Cherish your doubts, for doubt is the attendant of truth.
Doubt is the key to the door of knowledge; it is the servant of discovery.
A belief which may not be questioned binds us to error, for there is incompleteness and imperfection in every belief.
Let no one fear for the truth, that doubt may consume it; for doubt is a testing of belief.
For truth, if it be truth, arises from each testing stronger, more secure.
Those that would silence doubt are filled with fear; their houses are built on shifting sands.
But those who fear not doubt, and know its use, are founded on rock.
They shall walk in the light of growing knowledge.
Therefore let us not fear doubt, but let us rejoice in its help.
It is to the wise as a staff to the blind; doubt is the attendant of truth.

--Responsive reading by Robert T. Weston in Singing the Living Tradition

http://www.globalentry.gov/

For a small fee, and with a government investigation, you can be pre-approved through US customs.

It occurs to me, as I weed through my email inbox, that modern attempts to mold public opinion are largely efforts to incite us to outrage. The most recent one to cross my viewscreen was an email claiming that the TSA's purpose is to humiliate people. This claim was based, in this story at least, on the fact that they required that a breast feeding mother pump her milk before boarding the plane. The story made multiple references to her breasts, as if the TSA was actually doing something to them. I sincerely doubt that the TSA thought she had filled her breasts with explosives, but if she somehow had, having the liquid out where it could be inspected would eliminate that question. But more practically speaking, it takes a long time to pump breast milk, and there aren't many toilets on an airplane. It seems logical to me to pump while you're on the ground and avoid spending 10+ minutes in the restroom on an airplane. It's not a safe or pleasant place to hang out anyway. And others might need the restroom. So all this commentary is really just to say that there is more to every story. Before you allow someone to manipulate your emotions toward bloodthirst, look at the other side(s) of the question. Outrage in many cases is simply a lack of understanding. And little as I like the TSA's methods, their goal is not humiliation of the public, it is safe air travel.

Belts don't mean a thing. They just hold up your pants.
--Sensei Galvin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/urizenus-sklar/understanding-conspiracy-_b_793463.html
Understanding Conspiracy: The Political Philosophy of Julian Assange
by Urizenus Sklar

thanks to skyojos for leading me to this

en·thy·meme   [en-thuh-meem]
–noun, Logic.
= a syllogism or other argument in which a premise or the conclusion is unexpressed

Isn't it ironic that the social conservatives in the US today got they way they are by way of evolution? The disposition of being fearfully averse to strange people or unfamiliar situations is instinctive. The people who behave the most instinctively in our society are the ones who wish to deny evolution. =-]
( a couple interesting quotes, nothing on the new research here, all old stuffCollapse )

There's fear and consternation on the conservative side that this bill, introduced by Rockefeller, will give Obama the power to shut down the internet. On the other hand, the goal of the bill is to address security threats and provide all US internet users with a higher level of security for our data. So the question is, are there national borders in the internet, and do we want our country to protect them for us?
( links as food for thoughtCollapse )

I keep noticing these frowns in the news. When the lips are turned in just a little bit, the person is only moderately bothered. When a person's lips are stretched wide and folded inward until you can't see the lips at all, they are extremely troubled and insecure. This tight grimace with no lip visible and the edges turned down is the ultimate sign of disgrace. These facial expressions are universal because they are controlled by the limbic system. Monkeys make the same faces for the same reasons.


note: too bad the pix don't stay up, huh? I just deleted some image links that were defunct but more will become so over time. June 2010

( lots of imagesCollapse )