Color theorists and designers in fashion or computer graphics often examine the way colors are used in the real world, and recently one of the best websites dedicated to that purpose turned its attention to religion.  After the jump you'll find a beautiful examination of  Hinduism with additional links for Christianity and Buddhism.  An exploration of Islam is expected next.

-  COLOURlovers

In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi reports on how George Bush-appointed contractors in Iraq are exploiting American tax dollars. Here, Taibbi narrates a video exploring the grim details of the situation even further.

- Rolling Stone  /  Full Screen  /  Digg It

Here's a group that needs all the publicity they can get. -- "We are a group of Israeli and Palestinian individuals who were actively involved in the cycle of violence in our area. [...]  We all used weapons against one another, and looked at each other only through weapon sights; however today we cooperate and commit ourselves to the following:"

- There's More  /  Digg It

In the wake of the 2006 midterm elections, Karl Rove identified Mark Foley (and Republican sex scandals) as the main reason for Republicans losing Congress. Since that time, an ever-growing number of high-profile Republicans have become implicated in hooker scandals and other sexual indiscretions. Here, Dr. Maddow delivers a refresher course on the top GOP hooker stories of the past year, and wonders what the implications could be for the 2008 presidential race.

-  Air America Radio

This September marks the 50th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's seminal On the Road.  In honor of the milestone, Alternet and Wired are carrying excellent write-ups on the story.  Somewhat less intentional, Google Video is hosting the full one hour and eleven minutes of "King of the Beats," the life story of Jack Kerouac.  And this afternoon I find my attention being drawn to a secondary reading by Johnny Depp and the movie "Rebel Without a Cause."

I often fantasize about living through this part of history. As I mentioned to someone yesterday, there's a newness, a sense of awakening,  and just a sense of pure openness that I sometimes think is missing today.  Suddenly, I want to hop a freight train.

-  Google Video  /  YouTube   /   Netflix

I didn't know about this until today. -  A Toot and a Snore in '74 is a rare bootleg album of the final recording session in which John Lennon and Paul McCartney played together.  If you care to listen to it, scroll down after the jump where you'll find each song recently listed in mp3 format.  The entire recording runs about half an hour.

- Licorice Pizza

Legend has it that when the Buddha preaches, dew or raindrops fall from the heaven onto Datura plants.   The Datura is also associated with the worship of Shiva, the Indian god who annihilates the universe, reabsorbing all existence into his pure awareness.  This one is growing by my driveway, but as Ladybear says, don't eat it!

-  Erowid Timeline  /  Info

China's Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Chinese kung fu, is demanding an apology from an Internet user who said its monks had once been beaten in unarmed combat by a Japanese ninja, Chinese media reported on Friday.

"The so-called defeat is purely fabricated, and we demand the Internet user to apologize to the whole nation for the wrongs he or she did," the Beijing News said, citing a notice announced by a lawyer for the Shaolin monks.

- Yahoo News

The Arctic ice cap has collapsed at an unprecedented rate this summer and levels of sea ice in the region now stand at record lows.  Experts say they are "stunned" by the loss, with an area almost twice as big as the UK disappearing in the last week alone.   If the increased rate of melting continues, the summertime Arctic could be totally free of ice by 2030.

- Guardian Unlimited  /  Digg It

The conflict in science over NDEs centers not on whether they happen but on what they are. One group of scientists argues that NDE is a purely physiological phenomenon that occurs within an oxygen-starved brain.  The second group argues that no theory based exclusively on the workings of the brain can account for all elements of an NDE, and that we should consider the  possibility that consciousness can exist independent of a functioning brain, or at least that consciousness is more complex than we suppose.

The linked three-page article compares the latest and best arguments from both sides.  Among the views presented, the one that captured my favor the most came from longtime NDE researcher Pim van Lommel, a retired Dutch cardiologist.  He said, "The brain is not producing consciousness, but it enables us to experience our consciousness."

- TIME Magazine

To most Americans today, the Federal Reserve is just a name on the dollar bill.  They have no idea of what the central bank does to the economy, or to their own economic lives; of how and why it was founded or who owns it.  If somewhat more aware, they may know that some 'conspiracy' films such as Zeitgeist or the slightly less controversial America:  Freedom to Fascism have questioned the Federal Reserve, but then again there's that word.  These things are easy for us to dismiss.

Far less easy for us to dismiss, however, is the currently popping housing bubble, the rising national debt, George Bush's tax cuts for the rich, and our ever-increasing expenditures in Iraq.  How was he able to pull that off, and where is our country going?

The documentary posted above, which contains some brief but willful commentary from libertarian candidate Ron Paul, will be a little more difficult to write off as conspiracy.  (See also this film.)   No, don't worry, I'm not voting Republican.

Although I still have questions,  I'm convinced this is an issue our nation should be discussing, and I know it's a highly entertaining way to fire your brian up over a weekend.  If you watch or already have an opinion, I'd love to hear your comments. - Thanks!

-  Fiat Empire  /  Film #2

"In later Advaita, as we have noted earlier, a distinction is made between two types or kinds of spiritual experience related to transcendental consciousness:  that of savikalpa samādhi, the borderline experience, as it were […] and that of nirvikalpa samādhi, the pure experience of Reality.

Savikalpa samādhi means “determinate” spiritual experience.  In it an awareness of duality is absent, but unlike susupti, the deep-sleep state, the emphasis here is not so much on the absence of duality as it is on the presence of non-duality. Whereas in susupti the self is still a knowing subject, although there is nothing there as such to be known, in savikalpa samādhi the self is aware only of the presence of Reality.  In susupti all the phenomenal activities self are suspended in a kind of serene blank; in savikalpa samādhi they are concentrated on the Real. In susupti the self is still very much the jiva; in savikalpa samādhi the self is passing into the Atman.

Nirvikalpa samādhi is the consumation of the process. It is the pure “indeterminate” intuition of non-duality.  In savikalpa samādhi the Self is aware of Reality; in nirvikalpa samādhi it is Reality."

- Elliot Deutsch - More

I visit InterfaceLIFT a couple of times each week looking for new widescreen wallpaper, but the desktop I love the most comes from an earlier version of this photograph.  I had to enlarge it to get a perfect fit, but even at the greater size everything displays beautifully.

Absolutely Nothing is the gallery of British landscape photographer Joe Cornish, who says the collection is a tribute to his grandfather, Cyril Campbell.  I think it's been widely linked on the Internet, but even if you've seen it perhaps you'll enjoy a second look.  I know that I find myself returning there time and time again.

- Absolutely Nothing by Joe Cornish

The Center for American Progress produced this pre-buttal video of Petraeus’ testimony that lays out the key myths and facts.  Senator Harry Reid’s office put out the following fact-check of Petraeus’ testimony here and here. The Speaker’s blog adds more.

The testimony of General Petraeus was not realistic.  By blogging I'm doing what I can to get out a more accurate message, but I really hope the larger blogs put in some overtime on this one.  It would be nice if the commercial press did it, but of course we know not to expect that.

-  More at Think Progress

In an interview with GQ magazine, former secretary of State and one-time potential presidential candidate Colin Powell comes clean.  Although pushed aside in the run-up to war, he tells Walter Isaacson, he, too, bears some of the blame.

Powell adds that terrorism is not our greatest threat.

""What is the greatest threat facing us now? People will say it's terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing?"

- GQ Magazine  /  Digg It

Bill Scott has created a series of simply beautiful images using the electrical activity of the brain to seed fractal patterns.  They're generated by BrainPaint, a custom neurofeedback system that allows users to see the output of their brain visualised in real-time.

Click thru twice to see the images at their highest resolution.

-  Mind Hacks   /  Fractal Gallery

On September 12th, Yahoo News co-sponsored the first-ever online-only presidential mashup with Slate and the Huffington Post.    The Candidate Mashup is an on-demand interactive video forum that lets you create your own debate -- choosing which candidates you want to see address the issues you care about the most.

It looks pretty cool.  Charlie Rose asks reader-submitted questions about education, health care and the Iraq War.  Bill Maher also makes an appearance, offering  "wild card" questions on issues such as whether marijuana should be legalized.

-  Yahoo! News

"You know something is wrong when the New England Patriots face stiffer penalties for spying on innocent Americans than Dick Cheney and George Bush."     --Bill Richardson

- Huffington Post  /  Digg It

I'd say:   "Yes, sweetheart.  I believe in God.  And I'll be glad to tell you why and what that word means to me if you'd like to hear it.  However, the answer to this question becomes meaningful only when it arises within ourselves; after we conduct our own exploration, answering the question personally with both our mind and with our heart.

Rather than telling you what I believe, I'd encourage you to take that journey.  It can be a beautiful experience, and many consider the answer to be the high point of a human life.  If you'd like to hear my story, I'll be glad to tell you.  I can also suggest some books to get you started.  But most of all I'm happy that you're asking."
 

"I took a walk with an invisible friend, and on that walk I gave my hand.  O, to be a machine.  O, to be wanted, to be useful.  With this ring that I wear today my whole world is your property. O, to be a machine.  O, to be wanted, to be useful."

-  Wikipedia  /  Interpretations 

Boing Boing points to a spectacular 8698 x 8735 pixel (7.32 MB)  image of Black Rock City, as seen from a Cessna, during Burning Man 2007.   For something a little closer to the ground, check out the Burning Man image gallery. -  Nice.

- Boing Boing  /  Burning Man

The music video gives me a chance to mention a nifty URL hack that was recently explained at Lifehacker.   It allows you fit YouTube videos to the size of your browser window and then resize them by stretching and shrinking the browser.  

While I'm on the subject, this also seems like a good time to mention the Stylish extension  for Firefox and Valacar's dark gray YouTube redesign.   Information about both follows below.

- Lifehacker  /  Dark Gray Redesign

Portfolio.com  -- "For years, Chiquita Brands secretly paid off death squads in Colombia. Now the U.S. Congress is asking questions, and Chiquita may not be the only U.S. company tangled up in the South American jungle.

Between 1997 and 2004, Chiquita gave $1.7 million to the A.U.C., whose death squads destroyed unions, terrorized workers, and killed thousands of civilians. Chiquita’s top officials admit that they approved the payments but say they thought that if they didn’t pay up, the A.U.C. would kill its employees and attack its facilities."

-  Seven Page Story  /  Watch the Video

So, the Fed cut interest rates on Wednesday.  Following the announcement, the US dollar sank to a record low against the Euro while the futures market saw gold rocket to a 27-year high.  

On the same day, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress that the government will hit its debt ceiling on Oct. 1.   He urges that we raise the current $8.965 trillion limit; the 5th hike since 2001.  In case you aren't aware, your individual obligation to that total now stands at $29,739.

And if that wasn't enough, the government-controlled stock exchange in Dubai is making news as I write.  They're announcing a plan to purchase a 20 to 30 percent stake in Nasdaq.   It will make the Middle East business center, soon to be home of Halliburton, the largest single investor.

Someone may need to help me. - Isn't a falling dollar, inflation, rising national debt, an uncorrected housing bubble, and foreign ownership of our stock exchange supposed to be a bad thing?   If so, why is Wall Street so damn happy?

The following article doesn't explain everything, and by bringing this up I don't mean to imply that I do, but it looks like a good place to start.  At a minimum, it names the winners and the losers in the latest Federal Reserve attempt to do, well, something.

- eFinance Directory

"If you ever find yourself walking down the highway, and a guy pulls up beside you in a white pickup truck and offers you a ride, you better get in the truck with him.   He's likely to be the only one who believes ya'.   -  Likewise, if you ever find yourself driving down the highway in a white pickup truck, and you see a fella' walking down the road with a bunch of feathers sticking out of his ear you better pick him up.   He knows where you're goin."

- Anonymous

I've been charmed by trains lately.  It began with the memory of reading Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, progressed into watching a Johnny Cash documentary on trains, and recently I found myself looking at fares on Amtrak.  I learned that I can get an unlimited 30-day pass to travel the USA and Canada for only $709 bucks.

Last night, I remembered the lyrics to this song and thought about lucid dreaming.  It turns out that a Blue Train really exists in South Africa. There's also a Blue Train album by John Coltrane.  However, I think I'll stick with dreaming. - Here's to a beautiful night.

- Robbie Robertson  /  Lyrics