I dream of a Star Trek world. This think tank will focus on creative actions designed to initiate a global paradigm shift towards a world where racism, poverty and war will be a thing of the past.
I remember when I was going to college, I often heard conservatives from the generation before me refer to it as ‘the socialist state university of California’ ..and a typical exchange might go something like this:
“So Bill, what are you doing for your thesis ..?”
“Studying how people can be easily misinformed ..like deceptive advertising, that sort of thing.”
“Oh, so you can devise better methods of propaganda ..”
“No, so we can teach better methods of detecting it ..”
Later, I would discover that they were going around saying: “Hey, did you know Bill is studying to be a propaganda minister.” At first, I took it as a joke ..and laughed it off. Then one day I kind of got the gist of it when someone at work got real pissed and told me how unfair it was: “Even though I didn’t go to college, I have to pay so punks like you can.” And I thought, yeah .. it was part of a land-grant act to set aside state funds for higher education. Later I discovered some people actually believe universities teach communist principles. Why ..? Because, as the name implies, universities teach universal principles, paving the way for a one-world society. And here I thought they were teaching us how to communicate better with other societies. When I look at the wars we’ve been fighting, I realize how easily misinformed I have been.
The state of human civilizations has always been precarious. The nature of advanced technology especially in regards to its deleterious effect on the biosphere, the extent of dire poverty experienced by so many individuals throughout the world and the continued growth of the human populations have placed additional pressures upon the natural environment and the stability of human communities. Whether or not humanity can successfully transcend these immense issues is open to question.
The essence of human behavior lies, in fact, within the intricacy and complexity of the human brain. This fabulous organ has evolved over millions of years of evolution. On an elemental level, the predominant driving force is related to survival of the individual and the propagation of the species. This we share in common with all of life.
Layered over this are the areas in the brain relegated to complex emotions and higher-order thinking. Profound self consciousness probably sets us apart from all other creatures on the planet. This faculty brings with it the challenge that faces every individual – to find the balance between striving for individual accomplishments and contributing meaningfully to the commons. This balance is the essence of human happiness. To my thinking, humans naturally derive pleasure from both of these types of behaviors otherwise the species would not have survived over these millions of years. The advance of technologically-based culture has distorted this balance and shifted emphasis to the individual. This core belief in the supremacy of the individual has proven to be seriously flawed.
Collectively, humanity needs to reeducate itself for the sake of its own continued survival. I believe the answer lies in perfecting the art of self examination in order to truly understand what truly motivates us. A corollary to this is the practice of self discipline. Without these tools, the individual can become prey to the vagaries of experience.
Collectively, we are the masters of our own fate. Either we take hold of the future, or we allow the forces of dissolution and destruction to continue unabated.
On November 15, 1966, two young, married couples from Point Pleasant, Roger and Linda Scarberry, and Steve and Mary Mallette, were traveling late at night in the Scarberrys' car. They were passing the West Virginia Ordnance Works, an abandoned World War II TNT factory, about seven miles north of Point Pleasant, in the 2,500 acre (10 km²) McClintic Wildlife Management Area, when they noticed two red lights in the shadows by an old generator plant near the factory gate. They stopped the car, and reportedly discovered that the lights were the glowing red eyes of a large animal, "shaped like a man, but bigger, maybe six and a half or seven feet tall, with big wings folded against its back," according to Roger Scarberry. Terrified, they drove toward Route 62, where the creature supposedly chased them at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.
They drove to the Mason County courthouse to alert Deputy Millard Halstead, who later said, "I've known these kids all their lives. They'd never been in any trouble and they were really scared that night. I took them seriously." He then followed Roger Scarberry's car back to the secret ex-U.S. Federal bomb and missile factory, but found no trace of the strange creature. According to the book Alien Animals, by Janet and Colin Bord, a poltergeist attack on the Scarberry home occurred later that night, during which the creature was seen several times.
The following night, on November 16, several armed townspeople combed the area around the TNT plant for signs of Mothman. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Wamsley, and Mrs. Marcella Bennett, with her infant daughter Teena, were in a car en-route to visit their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Thomas, who lived in a small house near the TNT plant. They were heading back to their car when a figure appeared behind their parked vehicle. Mrs. Bennett said that it seemed like it had been lying down, slowly rising up from the ground, large and gray, with glowing red eyes. While Wamsley phoned the police, the creature walked onto the porch and peered in at them through the window.
On November 24, four people allegedly saw the creature flying over the TNT area.
On the morning of November 25, Thomas Ury, who was driving along Route 62 just north of the TNT, claimed to have seen the creature standing in a field, and then it spread its wings and flew away, and Thomas sped toward the Point Pleasant sheriff's office.
A Mothman sighting was again reported on January 11, 1967 hovering over the town's bridge, and several other times that same year. Fewer sightings of the Mothman were reported after the collapse of the town's bridge, the Silver Bridge, when 46 people died. The Silver Bridge, so named for its aluminium paint, was an eyebar chain suspension bridge that connected the cities of Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallipolis, Ohio over the Ohio River. The bridge was built in 1928, and it collapsed on December 15, 1967. Investigation of the bridge wreckage pointed to the failure of a single eye-bar in a suspension chain due to a small manufacturing flaw. There are rumors that the Mothman appears before upcoming disasters and seems to try to warn people of them. After that, mothman was never again seen in Point Pleasant. (read more)
Here in Chilpancingo almost every morning I listen to the Guerrero University radio station, it is like NPR. Now they want us to send donations to buy a new electric transformer, they need something like $3,000.
A few days ago and today, a friend of mine Captain Roel Ayala Mata, repeated something on the radio that has me worried, very worried. A few months back Tom Friedman wrote about Global Weirding in the NYT. The problem we are facing is not so much that the Earth is warming everyday, the problem is that meteorological phenomena are more and more unexpected.
My friend, the meteorologist Ayala Mata, repeated on the radio, that we abruptly entered a "La Niña" event. He told us that after a hot spell in the equatorial part of the Pacific ocean, very fast, the temperature there, went down.
From the link posted above, you can see that the water temperature change was about 2[;^\circ;] C.
For water that is a lot, and it happened in less than 4 months.
To me that seems like "Hell Freezing Over."
Aren't there phrases like that in the millennial end of the world predictions?
The broken BP rig is leaking about 8,820 tons of crude oil into the Gulf every day. It is sickening the ocean and killing marine life. Believe me, I grieve. However, what worries me even more is what we don’t see. A little over half that amount gets burned and released as auto emissions into the skies of Los Angeles every day. That’s somewhere in the vicinity of 4,740 tons of hydrocarbons a day. It is sickening the air we breathe and causing debilitating respiratory problems. Sustained exposure to hydrocarbons compromises the body’s defense system resulting in ailments such as chronic bronchitis and pneumonia. If you don’t believe me, check out an emergency room in L.A on a smoggy summer day. What is even more insidious is what crosses the mother’s placenta, and gets absorbed by the human fetus. Toxins related to hydrocarbons are known to impair prenatal development. This accounts for a higher incidence of developmental disorders such as autism, attention deficit, hyperactivity and dyslexia. Sometimes impairment doesn’t show up until later in life when it becomes visible as signs of depression or schizophrenia. I believe the human suffering caused by addiction to fossil fuel is immeasurable. It makes the Gulf oil spill seem like a drop in the ocean.
Frida Kahlo The Broken Column (La columna rota), 1944
Frida Kahlo de Rivera (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954; born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón) was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán. Perhaps best known for her self-portraits, Kahlo's work is remembered for its "pain and passion", and its intense, vibrant colors. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.
Mexican culture and Amerindian cultural tradition figure prominently in her work, which has sometimes been characterized as Naïve art or folk art. Her work has also been described as "surrealist", and in 1938 one surrealist described Kahlo herself as a "ribbon around a bomb".
Kahlo had a stormy but passionate marriage with the prominent Mexican artist Diego Rivera. She suffered lifelong health problems, many of which stemmed from a traffic accident in her teenage years. These issues are reflected in her works, more than half of which are self-portraits of one sort or another. Kahlo suggested, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best." (read more)
(from the dictionary) independence: the quality or state of being independent : FREEDOM
independent 1: SELF-GOVERNING; also : not affiliated with a larger controlling unit 2: not requiring or relying on something else or somebody else 3: not easily influenced : showing self reliance and personal freedom 4: not commited to a political party
What are we fighting for?...are we fighting
for freedom or are we fighting for corporate acquisition?
It's time for a revolution...a revolution for independence.
I advocate for the non-violent removal of all government
and military leaders and the elimination of all corporate
How many times has civilization been at a crossroads where critical choices need to be made that determine how the future will unfold? I believe that we are at such a crossroads. There are numerous signs that are indicators that the status quo is unsustainable; that our collective failure to act responsibly to ensure a secure future for our progeny is yielding consequences that are worthy of our collective concern.
The horrendous ecological and environmental devastation that is now occurring in the Gulf of Mexico is such an indicator, but it is only one of many. The haunting and seemingly inexorable progress of climate change is clear and unmistakable; unless, the mind is clouded by denial and the pandering propaganda of those with a vested interest in the current economic paradigm. The science is clear; the data is insurmountable.
The numerous wars the nation has waged ostensibly in the name of freedom but ultimately tied to the fever of our acquisitiveness have left us morally and financially bankrupt. We seem to have a greater fondness for guns than a desire to correct the savage injustices that exist within the fabric of our social order. We appear to be indifferent to the avoidable suffering of those who are homeless or ravaged by the excesses of poverty, especially the children.
We are a nation where 40% of the wealth is hoarded by 2% of the population. It is no wonder that so many people have so little. The mythology of our absolute greatness as a nation and a people continues to dominate the public discourse and drown out meaningful dialog regarding the actual state of our nation. The corporate-controlled media has been quite successful in manipulating the public conversation.
The nation is woefully unprepared for the future of humanity on this beleaguered planet. The choice is ours to make – either we remain in exquisite denial or we move towards reasoned deliberations and arrive at intelligent solutions.
Not one - Think about it - You are a nation of cowardly allowers.
The corporatists know you better than you do. Why do you think they don’t even attempt to hide their bored disdain of you? Seriously - Think about it, (since obviously you haven’t so far.)
Why the fuck do you keep “allowing” your own, (and the rest of ours,) destruction?!?
I wrote in this blog about the 1969 catastrophe in Santa Barbara; I did not understand it due to my prejudices. For me then the only problem confronting humanity was man against man, I didn't see the man against Earth, or Gaia, side of things. Even my beloved working class men and women were killing chimpanzees and bonobos in Africa. Now those cousins are about to go the way of the Neanderthals. Even worse: bees, lizards, frogs, my beloved Mexican Axolotls, all are dying in unprecedented numbers,
Now all humans have to own up to the ecological devastation we are all guilty of.
Today during the American Independence Day, I call Americans to stop this war!
I went to UCSB from 1973 to 1979. Then I knew that something big had happened, the beaches were oily and the Environmental Studies Department was progressive. To me, coming from Mexico, it didn't seem like a big deal. In 1968 the government had massacred 500 + innocent people to proceed with the Olympic Games, that was a big deal. I never got fired up by the ecologists. I went to Garrett Harding lectures, and some other more "progressive" professor debated him. I forgot the name of this opponent. To my mind Harding was a conservative (in my view bad) thinker, more concerned with the welfare of rich elites, than with the suffering of the masses.
More than 40 years later things look different.
If I had only understood "The Tragedy of the Commons," Science, 162 (1243-1248), 1968, then ; now I would be better able to understand the catastrophe coming our way.
Labels, like progressive or reactionary, don't mean squat under the present condition. What we need is clear thinking men and women like Harding and the Ehlrichs, honest towards the truth. I also think that James Lovelock and James Hansen have done their share warning us.
Now it is up to us.
I live in Chilpancingo, in the State of Guerrero in Mexico now. The ecological disaster around here is like a BP catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, but caused by everybody, all the time.
Now I understand what those thinkers were telling me when I was in my twenties. I did not paid enough attention.
Now I see, I do not know if we can do something.
Those tar stains in my feet I got walking barefoot in the beaches at the UCSB campus, were the canary in the mine, I did not get it.
