Friday, October 14, 2011

Thursday, October 13, 2011

can you handle the truth?


full length version

Holla if you G.A.L.A.


Global Awareness Local Action (G.A.L.A.) began in 2006 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Wolfeboro, NH with a mission to create a contagious community building model that translates sustainability education into local action that is practical, effective, and fun.

We work to make the necessary tools, services, and information available that empower people to contribute to sustainable community building everyday: socially, environmentally, and economically. We currently serve greater Carroll County and are working on a model that can be replicable throughout New England.

Today, G.A.L.A. is a volunteer-based organization made up of teachers, farmers, business-owners, youth, senior-citizens, parents, students and other folks from many walks of life. G.A.L.A. is the community it seeks to serve. Our interests range from environmental stewardship to human rights, from participatory democracy to holistic healing practices, to living and promoting peace. Together, we strive to live by Gandhi’s words, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

end the fed


It is well enough

that people of the nation

do not understand our banking and monetary system,

for if they did,

I believe there would be

a revolution before tomorrow morning.

...Henry Ford...

Monday, October 10, 2011

Sunday, October 9, 2011

swept away


Swept Away (full English title: Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August, full Italian title: Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto) is a 1974 Italian film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller. It is a study in romance and class warfare.

The movie stars Giancarlo Giannini as long-abused crewmember Gennarino Carunchio, toiling on a yacht rented by a wealthy couple, Raffaella Pavone Lanzetti (Mariangela Melato) and Mr. Pavone Lanzetti (Riccardo Salvino). A beautiful, wealthy, spoiled woman, Raffaella takes endless pleasure in verbally abusing Gennarino over nearly everything, but especially about his Communist politics. When an unusual event at sea leaves Gennarino and Raffaella cast away on a deserted Mediterranean island, the tables are finally turned and the Communist sailor suddenly has the upper hand in the relationship.

American film critic Roger Ebert gave the movie four stars, his highest rating.

Many reviewers criticized the film as deeply misogynistic, with its themes of violence against women, subjugation, and rape. Anthony Kaufman, in The Village Voice, called it "possibly the most outrageously misogynist film ever made by a woman." (read more)

Friday, October 7, 2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Call Me Crazy



"Mental Illness"



crazy mad insane depressed psycho bonkers schizo unbalanced unstable sick loony funny bizarre cooky loosing it not all there confused discombobulated special retarded weird whacko spaz freak mental spacey



There's a stigma.



.......



Is it preventable? Is it curable? How would we know; we never talk about it. Except to disassociate ourselves from it: "My great-uncle was crazy. He killed himself in the 80's. I'm glad I'm not weird like him!"



....



Alright. I'll go first. I am crazy. More than a little crazy, in fact. I was once diagnosed with "Severe Chronic Major Depression." That sounds a tad melodramatic, but I suppose it's a fitting description.



The first time I had thoughts of killing myself was as young as 5 years old. I was a kindergartener contemplating suicide. I am now a well-adjusted young adult realizing that it's okay to be crazy.


......



I am not on medication (although doctors would say I should be). I manage my illness in different ways, such as observing my thoughts and adjusting them toward the positive, practicing yoga and other physical activities, keeping a journal, surrounding myself with loving, positive people, and participating in fulfilling activities I enjoy. If I start to feel really out of control, I use herbal suppliments as a "brain cushion" until I regain my strength.


.......



I still get really down sometimes. It's not environmental.



It's as though a scary monster lives inside my head and I have to keep an eye on him or else he'll try to take over my thoughts. I know he's there and he knows I know, but that doesn't stop him from thirsting for control. The only thing keeping him from gaining it is ME.


.......



For many years I practiced hiding my emotions from people. I was great at it! People often remarked that I was "always happy," even though I was secretly dying inside. Those were benchmarks of my perceived success. If no one else could tell I was sick, then I must be doing a good job of getting better!



What I would like is for more people to own their insanity. If I had known as a child that some of the adults I admired were also dealing with demons in their heads, I might have been more hopeful for my own survival.


........



By sharing my crazy, I am helping other crazies.



People look up to me. I am happy! I smile all the time (and it's real these days). When people find out that I struggle with mental illness, they are shocked.



Then they ask how I deal with it.



Then they tell me about their own insanity, or the insanity of someone they love.



We then share the burden of insanity.



And that makes it a much lighter burden to carry.

the true joy in life

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Battle of Seattle

WTO protests 10
Anti-globalization activists made headlines around the world in 1999, when they forced the Seattle WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 to end early with direct action tactics.


1999 Battle of Seattle: From the WTO protests in Seattle, 1999.




Indymedia Presents #370-Showdown in Seattle part 1



Indymedia Presents #371--Showdown in Seattle--5 Days That Shook the WTO part 2, Nov 30, 99
Indymedia Presents #372-Showdown in Seattle part3
Indymedia Presents #373-Showdown in Seattle part4
Indymedia Presents #374-Showdown in Seattle, 5 Days that Shook the WTO part5


The Real Battle in Seattle: The Seattle WTO People's History Project


Global Trade: Deeply Dysfunctional

From the point of view of environmental sustainability, global trade has become deeply dysfunctional. Take agricultural trade. As the International Forum on Globalization has pointed out, the average plate of food eaten in Western industrial food-importing nations is likely to have traveled 1,500 miles from its source. Long-distance travel contributes to the absurd situation wherein “three times more food is used to produce food in the industrial agricultural model than is derived in consuming it.”
About the WTO & Global Justice Movements | The Real Battle in Seattle

The story of resistance to the WTO in Seattle in '99 is one of how people power can change the world. It's a dangerous example for the elites and a powerful one for people. That's why for eight years, the corporate media, governments, and their police have waged a dis-information campaign about Seattle '99.

In fall '08, a major motion picture, "Battle in Seattle," will be seen across North America. It's a huge improvement over corporate media lies, but won't tell the motives or thinking of the people who shutdown the WTO. Only we can do that.

Stories are how we understand the world and thus shape the future- and the story of Seattle '99 shapes what people think of protest, corporate globalization and repression. It's time that we in the social movements tell our own stories, reclaim our own histories, and publicly fight damaging myths past and present. This website is doing just that!


World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 was a meeting of the World Trade Organization, convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington, USA, over the course of three days, beginning November 30, 1999. A week before the meeting, delegates admitted failure to agree on the agenda and the presence of deep disagreements with developing countries. Intended as the launch of a new round of trade negotiations that would have been called "The Millennium Round", the negotiations were marred by poor organization and controversial management of large street protests. Developing country representatives became resentful and uncooperative on being excluded from talks as the United States and the European Union attempted to cement a mutual deal on agriculture. The negotiations collapsed and were reconvened at Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. The Doha venue enabled on-site public protest to be excluded. Necessary agenda concessions were made to include the interests of developing countries, which were learning how to form their own powerful negotiating blocs. Thus, the current round is called the Doha Development Round.

Anti-globalization activists made headlines around the world in 1999, when they forced the Seattle WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 to end early with direct action tactics.


Battle in Seattle - Movie - from Wikipedia: Battle in Seattle is a 2007 film and the directorial debut of actor Stuart Townsend. It is based on the protest activity at the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999. The film premiered on May 22, 2008 at the Seattle International Film Festival.



Monday, October 3, 2011

Kon-Tiki


Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of Heyerdahl 's book and the Academy Award-winning documentary film chronicling his adventures.

Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times, although most anthropologists now believe they did not. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. (Although the expedition carried some modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal knives, Heyerdahl argued they were incidental to the purpose of proving that the raft itself could make the journey.)

The Kon-Tiki expedition was funded by private loans, along with donations of equipment from the United States Army. Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where, with the help of dockyard facilities provided by the Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores. The trip began on April 28, 1947. Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely. (read more)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

toroidal vortex


A bubble ring, or ring bubble, is an underwater ring vortex where an air bubble occupies the core of the vortex, forming a ring shape. The ring of air as well as the nearby water spins poloidally as it travels through the water, much like a flexible bracelet might spin when it is rolled on to a person's arm. The faster the bubble ring spins, the more stable it becomes. Bubble rings and smoke rings are both examples of vortex rings, the physics of which is still under active study in fluid dynamics. Devices have been invented which generate bubble vortex rings. (video clip)

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

peacemakers


Blessed are the peacemakers;


for they shall be called


the children of God.



Yeshua (Jesus Christ) Matthew 5:9

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Monday, September 26, 2011

illness


It is no measure of health


to be well adjusted


to a profoundly sick society.



...Jiddu Krishnamurti...

Saturday, September 24, 2011