests against war.

  Let’s hold it right there. I want to discuss the “Good Old Days” (as defined above) a little further.

  Do you think African Americans and other people of color thought those were the Good Old Days? Frankly, I doubt it.
  If you were an African American living in the deep south from 1945 to1965, you lived in another America. One that had no dreams. No hope. You survived at the whim of the white man. You couldn’t eat in the same building or shop in the same store because of your color.
 Let’s not linger on this aspect of the supposed Good Old Days too long, but it does have to be examined. Instead, let’s look at a whole new view of the Good Old Days. Are you ready?

  The reason they were considered the Good Old Days was simple; people didn’t know what was happening everywhere in the country and the world. They were uninformed for the most part, especially in rural America.
  So they didn’t know all the terrible things that happened in a 24 hour news cycle worldwide. They were not bombarded with all that negative news and views. There was no internet. Sure, they heard news on the radio,  but music dominated the airwaves and the movies from 1945 thru 1965.
  I wouldn’t say ignorance is bliss, but in some cases it seems preferable to knowing too much and being stressed out about things you can’t do anything about. Try to imagine what it would be like to not to hear all the negative things you hear every day.
  I think it’s fair to say technology has advanced considerably since those Good Old Days. We’re living longer in the 21st century. Because of robotics, we’re actually more productive in the workplace than in the Good Old Days when we were a world leader in manufacturing.
  I know that sounds odd, especially when you compare the workforce in the Good Old Days when jobs were plentiful, and the workforce today with over 8% of all Americans unemployed, and jobs as scarce as water in our current historic drought.
  Moving on, I really don’t think there were ever any Good Old Days in the sense that every thing was rosy, or people were all nice and respectful to each other. Progressive and regressive forces have always battled it out. 
  Some people have selective memories, which make those days of yore so special. Which leads me to a warning about politicians who use our faulty memories of a golden age that never existed to political advantage. You know the ones I’m talking about. They promise to “turn the clock back to a better time.” Whatever that means.

 They pledge to bring morals back to the country, and more of the Christian God to our government. They invoke memories of the “Greatest Generation,” and promise a new one - just like the old one  - is on the way. They lie.
  You can’t restore a myth. You can’t change a society and turn the clock back to a dream that only existed for some white Americans.

There were wars being fought worldwide, crime at home, segregation issues and all the terrible things we face as a society today were going on back then, too.

  Some politicians, vultures seeking your votes, will try to tell you they can bring back the Good Old Days, and say we once lived in a patriotic utopia.

   As It Stands, when you hear people calling for those Good Old Days, take a moment and ask them to what good old days are they referring? 
                                                                    
        
                    Reader response VIA Emails: 

“Right on! Yesterday on FaceBook, I posed the question,"What does it mean, 'take our country back.' Back where, how?" Strangely enough, no one responded either negative or positive.
Your column makes so much sense.
Admittedly, i have liberal leanings, and fail miserably in understanding how anyone with an ounce of intellect can honestly believe that the Republicans have the answer to take our country forward. Thanks for writing.” - Pam Cavanagh

                                               Websites that have picked this column up:

1) Go here to SiloBreaker

2) Schema.root.org - United States politicians at the federal level

3) Journalism Newswire

Check out the wisdom and insanity of funny guy Will Ferrell

(source)

N.H. woman arrested 4 times in 26 hours for loud music, assault

          Good Day

     Humboldt County!

 The following story is so unique I had to share it. I’ve heard of people getting in trouble for playing loud music after a certain time of night (curfews vary from city to city, but one example is San Bernardino where it’s 10:00 p.m.), but a serial repeater? Nope. New to me. How about you?  

This series of booking photos shows Joyce Coffey after being arrested four times in 26 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Joyce Coffey of Epping, N.H., just didn't seem to get it -- or care -- when she was arrested four times in 26 hours earlier this week. The police run-ins stemmed from loud AC/DC and Guns N' Roses music police said could be heard blasting from her house as well as Coffey allegedly throwing a frying pan at her nephew.

Epping police said they first visited Coffey's home on Tuesday at 3 p.m. local time, when they warned her to turn down the music, WMUR-TV in New Hampshire reported. They returned an hour later, found the music was still playing, and arrested her.

The final call to Coffey's home was for a report of a domestic disturbance. Police said Coffey's nephew alleged she threw a frying pan at him, hitting him in the head, when he tried to get some of his belongings from her house.

She was arrested a fourth, and on Thursday a judge ordered her to undergo a mental health evaluation.If she completes the evaluation, the judge said, she will be released to home confinement with electronic monitoring. The judge also suggested that Coffey, who is due back in court on Oct. 15, use headphones to listen to music, WMUR reported.” (source)

News Flash: 'Honey Boo Boo' ratings topped Republican National Convention

                     GOOD DAY HUMBOLDT COUNTY!

This is really kinda embarrassing for the Republican Party, but this little entertainer – “Honey Boo Boo” - has more viewer clout than Mitt Romney!

Not sure how Romney’s campaign will spin this interesting little fact, but it tells us volumes when it comes to the relevancy and importance of the convention. Let’s face it, “Honey Boo Boo,” is more of a charmer than Romney.

"Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," TLC's controversial reality show about a self-proclaimed "redneck" family and their "Toddlers and Tiaras" daughter, hit another ratings high on Wednesday night. The fourth episode of "Honey Boo Boo" pulled in just shy of 3 million viewers at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnight ratings, growing 30 percent from last week's 2.3 million haul.

In the demo, "Honey Boo Boo" did even better. The half-hour series' showing among adults 18-49 bested all other cable outings for the night — coverage of the Republican National Convention, included — to pull a 1.3 rating.

Fox News gave the show its closest competition with a 1.2 adults rating in that same time period. On the broadcast networks,"Honey Boo Boo" bested ABC and CBS' demo showing for the RNC combined and topped NBC by two tenths of a point. Aggregate coverage of the RNC across networks obviously eclipsed "Honey Boo Boo" considerably.” (source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Related story:

STORY: Why 'Honey Boo Boo's' Ratings Are No Cause for Alarm (Yet)

LEARNIST: Introducing a website that you’re going to love with Apps for iPAD and iPHONE!

                 UPDATES BELOW!       

          Good Day Humboldt County!

I’m excited to share this new website – LEARNIST – with you, especially as I’m on the staff – as a political news contributor.

Check it out. I think you’ll really enjoy the thousands of topics curated by experts in every field. Look for me under POLITICS.

Grockit(TM), the social learning company that introduced Learnist(TM) in May 2012, today announced that its popular people-curated, social learning application will enable mobile social learning experiences via Learnist for the iPhone(R) and Learnist for the iPad(R).

 

Introducing Learnist Apps for iPad^® and iPhone^®

 

Learnist is like a collaborative, multimedia, and interactive ebook from the future.

Create lessons on any subject using your iPhone's camera.

Browse thousands of learning resources curated by experts and teachers on the iPad and iPhone.

                        Go here for detailed lessons on how to use the new Learnist Apps

“From the beginning, Learnist was designed with mobility in mind. The Retina displays of the iPhone and iPad make for an unparalleled learning experience, and the fact that so many millions of people have these devices with them all the time means just that many more opportunities for collaboration and creation,” says Grockit founder Farbood Nivi.

The 'Learnist for (the) iPhone' App makes it easy to use the high-resolution camera to capture images that you can instantly sequence into a how-to guide or lesson. Share your lesson with anyone and collaborate with your readers. Learnist on the iPhone can even use GPS to show your location on learnings that use maps. You can also browse and learn from thousands of topics created and curated by other Learnist members.

The 'Learnist for (the) iPad' App is optimized for learning from the thousands of topics curated by experts, teachers, and other members. The, long battery-life, large stunning display and LTE capabilities make multimedia, interactive and collaborative learning available from almost anywhere at anytime. Browse and learn about topics including Art & Design, Education, Food & Drinks, Travel & Places, Sports and more.

“Whether it’s in the classroom, the workplace or the home, people learn best when they do it together and often when they are sharing a computer or tablet screen,” says Roy Gilbert, Grockit CEO. “Our goal is to help people learn from and teach each other with the incredibly rich educational resources found all over the internet. Our new mobile apps make it fun for Learnist users to do this.”

                      Update on Learnist

In a two-month-long, invite-only beta of the Learnist web application, tens-of-thousands of people joined Learnist sharing expert knowledge focused on a wide range of academic and casual learning topics. Notably, several thousand American teachers joined Learnist, creating “Learnboards” covering 100% of the new Common Core academic standards for public school grades 7-12. And, influential non-academic experts are adopting Learnist, including best-selling author of Lean Startup, Eric Ries and fashion designer Melissa Fleis, popular contestant on reality TV series Project Runway.

To request an invitation to Learnist, please visit Learni.st or download Learnist for the iPad or Learnist for the iPhone on the Apple(R) App Store(SM), here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learnist/id522850398

News VIA Street Insider

                                          For those of you who aren’t on FaceBook: 

Users can use Learnist without having a Facebook account. 

While they will not be able to create content, like or comment within the application, they can still access all of the content on Learnist.   This allows users to pull up the Learnist website during a class period, meeting, or in any situation where Facebook is restricted and still explore the content in Learnist.  While there is different values in having members use all of Learnist's features, we have designed this solution as a work around for our current users who can't access Facebook at the workplace.

Here's some more information on why we use Facebook in connecting to Learnist:

Facebook is only used to authenticate users, and any sharing features are turned off by default. As an online educational community, Learnist is fully integrated with the web, which allows for a rich experience, but also presents its own unique challenges. We strive to keep our educational community as authentic and valuable as possible. In that regard, we hope to keep the Learnist community clear of fake users, spam and advertising which will not add value to the community, or worse - distract from it.

To be clear, Learnist uses your facebook name and profile picture to populate your Learnist profile. Additionally, your Learnist account will automatically follow any friends you have on Facebook that are also on Learnist. That's the extent of Facebook integration, unless you select to activate Sharing/Social features, which are turned off by default. No one can access your Facebook profile from Learnist, or vice-versa - unless one chooses to do so.

In essence, there really isn't a a 'blurring' of professional and personal lives in terms of privacy. However, we do hope that the Learnist community is useful in both a professional and personal sense and transcends more traditional concepts of education. :) 

We chose to start with Facebook during our Beta phase because the social aspect is central to our philosophy. We believe that learning is deeply individual, it is also highly social. While our discovery engines play an important role, we've always valued people over algorithms. We've found that people learn more and quicker with the help of others. The social element – sharing and commenting – is integrated throughout; you can push “learnings” to your Facebook timeline; you can follow people as well as topics. As learners move through the resources, they can check off the “learnings” they’ve completed. And they can add and suggests new learnings, as well as suggest experts (or, well, “others”) contribute to particular boards.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

                           UPDATES: The following links are covering this breaking story:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/grockit-unlocks-mobile-social-learning-learnist-app-for-iphone-and-ipad-available-now-2012-08-30

http://grockit.com/blog/main/2012/08/30/learnist-for-the-ipad-and-learnist-for-the-iphone-available-in-the-apple-appstore/

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/08/k-12/now-with-apps-curation-board-learnist-may-one-up-pinterest-for-education/

http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/30/grockit-steps-beyond-test-prep-learnist-brings-social-learning-to-iphone-and-ipad/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

http://edudemic.com/2012/08/what-the-new-learnist-apps-mean-for-education-technology/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

http://pymnts.com/news/businesswire-feed/2012/august/30/grockit-unlocks-mobile-social-learning-learnist-app-for-iphone-and-ipad-available-now-20120830005293/

http://www.educationdive.com/story/learnist-iphone-pad-apps-grockit/?utm_source=tweet&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=twitter_educationdive

http://gigaom.com/2012/08/30/learnist-a-pinterest-for-education-releases-apps-for-iphone-ipad/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120830005293/en/Grockit-Unlocks-Mobile-Social-Learning-%E2%80%98Learnist%E2%80%99-App?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter