Digital Ink Los Angeles

What causes us to search for a New World?

A new route to the Far East spice trade? Nah.

Desire to spread the word of God, like the Dominican and Jesuit missionaries of the 18th Century? Not likely.

Escape from nuclear Armageddon or biological malaise? Maybe.

Discovery of raw materials and new water sources? More than likely.

The recent opening of the billion-dollar CityCenter in Las Vegas is a boastful nod to New World capitalism and its achievements, with the tagline: “Capital of the New World.”

What gives? Films like The Road, Armageddon, Cloverfield, and WALL-E portend the destruction of Earth.

Does Hollywood know something we don’t? One thing for certain, James Cameron won’t be directing my escape ship. And it’ll probably be pretty obvious we’re “not in Kansas anymore.”

Remember that song from the 70s, Children of the Sun?

“‘People of the earth can you hear me?’
came a voice from the sky on that magical night.
And in the colors of a thousand sunsets,
they traveled to the world on a silvery light…”

In 3-D, of course.

Administrator 21st Century Culture, 70s, Earth, Movies and Cinema, Social Responsibility, The New World aliens, armageddon, Avatar, Earth, entertainment, hope, people, social

The Cherokee word for “Fire” is a-tsi-la

Northern Los Angeles is on a-tsi-la right now.

The Los Angeles Times coverage has been pretty good.

Thanks to the LA County Fire Department for saving lives and risking their own.

Michael Martin Murphy had a big hit in the 70s called Wildfire — even though it’s about a horse named Wildfire lost in a blizzard , it still seems appropriate at this time.

Administrator 70s, Earth, Fire, Heroes, Social Responsibility, Water California, catastrophe, danger, Fire, firefighters, forest, heat, inferno, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, risk, social, wildfire

She came in the early morning, with a wind that made grown men cry, and her fury was the end of 1,836 people.

As can be seen in Times-Picayune photographer John McCusker’s image to the left, Katrina made a point about sticking around longer than she was welcome, leaving New Orleans a different place than it was before.

On August 28, 2005, Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico where it powered up to a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, with sustained winds at nearly 175 mph. Oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico recorded 100-foot waves, some causing these mammoth structures to collapse under the weight of the storm’s tremendous water load.

At 7:10 a.m. EDT on August 29, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southern Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, just south of Buras, as a Category 3 hurricane. Maximum winds at landfall were estimated near 125 mph to the east of the center — crossing just south of New Orleans, then turning north toward Bay St. Louis, Mississppi, where she made a second landfall.

View Times-Picayune coverage here.

The New York Times article on President Obama’s promise to continue rebuilding New Orleans.

And another website dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina here.

The best book on the subject is by Tulane University professor Douglas Brinkley, titled The Great Deluge.

Four years later, and the Crescent City still stands — albeit with a population only 70% of what it was on that fateful weekend. But it will never be the same. Hopefully, it will be better.

“We’re not even dealing with dead bodies. They’re just pushing them on the side.”
— New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, regarding rescue crews trying to locate and save hundreds, if not thousands, of people who, in the days after Katrina struck, were still stranded on roofs and in attics.

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Administrator 00s, 21st Century Culture, Earth, New America, Social Responsibility, Water 2005, America, anniversary, breach, Bush, deaths, deluge, destruction, flood, Hurricane Katrina, levees, looting, Louisiana, Nagin, New Orleans, sorrow, storm, surge, Water, winds

The 2009 World Drug Report says that Afghanistan, which produces more than 90% of the world’s poppy for heroin production, had a decrease in opiate production of 19% in 2008.

The U.S. Marines have attempted to commandeer the Helmand province in order to stifle the increasing insurgency and violence in this area, funded completely by the sale of this beautiful poppy.

Estimates as high as 35,000, including British Special Forces, are rumored to be accurate in terms of the number of high-impact, heavily armed troops that are currently roaming these Taliban strongholds. Not to mention the DEA, who are supervising the efforts in the poppy trenches.

The upcoming August 20th elections — with newcomer Dr. Abdullah Abdullah leading a charge against incumbent Karzai and James Carville-backed challenger Ashraf Ghani — will be a tipping point in this region.

Digital Ink Los Angeles picks Abdullah-Abdullah, who was a commander of forces led by Afghan warlord and national hero, Martyr Ahmad “The Lion” Shah Massoud, against the Soviet occupation in the 80s.

Massoud (seen at left) is legendary for his heroics leading fierce, horse-mounted warriors against the Taliban, but was assassinated only days before the events of 9/11 by Al-Qaeda henchmen led by Osama bin Laden.

“Know your enemy” is an oft-used warning to troops in combat situations. In Iraq, U.S. Armed Forces occupied oil reserves and refineries. In Afghanistan, Marines are in poppy fields.

Abdullah-Abdullah might be a political solution to a difficult U.S. drug problem.

Administrator Earth, New America, Social Responsibility, The New World Afghan, Afghanistan, America, democracy, drugs, global, heroin, Marines, narcotics, opium, peace, poppy, solution, terror, troops, war

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

There was an astronaut named “Buzz,” and the rest is history.

Check out the New York Times‘ interactive website:

“Apollo 11 – Mission to the Moon“

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Fly Like an Eagle – July 16, 1969

The recollection of historical facts can draw together disparate ideas and create relevance where before there seemed none. Sometimes, historical events might become metaphors for grander ideas, allowing us to imagine if that is possible, so might this be.

A walk on the Moon is something only 12 American astronauts can lay claim to, and Neil Armstrong was the first, declaring, 40 years ago, “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

There’s a plaque left on the Moon, 240,000 miles above Earth, by the crew of the Apollo 11, which reads:

“Here men from planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”

As the United States — and the rest of mankind — adjust to the rigors of 21st Century existence, many difficulties and uncertainties have become magnified and worsened. Failed drug wars, California’s financial collapse, Wall Street chaos, Middle East conflict, and domestic issues like healthcare and education are seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

If the United States can put a man on the moon, can’t we educate every citizen? Can’t we assimilate a global conference to eradicate poverty and abject hunger for children? Can a nation founded on liberty and the pursuit of happiness continue to offer these privileges to its citizens as inalienable rights? Can the United States continue to lead the free world toward peace and harmony?

Armstrong’s declaration remains as prophetic today as it seemed in the volatile era of 1969, announcing to many that a common goal among humble men can become more for humanity than we might’ve imagined. Every exploration begins with uncertainty, and some end with certainty. 40 years after Apollo 11, the announcement remains the same:

Yes We Can!

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Cue the eerie horror music, because here’s another summer film that’s designed to make viewers uncomfortable in their seats. For those who’ve seen Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 science-fiction masterpiece, 2001: Space Odyssey, the psychological trauma of outer-space hysteria is something witnessed and understood.

Profound loneliness is a downside to most genuinely inventive endeavors, and outer-space exploration presents the penultimate in insular depression — three years of solo livelihood, without benefit of social interaction with other human beings, is a large gamble to make.

In Sony Picture’s 2009 release, Moon, the main character is a lunar worker, Sam Bell, and he’s been sent to the moon on a three-year expedition to cultivate and mine resources for the Earth’s new “alternative, clean-energy” programs. His only friend is the HAL-like computer voice, played by Kevin Spacey.

What happens when experiences have no reflection, when human psyche becomes muddled in pathos and doubt? The writer and director of Moon, Duncan Jones, asks these questions and many more.

View the movie trailer here:

Enjoy the GOODness!

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