Mike's Blog

FBI notice on UBL...weird

Saturday, September 23, 2006 4:41 PM

I happened across the FBI "Ten Most Wanted" webpage, and clicked on Usama Bin Laden.

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/laden.htm

Why on earth would his supposedly biggest crime, the orchestrating of 9/11, not be mentioned in this FBI posting? Here's one explanation:

http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/24158.php

Any other ideas?

Then there's the fact that Israeli Mossad agents were filming the 9/11 attacks as they were happening, jumping for joy, and flicking and waving lighters in front of the ruins, like in a rock concert:

http://ww1.sundayherald.com/37707

Remember my blog last year about how the WTC towers were demolished? Here's a link to Dr. Steven E. Jones' most recent article:

http://worldtradecentertruth.com/volume/200609/WhyIndeedDidtheWorldTradeCenterBuildingsCompletelyCollapse.pdf

Finally, what if the towers hadn't collapsed? An article in The Nation sums it up (scroll down to the heading, "What If?")

http://mobile.thenation.com/docmobile.mhtml?i=20060925&s=engelhardt

Anyone want to offer a most likely scenario as to what happened on 9/11?

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It’s funny (in so far as such a thing can be funny), following the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, my friends and I joked that we would capture Bin Laden and collect the reward. Knowing that traveling to the U.S. would be a dangerous endeavor, he would visit only as the result of a certain vice he could not satisfy abroad. According to our theory, this vice was the Grand Slam breakfast at Denny’s, so during our 4:00 a.m., post-dancing-all-night breakfasts, we would scour the restaurant for traces of the elusive terrorist.

I wondered if perhaps the link you provided might go to an older version of the FBI poster, but I checked the DHS website as well, and it links to the same poster, without mention of the 9-11 attacks—very strange, indeed.

With regards to the article from Sunday Herald, I think some fact checking might be in order. In particular, I was astonished to read, “Hollywood in Florida is a town of just 25,000 souls.

9/24/2006 4:33 PM

2. Posted by

Deborah

Okay, so I was eventually able to read the article from The Nation. Note to other readers: don't "skip down" to the suggested section; it's a great read--the whole thing. I really appreciate Engelhardt's style. "Dystopian Serendipity"--what a stunningly beautiful phrase.

I guess what I'm supposed to gather from this loose collection of conjectures is that U.S. (and possibly Israeli) intelligence agencies were aware of the pending 9-11 plot, and realizing it would present a boost to their political interests, they elected to (at best) turn a blind eye or (at worst) actively contribute to the augmentation of the disaster. This theory is much more plausible and easier to swallow than competing theories which suggest that the U.S. government wholly orchestrated the attacks. Still, conjectures are but conjectures, and I am compelled to reserve judgment.

My theory? The catastrophe is a test, posed by the great god Skepticus, who grants salvation only to those who disbelieve in him. Are you among the saved?

9/24/2006 7:33 PM

3. Posted by

Mike

I see...even Indie newspapers are capable of messing up the facts.

9/24/2006 7:39 PM

4. Posted by

Deborah

On a not-totally-unrelated subject, I find it easy to believe the allegation that the U.S. threatened Pakistan following the 9-11 attacks in exchange for its cooperation in conjunction with "anti-terrorism" measures. I thoroughly enjoyed Friday's interview on ATC with Richard Armitage, in which Melissa Block grilled him with more gusto than ATC reporters grill anybody these days.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6126088

9/24/2006 8:02 PM

5. Posted by

Mike

Okay, I'm gonna stick my neck out and give my version of the "most-likely scenario", given all the above observations:

Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11; instead, the whole thing was organized by Mossad and certain Mossad-controlled portions of the CIA/NSA, and the neo-cons were roped into the plan. No one touches the Mossad because they know all the dirty secrets of most American politicians, due to their massive spy ring.

There were no hijackers on the planes--the planes were autopiloted into their targets (to make sure no errors were made).

All the cell phone calls, from miles high, were faked by Mossad elements in the NSA (except the mysterious last one, taken by operator Glen Cramer).

Simply having the planes crash into the towers would have killed only a few hundred, and not enough for the neo-cons to take America to war for Israel. So the towers were rigged with explosives by Mossad, with Bush's cousin overseeing the "security" for the towers, during the weeks leading up to 9-11. The explosives were set off after a pseudo-realistic interval of time after the planes impacted, to bring down the towers and create a Hollywood-esque display of sheer destruction, forever engrained in the minds of all Americans.

9/24/2006 8:14 PM

6. Posted by

Deborah

And what does Mossad have to gain from all of this? I don't think the American public feels any closer to Israel than it ever has.

9/24/2006 8:18 PM

7. Posted by

Mike

A few reasons I've read about (by bloggers):

1. Congressional approval of more US money given to the Israeli military
2. US military presence in key areas of Afghanistan to ensure the creation of a US-friendly pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Indian Ocean. The US would supply oil to Israel if EU nations and sources from Muslim nations boycotted Israel.
3. US-friendly governments Iraq and Iran for the possible creation of an extension of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline to Israel.

9/25/2006 5:15 AM

8. Posted by

David

The American people deserve a thorough investigation into this whole debacle. I'll settle for a couple key issues:

- how did building 7 fall 8 hours later, into a pile of molten steel when it was never touched by a jet?

- How did a jetliner crashing into the pentagon leave such a minimal impact...where are those videos? Where is the impact zone for the flight that crashed in PA?

- Why was the steel wreckage from the two towers taken to China so rapidly? Can we test any remaining wreckage for chemical signatures that would indicate there was a controlled demolition? The towers BOTH fell at the speed of gravity and completely into their own footprints (including the massive spires) - HOW is this possible other than through a controlled demolition?

It seems very clear - after watching 10's of hours of this footage - that the explanation provided by the 911 counsel is wholly incomplete. I am hopeful, that some journalist in a major paper is going to break a report on this and it will leave the Internet, reaching mainstream press in a material way.

Thank you Mike for keeping us posted.

9/25/2006 11:26 AM

9. Posted by

David

From the Jones article:

"Physics sheds light on the issue which we ignore to our peril as we contemplate the wars that have been and may yet be justified on the basis of the 9/11 tragedy and its "official" interpretation. To this end, NIST must release the 6,899 photographs and over 300 hours of video
recordings – acquired mostly by private parties – which it admits to holding (NIST, 2005, p. 81). Evidence relating to WTC 7 and its mysterious collapse must not be held back. In particular, photos and analyses of the molten metal observed in the basements of both
Towers and WTC7 need to be brought forth to the international community of scientists and engineers immediately."

Unfortunately, I'm sure that a fredom of information request on that NIST material would be denied...

9/25/2006 12:15 PM

Comment

Mike

Emotions and Music

Monday, September 4, 2006 5:53 PM

I used to hate when music was "functionalized" to create certain moods, like those watered-down "Classical Music for Relaxation" CD's. But I've come a long way since my puritan Absolutmusik beginnings, and now I'm psyched about tailoring music to help release emotions and transform moods, particularly in patients with chronic pain.

So I went through all my favorite tunes and identified four emotions that were evoked by each song. Then I made a list of the more common emotions among these songs, and tried to take apart the musical elements that created each emotion in the first place.

For example, let's take Jay-Z's "I Just Wanna Love You", a favorite Shen Vortex party song. Even a single measure from that song makes certain people want to get freaky on the dance floor (not me, of course). So what accounts for this, shall we say, "coital" element to the music? It's not the lyrics per se, since any part of the song (with or without vocals) would have the same effect. Comparing Jay-Z's party hit to similar songs by Nelly and Biggie Smalls, you can break it down into:

1) powerful bass+bassdrum beat both on downbeat and also syncopated (i.e., the "thrust")

2) loud clap on beats 2 and 4 (i.e., the end of the "impact" wave)

3) extra rhythmic tonal chord-riffs (i.e., "moans")

Kinda neat, eh? Now let's take a more subtle mood, "earnest". This is exemplified by songs like Josh Groben's hit "You Raise Me Up", or Schumann's "Traumerei", or the Beatle's "Let It Be". The common threads are 1) Andante tempo with little or no drums, 2) major or partly-major key, 3) alternating movement and stillness in a long winding mostly-contiguous melody, and 4) rising fourth followed by higher notes in the melody [this last criteria can be replaced by stalling of the melody line on the 2nd or 3rd pitch of the tonal scale defined by the tonic].

I've done the same for "exhilirating", "fresh", "energetic", "expressive", "coasting", "silly", "soaring", "introspective", "wandering", "we're all a joyful community", "cool", "fearless", "smooth", "warm", "searching", "triumphant", "driving", "rocking", "strong", "intoxicating", "cold", "mmm...right-on", "peaceful", "mystical", "discerning", "brandishing", "solemn", "tender", and "passionate". Of course, everything is somewhat context dependent and culture-specific, but I think there's hope for music therapy for the masses...

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1. Posted by

Kevin

Cool stuff. Yeah, I still kind of object to those "Classical Music for Relaxation" type CDs, but mainly because of the fact that these CDs kind of encourage the stereotype that classical music is boring and is best used to put you to sleep. It still kind of irks me when someone tells me their classical music collection is for when they want to relax.

I would be curious to see the rest of your observations...I've always been interested in the psychology of music, and how music evokes certain emotions. Like why a minor chord sounds "sad"...this is hardwired into our brains, and not something you learn, I'm quite certain. And how certain chord progressions evoke different feelings...

9/4/2006 7:50 PM

2. Posted by

Mara

There's a ton of research about this stuff. I vaguely remember hearing a talk a couple years ago by a neuroscientist who claimed to have found a structure in the brain mirroring the circle of fifths. Couldn't find the reference, but found some other stuff on Google Scholar:

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2001.tb05720.x?cookieSet=1
http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v2/n4/abs/nn0499_382.html
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/1467-8721.00165/abs/
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/98/20/11818

9/5/2006 11:51 AM

3. Posted by

Kevin

Oh, sweet, I'll have to check those out! Thanks, Mara.

9/5/2006 12:23 PM

4. Posted by

Ray

Which songs invoked your "mmm...right-on" emotion?

9/5/2006 2:08 PM

5. Posted by

Nancy

silence is music...I found an article about the correlation between animals and humans in music. Good ole whale music.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/01/0105biomusic.html

9/5/2006 2:12 PM

6. Posted by

Mike

Cool links, Mara. I though the Krumhansl article was the most interesting--it talks a little about the relationship between tension, expectation, and tonal structure. I've also read a few fMRI and PET studies trying to find structures in the brain responsible for the emotional processing of music, but they've only looked at "pleasant" versus "unpleasant", or "happy" versus "sad".

It'd be cool if we could do more than that. Many, if not most chronic pain patients have difficulty identifying strong negative emotions in themselves, such as rage, either because of suppression of childhood trauma, or from feeling like they can only allow themselves to have socially-acceptable thinking or behavior. According to one school of thought (to which I belong), this is in fact the main reason why acute pain becomes chronic, due to a structure in the brain (periaqueductal gray matter) that is supposed to put the brakes on the pain cycle, but has withered away in people with this personality type (not proven).

Going back to music, an ideal piece for them to listen to would have this emotional profile:

resentment-->anger-->acceptance-->peace

9/5/2006 2:53 PM

7. Posted by

Mike

The "mmm...right on" emotion is very context-dependent, but it mostly occurs in improvisational music such as jazz. It's when the melodic line does something out of the flow of the rest of the song, but succeeds in emphasizing a transition in melodic tension.

9/5/2006 3:09 PM

8. Posted by

Deborah

Penguins also have the power to alleviate pain.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CDC34-D80E-10FA-89FB83414B7F0000&pageNumber=2&catID=2

Just imagine what penguins and Jay-Z could accomplish together.

9/6/2006 8:04 PM

9. Posted by

Heather

Another pleasurable effect of music which is also very context-dependent is the "nostalgic" effect - like, for example, I love old school Deee-Lite songs not because they are the most brilliant songs ever written, but because they remind me of a more carefree time when I didn't have any real responsibility. Also - I was thinking of reading a recently published book called "This is your brain on music," but, I know nothing about neuroscience - does anybody have any thoughts on the credibility of the theories in this book? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525949690/ref=wl_it_dp/103-9660978-5780664?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3UAPDOD6OQ2JP&colid=2Q831623GAOFZ

9/7/2006 11:56 PM

10. Posted by

Mike

That book sounds interesting--I went ahead and bought it. Let's read it and talk about it sometime :)

9/8/2006 9:19 AM

11. Posted by

Heather

Ok I'll buy it too. :) When are you coming to visit, Mike? We miss you!!

9/8/2006 12:06 PM

12. Posted by

Mike

I'm playing in the concert! Back of the firsts, baby...

9/8/2006 4:44 PM

13. Posted by

Ray

That's pretty hardcore, Mike!

9/8/2006 4:47 PM

14. Posted by

Deborah

Heather & Mike: Did you ever check out This is Your Brain on Music? University Book Store is hosting an event with the author on 10/24/07.

9/26/2007 11:05 PM

15. Posted by

Mike

Yup--I went ahead and bought that book after Heather mentioned it. I was particularly struck by his notion (p. 248-249) that the success of our species may have relied on women being wooed by creative types as mates (not necessarily domestic partners).

9/27/2007 4:41 AM

16. Posted by

Deborah

I don't know about our species, but a number of birds--particularly songbirds would agree. Whereas most of them were once thought to "mate for life," or at least for a season, with one partner, DNA testing has proven that this to be more of a domestic arrangement; the eggs in a single nest are typically fathered by multiple birds. Singing ability, in addition to claiming a desirable nesting site, will help a male bird to attract a partner, but his ladybird will still be seduced by the songs of other birds in the neighborhood from time to time.

The strongest and most intelligent birds tend to have a greater repertoire than their competitors. In addition to attracting females with their songs, male songbirds use their vocal skills in territorial disputes: singing competitions often substitute for physical fighting. The Singing Life of Birds is a great source of information on the topic.

9/27/2007 7:31 AM

17. Posted by

Mike

wonder if female birds ever wait in line to be the back-stage groupie...

9/27/2007 6:06 PM

Comment

Mike

Malay Satay Hut marathon

Sunday, June 25, 2006 9:03 PM

So it's my last week in Seattle (*sniff*). I'm all packed up, so I can blow every evening this week (as long as I'm asleep by 10:30). This past Saturday, Shamin, Heather, and I ate at my favorite of all restaurants, Malay Satay Hut (the one near the international district). The food was so good that I've decided to eat there for dinner every day this week. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join me. I plan on getting there each day around 7:30pm.

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Mike

Post-party recording sessions

Tuesday, May 9, 2006 9:04 PM

So I updated my Zoji mp3 player with rough mixes of some songs from my friend's musical, that Shamin and I were asked to add some flare to. The musical is based on the Book of Esther in the Old Testament. The song "And I'm Wondering" is a love song between Esther and her (fictional) lover, Gideon. "Embody the Goddess" takes place when Esther is introduced to the ways of pleasing the Persian King (not for kids!). I was inspired to infuse it with a li'l gypsy violin flava.

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