What will you do?

Meditate

On my 200th post, here's a self-reminder.

Painting by Goro Fujita

Alt-j - Taro

The elite

There is a corporate elite, a banking elite, a political elite, an academic elite... yet none of these elites have done anything to address the underlying key problem of the global economy. The money profit capitalist market economy has been good to elites for the past 40 years, but has systematically gutted the underlying economy so that most people now have no buying ability, and GDP cannot grow. Central banks create State money... banks create bank money... now it is time there is an institution to create jobs money so that available people can go to work doing things that we really need... food for the hungry, homes for the homeless, medical care for the sick, education for children, infrastructure, environmental remediation, and so on. A value seeking market economy would deliver a very different global society than one where the only metric is money profit and growth of wasteful excessive consumption.

By Peter Burgess, comment from Aljazeera.com

LucidTree.com - Awareness resource

The internet can be a place for entertainment, communication and commerce, but the most important role of the web, I think, is education. Never in history has so much valuable information been available to the masses but it's not always obvious where to find it.

For a long time I intended to build a website that aggregated some of this valuable information and presented it in a clear format. This has finally materialized in the shape of a free online movie library called LucidTree.com. It is currently only a seedling but the aim is to grow it into a hub of relevant information for those of us seeking a better understanding of ourselves, this planet and beyond.

Check out LucidTree.com and share it with friends and family. Contribute by sending suggestions/feedback using the contact form on the website.


Real revolution starts with learning...

Must watch: Four Horsemen

"23 leading thinkers – frustrated at the failure of their respective disciplines – break their silence to explain how the world really works." ~ www.fourhorsemenfilm.com



Watch the full movie here:

The bank for financial activists

If you're pissed of at the current corrupt and opaque banking system, why not vote with your wallet and  move your spare money to an ethical bank? Triodos is one of them (the only one I'm aware of) which is completely transparent and invests only in ethical businesses.

Become a financial activist and sleep better at night with the assurance that you're not indirectly supporting corrupt regimes, polluting technologies, greedy banks and corporations or even war.

The stars all gleam with possibilities

Little girl teaches economics to 600 people

Someone hasn't been doing their homework and it's not this little girl. Although she talks specifically about the Canadian banking system, this is a pretty accurate description of how every banking system in the world is set-up. So here's our homework for today, to listen and learn.



To further research, check out The Money Masters or the Money as Debt three part documentary series. (It appears that these were produced with fairly modest budgets, but the information contained in them is, in my view, crucial and very enlightening to the inner workings of the banking system.) You should be able to find these in a video sharing site near you.

The Cloud forecast

A cloud

The latest buzz word in today's tech world is "the cloud". The hype surrounding this (yet another) vaguely named technology is never ending. If we can learn anything from the past, the cloud alongside names such as Google and Macintosh (sure these sound familiar now but remember when you first heard them?) is bound to become a winner.

This kind of weather phenomenon is becoming more ubiquitous in our lives, without us even realising it. But what is it? What exactly does it do?! Well, in short, the cloud is made up of a (large) bunch of interconnected web servers scattered all over the world, making up one huge machine with humongous processing power and unthinkable data storage capacity.

Businesses are all eager to jump onto the cloud. This makes sense, specially for small businesses, as never before has such a large and easily scalable computer resource been available at such (relatively) low price. But what are the advantages for the individual folk like you and me? What's the fuss all about, what do we get from the cloud?

The cloud aims to store all our data, so that we can access it from any internet enabled device from anywhere in the world. For example, why carry your music with you when you can pay a monthly subscription to access millions of tracks from from your computer at home and your phone on the go?

The cloud wants to provide you with all the applications you require. Be it an office suite or any other software, instead of buying or downloading it for free and installing it on your computer, you'll be paying the cloud for a monthly/yearly subscription to use it. I already hear you saying - "Great! This is so convenient. Where do I sign up?"

Not so fast, lets look at the bigger picture. With every service this technology provides we see a transfer of ownership from the user to the hazy mist of the cloud. Be it pictures, videos or documents who knows what prying eyes will scan our private digital creations? Privacy is starting to become a thing of the past. Someone, somewhere will have the power to run detailed diagnostics, statistics and trends on our habits, locations, likes/dislikes, connections, opinions, etc. - not only on an individual level but also on whole populations. Even if you think you have nothing to hide, based on history, would you not agree that the larger a power is, the bigger the risk of corruption and abuse of such power?

For long it has been said that information is power. I wonder what kind of power cloud we are creating by allowing such an unprecedented centralization of information in the hands of a few large corporations. Hopefully not a black cloud that comes back thundering down on us.

Another kind of cloud

Deep thought of the day

Courtesy of TED.com

 

Introverts, you are OK.

An introvert being erm... introverted!

After the TED talk I posted a few days ago, this is the second article I find this week about introverts. This time The Guardian discovers that being quiet, shy and a "what if" thinker is not all bad.

We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal – the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha and comfortable in the spotlight.

Don't say!

Introversion – along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness – is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology.

QUICK! Pass one of those extroversion pills before it's too late!

Velocity of speech counts as well as volume: we rank fast talkers as more competent and likable than slow ones.

"And then he was like 'Uh...' and I was like 'Duh!'"

Without introverts, the world would be devoid of Newton's theory of gravity, Einstein's theory of relativity, WB Yeats's The Second Coming, Chopin's nocturnes, Proust's In Search of Lost Time, Peter Pan, Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Cat in the Hat, Charlie Brown, the films of Steven Spielberg, Google (co-founded by introvert Larry Page) and Harry Potter.

"Wassup with this list?! Steven makes cool movies, yeah? But the others didn't go to gigs not even nearly often enough. Specially that Chopin dude!"

"The glory of the disposition that stops to consider stimuli rather than rushing to engage with them is its long association with intellectual and artistic achievement. Neither E=mc² nor Paradise Lost was dashed off by a party animal."

"Booooriiing!!!"

A few things introverts are not: the word introvert is not a synonym for hermit or misanthrope. Introverts can be these things, but most are perfectly friendly.

Oh really?! Disturb my blog-ing time and you'll see.


In conclusion, we can all breathe a breath of relief - it's ok to be introverted as introverts are not sick people after all. Phew! I'll cancel my operation then.

Read the full article: Why the world needs introverts

Are you an introvert, extrovert or do you swing both ways? Do the Quiz: are you an introvert?

Susan Cain: The power of introverts

So this one is about introverts and suitcases. Yeah I know, go figure. Apparently we should open them up and share their contents - the suitcases, that is. Ah, after years of persecution, I wonder how many of us managed to keep the key.

 

Carl Honore praises slowness

Ah, apparently slow sex is better! Who knew!

Chris Hedges: "I don't believe in atheists"

Interesting argument put forward in this speech. Journalist and author, Chris Hedges, points out the dogmatic similarities between religious extremism and new atheism. The externalization of "evil" beyond the self; simplistic, binary, us versus them, white and black, point of view of the world; and a sense of superiority, are some of the characteristics of both these philosophies, which pave the way to dangerous extremism that knows no empathy.

Hedges comes across as very lucid and well researched intellectual with always extremely powerful arguments backed by facts. I guess we're all extreme in one way or another ; )

"I certainly understand that there is nothing intrinsically moral about being a believer or a nonbeliever, that many people of great moral probity and courage define themselves outside of religious structures, do not engage in religious ritual or use religious language, in the same way that many people who advocate intolerance, bigotry and even violence cloak themselves in the garb of religion and oftentimes have prominent positions within religious institutions."

~ Chris Hedges interview to Salon.com

PS: Chris has also written a book entitled I don't believe in atheists.

We are all leaders

This was sent to me recently by a good friend. I thought it was important to share, if you can spare 6 minutes.

Dilige et quod vis fac.

I thought I would share something profound that I (re) discovered last night. I was reading about the law of attraction and came across this book which claims that only 1 in 1000 people are able to manifest their wishes using the law of Attraction, and those who do it doesn't appear to be the law that manifests them. The book claims that the law of attraction as it's being taught is incomplete. There's one crucial ingredient missing for successful manifestation of all our desires. And not surprisingly that thing is Love. Not the feeling or emotion of Love but love as a state of being. When I read this I had a aha moment and several pieces of my truth seeking puzzle came together in my head. Everything makes sense The Law of Attraction, Deepak, Echart and all of the spiritual books that I have read say the same thing. When you love unconditionally you're able to manifest what you want because you no longer have egotistical desires. What you want becomes what the Universe needs and that is always what's the best for the Universe as a whole. And so the Universe's force creates the circumstances to manifest its needs. Although this seems quite obvious now that I write it, last night I felt like the meaning of life was for the first time being revealed to me. And now every time that I think about it, I marvel in amazement at how simple it all is and how it could not be any other way. The quote "Love and do what you will" never made so much sense as it does now. This is I think the most beautiful and meaningful quotation that I have ever read. So I thought that I would share this with you...

 ~ AL 01/04/2009

The sound of spring

Today while walking in the park I noticed the birds are starting to get erm, amorous.

Spring is just around the corner and so is that feeling that nature is about to explode. Easy, I'm referring to the plants here! And so, while wanting to be somewhat part of this momentous annual awakening, many of us have already started to get our hands smelling of delicious soil as we sow for the upcoming season.

What better choice to do this than at the sound of The Penguin Café Orchestra. Dig, sow, smell... smile.

Censorship: Internet vs "Real life"

Internet censorship and privacy by SMBC Comics

"You are all screwed."

Julian Assange warns users of mass spying systems being employed by governments on their citizens. Dictatorships and democracies alike spy on users of the most popular technologies, such as iPhone, BlackBerry and Gmail.



"What's wrong with surveillance? If you have nothing to hide, why do you care?", someone said looking at me as if I was some sort of terrorist. If you don't see the fallacy with this train of thought, first ask yourself why do you close the toilet door, then read Debunking a myth: If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Finally, have a leisurely stroll through this list of real life examples of Data Abuse... it might be quite a sobering experience.

Ride to the edge of the Universe

Thought I had already posted this video about a year ago but can't find it in the archive so here it is; a three dimensional animation of the currently mapped Universe up to the cosmic horizon. Each object is represented to the correct scale and location according to scientific research... including the size of your ego after watching this. : )


Size of the Universe from Paul Eyler on Vimeo.

Happy Valentine's day from Earth

Time lapse footage of the planet that enables your existence. Shot from the International Space Station in 2011 at an altitude of 350km. Isn't she awe-inspiring?

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

In pursuit of happiness

While walking today my mind was wondering and pondering on what seems to be an ever growing epidemic of existential crisis. Starting with a close friend, everyone I speak to seems to be going through some sort of stage of questioning themselves and what they should be doing and where.

I've never seen so many people in search for meaning in their lives and that is both exciting and a bit scary. Exciting because more than ever we seem ready to question the status quo and explore different possibilities, and scary because we don't seem to know what we want so there doesn't seem to be any satisfying alternatives out there.

It is only logical that when we set off on a search for something undefined chances are, we won't find it. I know this is far from a new idea but I feel very strongly that the lack of meaning and satisfaction in our lives is the lack of feeling that we belong somewhere and that our contribution is valuable. I remember watching somewhere (possibly a TED talk) that research found that the common denominator to happiness is spending time with people you like/love. That sounds obvious. With the industrial revolution and the rise of capitalism we have sold out community for the pursuit of individual wants and comforts without realizing we were throwing away the most important factor to happiness - being part of a "tribe". Belonging to a community of friends/family that work together to achieve a common goal or to meet each others basic needs; physical, mental and spiritual.

There are many communities sparking up out there with all sorts of goals and motivations but today I  visualise my idea of community. I imagine waking up in my straw bail house beside my other half, with the sunshine coming through the window. The temperature is warm enough to walk around comfortably in minimal clothing.

Permaculture garden

I look through the window to admire the somewhat wild garden outside. Flowers mix with vegetables among climbers hanging from fruit trees and shrubs. I walk through it and pick a few cherries, strawberries and an apple for breakfast. I walk down the garden to the grassy path and shout good morning to you, painting on the balcony of your beautiful cob house.

Another friend's already busy in the garden below, harvesting potatoes for tonight's dinner party. In the distance we hear a friend plucking away at his/her guitar. On the other side of the stream of pristine clear water, we notice the smoke coming out of a friend couple's yurt and we hear the faint sound of a baby laughing. Today we are all helping to build the home of some new arrivals...

We all know each other pretty well and everyone communicates openly because there's a supportive atmosphere. We know that challenges aren't a problem because we work on them together. We live simply, we share time, effort and resources. We have few perks and commodities but we know we have the things that matter... the earth and all its incredible biodiversity, the rain, the sun and each other.

We are happy because we give each other lives' meaning... after all isn't this what life is meant to be about?

Before and after

Before enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.

~ Zen Proverb

The empty part inside

CHAPTER 11

Thirty spokes converge on a single hub;
It is the emptiness in the hole of the hub
that is the usefulness of the cart.

In manipulating the clay to make a vessel,
it is the empty space within that
is the usefulness of the vessel.

In drilling a door and window to make a room,
it is the empty part inside that
is the usefulness of the room?

Thus, possessing does have advantages,
but, it is the nothingness that will have usefulness.

~ Tao Te Ching

The real sound of piano

Composer and pianist Lubomyr Melnyk playing what he called (on a Radio 4 interview) "the real sound of piano", which he claims to have found after decades of searching. Apparently the fastest pianist of the world, according to his website, playing a maximum of 19 notes per second on each hand! He named his style of piano playing continuous music.

And I will make you a present of a secret

So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near - "Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry."
"It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you..."
"Yes, that is so," said the fox.

"But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince.
"Yes, that is so," said the fox.
"Then it has done you no good at all!"
"It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the colour of the wheat fields." And then he added:
"Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret."

The little prince went away, to look at the roses.
"You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."
And the roses were very much embarrassed.

"You are beautiful but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you - the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except for the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."

~ The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, p66-68

Living off the grid

Surveillance equals censorship

"The right to communicate without government surveillance is important, because surveillance is another form of censorship. When people are frightened that what they are saying may be overheard by a power that has the ability to lock people up, then they adjust what they're saying. They start to self-censor."

~ Julian Assange

Read more: www.rollingstone.com

RAP NEWS X - #Occupy2012

Rap News strikes the Zeitgeist once more, this time with the endorsement of Noam Chomsky and Anonymous.