Archive for August, 2007

A Sea of Plastic

Paul Goettlich | Living Nutrition

Anyone who gets email has seen the one containing fraudulent predictions of Nostradamus. About four years ago, I received a similarly suspicious email stating that a researcher had found six times more plastic than plankton floating in the middle of the Pacific. This one struck a chord with me because of my knowledge of plastics. I wanted to find out if it was just a prank or, heaven forbid, the truth.

I tracked down the source, which was Captain Charles Moore, the founding director of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF). He sent me a study he coauthored: “A comparison of plastic and plankton in the North Pacific central gyre” from Marine Pollution Bulletin[1] — a well-respected, peer reviewed, scientific journal. The study substantiated his claim that “the mass of plastic was approximately six times that of plankton.” A large percentage of that is made up of tiny bits of plastic — called nurdles — that have not yet been made into a product. Read the rest of this entry »

What is Atlantis and How Does it Relate to Us?

Often the question comes to mind, “how did this high level of cultural and technological advancement come about?” Scientists and historians will have you believe that hundreds of massive pyramids worldwide appeared: at around the same time, with simmilar characteristics, a common measuring unit (the cubit) and with no anticeedent advances.

Given all of the unexplained artifacts which have already been unearthed and continue to be unearthed; artifacts such as precision carved vases and sculptures, which could not have even been carved with today’s technology, Egyptian inscriptions portraying the use of advanced technology and precision mathematics built-in to most of the world’s great stone monuments and temples, it is no small wonder that people who are willing to venture out of orthodoxy are becoming increasingly convinced that a revisionist view of history is the only way to make sense of all of this.
Read the rest of this entry »

On the Destructiveness of Humankind

Eve’s descendants have steadily accumulated the power to destroy each other in an unholy Armageddon and, like sleepwalkers, are shuffling toward a planetary ecological disaster. How could a slight, five-foot-tall, two-legged animal create such sublimity and yet wreak so much havoc in so miniscule an interval of earth’s history?
– Leonard Schlain (Sex, Time and Power)

…man differs from the animal by the fact that he is a killer; he the only primate that kills and tortures members of his own species without any reason, either biological or economic, and who feels satisfaction in doing so. It is this biologically non-adaptive and non-phylogenetically programmed “malignant” aggression that constitutes the real problem and the danger to man’s existence as a species…The most ample – and horrifying – documentation for seemingly spontaneous forms of destructiveness are on the record of civilized history. The history of war is a report of ruthless and indiscriminate killing and torture, whose victims were men, women, and children. Many of these occurrences give the impression of orgies of destruction, in which neither conventional nor genuinely moral factors had any inhibitory effect…There is hardly a destructive act human imagination could think of that has not been acted out again and again
– Erich Fromm (Anatomy of Human Destructiveness)

The major rise in our killing prowess occurred primarily in the last hundred thousand years, with the sharpest spike limited to the last forty thousand. Creation is a nightmare spectacular taking place on a planet that has been soaked for hundreds of millions of years in the blood of all its creatures. The soberest conclusion we can make is that the planet is being turned into a vast pit of fertilizer
– Leonard Schlain (Sex, Time and Power)

If the development of civilization has such a far-reaching similarity to the development of the individual and if it employs the same methods, may we not be justified in reaching the diagnosis that, under the influence of cultural urges, some civilizations…possibly the whole of mankind, have become neurotic?
– Sigmund Freud

Edgar Cayce on Happiness

Happiness, then, is not a thing set apart from self, but the conditions with which one approaches that in hand to be done! for when one considers that the position of self is hard to bear, is not as is desired, the desire of the heart often maketh one afraid–unless that desire is ever in that attitude of “Use me, O God, as I am,” for the I AM is ready, willing, to make my will one with Thy will–“Though He slay me, though He bruise me in mine own selfish or unseen ways; yet will I trust Him day by day,” and He will not forsake thee; neither will He allow thee to be afraid; for He will raise thee up, and He understands all the hardships, the little things, the separations, the variations in the surroundings–but trust Him!

Edgar Cayce Reading 5563-1

Interview with Gangaji

Gangaji

Gangaji is a great teacher of self-realization and the realization of our oneness. She has been exploring deeper levels of her being since 1972, when she moved to San Francisco. She took the vows of a Bodhisattva, practiced Zen and Vipassana meditation, and helped facilitate a Tibetan Buddhist meditation center. Between 1981 and 1987, she practiced as an acupuncturist, and worked in a clinic in San Francisco.

This interview, conducted in Europe, is an excellent introduction for individuals who are not familiar with her ideas about the nature of existence and how we can reach a deeper level of intuitive understanding.

Gangaji has a remarkable way of helping her students to see the eternal (present) moment, without trapping themselves in false concepts of the past or the future. It is truly a remarkable feeling when we can release all notions of our continued existence and accept the present moment in all of its fullness. If you are unclear what I mean by this, watch this and listen to her eloquant words; you will soon understand what it means to live in the present. It is not as simple as it seems, as it requires a different attitude about who the “I” that exists is. Read the rest of this entry »

Future Cars May Be Powered by Compressed Air

Two designers have created engines that can be run on a compressed air tank for a fraction of the energy cost of gasoline. The engines can be run on compressed air alone or a hybrid of compressed air and a motor to refill the air tank.

With a hybrid compressed air engine, one could travel from New York City to Los Angeles on a single tank of gas!

The first line of air-powered vehicles will be powered by compressed air alone; they will have a top speed of 110 km/h with a range of 210 km. The tanks can be refilled in 3 minutes at a compressed air station or plugged in and refilled with the on-board compressor. Read the rest of this entry »

Romney, trying to hang on Ron Paul’s coattails

Gambling911.com

After Ron Paul Makes Meteoric Gains, Romney “Borrows” Philosophy

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. On the other hand, it does not show much honesty, integrity, or conviction. The latest test of this principle is to watch “1st tier” presidential candidate Mitt Romney start to emulate the political philosophy of “2nd tier” candidate Ron Paul. Ron Paul has been in favor of small government since he became a Congressman. He has been in Congress for ten terms or twenty years. (Ron Paul is currently listed with 8 to 1 odds of becoming the next US President)

Throughout that time he has consistently advocated that we strictly adhere to the Constitution of the United States. He has written volumes of information on the topic and may be the most patriotic statesman this country has seen in generations. The mainstream media either ignores or ridicules Dr. Paul and his views, but lucky for us, there are two wonderful sources of finding these volumes of writings. The first is on the Lew Rockwell site. Visit the home page and look for the Ron Paul file in the lower left corner. There you can find many articles written by and about Ron Paul as well as a host of videos. Another source is the Ron Paul Library . For the well versed Ron Paul supporter as well as people new to his positions, I suggest that you look through his work. His writings and statements he has given on the House floor are truly inspiring. Read the rest of this entry »

Astronomers find gaping hole in the Universe

University of Minnesota | PhysOrg.com

University of Minnesota astronomers have found an enormous hole in the Universe, nearly a billion light-years across, empty of both normal matter such as stars, galaxies and gas, as well as the mysterious, unseen “dark matter.” While earlier studies have shown holes, or voids, in the large-scale structure of the Universe, this new discovery dwarfs them all.
“Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size,” said Lawrence Rudnick of the University of Minnesota astronomy professor. Rudnick, along with grad student Shea Brown and associate professor Liliya Williams, also of the University of Minnesota, reported their findings in a paper accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Read the rest of this entry »

On the Impermanence of All Things

Recently I’ve been thinking on what needs to be done to prepare for the future.  With all of the disasters that seem to be right around the corner, preparation for these things is a daunting task.  It seems like we are about to witness some great changes worldwide as the snowballing economic, socio-political and spiritual problems are about to slap us in the face in a way that is more personal than we are accustomed to.

The deeper I think about it, the more I realize what true preparation is and what it is not.  For the last few years, I’d thought of preparation in the “survival” sense, sacrificing many other aspects of my life so that I’d be ready for the big event that was down the pike.

Survivalists will tell you that preparation is storing up supplies of non-perishable foods, weapons, ammunition, etc.  They want to be ready to “tough it out” when all hell breaks loose, but all of the supplies and equipment in the world won’t help you if you lose it, someone steals it or it is destroyed in a catastrophe. Read the rest of this entry »

How to Improve Health With Helpful Bacteria

When most of us think about what we can do to stay healthy and promote health and longevity, the solutions that society provides come to mind: bathing our bodies constantly with antibacterial soap, eating pasteurized foods, taking anti-biotics when we get infections and zapping our foods with microwaves.

All of these commonly-accepted practices cause great harm to the balance of good versus bad bacteria in your gastro-intestinal tract, tipping the scale in favor of the bad bacteria. This can have a drastic effect on overall health. Read the rest of this entry »