short notes: will brady's ruminations

A blog adjunct to rondak.org [click on the globe] | Perspectives on: human rights; environmental concerns; life as a visual artist; 21st century feudalism; progressive politics; aboriginal culture; new urbanism; permaculture; sustainable technology; non-traditional families; achievable utopias

2004-08-27

OLYMPICS 6

Triumph comes in different ways | To the left, is the Greek woman who won sprinting about the track; to the right, the American wrestler who captured the bronze medal and retired from the sport |
Both are older athletes, a contrast to the young lions who dominate the games | Both were well known and beloved, regardless of their nation of origin | A small gesture this, my salute to you both|

Posted by: Will Brady / 19:18

2004-08-26

SILLY SURVEYS

This makes me think of something we did in high school, called a "slang book" | It got passed around from kid to kid, was full of inane or terribly important questions and everyone had to put in their two cents, so to speak |

Go here to see or take the survey

THANKS TO: Monde at involution.org who is also the author of VERTEXES & FACETS | I've been dropping by her places every now and again since first coming online | They are always intriguing sites |

Posted by: Will Brady / 00:41

2004-08-25

WE THE PEOPLE

The once Invisible War rages inside the boardrooms and conference halls of America | It may very well be raging on the streets, for it is those of us among the street throngs that shall pay for the reckless abandon of our self-styled leaders and decision-makers|

"Rulers" is more like it, but there are many of us who know this already | For they lead as it suits them, without due consideration of the populace, and with indifference to their charge as guides in a democratic republic | And for those sheep smugly supporting this legion of frauds, I submit a clear challenge: in years to come, those who survive shall be wailing and asking "How the hell did we get here? and What do we do now?"

Plan for the future rebuilding | Perhaps Europe and Japan will offer us a Marshall Plan of our own | Lord knows, we'll need it |

ABOUT THE IMAGE The collage is several years old but even though it shows the crypto criminals of the 1980s and early '90s, they are still in the wings, and actively take part in the overt overthrow of a populist/egalitarian society |

Posted by: Will Brady / 08:43

2004-08-24

NEWS BLIPS

The Medals of George W. Bush | Forget about Kerry's Purple Hearts | These are something to inspect closely | One award is missing however; the National Guard's Camoflague Exellence Award |

Pop News Quiz | Test your observational skills | "100% corrrect" answer winners get a dog-eared copy of the Weekly World News, because you are too smart for your own good |

Transparency in Government | The US Chamber of Commerce has a big confab about Intellectual Property Rights [It's over already] The Press, and you, were not invited |

Flaws in Surveillance Walls | Are HIPAA privacy regulations violated if your doctor gives your medical records away without asking? | Some people don't think so |

Radio GaGa | Clear Channel Communications gambles on nobody listening | So who's communicating?

Newsspeak is DoublePlusGood | Arundhati Roy talks about how obsfucation can be a terrorist's best lingustic friend | Thank you George!

Posted by: Will Brady / 20:58

2004-08-23

TIME WARPS

Oliver Sacks has an essay in a recent New Yorker, speaking about human perceptions of time |
     Some of his findings are not new to me; athletes with a hyper-attuned sense so fine they often "hear" a starting bell "before" it goes off | The examples of self-experimenters using drugs ~ ranging from nitrous oxide to marijuana, mescaline and LSD ~ are well documented and abundant | But my concern at the moment is closer to my line of work; namely what happens with people's time perceptions when confronted with disease |
     Sack's extensive work, chronicled in Awakenings, with people who had survived enchepalitis is another point to explore the pehnomena of time warping | Although I oughtn't be, I was less familiar with the impact of Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's and Attention Defecit Disorder | And if I'm unfamiliar with this, I expect that so are many others |
     This ignorance of the time reality of others can be critical when working with people identified as mentally ill |
     It's bad enough when no thought is given to the impact of a fistful of meds, but such insensitivity is even worse taking this into consideration |
I can't count the number of occasions I've heard staff abruptly tell individuals "...snap out of it!" "Pay attention!" and [worst of all] "...get a move on or we're going to restrict you!"
     Often, such edicts and restrictions are imposed with a rapidity that the imposer could not have complied with the edict swift enough themselves | The effect, if not the intent, of such action against one experiencing a dramitically dissonant perception of time, is punishment, pure and simple |
     I plan on writing more about this | A link to the appropriate page or pages, shall be put there when it's done |

Posted by: Will Brady / 09:00

2004-08-22

ARTISTS || PEOPLE SEARCH

Jana Semianova is a cousin of my friend Milan | He has lost touch with her and hopes to reconnect | write him or pass this along to her if you know her |

She is an artist who works in a non-representational style that makes me think of Mark Tobey | I belive she lives in Slovokia | Works she's completed are on exhibit - or have been- at the GA And Gallery in Trnava, Slovokia |
Her mother, Jarmila Cihankova, is also an accomplished artist, doing works on canvas of bold geometric designs and more subtle works in tapestry |

An assist is appreciated | I know I have a diverse audience | If you are acquainted with Jana or Jarmila, please pass this along and ask they contact their cousin Milan

Posted by: Will Brady / 22:20

LOCAL SCENE || SUNSETS
Connecticut River | South of CT Yankee Nuclear

I hate to say how many photos I took last night, but the sunset was so spectacular it seemed warranted | I thought to call this "Irradiated Sky" | Really loved the power pole and street light framing the dome of the nuclear plant | The dome, difficult to see on this print [and further limited by the low res quality of the image] can be found just to the left of the bottom of the power pole | For more pictures from this series click here |

ABOUT THE POWER PLANT I've posted a sketch I did some years back,of the power plant, close up with brief comments | You can get it from either of the hyperlinks provided | The power plant, now "decommissioned" was being dismantled by Bechtel Corporation, who had some hand in putting it up back in the 1960s | It's still controversial |

Posted by: Will Brady / 19:53

OTHER VOICES

"Equality in a moral sense is at heart a principle that asserts individuals as having equal dignity or personhood | Rising to the level of a right, equality is the authoritative claim that a person will not be held in lesser regard ~ as having less worth ~ unless that
lesser regard is warranted by the person has [or has not] done |
A person may be held in lesser regard, even contempt, becuase of some action he performs [say, lying, theiving, murdering] or becuase of his failure to perform some duty [say, neglecting to pay his taxes or feel his children | Such acts and omissions permit
and warrant censure and punishment |
But a person may not legitimately be held in lower regard becuase of some status he or
she has, some group-membership independent of any action that establishes the
person as a member of the group |"

Richard D. Mohr

Posted by: Will Brady / 10:00

LOCAL SCENE

Mirror Images is what got me going the day I shot this beauty |
It's probably not safe, but taking snaps while cruising along the Interstate enroute to work has become a bit of an interest of late | So many odd juxtapositions; mudflap philosophies, classic cars, and antics of folks who probably shouldn't be traveling on the road |
But then, I'm taking pictures from a moving vehicle, who am I to judge?

I'm hoping this image is accepted by The Mirror Project

Posted by: Will Brady / 01:50

PERSPECTIVES

Nathan is not impressed though I find it impressive, and hopeful that a 23 year old man would have such a well thought opinion on political punditry |
     His take on the role and influence of the average person is interesting as well, ~ albeit somewhat skeptical, and in the opposite direction from that premise which states that a single person ~ duly determined ~ can change the course of history |
     It's not that he doesn't believe that such is possible | he even cites examples ~ Ghandi, Martin Luther King, the 8 gay couples who challenged current social practice ~ who have effected positive change |
     His concern is that, for the most part, people fit his own stance, namely:

I may not be making my opinions matter, but at least I'm honest with myself as to why not: I'm lazy and I'm afraid of that much work, discomfort, and possible failure. How many of the rest of you are willing to admit the same?

A sobering thought, but one well stated |

Posted by: Will Brady / 01:35

WEBSITES

Politics, Curious Musings, Creative Urgings the focus of some of what we've stumbled upon recently |
• Iron Blog | Inspired by the Iron Chef, this is a "great debating battlefield" with each week featuring different partisans debating an issue | It's sure to be more real than O'Reilly Factor | Last week's debaters were democrat, republican green and libertarian party members |
• Greater Things | Humor from one who espouses that the end of the world is 'round the corner | Well done nomatter the perspective | Anyway, if The End IS just around the corner, we might as well have a good laugh about it, eh?
• Nightmares for Sale | Well spoken thinker | Subject matter varied, which I consider a plus | Full disclosure, pointed me in the direction of the last two sites mentioned above |

• Abandoned Missle Silo | This is not a blog | It's a virtual reality tour of a real missle silo base | The authors warn that entering on to a real site is considered crimnal trespass, a felony and a federal offense | But it fits into my "urban adventuring" theme on the rondak website so it fits here | Great photo tour |
• Controlled Demolitions | ever wonder how those big, abandoned buildings ever come down without destroying everything around them | This site will show you | Again, not a blog |
• Idear Studios | Real crisp, clean look at a commercial website/blog | Check out their contests | How much of the Constitution do you know?

Posted by: Will Brady / 00:45

since 12 june 1999