From Boing Boing

In this video clip from New York University's annual talent show four years ago, Stefani Germanotta — aka Lady Gaga — performs two songs she wrote herself. She came in third place. At the end of her performance, one of the judges says: "Norah Jones, look out!" Little did she know that Lady Gaga would not be making Norah Jones-ish music at all.



Next, a music video from her new album, The Fame Monster, which comes out Monday.



...thanx to madscience for the 411..

~There, bet that got your attention, you fucking perverts! [Trolls, too lol]

But it comes from part of a comment I just made;

My own personal socio-political position is that 16 should be the legal Age of Consent across the board; emancipation, contract law, voting, drinking, sex, etc. But I'm in a minority. "Gotta keep you kids in line!"

That was made to an actual 'underage' Sister, one who found me here.

As a someone who has a degree in Information Enhancement Technology from the Joseph Stalin School of Behavioral Sciences, I am still...'observant' in regard to this young lady. Nothing personal, my dear, but I really do have enemies who would be willing to create a truly sophisticated Entrapment Sock just to fuck me up. That's just a part of my Work that I get to deal with.

But even if that was not an issue, I am constrained by Law and Custom in the manner in which I can assist said 'underage' Sister, who clearly needs some serious support. However, that I am in fact Authentic in my Goals and Outcomes makes it fairly easy to be Appropriate in how we interact.

And yet, as I said, I am presently 'constrained by Law and Custom'. I have thought on this before. She is not the first Lost Girl for find her way to my door and Goddess Knows, she shall not be the last. Many Sisters in the future will seek out The Temple and not all of them will be 'legal adults' when they do so.

As they will most likely be coming from an abusive and possibly [probably] life threatening environment, we cannot turn them away. So how do we deal with that? Well, we create a program for 'underage' Sisters...and it will have to have these elements:

~First, some kind of 'safe house' for runaways, one legally set up to handle such, a place where they can 'crash land', catch their breath, and be connected to the social services they need, probably psycho-emotional counseling.

~Next, we'll need a foster care network, both Temple run group homes and Sisters who are qualified, personally and legally, to become foster mothers.

~We will need schools where these girls can get a real education, but have some insulation from the society that created the situation that made them Lost Girls in the first place.

~And then we will have a 'training scenario' that can direct them back into that mechanism so they can help and support the Lost Girls who will inevitable be following them. Honestly, who better do so? [Full Disclosure: that's one of the paradigms we'll steal whole from the 12 Steps.]

So, those are my preliminary thoughts upon the subject....

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..auf das..

"We are a nation who lists among its Greatest Culture Heroes, a sexually destructive alcoholic speed freak whose Master Work is a semi-coherent ramble spewed on a roll of toilet paper.

I did not say that Lady Gaga was either Profound or Deep. I said she is Authentic, which is actually a state far harder to achieve.

She is a funny looking little Italian neighborhood chick with a good voice and nice ass who is partying amidst the flaming ruins of Empire and has turned that into a highly successful Career Move. Yes, she is a Created Product, but she is self created.

If one looks at the video of her first hit, “Just Dance,” it appears as if it was shot at somebodies house in Bensonherst or the like, and its 'cast' are not hired extras, but her pretty – and I suspect pretty fucked up – little scenester pals.

She is singing about being so fucking drunk that she cannot find her phone or remember the name of the club...but everything will be okay if she 'just dances'. She was twenty years old when she made it.

That's pretty Authentic in my book. And unlike “On The Road”, it does have a catchy tune and you can dance to the thing."

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP)—Urban Meyer resigned Saturday as Florida’s football coach after five seasons and two national titles because of health concerns that came to light when he suffered chest pains following the SEC championship game earlier this month.

The 45-year-old Meyer will coach his final game at the Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati on New Year’s Day

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/12/separating_expl.html

Chechen terrorists did it in 2004. I said this in an interview with then TSA head Kip Hawley in 2007:

I don't want to even think about how much C4 I can strap to my legs and walk through your magnetometers.

And what sort of magical thinking is behind the rumored TSA rule about keeping passengers seated during the last hour of flight? Do we really think the terrorist won't think of blowing up their improvised explosive devices during the first hour of flight?

For years I've been saying this:

Only two things have made flying safer [since 9/11]: the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers.

This week, the second one worked over Detroit. Security succeeded.

EDITED TO ADD (12/26): Only one carry on? No electronics for the first hour of flight? I wish that, just once, some terrorist would try something that you can only foil by upgrading the passengers to first glass and giving them free drinks.

ARE BLACK HOLE STARSHIPS POSSIBLE?

ABSTRACT: We investigate whether it is physically possible to build starships or power plants using the Hawking radiation of an artificial black hole as a power source. The proposal seems to be at the edge of possibility, but quantum gravity effects could change the picture.

Dark Matter as a Possible New Energy Source for Future Rocket Technology

Current rocket technology can not send the spaceship very far, because the amount of the chemical fuel it can take is limited. We try to use dark matter (DM) as fuel to solve this problem. In this work, we give an example of DM engine using dark matter annihilation products as propulsion.

[Source]

The Catalog of Nautilus Designs

No, really, this is amazing...

"I've been avoiding Lady Gaga. She seemed just another product of The Hologram. But Lil' Queenie loves her, so I watched a few of her vids. She is actually Authentic and has some serious chops, what Britney was trying to be, but she never came close to this. Of course, Lady G is being absorbed by The Hologram. Such is the nature of things. But we like her too now and hope she survives the process."

~Had a nosh and a nap.

Do you usually experience a let-down after the holidays or a wave of relief that the social obligations are over? View 654 Answers

Dude, I am so glad when this shit is over...though I am gonna leave my X-Mas icons in place until around the middle January.

...what else is new?

2009 Retrograde Begins
Date & Time
December 26, 2009
9:38 am EST
6:38 am PST

...yes, that would be Mercury..

[Source]