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July 28 A Whores Knickers Spring To MindWell - the blogs title refers to the way I'm thinking about this blasted space right now....
It's a good thing msn communicates via email cos if they didn't - there'd be one less rainforest on the planet.
Roughly two months ago someone reported an image on my space - it was an avatar that was deemed by msn to 'sexually suggestive' and, maybe it was...so, as I've had to do twice before I took it down with no complaints and thought....fair enough..
....Then there was another report....this time about a drawing of two robots kissing....no nudity...just kissing - so I took that one down too.
Then someone complained that one of my blog entries was 'inappropriate'...I was asked to remove it. It was the 'Criminalisation of Pleasure' entry. This - as far as I ws concerned - was NOT going to happen.
I asked msn what the problem was - they said it had 'inappropriate content'.
I laughed - and emailed them (with links) telling them it was a 'current affairs' matter and as such was a perfectly acceptable subject for a web community who's membership age limit is 13.
Well - the blog is still there - so it should be pretty obvious they backed down on that one....
Then came yet another report....this one listed three picture apparently containing partial nudity.....now of all the pics I've ever put up on here the three mentioned were the least nude of the bunch. I asked them to take another look - and after another two days or so offline - they conceded and my page was back up.
At this point....I was starting to get a bit pissed......
I went through my photo albums and checked for anything that could be classed as against the T&C....I took a few down - just to be careful..
And then my space went down again....
I sent another email - and by now I was starting to use the 'angry' tone....
WTF? I said.....
A change of policy - they said...
Couldn't you have told me about the change and given me a chance to comply with it BEFORE you shut my space - I said...
Hmmmmm - they said....
and put my space back up.
This change of policy by the way - you can no longer upload pictures of children who are naked or partially clothed - even if they are of your own child.......sigh..
 The Klara and Edda blog had to be removed.....
ah well - I thought....despite my personal opinion on this 'everyone on the internet is a peadophile' theory....fair enough...
And that, I thought, would be the end of it...
I settled down one evening to do a much needed new blog - and the fuckin' thing was gone again!!!!!
What the fuck have I done now!? I said....
You have pictures of partial nudity on your site - they said...
What ones? I said (through gritted teeth)
I awaited their response....staring at my screen for when the little 'you have mail' box would tell me exactly what it was that 13 year olds were not allowed to see....
And then it came...or came to pass, maybe...
Please remove this picture - they said......so I clicked the link...
THE CREATION - BY MICHAELANGELO....
 Words cannot express what I did next.....
But - there you have it - the story of my many absences.
For a while - I wasn't going to bother....I couldn't really be arsed anymore...someone suggested I might have been targeted by someone who's sole purpose was to take my space down.....so I thought 'bugger that for a game of soldiers....no bleedin' way'....
So - I decided to take all the pics down and start again....
Now I know this'll disappoint some of you....
 ...but - I will be putting them all up (slowly) on the Dis blog....to peruse at your pleasure...and there WILL be nudity...
 ....although not from me....hmmm...Anyhoo - from now on I'll still be putting blogs up and the list at the top right of the page with the link to my other blog will contain a list of random and latest posts. So - for those who don't get the notifications or feeds - you'll know what's going on...but there will be a sad lack of new pictures.....there'll be some - but not many...
I was thinking about a 'Manga Monday' for Dis and Pandemonium with all the pics.....and maybe a vid every once in a while...whatcha think?
So - for now - enjoy what is here and maybe get into the habit of popping along to see me over at Dis...I'll be working on expanding it over the next few weeks so suggestions and submissions are more than welcome from anybody...
See ya soon.....hopefully...lol
Mangawitch. x
June 12 LOL - You Can't Keep A Good Witch Down For Long...YAY!!!!
Told ya I wouldn't be long.
Seems there was an old photo album hanging around in the archives that showed computer avatars doing naughty things - so it's had to go...
Anyhoo - back now (phew)...
Did ya miss me
 MW June 09 Spitzer Space TelescopeI meant to include this on the blog yesterday - but I forgot..
The Spitzer Space Telescope.
Now, I don't know much about it cos I've only just come across it really.
There are two small articles on Dis and Pandemonium about it - so - either click on the Dis link or on the permalinks below.
I'm going to go and find out more about it if I can.
MW x June 07 A Time Before TimeWell - the time is almost upon us. After years of waiting the Large Haydron Collider at CERN has awakened. As the power flows through it's coils it slowly begins to come to life. Beginning the power-up that will enable one of the most important experiments of our era.
I'm not going to go through all it's aims and expectations again - most of you know by now what we want from it - and if you don't - then read through a few of my past blogs and they'll tell you almost everything you need to know.
So as this great underground beast begins to breathe after months of delays, where do we stand on the outcome of it's actions?
Science, and especially physics, is ever changing. The more we look, the more we learn that we were wrong in our assumptions and the more we have to change our perception of the world around us. And, while the LHC has slept, science has been raiding the fridge of the Universe and having itself a sneaky little midnight snack.
We've discovered some of that 'lost' matter in our Universe (although not the full 50%) We've discovered the largest ever Dark Matter structure measuring 270 Million light years across. A surfer (sea - not internet) has come up with a brand new theory on everything involving the E8 pattern - which I'm still trying to get my head around by the way, but I'm getting there....and we've found that somewhere in the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Backround) a little clue about why time progresses as it does while simultaneously bringing into question one of the most vital laws of physics - The Second Law Of Thermodynamics.
But - back to the LHC and the search for the Higgs-Boson (and other stuff).....at least CERN is going ahead - in America, it seems, that the search for answers has come to anend with a lack of funding putting the Fermilab Collider on ice with employees taking unpaid leave due to a severe lack of funding.
So - within the next month (or so we hope) two beams of particles will race in opposite directions around the 17 miles of tunnels within the Collider. They will be guided by more than a thousand cylindrical supercooled magnets. At four locations, the beams will converge sending the particles crashing into each other at just under the speed of light. At this point - matter will be transformed into energy by the violence of the collision and then condense back into various particles - one of which could give us more information than we could interpret in our lifetimes.
So - despite a legal attempt by some guy in Hawaii to stop the collider experiment (due to his fear of being sucked into a black hole of our own making) and more delays than the British rail system......we will soon have the information that we crave that may go some way to answering the questions that have intrigued us since the human race first had time to sit down and think about things.
How long it will take us to sort through that information and understand it - and what it will tell us, are two questions that will still have to wait to be answered.
Providing, that is, that it doesn't end all life on Earth as we know it...lol.
I'll be keeping my eyes and ears open for more new on the LHC as it comes - CERN seems to have gone pretty quiet on the issue this last few months. But for now - if you look to your right - there's a short vid on the LHC presented by Dr Brian Cox (Commonly known as the Master of the Collider or Bringer of Doom - whichever you prefer....only time will tell)
I'm off to look for Higgs-Boson myself now and give myself a refresher course so if I start waffling, please let me know....lol....I'm also just about to start an Undergraduate course with MIT in the 'Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics'....so things may get a little silly around here for a while.....bear with me.....my sanity is still intact somewhere and I do hope to find it soon....
So - until next time - Eat, drink and be merry - for tomorrow we could be sucked into a black hole.
ps - my thanks to all of those people recently who've subscibed to the RSS of this page and contributed to some incredible viewing stats....if the increase in visitors continues I may have to start looking for a 'proper' host for the things on this site........who knows....but for now, I'm happy here with you lot....lol
MW x
May 15 The Criminalisation of PleasureLast week, the British Parliament rushed through the house of Lords a bill that would make the possession of ‘extreme pornography’ a criminal offence…. …..now this has me a little worried.. The inception of this bill begins 5 years ago when Jane Longhurst was murdered. A music teacher living in Brighton Jane was 24 years old when she was found strangled on 19th April 2003. Graham Coutts was arrested for her murder and is currently serving a life sentence. It later emerged that Graham Coutts had been visiting websites such as ‘Club Dead’ and ‘Rape action’ which contain images of sexual violence towards women. An ex-girlfriend described how he liked to tie nylon tights around her neck and control her air intake during sex. Coutts had even voluntarily sought counselling for these feelings eight years before he committed the murder. Janes mother, Liz Longhurst began a campaign to get these kind of websites banned and to make possession of this type of pornography a criminal offence. She was supported by her local MP Martin Salter who helped her to gain the support of the then Home Secretary David Blunkett who agreed to introduce legislation to ban the possession of ‘violent and extreme pornography’. The legislation was included in the ’Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill’ which gained Royal Assent and was passed into law on 8th May 2008. So what’s this got to do with me you ask…? Well now - let me see….. One of the concerns with the bill (sorry - law) is that the definition of ‘extreme pornography’ is vague to say the least. Let’s have a little look to see just how this law defines it… As defined by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, extreme pornography: - An act which threatens or appears to threaten a persons life. - An act which results in or appears to result in serious injury to a persons anus, breasts or genitals. - An act which involves or appears to involve sexual interference with a human corpse. - A person performing or appearing to perform an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal. I don’t want to threaten someones life, or cause damage to their bits, or fuck dead people or animals and I should think that the majority of people would agree with me there. But I am not the only one who sees a problem with the wording of the above definitions….and that problem is……. …….the words ‘appears to’…. These words worry me. By the definition of the law I cannot even possess a film in which two (or more) consenting adults act out the above scenarios……no S&M films - Pulp Fiction…would that be included? - I have a documentary about necrophilia that although does not go so far as to show the actual thing, does show people acting it out….now does that count…? How about if you make your own ‘home movies’ - will they count? Are you into a little S&M. Maybe you like a little pain….maybe you like being tied up, maybe you like a bit of forcefulness (or at least the appearance of it) what if you’re into Auto Erotic Asphyxiation? What if you enjoy a little bit of ‘Sleepysex’? ……and for gods sake, leave the dog alone!!!! Apparently - if you’re a couple, under this new law you can make pictures and films of yourself but not distribute them….but what happens if you split up? Does it automatically make them illegal…..? And it won’t be just the films or pictures of these things that’ll get you into trouble…no more visiting those websites in your favourites list….and what happens when your more prudish neighbour sees the handcuffs, whip and rope lying on the table when they come round to borrow a cup of sugar… This law is pretty much walking into your bedroom and telling you ‘You can’t do that’! They’re criminalising kinkiness….. They’re criminalising me!
I own a lot of films, not all of them considered pornography, that contain images of the above. I also have a collection of artworks (photographic and cartoon) that represent most of them. And books….I have a load of books that if they don’t show it certainly do describe the said acts in great detail. Gone are my soft porn period dramas…..am I never to watch Fanny Hill again? Gone is my collection of S&M erotica photographs… And does animation count? Cos my Mangaporn collection is staying dude - I don’t care how many peoples anal cavities are torn to shreds - I’m not getting rid of it! OMG!! My Japanese Tentacle porn and fish sex pics…..!!!! And what about literature - My whole ‘De Sade’ collection of novels? Am I supposed to burn them? In effect, this is thoughtcrime….governed by the thought police. The original intent of the law was to mirror the legal test currently used by the OPA (1959 Obscene Publications Act) which bans images that ‘tend to deprave and corrupt’ - but this has been lost in the rush to push the bill through…. Lord Hunt, who has charge of the bill in the House of Lords, admits it is being rushed through to meet a deadline. But he denies the law has not been thoroughly considered and maintains it will only affect images that are "grossly offensive and disgusting". All we have to worry about now - is who will judge whether something is ‘grossly offensive’ or ‘disgusting’….and will they be someone who understands that what consenting adults get up to behind closed doors is a matter for the consenting adults….or will they be someone who considers themselves to be responsible for our moral guidance. Lets hope it’s not Liz Longhurst who said to those who fear that the legislation will criminalise those who use violent pornography as a harmless sex aid… …..’Hard luck’!
April 20 Who Watches The WatchersEven as I write this - I am being watched.
Someone or at least some-thing is monitoring every word I write.
Whether it's google in order to update their search or the moderators at Livespaces making sure I'm not putting up nudity or 'unfriendly' material. It may be the British Secret Service, who, by the right of law, can watch up to 100,000 random people at any time for 7 days be they suspected of a crime or not....or it could be Echelon - a monitoring service that searches for keywords in emails, phone calls and blogposts etc such as 'bomb', 'president', 'package' and many others (click on it - you'll be surprised who's watching)...
But I'm not just being watched.....ultimately, I'm being controlled...same as you.
My broadband company is telling me how fast my internet connection will be - it's telling me I use it too much and is therefore (trying) to control my internet use by cutting my speed.
Right now, at least, I live in a country which allows me access to, pretty much, the whole internet. I can freely visit blogs, there is no video on youtube that I can't watch.
But all that may be about to change..
Virgin media (amongst others) are trying to bring in a 'new era' of internet use.
Its intention - to allow sites who pay them well enough access to a band of elite high speed bandwidth. Those sites that pay will be delivered, super-speed, to your desktop - bristol fashion and ready to go - leaving those who cannot, or will not, pay for the priveledge battling for the space left by these high financed corporate websites.
They will also be deciding which websites they deem 'worthy' of using the bandwidth that they can supply.
Are these companies about to become our gaurdians - making our moral and ethical decisions for us?
One website that I go to has already had to say that if this goes ahead - and other ISPs decide to follow - the quality and quantity of the website will be adversely affected.
In essence - the very reason I go there will be denied me.
And I'm not talking mangaporn here.
One of the key elements of the site is to provide soldiers serving in the Middle East to post videos of their experiences....yes - some of them are graphic - some disturbing - some funny - but I won't have access to them.
I don't go looking for child porn and I don't (anymore) go to hacker sites or chat on millitant webrings..
I'm not doing anything illegal on the internet - ok - some of the t-shirts I may buy are a bit on the dodgy side if you're the fashion police - and the odd hardcore vid will inevitably find it's way onto my browser now and again...But is that a sin now!?
Am I having my behaviour restricted because of a minority of users are either unsupevised kids with ignorant parents who know nothing about the internet and its dangers. Who refuse to accept resposibility for their offspring and what they get up to when mummy and daddy are watching the soaps - or people who deal in childrens suffering and pain - or who choose to plot revolution and violence...
....or is it something more sinister?
Is there something out there that objects to my (and others) idea of morality....something that objects to the my ethics or my beliefs?
We are human - we have (a modicum) of free will. We have an unarguable right to speak our minds, a right to read what we choose, a right to see. A right to privacy. A right to do what we will as consenting adults.
This wonderful super-highway of information and entertainment may soon become a narrow country lane full of road works and blind corners and hidden dips - a place where we, the surfer of the interwebs, will be shown signs that tell us to 'slow down', 'show your license' or just stopped dead by a red light.
We users of cyberspace are being slowly guided towards a future which someone else will decide for us....
where to go - what to read - what to see.
Personally - I think I'm moral and ethical and grown up enough to make my own decisions.
MW x
Btw - on a brighter note - THE GRID - hyperspeed internet access courtesy of CERN....sometimes the future does look good!
God and Chris - click on the link - if you don't know about it yet - you'll want to...promise.
And - I'm looking forward to the CERN experiment and am keeping up to date - next blog - we'll have a chat about it...
April 12 Just A Quick WordI've been a bit bust the last few weeks so I haven't been around much - sorry bout that.
Back now though.
Just to say thanks to all those who left comments on my last entry and I've added to them with a few words of my own.
March 27 Freedom Of Speech - No Death Threats Please - I Have Enough AlreadyI don't know how many of you would have heard of the film 'Fitna'. I heard about it a while ago and have been keeping my ear to the ground for it ever since.
It is a film about radical muslims and criticises the Koran.
Fitna is a word that usually means 'strife'.
It's release has sparked intense debate around the world and has led to death threats for the dutch politician (Geert Wilders) who chose to release it to the public.
The films shows scenes from the 9/11 attacks - beheadings - stonings and executions -so don't click to play it if you don't want to watch what is a very graphic film.
I have said in the past that I have no problem with Islam. I have many friends who follow the religion most of whom are as appaulled by the actions of the extremists as everyone else. And there's where the nub of the problem lies isn't it.
The problem is, as usual, extremism.
Not Islam. Not Anti-westerism, Not Fascism.
Extremism.
The views expressed in this film are as extreme as the examples that it shows.
And not 24 hours ago I was watching another video with equally extremist views only that one was from the Phelps family from Westboro Baptist Church - you know them - the ones who picket soldiers funerals and think all gays (and enablers) should die. They were thanking god for the $10.9 million fine that they were given.
That video made me feel more sick than 'Fitna' did.
I've uploaded 'Fitna' onto my Dis Blog and also here if you want to see it.
Give it a while to load - it's only 17 minutes long but the traffic towards it is immense so it may be a bit slow.
I have been a long time member of Liveleak and I congratulate them on their willingness to host a film that major servers, youtube and many other sites have taken down due to it's controversial nature.
Feel free to leave your comments and thoughts as always.
March 15 A little Welsh Victory and an Irish Gain...This isn't going to be long - promise....lol.
Well, we won. Turns out france was nowhere near good enough to take the championship and nowhere near strong enough to stop us winning the Grand Slam!
I'm trying to find a sober welshman right now - but it seems as if there aren't any.
I look up at the sky and I don't think it's my imagination when I see the figure of a high flying happy as fuck dragon outlined against the moon.
Sympathies, however, go to our fellow celts - Scotland -who won the Wooden Spoon (which means they didn't win one single match) and to our other celtic neighbours
Happy St Patricks Day (pity 'bout the loss against England....but...)
Now are you celebrating it today (15th) or on the 17th? (something about holy week although why they can't celebrate a saint during a holy week is - to me - a bit odd.)
Anyway - have a good day whenever you're celebrating.
I'm off to drink more now....
cheers!
Ps - when I said my new years resolution was to enjoy myself - I didn't think there would be this many opportunities....lol.
March 02 My Birthday On TuesdayIt's my birthday on Tuesday - and - I'm starting the celebrations now!
So - as I've warned on Dis and Pandemonium - there may be incidents of - random posting, meaningless posting and ranting (along with other things I can only put on the Dis blog cos they won't let me put it on here!
So - apologies in advance for frequent rambling - factual error - and spelling mistakes.
Cheers
MW February 23 Satellites and Solar SystemsFirst of all - I'd like to say thanks for sticking with this place despite the fact that I didn't keep any of the promises I made about getting up to date. Add to that a huge thanks for the messages and emails about my son (who deserves no sympathy whatsoever for a completely self-inflicted hospitalisation - he took the time to learn a valuable lesson - that nurses love a 17 year old flirt!)
And God - (you know, it's great to have you back properly - you suit 'God' - I know where I am with God...lol)
Thanks for the link - you're part of the reason I haven't written here for a while cos I've been reading up on the blog you linked - fuckin fascinating - I feel quite privilaged to be mentioned on it. And you God are a lot more prolific on this little web than I ever gave you credit for - and for that - I'm sorry. Kudos to you friend.
Anyhoo - what kind of avatar would I be if I didn't post at least one thing that's tickled the brain cells this week - so here goes!
It started a few weeks ago when I read an article in New Scientist about 13 things that don't make sense. If we jump to number 8 it mentions the 'Pioneer Anomaly'. Now anything with the word 'anomaly' in the title is going to catch my attention.
It concerns the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 spacecrafts launched in 1972/73. There's something shifting their trajectories that can't be ignored. It appears that something is pushing (or pulling) them causing them to speed up. Solar flares, software errors, fuel leaks and the like have been ruled out - but - despite the protestations of the scientists involved - the pioneer spacecrafts are speeding up at a rate of about a 'nanometre per second, per second'. Doesn't sound much - but over the vast distances and the amount of time they've been in space - that's one hell of a shift! Pioneer 10 is already 400,000 km off course and number 11 was heading the same way when NASA lost touch with it in 1995.
There has been a suggestion that it may have something to do with Dark Matter - but seeings that we don't know a hell of a lot about that (hopefully changing this coming May when the Cern experiment kicks off. (see ya on the Dark Side Hunnybuns...lol) we really have to discount it for now.
I was talking to a friend about it who studied Space and Planetary Physics and we (I say we - a combination of his educated opinion and my stoned suppositions - which I find to be an incredibly productive combination btw) we decided that it must be some kind of gravitational influence. It seemed to be the only thing that would explain the severity of the trajectories divergence.
We left it at that and went home to sleep it off having solved the mysteries of the Universe yet again.
Then - last week I was flicking through the good old BBC and I stumbled across this little beauty of a story hidden away in the depths (btw imo - this should have been front page news - unfortunately because of a crap eduscation system, an apathetic population and too much bloody religion it was left for only those with no life and too much time on their hands to find - ie - ME! (and don't deny it but a few of you too - you know who you are....)
Apparently - and tell me guys if you feel that this might be actually quite important - there are possibly hundreds of undiscovered planets on the outskirts of our Solar System!
Not just a few - HUNDREDS!!!! And not in the Universe or the Galaxy - but our SOLAR SYSTEM!!!!
Now I think that's pretty big news!
WTF is this going to do for our understanding of our little tinsy bit of the Galaxy?
Well -for a start -it explains why the Pioneers are going off course - if there are hundreds of undiscovered planets out there then there are hundreds of different gravitational pulls and shifts that our scientists didn't take in to account.
Problem solved!
But think about what else it could mean (harder science exams for a start. 'Little Johnny - could you please list all 846 planets in our Solar System in order. Course I can Miss - just give us a few hours!)
What about life in our System - surely the odds have just increased?
What about the planet Vulcan? There was talk about launhing a mission to find it just a few months ago -coincidence? I think maybe not.
So right now - I'm thinking.
Does the CERN experiment and the like really mean that much now? I mean. If we misunderstand our own Solar System to that extent - what hope do we have of understanding the 'god particle' or even recognising it?
Maybe we should just stick to answering all these questions with 42 - and be done with it!
Eat, drink and be merry - cos tomorrow is just gonna confuse you more than today ever could.
Live long and prosper folks...
MW
February 16 Child For SaleSorry I've been away guys - I promise to put some new stuff up tomorrow and give you all a visit.
Thanks for all the comments and guestbook entries you've left while I've been gone.
My son landed himself in hospital last week ending up with hyperthermia and tubes up his nose.
I've just about forgiven him for putting me through it.
He's ok now but It's left me with over a weeks worth of stuff to catch up on.
As soon as I've satiated the desire for clicking through the undernet things will get back to normal.
MW February 02 Yay!!! Drunk as a skunk!Today was a day that I expected to turn out far, far worse than it did.
I'm not a huge sports fan (to say the least) but I am a Six Nations Addict.
From the time when I was all of about two years old my Dad sat me on his lap on a winters afternoon and taught me about the things in life that were REALLY important!
It's a passion with me that has never died or faltered.
Now - for the uneducated - The Six Nations.
Used to be the Five Nations until the introduction of Italy. Also includes England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France.
Oh - and it's rugby.
Now it doesn't matter if we lose to the scots - never has - and we don't really mind losing against Ireland either. France - really good team, no shame in losing to them and Italy - well - they're the n00bs of the competition.
But the England Wales match is where it really matters.
There's a terror that builds in the soul of every true Cymbrogi when the first match of the competition is against England.
If we lose against them, then the whole tournament passes us by in a haze of Brains SA and whisky. Cos it really doesn't matter anymore.
It means that we lose Grand Slam and the Triple Crown - best we can hope for after that is the Wooden Spoon (of which we already have plenty thanks very much.).
So we watch the match with trepadation. Each pass of the ball, each kick (of which from England there are plenty). Each subtle move of those red and white shirts as they crash together in a testosterone fuelled homo-erotic ruck.
We watched as the first half panned out pretty much as we expected. We were losing. Again.
As the teams went off more drink was poured. In anticipated commiseration.
We talked amongst ourselves, us armchair coaches. Talked about how the fire had gone out of the dragon and how the blood of the ancients ran cold at the spectral demise of our champions.
We set about the second half with a feeling of familiar acceptance - voices full of critisism.
Then it happened.
The gods changed their minds.
Now I don't care if it was the prayers of the chapel goers - or the chant of the buddhists is Brecon - or the sacrifice of the newborns by the druids.
We started to play as if we could win.
The whole of Wales felt the very air change around them - as the strange wind came down from the mountains and into the valleys, the heart of the nation started beating as one.....
the voice of critisism became the voice of a thousand angels as the Land of my Fathers started once again to sing...
For the final 10 minutes of that match - I don't think I took more than one breath.
20 years of losing - the Twickenham curse looming over us like the coal tips of last century....
I don't think I really heard the final whistle - it was more I felt the joy. Or maybe the relief..
England 19 -Wales ........
26
If it rains tonight in Wales, it will be the tears of a thousand dragons crying with elation.
For you - it may only be a gmae of rugby - but for us - it's something more. Something spiritual. SOmething special.
So I'm gonna fuck off now - cos there's more celebrating to be done.
The pubs ain't dry yet........
MW x January 19 A Pale Blue DotThis was kinda inspired by Gods blog - which made me start to think about whether I was infinitesibily small or phenomenally important in the Universe.
Carl Sagan was delivering a lecture on October 13th 1994 at Cornell University. During the lecture he presented a photo (see attached).
The photo was taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 at a distance of over 4 BILLION miles as it was heading out of our Solar System.
Ground control issued a command for Voyager to 'look back' and take photos of each of the planets it had visited.
From 4 billion mils away the Earth was captured as a tiny point of light smaller than 1 pixel of the photograph. Quite by accident the Earth was captured in one of the scattered light rays caused by taking an image so close to the Sun.
Dr Sagan was quite moved by this image of our tiny little world.
Here's a bit of his lecture that day.
"We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam. The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly |
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