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 12 Mar 2004 @ 10:14, by ming. Violence, War
Around 200 people dead from simultaneous terror bombings of commuter trains in Madrid.
Well, I normally am not of a mind to just mention bad news because it is "news". But I can mention a few things it brings up for me...
It is the next country over, so it doesn't have the same emotional impact for me personally as it would if it were in France, even in Paris. Or in Denmark or in Los Angeles, places that have been home for me. Somehow we will often compartmentalize things, so it somehow doesn't hit the same unless we consider it within "our" territory. Otherwise it feels like "over there", rather than "here".
It is always a tragedy when innocent people die violently and suddenly. But we have weird subjective ways of measuring it. It is the same kind of tragedy for the family and friends for every single person. But if 200 people died in a plane crash, it wouldn't register remotely the same way. Or if 50,000 people die in an earthquake in China, it is a bit unfathomable to try to relate to it, so it easily becomes just another news item. Or if 500,000 people die in Iraq from the side effects of a war carried out to protect oil interests, how do I respond to that? It is bad, but it easily just becomes an abstract number, rather than that number of personal tragedies.
But we're nevertheless surprisingly connected. So if even an apparently small number of people is involved in some dramatic event, we usually know somebody who knows somebody. In my French class this morning, several of the Spanish people present had friends or family members who were there in Madrid and who had been on the next train or the previous train and that kind of thing.
This particular event seems to have a large emotional impact on Spain and on the rest of Europe. A mini 9-11 event. Something that shouldn't be possible. Something we didn't expect where we live. Something that makes us feel more vulnerable. And maybe angry at the perpetrators, even the first possible group identified as the likely perpetrators, whether they actually did it or not. Or maybe more compassionate and solidaric with each other.
My guess would be that this is more related to an apparent al-Qaeda related group, rather than the Basque separatist group ETA.
But I also believe that when deliberate well organized, well planned, and well financed events are carried out, one needs to look carefully at who it benefits. "Follow the money" is one variation of that. Or look at who actually wants the outcome that quite naturally follows from such an event. Which often gives totally different answers than those that follow from who's officially blamed. Did it further the cause of Bin Laden and al-Qaeda and the Taliban that 9-11 happened? No, they were just about bombed into oblivion. And the United States was turned into an oppressive police state with a strengthened military and the willingness to use it anywhere, with little justification, without any need for public support. The Iraq invasion, however, was a godsend for groups like al-Qaeda, who were supplied with another lawless territory to operate out of, and a lot of motivated new recruits, and a lot of easy targets. So, if you follow my logic here, 9-11 was most likely masterminded by folks who wanted to turn the United States into a much more tightly controlled society, and who wanted greatly increased power and resources given to military activities, with greatly lessened checks and balances. You can guess who that might be, but that it would be some guy in a tent in Afghanistan would be a bit farfetched. And the unilateral Iraq invasion was masterminded by folks who wanted to support increased terrorism and lawlessness in the world. And, sure, those might very well be the exact same people, as those objectives can dovetail into each other quite well. But those actions certainly wouldn't be carried out neither by people who want to free muslim areas from outside influences, nor people who want peace and safety and freedom for the common folks anywhere. Unless the planners were extremely mis-informed, uneducated, unprepared and bad at carrying out any objective at all in any organized way. Which I'm quite sure isn't the case.
So, as to Madrid, who's cause would this support? Certainly not the ETA, as everybody hates them now, and large resources now will be applied to wiping them out. No, it would support folks who would like Europe to catch up to the U.S. in terms of population control and general paranoia.
What to do? What regular people can do is at least to use the coming elections to remove the government leaders in their countries who are furthering that agenda by their actions and propaganda. So, say goodbye to Jose Maria Aznar and George W. Bush. More >
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  11 Mar 2004 @ 21:13, by magical_melody. Environment, Ecology
See What You Can Do!!!
Stop Whaling in Japan, Iceland, and Faroe Islands.
Read the couple of reports here and see the actions you can take to stop this insanity! More >
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10 Mar 2004 @ 19:26, by sharie. Energy Sources
Economic theories, scientific theories, psychological theories, socio-political theories, you name it, they get published and passed off as fact.
But *theories* are not *fact*.
Here's some theories I don't believe:
1. The Earth is four and a half billion years old.
What proof is there?
2. Carbon-dating is proof.
Prove that carbon dating is accurate. What proof is there that carbon dating is reliable beyond a few thousand years?
3. The Earth is millions of years old because fossils and bones prove that a variety of life forms have emerged and become extinct. Likewise, the huge mountain ranges and huge canyons are proof of millions of years of geologic changes.
The truth is that this *evidence* is accompanied by written testimony of horrendous cataclysms brought on by forces in our solar system... such intense heat that the mountains melted and the rivers boiled. This could be the cause of the biological mutations which *modern science* attributes to millions of years of evolution. For more info, read "Earth in Upheaval" and "Worlds in Collision" by Immanuel Velikovsky. The Earth as we know it may be closer to 20,000 years old. I see no *proof* otherwise.
3. The universe is the result of a big bang.
Prove it. There's more evidence against this theory than there is in favor of it, and yet people accept this as truth.
4. The ancient cave paintings at Altamira and Lascaux are 25,000 years old.
Prove it.
5. The Bohr Theory of the atom... electrons orbit around a nucleus (because planets orbit around the sun).
No, not true. Planets don't orbit the sun, they are on a spiraling trajectory away from the sun. Likewise, electrons do not orbit protons. For more info, do extensive reading on the chemical science of Dr. Walter Russel.
6. Fossil fuels power our human culture.
This is a ridiculous *theory* that BLACK OIL comes from the decayed remains of prehistoric animals. Evidence abounds against this, and curiously goes hand-in-hand with the mystery of that other luxury... GOLD.
7. Gold
Testimony from several ancient cultures around the world corroborate, authenticate, and endorse a strange idea... that gold comes from Jupiter. Ask the geologist and they'll say that yes, gold does not come from the earth. Gold was found in ancient cultures laying on top of the earth, which confirms the ancient testimony that gold was sprinkled upon the earth by a passing comet. "The golden fleece?" This phrase comes from gold dust that was found scattered upon the sheep's wool.
Likewise, black oil, seems to have poured over the earth from some comet, asteroid, or some other similar source. The black oil then seeped down into the earth and is pumped out and used as fuel.
And one other *theory* that I find particularly revolting:
8. For a healthy economy, we rip out the earth and trees, and install a toxic factory.
This results in a sick planet and sick people, and shifts our personal wealth to doctors and corporate executives.
The theories go on and on... as modern science creates a world gone mad.
Tossing this all aside, I wonder, "What is true?"
1. Without the air, water, and rocks - without the iron,
magnesium, etc. - we would all be dead.
2. Because of this, I cannot be separate from the Earth.
3. Likewise, the Earth, without the sun, would not exist.
4. The sun, without the universe, would not exist.
5. I cannot be separate from the water, rocks, air,
separate from the Earth, the sun, or the universe.
6. The Earth abounds with intelligent life. The universe maintains an intelligent balance.
7. The Earth's natural economy is healthier than that contrived by those blinded by greed.
What is the Earth's natural economy?
Our Mother Earth freely gives us water, air, minerals, food, and materials for clothing and shelter. I embrace this as a healthy way of life.
8. Since the mainstream culture is self-destructing, I turn my back on the theories of man, and instead embrace the truth of life and all I am, happy and free, and happy to share.
9. What is the result?
A miracle.
Could I have *created* a better result in my life by slaving away for *the American Dream* like so many, drowning in debt, stressed by the problems of modern life? I look at my neighbors and give a resounding "no".
My friends are my friends because they don't buy the lie, they live the truth, and the result is a Miracle.
10. If your experts had the answers, would we be in such a mess?
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9 Mar 2004 @ 11:51, by craiglang. Altered States
In the process of writing my article: "the Indigo Hypothesis" for the February MUFON Journal, I reread material from several researchers who have examined what it might be like to live in a psychic society. The pictures portrayed of life in such a society range from very postive, to very much less-so.
The darkest of these is probably from the author of the book "The Threat". In a number of remarks, both within the book, and in presentations at the international MUFON Symposium, etc., Dr. David Jacobs quotes descriptions by abductees, of what it seems to be like to be in the domain of the UFO/Close-Encounter phenomenon, and what it is like to be in frequent/continual psychic contact with the phenomenon. Dr. Jacobs draws some warnings about what it would be like to be in a psychic society, based upon what he has learned from the description of the phenomenal realm by many UFO abductees.
In verbal remarks at a past MUFON conference, more than one author portrayed a picture of a possible psychic society that was largely non-positive - principally because there would be no escape from it. To at least one author, the biggest downside of a psychic society would a large number of psychic voices - all audible to the mind, and of psychic ears that could hear your very thoughts. Like the Borg of Star Trek fame, or PSI-corps of the Babylon 5 world, we would be in some way collectivized or regimented. In short, unless one were somehow able to firewall off their own private thoughts and to partition public and private portions of one's mind, there would be little personal privacy.
Other authors are considerably more positive about the future of our mental/spiritual/psychic evolution. Authors such as Barbara Marx Hubbard in "Conscious Evolution", and Barbara Harris Whitfield in "Spiritual Awakening" present a much brighter picture of spiritual and psychic awakening. But in reading both of their books, I did not note them addressing this mental privacy issue which Dr. Jacobs and others have raised.
In a number of private conversations, people have suggested to me that the internet might be a prototype of the coming emergence of field consciousness. Could the internet be a model for a psychic society? What would the ramifications of this be?
I can think of upsides to this, but I can also think of some significant issues. On the positive side, it would allow perception of the human world around us much more clearly. A "broadband" view of human consciousness might (if used for benevolent purposes) be a very positive thing. In general, it is usually better to know more, rather than to know less.
The downside of the "internet" model however, is something that has been very prominent in recent times. The rapid ability to communicate with others allows us to send our thoughts all over the world on a moments notice. This can be positive, but it can also be quite negative.
At one time, in ages past, we wrote letters long-hand, sealed them with wax, and then posted them to our distant correspondants. Communication (especially written) was a relatively long, involved process, and allowed lots of time to think about what you had written, before sealing and sending it - in short, lots of time to count to 10. Now, as communications have tightened, this count-to-10 time has decreased more and more, until there is barely time to count at all... :-) Thus, as I have seen the growth of the internet over my adult lifetime, I have observed many positive and non-positive thoughts (as well as advertizements for penny stocks and anatomical enhancements, etc.) travelling the e-bandwidth at nearly the speed of light.
So, by extension, What would it be like if we were each connected to eachother: mind-to-mind. If someone didn't like you, for whatever reason, would you be continually exposed to their non-positive vibes? If you got into a disagreement - perhaps one that got out of hand - how would you manage that? How would you resolve issues? How could you ever escape people trying to sell something to you? What would psychic spam be like?
We can perhaps imagine living a psychic society as if we were - all six billion of us - enclosed together for a long time in a small room, maybe wintering-over at the South Pole. In such a case, the importance of interpersonal behavior skills is paramount. The balance between ego, honesty and empathy becomes critically important. A balance must be struck between the lower-chakra human needs and higher-level spirituality. How do we gracefully disagree with eachother, express emotion, etc., without causing painful disruption to the rest of humanity? How do we all live in the room, and yet all have our own rooms to live in? In short, how do we all get along huddled together on this tiny spaceship we call Earth?
My sense is that before we are truly ready for a global conscious awakening, these questions need to be addressed. I am very sure that there are ways to do this, and humanity [including this writer] needs to learn them better. And as we learn these key facets of enlightenment, we will be travelling yet another giant step down the road to the universal awakening that I believe is the human destiny. More >
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 8 Mar 2004 @ 20:36, by skookum. Ideas, Creativity
If I Could Find You
It comes in hushed, whispered breaths.
See the turnings of the spirit flounder,
and twist and beseech the unseen.
Is it the lives or the deaths,
that makes the sanity founder?
You discover you stand between.
No world in purity is solely yours.
Glimpses of other whens and wheres
take you to other tomorrows.
As you pass by endless glass doors,
and gaze up at ever spiraling stairs.
In the light you cast down your sorrows.
There is a yesterday to visit today.
A familiar face is seen in every door.
How did you get from then to when?
That whispering again, what does it say?
Now that whisper becomes a roar.
We are together briefly once again.
Sweet partings and joinings in flashes,
Memories are lost in the fading light.
Where are you in this time I live?
The focus, the dream now crashes,
no more sparks are left to ignite.
If I could find you…
how much would I give?
Marissa A. Spencer
© September 26, 2002 More >
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8 Mar 2004 @ 11:29, by raypows. Ideas, Creativity
DIGGING
Healing,
from culture,
from family,
from broken hearts,
unfulfilled dreams,
Can joy be more than a memory,
Tangible, present, real,
Soul remembers,
Yes, Soul remembers,
"Yes", I say, yes to love,
and then.... the mystery?,
How to stay soft, open when "its'" too hard.
The It, illusive, murky,
Undefined,
Possibly a shard left from a broken mirror,
Reflections,
Sometimes clear, some distorted,
I wipe the sleep from my eyes to see,
... unlimitedness, blossoming, mud soaked welcome mats,
and warm showers of delight,
On my hands and knees
digging in the soil of my heart,
Damp and fertile.
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 7 Mar 2004 @ 22:13, by ashanti. Communication
Thanks to Ming, I recently became aware of a new weblog called FutureHi. It explores a whole range of thought that is quite new to me, and one which is fascinating, cutting edge, and thought provoking. Specifically, I am intrigued by the Singularity, and Uploading. I immediately wondered how on earth this could be relevant for Africa, and the rest of the developing world. In one future scenario, Africa is written off as sinking into total chaos and destruction, which disturbed me greatly. If the most vital, innovative and creative scientific minds see Africa in this way, then it looks like a major polarization is going to increase.
My grasp of the overall concepts are now sufficient to put together some preliminary thoughts on these concepts in relation to Africa.
The first thing I did was simplify and de-jargonise the ideas for fellow African colleagues, and bounce the ideas off them. Those working within organized religion found the idea to be an abomination. Those working within social services were interested to the extent of what solutions these concepts could provide for poverty, hunger and illness. Certainly, removal of consciousness from the organic body would eliminate all the organic pre-occupations that currently dominate Africa. Hunger and illness would no longer be an issue. However, the social workers found the idea of life in a non-organic environment to be a nightmare of hellish proportions. Those working in political office immediately asked how one could control individual consciousness units if they were in a virtual environment. Could programmes be devised to keep the individuals in line? (That one amused me greatly, it seems that working in government breeds the idea of the need to control people. This need to control was also reflected in the recent World Summit on the Information Society where alarmingly, most of the Third World countries wanted to control the Internet, and restrict or deny access for their citizens.).
My preliminary and informal survey concluded, I then pondered these reactions and realised that in Africa, there is an overall mind-set, which appears to be incompatible with exploring concepts like the Singularity and Uploading. While Africa is ravaged because of First World exploitation of their resources, there is no doubt that African governments are largely complicit in the plunder, for their own benefit, and at the expense of their people. My further thoughts on this thus eliminate governments as participants in these possibilities, and I look only at what benefit could be derived for the People.
To me, the nature of consciousness is essential in these future scenarios. If a mind is damaged because of the environment it evolved in, and carries notions of fear, violence and anger as reactive responses to everything, then what would happen if a mind like this was Uploaded? The meme of violence as a survival mechanism would be brought into the Virtual World, and it is a meme that spreads, just like a virus. Which heads us towards that dangerous territory. Who decides when a mind is “fit” to be Uploaded? Who has that right? And by what authority?
Then, there is the other possibility. A mind can only evolve in relation to the stimulus it is exposed to. In Africa, the environment is dominated mostly by poverty, hunger, illness, violence, cruelty, lack of access to basic facilities, and pollution. African governments do very well for themselves, and their politicians have the advantage of exposure to other environments where the mind-set is different, and there are better living conditions for ordinary people. By and large, people born in poverty do not have access to other benchmarks, and it seems that governments want to keep it that way (as manifested by their desire to limit access to the Internet for their people). This is where technology could help indeed. Without Uploading fully, ordinary people could have test-drives of other possible environments, and experience the stimuli that accompanies a virtual experience. By broadening their vision into the range of life experiences possible, this could result in the mind-shift which seems to be a necessary precursor to full Uploading. The greatest problem in Africa is not the range of symptomatic problems I have listed, which manifest in the physical world, but the mind-set which is conditioned to a very limited life experience and expectation. It is a self-limitation which is inherited from the colonization of Africa, and is perpetuated by governments which essentially are parasites on their People, keeping them down, keeping them limited. The violence in Africa is a natural expression of rage at the limitation, the lack of choices, the lack of ability to live a life of full expression and self-actualisation.
In summary, what I would really like to see is the creation of Virtual Reality environments where everyone has a chance to “test” and experience a whole range of life possibilities, thus expanding their ability to make informed choices. The unexplored danger is that governments will find some way to control the Virtual Environments to keep people under control. Governments mostly are in Fear of the idea of a society of free, educated, adult and ethical people who can make their own choices and decisions based on the greatest good for the greatest number of life-forms. Perhaps those in government who are so afraid of their people being free could experience virtual simulations of a society of free and informed people, and then realise there is nothing to fear. Then, we could get them on board, too.
These are preliminary thoughts, I still need to ponder more fully, and research more, the notion of the Singularity, and full Uploading. These future scenario events have possibilities which make them definitely worth exploring, but the possible implications need to be fully fleshed out and considered. For a variety of reasons, I cannot see them happening suddenly, all at once. I think implementation will occur in stages. Like the Internet. Probably tested out within a small group of scientists, and then exported out further, after which they will gain momentum. I can see that Africa and other developing countries could be left out altogether, and this is of concern. Hence my layperson’s exploration into this new territory.
My future ponderings will be again on the nature of consciousness to be uploaded – if we have not solved our problems at the current level, can we really leap into the next? Should we not be cautious about expecting a shift to a new life form to resolve the problems (mostly mental – intolerance, prejudice, conflict, greed, lack of ethics) that we have not solved at our current level? And again – who decides what consciousness units are to be Uploaded? Can nanotechnology cure AIDS? Questions, questions, questions. More >
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7 Mar 2004 @ 21:54, by mre. Internet
A previous article, A New Heaven, has an overview of the voice of humanity (voh) concept.
InterMix is middleware; it can be thought of as an "engine" or black box whose working details can be ignored. The Application Programming Interface, or API describes exactly how programmers can connect their applications to the InterMix engine in order to participate in the voh network. This is where we begin to bring the concept down to earth and it has to be done right. Our goal is to keep the interface simple enough that web scripters, of whom there are millions, will feel comfortable using it. As you will see, this article is very much a rough draft. More >
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 7 Mar 2004 @ 15:52, by ida. Ideas, Creativity
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author(s): Quidnovi
Status: Last updated 30 March 2004
Message: The Inn of the Wild Ass (to be placed on the Map of Spindrift) is open to all. The ale is good and the company... Well, the company is up to you, isn't it? Feel free to visit any time (bring in some new character of your making), either right here on this post, in the comment section, or create a new post of your own (use the Rountable Chapter category.) Maybe Dusk or Garah will run into you, if they happen to be around where you are.
More >
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 7 Mar 2004 @ 15:09, by ming. Recreation, Fun
Today we drove to Lourdes. Which is a little town in the foothills of the Pyrenées visited by more than 5 million people each year, as it is a major catholic pilgrimage site. It is a beautiful and peaceful place, well placed next to some spectacular mountains. But it is also a strange town. There's almost nothing but lots and lots of hotels and souvenir shops there. And it all leads towards The Grotto. Which is a little cavity in the side of a big rock, in which you find a small spring. And it is the water of that spring that has been reported to produce lots and lots of miraculous healings and miracles in general. And I'd believe that. Well, whether the water really does anything or not, I don't know. But there's an impressive atmosphere set up for the purpose, and enough people who believe it and take it very seriously, that miraculous occurances would quite naturally occur.
On top of the rock where you find the grotto there's a large and spectacular cathedral-like church with an impressive set of stairs leading up to it, and a very impressive entrance. We were obviously there outside the season, as there wasn't really that many people, and it was clear that the whole arrangement was expecting tens of thousands of people at a time. You line up for the entrance into the grotto, where I suppose you'll know what to do if you're a good catholic. The rocks are black and smooth from being touched by millions of people. And you buy large candles that you can light and leave in an area for that purpose, together with a prayer.
So, we did stock up on healing water from Lourdes. You can buy many kinds of containers in the shops, which you fill yourself from the spring, but we didn't go for the 5 liter models, just some little ones. And the water tasted nice and fresh.
For more about Lourdes and the visions of Bernadette Soubirous that started the whole thing, read for example here or here More >
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