The True Truth About the Federal Reserve

Posted on January 27, 2014 by wellsdc

I recently engaged in yet another attempted dialogue with a complete stranger on Facebook who wrote something generally indecipherable about the threat posed by the Federal Reserve System. It contained many of the usual tropes you might expect, held together by misspelled conjunctions, crimes against grammar, and explanations that the issue just makes the person so. angry. that. they. can. not. type. correctly……

It got me thinking, though. I don’t really know that much about the Federal Reserve, and it certainly has a not-insignificant number of people feeling threatened. It’s just that I can’t seem to find anything addressing the problems with the Fed that don’t quickly descend into conspiracy theorism. It seems as though anyone who has really looked into the workings of the Fed (or claim to have done so) come out as semi-coherent crazy people. And that’s when the truth hit.

It has been staring us in the face all this time.

The Federal Reserve is Cthulhu.

By BenduKiwi (Unknown) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Think about it: it’s vast, it’s older than any of us, and to try to understand it leads inexorably to madness.

Perhaps Lovecraft himself said it best:

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

He might have even written about an early foray into the depths of the Federal Reserve itself:

It lumbered slobberingly into sight and gropingly squeezed Its gelatinous green immensity through the black doorway into the tainted outside air of that poison city of madness. … The Thing cannot be described—there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of all matter, force, and cosmic order.

Photo credit: By BenduKiwi (Unknown) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Televised Sunrises

Posted on January 20, 2014 by wellsdc

By Brian Jeffery Beggerly (originally posted to Flickr as IMG_0549) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Apparently residents of Beijing can watch the sunrise again thanks to a giant LED screen that broadcasts a live feed of the sunrise from somewhere that isn’t covered in permasmog.

This is disquietingly similar to a plot point in Hugh Howey’s e-book series Wool, part of the Silo series, which I have been reading lately. Without giving away any spoilers, the books are about a group of people who live in a massive underground silo. They are forbidden from even talking about the outside, which has apparently suffered some sort of massive disaster that makes the outside air deadly to anyone who sets one foot out of the silo. On one of the highest levels, i.e. nearest to ground level, a viewscreen displays a live feed of the outside, which is a dead, lifeless world with a ruined city visible in the distance. The clouds part occasionally, allowing residents of the silo to see the sun and the stars. It’s the only view they get of the rest of the world.

It’s supposed to be science fiction, though.

Photo credit: By Brian Jeffery Beggerly (originally posted to Flickr as IMG_0549) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Monday Morning Cute: Guardians of the Pillars of Hercules

Posted on January 20, 2014 by wellsdc

Gibraltar, the British territory on the southern tip of Spain at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, is the home of the only population of wild monkeys in Europe. About three hundred Barbary macaques live there, where they are somewhat erroneously known as the Barbary apes (they’re actually monkeys).

Gibmetal77 [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], from Wikimedia Commons

The above picture shows Sergeant Alfred Holmes (1931-1994) of the Gibraltar Regiment with two Barbary macaques, surveying the city from the Rock of Gibraltar. He held the position of “Officer-in-Charge of the Apes” for more than thirty-eight years, calling the macaques “Gibraltar’s greatest treasure.”

The consensus seems to be that the Moors brought the monkeys to Spain as pets between the Eighth and Fifteenth Centuries, but monkeys had probably been in Europe long before that. Continue reading →

This Week in WTF, January 17, 2014 (UPDATED)

Posted on January 17, 2014 by wellsdc

UPDATE (01/17/2014): Thanks to a ~~busybody~~ dear friend’s observation, I have updated the post title to reflect the fact that we are in a new year. Lousy Smarch…

By Christy_Marie_as_Slave_Leia_at_San_Diego_Comic-Con_2006.jpg: Jason Scragz from Portland, Oregon, USA derivative work: Fanfwah [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) or CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Christy Marie as Slave Leia at San Diego Comic Con, 2006 (i.e. not a stripper in Atlanta)

– Wait, what? A gentleman’s club proprietor in Atlanta is planning to open what the Atlanta Banana calls a “science-themed strip club” (h/t Mike):

Hoping to capitalize on DragonCon’s attendance, the proprietor of a new gentlemen’s club, Jabbu’s Hut, has announced the club’s grand opening to coincide with the fantasy and science fiction themed convention on Labor Day weekend.

“Of course we’d prefer to call it Jabba’s Hut,” said Steve Scizz, owner. “But the lawyers would open us up like a Hoth tauntaun and crawl inside.”

Scizz says his club will feature more than just girls dressed up as slave Leias, although there will be plenty of those, even if he calls them “Slave Laylas.” He plans to have his girls costumed across the full spectrum of fantasy, science fiction, and actual science.

“Just imagine getting a lap dance from sexy Marie Curie — non radioactive and in the public domain — or one of those hot night elves like the ones in WOW. We’ll have it all,” said Scizz.

Yes, of course anything posted on a site called the Atlanta Banana is certain to be satire (and it is), but that didn’t stop a few nerdbros from getting cautiously excited about it: Continue reading →

Building Evergreen Terrace

Posted on January 9, 2014 by wellsdc

Someone built the Simpsons house out of over 2,500 LEGO pieces (h/t Kevin). You can have one of your very own for only $200!

Via legosaurus.com

This is an impressive feat, no doubt, but let us never forget that a life-sized, true-color Simpsons house once existed in Las Vegas.

Via gizmodo.com

Alas, the life-sized Simpsons house is no more, but its legend lives on.

Famous Fictional ENFP’s

Posted on December 27, 2013 by wellsdc

I don’t put much stock in the Myers-Briggs personality test—I rate them somewhere above palm readers, but below tarot cards. I do occasionally find it intriguing to see what anonymous researchers summarize about me. Someone has compiled a list of fictional characters based on their Myers-Briggs type, using a methodology they describe as “the best guesses of lots of fans” (h/t Michelle).

For those unfamiliar with the test, you can read about it Continue reading →

Doctor Santa

Posted on December 13, 2013 by wellsdc

The following comment (on Ragen’s post) may explain everything about Santa Claus, including the asinine Fox News racial dispute:

Considering Santa’s not real, he can be whatever the hell race we want him to be. I personally believe Santa’s a Time Lord, and his sleigh is really a TARDIS. How else could he possibly deliver all those presents in one one night without a little wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff?

I covered up the identifying info, but the commenter is welcome to claim credit if they want—or I’ll give credit upon request. I’m pretty flexible and occasionally a pushover 🙂

That’s Demon Prince, Esquire to You!

Posted on December 11, 2013 by wellsdc

By Sabbut from es [GFDL, CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons This guy sounds pretty cool to me:

Clark Allen Peterson is more than just a devoted fan of tabletop role-playing fantasy games.

He has been an entrepreneur and publisher who mentors game designers, heralds product releases from a company he founded, judges design competitions and posts online comments about the intricacies of this make-believe world of monsters, mythical creatures, magic and good vs. evil.

Many know him as the demon prince Orcus, Lord of the Undead.

Others know him as the Honorable Clark A. Peterson, a state magistrate judge in Coeur d’Alene.

Apparently not everyone thinks a judge should be gallivanting about mystical realms doing, uh, whatever it is people do in role-playing games (I’m supposed to know this stuff, but I really don’t.) I mean, as long as he doesn’t start ordering people to go on quests instead of performing community service, what’s the problem?

While the past two years have been tumultuous in his personal life – a divorce, bankruptcy filings and thousands of dollars in overdue income taxes – Peterson has remained caught up in the world of role-playing games.

Okay, all of those things can be distracting, but we all need some source of joy in our lives, right?

Parties in two civil cases that went before Peterson believe that his hobby, coupled with his financial and marital problems, distracted the judge from his duties, drew out their cases and cost them far more in legal bills than necessary. They also contend that the amount of time the judge spends on message boards and the content of some of his posts – from playful digressions to sexually suggestive banter – fall short of the high standards of conduct expected of judges.

So the issues are that cases take a long time to resolve, and that the judge communicates a certain way outside of court? I can’t say for certain, obviously, but the role-playing game stuff sounds like it might be more of a distraction for dissatisfied litigants than for the judge himself. But I could be wrong. Anyway, the whole article is worth a read.

Photo credit: By Sabbut from es [GFDL, CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Riding in Single-File, Because of Reasons

Posted on November 12, 2013 by wellsdc

Most people like me (i.e. who probably spend more time on the internet than interacting with actual people) will recognize Bantha Pug, but it’s worth noting a winning comment about why they might ride in single-file (see below photoset):

I guess hiding the Tusken Raiders’ numbers was just an incidental benefit.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Meow

Posted on October 22, 2013 by wellsdc

I guess this is from the remake of Alien where they replaced all of the humans with cats. I wonder if they replaced Jones the cat with a human.

Cryptic Philosopher

Don't Look, but Your Keyboard is Covered in Spiders

Category Archives: Geek Stuff