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18 Dec 2005 @ 22:06, by oasiian. Violence, War
This is a response to GWB's confession (NOT Gavin William Bellis, but George W. Bush). You could say, GWB vs. GWB. More >
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18 Dec 2005 @ 16:27, by vector8. Spirituality
Last night I watched the film, Good Will Hunting on television. I have seen it before but I thought it would be fun to watch it again.
Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon, is a janitor at MIT university, but secretly he is a mathematical genius. The film is about how Will copes with his talent, and his relationships with his family, friends, girl friend and psychotherapist. More >
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 17 Dec 2005 @ 23:27, by flutetime. Music
It's the repition, the beat, the words (if you can make it out) More >
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17 Dec 2005 @ 00:55, by raypows. Spirituality
I've recently began writing my book called Simple Brilliance:A Conscious Approach To Re-membering and Re-DiscoveringYour True Nature
I've posted the Preface and first completed chapter, The Way of the Open Heart.
You can download the pdf here: Simple Brilliance More >
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16 Dec 2005 @ 13:22, by shreepal. Philosophy
Let's go further to find what we know and have an inkling of what lays ahead beyond our frontiers of knowledge.
Let us look at our universe. The most distant objects in universe we know are more than 13 billion light years away from Earth, that is, light take~ 13 billion years to reach them moving with its speed of about 300,000 kilometres per second. It is a huge distance. Astronomers have found that all galaxies, comprising stars and their associated orbiting planets, are running away from one another. This makes us to come to the conclusion that at some point of time in past they all were close together. How much close together were they? Physicists tell us that at the initial stage they all were converged on a single point in the form of a superdense clump of matter, a condition of matter that is named Black Hole. At that stage, this superdense clumped matter was contained within narrow radius. This combined matter of the whole universe, pulled by its own gravity, further squeezed into a very small space that is determined by the scientific principle known as the Chandrashekhar Limit. The mass of this matter produced a huge gravitational force that did not allow anything, not even light, to escape its surface, and hence it is named Black Hole. This collapsing of matter into itself under the force of its own gravity produced an internal pressure that tried to push Black Hole's matter outward. In this process, the first stage was when the gravitational force was more than the internal pressure, the second one was when both the forces became equal and balanced each other, and the third one was reached when the force of internal pressure exceeded the gravitational force. At that point there came a Big Bang exploding the massive clump. This happened in a split second, and with this our universe came into existence and its time began.
Since then, estimated by scientists to have taken place 15 billion years ago, clusters of chunks of matter, that we call galaxies of stars and planets, are rushing outward away from the centre of explosion. This is the model of expanding universe, which is familiarly explained as clusters of galaxies being dots on an expanding balloon.
Alexander Friedmann and Abbe Georges Lemaitre originally proposed this model of expanding universe in 1920s and George Gamow and colleagues developed its modern version in the 1940s. One of the current problems of Cosmogony being studied by scientists is the amount of matter in the universe. They have based their calculations on such things as the rate of the motion of galaxies and came to realise that there is some 90% more matter in the universe than can be seen. The matter that can be observed is termed as 'bright matter' and the other remaining 90% matter is termed as 'dark matter' by them. Whether or not this dark matter is of a kind different from the one of which our world is constituted, we do not know.
With the explosion of Big Bang, was the entire amount of matter contained in Black Hole was thrown out and set on an outward journey of expanding universe? Or was there some amount of matter still left, which, with the internal pressure now released and gone, was captured back by the left out remnants of the erstwhile Black Hole?
Let us come to our familiar model of expanding balloon with dots on its surface. In this balloon, there is an outward expansion of its surface, and of dots lying on this surface. If we observe these dots from the centre of the balloon, all of them are moving away not only from the centre but also from each other. If they go on expanding in this manner, they would be distancing forever from each other and be destined never to meet again. Suppose these dots are able to crawl towards each other on the surface of this expanding balloon (under the force of gravitational attraction) and, as they come cioser to each other, they rush to meet each other headlong with a velocity more than that of expansion. How would they look if observed from the centre of the balloon? To us they would still look running away from each other. And, how would they look if we change our location from the centre of the balloon to that of a dot and, while sitting inside it, observe the surrounding dots? Then, the nearby dots would be approaching us. However, in the case of a balloon we can change our position as we like, but in the case of universe we cannot do so. Obviously, the difference in results of our two observations has been caused by the change of our frame of reference.
Today, it is possible to conceive that Nature is an ocean of universal unifiedfield of fundamental energy wherein wave-particle structures are formed inside it as a result of some disturbance in its equilibrium state. This inside within the ocean is creation and this creation is self-contained world that may behave as the surface of a balloon. On the surface of this balloon, galaxies may seem running away from each other, if seen from somewhere in its centre and they may seem coming closer to each other, if seen from somewhere near the periphery of the balloon.
If such a thing exists there in the real Nature, how our universe would look like? Then, all the galaxies in universe, which are receding from each other from our point of view, would come together and meet at single point, though they would not descend back to the original point of Black Hole where Big Bang had occurred. Then, all the matter of universe coming together at some new point of space and time, a new Black Hole and new Big Bang would take place. Would it not look like planting a new seedling every time at a new place and time in universe, by the force that is? There is no repetition of anything here, the concept of eternity is raised to still higher level and freshness is imparted to the whole process. More >
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 16 Dec 2005 @ 10:36, by jazzolog. Environment, Ecology
When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.
---George Bernard Shaw
Searching for words, hunting for phrases, when will it end?
Esteeming knowledge and gathering information only maddens the spirit.
Just entrust yourself to your own nature, empty and illuminating---
Beyond this, I have nothing to teach.
---Bankei
Dying cricket,
His song so full
of life.
---Basho
Mary Hufford took this photograph of mountain top removal. This and others are at the Library of Congress site Tending the Commons: Folklife and Landscape in Southern West Virginia. [link]
One of the first questions people ask when they move to a mining area of the Appalachians---or even just drive through mountains of West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio---is "What's happening over there?" They're referring to a startling bare spot on the horizon, out in the middle of nowhere, no towns around, maybe a big crane thing sticking up. What you're seeing is called strip mining or mountain top removal, and the little part of the machine inadvertently visible from the highway might be something like The Big Muskie, which was the largest mobile land machine in the world [link] . It would take a stack of books to describe the history of coal mining and its effect on the lives of the people here---and certainly other regions of the Earth too---but did you know that history continues? Mining goes on here, providing jobs and taking them away, with mountain folks wrestling the same issues they've had to deal with for 200 years. More >
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 15 Dec 2005 @ 10:29, by silviamar. Ideas, Creativity
A candle in the night
And he smiled.
A rainbow of feelings
exploded in my heart.
I want more, I want more...
there would never be enough!
And I dreamed.
I wanted to fly and touch
any of the stars glowing at night,
and take it and give it to him
and shine all together in a magic love.
Smile with me!
Dream with me!
Let's fly to the sky and light a star!
Close your eyes and find me,
I'm the one with a candle in the night.
------
Silvia Martínez, December 2005 More >
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 15 Dec 2005 @ 03:32, by jmarc. Spirituality
In Douglas Adam's book, HitchHiker's guide to the Galaxy,
he relates the story of a race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings
who built a computer named Deep Thought to calculate the answer to the
Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. When the answer
was revealed as 42, they were forced to build a more powerful computer
to work out what the Ultimate Question actually was.
To get the right answers, you've got to ask the right questions. Through out
history, some scientists have thought that all of the important questions
had been answered. More >
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14 Dec 2005 @ 19:06, by letecia. Activism
This makes me so Angry!! Please take action now!
Congressman Ducan Hunter (R- El Cajon) is trying to sneak an amendment into the Defense Appropriations bill to give control of Santa Rosa Island (now part of the Channel Islands National Park) to the Department of Defense to use as a Military recreation facility. The public would no longer be able to use the island. This is not a request from the military; it is coming out of Hunter's office. We must stop this!
Please read the attached article from the LA times and the statement from Ron Sundergill, Pacific regional director, National Parks Conservation Association who explains the likely hidden reason for this bizarre transfer of public park land to the Defense Dept.
Get Mad then make the following calls:
Congressman Duncan Hunter (202) 225-5672 - tell his office that you oppose this backroom deal.
Congresswoman Capps(Santa Barbara) (202) 225-3601 - Tell her you support her efforts to stop this
Congressman Gallegley (Mountain communities/Santa Ynez) (202) 225-5811 - Tell him to get on the horn to fellow Republican Hunter and say "back off!"
Tell our senators to stop this amendment:
Senator Boxer (202) 224-3553
Senator Feinstein (202) 224 3841
Senator John Warner (R-Virginia) ( 202) 224-2023 - This is the guy Hunter is negotiating with in the Senate to get this amendment included. Tell him this is sleazy and sneaky and to put a stop to it.
This could happen this week! Thanks for you help. Forward to people you think will be concerned.
Ann Wisehart
December 10, 2005 latimes.com
Military Wants Santa Rosa Island
By Tim Reiterman and Richard Simon, Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON - A California congressman confirmed Friday that he wants to convert Santa Rosa Island in Channel Islands National Park into a Department of Defense installation for military recreation and special forces training - a move critics say would severely limit public access.
The proposal by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, is being circulated as an amendment to a defense authorization bill that both houses of Congress began hashing out this week.
Hunter put forward a similar measure in May, but withdrew it after objections from environmentalists and Democrats and after consulting with Republicans.
In a statement e-mailed Friday night by his spokesman, Hunter said the proposed amendment "would broaden the recreational use of Santa Rosa Island to the benefit of wounded and disabled members of the armed services who have sacrificed for our country."
Through the spokesman, Hunter declined to discuss the amendment, citing ongoing negotiations with his Senate counterpart, John Warner (R-Va.). Warner's office did not return calls seeking comment.
Hunter's proposal calls for the Department of Defense to transform the 53,000-acre island into a military operation, effective Jan. 1, 2009. The goal, the proposal said, was to provide "morale, welfare and recreation activities to members of the armed forces and their dependents, veterans, official guests and such other persons as the [Defense] secretary determines to be appropriate, including paralyzed and disabled persons."
The island, according to the proposal, also could provide training areas for special operations forces and would continue to allow deer and elk hunting that is currently permitted.
Critics of the proposal said military personnel already can visit the park, just like the general public.
Rep. Lois Capps, a Democrat whose Santa Barbara district encompasses Santa Rosa Island, said the proposal is a bad idea "that is being pushed in secret negotiations."
"All Americans should have access to the Channel Islands National Park, not just top military brass, members of Congress and folks who can pay thousands of dollars to go on private hunting trips," Capps said.
Santa Rosa is the second-largest of the five Channel Islands that make up the park.
The proposal did not state that the island would be removed from the national park, but said the Defense Department would run the island.
Environmentalists adamantly oppose the proposal, saying it would deny the general public access to a significant portion of a park created two decades ago.
"The public would be completely frozen out," said Ron Sundergill, regional director of the National Parks Conservation Assn. "For all intents and purposes . it would no longer be a national park. It would be a military recreational compound."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Defense declined to comment, saying that it was premature to discuss any proposal that was not formally incorporated into the bill.
National Park Service spokeswoman Holly Bundock said the agency has heard about the proposal and is concerned that shifting control to the military would substantially cut public access to a scenic island with rare wildlife and plants, including the Santa Rosa Island manzanita, the Santa Rosa Island soft-leaved paintbrush and the Island fox.
"Santa Rosa is a public island," she said. "Taxpayers bought the island . and we operate it as a national park."
Beginning in the mid-1800s, Santa Rosa Island was a cattle ranch - and later sheep were introduced. When it was sold to Vail & Vickers Co. in 1902, the island was devoted exclusively to cattle raising.
The federal government purchased Santa Rosa Island for $30 million. In 1986, it became part of Channel Islands National Park along with four other islands in the chain - Santa Barbara, Anacapa, Santa Cruz and San Miguel.
Officials say the park had more than 500,000 visitors last year.
The public can visit by boat and there is an airstrip. Visitors can camp and hike the island, which is 15 miles long and 10 miles wide.
The former owners of the island are permitted to continue operating a deer and elk hunting concession on the island through 2011.
The congressional proposal would allow that operation to continue until then.
CA Republican Duncan Hunter's amendment would deny the public access to Santa Rosa Island within Channel Islands National Park, converting it to Military Uses
By: Ron Sundergill, Pacific Regional Director, National Parks Conservation Association
Published: Dec 10, 2005 at 09:12
Following is a press statement by Ron Sundergill, Pacific regional director, National Parks Conservation Association:
We have learned that Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, is planning to propose an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill that would shift Santa Rosa Island, the second largest island within Channel Islands National Park, to an exclusive recreational outpost and game reserve for armed forces personnel and veterans, eliminating broader public access. In addition, the amendment would allow Special Operations Forces to use the island for military training.
The clearest indication of the intent of this amendment comes from reviewing a similar proposal Rep. Hunter made to a military spending bill earlier this year. He withdrew that highly controversial amendment after objections were raised, and after it became apparent that the Department of Defense had not even asked for it. The first version of his amendment was a bad idea and the new, dressed up version is no better.
We recommend that Rep. Hunter abandon this misguided amendment, which undoes a mediated settlement approved by a court of law in the fall of 1997 to protect threatened resources on the island.
This amendment is an attempt to grab a large portion of Channel Islands National Park and, in part, turn it into an exclusive commercial elk and deer hunting island compound for a small portion of Americans, and would result in a sweetheart deal for a well-connected family that has already sold their estate effective at the end of 2011 for $30 million. The proposal would turn administration of the second largest island within the park, Santa Rosa Island, over to the Secretary of Defense. Santa Rosa Island's land mass is 52,794 acres and it encompasses over 42 percent of the land mass within the National Park.
Islands National Park lands were set aside by our nation for the use and enjoyment by all Americans -- the young, the old, civilians, military personnel, veterans and nature lovers -- who go there to soak in the fresh air and marvel at its beauty. All Americans should continue to fully enjoy the wonders of this park.
Why would Representative Hunter, why would anybody for that matter, want to suddenly restrict a large portion of this beautiful place to a small portion of Americans? It makes no sense!
We can only guess that the reason this is being proposed is to protect the commercial interest that operates the elk and deer hunting venture on the island. The owners of the venture, whose family sold the island to the federal government in 1986 for nearly $30 million, will be required to end their commercial activities in 2011. The timeline for ending the elk and deer hunting results from a legally binding agreement between the National Park Service and the National Parks Conservation Association, but the owners of the hunting venture strongly objected to the agreement.
If Santa Rosa Island is turned over to the Department of Defense for military recreation and other purposes, the permit for the commercial hunting operation is then likely to be renewed. This is especially evident since the proposed amendment requires that the current contract with the commercial hunting operation be honored, and contains no restriction on the renewal of the contract.
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14 Dec 2005 @ 15:34, by vector8. Spirituality
In the film, Groundhog Day, Phil (played by Bill Murray) is stuck on Groundhog Day that keeps repeating itself over and over again. Even after committing suicide, he wakes up on the same day. Phil decides to use the time to get to know humanity. Only when he falls in love is he released from that day. More >
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