One man to overthrow revealed.

The blog "U2 Sermons" had an interesting post that pointed to a discussion of the lyrics to U2's "Pride."

I found the song's tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., to be inspiring, even if I were unable to understand a few lines. Most confusing was the stanza:

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss

Now the song just kind of throws out references to Jesus and/or King, and doesn't really warn you which is coming when.

Let's take the lines in order of easiness to figure out:

• #4: Jesus was obviously betrayed by a kiss, by Judas "on the night in which he was betrayed".
• #1: This can be a generic reference to suffering at the hands of the military: obviously Jesus on the cross, but maybe also King & segregation.
• #2: Jesus, he resist; King, he resist.
• #3: Washed on an empty beach. Who??

The "CADRE" discussion reminds us that Jesus pointed to his death and resurrection as the "sign of Jonah".

"Then some of the scribes and pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." He said to them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the Sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." (Matthew 12: 38-40).

So, one man washed on an empty beach could be a reference to the story of Jonah, which is a reference to Jesus' death and resurrection.

For decades now, I'd sang the song with great emotion, and just kind of assumed that it meant something inspiring, but never exactly quite how or why. Now I know.

Japanese intersection

I'm posting this video by flickr user emrank of a busy Japanese intersection because it's cool, and it was posted under a creative commons license.

"The pushing of the people, I love it all so much." -- Peter Gabriel.

Leatherback turtle covering eggs

I found this amazing video of a leatherback turtle covering her newly laid eggs. It's interesting how primitive this creature looks. And it's so rugged and tough looking, yet we're intruding upon one of its more vulnerable and tender moments. Thanks to Flickr user Paul Mannix for offering this to the world with a Creative Commons license.

BART shooting: are any of us safe?

Please find enclosed a video of the shooting of an unarmed man lying on the ground by police of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. I heard about it through an article in The Nation and was pointed to a story at AlterNet.

If the shooting itself weren't poignant enough, this one little detail really gets my dander up. From The Nation article:

"Following the shooting, according to an excellent report in Alternet, BART police tried to confiscate all the videos taken by witnesses. They failed and three clips videos made it to YouTube, where they were viewed hundreds of thousands of times and eventually picked up and played by the news media, bringing the story national attention."

In my mind, this is the greater outrage than the shooting. I can almost understand the mindset of the cop who might have fired in the heat of passion. There was an angry chanting crowd who was increasing the tension for the police. What is less forgivable are actions of the police officers who were reportedly tried to confiscate tapings of the shooting. It is far harder to find a motivation for doing so that is not merely sinister. They had a much clearer head, and did something to obstruct justice for the man who was shot. I'd like to see them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

From the AlterNet article:

"And you see another officer nudge him on the shoulder and ask, 'Why did you do that? What happened?' And the officer who shot the boy was like, 'I don’t know,' just looking at him like he couldn’t believe what he had done."

I'm pasting below two of AlterNet's requested actions that concerned citizens might undertake. I'd also ask for an investigation into the attempt to confiscate videos of the events.

2. Contact BART Director Carole Ward Allen and demand that: 1) The officers involved be taken off duty without pay and charged and fully prosecuted; 2) There be an independent investigation of the shooting that includes a review of training and hiring practices; and 3) BART establish an independent residents’ review board for the police. Call her at (510) 464-6095 or e-mail the BART board of directors at boardofdirectors@bart.gov.

3. Call the BART police to complain about the officers’ conduct and demand immediate action -- Internal Affairs: Sgt. David Chlebowski, (510) 464-7029, dchlebo@bart.gov; Chief of Police Gary Gee, (510) 464-7022, ggee@bart.gov. Call them toll free at (877) 679-7000 and press the last four digits of the phone number you wish to reach.

Also pray for the family of the victim, Oscar Grant

The marching bots of Capastrono

A series of marching robots. Wait a minute, each one seems to have more and more difficulty with the walking: What's going on?

The marching bots of Capastrano
Uploaded by pterandon

Made with povray 3.6.
Answer: the robots on the left that come into the screen are actually smaller, yet have to transverse the same stride length as their bigger kin. That's one of the cool things about povray, in that so many things can be parameterized.

Blender cloth simulation

Sheetsr04
Uploaded by pterandon

I found this old posting sitting on my account at dailymotion. In it I simply show how one can make a sheet fall on and off a sphere or a human head.

Bahama beach video

Here's a video by Flickr user acme which shows a beach in the Bahamas. The waves are really interesting. They look strong enough to let you know you're in the ocean, but not actually strong enough to hurt you. Thanks to acme for Creative Commons licensing the video for all to share!

Revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord

Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written: Revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord

Here is some amazing footage from Al-Jazeera on Israeli attacks on the civilian populace of Gaza with phosphorous bombs. The interesting thing is that we see leaflets dropped in part of the attack. Do they contain a warning? It's interesting how some homes along a narrow path might get a few hundred, with much of the city getting less. And what is the purpose of the leaflets? Do they tell all civilians to get out of the way? Do they specifically tell Hamas militants to stay put but civilians to take cover, so that only bad guys will get hit? Or is the effort to punish entire peoples? If so, we know what God has said about that.


This video is provided by the Al Jazeera Creative Commons Repository to show footage you wouldn't otherwise see of the conflict.

We Came, We Saw, We Danced with Robots

While searching for my name, I found one of my old IRTC anims on someone's site.

Ambient Occlusion in blender

For this image, I turned on Ambient Occlusion, with 4 Samples, the Raytrace mode of Ambient Occlusion, and Both (lightens and darkens). For the materials, I practically turned the Spec in the Material to zero. In the Render settings, I turned on the Shado and Ray buttons.