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Extended…with Hollywood imagery:

Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you've ever heard of, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings; thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines; every hunter and forager; every hero and coward; every creator and destroyer of civilizations; every king and peasant, every young couple in love; every mother and father; hopeful child; inventor and explorer; every teacher of morals; every corrupt politician; every supreme leader; every superstar; every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there—on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.

Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings; how eager they are to kill one another; how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity—in all this vastness—there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. It underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the only home we've ever known.

The pale blue dot.

I’m fascinated by cyber-anthropology and the socio-psychological implications of technology, and I think it has improved life in so many ways for so many people, but sometimes it’s not all good news. As with everything in life, there is a Ying to the Yang.

Surprise surprise. Not only does social software encourage vanity and narcissism, it also puts extra strain on relationships. Now just watch location-aware social software add more on top of that. What if your location was never a secret to your partner?  What if your partner refused to join in on the location-awareness social software that you use? As if the divorce rate wasn’t bad enough, eh? Well I guess the positive spin is, more behavioral transparency and no secrets.  It’s gonna be a tough adjustment though.  Ah, social software, you cruel mistress. Here’s the latest:
Facebook fuelling divorce, research claims
Study: Facebook Increases Jealousy in Relationships
Another reason to stay off Facebook, jealousy
Facebook may heighten jealousy in relationships: study
Facebook jealousy sparks relationship woes: study

Amazing that people who are grounded in reality are still a minority in our ‘modern’ world.  “The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is the fact that it has chosen not to contact us.” – Calvin & Hobbes

Cenk Uygur: The Silent Minority

There is a minority group in America that is a bigger percentage of the country than blacks or Hispanics. But they are often ignored or derided in public. Almost no politician would ever admit to being one. And they are given no voice in the public arena.

How messed up is this crap?  Religion is a disease of ignorance that’s alive and well in the 21st century folks…
St. Louis – Daily RFT – Evolution T-Shirts on Trial in Missouri Town

The Scopes Monkey Trial was decided 84 years ago this past July, but in Sedalia, Missouri, you’d think it’s the summer of 1925 again.
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​ That’s because the band director at the town’s Smith-Cotton High School recently got in hot water for making T-shirts that depict primates evolving into man. The shirts — based on the popular illustration above — were designed to promote the band’s fall program, “Brass Evolutions,” that explores how brass instruments have changed from the 1960s to today.

On the T-shirt, monkeys and early humans hold trumpets throughout their various stages of evolution.

20 Ways to Change the World in Only 15 Minutes a Day

Ford has generously offered to make a donation to Mashable’s (Mashable) Summer of Social Good Charity Fund. 10 of their Ford Fiesta Movement Agents will be donating $1 per retweet for this post up to 1,000 retweets.

Cnidarian Lifeforms on Vimeo on Vimeo

via Cnidarian Lifeforms on Vimeo.

cloud lounge

In astronomy, the Latin word equinox designates the two times each year when the sun’s ecliptic intersects the celestial equator. Equinox was also the working title for this weatherproof outdoor lounger that goes by the name Summer Cloud today. “The idea behind the design was to create a dialogue with the blazing orb, but also a feeling of intimacy and security,” Martin remembers.

Summer Cloud features a lounger and sunshade that are linked, but can be moved and adjusted completely independently of each other – an absolutely novel design. You don’t have to turn your head or get up to adjust the shade to changing sunlight conditions whenever you wish.

The circular cane base is a handy place to put personal items.

via Summer Cloud.

YouTube – The Socially Awkward Penguin

At the age of twelve I decared to my parents that I was ashamed of three things…. I was ashamed of being human(because of our treatment of non-humans), I was ashamed of being a white westerner(because of our treatment of minorities), and I was ashamed of being male(because of our treatment of women).  To this day, that impression sticks with me, and for good reason. The one thing I left out was my shame for being a consumer…

Watch this, and you’ll feel ashamed of your stuff, and what it says about you.
The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard