Working

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

Today is a day for gardenning assuming it stays as warm as it was yesterday (it was 77 deg F / 25 deg C)… Got to get the beds level. Anyway, a brief news update, and then it's off to work on “What the modified can learn from Satan“, the new article (with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek title of course; it's not literal).

While the White House denies that Syria is next (more) even though it's been deluged with threats, the US is beginning an oil embargo against Syria (more), and Syria asks itself, “why us?” (more). The Washington Post reports that the whole “Saving Pfc. Jessica Lynch” affair was a staged Hollywood event designed to drum up morale at home and in the troops (more). I'll say again: there is so much disinformation coming out that you'd be doing youself a favor to absorb absolutely as much data as you can from as wide a range of first-hand sources as possible*.

But don't worry — according to Amnesty International, Iraq's people may be at risk, but the oil is well protected (more). While the US troops shield the oil pipelines and wells from any attack or seizure, looters destroyed and burned Iraq's National Library (more, more, more), wiping thousands of years of irreplaceable documents off the face of the earth forever. That combined with the destruction of the museums and archaeological sites represents an immeasurable loss for all humanity.


Update, 9AM: I should also point out that the artifacts above were not just stolen by the mob. Before (and after) the mob looters were going in, professionals went in and used explosives to blow open the safes. Not only that, but they picked off specific and valuable items, and ignored copies — something only art and antiquities experts would be able to do. This was a planned, professional “hit”. Draw your own conclusions as to where that art will end up.

Anyway, Iraq has fallen from forced order to unenforced chaos (more), and religious extremists are calling for, in apparent majority, rule by religious extremists — the Taliban in effect (more, more). Anti-US protests in Iraq grow larger every day (more, more, more), and the US miltiary are stepping in to block the media from covering these events (more).

Back in Afghanistan, chaos and violence continues to rule (more) and the Taliban are burning down Western schools (more). Oh, wait, didn't that war end in the liberation of the people of Afghanistan a year ago?

PS. Another WMD claim debunked (more).

* If you take the key words (names, places, acts) from the stories I link to and type them into news.google, you should be able to find numerous references from recent articles, and of course a more general search can fill you in on the backstories.

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Thank you

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

On days when I question the hours I put into things that I rarely receive acknowledgement for short of abuse, I can't begin to say how much I appreciate things like the below. Those of you who took part in it, and the rest of the joy that was in that big box, I thank you. I couldn't do it without you.

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Wasp attack!

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Seriously, I don't know how I didn't just get stung. This little fellow was none too thrilled with a flash going off inches from their face. I caught it in some paper towels and now its's flying free outside. Wasps sure are cool looking!

Does tongue splitting have a historical basis?

Absolutely — tongue splitting, known as "Khechar Mudr" is a part of Hatha and Kumbhaka Yoga where the tongue is split and then "milked" until it is long enough to be turned back inside the mouth to the epiglottis, where it is used in breathing excercises, the goal being to become aware of only the internal. Yogins that practice these rites believe that it allows them to be absorbed "into God" (that is, becoming conjoined with the universal soul, an experience that is also common in suspension and other body rites).
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Death comes easy in Tweed

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

I feel pretty sick right now… Nothing that won't pass in a few hours though. Let me warn you: drinking 25+ cups of coffee (ok, crazy-strong tea in my case) and then eating six large raw carrots for breakfast is hard on the gulliver!

Yesterday a guy on a motorcycle came tearing over the hill in front of the house. The wind had blown over the “warning: giant pothole ahead” sign — maybe I should feel bad that I didn't do my civic duty and fix it when I noticed it… Anyway, he hit the pothole on his bike at full speed and, after a brief airborne period, his body got impaled on the rail fence that lines the side of the street. He's dead now.

I'd post a picture, but my description above is I'm sure in bad enough taste already.

Though boys throw stones at frogs in sport, the frogs do not die in sport, but in earnest.
- Bion, from Plutarch, Water and Land Animals

Anyway, today I'm finally going to re-write the tongue splitting FAQ… Something I should have done a long, long time ago. When it's done later I'll post it here, and then maybe someone can post it to RAB for me as well to archive it in those systems (I don't have proper USENET access from here).

Other than that I'm cleaning the barn and perhaps expecting guests… Construction of the skate barn should start either this weekend or next week depending on the weather… After cleaning though my first priority is getting a good stereo system set up out there!

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Media

Monday, April 14, 2003

I've been doing writing for the Zentastic site over the afternoon (it's not posted yet) to explain what I want to try and achieve and why… Sort of like a very long statement of purpose. Below is an excerpt (please note that this from a very weak first draft):

Stay informed, but understand that producing news is very expensive and that news agencies support their actions solely by the support of corporate and governmental sponsors. As such, they are unable to tell you anything that would endanger that relationship.

Understand also that succeeding in national and state/provincial politics is extremely expensive. As a result, politicians are put in power solely by the support of corporate sponsors. As such, their first responsibility is always to those sponsors, then to those who elected them, and then to their represented region. When the interests of the sponsors and the public are contradictory — as they almost always are — the sponsors will be represented, not the public.

To hide the obvious contradictions to liberty the above, the state, the media, and the corporation provide you with soma of all kinds — a holy date rape drug so they can abuse you indefinitely. Be omniscient. Absorb everything, and reject that which is not true. By absorbing everything and eliminating all which is not true, you will be left with truth. Truth leads to vision, and vision leads to victory.

Whatever you do, don't trust only your TV.

The more I think about goverment systems the more it becomes clear that we made a horrible mistake by choosing to grow culturally/socially by expansion rather than by mitosis (mitosis is when a cell splits, leaving two “identical” copies, whereas expansion would leave a larger and larger cell rather than a healthy multitude)… That is, we need to move to smaller, distributed systems of (everything).

A percentage of all systems fail, and given enough time, all systems fail, without exception. Larger systems fail in larger ways. If a system is allowed to grow to universal size, it will cause universal failure when it ends.

When a small system fails its damage is localized. If that system is surrounded by good, then it can be rebuilt with minimal damage to the people involved.

We must work to make all systems we use — systems of government, communication, power generation, and so on — small, distributed, and independently controlled. If we achieve that we take a step at a system that allows all to live a rich life full of liberty.

When one really thinks about the way we do things, and look at them in both the light of logic and the light of history, it's clear that in the long run we must aim to destroy Russia, China, the United States, and the other giagantic nations. Not because they are wrong per se in their actions, but because they are precursors to giagantic catastrophe.

Anyway, back to the point I'd originally intended to start on… Quite a few people have forwarded me this article, “The News We Kept to Ourselves”, written by CNN chief news Eason Jordon describing how when CNN was in Iraq under Saddam they were unable to report truthfully on anything that was going on…

As quite a number of New York Times readers pointed out this has rather obvious implications as to the quality of the news CNN produces — at its simplest it says without doubt that CNN is willing to radically alter the news in accordance with the wishes of ruling powers… That in order to keep the advertising money flowing, it will issue false news and hide the truth.

Do not blindly believe what others say. See for yourself what brings contentment, clarity and peace. That is the path for you to follow.
- Buddha

…and let me just say that driving a snowmobile on mud, while probably outrageously bad for the machine, is an aweful lot of fun… I've been fantasizing about modifying the snowmobile to act as a kind of mud/swamp buggy since doing that!

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
- Henry David Thoreau

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