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28 Dec 2004 @ 19:40, by bri_outten. Death & Dying
It is somewhat wierd that the Tsunami / Sumatran earthquake should happen exactly one year to the day after the tragic earthquake in Bam (Iran)!
I dont believe it is some strange conspiracy or anything like that, but I wonder if anyone can hazard an explanation?
Furthermore, I hope you will join me in prayer for the dead and dispossessed at this awful of times.
God, give them strength.
Us, all we can do is continue to strive in order for the poor people of Southern Asia to have nearer the quality of life we have. Plus, the arrival of some early warning system of Earthquake / Tsunami monitoing-warning equipment, such as is in existance to the west coast of USA! More >
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 28 Dec 2004 @ 07:34, by skookum. Ideas, Creativity
photo from FreeFoto.com Photographer: Ian Britton
Picture of Storm Clouds.
That Was I
My self-deceptions have colored my life for so long now
The deep dark blues of solemn hours were of my own making More >
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 26 Dec 2004 @ 18:53, by spells. Spirituality
How Do I Explain the Path I Have Chosen?
I am writing this to explain, via a question, what my life has become,how it has evolved, the meaning of this to me and ultimately to everyone on this planet. The question in it's full length would read: How do I explain the path I have chosen in this life, on a planet that does not acknowledge the importance of the soul, consciousness, and the true meaning of why we are here?
Where do I even begin to explain such a phenomena? I'll start with the decison I made 4 years ago that would change the course of my life and,in all honesty, I did not realize it's implications at the time. It was on December 18, 2000 that I left all I knew and loved dearly..... my family, friends and home. In my ignorance and participation in the world consciousness I thought I was leaving merely for the possibility of a new relationship with a man, who had the same focus and interests in life, and that I only knew through the internet and phone conversations. I had the presence of mind at the time to know he was truly on the spiritual path I so longed for, but I didn't see or know just how life changing that would be. I also couldn't fathom just how much I would learn in the next 4 years, making it impossible to ever go back.
Through most of this incarnation on earth, I was always on a search for more than what life/society seemingly had to offer. If one looked at my life they would have thought it was complete in all it's aspects. I had a kind, good and loving husband, two wonderful children that I love more than life itself, and a career that I felt a passion for. Then what could possibly be missing and worth searching for? At the time I didn't know exactly what it was, I only knew that deep down within my soul, something was amiss, something just wasn't quite right.
There was really nothing offered by the world that could fill this empty void within me. I couldn't explain it myself. Now I see that we play so many "roles" in life. We are taught so many misguided beliefs and values, the results of which are our heads being filled with programming, beliefs and standards. The truth of the matter is that we are being led down a dark and ugly alley with no way out except from within. Almost everything that the societies of the world covet are leading us into a place of despair, a place that has no value on our true essence, the soul, and a place that leaves us in a cycle of karma with no end.
Most words have lost their true meanings and impact... and karma is one such word. It has come to mean something you must experience, correct or change from past lives or past deeds in this life. There is rarely talk of truly changing your karma and how to do that. For example, if you killed someone in another life, you may be killed in this life or must improve the karma with love in some way in order to improve or change it. How can one change their karma if they are living life after life and day after day in the same way with the same values?
The true meaning of the word, comes from the Natural Law of Karma, which is cause and effect, pure and simple. To every action there is a reaction. Every deed, focus, thought, act and intention has an effect on the world via the unified field at large. What you focus on, you become. These are not trivial words, these are Truth***. Focus on building your ego/image and that is what will be done. Believe all that is spoon fed to you from the day you are born, without question, and you will probably lose your naturally logical mind and all/most sanity. Does that sound extreme or judgemental? Then I suggest you take a moment to contemplate what I just wrote objectively for a moment. As you do this be aware of the feelings in your body, for in this way you will see how apparently and fundamentally true the statements are and that the focus of most cultures is just wrong! (You may actually feel tension and/or fear upon reading the words, but this your body's way of telling you that there is something to fear, not something to ignore.) These worldly goals and focuses do very little for the soul, which is our true essence and most of the world operates according to false beliefs, assumption, focuses and faith. It therefore appears that the whole world is sane and I am insane. This could not be further from the truth, although in a world gone crazy, the sane person will be the one believed quite mad.
Let me reiterate some things I have written in the past. A few quick examples of the many "programs" we are taught....
We are taught to live a life led by "schedules". We get up at a certain hour, we eat meals at designated times, we attend school, we go to work.
We strive to make a "better life" through prestige, image, possessions.
We are taught that we can't "make" it without an education (which is mostly only memorization of other peoples ideas, and not a true expansion of consciousness, creativity, learning or progression).
We watch images on television that tell us how to think, dress, act, when to laugh, when to cry, and that in the long run shorten our attention spans.
We are told by the media what is going on in the world (in about 60 seconds) or to put it more bluntly, we told by the media what they want us to know and believe about what is going on in the world.
We are told that our bodies are just "machines" that can be changed and/or cured via surgery and medicines, that usually kill more than heal.
We follow religious beliefs, rituals and traditions as if they are the Truth without question. We celebrate "holidays" through obligation because the culture we live in tells us to do so. (I have always wondered how Christmas has anything do with Christ really). Where is it written that Christ told us to have Christmas trees and spend more money than most of us can afford to celebrate His Coming. What has Santa Claus got to do with the teachings of Christ? Where in the frenzy of "holiday shopping and joy" do we acknowledge and live by the principles He tried to impart to the world? And my final question...how many truly live the life that Christ lived and emulated in any remote way?
To put it bluntly our spirits have been dying a long slow death, and it is done so meticualously, that we don't even realize it, or quite honestly, we don't want to realize it. That is just too much for most minds to look at and admit. We have strayed so far from our true essence that to see the changes that need to ocurr and/or admit how far we have strayed, is just too scary and too life (style) threatening.
Let me go on to say that to most who know me, I look quite insane or "evil" because I broke many of societies rules and guidelines. I left my children and I cheated on my husband. Although my children were not babies anymore, I abandoned them none the less.
I was so confused and frightened that I went outside of myself to search for another soul that would understand, and therefore "betrayed" my husband. In reality, my only betrayal was in not telling the truth as it happened. If I had been of sane mind, pure intent and best benefit for all, I would have been upfront with my husband at the time instead of sneaking around with another man. If I had the presence of mind and crystal clear clarity, I would have explained to my children that I had to leave to save my soul, even it meant pain and anguish for all involved. But I didn't have the clarity, honesty and straightforwardness that was needed. Therefore, I kept up my image for as long as I could and then I ran.
Let's pause here for a moment and ask this important question.... are any of these things ( clarity, honesty and straightforwardness) valued in our society? Isn't it true that image is all that matters and therefore why search for the Truth or the true meaning of life? Many even believe that there is no truth to find. The ultimate excuse for not living by truth is the cliche': There is "your" truth and there is "my truth". This has baffled me to a point of frustration and anger, because if there is no such thing as Truth then there is no such thing as a lie. What a ludicrous idea and concept! Sorry folks, but I cannot imagine a universe operating as it does on such misguided precepts. I have been through many discussions in the past concerning this topic and the conclusion I always come to is that just because humans don't see or know the truth, in no way means or implies that it doesn't exist. Humans are not the beginning and end of knowledge and wisdom. The Universe would operate quite well (and possibly better) without them.
So now how do I convey to you what I have learned? How many will take any of this seriously based on my past and because of miguided beliefs. How do I pour into these words the passion, yearning, and ultimate need to stay on this path?
These past 4 years have been more difficult than I can explain. I have felt the agony, yes agony, of being separated from my children. In a society that cares mostly for image, how would it have been possible to explain to anyone, the despair and anguish I felt before leaving my young adult children, (and all that was familiar) even though I loved them dearly? How do I explain to them or anyone the importance of soulic growth and awareness in a world that cares my very little or nothing for such things. Even the most spiritual people I have met are not truly practitioners because the focus of consciousness expansion, soulic evolution, Truth, higher states of love and clairy are not their first priority in life. If it were the most important aspect of their lives, they would NOT spend MOST of their time in pursuit of career, education, notoriety, money, posessions etc. The bottom line is that if one is absolutely honest about the population's focus, it can be stated that most people care predominantly about how much money one makes, what kind of career one has, how one looks, and how many degrees one has etc. Then there is the facade of how one does seemingly acts of kindness and goodness when the intent and feeling behind these acts betray them, because if they really were out to do the highest benefit, one would only feel love and positivity. Another question begs t9 be asked..how can one "act" happy and/or nice, no matter what is going on inside themselves? It always seemed to me that everyone had the answer except me. They could laugh, work, do countless activities regardless of what turmoil was churning inside. They always "acted" in a positive way, but the feeling space around them felt downcast, nervous, angry, and/or a bit chaotic.
This all important focus for "image" is apparently true for if it wasn't, there would NOT be the need for so many medications to keep up the "facade". There is a treasure trove of meds for every ailment from high blood pressure to depression and "mood stabilization". This charade goes on to say that acting happy or nice is considered having a positive attitude, when in truth it is just dishonest. It is all really a negative attitude because the truth is being ignored, therefore avoided, and that is really a definition for a negative attitude.
The intent/feeling emanating from a person is another thing never or rarely discussed, the true feeling and the psychic vibe that is continuously and constantly felt. If one takes the time to notice, it is very obvious when a person is putting on an act to look good or appear aggreeable and forthcoming. Just listening to the tone of a voice reveals volumes. Again, it is image...as long as you look good, act in a correct manner and say the correct things, then you are a "good person". It matters not how the space or the energy coming from a person/people feels. This is rarely, if ever, talked about and never discussed to any true resolution. Being real means being part of the crowd, accepted on the basis of false images and dishonesty. I know this will bring up protests from many, but say what you will, the truth won't change because you don't like it. Some will say that "psychic vibe" doesn't really exist, and to them I say then it is obvious that you have never felt love from or for another person, never felt the "tension" in the air during an argument and/or never had the courage to face and acknowledge all that you truly feel.
I have also felt guilt and despair at destroying a marriage and hurting a man I loved for many years. This coupled with the yearning to be near my kids, has also slowed me considerably on this path, but the path of the spirit only follows Truth. The path (Truth) really doesn't care how one feels, if one is uncomfortable or if one's life is totally disrupted. It is still the truth regardless of what it implies or how it disrupts one "comfort zone". In other words, following a path of spiritual progress and evolution and not materialism, ego, consumerism etc. is what is desparately needed for your soul, no matter how uncomfortable, scary, painful, disruptive, confusing, etc it is.
I still have a tendency to fluctuate between soul and ego. I still fall into the ways of the world and don't see with clarity and respect for what is true. This ocurrs less than before and I come out of it more quickly then in the past, but it is part of the inertia that still exists within my karma here on earth. Inertia is also a natural law that states (somewhat) that a moving object will continue to move in a certain direction unless a force of greater or equal intensity will change it. Old ways/habits/beliefs/modes/thoughts etc have inertia. Unless you are deliberate and focus on change, the inertia will stop you from making any true and lasting change. Action does speak louder than words. Affirm all you like, state what you intend to do all you like, think about what you want to do all you like, but unless you DO it, take action every minute making the necessary changes, and continue to do it until the inertia is overcome, nothing will change permanently.
I have fluctuated and teeter tottered between the ways of the world and the spiritual path for four years now. I have felt as one living in between two worlds. I had all the excuses for going off the path, such as....
I must right the wrongs I have done in hurting my family,
I am a mother first and therefore must return to my children, my remorse and sadness is so strong, I cannot go on in this way,
No one will understand or want to talk to me therefore I have to stay the way I am/was,
If I don't live in the way the world says I should, how will I survive?
I can't take the way people look at me or think of me because of what I have done and the way I live,
The spiritual path is not as much fun as activities that most people enjoy (this is the lamest excuse, I tried going back to watching tv, having trivial conversations, going out to comedy/dance clubs and/or other such activities and I always felt empty and regretful after.
The bottom line of the truth is that my soul has been awakened and brought into awareness and no matter how hard I try, I can't go back, because I see the futility of it and want to experience higher levels/states of love, clarity, expansion and wisdom. Whenever I try to return, I feel intense fear, pain and discomfort. I then ask these fundamental questions....If I don't do this, who will? If I don't do as I say, then I am a hypocryte and dishonest, therefore how can I convey these important truths to anyone else? How can I help anyone if I am not whole within myself? I just read in a book by Lynn Andrews that one cannot change or enlighten anyone if they are at the same level of consciousness as the people they are helping. If one is at the same level of consciousness, then they will only mirror them. If I only speak of the soul and the true purpose of life and don't practice it in every action, thought and deed to the best of my ability, (focusing on this over all else) then how can I be an example and transmit this knowledge to anyone else. This isn't a part time job, or hobby or pasttime...this is what life is all about.
I am reminded of the movie, "What Dreams May Come", if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Briefly, it is about the love of a couple and how their souls and love continues after death. The husband (Robin Williams) dies in a car accident and subsequently his wife ends her life through suicide. Robin Williams is in "heaven", or higher state of consciousness, when he receives the news of Annie's death. She is stuck in a lower plane of consciousness and doesn't even realize she is dead. She is miserable in a dark, damp place that resembles her home on earth and cannot see a way out. Robin goes to her, traveling through many planes of consciousness to "rescue" her. She doesn't recognize him because he is in a higher plane of awareness and she can't see "UP". Therefore he decides to stay with her, lowering his state of consciousness so that she will recognize him, throughout eternity. This decision brings him down into this lower plane of awareness bringing with it fear and pain, and ultimately erases all the knowledge on the higher planes from where he just came. Therefore, he falls into the despair that she lives in, forgetting all else and seeing no way out. My point is this: The state of consciousness one is in, will determine how much one knows, Sees and learns. If you are in a lower state, you will not have the clarity or height to truly See. One can intend into place the quest for higher/more expansive knowledge, but in a lower state of consciousness there is a good chance they won't see the potential at all. This is the state of planet earth today in relation to human consciousness. It is at a level where it does not even see the potential of the spirit/essence and therefore doesn't strive to change. Humans (most) believe that this is the way it is and there is no other way. This couldn't be farther from the truth, it is only the level of awareness that we find ourselves in, here on this planet at this time. It is NOT true throughout the cosmos and it is not the intent of God***** or what we are here to do.
But again I feel lacking in my explanation of this. I cannot convey to the reader the importance and truth of this, I can only intend to express it to you and hope that someone will take this seriously enough to make changes and look deeper into it. Your soul knows the truth of all this, your mind, which is stuck in false beliefs, false values, false knowledge, false standards****, is key to what is holding you back at this moment. You are also stuck in the consciousness/awarenss level of the world mind*, a lower vibration that holds one back from Seeing and knowing higher states. As long as one lives and follows what the rest of their peers, family, countryman, religious sects etc believes, then they are aligned with that group mind** and it's level of consciousness and will have a difficult time seeing any other way. Those are the two things holding you back....NOTHING ELSE!
Now you may want to ask me...what have you accomplished? What have you learned? To write all I have learned would take numerous pages filling volumes of books, (perhaps in future articles) but I will tell you this. I have Seen why we are here and I have Seen what my true essence is. I have experienced raising the consciousness within myself and the immediate area and Seeing/feeling the difference without a doubt. I have seen my true essence and know the potentials therein. I have felt love that was higher and more intense than ever felt before. This was a pure soulic love that cannot be felt within the lower consciousness of the human consciousness. (to just name a few)
I have often felt unworthy of such feelings and Seeings, but this is what our soul knows, it is only our minds that keeps us from this knowing. This was NOT my imagination, it was real and it is true. If more people focused on such things, we could change the world. This is NOT my ego talking. I don't feel more important, superior or falsely elated. I am only expressing to you my experiences and thoughts in the hopes that it will awaken some spark within you to take action and change the course of your life resulting in the evolution of your soul.
The person who has changed my life and lead me onto this path is Matthew Webb, the founder and author of The World Mind Society. I have had the priviledge of living with him and experiencing all/most of what he has seen and written about. I have run from him and the path more than I care to admit. Many would say that I am putting him on a pedestal and/or I am brainwashed, and/or I belong to a cult. Believe what you like, I know what I have Seen, experienced and what my soul yearns to do. I have contemplated, meditated, journaled, gone on visionquests, walked in the woods and on the beach. I have silenced the chatter in my mind. I have had debates with myself on which way to live, and I tried over and over again to go back to the way I used to live. I have listened to the feelings in my body and the messages from within and it all comes to the same conclusion. Live the life you are meant to live, get out of the karma you have incurred and let your spirit soar to heights no human has possibly ever experienced here on earth.
Other arguments that people will bring up in relation to staying on the path with Mat is that I am just afraid to be alone, or your ego is hurt because you are not with him. I have delved into all those feelings and yes they have been true in the past and yes there is still some inertia and truth to those statements. But I am exerting equal or greater force to change that inertia. Because what is love? Is it the ownership of another person? Does it mean that just because you feel love for someone that you have control and ownership of that person? If you truly love another, you want the best benefit for that person, under any circumstance. I want to be with Matthew when he ascends to higher consciousness and breaks through the low vibration of this planet, which he has done and has shown me on many ocassions. I want to be an integral part of assisting him and he assisting me to reach such heights, because I know this is of highest and best benefit for him, me, the planet and the cosmos. This conclusion did not come quickly or easily. This is the conclusion of my soul and I had to tell my mind to take a chill pill and shut up in order to come to it.....it took four years...and it is still evolving and progressing, but I am finally freeing myself more and more from the level of human consciousness (world mind) and experiencing the heights that our souls are here to accomplish. This cannot be expressed fully in words, these must be experienced!
Contrary to popular belief, NOT everything is as it should be. It is that way because of our intentions, focus, inertia, karma and actions. We truly do have the power to heal ourselves, live cooperatively throughout the world, have a high vibration that naturally enlightens us with love, clarity and knowledge. It does NOT have to feel the way it does now in our everyday lives. Positivity can be a natural way of being, not a forced way of thinking. Good/pure intention can prevail and not be of a selfish or competitive nature. A popular notion on this planet is that we must stay "busy" to keep our minds active and stay young. Well, there would be nothing to "busy" ourselves with because we would always be busy with new knowledge, higher states of love and clarity and the potential to always go higher and to know more. What could be more exciting and more important to do?
As I said, I have had the priviledge and honor to live with Matt and gain from his focus, knowledge, clarity and intention. Why I have been the one to do this, I don't know, but I do know that I See his soul and know what it is he is striving to do. I strongly suggest that you read the articles in his World Mind Society Library at: [link] seriously. Read one article at a time, meditate on it, contemplate it and DO IT! This is all the knowledge you or anyone will ever need. As a suggestion, start with The Perpetual Raising Series, then Lessons of the Soul, then go wherever your soul leads you. I implore you to take the information seriously and not as you would any "new age" articles found on the web. This is not "channeled" by some obscure Archangel, alien or Being. All the writings are based on experience and are NOT theory. We are blessed that there is a Soul here on earth that lived his life doing, Seeing, experiencing and writing about what is the only important and relevant focus there is. Read about group mind, world mind and what consciousness is.....have you ever thought of these things before? After reading bring your awareness onto these important aspects of life. They are indisputable. The only reason it is never mentioned is because it is not focused on. The knowledge is there for all of us, if only we would stop our foolish whims and ways and take the time to look. What could be more important? Your job? School? Watching TV? I say quit your job, quit school and learn what is most important, in fact the only important things. You say you can't? You have a mortagage to pay, have to eat, the price of living is too high? My answer to that is that there are many places to live that are less expensive, there are different more practical lifestyles, sell your house and get on with what your soul wants you to do. If you need more information on doing this then read "The Survivalists Guide for the New Millenium" a book in the WMS library.
It takes courage and clarity to change one's life in such a manner, and I know all too well from experience, the pitfalls, the fears, the guilt, the pain of doing it. But I also know the rewards and these are universal throughout the cosmos. These are the potential of every soul on this planet, if one has the clarity and courage to pursue them. These are what the purpose of life is all about, it is not mysterious and there is NOTHING more important to do. By living and doing such things, you help others to lift out of their doldrums and have the potential to do it also.
All paths have their bumps and detours. The bumps of the spiritual path is inertia. The detours are the ways and the level of the world mind/consciousness. At times it may seem hard and hopeless, but once you get through each pitfall, you see the Light at the end of the tunnel and your soul knows joy, peace and a love that cannot be described in words...it must be experienced. The choice is yours....tell your mind to chill, listen and just observe the beatings of your heart and the voice of your soul. and.....if nothing else, have the courage to read the articles in The World Mind Society.
Sandi Hunter spellscaster9@yahoo.com
**Quoted definitions from the glossary on The World Mind Society: [link]
**Group Mind: A phenomena and principle of nature that is the joining of constituent elements of consciousness into cohesive systems, whose whole is geometrically greater than the sum of its parts. The synthesis of member minds in a psychic alignment, which acts in entity-like fashion above and beyond those members. See earthmind and world mind...
Group Mind Principle: A group mind is that synthesis of Energies, Awarenesses and Intents of component individuals into an expanded whole, that is geometrically greater thatn the sum of its parts, as factored by the number and level of consciousness of its comprising individuals.
also can be found in The Group Mind Series in The World Mind Society Library
*World Mind: The planet wide group mind of humanity as a species. The currently ego-based collective consciousness of humanity, whose focus is primarily upon unnatural aims. (also explained in The Perpetual Raising Series, Part 3.)
Earthmind: The group mind conglomerate entity of the Earth, as a sum total. The residing consciousness of the Earth whose composition is synthesis of all natural plants, animals, minerals and atmospheric elements, not including the majority of humanity. That intelligent and guiding consciousness of our planetary body, which has coordinated the evolution of biological forms and natural phenomena.
Consciousness: The primary causal force in all universal action and manifestation. That ultimate cause in nature, composed of Energy, Awareness and Intent, which is responsible for the ways and means by which all forms are generated...See God.
*****God That all pervading universal force in and of all things which coordinates evolution. The universal Will behind all manifestation, natural laws and phenomena, composed of Energy, Awareness and Intent. The collective group mind intelligence of the manifest and unmanifest cosmos, composed of consciousness.
***Truth: That which is universally and at all times the determining basis for the reality of existence. Factuality, that which exists regardless of view point or relative opinion. The essence of natural law and its principles.
****See The Software of the Mind Series
Now let me ask you this: Where else on this planet can you find such fundamental, practical and clear definitions of such terms? What could be more important to learn or know about? I implore you to save your soul and start reading, applying, focusing and feel free to ask questions via email.... More >
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 26 Dec 2004 @ 17:52, by ming. Entrepreneurs, Money Making
Hm, I haven't written much here the last month.
Mostly because I've been a bit occupied. With trying to make a living mostly. Yet another time my main contract that was paying the rent ran out, last month. And that's the time when I belatedly realize that I don't have much of a working plan. I usually live from paycheck to paycheck, whether it is big or small, which is first of all stupid. And when it has been coming in every month I tend to get complacent, forgetting that it could end any time. You know, I usually don't even have a real contract. Just a few companies who pay me something every month while there's something useful for me to do. And sometimes their situation changes and they don't need me any more. And it is always "Thank you so much for your great work. If there's ever anything we can do for you, just let us know." Well, keep paying me, for starters. But it doesn't really work that way. A business isn't a charity.
The answer is either that I do something on an ongoing basis to have projects and acquire new projects before the old ones run out, or that I start thinking more entrepreneurially building up business of my own, or that I go get a JOB. The latter being my worstcase scenario. I'd rather not. Jobs are rather badly paid here in France, and, well, you've gotta be somewhere all day. Oh, it would be less work than the hours I normally keep, but I just can't bring myself to put that option anywhere else than near the bottom of the list. Not to mention the difficulties of getting a job where I am, where one ought to speak perfect French and one's list of diplomas is all important.
So, short term we're talking about that I need projects. I do programming in PHP (or Python or C if I have to). Website database stuff on Linux. And I administer servers. I have a lot of experience and I'm very good at what I do. Shouldn't be hard, should it? But where does one actually get projects that aren't just 9-5 jobs? Usually people have somehow found me by themselves, and I haven't done much to actively seek business.
I previously mentioned rentacoder.com which is a site where people put up projects and coders bid on them. Well, last I looked I thought it was ridiculous. People put up large projects with outrageously small maximum amounts. You know $50 or $100 for something I would have thought of bidding $5000 for. And programmers in Romania and India actually take those jobs and apparently do them successfully. Anyway, I now took a second look. And have actually spent the last few weeks doing interesting jobs. At ridiculous prices. But I'm learning a good deal. For one thing I made several pieces I actually needed myself, but didn't get around to making. And then there's the clarity and discipline needed to do a specific job at a relatively low price. It actually often is quite possible if one analyzes it well enough and one does exactly what is asked for. Oh and then there's all the good business ideas. People often lay out their whole business plan and ask for a bid for somebody who can do the whole thing. Anyway, I'd wear myself out very quickly making a living on rentacoder, but I think it will be a very useful experience, and some useful contacts. I probably did more real work in the past month than in the year before that.
But, really, I'd much rather figure out how to be an entrepreneur. And it is not like I haven't talked about that before, but what exactly do I do? And, now, how does it work to actually put great focus into making businesses that make money? I mean, that's what successful business people generally do. Most of their actions relate to increasing what comes in and lessening what goes out. Not that that is complicated, but my priorities have never really looked like that. I find it sort of blasphemous to make profits the primary focus of one's activities. But, ironically, that usually ends up meaning that I spend an extraordinary amount of effort making up for the fact that I didn't make wise long-term business decisions. By avoiding thinking of money other than in the abstract, I easily end up having to think about it all the time, because there are things that need to be paid.
I might be boring you. Most people have it figured out quite well, and don't think it is hard. I.e. having a routine that keeps you having an income most of the time, and making sure you have reserves set aside for slow periods, and investments for your retirement and that kind of thing. It isn't rocket science, to plan for being able to pay the electricity bill next month. But maybe I'm too dumb, or rather, my mind has mostly been elsewhere.
Anyway, so I'm making an attempt of being a money-motivated, success-oriented internet business entrepreneur. Greed is good. Buy low, sell high. Well, at least I'm exploring some things I normally wouldn't explore, and changing my focus. Chances are that I can't be somebody who makes profits the primary focus on my life. But there should be some happy medium where I stay true to my principles and still can be successful and prosperous. By my own design, and not just some of the time, by luck. No reason not to.
I started a second blog last month. I had sort of vowed that I'd never have any reason for having several blogs, but I guess I can change my mind. You know, I need a place where I can talk about making money more directly. And, hm, somehow I find many aspects of that a bit embarrassing to mention. And I had in mind exploring various things I normally would have a bad opinion about, like MLM and internet money-making schemes and marketing. Well, to try some of it on for size, and see if I'd feel like changing my mind. And since my tone in this blog here is mostly quite anti-commercial, there was a bit of a conflict. Wouldn't really fit here if I asked all of you to join my MLM downline or something. I'm not sure that works for me anywhere else either, but, hey, I'm looking in a few different places. Anyway, it actually seems that I'm finding that what I'd write when talking about making money isn't all that different from what I'd otherwise write. I don't think I'll end up writing up a lot of hype with lots of underlines and superlatives and exclamation marks to get stupid, but motivated, people to sign up for some worthless money-making scheme somebody has cooked up. But then again, there might be sensible and valuable things out there, or I can invent some, which can be explained in plain terms to smart people, and which also happen to make money. Of course there is. Happens all the time. Business of any kind doesn't have to be based on lies.
OK, enough qualifiers. My other blog is called Escape Velocity, so take a look. For some people it will probably sound pretty much the same as this blog, but other people might find something here and there to be offended about. Whatever. For me, I put on a different hat when I step over there, so it has to be a different place at this point.
I have several of my own projects that are beginning to take form. More on those later. In the meantime, if any of you have programming projects or server management jobs you need a little help on, you know where to find me. More >
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25 Dec 2004 @ 21:11, by lugon. Environment, Ecology
Krystle of sustainableways.com replied to an idea of mine which in turn had been sparked off by her latest (monthly) newsletter ... which sort of compells me to develop it further.
In her analysis, if we want to change things in the environmentalist direction, we might take the integrationist approach (changing the system from within, primarily through political means) [...], the separationist approach (do our own thing. [...] start taking care of ourselves and stop waiting for them to come around.), and the transformationist approach (What if instead of doing the above, environmentalists focused instead on [gasp] getting rich?)
She does a good job of explaining the three aproaches, what she likes about each, and what she sees as not working too well.
It's quite clear that each bad point of each approach can be used as a starting point to improve it - right? Yeah, doing that means work but it may be useful, so let's try it ...
The "transformationist" approach may be a bit slow, most of us will not make it, and the system may change us before we can get to do anything useful. So we might focus on existing rich people and try to help them change their minds a bit. We may even have to marry them!
So what Krystle suggests is we could make a movie with that plot: an environmental good-looking person who believes that's a way to change things and ... develop the plot here. Any takers? Credit her for the idea, please! And make the movie real FAST! :-)
So let's see if it could be done ... There's this Daniel Quinn story about the effect of changing ONE mind. I don't know about Ray Anderson's marital status, but apparently he didn't have to marry Daniel Quinn at all: it took only a couple of books (one of them by DQ) to shift into doing things quite differently.
Notice I write "shift into". It's not a complete change of mind, I guess. There has to be some level of predisposition. Then that person "shifts gear" and all of a sudden starts moving really fast in some hopefully better direction.
Now, how do we "measure" that predisposition? We should focus on someone we know, or someone who is only a few "degrees of separation" away from us. We would then learn what their motivation is, really listen to what they don't say, and suggest better ways.
Mind you, it's not necessary that we approach VERY rich people. It may be our local shoe-shop owner. If many of us do it, tell each other, and learn from the action ... who knows?
Michael Moore would probably say "adopt a Republican". Where I live labels are different and I don't really know about politics or it's more like I don't believe it would take us extremely far, but, hey, let's "adopt an enterpreuner". Any links of someone who is close to this idea? More >
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25 Dec 2004 @ 14:29, by earthsky. Communities
Seasons Greetings Group,
We're gifting this Christmas morning an article below "Hunger in America" in which describes the attitudes and eating habits of the average American. We believe there is many important changes people can implement, even by those who reside in the cities. First, that which will have the greatest impact on the planet's ecology would be for everyone to convert to a vegetarian diet. Second, all urban lawns can be put into vegetable gardens. Third, people can strike up a relationship of cooperation with one's local farmer and offer one assistance during the growing season in exchange for produce. Every weekend devoted to helping out on these farms will net a family all the produce they will need for the following week. Fourth, each neighborhood can organize processing kitchens for putting up foods for the winter. Local kitchens in community centers for food processing would make it possible for anyone anywhere to continue year around without starvation.
Regarding vegetarianism, we realize that people will not make this change willingly, but one day everyone will. There are billions of acres of prime agricultural lands throughout the world being used for the production of meats and the grasses and grains which these animals consume. Freely these acres up for vegetable production and organizing their use will meet the needs of the world and solve many problems.
We realize these suggestion will be initially rejected by most people as they present many hardship to make these adjustments in their lives, but it is within everyone's abilities to do so if they wanted to no matter where they live. These suggestions are mere adjustments of one's lifestyle. We have done these adjustments successfully before. Anyone remember the Victory Gardens program that was very popular during World War 2? Of course, these were successful because people basically had few other choices if they wanted fresh vegetables. However, it is a testimony of what is possible if given the incentive to do so.
The solutions we look for/hope for are already known. It is just a matter of will to do what needs to be done. The incentives to do what needs to be done is not too far in the distance future. For those who can and will make the adjustments in their lifestyles they will come to realize that it is a good lifestyle with many benefits they could have never known until they practiced it. We speak from experience because we live all of the above and know these benefits, and we know our suggestions are feasible.
Anyway, this a type of "Seasons Greetings" which is meaningful to us.
Best Wishes, Earth & Sky
HUNGER IN AMERICA
By Kurt Saxon
Last week PBS aired a weird program entitled "Hunger In America". It
was weird because not one of the families shown as examples of hungry
Americans were destitute. They all had living quarters, some had jobs
and even land and each had the money or food stamps which should have
provided them with a more than adequate diet.
The commentator was in full sympathy with those hungry people and
lamented the fact that nothing more was done. I watched this bizarre
exhibition of the helplessness of the otherwise able and heard the
pity of the "there but for the grace of God go I crowd". I harked back
to tales of other starvelings.
In 1845 the Irish potato blight raged and hundreds of thousands
starved in the resulting famine. Yet, it was found that on farms where
whole families had starved, the barns held corn, oats, rye and barley
in the cattle feed bins.
In France and Belgium, millions were starving after WW I. America sent
boatload after boatload of corn and the people were insulted at being
sent food for horses and cattle.
Stalin deliberately starved millions of kulaks in the '30's. When his
henchmen moved in to cart off the bodies of the rebellious farmers,
there too, was found plenty of grain in the feed bins. Of course, the
livestock had been eaten but the livestock's food was not considered
fit for humans to eat.
That people would starve to death before eating corn is a misleading
concept. Had the corn been ground and made into cornmeal mush those
people would have survived. But they simply didn't relate to corn as food.
Of course, you've heard of the African Bushmen and the Australian
Aborigines. They can thrive where Europeans wouldn't see any food at
all. But that is an extreme. The point is that people tend to see as
food, only that which they are accustomed to eating.
The people on the program were accustomed only to prepared foods
bought at the supermarket. One couple with four kids got $390.00 a
month in food stamps. The man was an auto mechanic who had quit work
since he couldn't afford his wife's medical expenses and his loafing
would entitle her to Medicare.
They had four children and lamented the fact that the $390.00 in food
stamps were all used up before the next month's dole. Oh, you know
food prices today and how $390.00 for a family of six doesn't go far.
I don't suppose they spent every bit of it on TV dinners and in the
deli section. Nonetheless, to a Survivalist family, $390.00 would buy
about four months' food for six; maybe more.
That reminds me of 1967 when I was a bum in San Francisco. I was
living in a $10.00 a week sleeping room and worked off and on as a fry
cook and a freelance house-painter. For a no-sweat $5.00 a week I was
selling my blood and so contracted infectious hepatitis.
That's a very debilitating illness and its effects last about a month
when not fatal. Anyway, I was barely able to get around and I couldn't
work. I wasn't hospitalized since the illness wasn't communicable
except through dirty needles, as in my case. But the hospital gave me
some pills and arranged for me to get welfare.
To a single person with what I had, short term, the welfare people
paid my rent and gave me a $6.00 food voucher each week. With that
food voucher I bought sugar, yeast, cheap fruit, margarine, pinto
beans, bacon ends, corn meal, raisins, rice, canned milk and odds and
ends. Quite a box of food for only $6.00, even then.
I had a hot-plate I'd bought earlier in a Salvation Army store for a
dollar and odd pots and pans. One of my favorite dishes was rice and
raisins and canned milk. Delicious, nutritious and cheap. Of course,
$6.00 wouldn't go that far now, but I'd do just as well on its
equivalent today.
Notice, I didn't buy any prepared food, nothing in cans or ready to
eat. The sugar, yeast and fruit was for booze I started in several one
gallon wine bottles. Five days later and from then on I had all the
booze I wanted and just as good as store-bought.
Another group interviewed on the program was a farm worker who had
fathered fifteen children. He had a wife and eight children living
with him. His wife was preparing boiled baloney and rice. They were
hungry.
Yet, he was shown plowing around onions and some kind of greens. The
children, strapping, albeit ill-favored, were shown in the yard.
Behind them was a great stand of weeds. Now, why didn't the man use
from the field he was cultivating, as was his right? Why weren't his
children cultivating a garden?
These people didn't want to be hungry. Obviously, he spent his food
budget on food which was cheap enough but too expensive to supply ten
people. But again, why didn't the man have a garden for all those
children to work?
Naturally, the narrator never mentioned the fact that too many
children born to incompetents was a major contributing factor to
hunger; and most other social and economic ills.
The farm worker and his brood were in Alabama but I've seen the same
thing in Appalachian coal country on other programs. Run-down shacks
with whole families of unemployed adults and their many children
loafing on the porch. No gardens! They were hungry too, as the
narrator of that program gloated in an attempt to make the viewers
feel guilty.
Another family in "Hunger In America" was Mexican migrant farm labor.
The father was heavy and the others were sturdy-looking. Of course,
they wouldn't have much choice in food from the fields, since stuffing
oneself with cucumbers for a week would hardly make a balanced diet.
I suppose they also had inadequate living quarters and kitchen
facilities. Maybe they didn't even have a super- market close by. Even
so, they could have bought masa in bulk for making tortillas, and
pinto beans by the 25 pound sack, and with gleanings could have eaten
as well as if they were earning the equivalent in Mexico. But as it
was, they didn't speak English, migrant labor was their lifestyle and
they had chosen, directly or indirectly, to live on a day-to-day
basis. They simply lacked the adaptability to make that lifestyle as
efficient as it could have been.
Another family on the program owned a dairy farm. They weren't doing
very well at it so they were hungry. But with even a small dairy they
had milk, and from it, butter, buttermilk, cheese and yogurt. There
were no chickens in evidence, although several dozen could have lived
off spilled feed and undigested grain in the cow lot. Why weren't they
supplied with chickens and eggs? Where was their garden?
In all these cases there was no reason for hunger. But each family was
too ignorant of food, as such, to prepare nourishing meals from
cheaper, more basic ingredients. Instead, they unrealistically paid
others to process their foods. Consequently, they could afford only
about a third of the food they would have had, had they processed it
themselves.
A while back I read a Reader's Digest article on hunger in America.
Their argument was that there was no reason for hunger here, as I've
pointed out. But their idea was that those who weren't eating as much
as they needed was because they didn't know where to apply for more aid!
What amazed me was that neither the narrator of the program nor the
writer of the article considered educating such people in simple home
economics. Knowing how to cook and knowing what foods give energy
would have enabled them to shop for foods which would have been
cheaper but more filling and more nutritious.
Several years ago this idea was brought home to me while watching a
local San Francisco news story on malnutrition among the aged there.
Featured was an old man on a fixed income who ran out of food about a
week before his next Social Security check was due.
He was shown cooking his supper. His main course was Canadian bacon.
In case you aren't familiar with it, it was in a roll rather than
slices. It cost three times as much as regular bacon. He was buying
gourmet food on his income from Social Security!
That's the problem with the families on the program. They were buying,
in effect, gourmet food on welfare budgets. No wonder they were
underfed and malnourished.
Most of us have seen people paying with food stamps for TV dinners,
steaks and other highly processed foods. They just don't know how to
buy food. All they know about food is what they see on TV. If they
can't afford it; if they spend all they have on what intelligent
wage-earners can't afford, no wonder they're hungry!
But the bleeding hearts would only have us give them more money. For
them to eat like they must if they can't economize like the rest of
us, we might as well give them all food vouchers to take all their
meals at fancy French restaurants. It won't work. As things get worse,
they'll starve.
More rational sympathizers might suggest TV programs (hosted by
rock-n-roll stars, Jim and Tammy Bakker and sports heroes, to keep
their attention) demonstrating the buying and preparation of
inexpensive and nutritious foods. Of course this would have to be on
PBS, which they never watch. Otherwise, the makers of Captain Stupid's
Sugared Breakfast Crunchies would protest, along with all the other
advertisers of the equally debilitating carcinogens and brain-rotting
delectables morons have been sold as staples for years.
The point is, millions of Americans are so ignorant about food that
without the media they wouldn't know what to eat at all. And with the
inevitable rise in food prices and cuts in welfare, those millions are
going to starve.
But that's not the half of it. Next time you go to the supermarket
look at the foolish people with their carts piled to overflowing with
expensively packaged foods hardly fit for human consumption. One
doesn't have to be a health nut to shudder at what most of that does
to the body and brain. Most people who make good livings don't know
any more about staple foods and their preparation than do the welfare
morons.
This is because, in our prosperous culture, food is usually taken for
granted. Urbanites really had no time, and seldom the facilities for
preparing foods from basic staples. Also not too long ago, food's
cheapness, even processed and packaged, make it impractical for the
homemaker to process staples.
But now, with the rising costs of food, energy, packaging, etc., food
has become a major budget outlay. Therefore, it is becoming more
practical to buy in bulk and process one's own food. But since Granny
baked bread weekly, made sausages in the fall, had a kitchen garden
even in the city, and distrusted canned foods, people have suffered a
kind of cultural amnesia concerning food.
So people are hungry in the midst of plenty. And fewer people are left
to pass on the basic techniques to fewer people who care to learn them.
I was fortunate in having nothing but peasant ancestors who were too
poor to hire commercial food processors to prepare their food. In my
misspent youth I never hungered because I knew food and how to prepare it.
This ability really came in handy when I had the accident which
damaged my hand and left me nearly blind for months. In 1970 I was
getting $87.00 per month County Welfare. My little apartment cost
$50.00, leaving me only $37.00 a month for food and incidentals. I
spent less than $5.00 a week on food and ate better and tastier foods
than I had when I could afford anything I wanted.
Many of the processes are shown in my tape, "The Poor Man's James Bond
Strikes Again". The information was given there to illustrate the fact
that the embattled Survivalist can hold out almost forever with the
right kind of food supplies. Without such foods, any survival program
may fail.
Unfortunately, less than half my subscribers have bought Survivor Vol
I. Some take pride in having stocked up on "survival foods", a snare
and a delusion which will doom many. This is because such foods are
simply stored. They don't increase in food value as do grains used for
sprouting. They need no processing except for adding water.
They also cost up to ten times what I recommend and are not nearly so
good tasting or nutritious. The worst thing about them is that the
Survivalist doesn't learn the skills insuring survival on a long-term
basis. Without such knowledge and skills the "Survivalist" will be
useless to his neighbors and so may be driven from the community when
his supplies run out or are looted.
On the other hand, unprocessed foods are the last items a looter would
want or would even recognize as food. Not nearly so portable and
lootable as the neatly packaged and labeled meals like Mountain House
Freeze-Dried Foods, for instance.
Another class of Survivalists are those fixated on weaponry and
personal defense; and maybe offense. That type saddens me as they are
incomplete and also contributes to the negative side of Survivalism.
The media image of the Survivalist is a camouflage-clothed dingbat
living in a hole in the ground and waving guns at everybody. I made up
the term and that's not my definition. But all too many of my readers
seem to try to live up to it.
But the arms-crazy type won't make it. Banditry is self-defeating. Say
you take food by force from one, two, maybe three families. Logic and
the law of averages should show you that you're only working your way
to a real Survivalist who will destroy you.
Bandits are just as dependent as any other losers. You must be
self-sufficient in many areas in order to survive the coming collapse.
And self-sufficiency in food is the most basic and most important
survival skill.
Surprisingly, self-sufficiency in food is the simplest and also the
most profitable survival skill. As shown, it will take care of you now
and save over half your food bill. When it becomes an absolute
necessity, you will be among the most valued members of your community.
So sure, there's hunger in America. There will be more and only those
who have become independent of the food conglomerates will be prepared
for a future which will doom millions
“The purpose of all the major religious traditions is not to construct big temples on the outside, but to create temples of goodness and compassion inside, in our hearts”
Dalai Lama, "The Good Heart"
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25 Dec 2004 @ 07:11, by gaiatech. Social System Design
A group of random volunteers was set up in British Columbia to design a better voting system. (LOts of people are unhappy because there is not a close relationship between the votes tally and the numbers of seats in the legeslature that the partys eventually get. So, effectively, Canada and most of the provinces are governed by the largest single minority rather than a concensus of the majority.
Anyways, after a year or so of diliberation and listening to presentations from the public, the Citizens Assembly chose Single Transferable vote as the new system for BC. (It still has to go to referendum and get 60% approval from the voters).
This is the first time in history that voters actually decided which system would be the most in the VOTERS interests.
Commonly, voting systems were imposed from above by partys to further their own ends.
STV provides for open competition (and co operation) between candidates within and between partys before the judge and jury of voters in MULTISEAT ridings. It is a totally different ball game than the first past the post that most people are used to. It is like chess compared to noughts and crosses. Intelectuallyu stimulating!
Check out the citizens assem/blyu website at [link] for details.
Brian White More >
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 23 Dec 2004 @ 09:31, by skookum. Ideas, Creativity
I wait for the Springtime,
When all that frozen emptiness becomes life once again.
It seems like winter’s clawing silence hovers o’er me
And ice droplets ping against tin roofs. More >
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 22 Dec 2004 @ 13:43, by jazzolog. Politics
When people agree with me I always feel that I must be wrong.
---Oscar Wilde
Restless man's mind is,
So strongly shaken
In the grip of the senses:
Gross and grown hard
With stubborn desire
For what is worldly.
How shall I tame it?
Truly, I think
The wind is no wilder.
---Bhagavad Gita
What is the most miraculous of all miracles?
That I sit quietly by myself.
---Zen mondo
The photo's by Lauren Heaton: Recount 'em up---Ballot gazing in Cincinnati on December 15
The trouble with the American Left is the nature of our material. Our spirit of independence is easily corrupted by frustration, rage, and stubbornness. We are less reliable by far to carry a load and get the work done than any Democratic mule. When we're dropped we splinter. We love to make speeches full of demands and hurl charges empty of evidence. We're the stuff of impotence.
No wonder the media doesn't report us. No wonder it takes 2 hours to tour the Internet to find out what's going on. Everybody has his own little blog or group blaring out similar invectives. Where's a coalition, an alliance to get the job done? Who is doing painstaking research and organization? No wonder the rightwing message boards find us so hilarious. No wonder their insults hurt. No wonder all we do is squeal louder. More >
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21 Dec 2004 @ 14:25, by lugon. Communities
If we want to make "sustainability efforts" sustainable, then maybe we need to look at people in three situations:
- full-time sustainability warriors (who work on sustainability as a pay job, or who are rich and can work full time for free)
- part-time sustainability champions (who can give, say, an afternoon each week)
- marginal-time sustainability ants (who can give 1% of their time)
Cultural Creatives say there are some 80+50 million CCs in Europe and USA. Most would be "marginal-time sustainability ants", I'd guess.
So the trick is how to provide an infrastructure for us/them to self-organise effectively. That infrastructure has to work locally, and can of course be designed globally. It may need internet elements, but also non-internet elements, and "conceptual" elements (how-tos).
Most of the conversations will be local, so there could be a way to signal that one is an "ant". Maybe a badge with an ant on it? Something even simpler?
If that works, then the infrastructure could be used for ideas and conversation. "Cake of the week" issues could be suggested for "ants" to pursue on their marginal time.
With infrastructure, content and ants, quite a few things might become possible. Add up some champions to take care of the infrastructure, and a few warriors too, and there you have it.
Connected ant colonies? Yes, sure, but each colony actually lives on its territory. It's not all about the internet!
The trick is to go LOCAL. That's what the badges would be for.
So what do ants do? They could:
- collect information and opinions
- privide ideas
- make questions
- do small physical tasks
- give information to others
- many other ant-like tasks
This may have something to do with "parallelizable tasks" in grid computing - I don't know.
Ideas? More >
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