Alien Jesus Collective

Four Internet backbone cables have been disrupted since January 30th. Three of them appear to have been cut; the fourth is currently suffering from a power disruption. All are in the Middle East. Is it a coincidence? Read on for the timeline, the facts, and my analysis.

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NOLA.com: Cams Central

Mardi Gras Real Time action. Parades will be going on until Tuesday. Check webpage for times.

Did you know that Area 51 has a softball field? It seems employees of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Nevada Test Site knew about it in 1965, when the Area 51 slo-pitch team beat their rivals from Area 12. This satellite image seems to indicate they still play there today. Unfortunately, the team’s record is classified.

There’s tons of other interesting stuff about Area 51 on dreamlandresort.com.

Interesting series of images from Google Earth showing a giant Triangular something over Australia. The article says UFO, but it could also be something on the ground. If the altitudes listed for each photo are accurate, it seems to me that some comparison between the photos could determine whether the object is on the ground or airborne.

From Wired’s coverage of the Network Centric Warfare 2008 Conference, Donald Rumsfeld breaks with conservative ideals and suggests there’s something the free markets don’t do well: promote American values!

Private media does not get up in the morning and say what can we do to promote the values and ideas that the free Western nations believe in? It gets up in the morning and says they’re going to try to make money by selling whatever they sell… The way they decided to do that is to be dramatic and if it bleeds it leads is the common statement in the media today. They’ve got their job, and they have to do that, and that’s what they do.

Sounds like another government handout to me. We’d be better served by tax cuts for big media companies.

Tonight the Russians declare year of the rat. China waits until February 7. I think the rat rates 13 months!

This is a Pacific (or Polynesian) rat. This is the preferred species for baby new rat year pictures, as it’s cuter than the Atlantic rat, and lives closer to the international date line. Happy year of the rat!

(The Atlantic Rat)

From “Ghosts Of Christmas Past: 15 Mostly Forgotten Holiday Artifacts” at The Onion AV Club. You can hear the Mickey (but thankfully you can’t smell the Mickey).

Mitchelistas present the 2007 Spewing Santa.

Yes. Oh yes.

Today was the big Christmas lunch at work. Bingo, food catered by “Super Mex”, a magician that roamed around the tables entertaining the workers. And the grand finale is a gift raffle. The best thing about the whole debacle is that it’s only a half day, but with a full days pay.

I was asked a few days ago by our Human Resources manager to assist as a card checker for the Bingo activity. Now keep in mind that the company I work for is a manufacturing facility and this festive lunch is held in the factory. Some equipment is moved out of the way in one of the assembly areas, tables and chairs are rented and set up in the middle of injection molding machines, imprinting devices and other mechanical monstrosities.

All 3 shifts of factory workers and the office folk total just over 200 people. So, with everyone seated, 2 tables at a time are permitted to go and get their plate of beans, rice and a cheese enchilada. This is where Bingo comes into play.

To keep everyone who is waiting for food occupied, Bingo cards are placed at each table setting and our “HR” guy calls out the numbers. Myself and another office worker had the task of tracking the numbers called out, and when some lucky winner called out “BINGO” checking their card and handing out a gift card from Target, Best Buy or Starbucks.

At this point, I have to mention that most of the 200 people in attendance are Hispanic and speak little if any english. Fortunately our “HR” guy is bilingual and calls out the numbers both in english and spanish. There is a slight problem though. The portable PA system he is using distorts when turned up loud enough for everyone to hear, and being in the factory there is also an echo.

In trying to keep the pace upbeat, he sometimes would only call out the numbers and letters once in english then repeat it several times in spanish which caused some of the gringos to ask me what the number was he just called. Then while answering their question, I missed the next number and letter being called out. The other person checking cards was having the same problem, so instead of the two of us dividing up the seating area, both of us would have to find a way through the crowd to compare our numbers and verify the winners “BINGO” then hand them a gift card.

Bingo went on for a little more than an hour. When it was finally over, the other checker and I were the last to get our plate of beans, rice and a cheese enchilada. The caterers were starting to pack up. There was no place to sit, so we ate standing up in the food area. After just a few bites, my plastic fork broke trying to cut through the congealed cheese and hardened tortilla. The caterers were now gone along with their supply of plastic forks. Oh well.

So now the big event… The gift raffle! Who will win the Crock Pot, Blender, 6 Person Camping Tent, Portable DVD Player, Cheap Digital Camera, Generic MP3 Player, A Set Of Luggage, Microwave Oven, A 19″ LCD TV…

Well friends, let me tell you that I am now the proud owner of a new set of dishes and a flatware setting for 4!!!

A merry Winter Solstice to you all!

Agent Ackme’s Snowy World in the East.

Merry Solstice!

Gallery Photos “Pre Christmas Snow Scenes”

Solstice Drinks at the Command.

Happy Pagan New Year!

Nina Bouska at Maya del Mar’s Daykeeper Journal

“FRIDAY DECEMBER 21 and SATURDAY DECEMBER 22

In the Pacific and Mountain time zones, Friday is the day of the Winter Solstice, at 10:08 pm PST. In the Eastern and Central time zones, it’s already tomorrow when the Sun moves into Capricorn, at 1:08 EST.

While many astrologers consider the entry of the Sun into Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, as the beginning of the astrological year, many others including myself adhere to the “rebirth of the Sun” at the Winter Solstice as a more appropriate designation for the New Year. “