Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The Best Congress Money Can Buy
This is getting scary: whatever happened to representative government by the people? If corporations are people (thanks supreme court) how can we even hope to compete with their goals and aims, and money?
It is looking more and more like democracy is a failed system, taken over by gross profits and advertising.
I for one am glad I won't be on this planet much longer -- at least in this form . . .
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Dharma Flix & Dharma Punx
Dharma Flix
Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth. What is the truth? There is no spoon.
DharmaFlix is a collaborative effort to list, review, rate, and provide clips of films with Buddhist Dharma content for the benefit of all.
DharmaFlix.com Main Page - DharmaflixWiki
What is Dharma? - DharmaflixWiki
Your world and everything in it, including you, is a simulacrum, illusory like a dream, a video game, or the Matrix. It arises from that which is called by many many names, but "your awakened mind" will work as well as any.
When your awakened mind illumines itself in the full glare of its own light, and penetrates the purported solidity of the material world, there is enlightenment, and the path is walked. Speaking Dharma, hearing Dharma, does not make it clear for you, so it is said that the Dharma cannot be spoken. Also, upon realization of Dharma, all statements are immediately seen to be part of the illusory world. Can there be a true statement in a dream?
Films seem real because we suspend our disbelief in them. Likewise, we live out our lives with our disbelief suspended in the 3-D illusory world we call "Reality". This is called "ignorance". Dharmaflix has films which may, if we remain aware, help us to regain our suspicion of Reality. When this suspicion of Reality, through meditation, becomes experience of the illusoriness of Reality, there is Dharma.
Dharma Punx
This is the story of a young man and a generation of angry youths who rebelled against their parents and the unfulfilled promise of the sixties.
As with many self-destructive kids, Noah Levine's search for meaning led him first to punk rock, drugs, drinking, and dissatisfaction. But the search didn't end there. Having clearly seen the uselessness of drugs and violence, Noah looked for positive ways to channel his rebellion against what he saw as the lies of society...
dharmapunx.com
picasso's minotaur
Minotaur caressing a sleeping woman (June 1933)
"Art is a lie
that makes us realize the truth."
Pablo Picasso
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
history mystery
WHERE did humankind come from?
If you’re going to ask Zecharia Sitchin, be ready for a “Planet of the Apes” scenario: spaceships and hieroglyphics, genetic mutations and mutinous space aliens in gold mines.
It sounds like science fiction, but Mr. Sitchin is sure this is how it all went down hundreds of thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia. Humans were genetically engineered by extraterrestrials, he said, pointing to ancient texts to prove it.
In Mr. Sitchin’s Upper West Side kitchen, evolution and creationism collide. He is an apparently sane, sharp, University of London-educated 89-year-old who has spent his life arguing that people evolved with a little genetic intervention from ancient astronauts who came to Earth.
Born in Russia and raised in Israel, Mr. Sitchin studied economics in London and worked as a journalist and editor in Israel before moving to New York in 1952. Here, he was an executive at a shipping company and, with his wife of 66 years (she died in 2007), raised two daughters. He spent his free time studying, leading archaeological tours to ancient sites and spreading his unusual gospel.
Starting in childhood, he has studied ancient Hebrew, Akkadian and Sumerian, the language of the ancient Mesopotamians, who brought you geometry, astronomy, the chariot and the lunar calendar. And in the etchings of Sumerian pre-cuneiform script — the oldest example of writing — are stories of creation and the cosmos that most consider myth and allegory, but that Mr. Sitchin takes literally. (nytimes.com) (sitchin.com)
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Happy Holidays!
Next year is the last, according to some interpretation of my ancestor's calendar in Chiapas/Guatemala.
Live every year as if it was the last one.
Dear Christopher Hitchens, we will all get there as you just did.
The Universe will go on, with or without us!
Live every year as if it was the last one.
Dear Christopher Hitchens, we will all get there as you just did.
The Universe will go on, with or without us!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Almost Gone | Bradley Manning
Almost Gone by Graham Nash and James Raymond
A companion video for "Almost Gone" -- a new song by legendary singer-songwriter Graham Nash and musician James Raymond (son of David Crosby) -- is being released today in support of accused U.S. Army whistleblower Bradley Manning. The free download is available on Nash's website (www.grahamnash.com) and the Bradley Manning Support Network site www.bradleymanning.org...
see also > what next: Bradley Manning | Wikileaks
stratosphere
Stratolaunch Systems is a space transportation venture specializing in air launch to orbit, with its corporate headquarters located in Huntsville, Alabama. It was founded in 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan, who had previously collaborated on the creation of SpaceShipOne. The newly envisioned launch system will use similar components to that of Virgin Galactic though it will be made for orbital launch instead of sub-orbital. The start up will build a mobile launch system with three primary components; a carrier aircraft to be built by Scaled Composites, a multi-stage launch vehicle built by Space Exploration Technologies, and a mating and integration system to be built by Dynetics.
Allen and Rutan stated that the carrier aircraft would have a wingspan of 385 feet (117 m), making it the largest wingspan of a aircraft ever to fly, and will weigh in at over 1,200,000 pounds (540,000 kg). The aircraft will be powered by 6 × 46,000-66,500lb thrust range Turbine Engines planned to be sourced from a Boeing 747 engines and other components from the 400-series.
A Falcon-derivative two-stage liquid-fueled air-launched launch vehicle will be developed by SpaceX. The launch vehicle will have a launch mass of approximately 220,000 kilograms (490,000 lb) and will have the goal of inserting a 6,100 kilograms (13,000 lb) payload into low Earth orbit. (read more) (video clip) (stratolaunch)
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
a turn around
A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turn around") is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time. Aristotle described two types of political revolution:
1.Complete change from one constitution to another.
2.Modification of an existing constitution.
Revolutions have occurred through human history and vary widely in terms of methods, duration, and motivating ideology. Their results include major changes in culture, economy, and socio-political institutions.
Scholarly debates about what does and does not constitute a revolution center around several issues. Early studies of revolutions primarily analyzed events in European history from a psychological perspective, but more modern examinations include global events and incorporate perspectives from several social sciences, including sociology and political science. Several generations of scholarly thought on revolutions have generated many competing theories and contributed much to the current understanding of this complex phenomenon.
There are many different typologies of revolutions in social science and literature. For example, classical scholar Alexis de Tocqueville differentiated between 1) political revolutions 2) sudden and violent revolutions that seek not only to establish a new political system but to transform an entire society and 3) slow but sweeping transformations of the entire society that take several generations to bring about (ex. religion). One of several different Marxist typologies divides revolutions into pre-capitalist, early bourgeois, bourgeois, bourgeois-democratic, early proletarian, and socialist revolutions.
Charles Tilly, a modern scholar of revolutions, differentiated between a coup, a top-down seizure of power, a civil war, a revolt and a "great revolution" (revolutions that transform economic and social structures as well as political institutions, such as the French Revolution of 1789, Russian Revolution of 1917, or Islamic Revolution of Iran).
Other types of revolution, created for other typologies, include the social revolutions; proletarian or communist revolutions inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism); failed or abortive revolutions (revolutions that fail to secure power after temporary victories or large-scale mobilization) or violent vs. nonviolent revolutions.
The term "revolution" has also been used to denote great changes outside the political sphere. Such revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed in society, culture, philosophy and technology much more than political systems; they are often known as social revolutions. Some can be global, while others are limited to single countries. One of the classic examples of the usage of the word revolution in such context is the industrial revolution (note that such revolutions also fit the "slow revolution" definition of Tocqueville). (read more)
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
newt
GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says poor kids should start working at jobs as early as elementary school. “Child laws,” Gingrich said, “are truly stupid.”
Where would he begin? “Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors,” the former House speaker said, “have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school.” Liberals have criticized that idea for insulting janitors and reinstating child exploitation.
One can challenge the factuality of Gingrich’s premise that “really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works” and disfavor employment “unless it’s illegal.” Three-fourths of America’s poor work. Given the critical lack of jobs in inner cities and isolated rural areas, it’s difficult to argue that the real problem is poor people’s —or their children’s — lassitude or penchant for crime. (politico.com)
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich thrust himself into controversy on Friday by declaring that the Palestinians are an "invented" people who want to destroy Israel.
The former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives predictably sided with Israel in its decades-old dispute with the Palestinians but took it a step further in an interview with the Jewish Channel.
Gingrich differed with official U.S. policy that respects the Palestinians as a people deserving of their own state based on negotiations with Israel.
"Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire" until the early 20th century, Gingrich said.
"I think that we've had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs, and who were historically part of the Arab community. And they had a chance to go many places, and for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940s, and it's tragic," he said.
Gingrich said he would be willing to consider granting clemency to Jonathan Jay Pollard, who has been serving a life prison term since 1987 for passing U.S. secrets to Israel. Successive U.S. presidents have refused Israeli entreaties to free him. (haaretz.com)
How To Start A Revolution
Gene Sharp - How to Start a Revolution Trailer from Gene Sharp on Vimeo.
How To Start A Revolution | a film by Ruaridh Arrow
" is a portrait of how one man’s thinking has contributed to the liberation of millions of oppressed people living under some of the most brutal dictatorships in the world and how his work in direct action and civil disobedience continues to be used today to topple dictators using the sheer force of nonviolent people power."
How to Start a Revolution on Current TV -
Current TV can be found on most cable and satellite providers. More info is available on their website http://current.com/ - click here for schedule.
Monday, December 12, 2011
The 99 Percent: 'Vanguard'
In "The 99 Percent," Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel moves into Zuccotti Park to explore the Occupy Wall Street movement from the inside. Produced by Craig and Brent Renaud.
The 99 Percent: 'Vanguard' Trailer | Vanguard Video
"Vanguard" is Current TV's no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
Current TV Schedule | Current TV: Official Site
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Fela
Fela Anikulapo Kuti (15 October 1938 — 2 August 1997), or simply Fela, was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.
Nigeria - African Music Legends -
Fela Kuti in Concert 1 - YouTube
...In 1984, Muhammadu Buhari's government, of which Kuti was a vocal opponent, jailed him on a charge of currency smuggling which Amnesty International and others denounced as politically motivated. His case was taken up by several human-rights groups, and after 20 months, he was released from prison by General Ibrahim Babangida. On his release he divorced his twelve remaining wives, saying that "marriage brings jealousy and selfishness." Once again, Fela continued to release albums with Egypt '80, made a number of successful tours of the United States and Europe and also continued to be politically active. In 1986, Fela performed in Giants Stadium in New Jersey as part of the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope concert, sharing the bill with Bono, Carlos Santana, and The Neville Brothers. In 1989, Fela and Egypt '80 released the anti-apartheid Beasts of No Nation album that depicts on its cover U.S. President Ronald Reagan, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and South African Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha...
...His album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually he stopped releasing albums altogether. In 1993 he and four members of the Afrika '70 organization were arrested for murder. The battle against military corruption in Nigeria was taking its toll, especially during the rise of dictator Sani Abacha. Rumors were also spreading that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing treatment. On 3 August 1997, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominent AIDS activist and former Minister of Health, stunned the nation by announcing his younger brother's death a day earlier from Kaposi's sarcoma which was brought on by AIDS. More than a million people attended Fela's funeral at the site of the old Shrine compound. A new Africa Shrine has opened since Fela's death in a different section of Lagos under the supervision of his son Femi Kuti...
Fela Kuti - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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