CHRIS JORDAN DEMONSTRATES THE NUMBERS IN THE MOST IMPORTANT SOCIAL ISSUES TODAY

SHAME ON US!!!!!


Hearing that 2.4 million pieces of plastic are dumped into all the world's oceans each HOUR sounds horrible. But SEEING exactly how many pieces of plastic 2.4 million is, well, how do you feel?


Here, we begin with a zoomed in image of a portrait done by Chris Jordan - my favorite artist now (as you'll see, he's done a lot of work to demonstrate to us exactly what these numbers look like in reality, from all sorts of social and environmental issues). Notice the black comb, and the toothbrush, so you can get the idea as we zoom


back and get a good look at the whole picture.








Zoomed back a little more...

.









and a little more...











And THIS is 2.4 million pieces of plastic. (Every piece was, in fact, taken from the Pacific Ocean.)

EVERY HOUR, this is what we humans do. And this is to the oceans only, and doesn't include the amount of plastic we dump into landfills and on the sides of the road. And, this is only plastic, not oil or chemicals or any of the other types of pollution the oceans receive from us, the keepers, the caretakers, of the earth. And remember, this is not biodegradable - it'll be there forever.
The photos above are from his current project, Running the Numbers II, Portraits of Global Mass Culture. It's my understanding this is a work still in progress. You'll find this and 2 others on this section of his site, unless he's added more since I wrote this. Understandably, each portrait is a huge undertaking, so it takes a lot of time to finish one.
Chris has other projects on the site as well. Running the Numbers, An American Self Portrait, obviously, shows us images of America, whereas part II goes global. You'll also find on his site Intolerable Beauty, Portraits of American Mass Consumerism, and In Katrina's Wake, Portraits of Loss From An Unnatural Disaster.

http://www.chrisjordan.com/

.................this is the address to his website, where you can see more of these, and other photos. But I wanna show you 1 more here:



Each one of these collars used to make this portrait represents one dog or cat. There are 10,000 of them - the number of unwanted dogs and cats euthanized in the United States each DAY. (Nevermind all the unwanted strays running around - when there isn't enough food and land for the wild animals in our country - barely getting by, no medical attention, starving, etc. (BTW maybe this is a good time to remind everyone to spay or neuter their pets to prevent this very thing.)

QUOTES: Religion, Politcs, US, etc; by Voltaire, Twain

[BEFORE ANYONE GETS OFFENDED at anything that follows, remember, the whole idea of this blog is to look at differing opinions and different sources to help find what we believe to be true, knowing we have looked at all sides and are making an informed opinion. Religion is a social issue too - look how many wars are fought over it, and how many laws are made pertaining to it (many of them against the constitution, which states that we DON'T MAKE ANY LAWS PERTAINING TO RELIGION, which also means no laws AGAINST it. The government cannot pick a religion and push it on the people, nor can it take religion and its expression away from the people. Hear that? I think its our Constitution crumbling like rocks falling down a mountain during a quake or volcano. And i personally am against organized religion, and feel it should be between me and my concept of God; but I also believe in the USA and the ideals it was formed upon ... and this ain't them, boy.]

VOLTAIRE:
A clergyman is one who feels himself called upon to live without working [he lived in the 1700s and then, they didn't work AT ALL] at the expense of the rascals that work to live.

++++A multitude of laws in a country is like a great number of physicians, a sign of weakness and malady. +++++
[Think on that one a while. On its parallel to the US today, with Congress butting more into our lives and making more laws daily, as well as how it indicates a weak nation - for it does so in several ways. I never really thought about it before Voltaire, but now I'm sorta obsessed with it - after all, I was already steaming over the kinds of laws they've been passing, and the amount of them, etc]

A witty saying proves nothing. [especially from a politician or government official]

All sects are different because they come from MEN. Morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from GOD.

As long as people believe in absurdities, they will continue to commit atrocities.

As long as there are fools there will be religons. [keep in mind, Voltaire believed in God, ergo the "morality comes from God" vs manmade religious rules above]

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one - "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous". And God granted it.

If God created us in his image, then we have more than reciprocated.
[I forget who said 'and then, man created God in his image']

If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him. But all of nature cries aloud that He does exist, that there is a supreme intelligence, an immense power, an admirable order, and everything teaches us our own dependence on it. [see, he believes in God, just not in man-made religion, like me. Many snobs today who believe the same also believe they are the first intelligent generation to evolve such thinking, when in fact, it has ALWAYS existed.]

In general, the art of GOVERNMENT consists in taking as much money as possible from one part of the citizens to give it to the other.
[And before you think about welfare programs remember te wisdom that says that the real test of a civilization is how it cares for its needy; now think about the tens of millions spent on welfare -perhaps 20 bucks of your money, probably less, but i never figured it out for sure- and compare it to the hundreds of billions in corporate welfare, corporations being faceless entities and not real needy hungry sick people, and the bonuses that we paid this year to corporate ceos to reward them for their greed, stupidity, etc and reward them for sinking their companies! Bonuses are supposed to be earned for jobs well done. Oh, I'm so upset about this one I won't even make any sense trying to say everything I'm thinking all at once. You got the basic idea, and many of you know more than I do. so back to quotes:]

IT IS BETTER TO RISK SAVING A GUILTY MAN THAN TO RISK CONDEMNING AN INNOCENT ONE.

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

It is forbidden to kill therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. [tho he spoke literally, we'll take that as a metaphor today]

It is lamentable that to become a good patriot one must become an enemy to the rest of mankind.

Judge a man by his questions rather than his anwers.

Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.

Of all religions, Christianity is the one that should inspire tolerance most, although, up til now, the Christians have been the most intolerant of them all. [Voltaire lived from the late 1694 to 17 78, so he certainly saw some of the worst of it]

ONLY NOW DID I BECOME THOROUGHLY ACQUAINTED WITH THE SEDUCER OF OUR PEOPLE. IT IS NOT THE INEQUALITY WHICH IS THE REAL MISFORTUNE, IT IS THE DEPENDENCE.

Prejudice is opinion without judgement.

The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. [I recently found out that most infections clear up on their own, with only our own bodies fighting them, in about 10 days. Ever notice how long they tell you to take most antibiotics? Hm. Think there may be a correlation there? Sheez.]




MARK TWAIN:
Man is a figment of God's imagination. [not real controversial but i think its witty]

Of all the delights of this world man cares most for sexual intercourse, yet he has left it out of his heaven.

Religion consists of a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain of.

The best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible.

QUOTES on Politics, Government, & Social Issues, by MARK TWAIN

Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.

In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.

Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its one sure defense.

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.

Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a congressman can.

Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it.

The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice.

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

We all live in the protection of certain cowardices which we call our principles.

POLITICS 1.COM : As Good A Place As Any To Begin

Here I have copied directly the Directory for the Politics 1 website. It was the easiest and best way I could see to demonstrate to you what this website is and what info you can find there:

http://www.politics1.com/index.htm DIRECTORY: Home | The Presidency | P2012 Race | State/Federal Candidates | Political Parties
Calendar | Campaign Products & Services | Issues | News Blog | News Links
FAQ | View from Abroad | Our Awards | Advertise | About Us | Email Us|

As you can see above, this site is about State as well as Federal government and politics.

Politics 1 lists itself as "the Ultimate Guide to U.S. Politics and Elections...since 1997. There you'll find very useful info, including news updates, short bios and contact links for current government officials, right up to the president, and related links for each. They have links to such useful places as the White House and the National Archives. The resources they list are organized very well, and should be very useful. You should certainly find all you need and more. Of course there are articles to explain, well, all things political. So far - and I am nowhere near 1/4 the way through the site, as its just too big to do thoroughly in any short amount of time - I haven't really come across any opinion pieces. They may have them there, but if so, its still mostly just information and facts - many of which all Americans really should know. And if I make it sound boring, its not. Well, some things are, but there is also a lot of interesting information here as well.

==================================================

And in case you don't wanna read the entire site, or at least not right now, at the end of this blog is the link that brought me to this site in the first place, and is the main idea of this blog. Here, the site has a nice, comprehensive listing of ALL the United States political parties. For each party, they have included several links to the major, important websites, including the official party site of each. And, they have a short description of each party's platform, so you don't have to search through each link to find out - you may want to read through their info, and if you see anything that piques your interest, they have the links for you to learn more.
I believe this website, or this information, to be crucial to any American that wants to make the most of his or her vote; anyone who wants to really get involved, to truly have their own voices heard, and to educate themselves on the politics and major issues of this nation.
Most of us are only aware of the 2 main parties (Dems and Reps), and possibly 2 or 3 others. In fact, a fast scan and approximate count of this list shows between 40 and 50 political parties. This makes me believe that many of us who just choose between the (very limited) 2 main parties, or the 3 or 4 best-known, may find a party with more ideals and ideas in common with us than our current party (or lack of one - Tho I choose to remain anti-party system, and protest the entire idea of parties, tho I do understand how and why they formed and what their advantages are, so you don't need to comment and inform me, unless its something you just WANT to talk about - in that case, you're welcome to).
This link can also be found at the bottom of my blog, in my "Links" list. But I wanted to bring particular attention to it.

http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm

Quote on Liberty and Revolution, Sam Adams

Samuel Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence, prominent leader of the American Revolution, did have (and still today does have) his detractors. He was declared a hero by some, while others went as far as to proclaim him Public Enemy #1. As you read this, there are some historians that would argue that he doesn't deserve to be esteemed and remembered as he is.
This is a subject I intended to explore here today, but I just got a phone call and don't have the time. But, I do want to go ahead and post a little something, for a couple of reasons: first, because I can't stand to leave something just hanging in cyber space like that, and because I will forget to come back and finish it, or forget exactly why I wanted to do this. In other words, I'm primed up for it now.
I came across a quote by Adams, and I liked it so much it inspired a blog post. Since I must run soon, and since it was the quote i liked so much in the first place, I'm just gonna copy the quote here, and encourage anyone with interest to do some research, and especially look up some more of his quotes. We certainly need inspiration in this nation today. Despite yours or my opinion about the tea parties, right or wrong, intelligent or misinformed, etc etc, surely we must, most of us, agree on one positive aspect: at least they did something. We've lost control of our country and of the people we elect to represent our wants, needs, and opinions on every level, from our cities and states to the federal government. While most of us sit on our collective rear ends mumbling and grumbling, these people were proactive, and that is wonderful. Hopefully its a trend that will continue, and we can have the voices of the PEOPLE heard again.
Well, I knew I'd do that - if anyone reads this much, you'll see I tend to go off in all directions, and do love to opine. Lucky for you I gotta go now, so here's the quote, and a couple of links to get you started if you wanna learn more:
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
-Samuel Adams, 1722-1803



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams#Legacy ...Wikipedia's article on Adams

http://colonialhall.com/adamss/adamss.php ...a biography on Sam Adams at Colonial Hall.com

Malia Obama's Peace Sign T and the Reactions

IF THIS WERE ANY GIRL IN THE WORLD EXCEPT MALIA OBAMA, NOBODY WOULD REALLY EVEN NOTICE.
But, it IS Malia, the President of the United States of America's daughter (and, sadly relevant, its the first black First Daughter - which I abhor having to mention at all, since its just skin. But this is central to the issue so I gotta say it. A tan or pale person, one with blue or green eyes, blond or red hair, etc - that is nothing, and neither should skin color, ever, in any situation, and I truly think most of the world doesn't pay much or any attention to such things. But those that do certainly do it loudly and often, so we see them and it gives the impression that racism in the world is worse than it actually is. That is what I believe, what I want to believe, and if anyone has proof to the contrary please don't tell me - let me keep my illusions.

Now, most of the people trash talking this little girl for wearing a shirt with a peace sign are trashing her for political reasons, but unbelievably, some of them are making racial comments - which has NOTHING to do with the peace sign or anything else that was going on.

{A little background info on the peace sign, so those who don't know its exact history can see what a hateful and evil symbol it is, thus understand the negative reaction it has provoked against this child:

The peace symbol was part of the British nuclear disarmament movement, designed by Gerald Holtom in 1958, for a relatively small group - considering how far the symbol spread and how long its been in use - named the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War. Its a very literal sign, combining the semaphoric symbols for the letters N and D - Nuclear Disarmament. Semaphoric letters are those you've likely seen somewhere in your life which are a code made with handheld flags, usually used on ships at sea to communicate with each other [before radio].

So, what's the fuss? Beats me. Its just part of the massive idiocracy in this world. But even idiots should know better than to treat children this way.
For anyone who has no idea of what I'm talking about, the link included is a Google search page that lists many many articles and such about this matter, from all different angles, political leanings, etc. I didn't check any of 'em out first - it is a Google search so there's everything there. Use them, or not, as you will. I don't wanna write a blog on the story again, as it has been fully covered, extremely covered even. My purpose here is to speak about Malia, the people who said these things about her, whether and or why she should or shouldn't have worn the shirt, and so forth.

=====================================================================================================================

"Let us develop the resources of our land, build up is institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered." - Daniel Webster {Jan 18 1782 - Oct 24 1852}

CRAP

the post below was not supposed to be my first blog, nor is it about what this blog is at all. I accidentally posted it here when it was meant for my other blog.

KIDS on LEASHES

Quote: (It's non-political [tho it can apply] but I like it so much I had to include it, and I agree with it whole-heartedly. Everyone I have told it to has disagreed on 1st thought, then agreed after further consideration, tho you certainly may not agree at all) "There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It's the ability to RECOGNIZE ability." - Elbert Hubbard

(tho I don't count this as true to a person who calls him/herself a "critic". There are too many of these people that clearly have no idea what they are talking about, nor can they recognize ability or talent when they see it, and they do this on a consistent and constant basis. I think many are simply trying to be snobs, and they have their pre-set categories of what is "intelligent" and what is "barbaric" and so on, based on upper-class {either in financial circles or - more often - academic circles). Oh I'll hush now, and blog on it later if it continues to bother me. Its just that very recently I've been exposed to "deep, thought-provoking" poetry, such as the kind only bohemian/ intelligent/ educated blah blah blah can possibly understand, simply rife with stunning symbolism, that is in fact just ignorant and meaningless. And I can just see a roomful of educated idiots clapping and oohing and aahing over this poetry at some reading, convincing themselves they're part of the "in" crowd, while in actuality they don't detect a single poetic or intelligent thing in the crap - which is, ironically enough, the ACTUAL intelligence inside of them recognizing hogwash when it hears it.

I once was against it totally. Then I had my 2nd child. Then my 3rd. The problem is, calling them "leashes" and associating that with dogs. But really its a very simple thing that, once you think of it this way, really brooks zero argument.
Why do you put your dog on a leash? Do you care more about your dog than your child?
Nothin a parent loves more than advice from people who don't have kids. So they don't count. You CANNOT (yep, I'm yelling) make a child behave at all times, no matter what you do as a parent. I had 3 of the best kids in the world but they ARE kids. Judgmental people who apply different standards to others than themselves, they are gonna find ways to put others down no matter what. They don't count. That leaves the rest of us.
Now, do you scoff when you see a parent holding a child's hand? What is the difference in that and attaching them to you with a cord that actually gives them MORE space and MORE freedom,and MORE room to move than holding their hands does.
Finally, of all the related issues I have encountered in all my years as a parent, then the last 6 as a grandparent, the one issue that truly and genuinely troubles most people is this: parents who let their kids run buck wild, breaking stuff, taking stuff away from other kids, running too close to the road or into other potentially dangerous situations (and in this case at places like playgrounds, other moms and dads get very angry because we cannot sit by and let the child get hurt, or hurt others, so we have to watch THEIR kids too. Watch your own kids, people. They'd probably have been hospitalized, kidnapped, or killed if it weren't for other moms and dads watchin your child, and you can't always depend on the other moms - one day they all may be like you, and nobody is watchin the kids. Pedophilia heaven.) These parents NEED to put their kids on a leash. Kids will be wild, hyper, etc sometimes. But you don't just allow that, you try and control it. Holding their hands gives em about a foot of space, depending upon how short they are and how much angle you can give em. A "leash" gives them 3 or 4 times that. So, I don't see the problem nor why its even an issue. And among those who have become wise thru experience, its not an issue.

:Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent." - Horace Walpole