100 ways to hate

Love is a human condition

Love is an interestingly, painfully human issue. When I asked my Spirit Guides about Love, they said that they loved me. I asked them about what I should do in a particular situation and they changed the subject. I asked about soul mates and lovers and they said that love is a human condition; they simply do not know.

I wonder if this means that love is like flavor or scent. A sensory condition. Love uses the senses, glorifies them, and celebrates them. Love has a scent: it’s dizzying, intoxicating, seductive, strong, safe, and warm. It has a flavor that makes a mouth drip with anticipation. It has a quality not unlike the weight of air in the lungs: lighter atop a wooden mountain and thicker on a humid summer day.

Spirit Guides don’t eat because they have no need for that kind of nourishment. They are souls in their pure form, and do not smell a pizza in the oven differently than a burst of lemon when a wedge is squeezed; they exist in light and see, breathe, and interact with energy on a different plane of reality than the earth we know.

And they know things that I don’t know. They guide me surely because they see things I can’t see. But this Love concept is different. The quality of the conversation changes. They know what I speak of because they have experienced it, but they aren’t privy to the secrets of it. It’s as though they don’t understand and don’t want to interfere.

Love has caused me more pain and brought me more pleasure than any other human experience. In fact, I believe that Love is the human experience.

Perhaps emotion has more to do with it than fate. Perhaps love cannot be touched by fate. Perhaps circumstances are not withstanding in matters of love; perhaps love is enough.

chimera

"150 human animal hybrids grown in UK labs."

Scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos in British laboratories.

The hybrids have been produced secretively over the past three years by researchers looking into possible cures for a wide range of diseases.

The revelation comes just a day after a committee of scientists warned of a nightmare "Planet of the Apes" scenario in which work on human-animal creations goes too far.

Last night a campaigner against the excesses of medical research said he was disgusted that scientists were "dabbling in the grotesque".

Figures seen by the Daily Mail show that 155 "admixed" embryos, containing both human and animal genetic material, have been created since the introduction of the 2008 Human Fertilisation Embryology Act.

This legalised the creation of a variety of hybrids, including an animal egg fertilised by a human sperm; "cybrids", in which a human nucleus is implanted into an animal cell; and "chimeras", in which human cells are mixed with animal embryos.

Josephine Quintavalle, of pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: "I am aghast that this is going on and we didn’t know anything about it.

Why have they kept this a secret? If they are proud of what they are doing, why do we need to ask Parliamentary questions for this to come to light?

The problem with many scientists is that they want to do things because they want to experiment. That is not a good enough rationale." (read more)

The Money Changers

god's wine

Behold the rain which descends

from heaven upon our vineyards,

there it enters the roots of the vines,

to be changed into wine,

a constant proof that God loves us,

and loves to see us happy.

Benjamin Franklin.

The Fabulous World of Jules Verne

the switch

A runaway trolley car is hurtling down a track.

In its path are five people who will

definitely be killed unless you,

a bystander, flip a switch

which will divert it onto

another track, where it

will kill one person.

Should you flip the switch?

God of Hellfire

sheeple quiz

REALITY CHECK DEPT.

This quiz might make you testy but it also make help you get your bearings in our increasingly turbulent world. If you are not familiar with Mike Adams and his NaturalNews.com, do yourself a favor and check it out. Adams gives out top-flight information on current events as well as health issues. But, right now, take his test and gauge how deep in the herd you might be.

Jim



Here's the quiz. Choose "A" or "B" as the answer for each question, then check your score below.

The Sheeple Quiz
#1) The purpose of the mainstream media is to:

A) Keep you informed.
B) Feed you misinformation while keeping you distracted from the real issues our world is facing.

#2) Social Security is:

A) A financial safety net that makes sure people have a retirement income.
B) A government-run Ponzi scheme that requires more and more people to keep paying in just to stay afloat and will ultimately collapse into total bankruptcy.

#3) The fluoride dripped into municipal water supplies is:

A) A naturally-occurring mineral.
B) An industrial chemical waste byproduct.

#4) When you donate money to find the cure for cancer, that money goes:

A) To fund research programs that assess actual cancer cures for the purpose of freely sharing them with the public.
B) To fund mammogram campaigns that actually irradiate women's breasts, causing the very cancers that earn huge profits for the cancer treatment industry.

#5) The national debt is:

A) Under control and will be paid off in a few years.
B) Out of control and will spiral into a runaway debt collapse.

#6) GMOs will:

A) Feed the world and prevent starvation.
B) Threaten the future of life on our planet through genetic contamination and widespread crop failures.

#7) The FDA protects:

A) The people from dangerous medicines.
B) The financial interests of the drug companies.

#8) The EPA's real agenda is to:

A) Protect the environment.
B) Protect the financial interests of the chemical companies whose toxic products destroy the environment.

#9) The Federal Reserve functions to:

A) Stabilize the economy and keep America strong.
B) Loot the economy and control America's economy for the interests of the few.

#10) The purpose of TSA checkpoints at airports is to:

A) Keep air passengers safe and secure.
B) Indoctrinate Americans into surrendering to police state invasions of their privacy.

#11) The practical function of the U.S. Supreme Court is to:

A) Protect the constitutional rights of the citizens.
B) Legitimize federal tyranny over the People by ignoring the Constitution and its Bill of Rights.

#12) Vaccines are based on:

A) Gold standard science that conclusively proves their safety and effectiveness.
B) Quackery and fraud combined with a persistent medical mythology that utterly lacks a factual basis.

#13) Herbs and superfoods:

A) Are medically useless and cannot treat, prevent or cure any disease.
B) Contain powerful plant-based medicines that can help reverse and prevent disease.

#14) In Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq, America:

A) Led a humanitarian effort to save innocent people from tyranny.
B) Waged an illegal imperialist war to occupy foreign nations and control their oil.

#15) The U.S. Bill of Rights

A) Grants you rights and freedoms.
B) Merely acknowledges the rights and freedoms you already possess.

Score your Sheeple Quiz
To score your Sheeple Quiz, simply count the number of times you answered "A" to the questions above.

If you answered "A" 10 times or more...

You are a total news-watching, gullible fairytale swallowing Sheeple! Be sure to keep taking those medications and watching more network news. Don't bother thinking for yourself because you seem to be incapable of accomplishing that.

If you answered "A" fewer than 10 times...

You are sadly Sheeple-minded but there is hope for your rescue. Learn more about the world around you and train yourself to think critically so you can depart from the herd mentality.

If you answered "A" fewer than 5 times...

You are an unusually intelligent free-minded thinker who questions the world around you and doesn't buy into the usual propaganda. You still got suckered on a few items, so there's more yet to learn. But you're on the right track!

If you answered "A" exactly zero times...

You are the complete opposite of a Sheeple. You're independent minded, well informed and probably a regular reader of NaturalNews.com. Stay on track and question events in the world around you. Eat more superfoods to maintain your healthy immune system and cognitive function. Avoid the toxic chemicals in foods, medicines and lawn care products. Keep reading the alternative press and voice your intelligent views to others willing to listen. (But don't waste your time on those who aren't.)

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032415_sheeple_quiz.html#ixzz1MXGQYQbG

stand still

nothing

all that is required


for the triumph of evil


is that good men do nothing

"DON'T DIG HERE" | Musicians United for Safe Energy

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MUSE VIDEOS

more MUSE VIDEOS

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Musicians United for Safe Energy

On August 7th, thousands gathered at Shoreline Amphitheater for a day of music, inspiration, education and activism. Between the seven hours of stage performances, the audience saw a collection of videos about the issues, and ways to become engaged in the cause. For everyone who couldn't be there, we're happy to present these videos online.

NEWS
CSN, BONNIE RAITT, JACKSON BROWNE ROCK AGAINST NUKES

August 19, 2011 - by Barry Walters, Rolling Stone Magazine

Tom Morello, Jason Mraz join all-star benefit in wake of Japan disaster

"I'm so happy to be here, my dimples are locked," a beaming Bonnie Raitt said during her set at the August 7th all-star concert benefiting MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy), the activist group Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and John Hall created in 1979 to promote alternatives to nuclear power..."

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NukeFree.org

In August 2007, musicians Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash, along with longtime energy activists and colleagues, Harvey Wasserman and Tom Campbell, helped organize NukeFree.org as an on-going grassroots campaign and website working to defeat up to $50 billion in proposed loan guarantees for building new atomic reactors. Had these guarantees gone through, there would be virtually no chance of stopping the construction of dozens of new atomic reactors all over the United States.

Garnering support of scores of other artists/musicians and aligning with scientists and environmental groups, in just one month NukeFree.org was able to gather over 120,000 signatures on a petition presented to Congress. In a stunning victory shared with grassroots non-profit safe energy organizations, the proposed loan guarantees were pulled from the 2007 Energy Bill.

But the fight isn't over. Today the nuclear power industry is desperately trying to build new reactors in the United States, and to prolong the operation of the 104 currently licensed to operate here. And since the nuclear industry can't get private financing, they continue to go after state and federal funding for new plants. It is our commitment to stop that from happening. Going forward, NukeFree.org is committed to preventing the construction of new nuclear reactors and helping to pave the way for an energy economy based on renewables, efficiency and conservation. Toward that goal:

∑ The NukeFree.org website serves as an information hub providing up-to-the minute news on the most important nuclear power industry battles taking place across the country. We work closely with other groups monitoring energy issues and will let you know where key battles are shaping up and how you can help stop further funding for the nuclear power industry. It is also a resource providing background and references to learn more about nukes and alternative energy technologies.

∑ NukeFree.org works with the environmental / scientific communities to keep musicians, artists and others educated about nuclear and safe energy issues, as well as advising people how they can best impact energy legislation - using their voices and resources to support positive new green proposals and fight against boondoggles like the nuke loan guarantees.

Together we can make a difference!

The answer to global warming and so many of our economic problems is with renewables, energy efficiency and conservation. Help us again move beyond the fifty-year failure of atomic energy into a bright, prosperous green-powered future.

No Nukes!

Your contacts for NukeFree.org are:

Harvey Wasserman, Senior Advisor and Website Editor: windhw@mac.com

Mary Skerrett, Program Director and Outreach Coordinator: mary@nukefree.org

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NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW
whats up: "DON'T DIG HERE" | Musicians United for Safe Energy | Nukes, Earthquakes & Hurricanes

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don't panic

(watch movie)

Messages

WE ARE NOT ALONE
And Stan Romanek can prove it.

Romanek's gripping tale-augmented by video footage, photographs, and physical evidence-is the world's most documented extraterrestrial contact case.

In print for the first time, Romanek relives his personal experiences, from his first sighting of a UFO to terrifying alien abductions. Romanek tells how he captured an extraterrestrial on film-the famous "alien in the window" video footage featured on Larry King Live. Messages includes photos, witness statements, lab reports, and other evidence supporting the validity of Romanek's fascinating story.

But what's most shocking are the strange messages these unearthly visitors communicate to Romanek-authentic equations relating to space travel and planetary diagrams pinpointing what could be an auspicious date for the human race.

Stan Romanek

yeah baby she's got it

seven sins of nuclear power

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The Truth About Nuclear Power: Japanese Nuclear Engineer Calls for Abolition　　核の真実−−日本の核技術者、廃絶を訴える :: JapanFocus

The seven sins of nuclear power

"(In closing,) - I would like to quote the “seven social sins” that Mahatma Gandhi warned against, and which are inscribed on his tombstone. The first is “Politics without Principle.” To those who gathered here today, I would like you to take these words deeply to heart. Gandhi’s other sins, such as “Wealth without Work,” “Pleasure without Conscience,” “Knowledge without Character,” “Commerce without Morality,” all apply to electric power companies, including TEPCO. And with “Science without Humanity,” I would challenge academia and its all-out involvement with the nation’s nuclear power policy, and that includes myself. The last one is “Worship without Sacrifice.” To those who have faith, please take these words to heart, too. Thank you very much."

Koide Hiroaki began his career as a nuclear engineer forty years ago drawn to the promise of nuclear power. Quickly, however, he recognized the flaws in Japan’s nuclear power program and emerged as among the best informed of Japan’s nuclear power critic. His cogent public critique of the nuclear village earned him an honourable form of purgatory as a permanent assistant professor at Kyoto University. Koide would pay a price in career terms, continuing his painstaking research on radio nuclide measurement at Kyoto University’s Research Reactor Institute (KURRI) in the shadows. Until 3.11.

Since the earthquake tsunami and nuclear meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi, he has emerged as a powerful voice and a central figure in charting Japan’s future energy course in the wake of disaster: in scores of well attended public lectures, in daily media consultations and interviews, in his widely read posts and in three books that have helped to redefine public consciousness and official debate...

more

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whats up: Truth About Nuclear Power | Lethal Levels of Radiation

August 1, 2011
Nuclear Crisis in Japan

NIRS: Tepco reported today the highest radiation levels yet measured at Fukushima Daiichi—1,000 Rems/hour (10 Sieverts/hour)—a lethal dose. The measurements were taken at the base of the ventilation stack for Units 1 and 2 (the stack that did not work during the accident). The actual levels may have been more than measured, since the monitoring equipment could not measure more than 10 Sieverts/hour. Workers sent to the area to confirm the measurements, which were first picked up by a gamma measuring camera, received doses of about 400 millirems in just a few minutes.

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unconditional love

Leda and the Swan

Leda and the Swan

copy by Cesare Sesto after a
lost original by Leonardo da Vinci.

Leda and the Swan is a motif from Greek mythology in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. In the W.B. Yeats version, it is subtly suggested that Clytemnestra, although being the daughter of Tyndareus, has somehow been traumatised by what the swan has done to her mother. As the story goes, Zeus took the form of a swan and raped or seduced Leda on the same night she slept with her husband King Tyndareus. In some versions, she laid two eggs from which the children hatched. In other versions, Helen is a daughter of Nemesis, the goddess who personified the disaster that awaited those suffering from the pride of Hubris.

Leonardo da Vinci began making studies in 1504 for a painting, apparently never executed, of Leda seated on the ground with her children. In 1508 he painted a different composition of the subject, with a nude standing Leda cuddling the Swan, with the two sets of infant twins, and their huge broken egg-shells. The original of this is lost, probably deliberately destroyed, and was last recorded in the French royal Château de Fontainebleau in 1625 by Cassiano dal Pozzo. (read more)

Chariots of the Gods

The Consequences of Unfettered Greed

There is currently much anxiety regarding the apparent instability of the financial markets. It is of interest that the obvious and understandable fear regarding the future of the global economy is not accompanied by an analysis of the underlying cause of this phenomenon. No one seems to be questioning the systemic flaw in the financial system that we have come to rely upon.

The apparent health or malaise of the financial markets has come to depend upon speculation. The wild activity that is reflected in the crazed up and down swings of the stock market is based on a simple and highly destructive paradigm – the goal of the individual speculator is to make lots of money solely through the manipulation of the flow of capital. Success in this regard is based on the idea of accumulating wealth not through productive endeavor but rather through the skillful playing of the markets.

Within this model, there is no concern for the financial well being of the community. Quite to the contrary, as we have seen, “ordinary” citizens have suffered greatly as a direct result of this cold and unforgiving logic based on the primacy of the individual. There is no morality in evidence within this bankrupt system; there is no self respect involved, and there is certainty no interest in the very future of this world of humans.

The end result of this kind of failed logic is a sad testimonial to the state of human progress. Greed, by its very nature, has produced this kind of volatility and an extraordinary amount of human suffering. It is exceedingly disturbing that the uncontrolled accumulation of inordinate wealth continues to be held up as the preferred way to do our nation’s business.

Saturn Devouring His Son

"Saturno devorando a su hijo."

Saturn Devouring His Son is the name given to a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya. It depicts the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus (in the title Romanised to Saturn), who, fearing that he would be overthrown by his children, ate each one upon their birth. The work is one of the 14 so called Black Paintings that Goya painted directly onto the walls of his house sometime between 1819 and 1823. It was transferred to canvas after Goya's death and has since been held in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. (read more)

Buddhist Peace Action | Socially Engaged Buddhism

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Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Socially engaged Buddhism is a dharma practice that flows from the understanding of the complete yet complicated interdependence of all life. It is the practice of the bodhisattva vow to save all beings. It is to know that the liberation of ourselves and the liberation of others are inseparable. It is to transform ourselves as we transform all our relationships and our larger society. It is work at times from the inside out and at times from the outside in, depending on the needs and conditions. It is is to see the world through the eye of the Dharma and to respond emphatically and actively with compassion.

- Donald Rothberg and Hozan Alan Senauke, Turning Wheel Magazine/Summer-Fall - 2008

Wholehearted Connection

Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a community of primarily dharma practitioners established to support socially engaged efforts of visionaries of compassionate social justice and dharma-based organizations for social change.

Mutual Liberation

Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a leader in socially engaged Buddhism, cultivating peace through sharing with others decades of experience, providing donors who value peacemaking to other organizations, and educating the public with dharma-centered views of social justice. We are here to assist in implementing projects that work toward ending suffering in the world.

A Voice for Change

Buddhist Peace Fellowship makes an effort to speak without anger and opposition for those who have been silenced by war, poverty, environmental disaster, genocide, and youth whose lives have been impacted by violence.

CYMD 2008 was organized by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship of Tampa Bay. Each year we bring together the various traditions of Buddhists from around Tampa Bay to share their insights, teachings, and practices with the general public.

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Thich Nhat Hanh: What Is Engaged Buddhism?

see also - whats more: Ram Dass interviews Thicht Nhat Hanh (1995)

One of the best known and most respected Zen masters in the world today, poet, and peace and human rights activist, Thich Nhat Hanh has led an extraordinary life. Born in central Vietnam in 1926 he joined the monkshood at the age of sixteen. The Vietnam War confronted the monasteries with the question of whether to adhere to the contemplative life and remain meditating in the monasteries, or to help the villagers suffering under bombings and other devastation of the war. Nhat Hanh was one of those who chose to do both, helping to found the 'engaged Buddhism' movement. His life has since been dedicated to the work of inner transformation for the benefit of individuals and society.

• Buddhist Peace Fellowship

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The Zen Peacemakers

A Force for Socially Engaged Buddhism

Inspiring | Teaching | Doing

"When you realize the wholeness and interdependence of life, you have to take care of everyone, and to do that, you have to work with every ingredient of life."

Zen Master Bernie Glassman, Founder

In 1967, Bernie began his Zen studies with Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi, Founder of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. He became a Zen teacher--Sensei Glassman--in 1976. In 1980 he founded his own Zen Community of New York in the Bronx, New York. He started the Greyston Bakery, at first staffed by Zen students, as a livelihood for the Community, and then made it a vehicle for social enterprise in Yonkers, 3 miles north (see below). In 1995 Bernie Glassman received inka, or the final seal of approval, from his teacher and became known as Roshi Bernie. During that year and in 1996 he served as Spiritual Head of the White Plum Lineage, comprising hundreds of Zen groups and centers in the US, Latin America and Europe, as well as the first President of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association of America. His Dharma Family includes dharma teachers, zen priests, zen preceptors, zen entrepreneurs, Christian clergy, Rabbis, Sufi Sheiks and multi-faith peacemakers.

The mission of the Zen Peacemakers is to alleviate suffering by:

• developing holistic social service projects that help individuals, families
and communities;
• promoting and supporting Socially Engaged Buddhism throughout the West; and
• inspiring and training a new generation in this way of service as Zen practice.

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About Zen Peacemakers blog

Discussions on articles from Bearing Witness, the free monthly online newsletter of Western Socially Engaged Buddhism
Commentary on Socially Engaged Buddhism
Writings of Zen Peacemakers founder Bernie Glassman, including previously unreleased material
Up-to-date news from the Zen Peacemakers Mother House in Montague, MA including:

Montague Farm Zen House
Zen House Residence Program
Montague Farm Zendo and Shared Stewardship Circle
First major Symposium for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism

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• The Zen Peacemakers

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Paul Dirac

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS (8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984) was an English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. He held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and spent the last fourteen years of his life at Florida State University.

Among other discoveries, he formulated the Dirac equation, which describes the behaviour of fermions, and predicted the existence of antimatter.

Dirac shared the Nobel Prize in physics for 1933 with Erwin Schrödinger, "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory."

Dirac is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest physicists. He was one of the founders of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics.

His early contributions include the modern operator calculus for quantum mechanics, which he called transformation theory, and an early version of the path integral. He formulated a many-body formalism for quantum mechanics which allowed each particle to have its own proper time.

His relativistic wave equation for the electron was the first successful attack on the problem of relativistic quantum mechanics. Dirac founded quantum field theory with his reinterpretation of the Dirac equation as a many-body equation, which predicted the existence of antimatter and matter–antimatter annihilation. He was the first to formulate quantum electrodynamics, although he could not calculate arbitrary quantities because the short distance limit requires renormalization. (read more)

the illusion of reality

A World Without Armies

"Advocating Practical Steps Towards a Lasting Peace"

A World Without Armies

From a series of workshops and a traveling exhibition featuring artwork from school children in Nepal, Poland, Germany, Italy, Costa Rica, the United States, and other countries.

What we must learn is how to deal with that conflict without resorting to violence. At this beginning of the twenty-first century, we are being called upon to face the needs of humanity, in all its tragic urgency. And we must, at the same time, face up to the requirements of the species: this century shall be peaceful or shall not be at all.

— Rodrigo Carazo, President of Costa Rica, 1978-1982

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A World Without Armies - Imagine a world without war

"We will bring forth clear and positive messages on demilitarization based on rigorous studies, political experiences, and individual witness and testimony."

A Letter to Participants of the Global Alliance Conference

August 2009
Dear Colleagues of Peace,

Greetings from the U.S. chapter of A World Without Armies! We deeply appreciate your work for peace in the world and peace with the earth. Together with three other organizations, we co-sponsored the First Conference of Women for the Abolition of Armies in Central America by 2020, which was held at the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture and the Universidad de Cooperacion Internacional in San José in 2007. In order to achieve our common goal, our next step is to develop academic studies on the demilitarization potential of every nation. We need to understand the positive elements, challenges, and obstacles for reducing and abolishing military forces in each nation. We need to develop strategies and build concrete processes. It would be effective if people and organizations that are committed to do the work were all connected and collaborating domestically and internationally. We want to see a surge of a movement for demilitarization worldwide.

Your ideas, suggestions, and action reports on demilitarization would be valuable to all those who are concerned. We would like to learn from you, collaborate with you, and share our experience with you. Also, we would like to post some of the communications and photographs from you on our website, www.aworldwithoutarmies.org. Please write to us and we will write to you.

With best wishes,
Kazuaki Tanahashi, Director (see below)
Edie Hartshorne, Co-director
Catherine Margerin, Representative to the Global Alliance Conference

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METHODS

• We organize and sponsor peace and reconciliation programs around the world.

• We fund scholars in political science, peace studies, and related fields who are undertaking research on the demilitarization potential of nations.

• We promote Courageous Conversations--friendly and non-polarized discussions that explore the need and steps for creating a world without war.

• We host the Costa Rica Initiative--a women’s initiative for A Central America Without Armies.

• PROJECTS IN PROGRESS SINCE 2002

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Gallery: Imagining Peace: International Children's Art Project

A series of workshops and a traveling exhibition featuring artwork from school children in Nepal, Poland, Germany, Italy, Costa Rica, the United States, and other countries.

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Kazuaki Tanahashi

Kazuaki Tanahashi, Director of A World Without Armies, born and trained in Japan and active in the United States since 1977, has had solo exhibitions of his calligraphic paintings internationally. He has taught East Asian calligraphy at eight international conferences of calligraphy and lettering arts. Also a peace and environmental worker for decades, he is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science.

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put the needle on the record

the fox is guarding the hen house

There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains....Theodore Roosevelt, speech, August 31, 1910

There’s a side to regulation that most people don’t think about, and it has far-reaching effects if representatives of corporations are writing the rules. Once a regulation is passed saying, “you can emit no more than 10 ppm [parts per million] of mercury,” you can legally emit up to 10 ppm.

Before that rule was passed, any amount you emitted might subject you to potential lawsuits from nearby humans made ill by your emissions, by other states, or even by the federal government.

The regulatory rule essentially legalizes what a corporation is doing. In the best of worlds, this wouldn’t be a problem. But in practice it means that business interests are often directly involved in writing the regulations that they themselves will have to obey.

Regulations Can Legalize Activity That Causes Public Harm

During the Reagan administration, Robert Monks and Nell Minow worked with the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief. Monks says, “We found that business representatives continually sought more rather than less regulation, particularly when [the new regulations] would limit their liability or protect them from competition.”

Monks and Minow became disenchanted with the process. In their 1991 book Power and Accountability, they say, “The ultimate commercial accomplishment is to achieve regulation under law that is purported to be comprehensive and preempting and is administered by an agency that is in fact captive to the industry.” In this way corporations find an actual government shield for their actions. For example:

• Tobacco companies point to the government-mandated warnings on their labels, saying that the labels relieve them of responsibility for tobacco-related deaths because they’re obeying government rules.

• Producers of toxic wastes can’t be sued or attacked if they are releasing their toxins within guidelines defined by a government agency.

• Telemarketing companies push for laws and regulations that define their practice, thus legalizing it.

• Manufacturers of genetically modified products can bring them to market without labeling, so long as the products are made within the guide- lines of the regulations. (read more)

deadly rain

Zond 3

Zond 3 was a member of the Soviet Zond program sharing designation Zond. Zond 3 completed a successful Lunar flyby, taking a number of good quality photographs for its time. The spacecraft was equipped with an f/106 mm camera and TV system that provided automatic inflight film processing. On July 20, 1965 lunar flyby occurred approximately 33 hours after launch at a closest approach of 9200 km. 23 photographs and 3 ultraviolet spectra of very good quality were taken of the lunar farside from distances of 11,570 to 9960 km over a period of 68 minutes. The photos covered 19,000,000 km² of the lunar surface. (read more)

life in a day