20th CENTURY COURTING RITUAL

"I Think We're Dead"

First timers, struggling with that endless creeping-up pot brownie effect :

They won't miss us when we're gone. They'll just pick up the tools we leave behind, make use of those that are practical, and discard the rest of our cherished civilisation to be swallowed up, in time, by jungles, deserts and oceans.

James Cameron Declares War On "Climate Change Deniers, Ranters, Fearmongers"

Extraordinary.

This is where stars are born :



NASA :

"Captured here are the top of a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and the dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks like arrows sailing through the air."

The Full Hubble Image Is Here

The Death Of World Trade Centre 7

WTC7 was the third New York City skyscraper to fall on September 11, 2001.



Reporter Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, writing for Fox News, was there that day, he remembers the collapse of WTC7 :

"I remember watching all 47 stories of Building 7 suddenly and silently crumble before my eyes.

"Shortly before the building collapsed, several NYPD officers and Con-Edison workers told me that Larry Silverstein, the property developer of One World Financial Center was on the phone with his insurance carrier to see if they would authorize the controlled demolition of the building..."

More from Shapiro :

While I was talking with a fellow reporter and several NYPD officers, Building 7 suddenly collapsed, and before it hit the ground, not a single sound emanated from the tower area. There were no explosives; I would have heard them. In fact, I remember that in those few seconds, as the building sank to the ground that I was stunned by how quiet it was.

Another eyewitness to the collapse of WTC7, NYPD officer Craig Bartmer :

"...all of a sudden the radios exploded and everyone started screaming ‘get away, get away, get away from it!’… It was at that moment… I looked up, and it was nothing I would ever imagine seeing in my life. The thing started pealing in on itself… Somebody grabbed my shoulder and I started running, and the shit’s hitting the ground behind me, and the whole time you’re hearing boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”

Paul Joseph Watson :

In February of 2002 Silverstein Properties won $861 million from Industrial Risk Insurers to rebuild on the site of WTC 7. Silverstein Properties’ estimated investment in WTC 7 was $386 million. This building’s collapse alone resulted in a payout of nearly $500 million, based on the contention that it was an unforeseen accidental event.

Stories I've Been Reading :

Bernard Keane : Peter Garrett Is Exonerated, Nobody Notices

Video Games Really Are Designed To Control Your Mind, Keep You Playing, Get You Addicted

Why The iPad Won't Save Newspapers

Our Sudden Chaotic New Volcanic Reality : More And Bigger Eruptions

Richard Dawkins On Why The Pope Should Stand Trial

Hallucinogens Now Being Seriously Studied As An Aid/Cure For Depression, Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Gary Younge On Why American Conservatives Are Transforming Into Animal House - Strident, Reckless, Anarchic

Rupert Murdoch's Plans To Paywall His Media Is Proof Of "The Incoherent Spluttering Of An Industry With Sleep In Its Eyes And Moths In Its Wallet"

Crikey : What Role Should Journalists Play In A War?

The Terrible Truth Of Iraq : Soldiers Told To Shoot Civilians, Reassured Senior Officers Would Take Care Of Fallout

How The CIA Used Propaganda To Shore Up Western Europe Support For War On Afghanistan

Stephen Fry On Why Twitter's Power To Influence Politics, To Create Change, Is Yet To Be Fully Discovered