The ending, and related to this, the overall theme of the film, has been the source of much debate. The viewer is left guessing why Kowalski suddenly decided to drive recklessly and evade the police across four states.  Kowalski himself says little during the movie.  He smiles as he rushes to the Vanishing Point because?

My interest in this classic was rekindled after watching Death Proof, a renaissance B movie starring one of my favorite actors, Kurt Russell,   The film features the same white 1970 Dodge Challenger that appeared in Vanishing Point  and it often makes reference to the movie, but gives us no additional clues for Kowalski's smile.

-  Wikipedia:  VP  /   Death Proof

Anti-Iraq-war protesters have staged a small, but eye-catching, demonstration at the White House. Five women and one man from the group Breasts not Bombs staged the event in Lafayette Park across from the White House.  And it wasn't the bombs that were on display.

Encouraged by the event, the group now says they're excited to announce The Million Breast  Virtual March.  From the site:  "You can help by registering on the site now. Then go to the Photo Gallery and upload as many photos of your bare breasts and your friend's bare breasts as you like."

-  KOIN News 6  /  Breasts not Bombs

This city is on crack.  Development there boggles the mind.  A year and a half ago the UAE firm, DP World, took over operation of six major U.S. ports after Bush threatened to veto any act of Congress that would stop the sale.  Dubai recently purchased a 20% interest in the NASDAQ Stock Market, and Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old firm and the most favored beneficiary of the war in Iraq, has plans to relocate its headquarters there. 

Here's something you may not know:  "Dubai is famously tax free. No income tax, no property tax. Ultimate luxury. No corporate taxes either, so the entire company will avoid paying U.S. taxes. And perhaps even more important, protection from prosecution by U.S. Courts."

So, where am I going with this?  -  Oddly enough, I'm thinking about baby boomers.  If you ran a US corporation and had taken even a cursory look at the not-yet-enacted tax liability that is probably headed your way, how would you position your business and if needed where would you relocate?

They say that Dubai is being built for tourism--that the residents want something to fall back on if and when when the oil reserves run out.  It sounds plausible.  I might be conspiratorial.  But so far I'm just not believing it.

-   There's More  /  Dubai Skyline

"Despite traditions to the contrary, there simply cannot be true jnana without true bhakti, there cannot be the ultimate understanding without the ultimate surrender.  Certain personalities will try to avoid one or the other under the guise of some higher wisdom, but always at the cost of wholeness.

There is a tradition that jnana is the higher path because the bhakta relies on a belief in someone or something to be devoted to, whereas the jnani knows there are neither. But true bhakti knows no object; and the true jnani knows nothing."

- David Carse

- in these photos

Here's a fascinating video.   To reduce the severity of his seizures, Joe had the bridge between his left and right cerebral hemispheres (the corpus callosum) severed. The treatment terminated nearly all communication between his brain's right and left hemispheres.

Since language is primarily processed in the left hemisphere, Joe can't name items on the left side of his field of vision (remember, the brain is "flipped" relative to the parts of the body it senses and controls).  But he can draw pictures of them, and then he can look at the pictures and name them.

I don't have the sophistication to understand everything that's presented here, but Joe's physician, split-brain researcher Dr. Michael Gazzaniga, concludes with some ideas that will be interesting to anyone with a fascination in consciousness and the idea of self.

-  Philosophy of Cognitive Science and Mind

No doubt, there will be many conversations today reminding us that Columbus did not actually discover America, but thanks to the Bradshaw Foundation we can do even better than that.  After the jump you'll find an interactive map tracing the migratory route of modern man over the last 160,000 years.  If your impression is anything like mine you'll be amazed at just how much we know.

-  Journey of Mankind

If this video doesn't scare your pants off very few will.  This past weekend Bill Moyers took a look at the organization Christians United for Israel (CUFI) led by Pastor John C. Hagee.  In short, it's a swelling call for a preemptive US strike against Iran and the coming of God's glory.   I think you'll find that the video speaks for itself.

On-site at PBS you'll find an explanation of the theology of Christian Zionism including definitions for evangelicalism, fundamentalism, dispensationalism, and rapture.  You can also read a transcript from the show or watch the segment in its entirety.

 - Bill Moyers Journal  /  Digg It

“Here's a little poem,” as Garrison Keillor would say.  It's one of my all-time favorites. Hopelessly romantic and full of hope, it reminds us that nothing we did for love was ever wasted.  The poem was recorded live on  October 3, 1998 at The Fitzgerald Theater in  Saint Paul, Minnesota   I'll add a copy of the text and link to the mp3 in the comments.

I feel like dancing in the street.  Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their work to raise awareness about global warming.   I imagine there will be dozens of posts like this one today, but I couldn't help adding one here.  If you happen to be a member of Digg, let's see if we can set a record!

- Official Website   /   Digg It

As a boy growing up in rural Brazil, Sebastião Salgado witnessed firsthand the destruction of the native forest.  Now he makes the remote tribes of South America an essential element of "Genesis," an eight-year collaboration with Rolling Stone to document the planet as it looked at the dawn of time.

The project is only halfway through, but today we can take a glimpse.  It reminds us that in the beginning we were all similar -- that we all had a relationship with the land that was pure and innocent.

-  Rolling Stone

History of Religion in 90 Seconds

Mahatma Gandhi, the Missing Laureate

Fox begins smear campaign against Al Gore

Video - Blackwater founder grilled on 60 Minutes

Picture: Number of Inhabitants Per Doctor in the World

Scientists find new fossil purposely put here to test our faith

It's been a while since I added a links post, but I felt like I had some catching up to do. Thanks to everyone who touched base during the two days that I was gone. Outside my window the sky is brilliantly blue, and I'm back to blogging again. -  BTW, I just think this video is hilarious.  8)

I'm not aware that I struggle with any of my emotions, but I do have a relationship with them.  As a matter of habit,  I watch them rise and fall while I remind myself that an emotion doesn't have a right or wrong.  An emotion just is.

I think the practice has been very helpful to me, and I wrote about it in some depth for one of my first posts on Zaadz.  If you happen to be struggling with emotions it might be worth a look.

-  Emotions - Just Like People

Scientists are calling Gliese 581C the most Earth-like planet ever discovered.   It's thought to have both atmosphere and water.  The planet is 1½ times the size of our planet and makes an annual orbit around its sun in 13 days.

Although the planet is 14 times closer to its star than Earth is to the sun,  its star burns cooler.  Scientists predict a temperature that is capable of supporting life as we know it.

- Guardian Unlimited

I almost forgot to blog this, but I had the most interesting dream the other day.   I awoke inside a Mandelbrot Fractal and immediately became lucid.  The dream only lasted about 10  seconds, but I was diving just like in this video.  I don't recall thinking about fractals or seeing any recently.  I also haven't heard this song in a while, but I do like the lyrics.

- Pig Big Lyrics

Boilermaking doesn't come anywhere near the glamour of fishing for crabs in Alaska.  It doesn't approach the 'coolness' of ice road trucking.   Nobody would make a television program about it.  However, as a career choice it's in there somewhere, and it looks like I'm going to start doing it for a living within the next two weeks.

It seems like an odd match when I consider where I've been, but I think it's a perfect fit for where I am now. I'll be working about six months out of the year, and earning enough to take the rest of the year off if I like.  There's no guarantee that I'll go anywhere exotic, but I could easily find myself in Alaska or California for a two month stint.  More than likely my first tour will be a little closer to home.  We're talking about leaving for the shipyards in Pascagoula, MS on October 28th.

There are still a few hurdles to clear.  I have to pass an OSHA test on Monday, and if I pass that I'll need to give notice at my current job, but right now everything seems good to go.  For anyone who may be curious about Zaadz and blogging, no worries.  I'll be staying in a hotel while I'm at work, and yes, I have a laptop. :)

-  Wikipedia, Boilermaker

I just gave the number a ring and got the same recording.  It seems this office is currently experiencing the Digg Effect.  Here's the post that got it started.

Call 202.224.6472. Ask for Retroactive Immunity for your Illegal Acts:    "That’s Senator Jay Rockefeller’s office. He’s the author of the abomination that gives telephone companies retroactive immunity for their lawbreaking warrantless surveillance program. They’ll just hang up on you, but you’ll have made your point. Be polite, even though Rockefeller is a a bought-and-paid-for shill. If you converse post in comments." 

-  Digg It   /  Wikipedia, Rockefeller

"I eat gold bricks for lunch,
and for dessert diamonds with cream of crude.
My name is Beelzebub, the master of the stratosphere,
I am unbelievably cool and commonly respected."

This is an unbelievable video.  If you can handle the high-quality download, go for it.  Although the lyrics aren't in English (translation), you may find the imagery alone worth a watch.  "The singer rides a constantly morphing animal, looking like Shiva while delivering lines like "I eat gold bricks for lunch.  The necklace of Shiva - which protects from death - is made of oil wells and nuclear symbols."  You'll find much, much more about the video's symbolism at the website Obtusity.

The song “Capital” is not against money in general. It's against the cult of accumulation and consumption, which has been imposed on modern society.  Lyapis Trubetskoy’s leader wrote, "I have a dream of surviving to the moment when it will be shameful to own a mobile phone with diamonds or drive a super posh car. To achieve this dream, we should not resort to restrictions, but to try to understand ourselves and the world around us.”

-  Lyapis Trubetskoy "Capital" (Higher Quality)

Women in several countries are sending their panties to Burma and Burmese embassies in a culturally insulting gesture that may actually have some logic behind it.  The group, Lanna Action for Burma, says the country's superstitious generals, especially junta leader Gen. Than Shwe, believe that contact with women's underwear saps them of power.

Ladies, you'll find the address here.  Guys, well, there's no mention for us, but if you'd like to know some other things the generals are superstitious about check here.  You'll also find some related news stories below.

- Daily Mail  /  Salon.com

That's the warm glow of a Days Inn parking lot in Baton Rouge on a cool Sunday night. [lol]  What I unfortunately can't show you are the three illuminated crosses immediately to my left.  I don't think I've ever seen any so large, and they were just outside my window.  I tried to take a photograph, but with no light and no tripod I only captured blurry.

However, I have good news.   I met a lot of nice people, scored a 98 on my test, and I arrived home safely.  I still don't have any specifics on when I'll begin training and working as a boilermaker, but this was my last hurdle to clear.  Now that I have the test behind me I believe I can expect a call in within the next two to four weeks.

Now, it's just good to be back.  :)

Hundreds of Tibetan Buddhist monks celebrating the award of a US honour to the exiled Dalai Lama have clashed with Chinese police, resulting in an unknown number of injuries and arrests.  The entry by police into Drepung monastery, on the outskirts of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, was a sign of the hard line adopted against any sign of dissent.

- Times Online  /  Digg It

This is an amazing QuicktimeVR by panoramic photographer Jook Leung.   I don't think it's new,  but I saw it for the first time today.   Use your pointer to pan - 'Shift'  to zoom in  - and "Ctrl" to zoom out.  You'll find some additional panoramas linked on the bottom of the page.

-  Launch QTVR

Artists and poets should really enjoy this one.  In a wide-ranging talk, Vilayanur Ramachandran explores how brain damage can reveal the connection between the internal structures of the brain and the corresponding functions of the mind.  He talks about phantom limb pain, synesthesia (when people hear color or smell sounds), and the Capgras delusion, when brain-damaged people believe their closest friends and family have been replaced with imposters.

-  More videos from this theme

Did al Qaeda start the California wildfires?  It seems Fox News wants us to think so or at least speculate the possibility  Their pitch seems timely, too.  The government's terrorist watch list has swelled to more than 755,000 names. That's equivalent to the population of South Dakota.

With that in mind and with Halloween approaching, this seems like a good time to remember another date.  This one came to pass as recently as January 2007, and you'll find the reminder immediately after the jump.

-  January 31, 2007  -  (also Wikipedia)

Save the introduction, everything you see in this video is unreal.  As hard as it is to believe, FEMA actually faked a press conference.  The man at the podium is Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, the deputy administrator of FEMA, and the people we're led to believe are reporters are actually FEMA employees.  Columnist Al Kamen has the scoop.

-  Washington Post