Crimes Against Water

Diminishing Time... Diminishing Water

2011-12-12T06:51:00.000-08:00

Water is the most precious resource on our planet. It is being polluted and clean water is diminishing each day. Climate change is one source. Pollution from things like Fracking for natural gas ( http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/12/how-the-epa-linked-fracking-to-contaminated-well-water.ars) and increasing pollution of our wastewater (which mix with our clean waters) are doing damage to our supplies of clean water every day.

What will you do? What can you do?

Pharmaceuticals in our Water

2011-09-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

Traces of pharmaceuticals are passing through treatment plants and into drinking water supplies nationwide. The US Government has consistently delayed publicly researching and addressing this problem. Scientific hocus-pocus bickering prevents a clear analysis of the situation. As usual $$$ wins --- in this case in the form of the industrial, shell game, steal your body and mind Pharma$Ceutical Indu$Try.

Water is forever. Water is to be revered. Water is Us. We are Water. Water connects all life. All life shares Water. Coming to identify and value Water in its life-changing beauty is essential to Repairing Humanity.

Radioactive Tritium... coming to water near you...

2011-06-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

Do you think there will ever be any 'safe' nuclear power?

Economic math does not hold up when considering effects of nuclear power production

2011-04-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

Why am I so obsessed with shutting down nuclear power plants? Because I see their legacy as generating massively significant environmental and social impacts on human activities virtually forever. Consider the effects on seawater (and the unspoken long-term effects on ocean plants and animals) that are now being reported at the Fukushima Dai-ich plant.

Consider this simple math:

In 2011 there are 442operating nuclear power plants in the world with 65 under construction.

The cumulative operating experience amounted to 14,174 years by September 2010.

There have been three major nuclear plant disasters in roughly 50 years. That is one disaster per 147 operating power plants or .68%. Or put another way, one disaster per 4,725 cumulative operating years (with cumulative meaning total operating hours of all nuclear plants over all history).

Now consider the 19 n uclearpower plant accidents with multiple fatalities and/or more than US$100 millionin property damage from 1952-2011. Once again that is one major accident per 23 currently operating plants (4.3%), or one major accident per 746 cumulative operating years.

It can be argued that newer plants are ‘safer’ than older plants, which may be true. But once again when the older plants were constructed, major failures as we have experienced were not foreseen. And nuclear plant failures are subject to natural forces that also cannot be foreseen.

All arguments for nuclear energy power plants are based upon present day analyses. Things like number of deaths associated with operations and failures, costs for building and maintaining, costs for cleanups are all evaluated using statistics based upon current and near-term data. The problem is that Nuclear is Forever (at least in terms of human civilization).

Where do the effects from a disaster like Chernobyl or Fukushima Dai-ich start and stop? There are really no boundaries in time or space for the termination of these effects (at least within the range of human civilization). Things like genetic mutations, background radioactivity, danger from present and used fission materials, costs for safeguarding spent materials and dealing with destruction and contamination from theft and malicious usage of spent materials will continue on for hundreds of thousands of years… which is ten to twenty times longer than societal human history!

So sure the industry can use statistics based upon the current effects of nuclear accidents, but this is a puny fraction of the real costs to humankind. The problem is that most decisions about human affairs come down to economic arguments… arguments that can only be based upon costs and benefits in the present and in the near-term. That is the only realm of economics. Economics provide little guidance to long term problems and dilemmas. Decisions about nuclear power and other human activities with potential impacts extending well into the future should never be based upon dollars and cents.

Cancer Brew

2010-12-19T21:46:00.000-08:00

Another instance showing how we are/have been degrading our water. Being that we are 70- 80 % water by weight, this is another instance of unchecked industrial activity lessening our potential for healthy life. Water is not an afterthought. Water is not a limitless resource. Water is our future and as we destroy and degrade the water of our planet we are darkening the future (near and very long term) for all humanity.

When will water become more valuable to us than money?

Climate and Waste

2010-12-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

WASTE and CLIMATE? What to do with our waste? Should it be gobbled up by large Corporates?... or should we allow (or encourage) the 50 million human waste site recyclers to eke out a meager living picking through and sorting trash... thus reducing burning and carbon emissions? ... voices from the UN Climate Treaty

Passing of a Great --- Howard Zinn

2010-01-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

Howard Zinn, a man who spoke truth to power without fear without flinching. A man to be respected, admired and remembered. A man to be embodied in the things that we do. Howard Zinn lives on. Howard Zinn is in me and I know in many, many other people all around the world. He is a new perspective. He is determination and responsibility and freedom. In reverence I commit Howard Zinn to all my waking actions. Peace gentle warrior. You are loved and cherished beyond recognition.

What are we thinking--- Nevada water contamination

2009-11-22T05:07:00.001-08:00

How many times will this have to happen before we realize that water is paramount, that we must revere and worship our water, that we are walking water, and that money should never trump water and water quality. When we as humans come to this basic conceptualization that water is us and that water connects us to all life, our environmental problems will begin to lessen. And this reverence for water will bring us to the conceptualization that we are all connected and our problems with hate and violence among humans will begin to lessen.

A very basic change in conceptualization will change the world!

Forever Bound

2009-11-02T03:05:00.000-08:00

Nuclear is forever (at least compared to our lives). Los Alamos is a toxic legacy for the foreseeable future. Nuclear materials are never safe. Water is our most precious resource. Water is us. Nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons will be the toxic legacy of our century for millennia to come. The sooner we realize this, the brighter the outlook for future generations. Our present course leaves death and destruction in our wake.

A Bright Future

2009-10-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

Surely Graham is going for his interests, which typically amounts to more money and power to his supporters. Politics plays politics and we see how his interests come into the mix of the solutions that we are offered. This is the nature of politics and because of the dominance of economics in our political compromising discussions nearly every option we see supports money and power in the background. Actually that is the very heart of our political process and it is the crux of our inability to legislate options that further our universal common interests.

That said, nuclear power is by far our most insidious choice for generating electricity. As documented in the article it really only exists as an option for us because of the billions of dollars of subsidies that it has received. Though the actual dangers to the present environment from operating nuclear plants may appear rather low, (however, have you seen Chernobyl Heart ?), the legacy of deadly toxic radioactive wastes (some for more than 200,000 years), and the pollution of our water from extraction, processing and operations are passed off to future generations.

And isn’t it really our purpose in time and place to leave a better world for our children? Considering that human history has consisted of warring and fighting throughout, and our present world situation brings hate and warfare to entirely new more macabre levels, how can we reasonably leave deadly toxic materials (which we have no means of safe permanent storage and disposal –despite Graham’s efforts to legislate such) as a legacy for future generations to manage and safeguard? Judging from history, these wastes will be a toxic legacy that will feed new wars and conflicts seemingly forever (unless of course nuclear materials are used to deaden life on the planet).

The solution? Localized renewable energy sources supplemented with electricity from major renewable electricity generation plants situated in locations ideal for the energy source. One problem that comes to mind with such a plan is that it largely frees consumers from paying money to an energy company. I have generated 90% of my electricity from solar for the past 20 years and have not paid a single electricity bill. You can do it. We can do it. But the econ-politics (including Graham) must be removed to make way for a bright future.

Water for Kids

2009-09-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

Very sad that we treat our children with such disrespect. We create and use items and materials with toxic qualities. We spew our wastes all around us. Alternatives exist but they are not 'economically' feasible. Our choices are shaped by paths of profit.

As the article reports:

An Associated Press investigation found that contaminants have surfaced at public and private schools in all 50 states — in small towns and inner cities alike.

Experts and children's advocates complain that responsibility for drinking water is spread among too many local, state and federal agencies, and that risks are going unreported. Finding a solution, they say, would require a costly new national strategy for monitoring water in schools.

"There is just no excuse for this. Period," said California Sen. Barbara Boxer, Democratic chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. "We want to make sure that we fix this problem in a way that it will never happen again, and we can ensure parents that their children will be safe."

The problem is everywhere. It will only get worse as more of the residuals from the profit driven sputum make their way into our shared time and globe spanning water systems. The solution is global coordination with policy and action... coordination that insures a clean healthy world for our progeny rather than marketplace wealth... coordination where water trumps profits. That is how you guarantee that this will not happen again, Senator Boxer.

Energy Wars and Destruction

2009-09-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

At heart this problem is the result of economics. We live in a world where the struggle for profit trumps most other options. In our economic system, whoever gets to market quickest and cheapest wins the game. Governments and corporations are struggling to gain as much as possible, as cheaply as possible. There are few values in the marketplace other than the profit which all players understand.

So our energy options and energy futures are not being driven by concern for the health and well being of any of the citizens of the world. Our world is spinning out of control wobbling ever more to a topsy-turvy condition. Be it wars over energy resources, climate destruction, aberrant virus, water depletion and contamination or water wars, our national and world economies are driving us to disaster.

Like it or not, our path out of these armageddons is through global communication, cooperation and coordination. These are the values that must replace the quest for the most dollars. Our world has shrunk and the impacts and influences across all these crisis areas extend to all humans and all planetary systems. Nationalism is a dead end street. Unrestrained capitalism is a dead end street. The sooner we as a race recognize this very basic conflict of interests that appears to rule our world, the brighter and more intact we will come out the other side.

And as far as energy is concerned, I have learned clearly and firsthand how contrived the situation really is. For the past 20 years I have lived and run a business on solar power. I live in an area with moderate solar potential and derive about 90% of that energy from the sun. I am not hooked up to an electric grid. The system is very basic with most components lasting decades. I have not paid an electric bill during this period of time, and during operations I produce practically no environmental contamination. This is easy to accomplish. Imagine if $100 billion that it might cost to develop a new energy field were directed in this direction. Unfortunately (fortunately?) there is little profit to energy producers from my operations after installing this system. Not much incentive. So it is incumbent upon each of us, to communicate, cooperate and coordinate with our fellow humans, tighten our belts and build the future on vision not profit.

One World--- united by WalMart

2009-09-09T10:57:00.001-07:00

One World. A world with no choice. One World united by the movement of dollars... from low to high. From Chapter 7 www.Changing-History.com

Mr. One is coming! Mr. One is coming! All prepare for Mr. One!

One man. One business as Seller. Get too big and Mr. One steps up to the bat. How can you compete with Mr. One? And how long can you stay nose to the grindstone with Mr. One across the street?

Most everyone works for Mr. One. And those who don’t either don’t work or they work for someone who sells to Mr. One. Sure, Mr. One loves small show-lows who make stuff for him. But don’t get too profitable! Mr. One will buy you out. Because if there is profit to be made Mr. One is compelled... no, he is forced to follow that money.

For don’t the paperheads want their share of the pie? And the counters? And the interlocutors? And the toll keepers? And if Mr. One did not step up and perform the acquisition then heads would roll, for the money found had not been brought home.

And the highrollers slurp up the pie, and the midrollers watch the highrollers with envy and enjoy their bits, which they clutch while sidestepping the lowrollers and norollers. And the lowrollers push and grunt while the norollers scurry about in a symphony of high thought, low thought and conspiracy.

Oh, the prices are so low. All the fuzz is removed. One super-efficient, lightning-fast widebrain orchestrating the show. A widebrain pulsing with selling and buying, feeling and touching everywhere at once, moving at the speed of light. A widebrain looking at the past, present and future simultaneously. A widebrain looking at itself and its own operations... continually monitoring and adjusting for statistical changes.

Mr. One knows more about people than anyone. Accounts, numbers, patterns, styles, sicknesses, friends, whereabouts, loves. That is, if Mr. One focused on an individual Mr. One would know. But what Mr. One loves is knowing those things... statistically speaking... about everyone to assure a continuous flow of dollars back to Mr. One.

Water is US.

2009-08-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

In many ways water is like oil has been. When it is cheap and appears limitless we guzzle it down and don't place much thought or value on alternatives. So with water. But water is much more important to us than oil... as we and all life on the planet depend upon it and are composed of it.

Philosophically, devaluing water is devaluing ourselves. Our bodies are approximately 75% composed of water. Considering our water relationship and the current state of water affairs around the world, it becomes clear that the management of water may soon be the single largest social and economic issue over the coming centuries.

Water footprints provide an effective means to understand our water use. However they are only one part of the process. Not only is it important how much water is used, but it is perhaps more important how the water is changed in the process of using it. Using water and returning it to the natural systems clear and clean does little harm.

Once again considering the situation and circumstances, it is clear that water rationing is inevitable. The problem, as has been illustrated in these MJ water articles, is in the economics. As in many other resource-related aspects of our lives, we visualize numerous good working alternatives, but the implementations are heavily compromised by economic interests.

Raising our appreciation, understanding, and valuing of water is KEY to the future of humanity. We need to create a blueprint for keeping our water pure and clean while producing the products and services that we all need. We need to analyze both water usage and water contamination in the creation, production and consumption of our goods and services. And in addition to our water and carbon footprints, we need complete environmental footprints for all our activities.

Though we appear separate and segmented around the globe, issues like water unite all people. Water crosses all boundaries... between nations, between people and between all plants and animals. Water management is a global issue which requires a global solution. This is not the realm of economics, nor economically-obsessed governments. The sooner we as race (and residents of California) appreciate these basic facts and build global water coalitions based upon pure water and NOT upon economics, the better the future looks for humankind.

Nuclear World

2009-05-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

Without total nuclear disarmament, it is only a matter of time before nuclear war breaks out. As long as there are arsenals, as long as there are stockpiles, they will be centers of concern and targets of enemies. Nuclear weapons are capable of destroying all we know and love. As long as we are the flawed creature that we are, we will never be able to fully control them and insure that they are never used.

Assuming that a future with no nuclear weapons can never happen, immediately defeats the possibility. However taking the long view, if humanity is to survive, we must find ways to reach global disarmament. The longer we postpone, the harder it will be to realize a non-nuclear world. Being the largest producer of nuclear weapons with the most warheads and the only user, it is incumbent upon the U.S. to begin this process. This can only occur with strong leadership committed to global cooperation and dedicated to nuclear weapon reduction. It is only when the nuclear leaders begin disarmament, that their desire and actions to limit weapons by other nations will have any standing, garner any respect, or achieve any results.

Collusion

2009-05-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

Yeah, the Cheneys are alike. Convince yourself that you are right and assert this to others. Then continually backpedal in the face of anything contrary to your assumptions. Now the serious heat is on Cheney et al. to backpedal themselves out of impending prosecution and jail. And if that is the case... (in the U.S. or elsewhere), does that shadow Liz for aiding and abetting?

Where does justice start and stop? The point is that in many things we all are guilty in some ways for failure to act what we believe is right. That is why setting limits for public acceptance of such behavior is so important. That is why the arrogant, openly defiant perpetrators must be brought to justice... because humanity is on trial.

Its in the money, honey.

2009-04-19T16:44:00.001-07:00

Pharmaceutical drugs are us!

They are in our water. They are in our rivers, streams and lakes. They are in us.

Why?

Because the industries that use or manufacture these drugs release 'small' quantities into the environment. But small quantities all over the place become large quantities.

We are water. Our bodies consist of around 75% water. This water is contaminated. We are contaminated. And it continues...

Why?

Because of money. Because our government and our policies allow this to happen. Because of the money related to the industries that produce and release the contaminants. Because our economic system practically overlooks the ways and means required to get products to market. Because we put off the effects of our money making to future generations. Because we mortgage our future and the future of our children to the profits of today.

We could establish a zero tolerance policy, and only allow industries to continue that do not pollute. But we don't because the dollar trumps all (except perhaps the euro and yuan --- but that is my point). Money trumps all. So we are destined to live as a chemical soup for the profits that go to the wealthy and powerful. For the stockholders that demand their payback on investment. For the corporate elite that benefit from the bottom line.

The bottom line is that we suffer so that money can be made. Because we are all confused and weak enough to not demand a clean environment and a clean life but instead trade dollars for minimum acceptable levels.

Purity in the Age of Chemicals

2009-04-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

What is purity any more? How much have we allowed modern life to compromise the substance that we are? At what cost? Perchlorate, rocket fuel in baby food and water? And it is OK? Below the accepted limit.

We are water. We are composed of water. And now apparently rocket fuel as well? We love modern life, the comforts and amenities. Can we have these things without changing our chemistry to accept rocket fuel?

I think we can. Everything comes down to a matter of priorities. What do you tax? What do you support? How much crap is allowed beyond the industrial filters? These are questions that we can answer. Theses are problems that are within our reach to solve. A matter of priorities. Take the almighty $$$ from the altar within our lives and do not compromise our basic principles. Pretty easy to say. Try it sometime.

Who can you respect
What can you expect
From the next moment in your life?

As they say... Violence Begets Violence

2009-01-25T06:39:00.000-08:00

Trying to change the world and force your will on others by violence leads to more violence. Whether done in the name of State or Religion or personal triumph, the world becomes a more violent place. Our roots as humans are steeped in violence. Our history as humans is steeped in violence. If we survive as a race we will learn to change this behavior. Developing creeds and courts changes the structures and organizations within which we live. Changing our thoughts and ideas and the range of our responses changes humanity. It is a very slow and necessary process to lift us from the world of violence from which we arose.

www.changing-history.com

Bush basking in the Sun or crimes against humanity?

2009-01-11T07:28:00.000-08:00

Bush and his cronies have made the world a much worse place since he arrived. There is more hate and more violence, more economic distress, more environmental distress, and more resources concentrated in the hands of a few.

He is definitely an idiot (witness his legacy of ridiculous statements), but an idiot following an arrogant, selfish and sinister plan that was well designed and well executed by the people around him. They flaunted accepted international agreements and treaties and weakened the power of a unified global community. It is time for international court to begin processing charges of crimes against humanity indicting Bush and his culpable administration. To think of him basking in the sun on his ranch, enjoying the pleasantries of a celebrity, with the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands at the expense of the public sickens me.

I believe that if he and his culpable administrators received justice in international court, this type of abuse of power would be less likely to occur again. It is now our Global responsibility to illuminate and seek justice for these crimes… our responsibility to those involved, and our legacy to future generations.

World Summary-- October 30, 2008

2008-10-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

HATE ABOUNDS. IGNORANCE KILLS. POLITICS SUCK. AWARENESS IS PARAMOUNT.

The Power to Change History?

2008-08-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Excellent reporting of courageous people acting their conscience. This is what changes history. It is by our actions that we can and do change history. To change history, one must affect the present through your actions. It is in the power of our actions today that history is changed.

History is not merely a collection of facts. Facts make sense only within the milieu within which they are understood. Without a milieu, without a context, facts are meaningless. So to ‘change history’ one must act to change the current environment so that it reflects a new meaning of past events.

That is our power as awareness-seeking beings. That is our responsibility within the flux of past, present and future. In the present, we act through the past to change the future. Every action that we take affects what will come to be. That is how we ‘change history’. That is how we experience the power of our being.

http://www.Changing-History.com

Philosophy or Science

2008-07-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

What can be said about the rising importance of science and the seemingly loss of validity of philosophy in the world today?...

With the rise of science as a guiding force of culture and society partially replacing some of the influence of religion, philosophy began to become an orphan. The increasing success of scientific research, practice and engineering began to place heavy strains on the foundations of philosophy. Part of the response to the dominance of science and scientific methods was analytic philosophy, which attempts to disassemble logic and experience into discrete verifiable parts. This was an attempt to ‘harden’ philosophy into a provable system and away from its speculative origins.

This has been one of the dominant themes of philosophy for the past century, brought about by the stress of competing with science. But recent comments indicate that the strengthening of philosophy by adopting a rationalist approach have not completely succeeded.

There are many other approaches to describing reality other than science. Science is incredibly strong and can do many things. But science is limited by the box defined by the outer reaches of its understanding. Phenomena beyond the capabilities of current science and scientific method cannot be explained, and the relationships of these phenomena to the events of our understanding are ignored or misinterpreted. There is no way around this. It is the nature of the system.

So science can only describe so much and beyond that is speculation. When we discuss phenomena and relationships beyond the limits of that comprehension we are speculating. We are speculating either as isolated individuals who can only experience the world in our own particular way, or as part of a connected experience of all people and things in the world. So our speculation is either completely individual or shared with the world around us.

Now believing in science and using it as the sole guide in interpreting reality is somewhat like taking a leap of faith to a divine, all-knowing, omnipotent creator. And that is where philosophy returns and may be a good place to start our questioning today. What unexplained and seemingly unrelated phenomena affect the experience of our existence? Are we connected and in what ways? And if we are connected what does that say about our ability to ‘know’ the world around us?

Science is definitely dominant in our times and the notion of a speculative discipline to minds embodied in rigorous method can easily be ridiculed. But beyond science, beyond our current enamorment with the works that we create the edges are all speculation. Love it and embrace it. It is all that we have.

Profits over People

2008-07-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

Oil companies are in it for the money… the same as most every corporation. The U.S. government (as most governments in this century) is run by the desires of the large corporations. Power begets power. Politicians seek power and must deal with the powerful.

The company execs make massive dollars because they are in a position to profit immensely from the world economic and resource situation. This is not luck. This is not providence. This is because the government has organized its activities to support the will and profits of the multi-nationals.

We have pollution problems, climate problems, habitat destruction problems, war problems, economic problems, etc. because the focus of government has been to provide opportunities for money makers like these to reap enormous profits… rather than to plan and implement solutions to problems that benefit society.

Politicians, while seeking to assert themselves, wield power to the profit mongers of the world. ‘Government by and for the people’ is slipping away. The profits of the corporate executives are a direct result of the loss of power of the people. Each one of us has the power in the decisions within our lives to do what we consider ‘right’. No one needs the government or marketplace to tell us what this should be. Every action that we take today changes the future.

We are watching you!

2008-07-10T05:41:00.000-07:00

Yes this is an old story. But it is a recurring story. And we have just seen how the telecoms got off the hook (by senate vote) for the warrant-less wiretapping.

Most people who are watching what is going on in the world today probably already suspect this. Sure the government can say this is to fight terrorism, but the 'eyes' of the system can be directed toward any word/word phrase/originating or receiving email address with a few clicks at a computer terminal at NSA. And the database behind the system can match records on any email attributes. So there is no privacy at all.

Big Brother is NOW!!!!!

Speak out to retain your/our freedom. The only way to prevent complete shroud is for people dedicated to freedom and free speech speaking out and communicating with the world. When we don't exercise our rights we lose them (quickly).

Personal Freedom

2008-07-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

THINKING INSIDE THE BOX <Listen>

You have no business in my private life
You have no business within my four walls
You have only lies from which you espouse
That you’re protecting me from my own big bad self
But as I see it I have only me
I have only my life in its entirety.

There is no place in my home for your spies
It’s none of your business with whom I do lie
It’s none of your business about what I partake
It’s none of your business about that which I speak.

It’s only my business if I want to die
It’s only my business to express what is I
The worst that can happen to all that are free
Is for someone to force us to be otherly
I have only life
Of which I am sure
I don’t care about your afterworld more
I see what I do
And think what I think
As long as my actions do not conflict
With the health and well being of all that’s around
You have no business upon my grounds.

But every lone day that someone is pulled
From within their four walls and brought to the hold
That someone is forced to give up what is free
Because of your petty morality
That keeps us indentured or even as slaves
To the high holy ground that you so do crave
From the thin frail pages of some old dusty book
You lie and you steal like too common a crook
But someone you force to bend and to fold
Will one day rise up and release your sick hold.

http://www.Changing-History.com

Engagement vs Detachment

2008-06-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

The Buddha tells us that we should not attach to the worldly things of this life because all will eventually pass. The path to enlightenment winds through many lifetimes. The teachings of Buddha look past our current temporal life.

Happiness is a slippery concept. You can define it and know that you feel it, but that feeling can change radically in an instant. To feel fulfilled in life, a person must be engaged. Obviously this can take many forms. Without the process of engagement, there is nothing to be filled with. Haidt is teaching that engagement is the path toward happiness. Granted, but then you must ask… Engage in what?

Haidt says ‘personal life, work and something larger than ourselves’. And Buddhism says that everything is larger than ourselves. If you push personal and work without the larger world in mind you may be engaged and you may feel happy, but those things that carry on from your life, those things that are larger than you, will scarcely be affected. If you follow personal and work disjointedly from the ‘larger world’ a chasm will grow, which you are bound to face at some time.

There is nothing antithetical to Buddhism about immersing in life with gusto. And there is nothing contradictory about entertaining bemused detachment to the outcome of your activities. We continually see how change (e.g. storms, floods, waves, wars… ) can destroy plans and happiness. And these things can occur at any moment. So the wise person, the sage of Buddhism, delights in the experience of life, yet realizes its inherently impermanent and transitory nature. With that in mind, she walks directly into the spiritual. And it is through the spiritual that we grow as humanity.

Haidt has nothing to say to correct the Buddha. The mixture of personal and spiritual in your life is an individual matter. Finding happiness is not necessarily spiritual and finding spirit is not necessarily happiness.

More Mercenary Armies

2008-06-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

Armies for hire are disgusting. If you are possibly able to justify a war, then you have determined a 'good' side and a 'bad' side. A mercenary army is only in it for the money. Nothing else. There is no honor and no trust. Period.

The U.S. Government assumes the level of the organizations that are hired to do it's work... reflecting the ethically bankrupt nature of the actions of this government.

If the government cannot fight wars without hiring the corporate darlings of the Administration, (like Halliburton and Blackwater), then the U.S. has no business in those situations. The taxpayers and voters never authorized this corporate control. It is a government stolen from the people.

But ‘we the people’ have the potential to shift the balance and regain the creativity and power that is our nature and our right. Not only do we have the capability, but we also have the responsibility, as the future is upon the shoulders of each one of us.

Continuing Harrassment of Indigenous People

2008-06-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is a very sad recurring story of international politics destroying indigenous people. It is high time for the State nations of our planet to recognize the importance of global resources, affairs and problems. We are linked together in so many ways, but the attitudes and practices of the NationStates force irrelevant differences upon us. The Mohawks of Akwesasne attempt to live in independence across political divides --- in violation of the tenets of the NationStates. They discuss and respond to environmental and political activities across those divides and advocate for others to do so as well. Much honor and respect to them.

In the 21st century we are being forced into a global view of affairs. The world has become much more connected and much smaller. Our problems and their solutions cross political boundaries. In the process of realizing our world citizenship we come to respect and acknowledge the importance and power of indigenous people and culture that exist independently from the economics and politics of the NationStates… cultures that relate to Gaia through everyday practices of living… an art and ideal quite hidden in our global power structure.

Is Life Fair?

2008-06-09T19:00:00.001-07:00

The world isn't fair. Things happen to us over which we have no control and those things do not affect people in equal ways. This is a fact of life.

Why do we seek fairness? Are the people in UG not wanting the co-player to do better than his/her self? Is this Darwinian survival or is this some type of altruism?

And maybe the camaraderie associated with drugs like MDMA arises from the breakdown of our usual sense of separation of 'I vs. not I' causing the user to feel connected to, and in love with others. And thus more giving and altruistic because of the lessening of a sense of competition.

Maybe as we begin to realize how intimately we all are connected across time and space we will all become less self-grubbing and more kind to the people and world around us.

Mercenary Armies

2008-06-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

The real sad part of this story is the selling of the U.S. Government. Our tax dollars increasingly go to pay for private companies to do the work of government. And with all the lobbyists, special interests, ex and current government employees with stakes in economic interests vying for government monies, our government is being sold.

This is not free market. This is freedom to rampage. And there are no real loyalties and allegiances other than to the $$$$. When the U.S. fails to be the profit haven that it now is, these companies (with their collected intelligence about the governments, people, businesses and technologies of the world) will go elsewhere with their money and knowledge.

Government working efficiently for the interests of the people, not corporate profits and opportunities is our path of hope for the future.

Private Lives

2008-05-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

Warning --- the above link will take you to a slide show --- but the message is strong.

We are tracked and sliced and diced in a myriad of ways. The only path to avoid this is to retire to one of the dwindling wilderness areas of the Earth. Think about a company like Wal-Mart. If you pay by credit card, they know every one of your purchases ever. They know what days you usually come into the store, how often you like to buy sweet items, whether you spend a little or a lot on underwear, what type of music you listen to, the configuration of your home computing and entertainment systems. What you look like. How well you are aging. How often you have sex. And on and on.

Big business intelligence gathering like this makes small business of our lives. What are we to do?

http://www.Changing-History.com

Is Life Short?

2008-05-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

To the relative age of the Earth or the Universe, our time between living and dying is short. But we are not simply the body that exists between our birth and death. The things that we do vibrate out from us and affect that which is around us. And those things affect other things. So in this way we really never die. We are connected to all things in all places and with that comes great freedom to influence the world as well as great responsibility for our actions. Our lives are immense.

Helen Thomas Stands up to Power

2008-04-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

Helen Thomas stands up to power and confronts Bushniks about torture! More power to Helen!

A thinking reporter asking independent questions... how refreshing. But where are the rest?

The problem is that our media are run by the corporate entities that own them. Open worldwide communication is our ally in all that we wish to change and accomplish. Economics and the protection of bottom-line profits rule global economics and governments around the world. Media around the world are owned by the same mega-entities that push the global economic agenda.

Conflict of interest?

Awareness and communication can change the world. The fight for independent media is worth every moment of the effort. And the establishment of alternative forms of open global communication is our most powerful tool to prevent complete shroud.

Tibet as World Heritage

2008-04-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

Tibet, the people of Tibet, the culture of Tibet, the Buddhism of Tibet, the mountains of Tibet and the waters of Tibet are heritage for the World. For over 1000 years the Tibetans studied Mind and took that study of people and our interactions in the world farther and higher than every done in the history of humankind. When the Chinese invaded Tibet and began to destroy the monasteries and Tibetan knowledge and culture they had no idea what they were doing. They were blinded by the ideals of their Cultural Revolution.

From information that has come to light, now Tibet is stuck between the struggling powers of the world. As with the U.S. plan to stop any potential enemy from controlling oil resources (witness Iraq), so Tibet is involved in the struggle for water and mineral resources. This is not simply a fight over the land mass of Tibet. It surely is not a fight for the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people, as China is attempting to overrun the population and culture with immigrants and Chinese traditions. China would like to see the Tibetans disappear. They are systematically practicing genocide. No this is a fight for the roof of the world!

The water resources of Tibet are the greatest in the world. Tibet is the headwaters of most of the major rivers of Asia. These rivers supply water to more than 1/2 the people of Asia, which is approximately 1/3 of the world population. This may be the biggest reason that China holds so strongly to Tibet. Knowledgeable organizations and individuals predict that water will be the forefront of our global wars over the coming decades (and perhaps centuries).

And power thinks forward. That is how power retains and expands power. That is the reason for the iron hand of China and the desire of the U.S. to wrest power from that hand. Tibetans should hold fast to the power of their roots, Buddhism… and use its power to recover their land and culture. Buddhism does not advocate surrender. The holy home must be protected! Siding with any enemy will create enemies within.

Tibet is a great opportunity for the human race to come together and begin to create a positive future. By recognizing the value of the Tibetans, their culture and the waters at the roof of the world (and water connects all humanity and all life on the planet), we can make a giant step in this direction. To this end, we should propose to create a new World Heritage Site.

The Tibetan protests must continue but China will never willingly hand these resources to any potential adversary. The world must join the Tibetan protests and encourage China to take the lead in establishing a neutral World Heritage Site in the disputed territory… a place where the culture and studies of Tibet can flourish and a place where the water resources are protected for humanity and shared by the people of Asia. In this way, China can mitigate some of its horrible actions toward the Tibetans and raise its world status. Our problems… and their solutions are global. We are all World Citizens.

Oil and Water

2008-04-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

We can argue forever about which country or region is best suited to deal with the upcoming crises of water and oil. And we can also add in the impacts of climate change. Some will be better suited and others less suited. But regardless of who is in a better position to respond we will all be facing the same problems of war and destruction, fear and hate.

All of our wars through history have been fought over territory and resources, whether those resources are oil, metals, minds or bodies. Global economics push our governments and our politics to follow in directions that support the entities in their pursuit of resources and territory, which directly translates to money and power. We can continue this game or we can radically examine the playing field upon which we find ourselves.

There are plenty of all of our resources to go around if we use the resources sanely and conservatively. The problem lies in the continual push for greater and greater consumption of resources, which is continually and vehemently encouraged by the economic system that is ruling (and has ruled) the world. We are constantly encouraged and driven to buy more and more and use more and more so that the economic giants can make increasing profits. Our governments are obsessed with GNP and the economic milieu forces those in business to always expand.

In these ways we are on a path to disaster because the economic entities will push on and on until there are no more profits to be made at which point there will be little left for any of us to use for survival.

Our problems and their solutions are global and for us to address the upcoming crises with oil and water and climate and population and disease we must deal with these issues as a connected world. Otherwise we will keep repeating the same mistakes over and over... whether exactly the same or as rhymes of our previous failures.

We can have enough food and enough water and enough energy if we change our thinking from expansion to comfortable management. We can satisfy many of these needs on local and regional bases and conserve time and energy. And to boot we can begin to rebuild local flavor and culture.

Not that isolationism will help us at all. For us to act as a race we must communicate as a race and our global communications can do that for us. We are all World Citizens first and foremost. When we communicate globally we can recognize and address our global needs and wants. By looking carefully at our histories and working to change that past through our present purposefully redemptive actions we can make a future that is bright for all of us.

Call me a dreamer. But it is only by dreaming and pulling ourselves up to our dreams that we can move beyond the status quo... which is getting bleaker with each passing year.

Food Power

2008-04-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Food prices and food scarcity are global problems like over-population, infectious diseases, climate change, air and water pollution, mega-corporations and WAR. We will continue to be plagued with these problems until we begin to think like a globally-connected race and start working together globally to solve our global problems. These problems will continually re-emerge in different areas with increasing intensity. Welcome to the 21st Century!

Economics driven by bottom-line decisions aimed at making short term profits without looking at long-term solutions control governments and rules the world. This is not the forum to solve global long-term problems. Only by open worldwide communication and the refusal of us all to support the mega-entities that control the world can we begin to think like World Citizens and work together on world problems.

While people around the world suffer with food shortages and high food costs there are the elite few who are grinning wildly and soaking up massive power and profits for themselves. Our global economics control governments and government policy around the world. And the global economy is controlled by mega-corporations. And the mega-corporations are run strictly on bottom line logic with no appreciation, consideration or support for long-term sustainability. That is a fact driven by the desires of corporate officers, corporate boards and stockholder investors. Make money. The other aspect of their management decisions is to create a sustained and growing consumer base to buy their goods (whether it is good for the consumer or not).

However in our globally connected world, these decisions affect every person on the planet. Locally produced and controlled goods and services are anathema to the corporate goals. Thus around the world, the World Bank, WTO and other industry driven entities work very hard to break local markets and force people and countries into the global bottom-line driven economy.

And these entities will never willingly give up their power and stranglehold. The only way that we the people of Earth will break this system is for all of us to dedicate our dollars and minds to local sustainable non-corporate food alternatives as much as we possibly can. Even if local prices are higher, we will all save in the long-run. Wal-Mart ‘lowest price policy’ eventually leads to ‘only price policy’. If we don’t return to local focus, we will lose our options and choices and ultimately our freedom. Food is one of our most basic needs. Control of food is control of life. Making responsible decisions for our food is our best approach to break this oppressive history. And awareness cultured by way of global communication is our strongest ally.

The Violence of Words

2008-04-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

Violence in the world is natural. There is no escaping that fact. Humans however, take it to a new level. I think that the difference is the tendency of humans to group together and to identify real and potential enemies of the group as ‘bad or evil’. The wolf kills the sheep, but in reality the wolf loves sheep. She wants sheep to continue to populate the land. But in human malignant violence, we often identify the entire other group as enemy and seek their destruction. The group may be another nation, race, religion or even sexual orientation.

And I believe strongly that we are not fixed. We are continually involved with the creation of ourselves and the world. That gives us great power and makes our actions that much more important. Awareness brings power and responsibility. So for us to be better people and make a better world, we must treasure our awareness and use it compassionately to better the world.

Language shapes our consciousness and can limit our capabilities. Connection with place is a very basic way of identifying with the world of which we are an intimate part. Sometimes living in bustling concrete can make us forget that we are part of place. We become so enamored with the things that we humans do and make that we forget our origins. I love place and thoroughly enjoy exploring and identifying with place. That is part of the wonder of travel.

I also feel strongly that the encapsulation of God or spiritual force in words is demeaning. It brings what is beyond what we are into our own frame of reference. And we are really simple creatures trying to grasp at the wonder of life and the world around us. And bringing down those concepts into our feeble word systems, simultaneously creates the notion of the opposite (satanic/evil) in our thinking. This simplistic dichotomy has been our bane throughout history.

We hold our entire history within and through our present actions create the future of the universe.

We are Nature

2008-04-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

Human beings are part of nature. Many of our problems arise when we think of ourselves as not part of what is around us. But we are made of the same carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen as everything else and we continually exchange our molecules with all that is around. It is arrogance to think that we are apart of or different than our world. And part of the world is what we consider to be supernatural... but that just refers to something that we can't explain the why and wherefore.

Science is a collection of theories that attempt to, and appear to explain what is around us. But these theories can only see as far as the limits of the box in which they sit. They are bounded by the terms used, which are bounded by our understanding to put things in terms. Though they continually expand it is a never-ending process. We continually expand and rewrite our science.

There is nothing that is not natural. From Merriam Webster:

1 a: the inherent character or basic constitution of a person or thing : essence b: disposition, temperament2 a: a creative and controlling force in the universe

When an ape makes a tool it is natural. When we build bridges or fly airplanes we are simply using more advanced tools… though we are sometimes stupid enough to use our tools to destroy our home and lives.

Moral value at its most basic level arises out of survival. We learn to protect what is ours and close to us. We use concepts like, “Thou shall not kill, steal, or usurp”, looking at our behavior toward people. But the concept of ethics changes dramatically when we envision ourselves as an integral part of all that is around. When we come to see that everything that we do affects everything, and that we are part of that everything, ethics and morality rise to a new level.

We have enhanced awareness that allows us to see consequences far beyond what many other animals can comprehend, which makes our decisions much more difficult. We experience many things that cannot be described within the view of the world that we currently have. In this way all we can do is philosophize, nothing is absolutely certain and there is room for anything and everything.

The effects are building...

2008-03-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

This is sad. This is so sad. Who do you blame? Isn't it all of us? Don't we need to face these problems as a planet? Can't we get beyond our national borders and manage the shared resources of our planet globally? The consequences of this refusal will affect us all. If this continues only the very rich will have access to clean water. It may not be this year or the next or the next decade, but it is coming. Our most precious resource belongs to us all. What is the cost of waste or pollution to humanity --- as well as all life on this planet?

Who Pays for This? Who Benefits from This?

2008-03-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

Where does this go? Is it in all of us? Why are we bombarded with advertisement to purchase drugs that we didn't even know existed? Should the money makers be held responsible? Should they be punished?

Perpetrators Poison Themselves

2008-03-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

And the Perpetrators Poison their Own

No One is Immune!
We are all victims.

Water is Us --- We are Water

2008-03-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

Separate us you may try but we are water... the same water that was the pee of dinosaurs. The same water molecules are in you as in me... are in fish as are in cats as are in you as are in me. We cannot exist without water. The pollution of our times is in our blood. In your blood and my blood. Without water we die. And really we are walking pools of water with an epidermis that keeps it from evaporating and a circulatory system that keeps it pumping around through us. And a lymphatic system that seeps. And a brain filled with watery thoughts. Same as you. Same as me. Same as all mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

Life on this planet is water. Essential. Essential. Essential. And we depend on it for all aspects of our lives. Water is golden. Water is forever.

So when our water is stolen or putrefied or poisoned in any way life on this planet is being degraded. When water is made unusable and toxic a crime is being committed. And it is not just a crime against a specific law or statute. It is a crime against life. And when we humans are effected by this crime it is a crime against humanity.

When the water that a people depend on is taken or usurped, it is a crime against those people. When the water that circulates around the Earth is made dirty to life it is a crime against our planet life... against Gaia. When we think of it in human terms it is a crime against humanity.

Crimes against water are crimes against humanity!

And the criminals must be recognized and brought to justice.

And the water will drip and fall to the floor
And the water will run down the hall out the door
And the water will pour from each house in the town
And the water will silence and completely surround
And the water will come from the eyes in your head
And the water will flow from each of our beds
And the water will wash all the stains on our feet
And our hands and our heads will completely retreat
And the water will come without a sound in the night
And the water will make all that’s wrong into right
And the water will keep all the life that we’ve known
But the water will drown out every ungrateful soul
It will take what is given and leave only dust
It will dry up the cornfields and leave only husks
Water is golden and sacred for life
But water is mutinous and takes what it likes.